âârist's offering up himself a Sacrifice to satisfie âââvine Justice and so to make up the breach that ãâã had made between God and Man and reconcile ãâã and Man together And this great and only ââcrifice we are in special manner to commemorate ãâã the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper from them ââârds of our Saviour Christ Do this in remembrance âââone Why even so the Passover and all the Sacrifices under the Ceremonial Law were instituted and âââââinted by God for a Remembrance that Christ ãâã to come in the flesh and die in the flesh to reâââââ fallen Man And here I will shew you the ãâã over and the Sacrifice both joyned together in ãâã Antitype or that which they signified unto us ãâã also the sanctifying purging nature and virtue âââââysical operation of it in 1 Cor. 5.7 Purge out âââââfore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump as ãâã unleavened For even Christ our passover is sacriââââ for us ââd as there was a Remembrance of Sin in the âââââfices to shew what an evil and dangerous thing ãâã and how contrary it is to the holy Nature of ãâã why even so there is a remembrance of sin ãâã Sacrament of the Lord's Supper to shew ãâã an evil there is in sin and also how contrary ãâã the Holy Nature of God. ãâã Sacrifice under the Law and the Sacrament ãâã the Gospel are like two great Looking ãâã in which Believers saw the deformity of ãâã in which they also see the great Love of ãâã poor sinful Dust and Ashes In the Glass under ãâã they saw that Christ was to come and be ofâââââ for sin and in our great Glass under the ãâã we see that Christ hath come and has âââââered up for sin Sin is such a hainous ââââvoking thing that nothing short of the ãâã precious Blood of Christ the spotless ãâã God could appease or extinguish the ãâã God that was kindled against sinners and expel the guilt and expiate sin and satisfie the Justice of God and justifie and atone them to God and purchase Eternal Life and Salvation for them at the price of his own precious Blood and copious Righteousness and Alsufficient Merits And he made up the Breach that sin did make between sinful man and that God who is of purer eyes then to behold iniquity with any approbation thereunto For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord And Christ received the wages that was due unto us sinning men and poor sinners receive the gift of God that was purchased by him For although God gives it yet Christ purchases it All the Sacrifices under the Law of Moses no nor all the good works nor pretended sacrifices under the Gospel they all cannot take away nor expiate the least vain sinful thought for all our Righteousnesses are all but filthy Rags Tho it is true we shall not be saved without Good Works and right Gospel Sacrifices yet we shall never be saved by nor for them for Christ saith Luke 17.10 So likewise ye when ye shall have done all these things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do Eph. 2.8 9. For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves for it is the gift of God No for Faith it self is not of our selves for it is the Gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast For if Man were to be saved by and for his own works he would be proud and make his boast of it For there is not a prouder person upon Earth in the account of God than a Pharisaical self-conceited righteous person is Pray see what is said of him in Prov. 30.12 13. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness There is a generation O how lofty are their eyes and their eye-lids are lifted up And in Isa 65.3 5. A people that provoked me to anger continually to my face that sacrificeth in gardens and burneth Incense upon Altars of brick The Prophet here prophesied of a Generation of pretended Christians Ay and of such as do look upon themselves to be the only Infallible holy Christians and that are Sacrificers in Gospel times Pray mind what he saith of them as followeth Which say stand by thy self come not near to me for I am more holier than thou It must needs be so when they count themselves the only Christians and all other to be Hereticks But see how God accepts these persons and their Sacrifices that are our Gospel Sacrificers viz. These are a smoak in my nose a fire that burneth all the day And no person is pure in his own eyes but the self-righteous person And I pray hear further what is said by our Saviour Christ of such a person Luke 18.10 11 12 13 14. Two men went up into the temple to pray the ãâã a Pharisee and the other a Publican the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself God I thank thee that I am not as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this Publican I fast twice in the week It may be that was on Wednesdays and Fridays I give tithes of all that I possess He thought himself Cock-sure of Heaven and did not so much as dream of stopping at Purgatory by the way But see what it all came to at last And the Publican standing afar off would not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven but snote upon his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted I say again That all the Sacrifices under the Law could not take away nor expiate sin for they were but figures of Christ the great and only Sacrifice that was to be offered up in due time to take away sin from the ungodly and make them holy Pray Sir observe with me these following Scriptures for further illumination Heb. 8.4 5 6 7. For if he were on earth That is Christ he should not be a priest seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law which serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things Mind These Sacrifices were but examples and shadows when they were in force and according to God's appointment before Christ abolished them of Heavenly things that was to come that was the fruit and effect or product of the heavenly things that were transacted between God the Father and Christ his Son in his Eternal Council with the Holy Ghost which proceeds from the Father and the Son in order to Man's Redemption As Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the Iabernacle for see saith he that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the Mount
will give fââ the life of the world that is that all Believers shouââ live Spiritually by the blessed fruits and effects whiââ is produced by Christs taking flesh upon him Tââ Jews they were offended at this Mystical Spiritual Doctrine of Christ because it was not given ãâã them to believe the Jews therefore strove amoâ themselves saying How can this man give us his fââ to eat as indeed well they might if it had bâ to be understood literally and properly as they âânally and vainly through unbelief did conceive ãâã imagin that the words was spoken Then Jesus ãâã unto them Verily verily I say unto you Except you the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood ye ãâã no life in you And in vers 60. there Christ's Dââples were stumbled and offended at this Doctrine saying of his Many therefore of his Disciples where had heard this said This is an hard saying who can hââ But now I pray Sir mind strictly the woââ our Saviour and you shall hear how plainly clearly he himself has expounded and unfolded his own meaning unto us of this eating his ãâã and drinking his blood in the 61 62 63. ãâã When Jesus knew in himself that his Disciples murââ at it he said unto them Doth this offend you whââ if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he ãâã fore it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh pââ nothing the words that I speak unto you they are and they are life As if our Blessed Lord and Saviour should said Do you think that I intend by ãâã âhat I have spoken unto you to cut and carve out âhe flesh of my real substantial and finite body ând give it unto you to eat And likewise broach âây material blood and let that out of my âeins and give it unto you to drink for if I should âo so it would not quicken you unto spiritual life ââ must be my Spirit that must do that and not my âesh for the flesh profiteth nothing But besides ââl that with what body must I suffer in and die ââ redeem the World in And with what body ââall I arise in from the dead And with what body ââall I ascend up into glory in where I was before âamely where I was before ever I assumed this marial finite body made of material flesh and blood â Act. 1.9 there is his Ascention and in Heb. 10.5 there âhis Body which God the Father prepared for him And again if Christ's substantial body be eaten ââd his real material blood be drunken literally in ãâã Sacrament of the Eucharist then consequentialââ must Christ's sinless spotless holy body see corruption which is Diametrically contrary to the ââly Word of God both in the Old Testament and ãâã New Psal 16.10 11. For thou wilt not leave my ãâã in hell neither wilt thu suffer thine holy One to see corruption Acts 2.26 27 31. Therefore did my heart âââyce and my tongue was glad moreover also my flesh ãâã rest in hope Because thou wilt not leave my soul in ãâã neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corâââion He seeing this before spake of the resurrection Christ that his soul was not left in hell neither his ãâã did see corruption Now Sir if this Doctrine yours of Transubstantiation in your sense be ãâã why then Christ the Holy one of God whose ââless nature was without the least Tincture of ãâã or any kind of inclination thereunto must see âââption ay and must be turned into corruption ãâã yea and that into the very worst sort of maââl corruption namely into Man's Excrements ânto Man's Dung and that as often as the ãâã saith the Mass For I pray you what does beâââe of what we do eat and drink Is it not turned corruption Ay and the Body that eats it too ãâã be turned into Corruption Meat is for the ãâã and the Belly for Meat but both are for âââption or Destruction And pray mind what âaviour saith of what we do eat in Matt. 15.17 âât ye yet understand that whatsoever entereth in at âouth goeth into the belly and is cast into the âââht I could be larger here as well as in most ââe rest of these points but I must consult breââor as I hope a publick good and leave the ãâã to expatiate upon it in his own mind thoÌ resolved to write the most part of the Scripââââ that I have occasion to quote at length and ââeatest reason for it is this because that it may ââentially fall into the hands of some perhaps ãâ¦ã keep one or look into it and for their sakes I do not repent my labour that this may put them upon getting the holy Bible and looking into it to see if these things be so or no Acts 17.11 These were more noble than those in Thessulonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so The Holy Scriptures are able to make persons wise unto salvation 2 Tim. 3.15 which is the greatest wisdom of all John 5.39 Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testifie of me Christ expresly commands us to search the Scriptures But your Church expresly forbids it Who shall we obey Christ who is Infallible or your Church which pretends to be so Again Our Saviour Christ has but one humane body and that is a finite body Heb. 4.15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin And therefore our Saviour's Body was not to see corruption because it never did see sin so as to be tainted in the least measure with it and therefore Christ could never have died had it not been for the sins of his people because the wages of sin is death And if Christ will take Believers sins upon him he must take the wages also that was due unto them And therefore it is said that he tasted death for every man that is for every man that ever did or that ever should believe in him But because his sin was by imputation and not inherent in his nature as ours is but only by imputation therefore tho he tasted death for every man and by that took the curse or sting that is in death away for all Believers yet his holy Body did not see corruption Death could not hold him because there was no sin in him but it was upon him by imputation as Sinners are made righteous even so Christ was made a sinner for as Sinners are made righteous by the Righteousness of Christ imputed unto them so Christ was made a Sinner by imputing our sins unto him but not by Contamination or Pollution but as a Surety for if Christ had had no more sin upon him than he had in him he could never have died it had been impossible for it would have been
shall be filled with his own ways Eighthly we may observe that altho this Mystery of Iniquity did begin to work even then in the Apostles day yet it was not to come to that full measure and degree of iniquity which it was to come unto until after his death that was not until the Man of Sin should be revealed Act. 20.29 30. Ninthly and lastly it is to be observed that the cause of God's sending this strong delusion unto them was for their abandoning and casting off the Gospel of God which tendered Life and Salvation by Christ's Righteousness unto them and following after lying vanities it was that which provoked God to inflict this sore judgment upon them so that they have eyes and see not and ears and hear not which may very aptly refer to this viz. that these persons have as great natural Gifts and Endowments as other persons have namely Sence Reason and Understanding with all the Intellectuals and Faculties that belong unto men as men but they are not suffered to make use of them upon Spiritual objects or occasions neither will they suffer themselves to make use of them in that way and manner as would most glorifie God and tend to the Salvation of their own souls their Consciences are seared with a hot Iron they have quite lost all Spiritual feeling for tho Sences Reason Understanding and all the Faculties do their work and office yet none of them are to be believed And who are blinder than those that will not see They are just like the Images which they do bow down unto and pray before if not worship them And they have no better Spiritual use of them than a condemned Malefactor has of the temporal use of his legs which only serve to carry him to the place of execution Nay give me leave to tell ye that they have no more use of their Sences Reason and Understanding in Spiritual things than these very Images have which they adore of natural Sences Reason and Understanding ãâ¦ã least for look into Psal 115.4 5 6 7 8. Their Idols are silver and gold the work of mens hands they have mouths but they speak not eyes have they but they see not they have ears but they hear not noses have they but they smell not they have hands but they handle not feet have they but they walk not neither speak they through the throat Pray mark the winding up They that make them are like unto them so is every one that trusteth in them First they have mouths but they must not preach the pure Doctrine of the Gospel of God therewith 2. They have eyes but they must not see the way to Life and Salvation by the Righteousness and Merits of Jesus Christ alone with them 3. They have ears but they hear not That is they must not nor will not hear the Preaching of the Gospel with them 4. They have Noses But they must not smell any savour in the holy ways and pure worship of God with them them 5. They have hands but they must not believe them when they tell them that the Bread or Wafer is but Bread and is not flesh nor a material body 6. They have feet But they must not walk to the House of God with them but they will walk to the Idols Temple with them 7. And lastly They have Throats but they must not pray nor speak unto God through them in a right manner according to his will and mind but they pray with them unto Saints departed and preach up the Infallibility of the Church and the Doctrine of Implicite Faith with and to it And thus they come to have eyes and see not and ears and hear not and so are like unto the Images they make and pray to and before and by this means the holy Bible cometh to be a sealed Book unto them Isa 29.10 11 12. And now I leave any one to judg whether this Man of Sin that sitteth in the Temple of God and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped can be the great Turk or whether it can be meant of any sort of Protestants whatsoever for they do not assume any such universal power and dominion or Soveraignty over Kings and Rulers Kingdoms and Nations and over mens souls and consciences But if the Turk be not Antichrist the Man of Sin nor the Protestants then pray who is Antichrist my answer is this viz. I will name no body but I will refer ye to the Scriptural Characters that I have observed and let it be compared to some mens Office and Offices and to their Faith Doctrine Worship Discipline Manners and Practices in the world and they shall answer for me and tell you plainly who Antichrist the Man of Sin is for the Holy Ghost in the Sacred Scriptures have drawn his Effigies or Picture so clear and conspicuous that any man of Gospel-sense or that hath but the use of natural reason may wink with both eyes and tell who the Antichrist is and where he sits for indeed the Holy Scriptures have written his name in his forehead so that we may read the very Scriptures that relate unto him in his Office Doctrines Worship Discipline Practice and Manners as clear and as plain as we may read his Office Doctrines Worship Discipline Practice and Manners by and in the Holy Scriptures Rev. 17.5 6. with which Scripture I shall conclude this Digression viz. And upon her forehead was a name written Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the Saints and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus Now he that runneth may read who this Man of Sin the Antichrist is if he be not wilfully blind if they will but give themselves leave to adhere to sense and reason I have made a tedious digression by which I have gone a little out of my way but it was to meet with Antichrist the Man of Sin and his Adherents which are all out in the Wilderness with the Woman or deserted Church and Idolatrous worship which doth belong unto him and doth attend upon him God awaken the Kings of the Earth and open their eyes that they also may see and know who this the Antichrist is Rev. 17.16 17 18. that he may ride them no longer But now my Dear Friend although I have taken a very long turn with Antichrist yet I remember my promise unto you viz. That I would meet you again upon our old Topic or Point of Doctrine that we were discoursing upon before I met with Antichrist the Man of Sin namely the Doctrine of Transubstantiation for I have not done with that as yet for I have more considerations to offer against it for the confuting of it the first shall be this viz. Christ saith in Rev. 1.18 I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Pray mistake not for as Christ was