one another as a sure testimony of their love to God for the which I have been hated and persecuted by some men of all opinions and religions whatsoever in the world whether Papists Prelates Presbyterians Independents Anabaptists Ranters Quakers and whatsoever opinion else below the truth though I love them all and am with them all and they all with me but a cloud is over them that they see me not neither know me that is they see not my life being not yet reconciled to it yet when this cloud shall be taken away from all and the Sun of Righteousness risen in all Matth 23. â— then shall they see both me and one another and have joy in each other and be at peace with all men as being all brethren of one family sons of one Father heirs of one Kingdom and so see themselves and all men dwelling together in one City or heaven God And this is pure Religion the new Jerusalem the Kingdom of the Lord and end of their journey where the wolf shall dwell with the lamb that is the wicked with the godly or men of all opinions meet and agree in one union and fellowship in the Lord Jesus And where the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lyon and the fatlings together and a little child to wit Christ shall lead them and the cow and the bear shall feed or all men who have been of different judgements shall be of one mind in the Lord their young ones shall lye down together all men shall bring forth their seed unto God and the lyon shall eat straw like the ox or God will tame the wildest of creatures the persecutingst and most devouringst of men or of things in men that all shall be alike in knowledge and the sucking childe shall play on the hole of the asp Isa 11. and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den or he that is sucking at the breast and he that is weaned from the breast of his own Religion and shall not one envy another for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea that is God will so manifest himself that all men and creatures shall be in union together love one another and do unto others as they would others should do unto them this is the Law and the Prophets and this is the Kingdom of the Lord and high calling of God which all men are to press after and not to rest till they are come in to it and is no more nor no less then what I have always declared as that which I received of the Lord yet not that I Richard Coppin as a creature could at any time give to another what I my self have received or teach another what I am taught or do for another what the Lord hath done for me in that case but I onely declare what I have received of the Lord and am taught by the Lord and what the Lord may do for others when the time appointed of the Father shall come for he that gives to me as a creature must give to them as creatures Isa 2 22. and he that taught me must teach them if ever they be taught the truth therefore cease from man whose breath is in hâ— nostrils 1 John 2. for wherein is he to be accounted of and eye him the Lord Jesus or that anointing within you who is the salvation of all men and whom you are to hear in all things for all others besides him that go forth as Teachers of the people are but false Teachers and Seducers according to the Scripture but the Lord alone or this anointing in us is our onely Teacher and men in speaking one to another can do no more as they are men but tell one another what the Lord hath done for them as the Prophet David saith Come hear and I will tell thee what the Lord hath done for my soul and what we have seen and heard we declare unto you saith Paul which declarations of men may conform each other in something which they before have had some little experience of in themselves the Lord working with it though they did not so know it as to utter it which when it is declared to them they may then set their seals to it as truth to them there being in them the same spirit witnessing to the same things which makes them believe it For he that believes hath the witness in himself but if there be not the same spirit witnessing in him that hears as is in him that speaks they cannot believe or set seal to the truth of what is spoken any further then it agrees with their own spirits or opinions but will rather persecute it to the death and also them that shall declare it as they have done to Christ the Apostles and others since that from thence and from â—uch arises all persecutions And so having brought you thus far to shew unto you my proceedings hitherto both of my life and doctrine delivered to the world I shall go on and therein set before you a larger path of my persecution and tryals both at Worcester Oxford and at Glocester as of things considerable from the first beginning to the end as a further testimony to the truth And first of my tryal at Worcester and the proceedings thereunto CHAP. VI. The Ministers malicious proceedings against the Author in Worcestershire to bring him to a tryal His examination before several Justices and Ministers and his being bound over to Worcester Assizes how and for what THe first proceedings of the Ministers against me to bring me to a tryal at Worcester was from my preaching at Emload in Worcestershire where I was desired by some of the Eminentest men of that Parish to come and there to preach where I continued for the space of four days declaring the things which I had seen and heard of the Lord both in publique and private with the desire of the people and the consent of the said Minister of that place But the said Minister finding the people so much adhering to what I delivered and believing in it more then in what he himself usually delivered amongst them he began to be wrath and was troubled and fearing that he should lose his flock or at least the benefit he received of them he sent and caused a dispute or at least a vain jangling to be between some certain Ministers of that Countrey and my self while I was there some of whose names are as follows Eason of Batsford Collier of Blackly Nevil and others as Ministers to the people in their several Parishes but no grace could they minister to the hearers and therefore cannot be said in truth to be Ministers of Christ but of Antichrist as appeared by what they declared to the people as also by their practise for they endeavoured to prove the Law under that administration of Moses to be
Truths Testimony AND A Testimony of Truths Appearing IN Power Life Light Glory Creating Manifesting Increasing and Vindicating it self in the midst of persecution Wherein is discovered what Truth is and also a Lye who knows it and lives in it WITH The Authors Call and Conversion to the truth his practice in it his publishing of it and his several Tryals for the same Viz. 1. Before Baron Wilde at Worcester 2. Before Judge Nicholas at Worcester 3. Before Serjeant Green at Oxford 4. Before Serjeant Hutton at Oxford 5. Before Serjeant Glyn at Glocester Together with The partâ—cular Accusations brought against him in each Tryal and his answers to the same As also the Courts proceedings both by JUDGES and JURIES With an humble Appeal to his Highness Oliver Lord Protector as a general redress for all people By Richard Coppin John 16.2 They shall put you out of the Synagogues yea the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God service Gal. 4.29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now London printed and are to be sold at the black Spread Eagle at the West-end of Pauls the Blackmoores-head at Fleet bridge and at the Seven-stars in Pauls Church-yard 1655. Friends and Enemies THat the truth of those transactions that have past between me and my adversaries may appear it is through the desire of many people here published as a Narrative of what the Lord in these dividing times hath done and will do for the encrease of the manifestation of truth amongst men that through much opposition by men living in a lye against those who live in the truth is the truth made manifest concerning which I have not thought my life too dear to have parted with but with much zeal and love both to God and all people have I been carried on to vindicate the truth of what was manifested to me and declared by me who with much joy went through it I still knowing my self clear and justified in and by the Lord and my own conscience in all things that I have seen known and been made a partaker of in truth and righteousness And if any shall question the truth of what is here written in any part of it it is and will be ready to be proved not onely by my self but by several other persons that have been hearers of and eye-witnesses to the same and that had taken several Copies of what was done in the Courts at my tryals all which was still recorded and kept to this day and now published for the view of all that desire to look into it as an outward testimony bearing witness of the truth against all that is a lye in the world And I do further declare that in all my tryals and proceedings to this day I never feed or bribed any man whatsover to shew me any favour neither did any ever require it of me more then what was due by course of Law to the Clerks of Assizes for I was not to seek to men for any favour but to leave all to the Lord whose own the cause was and who is and will be made manifest in due time to all men as he is and hath been to him who is ready to serve all men in love while he is Richard Coppin SEveral books of the same Author now extant viz. one entituled Divine Teachings in which are three together a second Mans Righteousness examined a third Saul smitten a fourth A Man-child born and to be sold with this The Contents Chap. 1. WHat truth is and what it is not who knows it and lives in it c. page 1 Chap. 2. The Authors life and conversation before and after the day of his conversion c. page 9 Chap. 3. The Authors Call and Commission to preach what and from whence it was The Priests Call and Commission to preach page 15 Chap. 4. The Authors first prosecution of his Commission and his being opposed for the same c. page 17 Chap. 5. The Authors farther proceedings with men in all conditions under their several Forms and Administrations c. page 23 Chap. 6. The Ministers malicious proceeding against the Author in Worcestershire c. page 27 Chap. 7. Of his tryal at Worcester Assizes before Baron Wilde the particular accusations against him and his answers to them c. page 31 Chap. 8. The Authors speech made to the Judge after his tryal page 44 Chap. 9. The Authors second appearing at Worcester Assizes before Judge Nicholas page 48 Chap. 10. The Authors Tryal at Oxford Assizes before Serjeant Green The particular accusations against him and his answers to them c. page 50 Chap. 11. The Authors second appearing at Oxford before Judge Hutton c. page 70 Chap. 12. The Authors humble appeal to his Highness Oliver Lord Protector as a general redress for all people page 71 Chap. 13. The Sufferings of Christ his Prophets and Apostles with the Authors presented to his Highness c. page 75 Chap. 14. A further discovery to his Highness of the malicious practices ignorant censures and illegal proceedings of two Justices and certain Ministers at Stow c. page 79 Chap. 15. The Authors Tryal at Glocester Assizes before Serjeant Glyn. page 85 Truhts Testimony AND A Testimony of Truths appearing In Power Life Light and Glory creating manifesting increasing and vindicating of it self in the midst of Persecution CHAP. I. What Truth is and what it is not who knows it and lives in it that it is always persecuted and by whom that it most appears when it is most opposed and how GOd that made the world and all things therein whose goodness fills heaven and earth is holy Acts 17.24 25 26 27 28 just and good the pure perfect true God not confined to time place person nor thing but comprehends in himself all things that are and all things in him that is pure perfect true just and good so is to him Titus 1.15 and he cannot behold any thing any otherwise then as it is in himself who sees knows possesses and enjoys all things not as man who is a lyar but as God who is true and who is all 1 Cor. 15.28 and all in all in truth and righteousness and whatsoever besides a lye is or may be said by men not to be in God and God not to be in that is a lye and he that saith it is a lyar and no lyar can stand in the presence of God to know Gods presence with him till he be brought from the knowledge of a lye to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus by the appearing of God in Jesus Christ to him 2 Cor. 5.18 19. Therefore that which all men are to be to know to live in and to practice in truth and righteousness that they may no longer be shut out from the presence of God as lyars is the truth as
one to another is but an Image of what it is in and from God to man so Christ himself in a humane appearance as he was man though he had in him the fulness of the Godhead yet was he but an Image of the invisible God Col. 1.15 or the Eternal Being of the Godhead in its Divine state And all Images are to pass away and be removed day by day 1 Cor. 7 31. For the fashion of this world passeth away and whatsoever passes away must in that state of mortality be a lye in opposition to that which is immortal and true because it abides not always the same but is changeable And as a thing made cannot know that which made it so a lye cannot know the truth nor speak the truth but as it is in the truth no longer known to be a lye but the truth it self 1 Cor. 2.11 As nothing therefore but God who is a Spirit knows God so nothing but the truth knows the truth nor can speak the truth and if any thing of truth be spoken between man and man Mat. 10.20 it is the truth it self that speaks it self through its own image for what one man speaks to another in words is but an Image of the same Being spoken to man by the truth in silence for the word in the sound is but an Image of what is before spoken in the mind all the writings of men in the letter is but an Image of the writings of God in the heart and Spirit So the Scripture called the Word of God which are but the writings of men in an outward testimony John 1.1 2. is but an Image of the true Word Christ that spoke before in them that writ it and witnessed to the word by that which is written 1 Iohn 2 3 4 for what the Word of God to wit Christ speaks in men that man speaks and writes again to men Rom. 1.20 For what we have seen and heard we declare unto you saith Paul and all things in the world visible is but an Image of God Psal 51.6 or the things invisible and so all things as made is but an Image of it self as unmade Adam was first formed then Eve 1 Tim. 2 13 14. and the woman taken out of man is but the Image and glory of the man and lives not but in the man therefore while she abides in the Image and is not the same with the thing imaged she abides in a lye and is in the transgression So in like manner all mankind with the whole creation as coming out of God is but an Image of God as the Son is of the Father and as the woman is of the man and lives not but in God the Father that sends them forth from himself as an Image of himself and as it abides in the Image 1 Iohn 2.27 28. and not in him that made it so it abides in the lye and in the transgression and if any would know the truth in the love of the truth to speak it and live in it they must wait to be taken up in the understanding into that which is the truth as Christ was and therein cease in themselves to stand any longer in the Image but in the substance as Christ did when he did ascend from the Son to the Father and so must become the same with the truth in the truth it self before they can know what the truth is in the understanding of it 2 Cor. 5 1â— Isa 42.16 I n 2. Ephes 1.10 so in the chang of all things in man the woman becomes the man or weakness becomes strength darkness becomes light death becomes life and a lye the truth when the truth hath had its perfect work in making all things free in turning water into wine and bringing all things together in one for the truth is not without a lye 1 Cor. 11.11 12. the man is not without the woman nor the woman without the man in the Lord So not God without us nor we without him in the truth which truth comprehends Father Son and Spirit will wisdom and power variety in unity and unity in variety the Creator and the creature and so God himself who is the truth in Jesus who is one and all is himself the way in which all men should walk the truth which all men should practice Col. 2.6 and the life which all men should live with Christ in God manifest in flesh as he is God in union with man and man in union with God loving all men as himself doing for all men as for himself which should be the whole life of all men one to another Matth. 5 44 45. living in the truth as it is in Jesus even to walk in him as their path live in him as their life and so to follow his steps in the Lord Jesus Ephes 5.1 2. Acts 17.26 1 Ioh. 10.11 hating none speaking evil of none persecuting none but to be friendly loving kind and merciful to all as flesh of their flesh and bone of their bone being all of one blood and so to forgive one another as God in Christ hath forgiven them And he who goes any other way practises any other thing 2 Cor. 5.18 19. Iohn 14.8 1 Iohn 1.6 7 8. lives any other life then that which is God living in them and all men reconciling the whole world to himself by Jesus Christ the way the truth and the life is so far a lyar and the truth is not in him O how few are there that live this life of God in Christ to be reconciled to all men though enemies love all men though enemies be at peace with all men though enemies and to do for all men as they would do for themselves and as they would others should do unto them why very few yet live in the truth to practise it though most men profess it Therefore all men who live not in the truth are lyars and live in the filthy abomination of the lye as in sin death hell and damnation wrath envy hatred malice persecution revenge and all the works of iniquity and must be taken up into the truth and so cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone there to be purged from all their uncleanness and filthy abomination Rev. 21 8. that hath defaced the Image of God as to men before they can be lovers of God or the truth and cease from persecuting one another All things while it abides in the Image being there in a prison and in darkness is an enemy to the thing imaged because it represents it not perfectly or as it is in Jesus the thing made is an enemy to that which makes it the creature to the Creator Isa 5.9.4 5 6 c. man to God for all men as men and sinners so remaining are haters of God and do oppose the truth in the manifestation But the more truth is opposed
the Lord would be with me Acts 18.9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 to support me to the end as he was with Paul at Corinth and by experience I have hitherto found him to be with me And thus was my Commission in from the School of Christ given by Christ at Sion house in heaven to do the work of Christ as a free workman loving all men though enemies and hating none and not from Oxford and Cambridge or the Schools of Antichrist by the laying on of the hands of the Bishops or Presbytery to do the work of Antichrist as an hireling loving those that would pay me or stand for me and hating those that would not as most of those have done that had their Call and Commission from thence Neither was I to confer with flesh and blood as to go to Oxford or Cambridge this Committee or that Committee to receive Orders from men or to know whether I should preach or no and so to be settled in some place by them receive some yearly maintenance from them as the Priests of England do and have done with all that serve in Antichrists Kingdom and receive his wages but without all this or any part of it I was immediately to go and publish him to the world and to sinners yea all men without respect of persons notwithstanding all the opposition that I might meet withal from all sorts of Religion and among all sorts of men living under any Dispensation or Administration whatsoever below this which I my self lived in and was to declare And the first day that I began to prosecute this my Commission as it was in me in the life and power of it which I received not of man nor by man but of and by the Lord and God the Father who raised him from the dead out of the grave and in me then was I persecuted hated and rejected of men that knew it not but were enemies to it yet did no more to me then what had been done to others that were before me and will be done to those that come after me which I also looked upon to be part of my portion which was to follow and I to go through and which I was yet to be possest withal while I was in this work of preaching but knowing this that still filling up the rest of the sufferings of Christ which supported me when I had finished my course I should receive my crown Having suffered with Christ I should also reign with him and so enduring to the end I should be saved Mar. 13.13 1 Cor. 9.17 18. 2 Cor. 10.16 17. and this was my portion also with the Lord and the reward I received of the Lord and is a living on the Gospel with me as it is written He that preaches the Gospel shall live on the Gospel and not on other mens labours nor walk by other mens lights but the light of Christ in the Gospel dispensation And now so far hitherto as I have fell short in any thing of this my Commission to the knowledge of any let me be blamed But to proceed I shall go on as brief as I can to shew you the manner of my proceedings and how I have been carried forth to this day as shall be readily witnessed by the people of those parts in which I have been and thus proceeded in the practice thereof as followeth CHAP. IV. The Authors first prosecution of his Commission and his being opposed for the same how by whom and after what manner who are the Ministers of Christ and of Antichrist with their different proceedings both in judgement doctrine practice manner time place freedom and reward FIrst Paul in his time speaking of himself and his own call said then That above fourteen years ago he knew a man in Christ 2 Cor. 12. whether in the body or out of the body he could not tell but such an one caught up into the third heaven or paradise and heard unspeakable words which were not lawful for man to utter And why unlawful In respect of the Lavv of God it could not be unlavvful for God reveals nothing that is contrary to himself or his ovvn lavv neither doth he make a lavv contrary to vvhat he reveals but it might be contrary to the lavvs of men vvhich they had made and do still make and so unlavvful and in this sense Paul might say it vvas unlavvful for man to utter though not unlavvful for God to utter and for these reasons first in respect of the company amongst whom Paul vvas then living vvhen those vvords vvere made knovvn to him they being not able to bear them And secondly it may be that the lavvs of the times vvere such that if it should have been spoken it vvould have been counted blasphemy and himself have been persecuted for it as it seems he vvas for many things that he then spoke And so in all ages since vvhatever of God hath by God been revealed to men contrary to the lavv of the times hath been by that lavv unlavvful to utter and so by men counted blasphemy and the authors thereof accused as blasphemers Was it not so vvith Christ and vvith Paul and the rest of the Apostles And hath it not been so since and is it not so novv I am sure my self with many others can by experience witness it and set our seals to it since we knew it and were assured of it And now from the time that these things were first made known to me and I commanded to declare it to the world it was with much opposition and with so little outward freedom that I was forced to appear in the clouds and speak something darkly and under parables I abiding at that time in Barkshire among a people whose spirits were not able to bear the sound of the truth they being ignorant of it and so enemies to it and which the laws of the times were then against and most mens judgements and opinions contrary to it and men more ready to persecute it then otherways as they have ever been And I having not my freedom to speak fell a writing which things were printed and brought forth to publique view in a Book entituled Divine Teachings which many Ministers and Pastors of Churches living thereabouts did streightway oppose being that which was contrary to their judgements doctrine and practise whose names are as follows Lancaster Powel Harrison Pendarvice Wells Hughes and Burgess who were then in Barkshire with Osburn Woolly Glin and many others in Oxfordshire who cryed down all for heresie and blasphemy therein contained without naming any particulars saying it was a dangerous principle which it all tended unto that if it were suffered it would overthrow all Mens Religion whereupon several disputes were occasioned between me and the said Ministers they all still endeavouring to confute me or bring me to a recantation of these things revealed in me and declared by me which they counted erroneous and blasphemous
the Virgin Mary and crucified at Jerusalem though he be not yet so fully manifested to and in all men Rom. 8.29 as he was to and in him he being the first born among many brethren or the first appearance of humane nature in whom God did so fully and manifestly appear to be living moving acting and bringing forth himself in the manifestation of his love in power life light and glory yet that God is in all and all are in him as also saith the Scripture for in him we all live move Acts 17.28 Ephes 4.6 and have our being and there is one God and Father of all who is above all through all and in all both in Jews Gentiles Heathens Pagans Turks Infidels or whatsoever else they may be called and there is no difference or respect of persons with God but in the manifestation of this to themselves which none can have till the Holy Ghost even the Spirit of truth comes upon them as it did on him and reveal it to them as it did to him which he hath promised that in due time shal come and bring all things to their remembrance there is no man but hath God in him yea the same God that Christ had though not the same measure of knowledge and understanding till Christ in them hath revealed it And that the Gentiles might come to know this Paul prays for them that they might be strengthned with all might in the inner man that is with all God to comprehend with all Saints what is the bredth Eph. 3.16 17 18 19. and length and depth and heighth and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that they might be filled with all the fulness of God even as Christ was to have in them the same mind the same love life and light and so be filled with the same fulness of grace and glory whereby they come unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ to know that as he was so are we in this world and therefore it is no blasphemy to say that God may be as much in them as in Christ considered as a man though it do not yet appear so to them Eph. 4.13 1 Ioh 4.17 as in due time it may and will when God shall be more revealed to them and they more enjoy him in the manifestation Fifthly That the day of judgement was began sixteen hundred years ago Answ My Lord according to Scripture acceptation it was so Iohn 12.13 for said Christ Now is the Iudgement of this world now shall the Prince of this world be cast out Iohn 9 39. and for Iudgement am I come into this world said Christ that they which see not might see and that they which see might be made blind and this coming of Christ to Judgement according to the Scripture was above sixteen hundred years past and yet is continued to this day though most men are blind and yet see it not which some shall so long as they have eyes of their own to see and ears of their own to hear till they see with the Lords eye and hear with the Lords ear and the Apostle also said that the time was then come 1 Pet. 4.17 that Iudgement must begin at the House of God even with righteous men or men under any form of Religion that had any thing of their own righteousness to trust in besides Christ their righteousness That this day of Judgement did then begin we find for so soon as he was but ascended and had led captivity captive he sent the holy Ghost the Comforter Ioh. 16.7.8 even the spirit of truth which should convince the world of sin of righteousness and of judgement and so bring all things to mans remembrance destroying all that is a lye in man by the spirit of Judgement and of burning when he shall appear to sit in man his Temple as a refiner and purifyer of gold and silver Mal 3.3 to purge out all dross sin and corruption and to make man a vessel holding nothing but righteousness peace and joy which work of Judgement was then begun with some coming on to others and is not ended to this day with all neither will so long as sin is in the world raigning in any creature and till we see sin and transgression finished in us as no more to be imputed to us 1 Cor. 15.24 c. we see not an end of the day of Judgement with us till we see Christ to have opened the prison doors broken all bonds put all enemies under his feet set us at liberty and delivered up the Kingdom to the Father that God may be all in all and so much for the day of Judgement that it was began sixteen hundred years ago according to the Scriptures Sixthly That there was no general day of Iudgement Answ My Lord I know no other day of Jodgement as to me then what I have already declared to your Lordship which is to be the same with every creature before it can be finished and this may be said to be A general day wherein all men are to appear before Christ to be Judged by him in love for the time is come c. And though this time of Judgement may be called a day yet this day may be thousands of years before all the world in every man may be Judged all sin and transgression finished as to them and they all set free in the Lord 2 Pet. 3.8 For one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day and did men once taste and feel of the workings of God in and upon their souls in manifesting his love to them for the taking away of sin and transgression from them they would then be satisfied touching this day of the Lord which for my part I am already satisfied in and therefore cannot but declare it and bear witness to it as that which is truth to me and according to the Scriptures and they that know any other let them declare that as I have declared this Seventhly That there was no heaven but in man Answ My Lord Those words do not say there is none at all but that it is in man yet without confinement and this the Scripture also declares therefore if we would know where heaven is let us first know what it is and the Scripture tells us that the Kingdom of heaven is Righteousness Rom 14.17 peace and joy in the holy Ghost and that it is within us for when the Scribes and Pharises came to Christ to demand of him when the Kingdom of God should come as men still do he answered them that The Kingdom of God cometh not with observations neither shall they say lo here or lo there for behold the Kingdom of God is within you and where should the Kingdom of Christ which is a Kingdom of righteousness peace and joy appear to be
was called The Word of God Rev. 19 11 12 13. and not that the Scriptures were so called And let not us rob God of that honour and title due unto himself to give to the Scripture but what the Scripture saith both of God and it self that let us say also The Scripture also saith 1 Cor. 3.6 Iohn 14.19 Rom 10.8 that the Letter kills but the Spirit gives life which spirit is the Word and the Word is Christ I am come that you may have life saith Christ and because I live ye shall live also And this Word even Christ is nigh us in us yea round about us still teaching of us and giving life unto us which is the work of Christ and not the Scripture But this I will say of the Scripture which is what the Scripture saith of it self that it is an outward testimony of God his mind Christ the Word Faith and Eternal Life Heaven and Salvation to those that do believe but not that it self is either of all these or can give unto us the knowledge of it and that we might know the insufficiency of it Ioh. 9.39.40 Christ in it bids us search the Scriptures for saith he in them you think to have eternal life and they are they which testifie of me and ye will not come to me that ye may have life Yet this Scripture as it is given by inspiration so it is profitable for doctrine 2 Tim. 3.16 17. for reproof for correction and instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished to all good works and not as it lies in the letter but as it is inspired revealed or made manifest in our hearts and minds by the Holy Ghost for saith the Lord I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people Ier. 31.33 34. and cause them to walk in my statutes of loving one another And the Word of God being once written in our hearts it is then profitable for us to teach reprove correct and instruct us make us perfect in the inward man furnish us fit and qualifie us with gifts and graces unto all good works and no otherwise can it do it for us but as it is within us And this is the honour and praise that I will give to the Word of God and to the Scripture to sum it all up in God in whom I desire to know to live to act and enjoy all things of God and I desire not to speak think act or maintain any thing that I have not the letter for as well as the Spirit the truth and mystery of which letter no man knows till he hath it revealed to him by the Spirit and Internal Word that declares the Father plainly which so far as it speaks in me Mat. 11.27 and declares the mind of God to me I shall not be silent And now my Lord I give you many thanks that you have so patiently heard me and given me liberty to speak for my self Yet before I depart I shall desire to present one Scripture more which I shall but onely read and so leave it to the consideration of this honourable Court Said the Judge I thought you had done Answ If your Lordship desire it I have Said the Judge Nay but we will hear your Scripture Answ It is in the sixth of the Acts from the 8. verse to the end And Steven full of faith and power did great wonders and miracles among the people then there arose certain of the Synagogue which is called the Synagogue of the Libertines Cyreneans Alexandrians and of them of Cilicia and of Asia disputing with Steven and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake then they suborned men which said we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God and they stirred up the people and the Elders and the Scribes and came upon him and caught him and brought him to the Councel and set up false witnesses Acts 6.12 which said This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the Law for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the Customs which Moses delivered us and all that sate in the Counsel looked stedfastly on him saw his face as it had been the face of an Angel And now I shall take my leave according as the Apostles in times past have done who when they had suffered for the name of Christ they departed from the presence of the Council rejoycing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name so shall I at this time and as daily in the temple and in every house Acts 5.41 42. they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ so shall not I my Lord cease to do the same so far as God shall enable me and so I take my leave of your Lordship And paying the fees of the Court I was discharged for that time CHAP. IX The Authors second appearing at Worcester before Judge Nicholes and the proceedings thereof also his being bound from thence to Oxford how and for what ANd I standing bound until the next Assizes at Worcester which was then six moneths to come my accusers Ralph Nevil and Giles Collier in the mean time imployed men on purpose to follow me from place to place where they heard I preached or came to enquire into my Doctrine Life and Conversation with endeavours to get something more against me to accuse me at the next Assizes following as my self and several persons well knew And they hearing of some difference in dispute that was between some Ministers and my self at Enstone in Oxfordshire where I had before been and preached they came to an Inn in Enston and sent for the Ministers that differed with me of whom they got a certificate of some particulars which they said I there delivered and which they counted blasphemy And when I appeared at Worcester next Assizes before Judge Nicholes my accusers gave to the Judge their certificate which was as follows First That I should say Christ ayed for his own sins as well as the Peoples Secondly That there was no heaven and hell but what was in man Thirdly That everlasting life should end in this life But no witness sworn to it And my accusers having no witness there they with many fair speeches used to the Judge desired him to bind me to appear at the next General Assizes holden at Oxford to answer to what was in this their certificate and what more they in the mean time could find against me For said they to the Judge that being his own Countrey we shall there by that time get something more against him And the Judge willing to do my accusers a pleasure against me as Festus did the Jews against Paul when he left him bound
God Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell meaning the grave nor suffer thy holy one to see corruption Psal 16.10 and what this hell and grave is he also calls it the lowest pit or darkness in the deep in which he was shut up and could not come forth the wrath of God lying so hard upon him Psalm 88. or the Lord hiding his face from him and Jonah agrees with the same who when he was in the fishes belly said That he was in hell For out of the belly of hell said he cryed I unto thee and thou heardst my voyce Ionah 2. for when thou hadst cast me into the deep or depth of darkness into the midst of the sea or under many troubles and afflictions and the floods compassed me about all thy billows and thy waves passed over me then I said I am cast out of thy sight or saw thee in wrath yet I will look again toward thy holy Temple where I shall behold thee in love when thou shalt raise me up Amos 9.2 And in Amos the Lord saith Though they dig into hell thence shall my hand take them and your covenant with death and hell shall be dâ—sanulled saith the Lord But it is most sure that there is a hell for the wicked as there is a heaven for the godly and all that are in Christ Jesus And for this let us consider of one Scripture more in Matth. 25. where heaven is said to be at the right hand of God and hell at the left hand compared with Psal 16.11 In thy presence is fulness of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore meaning in heaven with God and how those on the right hand and that have increased their talents enter into the joy of the Lord as into heaven where they are at rest for ever when those on the left hand and that have not increased their talents go into utter darkness as into hell where is weeping and gnashing of teeth pining and mourning for sin and where they are at no rest And thus there is a heaven wherein eternal life is enjoyed by Christ and all his and there is a hell wherein everlasting punishment is inflicted upon the Devil and all his But let us use the Scripture expression for it if we shall declare it which is according to the mind of God Thirdly That everlasting life should end in this life Answ My Lord for answer to this I do affirm That I never then and so said the words and I do also affirm That everlasting life with Christ in God shall never have an end and that believers or the righteous in Christ go to it as to God enjoy it as God and still remain in it as in God with Christ Colos 3.4 John 3.36 yea after they have been dead according to the Scriptures as the wicked go to hell and damnation and as some who believe not are already in it And thus life everlasting with Christ in God shall never have an end Object But for a further clearing of this some may yet say Is there not a life which shall have an end and yet said to be everlasting Answ I answer That there is a life according to manifestation spoken of in Scripture which seems to have an end or be made perfect in another life and yet said to be everlasting as the life of works and of nature ends and is made perfect in the life of grace the life of grace ends and is made perfect in the life of glory the lesser still swallowed up of the greater the lower of the higher the darker of the lighter the weaker of the stronger to be made perfect and so at last all things end and are made perfect in God Object But how is that which ends said to be everlasting Answ For further answer to this it may also be said That if the first Covenant and Priesthood under the Law with the conditions thereof Gen. 17. Exo. 40.13 14 15 was said to be everlasting as that it was and is during the time of that administration unto us then the life which we lived in obedience to that Covenant while under it which was a life of works of fear and of bondage was as everlasting as that but when that first Covenant and Priesthood with the conditions thereof according to that administration which was said to be everlasting or was made perfect in a second a new and more heavenly then the life which we lived while under the first did end also with the first and so with the same made perfect in a second a new and more heavenly life as in life of grace and freedom faith and love under the second Covenant changed and brought in confirmed and sealed by the blood of the Lord Jesus whose life we then live and are justified by for where there is a change of a Covenant Law Statute Ordinances Conditions Administrations or Dispensations there is a change of a life also to the creature even that life which we are then bound by that Law in our consciences to live which is a change from a Covenant of works to a Covenant of free grace Rom. 2.28 29. or from the circumcising of the foreskin of the flesh in the letter to that of the heart and in the spirit which Covenant it is that God hath made with us according to the Scripture and which we are to live Heb. 8. For after these daies saith he a new Covenant will I make c. therefore a new life will he give And that the word Everlasting and For ever hath an end with us I shall yet prove from several Scriptures for in some Scriptures it is said The earth shall endure for ever as Eccles 1. in others it is said The earth shall be dissolved and burnt up now that earth which shall have no end must be that which had no beginning for whatsoever hath a beginning hath also an end and what that earth is which hath neither beginning nor end the Preacher in Ecclesiastes will tell you But there is a earth which shall have an end and that is the earth which the Devil feeds upon Gen. 3.14 and inhabits in to wit flesh sin and corruption the old man in us that is of the earth earthy together with all carnal wisdom 1 Cor. 15.47 self-righteousness flesh form and formality as that which is not spirit and truth and that cannot endure the fire even God when he appeareth in righteousness why this shall be burnt up Heb. 12.29 consumed and scattered before the Lord as dust before the wind though it is said to be for ever and everlasting as in Habackkuk 3.6 Yet when the Lord shall so come in his glorious brightness as is there spoken of then shall all things of man and that is earthy be scattered bow and melt before him as is written Before him went the pestilence and burning coals went forth at his feet he
My Lord Another thing in the fifth particular which they declare as their judgement is that the same body which dyes shall after death be so raised again and united to the soul for ever which thing is false my Lord and I know no Scripture to prove it if there be let them produce it for here they are Then the Judge looking upon them asked if there were no such Scripture but they were silent and answered not a word then Justice Jenkins who sate upon the bench undertook to answer for them and said there is such a Scripture produce it you then said I and let me see it or I shall not believe it but he was silent also and there was no man to be found that could shew that Scripture then I instanced a Scripture in the 1 Cor. 15. to the contrarâ— that the same body was not to rise again but God giveth it a body as pleaseth him which body none of them yet knew Then the Judge perceiving that those things which by them were written and by me excepted against could not by them nor any other be proved he commanded them to be crossed forth before their faces and they had nothing to say for themselves which was to the great shame and disgrace of my accusers and others of their tribe that those things which they have so long held forth and maintained to the people for truth and as their judgments that this should now be crossed out before their faces as an error sure as bad a thing as ever they could have done against themselves in things of that nature which makes it to appear that the greatest blasphemer cryed blasphemy first and these things being crossed out I set my hand to the rest which is as follows and which to my knowledge I never declared any thing contrarâ— to according to the Scriptures and in a spiritual sense in which sense we are to understand all things of that nature The part culars which I signed FIrst that Iesus Christ the only begotten son of God being eternal God and equal with the Father did in the fulness of time take to himself mans nature yet without sin being holy harmless undefiled as the scripture saith Secondly The Lord sesus Christ for discharging the office of Medâ—atorship whereunto he was called by his Father did perfectly fulfill the Law endured the shameful and cursed death of the cross but not for himself being as he was perfectly free from sin but that he might satisfie for the sin of his people Thirdly The third day he rose from the dead with the same body with which he suffered with which also he ascended into heaven 1 Cor. 15. and there sitteth at the right hand of his Father but not with flesh and blood Fourthly The bodies of men after death return to dust but their souls which die not return to God who gave them the souls of the righteous are received into the highest heaven where they enjoy God in glory waiting for the full redemption of their bodies and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell where they remain in torment reserved to the Judgment of the great day Fifthly At the last day such as are found alive shall be changed and they that are dead shall be raised up Sixthly God hath appointed a day wherein he will Judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ which day the Apostate Angels shall be Iudged and all persons that live upon the earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ to give an account of their thoughts words and deeds and to receive according to what they have done in their bodies whether good or evil These things I do believe according to the Scriptures and never publish any thing contrary to them Richard Coppin CHAP. XI The Authors second appearing at Oxford Assises before Judge Hutton and what was there done I According to my engagement appeared the second time at the general Assises holden at Oxford there expecting again to have seen the faces of my former accusers they having before said they would follow me to death but they finding nothing against me came not there proclamation being made in the Court for my discharge and none other having any thing against me to declare one Keat the then Sheriff for that County sitting in the Court being of a bitter spirit and also an enemy to truth as he then appeared stood up as one among the rest of the accusers and informers saying that he could declare something against me which was spoke in London but when he was asked what it was no particular could be mention but said that he had heard very strange things declared by me at S. Dunstons Church in London before a great Congregation of people of great quality to the great dishonour of God and the people disturbance as said this informer Mr. Keet who earnestly importuned the Judge to restrain me from preaching in answer to which the Judge told him that a mans liberty was pretious and there was no reason any man should be restrained from his liberty therein by any mans words whatsoever unless oath were made against him that he had offended the Law Therefore said the Judge I cannot do it upon your words nor any mans else for then I should be partial and I came not onely to bind but to free men Then the Informer Mr. Keat by name receiving those repulses from the Judge was silent and sate him down with shame and then the bitter spirits of others in the University whose mouthes were ready to be opened in malice against me were quashed my freedom ordered and my enemies ashamed CHAP. XII The Authors humble appeal to his Highness Oliver Lord Protector of England Scotland and Ireland as a General redress for all people My Lord FOrasmuch as it hath pleased the Lord of Lords to call you to this high place of Protectorship under himself and according as he shall protect counsel guide and direct you as he did Christ and the rest of the Kings of Israel so you may act like them in walking before the people to do justice among them For by him Kings reign and Princes decree justice Prov. 8.15 who himself reigns in them to be their wonderful Counsellor And now as according to the counsel of the Lord your Highness hath been pleased to declare your self both by promise and oath to seek the peace freedom and liberty of the people of this and other Nations against oppression and tyranny and to protect them in their just rights and priviledges according to the mind of God written in Scripture for Christian Religion that then in the Lords time and as he himself shall appear to go before you and act in you so you may according to his directions follow him in persuit thereof bringing glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will towards men Which you shall so far as you follow the counsel of the Lord and not of
you to appear or send you to Goal And so without any thing being laid to my charge either by themselves or others they according to their own wills bound me to appear at Glocester Assizes following to answer to what was not yet charged against me and according as the Priests and Elders desired of Festus judgement against Paul Act 25.14 15 16. before his accusers were come face to face so the said Ministers then present with the Justices would have had me been sent to Goal before I was accused of any thing and said That both I and all that adhear'd to me deserved no better place After this I went the same day to Stow where was news of several other Ministers of the same Country then come to Town to enquire concerning me some of which were my former accusers at Worcester and at Oxford And I being again desired by many people of the Town and Parish of Stow went again into the street and there preached that day after which I took my leave of the people rejoycing that the Lord for carrying on so good a work had again chosen me as an instrument in his hand to bear witness to the truth and suffer shame for his name And now my Lord after the consideration of all the foregoing discourse let it please your Highness to do what to your own wisdom shall seem meet that your practice may answer your title even to protect the innocent from those that would devour them for there are many wolves in lambs clothing who under the pretence of standing for the truth and the faith once delivered to the Saints do persecute the pure appearances of God in his people 2 Tim. 3 like unto those which Timothy speaks of who having a form of godliness deny the power thereof Wherefore I being perswaded of your Highness's tender care towards such as love the Lord Jesus in sincerity and truth was occasioned in boldness to present this unto your Highness to rightly inform you of the rigorous and illegal proceedings of some mennow in power who under a form of godliness do envy the pure appearances of Jesus Christ in spirit and truth Wherefore as the eye of Jesus is continually toward those that love him for good and that in all their afflictions he is afflicted so you may be like Jesus Christ in tendering those that are precious in his sight that so the beloved of the Lord may lie down in safety And lastly as it hath pleased the Lord to advance your Highness above your Brethren for their protection preservation and deliverance as he did Joseph above his brethren when he made him Lord of all Pharaohs house and Ruler throughout all the Land of Egypt so you like him may not always be as a stranger to your poor grieved and oppressed brethren to try them Gen. 45. but that you like Joseph may also make your self known to them by doing good for them to comfort and relieve them in their several wants and necessities as Joseph did his brethren that so you may not onely be blessed in the Lord but that both this and after-generations may also call you Blessed according as it is written The memory of the just shall be blessed Prov. 10 7. but the name of the wicked shall rot July 1. 1654. So waiting upon what the Lord shall be pleased to direct your Highness to do in reference to these particulars I remain Yours to serve you in the Lord Richard Coppin CHAP. XV. The Authors Tryal at Glocester Assizes before Serjeant Glyn ' and the unjust proceedings of two Justices John Crofts and Richard Aylworth against him the 22 of July 1654. VPon the day and year above written I made my appearance at Glocester Assizes there expecting a tryal with my then two adversaries Joh. Crofts Richard Aylworth two Justices of the Peace for that County who themselves were there with many Ministers of the same County conferring together concerning what they might inform against me having nothing before for nothing justly could they find then but their malice being great the Justices with the said Ministers had fram'd a scandalous Paper in which were many false and scandalous informations of their own inventions as a map of malice which they presented to the Court to which was onely the name of John Crofts and to which they themselves durst not swear neither could they get any other though they sought much for it which particulars were as follow The Information FIrst That I had several times caused to come together to hear me a very great multitude of wicked and prophane people to the disturbance of the peace Secondly That I disturbed their Minister in the Church and that some of my company should call out to have the Minister pulled down saying Touch Coppin who dare Thirdly That believers need not pray for the pardon of sin Fourthly That there was no heaven nor hell but belief and unbelief Fifthly That I should call to the people to stand to their liberty and not to suffer the Justices to entrench upon it Sixthly That I would not obey the Justices Authority Seventhly That I was a continual breaker of the peace And now I being called into the Court on Saturday night a little before the Court rose the informations against me were read but nothing of it being proved there was no answer required of me and the Judge being removed to the other Court my accusers would have been my Judges and also witnesses for themselves but I excepted against them and the Court reproved them Then I declared against their informations shewing them to be false and they themselves to be no true Christians living in the faith of the Lord Jesus so long as they did inform against or prosecute any for their judgements whereupon their proceedings upon the informations were stopt Then they presented to the Court several books with my name to them And the Court demanded of me if I would own them To which I answered That I had written such books with such titles but whether those particular books they produced were the same I writ I knew not unless I heard them all read And I further said That if they had any thing against me for breach of any â—aw I desired them to proceed according to the Law and I would further answer them Whereupon the Court told them That they could proceed no further by these informations but if they had any thing to accuse me withal they were to proceed by way of indictment But my accusers not yet knowing with what more to charge me desired to know of the Court if they might not indict me for disturbing their Minister in the Church The Court answered They could not do so the Minister having done before I began and therefore it could not be proved any disturbance But said the Court If you can pick any thing forth of the books which you say are his and prove it to be blasphemy you may