* Psalm 16. 10 11. that corrupting pit is in him most absolute and perfect yea it is perfected at once for ever u Heb. 7. 27 Heb. 9. 26. Heb. 10. 10. Psalm 112. 9. in one simple eternall and incomprehensible act which comprehends all those various and infinitely multiplyed perfections wherewith his Church is adorned beautified and lifted up for ever x Psalm 110 3. Rom. 6. to 6. 16. 1 Pet. 4. 10. 2 Pet. 1. 5 6 6 8. 1 Cor. 12. 4 5 6. Ephes 4. 7 8. insomuch as the whole glory of the resurrection of the Saints is seated in this resurrection of the Son of God out of Sheoll or Hades that corrupting pit wherein man is by nature drowned and over-whelmed So that the resurrection of the body out of the grave at the last day in the re-uniting of it with the spirit or soule addes nothing at all unto this glorious resurrection of the Son of God which comprehends and involves the resurrection of all the Saints no more then the separation of soule and body and the dissolution of the body in the grave for a season can adde any thing unto that death of the Son of God which includes and comprehends the death of all the Saints unto all sinne and sorrow whatsoever by nature they were lyable unto to hold eyther the one or the other is nothing else but to set up flesh to boast by arrogating unto our selves the priviledges peculiar to the Son of God y Rom. 3. 23 to 28. 1 Cor. 1. 28 29 30 31 Col. 3. 11. in holding that eyther in the rising of our bodies or the dissolution of them should eyther adde or detract to or from that eternall weight of glory and vertue that is in the life and death of the Son of God And yet doth not this fulnesse that is in the resurrection of Christ Jesus hinder the rising of the body in due time out of the grave no more then that plenary deliverance and redemption that is in the death of Christ hinders the body from death and dissolution in the grave See z Heb. 9. 21 Act 2. 29. Psal 86. 48. this more plainly in the matching of contraries as thus the plenary and full curse of God seized upon man in the very day point of time or act of eating that forbidden fruit otherwise the Word of God were not fulfilled in that it saith in the day thou eates thereof thou shalt surely dye a Gen. 2. 17. or as the word is in dying thou shalt dye that is in that one act of death is comprized and comprehended all those innumerable wayes of destruction and corruption that man naturally is subjected unto So that under that one act of death all acts of death are contained otherwise the Curse could not be full and yet that fulnesse of the Curse hinders not but rather is a way for the separation of soule and body and the dissolution of the body in the grave in its time and season but this dissolution and separation addes nothing unto the Curse for then the Curse should not be perfect before and in case the Curse were not perfect before the dissolution of the body then man stood not in need of a perfect blessing in the Saviour untill the time of the separation of his soul body And then it would follow that perfection were not in that promise made of the Messia the seed of the woman shall crush the head of the Serpent b Gen. 3. 15. because man had not a perfect curse or death upon him to be saved and delivered from which is most deragatory unto the nature of the Saviour in that rich and bounteous grace of the Gospel c Rom. 5. 15 20. Rom. 15. 13. 2 Cor. 8. 7. 2 Cir. 9. 8. Nor could Enoch participate in a grace that saved him from a plenary curse whereof all men are alike guilty by nature d Ephes 2. 3. Rom. 3. 10 11 12. Rom. 3. 23. if that the death of the body were any addition unto the Curse or augmentation thereof for hee was translated and never saw death d Ephes 2. 3. Rom. 3. 10 11 12. Rom. 3. 23. and then hee was never saved from a perfect Curse if the death of the body were any part thereof nor can we tell how to free any of the Saints from remaining under the Curse whilest they lye in the grave e Heb. 11. 5. Gen. 5. 24. if the separation of the soule body were any part of it For f Gal. 3. 10. Deut. 27. 26. it is with the Curse as it is with the breach of the Law for cursed is he that con … not in all things written in the Booke of the Law to doe them and he that is guilty of the breach of one is guilty of all g Iam. 2. 10. So he that is under any one part of the Curse is under the whole Curse h Gal. 3. 10. Therefore the separation of soule and body is no part of it for however it is an accursed thing in the eyes of man to hang upon a materiall tree to the separation of soule and body i Deu. 27. 26 Gal. 3. 13. Yet it is a higher thing that makes accursed in the sight of God separating the soule from God and so is he accursed that hangs on a tree or that dependeth or relyeth upon a tree as the word signifies as man did when he laid his whole weight as the word will beare that is his life and his death to be good or to be evill by eating or not eating of that forbidden tree k Gen. 3. 3. 4 5. i as all do unto this day that depend upon and lay the weight of their salvation upon doing or not doing in themselves things that are pleasing or displeasing unto the Almighty and in the mean time neglecting and vilifying that glorious work of God at once for ever perfected in Christ l Heb. 1. 3. Heb. 7. 27. Even as man at the first neglected and vilified that glorious image of God wherein he was created m Gen. 1. 27 depending and relying upon his eating of the tree to attaine thereby to be like unto his Maker * 1 Ioh. 5. 10 11. Gen. 5. 1. Gen. 1. 27. whereas he was already made in his likenesse and image and so denyed that record that God had given unto him concerning his Word and Worke namelp that hee had made him in his own image * 1 Ioh. 5. 10. 11. and thereby denyed the glory of that work of God for as no man ever came unto God but by beleeving the record that God hath given of his Son n Ioh. 1. 12. Act. 13. 39. Heb. 11. 6. namely that we have eternall life and that this life is in his Son * Gal. 4. 29. Heb. 11. 4. Gen. 3. 9 7 8. and he being the way the truth and the life o Ioh. 14. 16 Never
that if we deny eternity to the humanity we likewise deny that the Deity was in time and so destroy Christ unto our selves the faith of such persons is vaine g 1 Cor. 15 14. Yet is the Deity or the Word in its own nature simply eternall and our nature or the humanity is in it self and of its own nature simply momentany and fading but the unity of them both is Christ whose humanity is eternized in the Word and his divinity is as truly momentized in our nature So as take away the life of humane nature so as the Creature is extinct for a moment and take away the life of the Son of God yea the very life of eternity for he never lived as a Saviour but through death nay as hath been said his death is his life So that take away that nature for a moment wherein his death doth consist and you make a nullity of our Lord Jesus So that the doctrine of Christ and the mortality of the soule are utterly inconsistent they cannot stand together They therefore that hold the mortality of the soule they must of necessity deny the resurrection the appearing and comming of our Lord Jesus it is in this case as our Apostle speakes of the man and the wife the man hath not power of his own body but the wife and the wife hath not power of her owne body but the husband h 1 Cor. 7. 4 Even so it is here God hath not power of that body of excellency grace and vertue that is in himself but hath made it over unto us for mans use and benefit Otherwise we could not live unto him conceive and bring forth fruit acceptable and pleasing unto him being of his owne begetting and of his owne nature as it is in Christ i Iam. 1. 18. 1 Ioh. 5. 1. 18 1 Pet. 1. 3. 2 Pet. 1. 14. Neither have we power of our own body of infirmity and frailty but the Lord hath taken it unto himselfe for his own use otherwise hee could never dye nor could he without it generate beget and multiply himselfe as he doth in Christ k Isa 53. 10. Heb. 2. 10. Rom. 8. 16 17. for he is the first begotten of death l Rov 1. 5. Col. 1. 18. and he can have no death in himselfe but as hee hath it in us So that if wee dissolve this unity and contract for a moment we dissolve that heavenly Marriage that is betweene the Creator and the Creature in Christ m Hosea 2. 16 20. Isa 24. 5. making a nullity of it and so make voyd our salvation n Psal 119. 126. Rom. 4. 140 for if eyther of the parties cease to be so much as for a moment the contract is ended our salvation is voyd for then the Son of God ceaseth to be a Saviour if hee cease to be found in the Creature whom he saves and the Son of sory man ceaseth to be saved if at any time he ceaseth to be found in the CREATOR who is his only and viour o Rom. 8. 33 Rom. 4. 5. Psalm 3. 8. Psalm 68. 19 20. So that those that hold the mortallity of the soule of man which gives him his forme to be a man and no other Creature they do as absolutely and resolutely deny that glorious happy and fruitfull intercourse of life and death that is betweene God and Man in Jesus Christ for that which is the death of the Sonne of God is the life of the Sonne of sorry man and that which is the death of the Sonne of sorry man is the life of the Son of God For the Sonne of GOD is made that in our nature that by nature hath no life of God in it and so becomes dead or is made that which is dead unto the things of God The Son of man is made that in the word which by nature hath no life of man or life of a Creature in it and so becomes dead to the things of Man and of the one and the other doth Christ our Saviour consist and without the one and the other hee is not Christ nor Jesus at all for the mortality of mans soule is nothing else but the death and infirmity of the Sonne of God and the death and infirmity of the Sonne of God is nothing else but the life perfection and immortality of the Sonne of Man and no longer then the word of eternity which admits of no intermission of time can bee held or swallowed up of death p Act. 2. 24. Psal 16. 10. no longer can the soule or nature of man which is nothing but momentany or brittlenesse it selfe lay aside that spirit of life and immortality where by it liveth and endureth for ever q Gal. 2. 20. Rom. 8. 9 10 11. in and by that Word of God r Col. 3. 16. For the sonne of God hath no life as a Saviour but only in and through death nor the sonne of Man hath no death unto sinne and sorrow as saved but in and through that life of the sonne of God which is impossible to cease for a moment and so is that also that once lives thereby and enjoyes it Therefore to preach the cessation of the life of the soule in laying aside for atime the life of the body is no lesse then to preach the cessation of the life of the sonne of GOD for a season that is so long as the soule is deprived of life and immortality But these bruitish barbarous and more then Atheisticall fabulous fantasies we leave unto those left and forsaken spirits who have seired themselves with a hot Iron s 1 Tim. 4. 1 2 Cor. 4. 3 4 Acts. 28. 27 least the force and vertue of the Word of God should take hold of them and appeare upon them But least any should mistake our meaning in this point of the resurrection as though we too much neglected or slighted the resurrection of the body in regard we affirme that the death and resurrection are one act so as the death is the resurrection it selfe which the death and resurrection of the body cannot be We are to understand therefore that where ever the holy Scriptures speak of the resurrection of the Saints the thing principally and chiefly intended is the resurrection of our Lord Jesus together with all his Saints in him and therefore they are said to be set down together with him in heavenly places t Ephes 1. 3. Ephes 2. 6. and that resurrection in the first place the Scripture intends namely his rising from that eternall death which by nature wee are all guilty of and plunged into which is that victory over sinne death hell and the grave which none but the Sonne of God could overcome nor rescue from for hee onely purchaseth that renowne and glory unto himselfe alone which otherwise had never appeared unto the Creature which resurrection from death and hell sinne sorrow and the grave or from Sheoll
Christ his true forme according to the holy Scriptures there appears an utter impossibility of finding such kind of grace in him as the men of the world or your most refined Priests in the eyes of the world form unto themselves and such as heare them For take away the body of the Sun from any part of the world or from any horison and the beams and raies of it cease to be in that place and are not found at all to give either heat or light but the place is in death and grosse darknesse Moreover if Christ should bt have a sparke as they call it beame or ray or certain influence of the spirit or divine nature that being shed forth or infused into the humane and not the reallity and essentiality thereof then he were not God as well as man and then no Saviour for salvation is of the Lord z Isdi 12. 2. and there is no other name given whereby men shall be saved but our Lord Iesus Christ a Acts 4 12. But to forme a grace in a Christian otherwise or besides that which is in Christ is to set up another name or authority to be saved by then him alone and that is the Antichrist which hath ever been found conversant amongst those Jewish Pharasaicall builders who alwaies set at naught and refuse the truth and verity of the chiefe corner stone b Psal 118. 22. Acts 4. 11. which notwithstanding the malice of you builders as our Apostle speakes will be the head stone in the building of that house not made after the device and handicraft of man but whose builder is the Lord that will maintain and uphold it for ever c 2 Cor. 5. 1. Heb. 11. 2. Psal 134. 13 14. though you have alwaies laboured to pull down and to demolish Gods building because it hath another foundation then you can approve of by haleing through your doctrine and hipocriticall and selfe-seeking clamours the Saints of God before your Elders Synods and judgement seats for the confession of that rich grace of God and working that great worke of God in curing the lame and impotent at the beautifull Gate of the Temple d Acts 3. 6. by speaking a word in such away as your selves can never find out nor purchase the glory of such a cure unto your selves for Christ you cannot indure to have the credit of it e Phil. 2. 21 and that is the reason why Tobya and Snaballat play their partes and bring out the same spirit unto this day f Nehem. 4. 1 2 3. wee conclude then of this point in opposition to the doctrine of all false and pernicious builders That there is nothing in Christ Jesus that is created which is simply divine nor is there any thing in him that is increate which is simply humane the unity and conjunction therefore of these twain in one is that workmanship of God created in Christ Iesus unto good workes g Eph. 2. 10. or as the word will beare in a good work that is in that good work of God that remaines and abides firme and stable for ever being that one eternall and good grace of God and also that one eternall and good worke of God which twain can stand agree together for ever without confounding but gloriously harmonizing the one with the other so as faith or grace shall ever be made manifest in this good worke and this good worke shall ever appeare in that faith of Gods Elect in whom so ever it is the deniall whereof doth sufficiently declare a man to be vain empty of any thing that is of God for faith without works is dead h Iam. 2. 20. and this one worke in which consists all saith or this one grace in which consists all good workes and opperations of God Hath as many distinct favoures or grace in it as also workes and opperations as there are varieties of workes and distinct favours beauties and splendant glories in that infinite and unsearchable word or mind of God manifested in Christ If this be the created gift or these the created graces which the world intends then let them discribe and delineate the Lord Jesus in whatsoever they speak of or in what respect they hold him forth unto the souls of men that is in what term of relation soever they propound him unto the world let them do it so that the grace proposed may appear to be such as is ever accompanied with this great work creation and making that is with the true spirituall and misticall forming of the Sonne of God i Gal. 4. 19. who is made of a woman made under the Law and so under the curse k Gal. 4. 4. Gal. 3. 13. that so he might exalt our nature in the blessing and glory of a Sonne and man of God l Acts 5. 30. 31. and this is that created gift or those created graces and only worke of God in Jesus Christ which the world denies by teaching gifts and graces of another nature or kind Yea furthermore those that hold and teach a created gift that is of and from the spirit and yet not the spirit neither dare they affirme that it is humane lest the bed prove too short and the covering too narrow m Isai 28. 20. to rest upon and to wrap themselves in therefore they are driven to affirme it is a sparke of divinity a beame or ray of the nature divine but not the divinity it selfe which they say is in the Saints But yet wil affirme by their traditions that the reality of it is in Christ for otherwise in the truth of the thing they know not how it is in him but education in another way would have brought them to have spoken other things especially if preferment had been intailed or annexed thereunto these are so faithfull in their doctrine that they must inevitably hold also and that by that undeniable law rule of contraries according to the way of the first Adam and the second n Rom. 5. 18 19. 1 Cor. 15. 22. that all men save only the first man that fell have but some beame ray or certain spark of corruption in them and that onely Adam the first man he had the whole body of sinne death and corruption in him so that all other men much lesse any particular of them are not so ingaged unto God for the revelation and manifestation of such an infinite and unspeakable portion of his grace and vertue of that blood of sprinkling as the first man was and by this meanes they deny the plain testimony of the word of God which affirmes that by nature we all a like o Eph. 2. 1 2 3. So that if the first man had sinne both in the root and branch so have wee and if the second Adam had both the root and branch of righteousnesse in him so have wee p Rev. 22. 16. 1 Joh. 4. 17. for what wee are unto God
did nor shall any come unto the Father but only by him in him therefore is and ever was mans approach and comming neere unto God and without him no unity nor peace with God even so also never did nor shall any decline fall from God but by denying that record testimony that God hath given of his Son denying our life to be in him and seeking it in our selves by our owne Workes for as it was in the beginning even soo it is now * both in point of faith and of the fall for to call in question that Work of God whereby he hath created us in Christ Iesus unto good workes p Ephes 2. 10 or in a good Worke as the word will beare for it is a Work of God not of Man therefore absolute good Now to call this in question as though the Work were not yet perfect adding our indeavours to accomplish and perfect the same this proceeds from that ancient spirit that hath been a lyer from the beginning and aboad not in the truth q Ioh. 8. 44. whose workes his children follow r Ioh. 8. 41 42 44. for all the wayes of administrations practised and with all care diligence and frequencie observed by the Saints of God in the world are not at all to perfect any thing in that great work of God by Jesus Christ but only to declare make manifest the absolute fulnesse and perfection of it which whosoever setteth his seale unto s Ioh. 3. 33. Rom. 3. 4. doth by the grace of God communicate therein unto life eternall t Ioh. 6. 54. Ich. 17. 3. Ioh. 10. 28. 1 Ioh. 5. 11. We conclude therefore that the curse is full and absolute before the separation of soule and body which was in Adam so many hundred yeares after the Curse was perfected or fully upon our nature in him * Gen. 2. 17. Gen. 5. 5. and therefore that the separation of soule and body cannot be any part of it For the Curse is of a more higher and more spirituall nature then is the separation of soule and body being it is a separation of God even from his own work and an eternall emnity between the Creature and the Creator and yet this Curse is a means and way of the separation of the soule and the body of the bodies lying down for a time in the dust But the principall and main thing the Scripture intends when it speaks of death is that spirituall and eternall death * Gen. 2. 17. Rom. 8. 13. 1 Cor. 15. 22 yet not excluding the other namely the separation of soule body unto which it alludes So also is the resurrection that is by Christ of a more spirituall and heavenly nature then the rising of the body out of the grave or re-uniting of soule and body in one againe for it is that wonderfull union and conjunction that is betweene God and Man in Christ who are made one out of such an infinite distance as Man by nature is removed and made remote by sinne corruption from his Creator in that his desertion from him at the first therefore where ever the resurrection is spoken of in the Scripture it chiefly intends this spirituall resurrection that is by Jesus Christ not excluding the Resurrection of the body unto which it alludeth elegantly pointeth at nor do we deny that this spirituall resurrection from sinne sorrow and eternall death by Jesus Christ is the way and meanes of the resurrection of the body out of the grave and re-uniting of the soule unto it the last day But let us remember that the work of our Salvation by Christ is spiritual And therefore take heed how we ascribe any thing of the glory of the resurrection unto the rising again of our bodies out of the grave or to detract or take away from it by the laying down of our bodies in the dust knowing that all that the Lord Jesus hath in us is nothing but death and deformity u Isa 52. 14. Isa 53. 6 7 8 9. and that all our life conformity unto God our Father is only in him x Col. 3. 3 4. 2 Cor. 3. 18. Rom. 8. 29. Phil. 3. 10. So that those that ascribe unto the Saints infirmity and weaknesse because of the laying aside these naturall and corruptible bodies for a season or conclude them then to bee more noble and powerfull when the body is raised then before they were in the time of its being in the grave This is but a meere device and subtil invention to magnifie the flesh by ascribing somewhat unto it hereafter which for the present they dare not doe whereby they judge of our Salvation according to the judgment and things of men and not according to the judgment and things of God y Rom. 2. 2. Ioh. 7. 24. Psalm 72. 2. Ioh. 8. 15 16 Ioh. 5. 30. and in this point our Interpreters contradict themselves who affirme that our Sanctification is perfected only at the time of the death of this naturall and corporeall body and that the perfection of Sanctification is Glorification and yet notwithstanding hold that our glorification is not perfect and full till our bodies arise out of the grave this is thorow that great mistake of confounding that naturall death and that spirituall death together not giving to each its proper right and due and so ascribe more unto the resurrection of the body then God hath put upon it for Christ hath nothing in and by us but meerly infirmity and weaknesse and therefore whatsoever is properly ours or of our selves can adde nothing unto our glory for all that wee have of our selves as creatures amounteth to no more but the compleat crosse of the Son of God So that all our glory is in him who never saw corruption z Psalm 16. 10. which great mistake the Lord may seem to correct knowing the operation of mans heart in this point in that we read not in the Scriptures of such whose bodies were raised out of the grave of any wonderful work which afterwards they did or more heavenly word that at any time they spake more then formerly they had done nay our Lord himself appeared alike unto his Disciples after his resurrection as he had done before a Luke 24. 13. to 32. Joh. 20. 19 20 26 27 28. nay to beate down that naturall carnall fond opinion of putting off the day of the Lord b Hag. 1. 2 to 9. Joh. 4. 25. and the good things of his Kingdome till hereafter he denyed to expresse in his humane body after his resurrection that glory which he had manifested unto them in his transfiguration before his death c Mat. 17. 1 2. yea further wee are carefully prudently to consider of this oath of interposition or installment and confirmation of this our high Priest that the Word of God in all points parts of the holy Scripture is to
signifies reason s 1 Ioh 3. 4. so that according to Gods wisdom in the orderly course of things in the production of them it hath not anything at all thereof in it but as the Law or wisdom of God is nothing else but instructive so is sin or the vvisdom of the Serpent nothing else but destructive for aâ—… the vvisdom of God in all the productions of it selfe in Christ expungeth all sin corruption out of our nature so that never guile was found in his mouth but as a I am spoile undefiled t Heb. 2. 2 in so much that however it be but a Creature that is properly saved yet this work of Salvation state condition which the Creature is set in doth infinitely surmount transcend the condition of a Creature for as the wisdom and the worke is properly of God so is the state condition godly and holy and so of an infinite and an eternall value even so it is with the wisdome of the flesh that is not subject to this will and law of God neither indeed can be u Esa 53. 9. 1 Pet. 1. 19. or that wisdome of the Serpent in all its operations and productions of it selfe expungeth all holinesse and righteousnesse yea that compleate law of the spirit and life that is in Christ Iesus w Ro. 8. 7. in every tittle of it out of it selfe leaving it selfe an uncleane spirit having a garment in every one part of it spotted with the flesh x Ro. 8 2 Ecl. 7. 29 Gen. 7. 5 and is become altogether ungodly and defiled so that as Christ was tempted in all things like unto us yet without sin so is Antichrist by his creation as also in that redemption of mankinde in all things made like unto the Sonne of God and yet without righteousnesse yea so free as the sonne of God is from sin y Mat. 12 43. 5. though tempted so free is the Sonne of perdition from righteousnesse though furnished at the first with it being made in it z Lu. 11. 24. Iude 23. Heb. 4 15 Ioh. 14. 30. So that howsoever it is proper to a finite Creature to decline and fall away from God yet that worke of darknes stare condition into which it brings the Creature is of an infinite nature extent because it is an annihilation and destruction of that whole worke and fabrick of which the Sonne of God himselfe is the onely and chiefe corner stone in the building a Gen. 1. 27. Gen. 5. 1. Gen. 2. 7. Ecl. 7. 29 Iob. 38. 6 Psal 118. 22. Esa 28. 16. or in expunging and blotting out of that law of the spirit which holds correspondency with the son of God in all points every breach of which infinite law must needes be of an infinite and eternall giâ—t and in our pretended opening of the Scripture to fall short of this latitude and extent in any particular sin is the proper prevarication Law or play the part of a false Lawyer at the Bar as the word signifies that in pleading his Clients cause neglects the chiefe point in the Law that should principally be brought in and puts it into his Adversaries hand secretly to cast the cause against his Client of such use are they to the soules of their hearers that neglect or fall short of this principall point of the Law in the infinite extent of mans sin for finite and infinite being made one the proper act of sin is the dis-junction and separation of them which is the proper worke of the flesh or naturall reasonings of the minde of a creature a Gen. 3. 1 6 Rom. 7. 9 10 11. betweene it selfe and the Creator so also finite and infinite being dis-joyned and separated by sin namely God and man made one at the first it is the proper work of the Grace and Spirit of God by faith to unite and make these twaine to be one and both these are of the same extent the validitie and substance of the one is not more exalted lifted up and made permanent then the vanitie and emptinesse of the other is vilified and debased becoming corrupted and putrified for ever without the love and distinct knowledge whereof we can neither understand the fall of man nor yet his restauration by Christ of such use and concernment is the knowledge of the multiplication of the offering of the Lamb together with the unity of it without which our speeches and thoughts of the taking away of the sins of the world John 1. 29. are meere blind conjectures and the certaine knowledge and faith thereof we have not yet attained unto b Pro. 19. 2. we are yet dead in our sins c 1 Cor. 15. 17. and doe not participate in the life of the Lord Jesus d 1 Iohn 5. 10 11. unto the first Resurrection e Rev. 20. 6. for till we know how the death of Christ in our nature answereth in all points diametrically unto our life in that Word of God or nature divine we cannot have the comfort of that life of Jesus Christ for mans fall can be of no lesse extent then that Resurrection of the Son of God is therefore as he that prayeth or prophecieth with his head covered dishonoureth his head f 1 Cor. 11. 4. that is if he doe not discover make bare and manifest the extent of that righteousnesse that is by Christ to be no lesse then the righteousnesse of God through faith in him g Rom. 10. 3 4. hee dishonours and shames his head now we know that the head of every man is Christ h 1 Cor. 11. 3. even so also he that hides his sins shall not prosper that is shall not passe through or succeed well as the word signifies i Pro. 28. 13 but that man hides his sin whatever he be that gives it not its proper weight guilt and extent which is not lesse then the death of the Son of God k Rom. 4. 24 25. Isa 53. 4 5 what sin soever it be and if we make it not to be that which it is we hide it and shall never prosper succeed or goe through the difficulty and power thereof for if we hide it it rests upon our selves l Ioh. 9. 41. 2 Cor. 3. 14 and is the death of Christ in us according to the Spirit for we thereby crucifie the Son of God unto our selves m Heb. 6. 6. in the spirit by treading under foot n Heb. 10. 29. that is by vilifying and undervaluing his blood not giving it its due proportion we reckon it upon our selves to our owne destruction for he is thereby dead in us in respect of the Spirit or of that spirituall state and condition of which he consisteth o 2 Cor. 5. 16. Heb. 10. 29. but if we confesse and forsake them p Pro. 28. 13. that is if we preach confesse or professe them according to their extent then we
also forsake them that is we reckon and account them upon another namely the Son of God q Isa 53. 4 Iohn 1. 29. for elsewhere they cannot be found when they are confessed and judged of according to the judgement of God in their extention and so they are this death of Christ also that is he is dead in us unto all the lusts and distempers of the flesh r Gal. 5. 24. Gal. 6. 14. and we are alive unto God in him Å¿ Rom. 6. 11. so truly and absolutely then as the Son of God was made sin t 2 Cor. 5. 21. not in a shadow or a figure or vaine imagination or tooke some part of our infirmity and not the whole but he really and absolutely descended into the depth of our misery and was made a curse for us yea even in the abstract u Gal. 3. 13. and yet notwithstanding the curse could never tarry upon him x Psal 5. 4. nor he receive the least stain or blemish thereby y 1 Pet. 1. 19. even so was man made in the Image of God not as a shadow or in some certaine resemblance of a thing which he was not but was really and absolutely made in that highest degree of perfection that the Creator of all things could ever put upon him z Gen. 5. 1 2 and if his fall bee made a lesse thing then a defection from a vilification of and a lie made against or slander laid upon the highest work and greatest grace that ever was made or given then is not sin knowne without which the Saviour is never conceived nor brought forth in the world in that way of the salvation of the sons of men * Psal 5 1. 5 6 7 8. in this point lies the very key of the knowledge of and entrance into the word of life how elegantly doth the Prophet speak of that state and condition of Antichrist under the person and State of that proud King of Tyrus declaring of what nature and kinde his state and condition was that he fell from a Ezek. 28. 12. to 15. without any fraud or collusion telling us in the truth and verdict of the Spirit of the Prophets That he was that annointed and covering Cherub one that had the holy unction that teacheth all things b 1 Iohn 2. 20 27. as also a holy office to cover the arke and the mercy seat where the Law was and the lively Oracle spake yea the called of God and the covering Cherub yea that he had beene in Eden the Garden of God where nothing but delight and pleasure could be found decked with all precious stones costly and most delightfull things in that day of his creation and bringing forth nay he affirmes him to have been in the Mount of God making one in the building of that Temple not made with hands or one that talked with the Lord face to face even as Moses did in that Mount all this is affirmed by a trim allusion to the glory that was manifested in the daies of Moses and Aaron in the exercises of the Law which was life to some but death to others to be true even of that man of sin in his first creation and according to that glorious workemanship of God in mankind at the first and yet affirmes him to be most wicked proud and in a state and condition for ever to bee lamented in whom the very body bulke and sum of all wickednesse and cruelty was sealed up these things may as truly be said of that Man of Sin that he was annoynted made beautiful and glorious yea with no lesse dignity honour and power then that which is proper to the Son of God himself and unto none els but he alone and yet is he that man of sin and son of perdition even as it is truly said that the Son of God was made sin c 2 Cor. 5. 21. a curse d Gal. 3. 13 death e Rom. 8. 34 and hell f Psal 16. 10. and yet none of these things could ever be found in him but he abides that holy and unspotted Lamb of God g 1 Pet. 1. 19. and Sonne of the Father for ever h 2 Pet. 1. 17 So that as he that is our Saviour took upon him the state of the sonne of perdition els had he never redeemed from death and hell i Psa 86. 13. and yet ever remained to be the blessed and beloved of God k Mat. 3. 17 even so he that is that sonne of perdition was as absolutely made the sonne of God and that in the highest dignity that heaven it selfe affordeth and yet ever remaines to be that accursed and forsaken of God l Iohn 8. 44 the one in being made sin expungeth and takes it away and becomes thereby a Saviour m 1 Ioh. 3. 5 and the other in being made the righteousnesse of God expungeth it and blots it out and so becomes that wicked one and destroyer n 1 Ioh. 5. 19. 1 Pet. 5. 8. Psal 17. 4. 1 Cor. 10. 10 therefore it is said that the Angells that kept not their first estate or as the word is their principality are reserved in chaines that is those which were in the state of Elohim or Gods they kept not that estate or that principality for the word sometimes used for Angells in the Hebrew is Elohim as in the eighth Psalme o Psal 8. 5. which our Apostle translates Angels in his writing unto the Hebrews p Heb. 2. 7. therfore they were such that fel as were by that act of their creation in the state and condition of the Sonne of God and that was the state that was falne from which if it be minced or diminished sinne is covered and hid by us q Pro. 28. 13 and so no successe in the things of God for he that hides his sinne as Adam r Iob 31. 33 shall not prosper who went about to lessen it by making another the cause of it s Gen. 3. 12 as men doe in these dayes that lessen the sin of man in that he was tempted thereunto by another which they call wicked Angells that fell before man whose nature they say the Sonne of God never took upon him and would father their opinion upon the Apostle who intends no such thing t Heb. 2. 16 For if there were any creature worse then man or state and condition below his then did not the Sonne of God take into unity the worst nature nor descend into the lowest state of death in his humiliation and then it will follow according to the rule of contraries that man is not made one with the most pure and holy nature of God in Christ neither was our nature exalted to the highest and most glorious state of Majesty in him u Acts 5. 30 31. Phil. 2. 8 9 10. for if his exaltation be of infinite and illimited glory and dignity then is his
of his bones that one of them shall never be broken u Psa 34. 20 Ioh. 19. 33. 36. as also the multiplication and unity of it The third instance we named was in the Baptismes and washings of the Church and this is a thing that nature produceth in its owne way to adorne it selfe withall and to make it selfe acceptable unto God even as the two former that we have already named in the outward formes and figures thereof for nature it selfe produceth sets up and creates a Priest or Eldership as we see it apparant in these poore and barbarous heathens amongst whom we live so had the heathen in former times when they set up Molech Chion and exercised in the Tabernacle which belonged unto them x Amos 5. 26. unto which our Apostle alludes declaring that Idolatry committed by the Fathers in the wildernesse perceiving it to be the same with that among the heathen and altogether as heathenish or alienated a thing from the true worshippers y Acts 7 43 yea Stephen applies it to that naturall and carnall worship which the Jewes so stifly maintained z Acts 7. 57 58 59. so that rather then it should fall the Lords faithfull Martyr or Witnesse should be put to death yea that holy man Stephen a Acts 7. 60 even so also the offering of a sacrifice to God nature doth bring forth according to its owne though severall devices and inventions and hence it is that so many waies of worship are found in the world so the heathen they sacrificed but the Prophet said it was to Devills and not unto God b Deut. 32. 17. yea they offered their children to Molech for what will not a man give for the sin of his soule the cattell of a thousand mountaines with ten thousand rivers of oyle yea the first borne of his body to be released from the sin of his soule c Mica 6. 7. so also it is with Baptisms and Washings nature produceth such and adornes it selfe with them as it did by eating of the forbidden tree at the first that it might become amiable and be made thereby like unto God and therefore the Apostle bids us lay aside or to cease from as the word will beare the Word or the Doctrine or Preaching of the beginnings of Christ d Heb. 6. 1 2. now the Word of the beginnings of Christ is that which is properly preached in that wherein Christ had a beginning and that is onely in our nature as he was the Son of Man for as he is God he hath no beginning at all but is from all eternity so that those things we are to cease from are such Doctrines as that nature wherein Christ hath a beginning doth naturally of it selfe produce preach or bring forth which were in Christ are and ever shall be in that way of Christ left and censed from which are things imperfect and defective and therefore cannot stand before God e Isa 28. 20 but our Apostle leads us from those unto things of perfection which are onely found in that Son of God which are things that God onely admits or certainely approves of and not to lay againe that foundation that is naturally laid in the hearts of all men as repentance from or as the word may be read repentance out of dead workes that is such a repentance as ariseth out of the dead workes of the Law naturally in mans heart f Rom. 7. 4 6. which hath no life of God in it but is ever to be repented of wherever it appears of such nature also is that faith towards God that there he would have us leave and cease from or faith besides or against God as the word there used will also beare as wel as to read it towards God therefore the Apostle saith thou beleevest that there is one God thou dost well the Devills also beleeve it and tremble g Iames 2. 19. for there is nothing in the Devills but what stands in opposition against God and is at enmity with his Creator and therefore is his trembling because his faith presents God standing in termes of opposition unto him for this faith that nature brings forth presents one God unto us but not one God as in his Son consisting of two natures and in whom or in what particular that kinde of faith is he is vaine and empty that so beleeves h Iam. 2. 20. and it is the very way that the Prince of the power of the ayre as was above noted enters into the soule and ever hath done even from the beginning for the Son of God is not the life and fulnesse of that faith or any particular act or opperation of it where our nature is not reckoned up together with him as one thence it is that it is called a dead faith i Iam. 2. 20. not having the life of Christ in it but the workes of the Law by which no flesh can be justified k Rom. 3. 20 and by which works the Apostle saith salvation cannot bee l Gal. 2. 16. for then man might boast m Eph. 2. 8 9. which he cannot in any case doe but where Christ is the life and fullnesse of the creature there are the workes and operations of the Son of God n Eph. 1 19 20 22 23. and without these works neither Abraham in offering Isaac nor any of his posterity can ever be saved and justified before God o Iam. 2. 14. 21. to 26. therefore he saith that Abraham was justified by workes for faith without works saith he is dead p Iam. 2. 20 because it is alone or as the word is by it selfe q Iam. 2. 17 that is to say is not the faith of union which alwaies lookes at God and man as one in Christ so that however some may say I have faith and thou hast workes r Iam. 2. 18 yet there is no faith without workes or works without faith for if there be faith which is meerly naturall yea that the Devils have it is never exempted from the workes or operations of the Devill and of the flesh and and if there be the works of the Sonne of God and of the Spirit they are never exempted from the faith of union of God and man in one subsistance So also there is a Baptisme and Washing that is naturall which men adorne themselves withall in the Worship of God which is manifold therefore put in the plurall number Baptisms s Heb. 6. 2. as mens minds varie this we see in the practise of these Indians amongst whom we live that in their Worship and Services used for the recovery of the sicke the Priest sprinckles the diseased person with cleane water many times in the act of their worship this is seen also in those wicked Jewes that had nothing but naturall operations to draw or to drive them rather to Johns Baptisme whom he calls a generation of vipers whom he upbraideth
in some thing and then in all things if I be not the same with you and you with me in all things that concern the grace of the Gospell such is that body which the Saints or Ministers of Christ doe beat downe which gives to every one the same image and forme by nature that it gives to any one namely that body of sin and of death which our Apostle complaines of m Rom. 7. 24. but in so complaining seeth it adorned with the glory and Lordship of Jesus Christ n Rom. 7. 25 for without this body of infirmitie the ornaments of the Son of God could never be put upon us for if we were not sin by nature there could be no appearing of his righteousnesse o 2 Cor. 5. 21. no more then a garment can be worne for ornament without a materiall body yea if we were not folly in our selves p 1 Cor. 3. 18. 19. no way could be for that fulnesse of the manifold wisdome of God to be exercised in us q Eph. 3. 10. if we were not weaknesse no appearance of his power upon us r 2 Cor. 21. 10. if we were not sorrow in our selves the joyes of salvation could not finde place in our hearts it we were not shame by nature his glory and honour could not be lifted up and advanced in us Å¿ Isa 61. 2. if we were not death no place for the life of the Son of God to make it selfe manifest t 2 Cor. 6. 9 10. so that if any deny himselfe any of those infirmities which mans nature is by sin subjected unto he denies unto himselfe likewise that long and beautifull white robe which is put upon all the Saints by Jesus Christ u Rev. 7. 9 10 13 14. and if we deny unto any of the Saints any office excellency or dignity in the house of God that others are sharers of and exercised in then do we also deny unto such that compleat body of infirmities that all by nature are wrapped up in x Eph. 2. 3. which is the very way of putting on all the precious ornaments and exercises of the Lord Jesus y Rom. 13. 14. therefore it is that in the dissolution of this earthly Tabernacle we have a building not made with hands but eternall in or of the heavens z 2 Cor. 5. 1 nor doe we desire to be unclothed but clothed upon that mortality may bee swallowed up of life that is we doe not desire our weaknesses and infirmities to be so anihilated as not to be for then there were no body whereupon the heavenly ornaments are to bee put out we desire to be so clothed upon that nothing but the truth power holinesse life and glory of the Kingdome of heaven may appeare upon us which is the swallowing up devouring or destruction of mortality by life a 2 Cor. 5. 4 of such nature is the ministration that is unrepentant being exercised according the office of our high Priest entred within the vaile yea into very heaven it selfe b Heb. 9. 24 Heb. 6. 20. which is after the order of Melchizedeck and all other waies of Priesthood and Ministration will find a time of repentance and change being onely after the order of Aaron c Heb. 7. 11. making difference in the creature of the dignity and office of the Son of God in the Church and so indeed speakes evill of dignities or deny and vilifie the one dignity that is not found but in the Son of God alone d Iude 8. which is only made manifest and multiplied in our nature e 1 Pet. 1. 1 2. which being lessened or vilified in any one is so in all for his seamlesse coat admits of no division but according to lot or proper and peculiar inheritance goeth whole and entire without the least fraction to whomsoever it fals f Psal 22. 18 John 19. 24. and hence it comes to passe that the Lord can never repent of change or alter this Priesthood and Ministrie because his whole mind and will is fully completed and perfected for ever in his Son in whom or in what point soever this oath office or Ministry appeareth g Mat. 3. 16 17. Iohn 17 18 2 Cor. 3 1 2 3 4 5 6. for the Son holds correspondency with the Father in all things h Ioh. 17. 21 22 23. insomuch that the Father may as well repent or change from being that which he is as to repent of or change this Oath and Ministrie therefore our Saviour saith unto Philip I and my Father are one i Iohn 14. 9 10. which this oath of interposition onely comprizeth who are never without the product and bringing forth of the spirit k 1 Ioh. 5. 7. But to conclude this point when it is said that God repenteth l Gen. 6. 6. we are to understand that he who by nature according to his creation was made in the Image yea was made the Son of God m Lu. 3. 38 insomuch that hee that was the Son of God Child of peace n Luk 10. 6 and Heire and Inheriter of life o Mut. 19. 29 is now changed yea that person that by creation was the Son of God p Luk. 3. 38 is now become the son of perdition q 2 Thes 2. 3 child of wrath r Eph. 2. 3. and inheriter of death Å¿ Rom. 8 6. and thus turning from God yea thus changing from righteousnesse unto sin t Eze. 18. 24. from life to death u Rom. 7. 9. from the image of God unto Satan x Isa 14. 12 13 14. making himselfe the very wickednesse and abomination of all the earth as those were in the days of Noah in whom this point of Gods repenting is taught and declared unto the world which indeed is the wickednesse and destruction of that old world v Gen. 6. 4 5 This repentance of change is really true not onely in change of action but of minde and will also and is in all points ever to be repented of in the way of that sonne of perdition even as it is also really true in that way of faith in the Sonne of God that he was made of no reputation * Phil. 2. 7. a curse a Gal. 3. 13. sin b 2 Cor. 5. 21 death c Ps 22. 15. a man of sorrowes d Isa 53. 3. a scorne e Ps 22. 6. 7 a proverbe f Ps 69. 11. a by-word g Ps 44. 14. a hissing h Lam. 2. 15 16. putting out of the lip a nodding of the head i Psal 22. 7. an abject k Psal 22. 6 a derision and shame of the people l Psal 119. 51. even he is changed or turned from that estate into all the glory m Ioh. 1 14 righteousnesse n 1 Cor. 1. 30 wealth o Col. 2. 3. peace p Eph. 2. 14 honour