man for I will demand of thee and answer thou me And so he goes on to reprove Job of his ignorance of God and in Chap. 40. 3. Job answers the Lord and saith bebold I am vile what shall I answer thee I will lay my hand upon my mouth once have I spoken but I will not answer yea twice but I will proceed no further and in Chap. 42. 3. he acknowledges his error and ignorance of God and answers the Lord saying who is he that hideth counsell without knowledge therefore have I uttered that I understand not things too wonderfull for me which I knew not but now hear I beseech thee and I will speak I have often heard of thee by the hearing of the care but now mine eyes seeth thee wherefore I abhor my selfe in dust and ashes Thus did Job in his life time see the King the Lord of Hosts his Redeemer standing upon and was a conqueror of that earth the first Adam which he first lived in the Image of till the second Adam appeared as at the last day of the first Adam in him which he before said should come and waâ— now come to him For now doe mine eyes see thee Rosewell Pray read a little further and ye shall find that God saith his freinds had not spoken right of him as his servant Job had done and again this cannot be meant of his seeing his Redeemer for now â—is 〈…〉 ynes and reines was not consumed Coppin 'T is true Job never spoke the things that was right of the Lord till he said Now doe mine eyes see thee and this his friends could not say for they had not seen the Lord as his servand Job had therefore though after his skin wormes had destroyed his body yet in his flesh he did see God this skin was the good esteem he had of his own righteousnesse the pride and glory of his own flesh which he was stripped of for boasting in it and so saith Job He hath stripped me of all my glory and taken the Crown from off my head and the body that must be destroyed was the body of sin and corruption which was within him and is in all men for a time while they live in the corrupt state of the old Adam and the wormes are the terrors of the troubled minde which as Troops of Robbers feeds upon the flesh of the earthly man and Job had many in his flesh For my flesh saith he is cloathed with Wormes my skin is broken and become loathsome the arrows of the Almighty sticks fast in me his Archers compasse me round about and he cleaveth my reins in sunder Here was the destruction of Jobs body in his life time all his comforts were taken from him and all those things were fulfilled upon him and appeared in him and yet saith he after all this I shall see my Redeemer and so he did foâ— when through the manifestation of God to him his soul within him was revived his knowledge and understanding enlightened and his reins with the girdle of saith strengthened then saith he Now do mine eyes see thee and I am no more my self but a new man in thee for now is my change come therefore cannot be meant of the body after a naturall death as you say it is Robison Of all Religions this is most damnable to say there is no Resurrection of the body Coppin I denie not any thing which any man can prove to be true from Scripture Rosewell I prove a corporall Resurrection of our bodies from the example of Christs Resurrection of his Body Coppin That was a signe to us of our rising with Christ to a newness of life both toward God and man Rosewell I denie the Resurrection of Christs body to be a signe Coppin You say the corporal Resurrection of Christ is no sign and yet you say againe it doth signifie the Resurrection of our bodies but the Scripture saith not so but saith That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newnesse of life and so will he change our vile bodies here and make them like unto his glorious bodie by subduing all things to himself in us which is the spiritualty and glory of our bodies Captain Smith We grant you that Coppin Then give me leave Christ being born of the Virgin Mary Was it also a signe to us or not Robison Was it but a signe to us and no substance Câ—ppin I doe not say so but I say it was a signe which I prove Isa. 7. 14. Therefore the Lord himselfe shall give you a signe behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call his name Emanuel Now what did this signifie but that as the Virgin did bring forth Christ in our nature flesh blood and bones so should Christ bring forth himselfe in every one of us in Spirit and truth Gal. 4. 14. My little Children saith Paul of whom I travell in birth againe untill Christ be formed in you not as a bodie flesh and bones in us for that were to make many Christs as for every man one but he shall be formed in us in Spirit and power Rosewell I doe not believe but Christ is here said to be a signe but what is the thing signified that King Ahaz should overcome his enemies and that the Scepter should not depart from Juda till Shilo come Coppin That is till Christ come Spirituall in us or else what benefit is it to us to look back upon the birth and death of Christ as signes and doe not see the things signified For a wicked and adulterous generatiâ—n seeketh after a signe and never looks on the thing signified which is the birth death and Resurrection of Christ in them which should all be made manifest in our mortall flesh and so saith Paul I doe always beare about in the bodie the dying also of the Lord Jesus that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our bodie and now doe I rejoyce in my sufferings for you and do fill up the measure of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh for his bodies sake which is the Church whereof I Paul am made a Minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you to fullfill the word of God even the mysterie which hath been hid from all ages and now is made manifest to his Saints to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mysterie which is Christ in you the hope of glory CHAP. VIII The Mystery of the Trinity in relation to man of the state of Reprobation when how long and how ROsewell I desire you may go on How is Christ in you the hope of glory Coppin Tell me what do you mean by Christ and then I will tell you how he is Christ the hope of glorie in man Rosewell I do mean by Christ the Son of God
to be burnt is the devil death and hell with all mans works good and bad that he hath made his foundation to build upon besides Christ whether it be gold or precious stone wood hay or stubble all shall be burnt up and he shall suffer losse but he himself shall be saved so as by fire which fire is the Lord and the stream of brimstone that kindles it the breath of the Lord to burn up consume blast and weather whatsoever is not of God in man but man shall be saved and so saith the Lord Furie is not in me but if the wicked set bryers and thorns against me in battel I will go through them and consume them to together but this is all the fruit thereof to 〈…〉 e away their sins CHAP. V. Christ coming in the Clouds the place and manner of his Throne how he as a man body flesh and bones is not in a place above the Skies that the Christ of God is no where contained FRench But Christ shall come in flaming fire at the last day at the end of the world for he shall descend from heaven in the Clouds with a shout with the voice of the Arch-Angel at the sound of a Trumpet and he shall sit upon a Throne and before him shall be gathered all Nations Coppin All this I know and see to be now for now is he upon his Throne and have all Nations before him and ever had though you may not see it till it be manifest in you therefore you should define what is meant by the Throne and his siting upon it and the place where it stands and the Clouds in which he comes for all people do believe that there are such things but you should declare what and when and where it is that people may know it else how are you a Teacher of the people if you know not those things French It is a Throne that shall stand upon the earth and the clouds are the clouds of heaven above overhead in which he shall come where we shall be caught up to meet him Coppin But define this Throne what it is made of and the manner of it how it stands else you speak the things you know not and that which you have not seen nor heard from the Lord but from your own imagination as appeares for the Scripture saith His Throne is in heaven And how is it then on earth if heaven be above overhead as you say it is But I do believe he is come and coming dailie and do set up his Throne in the hearts of men where he is judging and condemning all things that is contrarie to himself and when you see it to be in you then you shall acknowledge it also in the mean time you must be silent French I do be lieve he shall come from above in the clouds overhead with thousands of Angels as a man in a bodily shape with flesh blood and bones for Job saith he shall see him with those eyes stand upon the earth Coppin And Job in his life time did see him stand upon the earth in him as he confesseth in his last Chapter For now do mine eyes see thee saith Job And if you do but read Job from the beginning to the end and understand what you read you may see of Jobs state and condition what it was both before his change and after his change French You abuse the Scriptures and turns it which wayes your list into an Allegorie as a Nose of Wax Coppin The Scriptures are an Allegorie and a great mysterie For great is the mysterie of godlinesse and there is a spiritual meaning to be understood in it all along for the sum of the whole Scripture is included in Law and Gospel the first and second Covenant as in Gal. 3. 24. speaking of the Son of the Bond-woman and the Son of the Free-woman which things saith Paul is an Allegorie for these are the two Covenants the one from Mount Sinai which gendereth to bondage and under which all men are Bondmen the other which is Agar from Mount Sion or heavenlie Jerusalem which is Sarah and under which we are all Freemen for Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all and this also is an Allegorie and a great mysterie Capt. Harrison Ye pervert the Scriptures and are a Blasphemer and I will prove you so Coppin What is that you call Blasphemy Capt. Harrison I am not to tell you now speak not to me Coppin If you speak to me I must speak to you But Sir How will you prove me a Blasphemer by the Law of God or the Law of man Capt. Harrison First I 'le dispute with you and do it by the Law of God and then I 'le take another course Coppin Then it seemes what you cannot doe one way you will endeavour to doe another Lievtenant Scot There is no body here that intends any hurt against you to intrap you French But he denies Christs body to be in Heaven above and that is horrible blasphemy Coppin Prove that Christ is now in Heaven above over head as you say in a body of flesh blood and bones and that he shall so come for the Scripture saith flesh and blood shall not enter into Heaven and though we have known Christ after the flesh yet henceforth known we him no more so French I prove it in Acts 1. that he did ascend up to Heaven in a body of flesh blood and bones 8. Verse But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you c. And when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight and while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men stood by them in white apparel which also said ye men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up into Heaven this same Jesus which is taken up from you into Heaven shall so a come in like manner as you have seen him go into Heaven And this is up above overhead and not within man as Mr. Coppin would have it Coppin The Disciples here had but a carnall knowledg of Christ for the Spirit was not yet come upon them because Christ was not yet ascended and they beheld him onely as he was talking with them in his suffering body which he for that time assumed to himselfe to appeare to them in to confirm them of his resurrection and his being taken up in a cloud was his swift vanishing out of their sight into the Spirit from that fleshly appearance as formerly he had done the doores being shut and in which they were to see him no more and were also reproved for so looking after him for why stand ye gazing ye men of Galilee up into Heaven this same Jesus as you have seene him goe so in like manner shall you see him come that is he grew invisible to their carnall eye and they
Christ did offer for his owne sins is a blasphemer Coppin Is that all you can say if it be you were best goe back to Schoole againe where you learn'd this and learne some more Rosewell I have enough and that you shall see if I had but your book here Coppin Why did you not bring it with you seeing you can say nothing without book I said you wanted help and so 't is true CHAP. VII Of Christ the Resurrection from the first Adam to the second proved with the manner how and the time when what body it shall arise and from what death also how it was signified by what and when ROsewell He that from Scripture doth labour to perswade men that there is no Resurrection of the body to be exspected and that no body shall be raised at the last day he is a perverter of Scripture and a venter of damnable errors but you are one ergo Coppin I denie your minor therefore prove it Rosewell I prove it thus 1 Cor. 15. That as Jesus Christ was raised from the dead so all they which have been are and shall be shall be raised up at the last day which you denie Coppin I doe grant the Resurrection of the body and doe not denie it though you say I doe Rosewell You did denie that the words in Job did signifie any Resurrection of the bodie and also that in 1 Cor. 15. which I can prove Coppin Is that Resurrection a mysterie or no mysterie Rosewell Yes a great mysterie and such a one as I do believe you do not know Coppin If you do know pray declare it Rosewell I am not minded to declare it to you at this time Coppin Then I will tell you what it is Friends and Brethren I do own a Resurrection according to the Scriptures and such a Resurrection as you all must partake of before ye can see the Kingdome of God 1 Cor. 15. There is a Resurrection spoken of by the Apostle which is the Resurrection of Christ and of our rising in and with him from the state of the first Adam to the state of the second Adam but there were some then as well as now that did think the Apostle had meant carnallie the rising again of the same bodie of flesh and bones and therefore did ask the question with what bodies they shall arise not knowing what the Dead was nor the life it should be raised to and how God giveth it a bodie as pleaseth him Now to prove this Resurrection Christ saith I am he which was alive and was dead and am alive again and lives for evermore Rosewell Do you hear he saith Christ was alive and dead Coppin There is nothing can be said to die but first it must be alive nor made to live but it must first die Now Christ is he which was alive was dead and is alive again the first that was living and the last that lives In John 11. 21. Martha comes to Christ and saith Lord if thou had'st been here my Brother had not died Christ said Thy Brother shall rise againe I know said Martha he shall rise at the Resurrection on the last day Jesus said unto her I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and he that lives and believes in me shall never die Believest thou this Now she had Faith to believe that he was Christ the Son of God but could not believe the truth of her Brothers Resurrection in Christ therefore did-Christ blame her saying Had'st thou but believed thou should'st have seen the glory of God John 11. 40. Now if Christ be the Resurrection and the Life then there is nothing in this Resurrection but what is himself for he is the dead raised the raiser of this dead and the life raised too as he saith I am the Resurrection and the Life Now take notice that I do not denie any thing of Christ all this while but do advance him and also our Resurrection in him as the Scripture saith We are raised up together with him to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and this is the mysterie of the Resurrection which you say is a great mysterie Now saith the Apostle to those carnal enquirers that knew not this mysterie of the Resurrection but asked with what bodies they should arise Thou fool saith the Apostle that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die and thou sowest not that body that shall be but bare grain it may chance of wheat or some other grain so it is not saith be the same body which thou sowest that is raised but God giveth it a body as pleaseth him And why then say you that the same bodie shall be raised again Now Paul to prove this spiritual Resurrection tells us that there is one glorie of the Sun another glorie of the Moon and another of the Stars and one Star differs from another Star in glorie so also is the Resurrection of the dead it is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption 't is sown in dishonor it is raised in glorie it is sown in weaknesse it is raised in power and all in us that I may know him saith Paul and the power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable to his death if by any means I might attain unto the Resurrection of the dead for which I presse forwards saith Paul So that this Resurrection is to be within you and you are to know it while you live in this bodie for it is your rising from faith to faith from glorie to glorie as from one administration of God to another Behold saith Paul I shew you a mysterie we shall not all sleep but we shall be changed that is changed from the state of the first Adam to the state of the second Adam and so he tells us It was sown in Adam it was raised in Christ it was sown a natural body and it is raised a spiritual body even as you see your change for the first man Adam is of the earth earthy a living soul the second is the Lord from heaven a quickening spirit and as is the earthly so are they that are earthly and as is the heavenly so are they that are heavenly wherefore examine your selves and you will now find it so for you are all of you either in the state of the first Adam or in the state of the second Adam and your change is from the first to the second that as you have born the image of the earthly so you shall bear the image of the heavenlie for there is a bodie natural and a bodie spiritual all which are proper to us in this life And thus Paul tells us of the Resurrection in a mysterie Now take notice that I do not denie any Resurrection in all this which by any man may be proved but I do declare to you the mysterie of this spiritual Resurrection
which I know and which you say is a mysterie Secondly consider the death you are to be raised from and that is the death that all men died in the state of the first Adam and do still die by reason of sin from which death all shall be raised to life in Christ the second Adam Now the wages of sin is death and that death which sin doth bring on man is the same death that Christ doth raise him from For you who were dead in sins and trespasses hath he quickned and if ye be risen with Christ seek the things which are above where Christ siteth at the right hand of God which is spoken in the Presentence and not in the Future and cannot be meant of the rising of our corporal bodies after laid in the grave which I question whether those that talk so much of that do yet know this spiritual Resurrection which I hereby declare to you all and if any one can tell us of another Resurrection of the same body of flesh blood and bones again as it was let him declare that as I have declared this for I denie nothing which by any other can be proved but the Scripture saith That flesh and blood shall not inherit the Kingdome of God neither doth corruption inherit incorruption therefore blessed and happy are all they which have their part in this first Resurrection for of such the second death hath no power but they live and raign with Christ Thirdly As there is a bodie to be raised so there is also a bodie to be destroyed and that is the bodie of sin and death which is to die and no more to live For if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousnesse that is of Christ And in Rom 6. there is a Resurrection from sin to newnesse of life spoken of by the Apostle that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorie of the Father even so should we walk before him in newnesse of life for if we have been planted together in the likenesse of his death we shall be also in the likenesse of his Resurrection knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the bodie of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin Rosewell 2 Tim. 2. 18. But there were false Prophets among them as there are false Teachers among you which say the Resurrection is past already and so bring in damnable errors to overthrow the saith and we see there were some in the Apostles daies which did deny a corporal Resurrection Coppin Do you instance that Scripture as to a corporal Resurrection which speaks nothing of it you do add to that Scripture the word corporal and you know the punishment of him that addeth thereto or diminisheth therefrom Again I do not say the Resurrection is past already for it is not yet come to you nor many more therefore your Scripture is to no purpose against me for I say it is to come as well as alreadie come and that it shall continue until the Day of Judgment be ended or till all that shall be are raised and set free in this spiritual Resurrection from death hell or the grave in which they lie imprisoned and buried by reason of sin but the Sadduces who denie the Resurrection hold there is neither Angel nor Spirit and that do not I. Rosewell I shall prove the Resurrection of the body from Job 19. Where Job saith He shall see God with those eyes at the last day 1 Cor. 15. Paul saith If the dead rise not then is our preaching vain and your faith is vain and you are yet in your sins And Job saith Though wormes destroy his bodie yet in this flesh in this bodie shall I see God which doth clearlie prove a corporal Resurrection but I shall give him rope till night Coppin Add not to the Scripture for there is no such bodily Resurrection spoken of as you declare 1 Cor. 15. 12. so on pray see friends Paul doth not speak of a corporal Resurrection but tells them of the Resurrection of the Dead and saith That if Christ be not risen then all our Preaching and Believing is in vain and we are yet in our sins Clearlie intimating that the Resurrection of Christ doth assure them of their being raised from sin to walk with God in newnesse of life For saith he you are sown a natural body but you are raised a spiritual body and a spirituall bodie is not flesh and bones therefore not the same bodie as you say it is and would have it to be Rosewell There shall be eyes hands and feet Coppin That there shall be eyes hands and feet you are yet to prove Rosewell Job saith He shall see God with those eyes and that in this his flesh he shall see God Againe the Scripture saith That they which are alive and them which are dead shall be raised and all of them shall meet the Lord only this corruptible must put on incorruptible and this mortall must put on immortalitie Again the bodies of Believers are the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6. and the Temples of Jesus Christ therefore the same bodies shall be raised at the last day Coppin You also bring Job to prove a Corporal Resurrection of flesh blood and bones and that this Resurrection and seeing God with those eyes was not to be till after the death of his visible bodie as you say but I say here is a mysterie and a spiritual sense to be understood in these words Job 19. where he saith I know my Redeemer liveth and that at the last day I shall sâ—e him stand upon the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my selfe and mine eyes shall behold and not anothers though my reins be consumed within me But to understand this you must know how he is the Redeemer and when also what is meant by the last day and the earth which he shall stand upon and what eyes shall behold him c. Now his Redeemer was the Lord and did then live in Job though he knew it not that he should see him at the last day is a truth but what this last day was and the manner how he should see him that he knew not till the time came that he saw him in himselfe therefore you shall find that Job was then in darkness and under much affliction uttering words without knowledg for which he was reproved first by the Prophet Elihu secondlie by the Lord thirdlie he confest it first the Prophet reproved him Job 33. Chap. 35. 16. Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vaine he multiplieth words without knowledg Job 38. 1. 2. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said who is this that darkeneth counsell by words without knowledg gird up now thy loynes like a
to God glory in the highest And O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those which bring tydings of peace and say to Sion thy God raigneth thy warfare is accomplished and thy sin is pardoned and this Gospel did Christ preach and command to be preached to every creature under heaven as the work of his Ministerie Rosewell He doth maintain the salvation of all and doth condemn others which do not so you may plainly see now how you are misled and I hope you are all abundantly satisfied in it if it were not to give satisfaction to some I would not have put my self to this trouble to have discoursed with such a man in whose forehead Blasphemy is written in Capital Letters he that runs may read it Coppin Seeing you cannot tell how to call me bad enough as you think therefore I will give you a little more before you go and catch what you can that is that no man can be assured of his own salvation except he see the same salvation in the same Saviour for all men as well as for himself which is to love his Neighbour as himself Rosewell Better and better Coppin For Jesus Christ did die and pay a price for all men one as well as another and if there be but a few men saved and the greatest part damned to eternitie as you say there is what assurance then can there be to any for all were sinners and if there were but one man to be so damned how could any man assuredly know except he believe this but that he himself might be that one man Rosewell Blessed be God which doth so discover him to us his Elder Brother which went before him was more subtil not to discover those Blasphemies which lay hid in him but in you the devil appears in his colours and in his Stage-play terms Coppin I have not yet said any evil of you though you are pleased to raile at me for speaking the truth freelie Rosewell It is not judging nor railing to call a Blasphemer a Blasphemer though I will not deny but there may be something spoken of a weak Brother and also that Scripture in the Rom. by you mentioned when he speaks of a remnant and that they shall be grafted in again and whereas you say that all shall be saved Matth. 22. 14. Many are called but few are chosen I am sorry I must be so brief but straightened in my body the truth is his lungs are better then mine but I hope must here are satisfied in what hath been here stoken Robison We are well satisfied pray God keep us from this damnable Doctrine Coppin It remaines damnable to all that believe it not for though it be a truth that God will save all men yet till man doth see this salvation within him there is no satisfaction unto him but he still remains only as one called with the multitude that shall be saved but being not yet chosen he remains as one unsaved until his time appointed comes that he see himself saved which will then be his choice or election to the faith by the spirit of adoption so that many are called but few are chosen but the called shall all be chosen for it is written That the promise of salvation is to all that are afar off and as many as the Lord shall call Acts 2. 39. CHAP. XII Of the Day of Judgment and all mens coming to it with the time when the place where the manner how the matter judged and for what ROsewell You say we preach damnation and so do cast men downe we do preach it to such as do go on in their sins and live and die in their sins that hell is their portion and as for thousands which die in their infancie the corruption of their natures is enough to damn them in hell to all eternity I can but hint at those things indeed if we did preach only damnation we were too blame but when we do Preach comfort to Believers we preach damnation to unbelievers as Christ saith He that believeth shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned at the Day of Judgement Rom. 2. who after their hardnesse of heart treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God who will render to every man according to his deeds to them that are contentious and obey not the truth indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish to every soule of man which doth evill to the Jew first and also to the Gentile Coppin Sir you have run through many words of wrath and judgment but nothing is proved by you what it is nor when it is and whereas you say there is a day of wrath and judgment I doe acknowledge the same and that it is both to Jewes and Gentiles and all that obey not the truth but whereas you also say that some Jewes which are dead already shall not be grafted in againe I denie for the promise that they should come in was then made for all the stiff-necked Jewes that were also then and before living though their bodies fell in the wilderness yet their Spirits are living and shall again be grafted in When the earth shall be full of the knowledg of God and though you from Rom. 2. doe say they are under wrath you doe not from thence prove that it shall abide on them for ever and ever now I say that that man which is under wrath must there remaine till the Lord Jesus doth come to him to manifest himselfe in him to turne his wrath away from him and so judg that in him for wrath which is for wrath and that for mercy which is for mercy but because you have not declared what this day of wrath and judgment is I will for a day of judgment there is in which all men shall be judged and receive according to their deeds and if there be more then one day of judgment which I shall shew you then doe you declare it for I denie nothing which can be proved by any man from Scriptute Now the Scripture saith there is judgment appointed for all men as 't is written It is appointed for all men once to die and after that the judgment and this death is adying into sin and trespasses for the wages of sin is death which none can be delivered from but by judgment and the Lord Jesus is to be the Judg of all For the Father judgeth no man but hath commited all judgment to the Son who will not judg by the sight of the eye nor hearing of the eare but will judg righteous judgment and Christ saith for judgment am I come into this world and now saith he is the judgment of this world is come now shall the Prince of this world be cast out and as it began then so it is not ended yet but goeth on still and shall continue so long as there is any sin death
in due time it shall be manifest to all for there is but the want of faith in men to believe it which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen by which all men are assured and draw nigh unto God which in due time shall be manifest to all men Now if this Spirit of Faith and faithfull Witness the Lord Jesus thus manifest in men for the salvation of their soules will not keep men from licentiousness there is nothing will for which seriously consider the Apostles words in Titus 2. 11. We were wicked and sinfull saith he as well as others but when the grace of God which bringeth salvation to all men had appeared to us teaching us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly and righteously in this present world speaking evill of no man for we our selves also were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures living in malice and envie and hating one another as well as others but after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercie he saved us how why by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy Ghost and so saith Peter see that you lay aside all malice guile and hipocrisies and envyings and evill speakings and as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby if so be you havâ— tasted that the Lord is gracions CHAP. XVII The complaint of Ministers to Magistrates against those that Preach without Orders from the Vniversitie the dutie of Magistrates not to forbid any but to reprove such complainers AGaine you say you would have men learn and study the Scriptures but not to Preach of them but sure that is for feare your trade of Preaching should goe downe and you to keep it up will cry out to the Magistrates to forbid and suppress all that declare any thing of the love of God to their soules and have not the like Orders from the Universities as you have concerning which read Numbers 11. there was Moses a Magistrate of the Lord and the Lord commanded him to gather unto him seventy of the men of Israell to assist him in the work of the Lord and to bring them up to the Tabernacle where they should receive the Spirit and to prophesie Now there were two men which did not come up to the Tabernacle as the rest did but tarried behind in the Camp and there received the Spirit and Prophesied whereof complaint was made to Moses of them saying Eldad and Medad doe Prophesie in the Camp my Lord Moses forbid them why saith Moses enviest thou for my sake I would all the Lords people were Prophets and that he would powre his Spirit upon them though they came not up to the Tabernacle yet having the Spirit let them prophesie So now if any man do declare any thing of God which hath not been at the Universitie woe he is immediatelie cried out against to the Magistrate as a blasphemer to be forbidden but God is not tied to place nor persons nor learning it is not your your Schools will make you Ministers of the Gospel no it is the Spirit of the Lord that doth make a Minister of the Gospel and it was the Spirit that made Christ a Minister for saith he the Spirit of the Lord is upon me therefore will I preach glad tydings of the Gospel and as everie man hath received the Spirit so let them administer without any forbiding Now you Magistrates you are set up for the punishment of evill doers and for the praise of them that doe well but are you like that godly man Moses a Magistrate of the Lords to discern the good which is to be praised and the evill which is to be punished and so to doe justice and righteousness to countenance Godliness if you were you would fordid none to Preach that speaks their experience of the things of God but would incourage all men and wish all the Lords people were Prophets and that he would powre his Spirit upon them and so like Moses reprove any that would have them forbid and then you would appear to be Magistrates of the Lord as Moses was and to doe the worke of God as Moses did for which the Lord instruct you all CHAP. XVIII A childs condition is Christs Kingdome their coming to him his hand laid on them they blessed by him of his arm to all men and when AGaine there is one thing more which you have said and that I must open That is you say that thousands of Children are now in hell for their originall sin which is a trouble to many people to heare such things asserted therefore what the Lord may discover to me at this time concerning this thing that will I declare to you That when the Lord Jesus would declare unto his disciples who were subjects fit for the Kingdome of God he takes a little child in his armes and sets him in the midst of them saying except you become as this child you cannot enter into the Kingdome of Heaven that is to become a child in the knowledg of things below Christ to know no more sin nor divell then a child doth and to be as meek and as humble as innocent and as harmlesse as a child is now Christ tells them they must be borne againe into a childs condition that is to be little even as nothing in their owne wisdome and not to know themselves able to act themselves forth in any thing neither in thought word or deed but in all things to be acted by another even God and this Spirituall birth Nicodemus a Ruler among the Jewes was ignorant of saying unto Christ How can a man be borne when he is old can he enter the second time into his Mothers womb and be born no saith Christ not so but except you be borne of the Spirit of Regeneration and the new birth and so become as a little child to know no evill sin nor divell nor any thing of selfe wisdome knowledge or righteousness which he was concieved in by that Mother the flesh or carnall mind but to be as one dead in all old things borne by that Mother and liveing againe in a new life to behold all things made new in him and Christ knew that a little child was the fitest subject he could compare a soule unto whereby he might know himselfe a subject fit for the Kingdome of God free from all sin Againe there were some that brought little children unto Christ that he should touch them and his Disciples reproved those that brought them and Christ said suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the Kingdome of God this Scripture I know is brought by the Ministers to prove the baptizeing of children with water though I denie
Thine hand shall finde out all thine enemies thy right hand shall finde out those that hate thee thou shalt make them as a fiery Oven in the time of thine anger the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath and the fire shall devoure them There is no man so wicked nor so righteous in himself but the Lord will find him out and will make him as an Oven in which he will kindle his fire to burn up the briers and thorns to wit mans sins and iniquities which man is full of and against which the fire of his anger is revealed that he may devoure them but not man for all mans works shall be burnt and he himself shall be saved so as by fire as it is written Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated though they tumbled both in one bellie Jacob is the good even the spirit Esau is the evil even the flesh and everie one hath this Jacob and Esau within them for a time but Esau which is flesh shall be burnt by Jacob which is the spirit the flesh shall be destroyed but the spirit saved and so saith the Lord the house of Jacob shall be a fire and the house of Esau shall be for stubble and they shall kindle in them and devoure them and there shall be nothing left of the house of Esau for the Lord hath spoken it and anger is not in me saith the Lord against the persons of men but if they set briers and thorns in my way against me I will pass through them and burn them up by this shall the iniquitie of Jacob be purged and this shall be the fruit thereof to take away their sins that the Lord may dwell therein and saith the Prophet I saw the Lord upon his Throne high and lifted up and his Train fill'd the Temple and behold an Angel came with a live coal in his hand which he had from the Altar and he laid it on my mouth and said Loe this hath touched thy lips and thine iniquitie is taken away and thy sin is purged so God is said to sit in his Temple man-like a Refiner of silver to purge away the dross and tyn and to destroy all together for ever But while this fire is a kindling in man so long is man full of the smoak thereof that he is not able to look into his own Temple to behold the glory of the Lord until his indignation be overpast and so it is written the Temple was filled with smoak from the glorie of God and from his power and no man was able to enter into the Temple till the seven Plagues of the seven Angels were fulfilled and then his wrath being over the fire being quenched his sins purged and the Oven man being cleansed of all the fuel and the ashes he shall return into his Tabernacle in peace he shall visit his habitation and shall not sin he shall not be afraid to look into his own heart but shall possesse himself with joy and with peace for all sin and iniquitie shall be done away and then the Lord alone shall be exalted in his owne Temple man and man in the Lord for ever and ever Captaine Harrison Is there any man without sin Paul saith He was compassed with a bodie of sin and death Coppin The bodie of sin and death was to be destroyed and he to be without sin and though Paul was sanctified and justified in the spirituall part or new man yet he was subject to sin so far as he was in the flesh as all men are which is still waring against the spirit till the spirit hath overcome it Gaman Let me speak now c. Coppin Let him speak Robison We cannot stay I have no patience Coppin Then the Lord grant you patience if you have none Captaine Smith You had better take a day to your selfe Mr. Gaman Gaman Well I see you Priests are all carnal and your weapons are not spiritual seeing you cannot deal with this man therefore go you and your Priests together Coppin If the Presbyterians Sect have done then Anabaptists may begin and take your day also for though you are one against another yet I see you will both joyne together against me and this makes good that Scripture there 's Ephraim against Manasseh and Manasseh against Ephraim but both against Judah yet point your day when you will CHAP. XX The malicious and illegal proceedings of some Ministers and Magistrates of Kent against Richard Coppin in the City of Rochester with his Commitment to Prison how and by whom THe Disputes being ended and the Ministers not relieved but having suffer'd in their principles and losing many of their Hearers they to regaine them againe have with themselves and some men called Justices of the Peace Members of their Churches had several private consultations together how they might doe to dismisse me from thence of preaching any more to the people for which through their false information they obtained a Warrant against me from the Committee of Kent but I was then at London and having notice of it did neverthelesse appeare to the Warrant being willing to answer to any thing that should be laid to my charge being also cleare and innocent in my owne spirit of any thing that I had said or done contrarie to any Law of God or man and I being in my lodging at Rochester on the Eve of the Sabbath at night intending to preach on the morrow came an Officer of the Souldierie unto me from Captaine Smith a Captain of the Companie there quartering that I should come before him into whose hands the Warrant was committed and whose Order was by the Warrant that I must not preach on the morrow but to continue his Prisoner till Munday onlie I had liberty in the meane time to go to my lodging but the Sabbath being come on the morrow and the people assembled together at the Cathedral according to their former custome I came amongst them but a Guard of Souldiers being set in the Cathedrall I preached to the people in the Colledge-yard in the Morning and in the Fields in the Afternoone untill we were disturbed by the Souldiers who did but their duty which they were commanded by the authority of the Justices Major General Kelsie and others for that County On the morrow being Munday and twenty fourth of December the said Major General Kelsie John Parker Charles Bowles and Richard Watson as Justices of the Peace for that Countie also Captaine Harrison and severall Ministers as Informers met together in the Crowne-Inne of the City of Rochester where they examined Witnesses and received what informations they thought fit against me in my absence and having before determined amongst themselves what to doe with me they sent for me to come before them where Major General Kelsie told me that he had received information against me upon oath that I was an enemie to the present Power and of several
man where I am not ashamed to speake the truth and now is my time to speak being accused for the truth and Sir you were once accused your self for Blasphemie said he What is that to you if I were the Law freed me Said I I doubt not but that it will me also when I come to have Law in the mean time do you do unto others as you would others should do unto you Then said the Major to Captain Smith Take him away let him not stay here to retort his words upon us I answered that what I speak is the truth and am not ashamed of it though others may of what they do And now Gentlemen I thank you for what you have done for in this you will bring much glorie to God and confusion to his enemies though which way you know not but I do and so farewell CHAP. XXI The confidence joy and freedome of a Prisoner for with and in the truth Christ and his Generation owned denied imprisoned judged and freed by whom and why of the power life and light of truth most advanced when most opposed and how ANd now my jorneuy to prison the same night was with so much joy and chearfulness as ever I had in any thing in my life I seeing the end with the begining the last with the first and the first with the last even God which is but according to my principle and the sum of my doctrine which I always declare to the world That if I goe to hell thou art there if I goe to Heaven thou art there if I goe to the ends of the earth thou art there also and thy right hand doth lead me that is he is always with me sweetening and refreshing making joyfull pleasant and delightfull unto me all times places and things with his presence for his owne glory and my peace though with much sorrow to many of my friends that a prison to me in my cause is a palace where I sweetly injoy the Lord my selfe and my friends all together in one unconfined Spirit that in the companie of one I injoy manie for when I am alone then are all with me yea you all in all parts of the world whose Spirit is my owne the Spirit life and power of all accompaning of me in the same work it hath done and is to doe by me for the perfiting of the Saints for the work of the Ministerie and for the edifying of the bodie of Christ till they are all come into the unitie of one spirit to the knowledg of one God in which word Christ saith I and my Father are one he works and I work saith Christ and I am not alone for the Father is with me and Christ when he was in prison yea when he descended into hell injoyed the company of his Father with him which was a Saviour unto him and forth of a prison doth our Saviour come Ah poore prisoners that are in prison and know not that their Saviour is with them that makes a prison a prison unto them It is written of Christ that he was taken from prison and from judgment and who shall declare his generation who can pitie prisoners but he that hath all pitie and is prisoner with them who can shew mercy in judgment but he that is all mercy and himselfe under judgment with those that are judged this is Christ and his generation and no pitie nor mercy is shewed unto them but by him that is in prison and in judgment with them even the Father in Christ taking pitie of and shewing mercy to his owne Children generation after generation therefore a poor despised rejected cast out imprisoned generation to the world is the generation of Christ for in him is no form nor comeliness his visage is more marred then any mans so is his generation and who will owne it and declare to be for it to manifest this generation but onelie he that can be with all that can lay downe his life and take it up againe nothing of the world of man or the nature in its own outward excellency glory of righteousness Religion will acknowledg it but make it self a stranger to it though it be its own flesh onlie a poor despised scattered seed of the same Generation that hath nothing nor know nothing but the Lord to trust upon that will own it no it was that seed that men now seek to kill flay and burie and would not have grow or encrease that did own them when they were in their blood and yet they will not own him because they did not know him He came to his owne and his own reteived him not and why was it but because he came not to give them a Kingdome of worldlie glorie riches and honour but rather to take it from them to strip them of all their esteem among men and to make them denie themselves the world and all things therein to take up his crosse and follow him but this is a heavie burthen to bear a wearie step to tread a narrow path to go and few there be that find it this is the burthen that I am made to bear the steps I am made to tread and the path I am made to goe but having alwayes with me the companie of the Lord I can never faint nor be wearie but be refreshed and at rest in the Lord and so through him become a Conquerour over those things rejoycing with joy unspeakable and which is unlawful to be uttered unto men by the Lawes of men that now let men confine me banish me or do what they can unto me the Lord in whom I live will not leave me nor forsake me and now though my bodie be confined my spirit is at libertie contrarie to the will of my enemies who have sought to deprive me both of companie and comforts pen ink and paper as they themselves hath declared to wearie me of my principle to make me recant my judgement and to draw the peoples affections from it but the more by their endeavouring to make good their intentions the farther off is it from fulfilling that I freelie forgive them and leave them to the Lord who will render to everie man according to his deeds and bring glorie to himselfe through all things for the wrath of man shall turne to the praise of God and by imprisonment is Truths inlargement for it shall spring out of the earth and overflow the refuge of lies and the Lord will ride prosperouslie because of truth of meeknesse and of righteousnesse that the more you seek to stop it with the greater currant it will run till the parched ground is become a poole and the drie land springs of water for in the wildernesse shall waters break out and streams in the Desert and as fire among thorns so is truth among the enemies of the Lords people and the more you seek to quench it with the greater flames it will
burne till it hath burnt up all the foundations and buildings of men in their several forms and Religions that are not founded upon Christ the Chief Corner Stone and this will be a Chaos and confusion and an end of the world to men And now what are you and what do you doe when you seek to imprison or banish this truth away from you which you know not and to stop those cleansing floods which the Lord hath opened in drie places for you and to quench those fierie coales which the Lord hath kindled amongst you to refine you you do but add a greater encrease to the truth for all that which is ungodlie selfish and wicked within you that hath opposed the truth shall be imprisoned by it and drowned with it yea it shall be burnt with the fire and melted with the heat until all be consumed and you dissolved into the nothingnesse of all things below God where you are all lost and you again swallowed up into his own Almightinesse where you are found in your true and everlasting Centre that sends you forth and takes you in at his pleasure And this is the begining and end of the world and of all your fighting against the truth to be lost and to be found to be and not to be and therefore look about you you that talk so much of the end of the world when Christ shall come do you know this end and when it shall be I will tell you my experience it is to your end and at your end that Christ doth come and therefore would you prolong his coming for his coming in will be your going out overturn overturn his rising will be your falling and his life will be your death for you are a lie and he is the truth therefore stay Lord Jesus and come not yet say you that know not his coming to be in you stay till the time of the end of the world which you would not have to be yet because your end must come with it but come Lord Jesus come quicklie say I and all those that know his coming to be in them that the world of sin death hell and all Devillishnesse may have an end in all men as in them that there may be no more wrath nor hatred no more fighting nor quarrelling disputing nor contending for the truth nor against the truth but that heaven and earth righteousnesse and truth may meet together and imbrance each other in all men and at all times places and things whatsoever according to the word and will of the Lord that there may be no more any thing at a distance neither truth nor error light nor darknesse day nor night but that in the evening there may be light and so but one day known to the Lord over all the earth one King and his name one But in the mean time you have here following Articles against the truth and answers for the truth The twenty five Articles called Blasphemy brought against Richard Coppin by the Ministers of Kent and for which he was sent to Prison with his Answers to them COppin First I denie all their Articles to be spoken by me as they are here laid down by them they having much abused my words and also my sense by their adding and diminishing yet for satisfaction to many people of the truth of that which may be in them I shall give a brief answer to them according to the plain sense of Scripture and the manifestations of God to men here on earth which so far as I ever knew in my self I alwaies declared and hid nothing of the counsel of God made known to men but for what God will do by man at the end of this life beyond what is revealed I leave also with him till he shall more reveal it Article 1. That all the Scriptures is but an Allegory that is all said he both Law and Gospel and that it is but an Allegory said he it is clear from Gal. 4. 24. Answer The whole Scripture of Law and Gospel the son of the Bond-woman and the Son of the Free-woman are the two Covenants in an Allegorie so saith Paul Gal 4. 24. which things saith he are an Allegory for those are the two Covenants The Allegorie is in this , Abraham had two sons the one by a Bond-maid the other by a Free-woman the Bond-maid is the Law or first Covenant the Free-woman is the Gospel or second Covenant in a mysterie and these also are the two Jerusalems Sina and Sion the one which is below as in bondage the other which is above as in freedome which are also the two mothers of the children after the flesh and the children after the spirit they who live by the works of the Law under the conditions of the first Covenant and so not all their sins to be forgiven them are the sons of the Bond-woman after the flesh and are in bondage with their mother to this day persecuâ—ing the sons of the Free-woman born after the spirit that lives by free grace and sees their sins pardoned Secondly the carnal mind of man is the son of the Bond-woman after the flesh minding the things of the flesh which is death the spiritual mind is the son of the Free-woman after the spirit minding the things of the spirit which is life for so it is written To be carnally mindad is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace and this son of the Bond-woman is to be cast out as no more to be remembred for he shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman for he understands not the things of the spirit of God but they are foolishnesse unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned but the spiritual man knoweth all things yea the deep things of God and therefore lives in God as in peace and freedome and is no longer in bondage Thus is the Scripture an Allegorie and a great Mysterie for great is the mysterie of godlinesse and saith Christ you erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God Article 2. That our Jesus took our defiled nature with sin and was a sinner in that nature Answer That Jesus Christ took on him our sinful nature and in it destroyed the sinfulnesse of it is a truth according to these Scriptures Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood Jesus Christ himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might also destroy him that had the power of death which is the Devil c. and God made Christ to be sin for us laid upon him the iniquities of us all and he did bear them in his own bodie on the Tree which is no blasphemie to say but that he should be a sinner in that nature I never said it neither do affirm as you would have it Article 3. That he was a cursed Goat for the Goats on the left hand
Mat. 25. 35. That by the left hand we are to understand nothing but the Law as by the right hand nothing but the Gospel Answer First they under the Law not believing the pardon of their sins are at the left hand of God as Goats cursed for cursed is everie one that is under the law Secondly they under the Gospel believing that their sins are pardoned are at the right hand of God as sheep blessed For blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sin is covered and blessed are they that know the joyful sound of the Gospel for they are at the right hand of God in the way of life where they hear his voice and behold his face and have pleasures for evermore and Christ to redeem man to this state of blessednesse from that curse and Goatish nature which man by reason of sin lay under at the left hand of God did himselfe bear our sins in our steeds at the left hand and was cursed for us signified by the Scape Goat on whom Aaron laid the sins of all the people sending him away with them to lose them so did God on Christ lay the sins of all people and as the Goat in the tipe did so did Christ carrie them away from us no more to be remembered to us which is blasphemie to say Article 4. That the Lord Christ was the High-Priest spoken of in Heb. 5. 3. and that he offered for his own sins Answer As concerning this I only asked the question what High-Priest was there meant and the answer was given by one of the Ministers that it was Jesus Christ but read and consider the Scripture and you may be better satisfied for he was one that could have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way and who this is I will leave for the Reader to judge compared with Chap. 7. 27. Christ is there said to do that by one offering which the Priests under the Law did at twice that is they offered first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people but this did Christ once when he offered up himself not that Christ could offer for his own sins as known to him but for our sins as reckoned to him in our nature and so all our sins became his till he by death discharged both himself and us of them together Article 5. That the Human Nature of Christ is not ascended to heaven and brought this Scripture to prove it that flesh and blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 13. 50. Answer The Humane Nature of Christ was of the same nature of man which was of the earth earthie and Christ by living in it did sanctifie and cleanse it and so made it heavenlie which may be said to be its Ascention into heaven but that a humane bodie of flesh blood and bones should be in a local place above the Stars as M. French and others would have it I find not anywhere proved from Scripture for then it would be also out of its element and then heaven were to be understood as the earth and not as heaven and so one contrarietâ—e would be in another but John saith That which is of the earth is earthy and that which from heaven is heavenly and flesh and blood never came from heaven therefore shall not enter into heaven but the Holy Spirit and Power was said to descend down upon the Mother of Christ and not a humane bodie and Paul saith He that ascended up to heaven is the same he that first descended from heaven and not another Article 6. That he that looks for the humane nature of Christ to come from heaven may look long enough Answer He that looks for such a coming of Christ in his second coming as is contrarie to the Scripture and not as God himself which is the Lord from heaven may look long enough before he see him but the Scripture saith That though we have known Christ after the flesh yet henceforth know we him so no more but in spirit and in glorie to be revealed in our flesh And this coming of Christ is the coming of God to take a Kingdom to himself in man of that which is himself which coming must be as God ro man and not as man to man for he shall come in the glorie of his Father and this coming I know and therefore speak not denying any other Article 7. That there shall be no Resurrection of any body that dies and when that of Job the 19. 23. to 28. was urged he returned that Job said he knew not what and proceeded most abominably to Allegorie the Scriptures Answer First I deny not what may be proved by another but the Apostle saith That the same bodie buried is not the same bodie raised but God giveth it a bodie as pleaseth him that is to be like himself for so it 's written He will change our vile bodies and fashion them like unto his glorious bodie whose body is not as mans is and David saith When I awake I shall be satisfied with thy likenesse which is for all things in man to be subdued unto the Lord that God may be all in all who is not the God of the dead but of the living and when Job said His Redeemer lived and that he should see him stand upon the earth at the last day was a mysterie which Job did not then know until he saw it fulfilled in himself which afterwards he dâ—d and then saw his last day and confest that he had before uttered words without knowledge things too wonderfull for him which he understood not But now saith he hear I beseech th 〈…〉 and I will declare unto thee for I have often heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now do mine eyes see thee and then was Jobs Resurrection come when he saw God to be risen within him and we rise not but as God rises with us For saith he the dead men shall live together with my dead bodie shall they arise Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust for thy dew is as the dew of herbs and the earth shall cast out the dead and blessed are they that hath part in this Resurrection Article 8. That there shall be no day of Judgment and that the Scriptures warrant it Answer This I never said but that a day of Judgment according to the Scripture there is which had its beginning with Christ manifest in flesh after the fall of man to destroy sin which Day of Judgement was then is now and ever will be to man so long as sin remains in man unjudged and uncondemned by Christ and so saith Christ For Judgement am I come and now is the Judgement of this world now shall the Prince of this world be cast out and now will I convince the world of sin of righteousnesse and of Judgement which day of Judgment
and such a one enjoyes it as possessingly and the other doth not and that makes it more especially unto him and so he have a greater assurance then the other hath because he trusteth in the living God who is the Saviour of all men of which all he knows himself one and so believes it upon a sure ground till which time I could not assure my self Article 15. That if there be but one man of all that ever were or shall be in the world damned no man can assuredly know that his soule shall be saved Answer And if Christ were not the Saviour of all men and I hear but of one man that shall be damned to all eternity and this man not yet pointed out as knowne from all the rest to be the man and Christ come to save the worst of sinners what full assurance then can I have of my savlation more then another of his salvation but some doubts and some feares will arise within me who shall be that man that is to be damned till I see a pardon come forth for all men to be saved and then I knowing my selfe to be one of that all cannot but have a good assurance of my owne salvation this axperince-in me doth witness as also saith the Scripture that I can no more judge any man to eternall damnation but that which is not of God in man Therefore who art thou O man that judgest another and dost the same things thy selfe for wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thy selfe for thou that judgest dost the same things and who hath made thee to differ from another that thou shouldest be saved and not another wherefore think not better of thy selfe then of another for there is no respect of Persons with God that is more accepted with him but only Christ in all and all in Christ for he hath concluded all men as men under sin and unbeliefe that he might have mercy upon all and then O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgment and his wayes past finding out for who hath knowne the mind of God or who hath bin his councellor for of him and to him and through him are all things to whom be glory for ever Article 16. That the unpardonable sin of the Holy Ghost is nothing but flesh opposing and quenching the spirit till Christ come into the soule and destroy the flesh Answer To explaine this the Holy Ghost is the spirit the sin against the Holy Ghost is the opposition and war that is made against the Spirit by the fleshly carnall mind for the flesh wa 〈…〉 against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to another in man and so saith Paul I find saith he a warring within me that when I would do good evill is present with me 't is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me for with my mind I serve the Law of God though with my flesh the Law of sin and this flesh opposing the Spirit is for a time in every man as a man of sin ruling in them till Christ come into the soule and destroy it which shall never be forgiven in this world nor in the world to come but is the only enemy that God will destroy in man Article 17. That when a soule is once regenerated then he is free from all sin that the flesh is quite destroyed Answer Regeneration is a new birth and the new birth is to be in Christ a new creature free from all sin without which man nor his prayers nor any thing is accepted of God for he heareth not sinners and without holiness no man shall see God but if the Son shall make you free then are you free indeed and him that is in Christ is a new creature old things are past away and all things are become new by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost Article 18. That no man shall receive any good by any good that he doth that it shall no way further his salvation Answer If man by his good works could merit heaven then salvation by Christ were made void or if any thing of man which is imperfect were to joyn with Christ in the work of salvation then mans salvation were not all by Christ but by man and would so far be imperfect and then man might boast and say he was able to help Christ to save his soul and so robing Christ of his work would rob him of his honor also but not of works saith Paul lest any man should boast neither by any other name under heaven but by Jesus Christ is any man saved that no flesh might glory in his presence but he that glories let him glory in the Lord that his soul was saved by the Lord Article 19. That no man shall receive any hinderance by any sin he committeth that shall do him no hurt Answer If any sin of man should hinder mans salvation by Christ then that sin would appear to be too strong for Christ to conquer and then no man could be saved for there is no sin but every man is guiltie of for all have sinned and all are guiltie but this I say with the Prophet Elihu that his bad works may hurt a man as he is and his good works may profit men but shall no way profit the salvation of his soul But because good works are good to men therefore would I have all men observe and do them doing unto others as they would others should do to them which is the sum of the whole Law for he that loveth God will also love his Brother Article 20. That our Lord Jesus Christ is the three persons in the Trinity God blessed Father Son and Holy Spirit and that the blessed Trinity is but three manifestation of God Answer The blessed Trinity Father Son and Spirit I acknowledg the Father as begeting the Son as begotten and the Holy Ghost uniting as being the compleat union of all three together in one spirit where they all meet as copartners together in one work that what the one is the other is the same and what the one doth the other doth the same as all but one God manifesting himself under various appearances of Father Son and Spirit to the creatures apprehension Article 21. That our Lord Jesus Christ himself was the Leper that was cleansed and returned to give thanks Luke 17. 15. Answer I say not that Christ was a Leper but there were ten Lepers that were cleansed and one of them when he saw himself cleansed turned back and glorified God and Christ saith Where are the other nine There are not found that returned to give glory to God save this stranger and who was this stranger but Christ in that man that gave glory to God for the work done as Christ saith Father I have glorified thee on