of the blessed Trinity is such a great Mystery that no earthly similitude will set it out plainly to our capacities But I pray consider the Vision of the three Men that appeared to Abraham Gen. 18. and the two that went to Lot Gen. 19. And there you may see although they be three Persons yet but one Lord and so called and worshipped of Abraham see chap. 18. and of the two that went to Lot after that they had told him their Message then he never called them Lords but Lord see Chap. 19.18 Which two were the Son and Holy Ghost which were sent by the Father Chap. 18.21 22. for the Father is said to send the Son and Spirit but he is never sent of them And thus you may see how Abraham saw Christ and was glad Gen. 18. compared with John 8.56 58 c. Quest How is God said to be present in all places at once Psal 95.2 6. 139.7 And also to fill Heaven and Earth Jer. 23.24 Answ There is a four-fold Presence of God mentioned in the Scriptures the first is his Presence with all his Creatures which we may call his general Providence whereby he preserveth all his Creatures substances and giveth unto them to live move and have a being and this extendeth it self to all his Creatures both good and bad Acts 17.28 The second degree is the Presence of Grace whereby he doth not only preserve the substance of all his Creatures but also giveth grace onto them this is to the Church of God on Earth The third degree is the Presence of Glory peculiar to the Saints and Angels in Heaven where they shall see God face to face The fourth degree is the Presence of the Godhead of the Son with the Manhood of Christ for in him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily Col. 2.9 Now for the better understanding of this Mystery we must know that the Scriptures are to be taken four wayes at least some of them viz. first Historically secondly Analogically thirdly Allegorically and fourthly Morally As to instance in one of them for brevity sake Numb 21.9 And Moses made a Serpent and put it upon a Pole c. It hath these four significations the first is Historical it was a Serpent made 2dly Analogically it was lifted up so must Christ Joh. 3.15 3dly Allegorically that is another thing was meant by it as appeareth by Hezekiah's taking of it away and calling of it Nehushtan that is a piece of Brass 2 King 18.4 4thly Morally for they were to look upon it for their cure Even so must we look upon Christ by Faith as saith the Prophet Isaiah Look upon me and be ye saved all the ends of the Earth Now that he is present with all his Creatures to preserve their substances as I said before appeareth from Isa 40.12 Who hath measured the Waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out Heaven with the span and comprehended the dust of the Earth in a measure and weighed the Mountains in scales the Hills in a ballance behold the Nations are as the drop of a bucket and are counted as the small dust of the ballance behold he taketh up the Isles as a very little thing vers 15. By which phrases is meant that he governeth and disposeth of them at his pleasure for neither the Sun could give his light to us nor the Fire heat all these will perish if he withdraw his Presence but a moment from them as also the Beasts of the Field for if he take away their breath they die Psal 104.28 29. Even as the body of a Man when the Soul is gone as St. James saith The body without the Spirit is dead For as St. Paul In him we live and move and have our being Acts 17.28 As also certain of your own Poets have said For we are all his off-spring 1 Cor. 8.6 Obj. But sin maketh a separation betwixt us and God for what communion hath light with darkness and Christ with Belial Therefore he is not present with them c. A. This is not to be understood in the first degree viz. to preserve their substances as in Acts 17. but is meant in the second degree viz. his Grace with his Church on the Earth Joh. 14.23 If any man love me saith Christ he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him which is meant of his Grace and Love and his dwelling with them is by his Holy Spirit as appeareth by his answer to Judas which asked How is it that thou wilt manifest thy self unto us and not unto the World he had told him before vers 15. 17. If you love me keep my Commandments and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of Truth whom the World cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you Thus you see how sin separateth us from God's Favour Grace and Spirit but not from his Presence as David saith Whither shall I go from thy Spirit Or Whither shall I flye from thy Presence If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there If I make my bed in Hell thou art there If I take the wings of the Morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand hold me And as Amos saith speaking of sinners Amos 9.2 Though they dig into Hell thence shall my hand take them though they climb up to Heaven thence will I bring them down and though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel I will search and take them out thence c. For we must not imagine him to be contained in any one place saith the Prophet Jer. 23.24 Do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord For as Solomon saith The Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much less this House which I have built 1 King 8.27 And St. Stephen saith He dwelleth not in Tabernacles made with hands Acts 7. and yet he dwelt saith David betwixt the Cherubims And the Lord saith of Zion This is my rest for ever here will I dwell therefore saith the Prophet Blessed be the Lord out of Zion that dwelleth at Jerusalem Psal 135.21 Now this must be meant of his Grace or gracious Presence there and not his personal Presence for if so then he was not in Heaven at that time which I think no wise man will believe therefore when St. Paul saith Whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord he means the beatifical Vision or face of God in glory which cannot be seen with these mortal eyes therefore he saith When we are absent from the body we are present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5.6 8. he meaneth in
is a Spirit as the Papists think even so albeit the Saints bodies are called Heavenly doth that prove that the original Matter they were made of came from Heaven You will surely say No. Even so say I of the body of Christ For the main design of the Apostle in all this Chapter was to prove the Resurrection of the dead as appears by vers 13. But if there be no Resurrection of the Dead then is not Christ risen And vers 17. If Christ be not raised your Faith is vain you are yet in your sins then they also which are faln asleep in Christ are perished And vers 22. For as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive c. Now where there are divers Opinions they may be all false there can be but one true and that one Truth oft-times must be fetched by piece-meal out of divers branches of contrary Opinions c. For although the Lord hath made all Nations of one blood and commanded them to seek the Lord Acts 17.30 yet if you divide them into thirty parts saith Mr. Perkins nineteen of them be Heathens and Pagans then there remains but eleven and of these five be Turks and Mahometans then there remains but a sixth-part of the thirty and of these six How few do believe in God aright God knows they be very few as for the twenty four parts of the thirty they do not own Christ to be their Saviour no not so much as in Profession as to the other six-parts it is true they all confess him to be the Son of God and in some sense their Saviour also Yet so as by some of their Opinions they by just consequence deny him either in his Divine Nature or in his Humane or else in the Union of Natures and so by consequence deny the true Christ and of them that do profess him to be both Davids Lord and Davids Son also yet of them how few do love him and keep his Commandments Luk. 6.46 Why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things that I say The Lord grant for his Sons sake that I and you may be of those Sheep that will hear the Voice of the true Shepherd and so follow him and will not follow a stranger Joh. 10. Where shall I begin to wonder at thee O thou Divine and Eternal Peace-maker the Saviour of Men the Anointed of God the Mediator between God and Man in whom there is nothing which doth not exceed not only the conceit but the very wonder of Angels who saw thee in thy Humiliation with silence and Adore thee in thy Glory with perpetual Prayers and Rejoycings Thou wast for ever of thy self as God of the Father as the Son the Eternal Son of an Eternal Father not later in Beginning not less in Dignity not other in Substance begotten without diminution of him that begat thee while he communicated wholly to thee which he retained wholly in himself because both were Infinite without inequality of Nature without division of Essence when being in this estate thine infinite Love and Mercy to desperate Mankind caused thee O Saviour to empty thy self of thy Glory that thou mightest put on our shame and misery Wherefore not ceasing to be God as thou wert thou beganst to be what thou wast not viz. Man to the end thou mightest be a perfect Mediator betwixt God and Man which were both in one Person God that thou mightest satisfie and Man that thou mightest suffer that since Man had sinned and God was offended thou which wert God and Man mightst satisfie God for Man None but thy self which art the Eternal Word can express to us this great Mystery how God should be manifested in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels Preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World and received up into Glory and we in him c. CHAP. X. Containing the use of the whole Treatise NOw as aforesaid I will further add to that that I have said something by way of Vse and Application and so leave the whole to the blessing of God and your serious Consideration Vse 1. Concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God 1 Tim. 3.16 we must know that it is a great Mystery and therefore here observe First Who is Incarnate The second Person in Trinity First for that God by him created Man and therefore by him must we be recreated and redeemed Secondly for that he is the Essential Image of God to restore the Image of God lost in Adam So this I believe the whole Godhead is not incarnate Joh. 1.14 Luk. 1.35 nor any Person but the Son the Person of the Son I say subsisting in the Godhead Secondly This I must say and believe that he was a perfect Man in every respect like to Adam sin only excepted subject to all unblameable and general infirmities which appertain to the whole Nature of Man as Passions of Body and Mind Thirdly This I must believe and avouch that it was necessary that he should become Man first to satisfie God in that Nature we offend Secondly for that not one else could fulfil Righteousness which the Law required of us but he Thirdly for that our Redeemer must die for our sins Fourthly He must be a Mediator and make Requests and speak to God and Man for Reconciliation Man before the Fall could speak to God face to face but now he cannot nor may not come neer but in the face and favour of Christ whose face is to be found in the Gospel Duties which follow this Faith First Draw near to Christ and cleave unto him for we see he is come near us and become our Emmanuel Isa 7. Secondly Here is a Patern and President for us of unspeakable Humility Psal 22. Isa 53. Phil. 2.6 7. There is a secret Pride in all the Sons of Adam till God change their hearts and this Pride the less we discern it the more it is and the more we discern it the less it is This I observe touching this Incarnation of Christ That his Conception by the work of the Holy Ghost was wonderful for it was done in the Womb of the Virgin that albeit he took of her very flesh which came of sinful Adam yet was the flesh of Christ I mean his Humane Nature Body and Soul without sin To prevent that original corruption which comes to Mankind by natural Propagation the great Wisdom of God provided That his Incarnation should be by the immediate work of the Holy Ghost without any natural Generation or Means of Man on Earth or Angels in Heaven or Earth Heb. 2.14 I proceed on to speak of the Birth of Christ He was born of the Virgin Mary and of the Union of Natures Divine and Humane in this one Person This I believe indeed for so did the Patriarchs and Prophets of old because of the Divine Oracles which God gave them concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God Gen. 3.18
when your thoughts are come to the highest stay there and be content to wonder in silence and if you cannot reach to conceive of him as he is yet take heed you conceive not of him as he is not Neither will it suffice your Christian mind to have this awful and confused apprehension of the Deity without a more special and inward conceit of three in this one Three Persons in this one Essence not divided but distinguished and not more mingled than divided There is nothing wherein the want of words can wrong and grieve us but in this Here alone as we can adore and not conceive so we can conceive and not utter yea utter your selves and not be conceived yet as we may think here of one substance in three subsistences one Essence in three Relations one Jehovah begetting begotten proceeding Father Son Spirit yet so as the Son is no other thing from the Father but another Person or the Spirit from the Son Let your thoughts here walk warily the path is narrow the conceit either of three substances or but one subsistence is damnable Let me lead you yet higher and further in this intricate way towards the Throne of Grace All this will not avail you if you take not your Mediator with you if you apprehend not a true Manhood gloriously united to the Godhead without change of either Nature without mixture of both whose Presence whose Merits must give passage acceptance vigour to your Prayers Here must be therefore as you see thoughts holily mixed of a Godhead and Humanity one Person in two Natures of the same Deity in divers Persons and one Nature wherein if ever Heavenly Wisdom must bestir it self in directing us so to sever these apprehensions that none be neglected so to conjoyn them that they be not confounded O the depth of Divine Mysteries more than can be wondered at O the necessity of this high Knowledge which who attains not may babble but prayeth not Still you doubt and ask if you may not direct your Prayers to one Person of three Why not safely and with comfort What need we fear while we have our Saviour for our pattern O my Father if possible let this Cup pass and Paul everywhere both in thanks and requests but with due care in Worshipping all in one Exclude the other while you fix your heart upon one your Prayer is sin retain all and mention one you offend not None of them doth ought for us without all It is a true rule of Divines All their external works are common To sollicite one therefore and not all were injurious And if you stay your thoughts upon the sacred Humanity of Christ with inseparable adoration of the Godhead united and thence climbe up to the holy conceit of that blessed and dreadful Trinity I dare not censure I dare not but commend your divine method Thus should Christians ascend from Earth to Heaven from one Heaven to another If I have given your Devotions any light it is well the least glimpse of this knowledge is worth all the full gleames of Humane and Earthly skill But I mistake if your own heart wrought upon with serious Meditations under that Spirit of Illumination will not prove your best master After this weak direction study to conceive aright that you may pray aright and pray that you may conceive and meditate that you may do both and the God of Heaven direct you inable you that you may do all CHAP. III. Concerning Christ our Mediator I Will now by God's help prove by the holy Scriptures that the Eternal Word viz. the second Person in the Trinity took flesh of the Virgin Mary and so was made like unto his brethren in all things sin only excepted Heb. 2.17 4.15 For neither the Father nor holy Spirit took our nature upon them but Christ only For as by the first Adam came sin and death by sin even so comes grace and life by Jesus Christ Rom. 5. But here we must note how Christ took Man's Nature upon him Not by turning his Godhead into his Manhood but by assuming of his Manhood into his Godhead not by confusion or mixture of substance but by unity of Personâ— For as the reasonable Soul and fleshly body is one Man even so the Deity and Humanity is one Christ When I say Christ took our Nature upon him I mean not that he took our flesh only as some Hereticks have thought but the Soul of man also Forasmuch as he is no half-Saviour but a Redeemer both of Body and Soul for St. John saith The Word was made Flesh viz. by taking Man's flesh or Nature in union with the Word which is Christ And why he is called the Word I have already shewed and shall God willing do it again in the Questions and Answers about Christ in a place set for it therefore I pass it over here Quest But the Eutychians ask us Of what matter the flesh of Christ was made Or Did he not bring it out of Heaven Answ No truly for as the first Adams flesh was made of the Earth as it is written Gen. 2.7 Even so it is written Christ was made of a Woman Gal. 4.4 for he did not pass through her as Water through a Pipe but took part of her substance therefore the Prophet Isaiah saith There shall come forth a Rod out of the Stem of Jesse and a branch or blossome shall grow out of his roots Isa 9. Acts 13.23 And Solomon calleth him a Lilly and Rose Cant. 2.1 Now you know the Flower and the Rose taketh its nature of the root For as St. Paul saith As is the root such are the branches Rom. 11.16 17. Besides it was the Will of God that the same flesh that sinned should be punished as we may see an instance in Davids Child although David sinned in killing of Vriah yet it pleased God to spare Davids person from death and punish him in his flesh viz. his Child with death See 2 Sam. 12.14 Howbeit because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the Child also that it born unto thee shall surely die Even so it was Adam that sinned but it pleased God to spare his person and punish him in his flesh viz. Christ For as St. Paul saith He was made a Curse for us Gal. 3.13 And as St. Peter saith The just suffered for the unjust 1 Pet. 1.18 3.18 See the comparison also betwixt the two Adams in Rom. 5.18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to justification of life For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous And thus as St. Paul saith He is flesh of our flesh Forasmuch as the Children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself took part of the same Heb. 2.14
quickned by the Spirit which we call his Divine Nature for as he did bear our sins so also our punishment for sin which was death but by his Divine Nature he overcame it as aforesaid 1 Pet. 3.18 Obj. 2. Peradventure some will object against these things as I have before laid down saying He may be the Son of David although he did not take of the flesh of the Virgin Mary and so by consequence the flesh of David inasmuch as he was born of the Daughter of David for it may be read Born of a Woman as well as made of a Woman Gal. 4.4 as also Rom. 1.3 born of the Seed of David A. We say with you He was born of the Seed of David and so of the Virgin Mary But yet so as he was also made of the Seed of David and of a Woman Which thing you deny viz. that he was made of the Seed of David and if so then he was not properly the Son of David although born of a Daughter of David no more than Bethsheba's Child was Vriah's which was begotten of her by David which you know was David's and not Vriah's Child although she was his Wife for no man is properly the Son of such a man except he partake of the substance nature or flesh of that man But you say Christ did not do so therefore he was not by your Opinion the Son of David Obj. 3. But no Child say they doth take any thing from his Mother but only nourishment therefore Christ did not A. Who told you so not God's Word and do you know by experience how bones do grow in the womb but if your Opinion be true why then doth God forbid his Children to marry their Sister by the Mothers side how is she kin to him if she was begotten by another father But God saith your Opinion is false as you may see Levit. 18.9 c. Some Queries to the Eutychians Query 1. Whether doth not the Eutychian Opinion in denying the two Natures in Christ viz. the Divine and Humane by consequence deny the Lamb the Priest and the Altar mentioned in the Law to be types of Christ contrary to the Analogy of Faith Answ They do for Christ as Man is the Lamb as God the Altar and as God-Man the Priest Q. 2. Whether doth the Holy Ghost apply these three to Christ in the New Testament yea or nay A. Yes he doth apply them for he is the Lamb or Sacrifice for sin Joh. 1.29 Heb. 9.26 10.10 and the Altar Heb. 13.10 and the Priest Heb. 5.6 For as the typical Lamb was without blemish even so was Christ saith St. Peter 1 Pet. 1.18 2.24 Secondly The Priest was sanctified or set apart to offer a Sacrifice acceptable to God even so was Christ Joh. 17.17 Thirdly As the Altar did sanctifie the Sacrifice even so did the Godhead of Christ the Humane Nature Heb. 9.14 Query 3. Whether doth not the Eutychian Opinion make the threefold Offices of Christ of none effect or deny them all A. Yes for the Divine Nature cannot be anointed to be Priest Prophet and King Query 4. Whether can any man come to the Father but through Faith in these threefold Offices of Christ A. No for what the Tabernacle or Temple was to them under the Law that is Christ to us under the Gospel And as God manifested to them in the Temple was the proper object of worship to them even so God manifested to us in Christ is the proper object of worship to us for the Flesh or Humane Nature of Christ is the medium or mean by which we have access to God in all our Worship This is proved Heb. 10.19 20 c. Some Arguments to prove the Opinion of the Eutychians heretical and dangerous Argum. 1. That Doctrine or Opinion that saith Christ was not the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15 which was promised of God to break the Serpents head is a dangerous Arg. 2. That Opinion that maketh the Tabernacle or Temple Lamb Priest and Altar ordained of God for Divine Worship till Christ came in the flesh no true types of him is a dangerous Opinion But such is their Opinion Therefore dangerous Arg. 3. That Opinion which in it self or the natural consequences depending thereon maketh void all the promises of God concerning man's Salvation by Christ must needs be a very dangerous Opinion But such is their Opinion therefore dangerous The Reasons appear plain to every impartial Reader in all these three Arguments But here I will add That either the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15 was God which was justly offended with Adam for his sin Or else it was the Man Christ which was made of a Woman Gal. 4. But it was not God that was made of a Woman therefore Man And now for you to say that God the Creator of all things in Heaven and in Earth Col. 1.16 made himself a Creature or was made so is false as I said before and also impossible sith God is Perfection it self And to say that he passed through the Virgins womb as Water through a Conduit as some Hereticks have said is also false And to say he had an imaginary body and not a real body as some Hereticks have said is also very false as appeareth by his death and resurrection As to the proof of the second Argument That the Lamb the Priest and the Altar were types of Christ see what is already said in the Questions and Answers as also the Scriptures thereunto annexed Which cannot be applyed to him viz. Christ except you with us grant the two Natures to be in one Person If you can shew us how you do it As to the proof of the third Argument That your Opinion doth deny all the Promises of God I prove it thus That Opinion that denyeth Christ to be the true Son of David denyeth all the Promises of God concerning mans Salvation But such is your Opinion Therefore c. 2ly That Opinion that denieth the proper signification of the Sacraments viz. Baptism the Lords Supper must needs be a dangerous Opinion but such is your Opinion therefore dangerous The reason of the minor Proposition is because it denyeth the two Natures in Christ which are lively set forth by the Sign and the thing signified by these Sacraments 1. For as all the Ordinances of God's instituted Worship as Sacrifices under the Law c. so all the Sacraments under the Gospel seem to have immediate relation to Christ as God manifested in the flesh For you may observe they consist of two parts the one Natural the other Spiritual the one External the other Internal the one as it were the Body the other the Soul of it the one representing the Humanity the other the Divinity of Christ so that every Ordinance of Worship is as it were a representation of Christ incarnate 2. The Divine Essence or Godhead in Christ seemeth to be the proper object of all Worship for Christ saith
Creature and so die this was impossible sith God cannot die nor yet be changed as I have oft said and proved in this Treatise from 1 Tim. 1.17 Jam. 1.17 and many other places of the Holy Scriptures Thirdly John doth not say he was begotten flesh of the Virgin Mary but made flesh for saith he The Word was made Flesh even as St. Paul saith Rom. 1.9 made of the Seed of David and came of the Fathers according to the flesh Chap. 9.5 and made of a Woman Gal. 4.4 And so as St. Peter saith He came out of the loins of David according to the flesh Acts 2.30 for so God had sworn to David Psal 132.11 For Solomon was but a Type which came out of his loins 1 King 8.19 All these Texts do expresly teach us that Christ had a Humane Nature which is termed the flesh as it is frequent by the word flesh to understand a man or Humane Nature See Rom. 3.20 No flesh can be justified in his sight which must be understood of men also Chap. 11.14 Isa 57.7 Gal. 2.16 Joh. 17.2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give Eternal Life to as many as thou hast given him c. Fourthly Consider this word raised up according to the flesh out of the loins of Divid which plainly sheweth that there was another Nature which was Davids Lord Matth. 22.44 which was not raised up out of his loins which was God over all blessed for ever Rom. 9.5 Else why was it not said of him without this distinction as of Solomon Thou shalt not build the House but thy Son that shall come forth out of thy loins 1 King 8.19 He doth not say according to the flesh neither is this distinction made concerning any man but only Christ which was Emmanuel God and Man in one Person or God with us Matth. 1.23 From whence I infer That He who is so David's Son according to the flesh raised out of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh made of the Seed of David according to the flesh and of the Father's according to the flesh As that he also is Davids Lord and the Son of God God over all blessed for ever is consubstantial with his Father as touching his Godhead and consubstantial with us as touching his Manhood but such is Jesus Christ therefore God by Nature and Man also And now I hope I have Answered your great Objection and also told you how he is truly called the Son of God as being in the bosom of his Father and also how he is truly called the Son of Man and so the Son of David as being made of a Daughter of David which Mary was See for proof of this Luke the 3d Chap. And now what hath been said in Answer to this Objection if heeded by you will Answer all your Objections from Joh. 3.15 and Joh. 6. from the 50 verse to the 64. For John saith No man hath ascended up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven even the Son of Man which is in Heaven which proveth the union of Natures in one Person otherwise he could not be in Heaven and Earth at one time Now I hope you will not say with the Socinians your Adversaries that after his Baptism he ascended immediately up into Heaven and there received his Commission from his Father to preach the Gospel as Moses did his in Mount Horeb concerning the Law Exod. 20. And yet if Christ hath but one Nature as you say with them he had not then I pray tell me if you can Whether the Eternal Word was ever called Man or the Son of Man properly before the Holy Ghost overshadowed the Virgin Mary and so he was born of her or made of her according to the flesh for it is the Person viz. the Word that is said to come down from Heaven as appeareth Joh. 6.62 What if ye shall saith Christ see the Son of Man viz. Christ's Humane Nature ascend up where he viz. his Divine Nature was before For as he is the second Adam he was not there before as appeareth by what St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 15.46 The first Adam was made a living Soul the last Adam was made a quickning Spirit Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual but that which is natural and afterward that which is spiritual The first Man is of the Earth Earthy the second Man is the Lord from Heaven As is the Earthy such are they also that are Earthy and as is the Heavenly such are they which are Heavenly And as we have born the Image of the Earthy we shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly So that by this comparison the natural Man was before the spiritual which cannot be meant of the Eternal Word which St. Paul calleth the Lord the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.17 For so considered as he is the Eternal Spirit Heb. 9.14 1 Pet. 3.18 he was before Adam or else he could not have Created him and all other things which he did Joh. 1.3 Col. 1.16 So then as the natural Adam was the first Man that God Created so the second Adam viz. the Humane Nature of Christ was the first Spiritual Man that was raised from the dead and so ascended up into Heaven and was glorified and so is the beginning of the Creation of God Rev. 3.14 And the first-born from the dead for as St. Paul saith He was the first fruits of them that sleep and so because of the Personal Union is called the first and the last even he that was dead and is alive and behold saith he I live for evermore and have the keyes of Hell and Death Rev. 1.18 Now the Name Almighty which is applyed to Christ Rev. 1.8 must needs be meant as he was Davids Lord Psal 110.1 And as St. John calleth him Davids Root But when St. Paul calleth him the second Adam it must be as he is his Son or off-spring for the true Adam is never properly in all the Scripture applied to God viz. the Divine Nature for you know Adam signifieth Earth viz. the Matter which Man was made of And as for the term Heavenly it is as truly applyed to the Saints as to the Humane Nature of Christ for vers 48. As is the Earthy such are they also that are Earthy and as is the Heavenly such are they also that are Heavenly Which St. Paul applyes to the Saints after their Resurrection vers 44. It is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body So that Paul doth not run the Parallel betwixt the Natural body and the Spirit viz. the Creator as aforesaid For if you observe him he calleth the second Adam Spiritual also vers 46. and calleth the Saints Heavenly vers 49. Now will you say because the bodies of the Saints after their Resurrection are Spiritual bodies therefore their bodies are Spirits Surely no. Even so albeit the second Adam after his Resurrection is called Spiritual that therefore his body
natural and civil humanity in him and his very heart would bleed And this is the case with us by reason of our sins we are God's debtors yea bankrupts before him yet have we gotten a good Surety even the Son of God himself who to recover us to our former liberty was crucified and died for the discharge of out debt And therefore as the Prophet saith We should look upon him whom we have pierced and lament for him Look as the blood followed the nayls that were stricken through the blessed hands and feet of Christ so should the meditation of Christ's Passion be as nayles and speares to draw blood from our hands and hearts for our sins Secondly If thou doubtest where to see and find Christ crucified because the Prophet Zachary bids thee look on him Be advertised That he is set before thy face as nailed and fastened on a Cross wheresoever his Gospel is truly Preached in thine hearing for so the Apostle teacheth us Gal. 3.1 Oh foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the Truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was discribed in your sight and among you crucified We must seek God's face in Christ who is the living form or most bright glory wherein we behold God himself and we must ever seek Christ's face in the Gospel if we find it not there we perish everlastingly 2 Cor. 4.3 4. We need not go to Crosses nay we must not go but to the Glass he hath himself appointed for us Note this word till And remember it that till such time as we come thus by Faith and Meditation of the Gospel we lie continually as poysoned by Satan that old Serpent and as stung to death Thirdly We learn to follow Christ in the pursuit and crucifying of our sins for so we are taught Gal 5.24 They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof That is they endeavour to kill the Power of Sin in themselves by Repentance Prayer Fasting Meditation conference with the Saints and by avoiding all occasions of offence Fourthly we here learn in this president that seeing the Son of God was not only thus racked and crucified by men but also bare the Wrath of God in his Soul that therefore we must learn not to make so little account of sin as commonly we do Fifthly Whereas the Person crucified was the very Son of God it is manifest that the Love of God unto us in our Redemption is endless like the deep Sea without bank or bottom as it is testified Joh. 3.16 And if we shall not acknowledge this to be so our condemnation will be the greater Sixthly The Curse of God being here once and fully born of the Son of God not for himself but for his Elect It standeth not with God's Justice to lay any Curse on them they continuing in the Faith any more wherefore when they be afflicted their punishments are but temporary and not Curses but Crosses Chastisements which proceed not from Anger as it is to the wicked Isa 27.9 but from a most loving Father and so ever to be accounted Psal 103. Heb. 12.5 6 7 8. Now I will here declare what his enemies did against him both Jews and Gentiles and of his Passions on the Cross what herein we be specially to observe First They stone him bot as many Malefactors were executed as Achan Josh 7. and Naboth 1 King 21.13 but for a greater reproach they Crucifie him and this was the most shameful death among the Jews Secondly They Crucifie him after much beating bleeding and fainting and so make his green-wounds again to lie open even before the Sun to his greater grief and pain If the Son of God is Crucified for us we must be content in like manner to part with all for his sake that we may possess him and follow his Example Thirdly They pierced his hands and feet according to the Prophesie of the Psalmist Psal 22.16 in those parts which are most lively and sensible and so the weight of his body was born up by hands and feet fastened to the Cross but not in that gross manner that blind Papists have imagined but the feet nailed assunder with two distinct nailes as Godly Antients have delivered Fourthly They gave him Vinegar and Gall to drink tempered with Myrrh Matth. 27.34 Some think to take away his senses and memory intoxicating as it were his brain Thus they hastened his death See Med. Jos Hall pag. 501. not having any respect at all of his Soul whether he died in peace and favour with God yea or nay Others think it was to hasten his death Howsoever it was every sinner here is to be advertised That it was and is he as well as the Jews tempers who hath tempered such a Cup of Poyson for Jesus Christ Fifthly They Crucifie him between two Thieves Matth. 27.38 for his greater shame whereby they testifie that they esteemed him no common sinner Isa 53.6 but the Captain of all Thieves and Malefactors So think thou thy self with Paul 1 Tim. 1.15 that thou art the greatest of all sinners Sixthly They all mocked him both Jews and Gentiles wagging their heads and speaking spiteful words against him Mat. 27.39 45. Thou that destroyest the Temple and buildest it up in three dayes save thy self And again He saved others let him save himself The Jews paid dearly for this mocking and for crying His blood be upon us and our Children For their Children abide under the heavy wrath of Almighty God for it unto this day Seventhly and lastly When the Lord Christ had made an end of all things and had given full satisfaction to his Father's Justice after all his wrestling with Satan and Sinners and after many Passions in Soul and Body He concludes all his wearisom fight with this Prayer immediately before his death Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit Luk 23.46 By his example he teacheth us to recommend our Spirits to the Father of Spirits Who can preserve any work so well as the crafts-master And shall not the faithful Creator of Souls do this more carefully than man In great dangers we commit our Jewels to our best Friends so do thou thy Soul unto Jesus Christ that thou mayest say with St. Paul 2 Tim. 1.12 I. know whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day The Passion of Christ is a mirrour of all Vertues which are the more excellent for that they be set before us not in Rules and Doctrine but in his own holy Practice I shall name some of them in order The Prophet Isaiah names six Vertues or special Graces proper to Christ and communicates by him in some measure to all his Members Chap. 11.2 First The Spirit of Wisdom Secondly Of Judgment Thirdly of Counsel Fourthly of Fortitude Fifthly of Knowledge and Sixthly of the Fear of the Lord. First For Wisdom
excluded yea peradventure to see them that they have hated and disdained and refused to give any honour unto as when the Rich man shall see Lazarus received by God into the Kingdom of Heaven whom he vouchsafed not to set among his Servants and that which is more to see themselves separated hated and tugged by an innumerable sort of ugly Devils out of the presence not only of God but their Fathers Mothers Wives Husbands Children Friends Lovers and Acquaintance who shall deride and laugh at them forgetting all bonds and obligations of Nature and rejoycing at the execution of God's Justice in their Condemnation so that no eye either of God or Man shall pity them nor no tears prayers suits cryes yellings or mourning can be heard or prevail with him who is their Judge nor one to mediate or speak for them to reverse or stay Judgment but needs without mercy without stay without any farewel they shall presently be cast even to the endless easeless and remediless torments of Hell Never was there poor wretch that was condemned at the Tribunal of mortal Judgment to be compared to this estate for there the conclusion of the Judges Sentence is Lord have mercy upon thy Soul but here the Lord himself shall not only not shew any token of Mercy and loving Countenance but also with a Voyce surpassing any Thunder-clap to be heard in all Heaven Earth and Hell Curse them Body and Soul to the Pit of Hell for evermore And if this were all the present woe yet were not the case so heavy for besides this what guilt of Conscience what biting envy what horrour of mind what distraction what murmuring against the Lord what cursing of themselves their day of birth and Father and Mother what remembrance of their former lives mispent and to conclude what doth not the fear of Hell work upon them surely my heart dreadeth my mind faileth to think upon to hear to see to consider their wringing of hands their knocking of breasts their cryes as it were filling of Heaven and Earth and Hell and my Tongue and Pen cannot express it but must rest with that saying There is no peace to the wicked saith the Lord Isa 57.21 Now Beloved a few words by way of Comfort and so I shall conclude First What can be more comfortable to good men than to consider and remember that the Lord hath appointed a day to Judge the World in Righteousness by the Man Christ Jesus which was dead and buried and raised and ascended and sitteth at the right hand of God which also is ordained Judge of quick and dead against whom and for whose sake the Wicked rage and the Godly indure and therefore it is said He shall come viz. in the Clouds which was interred in the Earth the sorrows of the Grave cannot hold him no nor the Heavens when the latter day cometh but he maketh his Clouds his Charriots his Messengers flames of fire burning up the World and rideth upon the wings of the Wind and cometh with the voices of Archangels Trumpets Arise O you dead and let all men come to Judgment O how happy shall it be that day with them which have served and kissed the Son and that can say For thy sake we have been killed all the day long How shall he recompence them that have fed him How shall he pay them that by Almes-deeds and holy Works have lent unto him How shall he honour them that have honoured him How shall he revive and comfort them that have died or mourned for him * See Mr. Perkins upon the Creed And to conclude Shall he not give them ten thousand times more than all their evils amounted unto in this present World Well! O Christ we believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge we therefore pray thee help thy Servants whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood Come Lord Jesus come quickly and make them to be numbred with thy Saints in glory everlasting Now beloved I shall speak one word to the Place of Glory and so I shall conclude this matter Luke 12.32 Fear not little Flock it s your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom Matth. 25.34 Come ye blessed of my Father receive the Kingdom prepared for you from before the Foundation of the World Joh. 3.4 Except a man be born of Water and of the Holy Ghost he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God 1 Pet. 1.3 Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy who hath begotten us again to a lively Hope by the Resurrection of Christ from the dead vers 4 To an Inheritance immortal and undefiled which fadeth not away reserved in the Heavens for us Joh. 17.24 Father I will that those that thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me By all which it is manifest that the Place is Heaven where God and Christ is where is fulness of Joy and at his right hand are Pleasures for evermore As it is written Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it entered into the Heart of Man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my Son And because I cannot speak of the Excellency of this Place and the Glory that is therein but I shall darken it through my ignorance thereof therefore I will conclude with these words Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they which do his Commandment that they may have right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the Gates into the City Vers 17. And the Spirit and the Bride say Come and let him that heareth say Come and let him that is athirst Come and whosoever will let him take of the Water of Life freely Amen even so come Lord Jesus The Authors APOLOGY to his Friends giving them some Reasons why he did not Print the other part of the Manuscript with this sith it was once intended and so much desired by many Friends which consisteth chiefly of these particulars viz. 1. HOw many wayes a man may be guilty in partaking of other mens sins from 2 Tim. 5.22 where is shewed Eight wayes 2. Of ten Capital Sins which many men be I fear guilty of if not some Churches also which for brevity sake are all reduced to two Heads viz. Heresie and Hypocrisie as also the remedies for the Cure of the Cankering Nature of these two great Sins which is true Faith in Christ and sincere Love to him 3. An Essay for a right stating of the question Whether Christ died for all men or for the Elect only Which when I have shewed you my meaning about it by God's help it may be a means towards an Union which I hope is unfeignedly desired by some of both Parties For doubtless it would be very much to God's honour and the Churches peace And that I may attain to the end by me propounded as aforesaid I intend God willing if ever it be published to the view of the World to proceed after this manner As First To shew the End of Christ's Death and the Application of his Death Secondly The Salvation wrought on Earth by Christ in his own Body with God for Men And the Salvation in the Application thereof he worketh from Heaven by his Spirit in Men to God Thirdly God's Love of Compassion and his Love of Delight Fourthly The Portion of Spirit sent forth before Christ's Coming in the Flesh and since his Coming and Ascension All which the Scriptures make distinct But they are usually confounded by the inconsiderate as I hope by God's Grace I shall be inabled to make it plainly appear Now the reason why I did not Print it with this was because it would make it too voluminous or big so that the poorer sort of Christians for whose sake it was chiefly intended could not be able to but it I could shew many more Reasons but shall forbear to declare them here FINIS
the third degree viz. the glorious Presence of God in Heaven with the Church Triumphant Heb. 12.22 Q. 2. If God be a Spirit Joh. 14.24 how then doth the Scriptures ascribe to him hands and feet and almost all the parts of a man sith Christ saith A Spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have c. A. This is to be understood Metaphorically as also by way of Analogy For like as men use to hold water in the hollow of their hand and also span with it even so the Lord albeit he is a Spirit or spiritual substance yet to help our infirmity speaketh to us as it were in our own language and saith he measureth Heaven with a span and holdeth the water in the hollow of his hand Isa 40.12 And as men see with their eyes and hear with their eares even so the Lord is said to do Psal 34.15 The eyes of the Lord are over the Righteous and his ears are open unto their Prayers The hand of the Lord hath driven out the Heathen Now a Spirit hath not hands eyes and ears c. Therefore when the Scriptures attribute these to God viz. hands eyes lips tongue nose heart head face and back-parts c. it is not to be understood litterally but in the second or third sense viz. Analogically or Allegorically that is another thing is meant as Gal. 4.24 As for Example his right hand signifieth his Power for David saith The right hand of the Lord doth valiantly the right hand of the Lord is exalted Psal 118.15 16. And his finger is compared to the Holy Ghost Luk. 11.20 But if I with the finger of God cast out Devils no doubt the Kingdom of God is come unto you compared with Matth. 12.28 But if cast out Devils by the Spirit of God then the Kingdom of God is come unto you And thus I might shew how the rest might be applyed but for brevity sake I forbear Q. 3. How is God said to repent Gen. 6.6 sith other Scriptures say he is not as Man that he should repent or as the Son of Man that he should change his mind For the gifts and callings of God are without repentance Rom. 11.29 A. Albeit God is said sometimes to be angry with us and sometimes pleased this doth not prove any change in God but when we break his Commandments and set light by his Promises and follow our corrupt wayes we are changed and not he We be mutable he is immutable for in him there is no variableness nor shadow of turning Jam. 1.17 He is said to be pacified pleased when we turn from our evil ways so turn to him by true repentance See for this Jonah 3.9 Joel 2.12 Jer. 18.18 For when God is said to laugh at mens calamities and mock when their fear cometh Prov. 1.26 We are not by these and such-like sayings to think that God hath such Affections and Passions as be in Man for God hateth such as mock at his Messengers and despiseth his Word yea God abhoreth the scornful man but as those men that laugh at our calamities are the furthest off from helping of us out of it even so is God when he laugheth at our calamity See Prov. 1.26 27 28. So he is said Psal 44.23 to sleep Arise wherefore dost thou sleep O Lord Arise for our help and redeem us for thy mercy sake vers 26. Now the Lord keepeth his Vineyard lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day Isa 27.3 David saith He neither slumbereth nor sleepeth Psal 121.4 But this is to be understood Metaphorically as I said before as when he is said to awake it is meant his speedy coming to help us opposite to sleeping which is his delaying to come to help us And so when Moses is desirous to see his face and to speak with him face to face it must be meant of some high degree of his manifestation of Grace but not of Glory for so no mortal man can see his face and live No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him Joh. 1.18 for he is invisible 1 Tim. 1.17 who only hath immortality dwelling in that light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see for he sitteth upon the Circle of the Earth and the inhabitants thereof are as grashoppers That stretcheth out the Heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a Tent to dwell in That bringeth the Princes to nothing he maketh the Judges of the Earth as vanity To whom then will you liken me or shall I be equal saith the Holy One Isa 40.22 to the 26. For as St. Paul saith By these things we speak the Wisdom of God in a Mystery even the hidden Wisdom which God ordained before the World unto our glory which none of the Princes of this World knew for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory but God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God Now we have not received the Spirit of the World but the Spirit that is of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God which things also we speak not in the words that man's wisdom teacheth but which the Holy Ghost teacheth comparing spiritual things with spiritual But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned 1 Cor. 2. c. Now I have according to my measure given you my understanding of these great Mysteries of God and the Father and of Christ and of the Holy Ghost Col. 2.2 in as short and plain a method as I could for your information c. Now of that which hath been spoken as concerning God by me in this Treatise this is the summe That God is a Spirit Joh. 4.4 or spiritual substance or pure nature immutable invisible unsearchable filling Heaven and Earth Full of understanding of truth and righteousness of mercy and wisdom and all manner of goodness without beginning and without ending not created nor made and Maker of all things subject to nothing and governing all things knowing all things yea even the inward thoughts and intents of the hearts of men forgiving sins only to be honoured and called upon only hearing our prayers justifying and saving us of an almighty arm and majesty the Father unbegotten the Son begotten the Holy Ghost proceeding from them both as I have proved by the Word of God which cannot lye Now all these things as aforesaid be rightly applyed to the Father Son and Holy Spirit so that it plainly appeareth that to whomsoever these things may rightly be applyed he is God by Nature and not by Name only as they are Psal 82.6 I have said ye are Gods but ye shall die like men