A Cure for the Cankering Error of the New Eutychians by Thomas Monck | Full Audio Book

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section one of a cure for the cankering era of the new uans this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org a cure for the cankering era of the new uans by Thomas monk a cure for the cering era of the new uans who concerning the truth have Ed saying that our blessed mediator did not take his flesh of the Virgin Mary neither was he made of the seed of David according to the Flesh and thereby have overthrown the faith of some by Thomas monk John 17:3 this is life eternal that they may Know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou Hast sent 2 Peter 3:17 beware lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness Etc London printed for the author Anor 1673 the author to the reader Christian reader the matters contended for in this Treatise are on All Hands confessed to be very weighty and necessary to our Salvation which in short are these viz the true knowledge of God and his son Jesus Christ Our Lord which to know is life eternal now these new uans which here in this Treatise I oppose say that the divine nature of Christ which was in the beginning with God and was God John 1: 1 and 2 compared with the 14th verse was made flesh VI by turning his divine nature or godhead into flesh even as the water was turned into wine at Kaa John 2:9 which ceased to be water and became wine so the Eternal Word of his God the creator of Heaven and Earth ceased from being a Creator to become a creature VI man and died for our sins as these men say as you may see in this ensuing discourse now this opinion I call erroneous and heretical and Endeavor to prove it so as also possible since God is Immortal and immutable y Perfection itself and therefore cannot die nor yet be changed as I have proved in this treat secondly they say in plain words that our blessed mediator did not take his flesh of the Virgin Mary nor of David and so by consequence he was not the true son of David and if so how can we be saved since all the promises are yay and amen in him that was the true son of David as the reader may see in the ensuing discourse which is a consequence of the former opin now albeit some of them that be more subtle begin to Boggle and will not speak plainly to this question what the word was before it was flesh but say they cannot tell we say he was either a Creator or a creature since we know no other thing that could die for us and as was said before God the creator of all things could not die as we believe therefore if they deny him to be a Creator then we think they must be arens or cians which two opinions they say they are poor as false and erroneous but the other part of them say still as they all used to say here to that he was of the uncreated substance of his father their Essence being one but yet they all agree in this that he that was the Eternal Word did not take his flesh of the Blessed Virgin Mary as we say he did now I can assure thee Christian reader I have no mind to dispute much less to write about these great Mysteries which I humbly believe and adore but the opposition that these men of late have made against the truth and the great danger that I know some poor Souls have been and yet are in concerning these things about God and Christ as also the exhortation of the Apostle Jude which bids us earnestly contend for that Faith which was once delivered to the Saints hath engaged me in this great work which I confess I’m not sufficient for but hope by this to open a door to some abler pen to enlarge upon and further explain these great Mysteries that so the little children that John bids keep themselves from Idols may know them better than yet I doubt they do now the principal things I treat of in this book are these four first of the essence of God secondly of the Holy Trinity thirdly about the person of Christ fourthly of the Union of natures in that one sacred person as you may see if the Lord open your eyes as he did the two disciples that were AO to amas and that he may do so is and shall be the prayer of the author of this book to God for thee and because I would be an instrument in the hand of God to keep thee from heresy or pluck thee out if Thou Art in it I have thought good to open open to thee in some measure the nature of that damnable sin of heresy from the words of the Apostle Peter which I will use as a preface to this book to the which I refer thee as also to the book itself for thy satisfaction and shall pray that God would be pleased to make it effectual for the end intended which is God’s glory and the salvation of poor souls and remain thine to serve in what I may for the truth’s sake TM October 19th 1672 the preface to Peter 2: 1 2 and 3 but there were false prophets amongst the people even as there shall be false teachers amongst you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves Swift destruction and many shall follow their pernicious Ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of and through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you one in these words the holy Apostle shows us that as the church and people of God in Old Time had their enemies the false prophets so the Church of Christ in these last days shall have their adversaries the false teachers two that the work of the false teachers will be privil to bring in damnable heresies three that the heresies will be are so destructive and damnable in nature that they which adhere to them will even in so doing deny the Lord that bought them for that the false teachers in bringing in the said damnable heresies will bring upon themselves Swift destruction five such shall be the success of false teachers that many shall follow their pernicious Ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of six that which shall be the moving cause to set false teachers at work shall be covetousness seven the engine or instrument which they shall use to carry on their work shall be feigned words eight and lastly the condition that those will be brought into which follow them is no better than slavery they shall make merchandise of you that you shall as it will be bought and sold into slavery I hope through the good assistance of Jesus Christ to treat of these eight particulars briefly as an introduction to this Treatise first it being the main design of Satan to subvert the kingdom of God he hath in all ages used his utmost Endeavor so to do he assaulted our first parents even when they were in innocency and having prevailed so far that the first Covenant hath been broken and thereby the will of man depraved though God hath provided by the New Covenant of his grace and mercy to save through his son Jesus Christ all those that do believe in him yet Satan and his instruments have not ceased in all ages since the first discovery thereof to make opposition against it when God was pleased to take his people by the hand to bring them out of Egypt and by his servant Moses to direct them in the way of his Covenant they wanted not a balum to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication see Revelation 2:14 numbers 25: 1 and 2 when Elijah the prophet of the Lord taught Israel the knowledge of the true God the prophets of ba sought to teach them the idolatry of ba 1 ks8 when Jeremiah the prophet of the Lord taught the people obedience according to the word of the Lord then haniah spake in opposition to it in the presence of all the people Jeremiah 28:1 it would be too long to recite every particular mentioned in the Holy scriptures wherein the opposition is recorded which false prophets have made against the truth of God and against those that God hath been pleased to send to declare it if we consider the work that false prophets and false teachers do and the way they take to affect it we shall find it is a most desperate design they are engaged in it is no less than bringing in of damnable heresies such as being retained to overthrow the faith and even make shipwreck of a good conscience see 2 Timothy 2:18 and 1 Timothy 1:1 19 what can be worse than to set up for a God that which is not God and for divine worship that which the true God never commanded see Jeremiah 10 in Matthew 15:9 and if also we take notice of the way that false teachers take to affect their purpose is to bring in heresies into the church it will be found to be carried on with much subtlety the text tells us they do it privy we must not think that false teachers do teach no Truth at all but rather together with the truth which in part they deliver they mix with it certain errors of so destructive a nature to it that the truth is overthrown by the error the false teachers mentioned Acts 15: because one would not say that the disciples ought not to believe in Christ for salvation yet what they taught amounted to the same which was that except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses he cannot be saved see Galatians 5: 1 2 3 and 4 all the false teachers are not said to deny the resurrection but some denied it others said it is passed already see 1 Corinthians 15:12 2 Timothy 2:8 therefore secondly when we do consider seriously to what danger heresy doth expose us we had need to pray to God that he will keep us that we be not LED away with the error of the wicked and so fool from our steadfastness but rather that we may grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ see 2 Peter 3: 17 and 18 for there be many errors which are not so dangerous as heresy there may be error in knowledge and also in practice which yet are far short of heresy alas we know but in part 1 Corinthians 13:9 Luke 17:10 and for practice when we have done all we are unprofitable servants we have done but what was our duty to do but heresy is a work of the flesh Galatians 5: 19 and 20 it is reckoned up with adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness with idolatry witchcraft hatred variance wrath Strife sedition with envyings murders drunkenness and such like can this be good that is Marshall in the midst of these for when the Holy Spirit by the word of God sets forth the nature of heresy he compare it to leav 1 Corinthians 5: 6 and 7 Galatians 5:9 because leav is of such a nature that it makes all the lump to savor of it so heresy if it be not truly removed it gives all that embrace it a participation of its sour relish likewise it is compared to a gang green 2 Timothy 2:17 which is a Venom of such an eating nature that except a member be cut off the whole will be destroyed unless it be speedily stopped before for it hath taken too much root in the part infected with it so it is with heresy if it be not speedily stopped it will grow to such a head that the heretic though he be condemned of himself yet he will not be turned but must be cut off see Titus 3: 10 and 11 for thirdly the nature of heresy is such that it opposeth the doctrine of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ see that famous place in the Epistle of jude: three Beloved sayith the Apostle when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation it was needful for me to write unto you and exal you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the Saints verse 4 for there are certain men crept in unawares which were before of old ordained to this condemnation ungodly men turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ here we see the damnable nature of heresy it denies God and our Lord Jesus Christ and so takes away the object of saving faith for saving Faith hath for for its object God and Christ yet so as we first believe in Jesus Christ God man a savior unto all them that do believe in him and by Christ we believe in God see 1 Peter 1: 21 the father Son and Holy Ghost are God and Father un all them that believe now because things are best seen by their contraries I will lay down four propositions which every true Christian owns or ought to own and every heretic denies in part or in whole whereby you may clearly discern the destructive nature of heresy to all true religion and piety proposition one God the Father Son and Holy Ghost is the object of saving Faith no man was ever saved without this Faith no man ever called upon God but by the help of the Holy Ghost 1 Corinthians 12: three as no man can say that Jesus is the Christ so neither can any man say that God is God but by the Holy Ghost neither did God ever hear any man that called upon him for salvation but for his son’s sake position two Jesus Christ God man is the object of faith and therefore he is to be believed in ye believe in God believe also in me John 14:1 so likewise his Apostles taught believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thine house acts 16:31 testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ yay we are commanded of God to believe in Jesus Christ 1 John 3:23 and this is his Commandment that we should believe on his son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us commandment and we receive remission of sins by this Faith see acts 26: 15 161 17 and 18 where Christ saith to St Paul I send thee to the Gentiles to open their eyes and to turn them from Darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance amongst them which are Sanctified by faith that is in me so that Jesus Christ is God and man in one person for none can forgive sins but God none can be the primary and proper object of Faith but God faith being a part of divine moral worship for we give honor to him in whom we believe none can be a mediator between God and man but he that is God and man in one person none can offer a sacrifice to God for the sin of man so as to procure peace and purity of conscience but Jesus Christ who is God and man in one person God of the substance of his father begotten before the world and man of the substance of his mother born in the world perfect God and perfect man of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting John 1: 1 2 and 3 Romans 1:3 Galatians 4:4 proposition 3 Jesus Christ as God man is our savior he United our nature to his divine nature he was born of the Virgin Mary he kept the law and fulfilled all righteousness and then suffered death for us as man he died and by the power of His godhead he was raised again that we might be justified by faith in him see Romans 4: 24 and 25 so that we have Redemption through his blood the Forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace Ephesians 1:7 hence St Paul desireth to know nothing among the Corinthians save Jesus Christ and him crucified 1 Corinthians 2: 1 and 2 our communion with God Is by faith in the Son of God see Philippians 2:1 1 John 1:3 the life which I now live in the flesh sayith St Paul I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Galatians 2:20 so that Christ is the object of divine worship acts 7:59 Revelation 5:12 of that hope which is saving and maketh not ashamed Colossians 1:27 Romans 5:5 of our sincere and greatest love 1 Corinthians 16:22 of our absolute service and divine Faith Romans 14:9 and 18 John 14:1 oh the Excellency of Jesus Christ to a believing Soul m Mr Calvin reprehend those as highly injurious to miserable Souls who by calling of God the object of Faith simply in the meanwhile omit Christ without whom there can be no faith nor access to God Etc see Calvin’s institutes Liber 2 section 4 proposition four we in order of nature not of time believe First In Christ and by Christ in God as the Apostle Peter teacheth speaking of Christ who verily saith he was for ordained before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for you who by him do believe in God that raised him from the dead and gave him glory that your Faith and Hope might be in God 1 Peter 1: 20 and 21 so that Christ is the way the truth and the life no man cometh under the father but by him John 14:6 he is the mediator as the Apostle teacheth his son Timothy one Timothy 2:5 for sayith he there is one God and one mediator between God and Men the and Christ Jesus extremes come not together but in their midst from the nature of a just God unto a sinner God in Christ is a tender father out of Christ a consuming fire man’s way to God is by the man God for Christ as the Redeemer is the mediator not the ultimate object of faith for by Christ we believe in God beloved in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I beseech you to consider the destructive and damnable nature of heresy which is contrary to these propositions which I have laid down and proved from the holy scriptures heresy it denies God it denies his Essence it denies the Trinity of persons it denies the Lord Jesus Christ it denies his two Natures the divine nature whereby he is God the human nature whereby he is man it denies his personality whereby the two Natures subsist in one person it denies the object of saving faith of divine worship it denies satisfaction made by Christ unto the father it denies remission of sin justification adoption sanctification and the hope of glorification in a word what truth doth it not deny or the destructive and damnable nature of heresy the Apostle charges the Corinthians but with one heresy in the 15th chapter how say some among you saith he that there is no resurrection of the dead but behold what are the natural consequences thereof how many heresies doth that one heresy let in or is the root of first if there be no resurrection of the dead then is not Christ risen two if Christ is not risen then is your preaching vain three and your faith is also vain four yay and we have found fth Witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up if so be that the dead rise not five for if the dead rise not then is not Christ risen six and if Christ be not risen your faith is vain and you are yet in your sins seven then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished eight if in this life we have only hope we are of all men most miserable therefore fourthly miserable will be the end of those that bring into the Church of Christ damnable heresies they will bring upon themselves in so doing Swift destruction the Apostle Jude pronounce a woe upon them and tells us verses 11 12 and 13 that they have gone in the way of Cain and in the era of balum for a reward and perished in the gains saying of Kor that there are spots in their feasts of Charity clouds without water trees whose fruits withereth without fruit twice dead plucked up by the roots Raging Waves of the sea firing out their own shame wandering stars to whom is reserved the Blackness of Darkness forever so likewise the Apostle Peter 2 Peter 2:9 and 17 shows that the false teachers shall be reserved until the day of judgment to be punished and the Apostle Paul also sets forth the punishment of antichrist and all his adherence because saith he they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned that loved not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness 2 Thessalonians 2: 9 10 11 and 12 it will be good for us therefore to take heed for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the Living God for our God is a consuming fire see Hebrews 10: 31 and 12: 29 yet fifthly it is lamentable to think that heresy should have such success ESS in the world for is it not a wonder that many should follow those ways that are so pernicious but it is as St Paul saith when men receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved then God in his just judgment sends them or gives them over to strong delusions that they should believe a Lie 2 Thessalonians 2: 10 and 11 the Apostle tells Titus that there were many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers which it seems had such success that they subverted whole houses V turned them from the faith teaching things which they ought not for filthy Luca sake Titus 1: 9 and 10 in so much that all they that were in Asia were turned away from him see 2 Timothy 1: 14 and 15 yay the spirit speaks expressely that in the latter days some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils 1 Timothy 4:1 so all the world wanded after the Beast Revelation 13:3 and worshiped the Beast and the image of the Beast and was so enamored with their idolatry that they say who is like unto the Beast who is able to make war with him verse four for sixthly that which is the moving cause which sets false teachers on work is covetousness that which made balam so desire to curse the people of God was covetousness the Apostle tells us he loved the wages of unrighteousness 2 Peter 2:15 For the Love of Money sayth St Paul is the root of all evil which whilst some coveted after they have Ed from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows 1 Timothy 6:10 but seventhly when the heart is corrupt it is no wonder if the tongue be false therefore our Apostle tells us that the engine or instrument which the false teachers shall use to carry on their design of beguiling unstable Souls shall be feigned words words of Deceit swelling words of vanity see 2 Peter 2: 18 and 19 so the Apostle Paul tells Titus there are sayth he many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers whose mouths Must Be Stopped who subvert whole house houses Titus 1:10 they subvert or turn away the minds of their hearers from the truth by false and deceitful words for evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived to Timothy 3:13 therefore eighthly and lastly let us behold with horror and compassion the sad condition of those miserable Souls that are carried away with the error of the wicked the false teachers saith the text shall make merchandise of you is it not a cruel thing to sell a man into slavery how much more cruel is it to sell The Souls of men and women into worse slavery and bondage than the Egyptian bondage better that man had never been born than to be an instrument to bring any persons into heresy as those that convert sinners from the error of their way shall shine as the Stars forever and ever Daniel 12:3 James 5 last verse so for those that lead them in the way of heresy is reserved the Mist Of Darkness forever 2 Peter 2:1 17 if the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch see Matthew 15:14 false teachers are unmerciful for as the true Servants of God labor to have the Church of Christ established in the true Faith so the children of Bal do sell them into pedition making them as Christ saith twofold more the child of Hill than themselves see Matthew 23:15 beloved I will now conclude this preface by declaring unto you what heresies I principally oppose in this ensuing Treatise Fe all that oppose the essence of God the Trinity of persons and our Lord Jesus Christ and the union of natures etc for this is life eternal that they may Know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou Hast sent John 17:3 end of Section 1 section two of a cure for the cankering era of the new yans by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain of the Divine Essence Exodus 3:14 and God said unto Moses I am that I am and he said thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel I am hath sent me unto you I am VI I am the only true God truly subsisting and not only through the opinion of men as Idols are I am he that have an everlasting being unchangeable subsisting of itself not depending from others in infite most simple the author and cause of the being of all things not a borrowed changeable finite dependent and compound being Etc as all the creatures have of this mine Essence will I give Thee the highest most Express and general name of all he that is which hath remained in use amongst the Hebrews and was then first revealed by God Exodus 6:3 the French annotation he that is which is the name that we translate for want of another more proper the Lord God God which name God then newly revealed to Moses Exodus 6:3 see diat annotations upon the text the essence of God absolutely considered is that one pure and mere act by which God is God because through the weakness of our understanding we cannot apprehend it in any measure by one act it hath pleased God to give unto himself many names and attributes by the help of which we may the better conceive thereof the Divine attributes are certain essential properties which God is pleasing in scripture to ascribe or attribute unto himself they are also called the Perfections of God or Divine predications or titles they are not distinguished from the essence really but notionally that is they are not distinguished at all in God but only to usw according to our manner of conceiving the Perfection of his nature is either simpleness or the infiniteness thereof the simpleness of his nature is that by which he is void of all logical relation he hath not in him subject or adjunct John 5:26 as the father hath life in himself so hath he given to the son to have life in himself compared with John 14:6 I am the way the truth and the life 1 John 1:7 but if we walk in his light as he is light compared with verse 5 God is light and in him is no Darkness hence it is manifested that to have life and to be life to be in light and to be light in God are all one neither is God subject to generality or speciality whole or parts matter or that which is made of matter for so there should be in God diverse things and one more perfect than another therefore whatsoever is in God is his Essence and all that he is he is by Essence the saying of Augustine in his sixth book and fourth chapter of the Trinity is fit to prove this quote in God saith he to be and to be just or Mighty are all one but in the mind of man it is not all one to be and to be mighty or just for the Mind may be destitute of these virtues and yet a mind end quote hence it is Manifest that the nature of God is immutable and spiritual God’s immutability of nature is that by which his void of all composition Division and change James 1:17 with God there is no variableness nor shadow of changing Malachi 3:6 I am the Lord and am not changed where it is said that God repenteth Etc the meaning is that God changeth the ACT as men do that repent therefore repentance it signifieth not any mutation in God but in his actions and such things as are made and changed by him God’s nature is spiritual in that it is incorporeal and therefore invisible John 4:4 God is a spirit 1 Timothy 1:17 to the king Eternal Immortal invisible the only wise God be glory and honor forever and ever Colossians 1:15 who is the image of the invisible God the infiniteness of God is twofold is eternity and exceeding greatness God’s eternity is that by which he is without beginning and ending Psalm 90:2 before the mountains were made and before thou Hast formed the earth and the world even from Everlasting to Everlasting Thou Art Our God Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega that is the beginning and ending sayith the Lord which is which was and which is to come God’s exceeding greatness is that by which his incomprehensible nature is everywhere present both within and without the world Psalm 145:3 great is the Lord and worthy to be praised and his greatness is incomprehensible 1 Kings 8:27 is it true indeed that God will dwell on the earth behold the heavens and the heaven of Heavens are not able to contain thee how much less in this house that I have built Jeremiah 23:4 do not I fill the Heaven and Earth sayith the Lord hence it is plain first that he is only one and that indivisible not many Ephesians 4:5 one Lord One Faith one baptism one God and Father of all Deuteronomy 4:35 unto thee it was showed that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God and that there is none but he alone one Corinthians 8:4 we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other God but one and there can be but one thing infinite in nature secondly that God heart is the knower of the heart for nothing is hidden from that nature which is within all things and without all things which is included in nothing nor excluded from anything because 1 Kings 8:39 the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth every work of the Mind Psalm 139: 1 and 2 thou knowest my sitting down and my rising up thou understandest my citation a far off all the attributes in God are one and the same Perfection it is better said of God that he is his attributes than that he hath attributes the attributes are not distinguished in God but in our manner of understanding who being unable to comprehend that mere act at once do conceive thereof after the manner of many acts the sun when he is perpendicular had it an I would behold all that at once which we by reason of the inadequateness and unproportional of our sight are necessitated to view by Parts in God all things are one and the same according to the nature of God though out of God many and divorce according to their own proper and created nature the same heat in the sun produceth divos effects according to the various disposition of the objects hardness in clay softness in wax Etc the Divine attributes though they can neither exactly be numbered or distributed yet for our better understanding we may consider of them as negative relative positive negative attributes are such as remove from God all imperfection by these we help our understanding in our meditation of God by way of negation the more principal of them are in number five VI Simplicity eternity immensity immutability infiniteness to which or some of which any other of like nature May conveniently be referred Simplicity is God’s one mere and perfect ACT without all compositions God calleth his name I am Exodus 3:14 as I said before Etc that is is mere Essence wherein these five properties or attributes as a foret are eminently included called by some incommunicable properties the more principal relative attributes are in number seven One Creation two Providence three lordship four benignity five Mercy six Redemption seven Justice to which or some of which the rest of like nature May conveniently be referred but of these I shall say more Hereafter positive attribut are such which so ascribe some Perfection to God as not inferring any respect unto the creatures existing or in present being by these our understanding is helped in our meditation of God by way of eminency the more principle of them are in number six one Holiness two wisdom three will four Liberty five omnipotency six Perfection to which or some of which the rest of like nature May conveniently be referred but I shall speak but to one of these in this place VI is perfection which I think comprehend all the rest Etc Perfection is God all sufficient and all excellent not having need of anything giving sufficient unto and having in him the Perfection of all things Genesis 17: 1 and 2 Exodus 6:3 this attribute renders God as that infinite sea of all happiness Perfection is in created Glory that is all the attributes in one word as happiness is the sum of man’s good so glory is the sum of all God’s attributes the Perfection of God is essential independent unlimited without increase or decrease as the power of subordinate causes is contained in the first cause virtually and as the authority of under officers is in the prince after a more excellent manner so the virtue of all second causes is contained in the first cause imminently the word imminently taken in its strict and proper sense seeth to intend the effect to be in the cause not only in a more excellent manner than in itself but also in a super created manner things are in God agreeable to the nature of God in themselves according to their proper Natures Eminen contingency and virtual contingency that is for one thing to be contained in another eminently as the Excellency of the creature is in the Creator or virtually as all things salable are in money Ecclesiastes 10:9 are not the same the first is proper to the Creator the second is found in the creature the essential Perfection of God is increased Glory Eternal always the same from which nothing can be taken to which nothing can be added the acknowledgement of the manifested Perfections of God is glorification V the act of the creature done in time admitting more or less according as God is known or acknowledged secondly if God in his nature or Essence be simply absolutely and infinitely perfect then must he needs be a most pure and simple Act without any potentiality at all I.E he must needs be Act natur and so have been from eternity whatsoever he is capable of being or whatsoever it is possible for him ever to be the reason of this is because all potentiality of possibility of being anything more or anything besides what a personal thing is for the present arguth imperfection which is clearly proved thus whatsoever is possible for a person or thing to be which at present he is not must needs be something which will either add unto his being and make it better or else take away from his being and so make it worse or else be a thing merely indifferent and so of no concernment unto him at all so then if a man be capable of being anything which yet he is not for the bettering of his condition it is a clear case that his present condition or being is imperfect for he is as yet destitute of that which should add Perfection unto him if he be capable of anything or of being anything which yet he is not to the making of his present condition worse here the case is yet more clear that such a man’s condition is not perfect for to be obnoxious to the deprivation or losing of any good which a man enjoy for the present manifestly arguth weakness and imperfection thirdly and lastly if a man be capable of being anything which yet he is not supposed to be without any relation at all to his condition either for the better or the worse yet this also plainly arguth imperfection for it supposeth that a man hath something ha a capacity which is a mere superflu to him and doth him no good Y which he knoweth not how to improve for his good and this as apparently as either of the former arguth imperfection so that certain it is that if the nature and being of God be absolutely and infinitely perfect he must needs be a pure and mere act all in present and actual being whatsoever it is possible for him ever to be quote this most entire and complete actuality of the divine nature and being is I presume sayith Mr John Goodwin in his book entitled Redemption redeemed page 48 generally subscribed by all reformed divines end quote God sayth zanki is a most pure and most simple act and no ways capable or in any possibility of being anything more or less than what he is end quote and from this actuality of God he infolds both his absolute immutability and Infinity of his perfection quote it is affirmed sayith Peter Marr as with one mouth of all that are ungodly that God is not changed in as much as this would be a certain sign as well of imperfection as inconstancy in him the reason why God is not changed nor capable of any change whatsoever is because he is a most pure absolute and complete act I.E he is for the present whatsoever it is possible in any respect for him to be so that not withstanding his omnipotency itself he hath no power to make the least alteration or change in himself either in nature will or action end quote upon the account of this author’s credit Who interthal The Godly in the assertion and belief of God’s unchangeableness and consequently of that perfect actuality which we assert I judge it needless to make any further Levy of testimonies in this behalf end of section two section three of a cure for the cankering era of the new U tians by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain of the Holy Trinity first the proof of it from the scriptures secondly the use of it amongst the multitude of scriptures holding forth the doctrine of the Trinity of persons in the Divine Essence let it at present suffice to transcribe these texts because I shall speak more about the Trinity Hereafter in the questions and answers and God said let us make man in our own image after our likeness Genesis 1:26 and the Lord God said behold the man is become as one of us to know good good and evil Genesis 3:22 go too let us go down and there confound their language that they may not understand one another speech Genesis 11:7 but none saith where is God my maker so they say it is in the Hebrew who giveth songs in the night job 35:10 and one Cried unto another and said holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory Isaiah 6:3 and the heavens were opened un to him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him and lo a voice from Heaven saying this is my beloved Son in whom I well pleased Matthew 3: 16 and 17 go therefore and teach All Nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost Matthew 28: 19 but when the comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the father he shall testify of Me John 15:26 the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all amen 2 Corinthians 13:13 for there are three that bear record in heaven the Father the word and the Holy Spirit and these three are one 1 John 5:7 hence appear first the in being of one person in another John 14: 10 and 11 1 John 1 believe me that I am in the father and the father in me because a person signifying both the essence and its relative property all the persons have having one and the same Essence it followeth that in respect of the essence one person is in another thus John saith there are three that is three distinct persons in respect of their relative opposition adding with all that these three are one namely in respect of the sameness of the essence and here we may see the reason of those words of Christ John 8: 19 if you had known me you should have known my father also he that hath seen me hath seen the father secondly that all the persons are equal who being in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God Philippians 2:6 John 5:18 either the persons are equal or else because every person is God there would follow an inequality and consequently an inferiority in God which is inconsistent with his Perfection as I said before thirdly that all the attributes as they flow from the essence are true of every person because every person ha the whole Essence fourthly that all the attributes whether Rel postive negative or positive or if any other in that they proceed from the essence are true of every person because the whole Essence is in every person the father is eternal the son is eternal the Holy Ghost is eternal because the whole Essence is in every one of them yet there are not three eternals but one Eternal because the essence which is in them all is but one in like manner the father is infinite the sun is infinite the Holy Ghost is infinite yet Etc and so of all the rest fifthly that all the works of God which concern a creature I.E whatsoever is besides God are wrought by all the persons jointly because the efficacy whereby they are what they are proceeds likewise from the essence itself not from the manner of the essence moreover the knowledge of the Trinity is necessary to Salvation because saving Faith hath for its object God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and Jesus Christ God man no man is saved without the knowledge of the father no man ha seen God at any time the only begotten son which is in the bosom of the father he hath declared him John 1:8 no man is saved without the knowledge of the son whosoever denieth the son the same hath not the father 1 John 2:23 he that honth not the son honth not the Father which hath sent him John 5:23 no man is saved without the knowledge of the Holy Ghost now if any man hath not the spirit of Christ he is none of his Romans 8:9 even the spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you John 14:17 God heareth none but such as call upon him in the Name of Christ none can call upon God in Christ but such as are taught and assisted by his Spirit we cannot worship God a right without the knowledge of the Trinity as God the Father Son and Holy Ghost is of the object of Faith so is he of the object object of divine worship baptism is an act of worship and sign of the Covenant but we are baptized into the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost Matthew 28: 19 God hath committed all judgment to the son that all men should honor the son as they honor the father he that honth not the son honth not the Father which hath sent him John 5:23 Believers are the temples of the Holy Ghost 1 Corinthians 16 and 6: 19 the lord of the temple is worshiped in the temple we worship the trinity in unity and unity in Trinity all obedience is to be performed unto God the Father Son and Holy Ghost to him that elected us that gave Christ to redeem us that created us that brought Israel out of Egypt that in a word doth all for us is all obedience to be performed but God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and that as God the Father Son and Holy Ghost elected us gave Christ to redeem us created us Etc therefore unto God the Father Son and Holy Ghost is all obedience to be performed the plurality of persons in the Trinity is of great use for the confirmation of the truth unto us John asserts that great truth of Jesus Christ being the Son of God and savior of all them that believe not only from the testimony of one God but from the testimony of that one God who is three Witnesses for there are three that bear record in heaven the Father the word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one 1 John 5: vers 7 to the same purpose is the argument Christ disputing against the scribes and Pharisees proving the truth of what he had spoken concerning himself being the light of the world because it was AOE by the father and him as two witnesses it is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true I am one that bear witness of myself and the father that sent me beareth witness of Me John 8: 17 and 18 the knowledge of the Trinity tends unto the consolation of Believers Paul affectionately desirous that the hearts of the Colossians might be comforted showeth two special means thereof there the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the father and of Christ with the full Assurance of understanding and brotherly love of God I.E of God and of his attributes of the father I.E of the persons the first of which is the father of Christ I.E of his person and office so some without repugnancy to the analogy of Faith or the words of the text lastly the knowledge of the doctrine of the Trinity is requisite to our communion which as our Union is with God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ 1 John 1:3 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all amen 2 Corinthians 13:13 Matthew 28:1 19 though the perfect manner how one person is of another is incomprehensible and unutterable in this life the perfect knowledge thereof being reserved unto Glory yet so far hath God revealed himself unto us in his word in this life as that we may and ought to attain unto some distinctness yay unto such distinctness as is held forth in the scriptures of Truth which is the measure of faith and not to rest in an implicit Faith concerning this mystery of mysteries secret things belong to the Lord Our God but these things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever Deuteronomy 29:29 upon which Last Words is to us and to our children they say the Hebrew hath extraordinary Pricks to stir up our attention to the matter he has spoken of to be wise above what is written is not wisdom but perilous sin and Folly to be wise according to what is written is sobriety to be wise up to what is written though alas we have great cause to cry God be merciful to us all herein is our duty quote nowhere sayith Augustine throughout the revealed will of God is the truth sought out with greater labor no where is our finding out of the truth fruitful nor where do we ear with greater danger 1 Corinthians 15:34 some have not the knowledge of God I speak this to your shame sayth sin Paul end quote to this agrees the saying of Dr Hall in his collections page 47 to 48 quote how to conceive of the deity in our prayers in our meditations is both the deepest point of all Christianity and the most necessary so deep that if we wade into it we may easily drown never find the bottom so necessary that without it ourselves our services are profane irreligious we are all born idolators naturally prone to fashion god to some form of our own whether of a human body or of admirable light or if our mind have any other more likely and pleasing image first then away with all these Wicked thoughts these gross devotions and with Jacob burn all your strange Gods under the oak of sheim a you offer to set up God’s altar at bethl and without all mental representations conceive of your God purely simply spiritually as of an absolute being without form without matter without composition y an infinite without all limit of thoughts let your heart adore a spiritual Majesty which it cannot comprehend yet knows to be and as it were lose itself in his infiniteness think of him as not to be thought of as one whose wisdom is his Justice whose Justice is his power whose power is his mercy and whose wisdom Justice power Mercy is himself as without quality good great without quantity Everlasting without time present everywhere without Place containing all things without extent and when your thoughts are come to the highest stay there and be content to wander 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 yay utter yourselves and not be conceived yet as we may think here of one substance in three subsisten one Essence in three relations one Jehovah begetting begotten proceeding father son’s spirit yet so as the son in no other thing from the father but another person or the spirit from the son let your thoughts here walk wearily the path is narrow the conceit either of three substances or about one subsistance 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 Vigor to your prayers here must be therefore as you see thoughts Holly mixed of a godhead and Humanity one person in two Natures of the same deity in diverse persons and one nature wherein if ever Heavenly wisdom must bestore itself in directing us so to sever these apprehensions that none be neglected so to conjoin them that they be not confounded oh the depth of divine Mysteries more than can be wondered at oh 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 savior for our pattern oh my father if possible let this cup pass and pull everywhere both in thanks and requests but with due care in worshiping all in one exclud 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 solicit 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 then climb up to the holy conceit of that blessed and Dreadful Trinity I dare not censure I dare not but commend Your Divine me 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 gleams of human and Earthly skill but I mistake if your own heart wrought upon with serious meditations under the spirit of Illumination will not prove your best master after this weak Direction study to conceive a right that you may pray a right and pray that you may conceive and meditate that you may do both and the god of Heaven direct you enable you that you may do all end quote end of section three section four of a cure for the cankering era of the new utian by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain concerning Christ Our mediator I will now by God’s help prove by the holy scriptures that the eternal word v 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 accepted Hebrews 2:17 and 4:15 for neither the father nor the 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 Romans 5 but here we must note how Christ took man’s nature upon him not by turning his godhead into manhood but by assuming of his manhood into his godhead not by confusion or mixture of substance but by unity of person 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 Heretics have thought but the soul of man also for as much as he is no half savior but a redeemer both of body and soul for St John saith the word was made flesh V by taking man ‘s flesh or nature in Union with the word which is Christ and why he has called the word I have already showed 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 question about the uans ask us of what matter the Flesh of Christ was made or did he not bring it out of Heaven answer no truly for as the first Adam’s flesh was made of the Earth as it is written Genesis 2:7 even so it is written Christ was made of a woman Galatians 4: four 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 Blossom shall grow out of his roots Isaiah chter 9 acts 13:23 and Solomon calleth him a Lily and Rose canticles 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 Romans 11: 16 and 17 besides it was the will of God that the same flesh that sinned should be punished as we may see an instance in David’s child although David sinned in killing of Uriah yet it pleased God to spare David’s person from death and punish him in his flesh VI his child with death see 2 Samuel 12:14 how be it because by this deed thou has given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the child also that is 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 V Christ for as St Paul saith he was made a curse for us Galatians 3:13 and as St Peter saith the just suffered for the unjust 1 pet 1:8 and 3:18 see the comparison also betwix the two Adams in Romans 5:8 therefore as by the offense 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 for as much as the children are partakers of Flesh and Blood he also himself took part of the same Hebrews 2 ver4 for the Apostle saith verily he took not on him the nature of angels but he took on him the Seed of Abraham wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his Brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the People by all which it do appear that he took flesh of the Virgin Mary I touched this matter the more because not long since I communed with some men who very confidently did affirm that the Eternal Word did not take any flesh of the Virgin Mary and they also boasted that there were many men and women in England of their opinion concerning this matter for although they do grant that Christ as man was really flesh yet they deny the matter of which it was made to be of or from from the Virgin Mary but say that it was Heavenly matter his the divine nature was turned into flesh in the virgin’s womb even as the water at Cana was turned into wine John 2:7 now I will by God’s help in this ensuing discourse demonstrate the falsehood of this their opinion for it denieth Christ to be the true son of David according to the flesh contrary to all these texts Genesis 26:4 and 22:8 2 Samuel 7:12 Psalm 132: 11 Acts 2 vers 30 all which prove him to be the true son of David according to the flesh as also St Matthew and St Luke reckon his Kindred and generation from Adam Abraham and David Etc moreover Christ came not only to die for our sins but also to be an example unto us and a perfect pattern of good living as shall be declared afterward more fully for how could he more set forth his exceeding love to us than in dying for us for greater love than this hath no man than to bestow his life saith Christ speaking of his own death now the deity suffered no infirmity or change which is impossible wherefore it was necessary that he should take our nature upon him who came to heal our infirmities and to teach us to cure them through faith in woing if he had taken them in any other nature then the example of his life would not have been teachable unto us for if he had been tempted in any other nature or died how could we learn to withstand the devil and to overcome his temptations by Christ’s example wherefore there was no way like this to redeem man he is wisdom therefore he took the wisest way Etc now that you may the better understand these great Mysteries concerning God and of the father and of Christ Colossians 2:2 I will put that which I have said into questions and answers so that through God’s blessing you may see this great mystery of godliness 1 Timothy 3:15 and believe it as also add more to this that I have here said for your comfort by way of use and application and so leave the work to the blessing of God and your serious consideration end of section four section five of a cure for the kering era of the new Yuans by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain questions and answers about God question what things are we to know concerning God answer one what God is two what a God he is or how he is affected towards us question what is God answer God is an Essence spiritual incomprehensible Almighty Immortal infinite love itself Mercy itself Justice itself Holiness itself Purity itself goodness itself wisdom itself longsuffering itself bountifulness itself which is the father who from all eternity begat the son co-eternal with himself and of the same substance with the father and the son not made nor created but begotten of the father from all eternity and the holy the Holy Spirit proceeding from them both the father and the son the Creator and conserver of all things the Redeemer and sanctifier of the elect which is no definition for he that is super substantial and incomprehensible cannot be defined but such a description as sufficiently containeth all such things as in this life are necessary for us to know for the service of God and our Salvation question is there one God only or whether there be more answer one only Deuteronomy 6:4 here oh Israel the Lord thy God is one Lord and so 1 Corinthians 8:4 we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no other God but one and seeing the true God is most high and most infinite actually therefore there can be no more but one God because there can be no more but one that is above all neither any more but infinite and this one God Is manifested To Us by such testimonies as cannot deceive to it by Miracles prophecies and other things which by his omnipotence may be done question how is God said to be one answer neither by genus nor species but in essence and in number or in regard of his nature because there is one only essence of God and that indivisible question why do the scripture make mention of Elohim or Gods joining that word as well with the plural as singular number answer not to the end that it should make a multitude of gods or divide the essence but to distinguish the persons because though there be but one person of the father another person of the son and another of the Holy Ghost yet the father is not another thing or another God distinct from the Son and the Holy Ghost the son is not another thing or another God distinct from the father and the Holy Ghost neither is the Holy Ghost another thing or another God distinct from the father and the son because the nature of God is but one and indivisible although the father be one the son another and the Holy Ghost another and therefore they are not of diverse Natures of another and diverse substance not conjoined or knit together in one substance as men which have one common Essence not only of the like substance but of one and the same substance have the same Essence the same eternity the same will the same operation the same power and the same Glory Philippians 2:6 question how many ways is the name of God taken in scriptures answer two ways properly for the substance Essence and nature and improperly now it is taken properly or for the essence when it is taken without the distinction of any one of the persons as John 4:4 God is a spirit where God is taken for the whole essence of the deity as is also the name Jehovah or else personally when there is joined unto the name of God the name of the person as God the Father God the son God the holy ghost or when the father is opposed to the son who is very God and the second person of the Trinity As Romans 7:25 I thank God by Jesus Christ so Romans 8:3 the father is called God the word father being used personally because the person’s sending is opposed to the person’s send improperly when it is attributed to Angels or men and truly either in regard of their office or else in respect of the revealing of the will of God and of their reverence falsely either by error or else by usurpation and custom as 1 Corinthians 8:5 or else by worshiping them 2 Corinthians 4:4 Philippians 3: 19 Exodus 7:20 question be there any parts or kinds of God answer none at all because he is a most simple Essence which doth admit no composition or Division and simply and in every respect of Unity One and in act most infinite question are there any causes of God answer not any for he is the cause of all causes question is there any accident in God answer no in regard of God himself for whatsoever is in God is his Essence question seeing the essence of God is most simple in what respect doth power goodness Justice wisdom and mercy differ in God answer not in essence for all these attributes in essence are but one very thing indeed but in our weak capacity and manner of knowing in regard of us and by the effects in respect of the creatures question how many sorts are there of God’s attributes answer two the first whereof is incommunicable so that there appear not the least impression thereof in any of his creatures this kind we may call absolute such is his Simplicity and which depend upon it his immutability eternity and immensity the second sword is some way communicable which you may call fitly a relative property in that it hath relation to the creatures such are his power wisdom will goodness Justice and mercy question be there any effects of God answer there be infinite effects of his grace Justice power and mercy question how are the Gentiles said to be without God Ephesians 2:12 seeing they adore so many gods answer because none of their gods was the true God question but yet they acknowledged God the creator of Heaven and Earth answer not the name of God but even God himself was altogether unknown unto them because no man knoweth God but such as confess the father and the son 1 John 2:23 whosoever denieth the son the same hath not the father but he that acknowledgeth the son hath the father also question what use make you of the knowledge of God answer surely this that he alone may be rightly worshiped to which purpose Man was created and that we being Guided by this knowledge may pray to him and acknowledge that from him we have every good thing question what things are repugnant to the doctrine concerning God answer atheism epicurism the Mad worshipping of Idols the Gentiles making of many gods the heresy of Manus making two Beginnings one good and other evil blasphemies against God false opinions concerning God as that of the anthropomorph ites who make God like unto a man all doubting of God Etc end of Section Five Section six of a cure for the kering era of the new uans by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain questions and answers of about the Trinity question how many persons be there in that one essence of God answer three and those both in number and in very deed distinguish the father Son and Holy Ghost which have their subsisting in one Divine Essence whereupon it comes to pass that there be not many gods but one God and the same Eternal infinite and omnipotent who is named Jehovah in the scriptures and said to be most simple by reason of essence and three by reason of persons question by what testimonies of the scripture do you prove the Trinity answer Genesis 1:1 God or Elohim created the heavens and the Earth in which place the leared say the verb being of the singular number doth signify the most simple essence of God and the substantive Elohim being the plural number doth note out the three persons also in the creation of man God as it were taking counsel with his eternal wisdom that is the Son and the Holy Ghost saith thus verse 26 let let us make man after our image where he saith let us make because of the number of the persons and after our image because of the unity of the essence Genesis 19:4 the Lord Reign from the Lord Brimstone and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah in which place the person sending the rain and the person from whom it was sent that is the son is distinguished from the father question have you any more pregnant proofs out of the New Testament answer one in the baptism of Christ my Matthew 3:16 and John 1:32 the voice of the father is heard from Heaven this is my beloved Son in the same place there stands the son by the River Jordan the Holy Ghost descends in the form of a dove and sits on Christ two again in the Transfiguration there is the Son and the voice of God the father is heard from heaven and Christ is shadowed with a cloud which doth signify the Holy Ghost and further Matthew 28: 19 baptize all nations in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost he saith not names but in the name to show the unity of the three persons 2 Corinthians 13:13 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all question seeing the scripture doth not use the name of the Trinity doth the church wail to retain the same answer yay no doubt for the thing itself is found in scripture two manner of ways first according to the letter secondly according to the sense now since that the sense of it and the very thing itself is found in the scriptures the church hath Liberty to use such words as May familiarly Express the thing itself moreover we call the three persons in God the Trinity from this word three whereof the word Trinity is derived and is expressly set down 1 John 5:9 there be three that bear witness in heaven the Father the word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one whence we argue that as from one comes Unity so from three comes Trinity question how does this word essence differ from the word person in God answer Essence is the nature which is not more belonging to one and less to another of the three persons but common to them all yay one and the same and cannot be divided and is all in each one of them not without them subsisting by itself to ITT the very deity itself and therefore the essential properties which be in them are one in number and of one nature now a person is the subsisting in the divine nature or the nature of God which having relation to others is distinguished by some incommunicable property for indeed the persons are only distinguished and not severed as three men are indeed separated though they be but one in kind the reason is because the essence of God is infinite and imparable and therefore it is all in every person which are not severed each from other but only distinguished amongst themselves but as for the essence of angels and Men it is infinite and partable so that it is not in every singular person but part in one and part in another question how manyfold is the difference of persons answer twofold Inward and outward the inward difference is that which is caused by the internal Properties or the works from within concerning which we say the works of the Trinity from within are divided that is the works which God doth within himself without any creature are not common to the three persons but are proper to one person alone now the property of the father is this that he was not made not begotten but hath begotten his eternal son of the same substance with himself the property of the son is this that he being neither made nor created but was from all eternity begotten of his father without any mother who is of himself as he is God but of his father as he is the son for as light Cometh From The Sun even so the son proceedeth from the father one distinct from the father and therefore the second in order so far forth as he is begotten one and the self same with the father as he is God and here let us call to mind the saying of nazianzen the begetting of God let it be honored with silence it is no small matter for thee to learn that he was begotten the property of the Holy Ghost is to proceed from them both inseparably question but did the son take his deity from the father answer when we speak simply of the son without the father we vou truly and properly that he is of himself and call him God because of himself he hath his being and and all that he hath and therefore we make him one alone beginning but when we point at that relation which he hath with his father we justly make the Father the beginning of the son and say that the son received all from the Father John 3:23 for the essence is one thing and the manner of subsisting is another hence it is that the schoolmen say that the son is by himself not of himself so the essence of the son is without beginning but the father is the beginning of his person this made Hillary to say the gifts of the father do not infirm but affirm the Divinity of the son end qu and Augustine Christ in regard of himself is called God and of the father is called the son end quote objection one the Son and Holy Ghost are not without beginning therefore they are not Eternal answer this is not a beginning of time or continuance but only of order and Offspring objection two by the sabellians here caval and say Christ saith he that seeth me seeth the father and believest thou not that I am in the father and the father in me John 14:9 and 10 therefore the father and the son are one person answer indeed he that seeth the son seeth the father because the son hath the same Essence with the father and being manifested in the flesh hath delivered to us the whole will of God John 1:8 objection three that which is one in number cannot without contradiction be said to be three in persons but God is one in number Deuteronomy 6:4 oo answer that Unity doth signify God’s simple Essence not the manner by which that simple Essence subsist therefore God absolutely according to his Essence is one because he is indivisible and only in respect of inward relation I mean the reason of subsisting is three objection four if there be one being of the father another of the son and another of the Holy Ghost it followeth that in God there are three diverse beings and conse quently three diverse persons answer the being of the father doth not signify that Essence by which he is absolutely God but by which he is father that is in that he otherwise subsist than doth the son therefore the being of the father is one thing and the being of the sun is another and yet both of them have the same Essence objection five if there be three persons truly distinguished and one only Essence then is there a quaternity in God answer not so for the essence differ from person only in reason but the persons differ from each other both in reason and in being objection six the father begot his son either existing or not existing to say either of these is absurd answer we may well say that the father begat his son already existing because the father was never without the son even as the son was never without its light again it may be as well said that he begat him not existing that in his generation although it be Eternal yet in order goeth before existence as the sun is before its light question is this difference rational essential or real answer it is not essential as in the creatures where everyone hath his proper essence or being defined and circumscribed for the essence of the father is not one and the essence of the son another and of the Holy Ghost another but one and the same which the father doth holy communicate to the son the father and the son to the Holy Ghost not only in reason because because not in notion or mind or only in word is he called Father Son and Holy Ghost neither respectively or by relation as one man May both be and be called a father and a son but it is real or modal yet altogether incomprehensible because each person have his own peculiar definition or his essential and incommunicable property and differs from another not in essence but in the manner of subsisting question what is the outward difference answer it is taken from the works of God that be without as that the father sends the son the son is sent as the Redeemer the Holy Ghost is the sanctifier as in the Creed the father is distinguished from the Son by the work of Creation The Son by his Incarnation the holy ghost from them both by the work of sanctification and regeneration as where he appeared like as a dove Matthew 3 and in clo tongues Acts 2 although all these things be affected by one and the selfsame God as we used to say the works of the Trinity without are indivisible therefore here let us remember the saying of Gregory nazianzen I cannot imagine one but presently I am compassed about on every side with the brightness of three neither can I distinguish three but forth withth I am brought again to one further in the persons of the deity there is an order but there is none inequality there is a distinction but no diversity question what things are contrary to this Doctrine answer one the heresy of sellus who Tau there was only one person of the godhead but some times in one respect sometimes in another one while called the father another while called the son two of stinus who taught that the son did no more subsist in God than wisdom Justice and goodness three of Aras who denied that the son was begotten of the essence of the father that he was co-eternal co-equal and according to his person of the same substance with the father for of citus who affirmed that the word person is no otherwise to be taken than as in comedies the name of a person is used for the habit and the distinction of the office five of the tri theit who do transform the three persons into three distinct and several Essences they deny the Son of God according to his Essence to be of the same substance with the father and the son to be God of himself six the blindness of the Jews who do affirm an Essence altogether without distinction and here I will answer to some objections made by diverse Heretics objection one if there be diverse Jehovah there must be diverse Essences but Genesis 19:4 the first is true for Jehovah did reain fire from Jehovah that is the son from the father therefore the son is a distinct Essence from the father answer the Learned say it is in Hebrew phrase signifying that God did miraculously re fire of himself from Heaven Again the word Jehovah is taken sometimes personally it is therefore a distinction in the persons not in essence objection two there is one life of the father and another of the sun John 5: 26 therefore another Essence answer that place is to be understood of a power communicated to Christ as he was mediator secondly although the son be from the father in respect of the origination of his person yet he is of himself if he be absolutely considered and therefore hath the same life with the father objection three they who have distinct operations have distinct Essences but the actions of the Trinity are distinct Ogo answer the proposition is true if be understood of natural and external action but if of internal and personal actions it is not true for these do not take away the unity of essence since that the same Essence in number is Holy in every person objection four each person hath not one and the same power for the father can beget the son the son cannot beget oo they have not the same Essence answer they have all one natural power but not personally as there is one nature but not one person objection five the essence of the father is communicated to the son by generation therefore there is one Essence in the father another in the sun because there is one Essence begetting and another begotten answer we must distinguish betwix generation and communication for the person begets and is begotten but the essence neither Beth nor is begotten but communicated objection six if the father and son have one Essence it must follow that the father was incarnate which is absurd oh God answer the essence of God absolutely considered was not incarnate but the second person although the person of the sun include the whole essence of God yet for the proper manner of subsisting it is distinguished from the father objection s if the father and son have one Essence the son should be mediator to himself answer the son is properly mediator betwix us and his father not absolutely betwix us and the Divine Essence and the office of mediator dependeth upon the most free ordination of God end of section six section seven of a cure for the cankering era of the new Yuans by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain questions and answers about Christ question one what doth this word Christ signify answer it signifieth anointed because he was anointed with the oil oil of gladness above his fellows as we read in Psalm 45:8 and indeed he is that King that only priest and Prophet which was promised unto mankind question two doth his name Christ signify his nature or his person answer his person subsisting in both his natures and not this or that nature alone for it is a name concrete as the garans speak and not abstract question three what do you call the word concrete and what an abstract answer this word Concrete in the discourse of Christ is said to be that which signifieth the nature together with the subject and doth comprehend in his signification both the thing and the subject wherein the thing is that is to say it doth Define the person of Christ as he is the Son of God because the Son of God doth not simply signify the nature of God but the person of the Son of God so the son of man when it is spoken of Christ signifieth the person and not his Humanity simply but this name abstract is a word that signifieth the nature simply as the Divinity of Christ the humanity of Christ question four how many things are especially necessary to know Christ and which be they answer two his person and his office question five what is Christ answer he is the only begotten Son of God who of his mere love towards mankind did create unto himself of the seed of the Virgin Mary being Sanctified by the Holy Ghost and by creating assumed and did personally and inseparably forever unite a true human body endued with a reasonable soul and so being true God became true man like to us in all things sin only accepted question six what things are we especially to consider in the person of Christ answer four one that Christ is God two that the same Christ is man three that he is God and man in one person four the phrases and the usual speeches which are affirmed of Christ in the scriptures question seven by how many and by what kind of testimonies do you prove that Christ is God answer by three one by Apparent and manifest sentences of scripture wherein the Divinity of Christ is avered two by his Works which were altogether Divine three by the worship and honor which was yielded un Christ both of the saints that believed and of the Angels question 8 show some pregnant testimonies whereby you can prove that Christ is God answer I shall Isaiah 9:6 this is the name whereby they shall call him speaking of the Messiah to it the Mighty God the father of Eternity Jeremiah 23:6 the name whereby the branch of David Shall be Called shall be the Lord our righteousness judges 6:1 Etc that angel which appeared to the holy Patriarchs called himself Jehovah in the New Testament Matthew 16:16 Thou Art Christ the son of the Living God John 20:28 my Lord and my God Romans 9:5 Christ being God was of the fathers according to the Flesh of his mother who is God forever 1 John 5:20 and we are in his son Jesus Christ who is very God and life eternal 1 Timothy 3:16 God Is manifested In the Flesh in which places Christ is absolutely called God and the name Jehovah so given him not by a Trope or symbolically by reason of the presence of God as Exodus 17:15 it is given to the altar Psalm 24:8 it is given to the ark Jeremiah 33:16 it is given to Jerusalem question 9 which be the testimonies of the second sord answer the works which none can do but God Alone which are ascribed to him to it to create and preserve to redeem to blot out iniquities to search the heart to hear our prayers to quick to judge moreover the Miracles which he wrought by his own power according to that prophecy Isaiah 53: 5 and 6 and which also even Christ himself sendeth us and for the working whereof he gave power to his Apostles moreover those attributes which do agree only to the nature of God and ascribed unto him as Eternal Almighty infinite King of Kings Savior and the rest testify him to be God by Nature see these scriptures following John 1:3 and 5 5:1 17 Colossians 1:16 Hebrews 1:4 1 Corinthians 1:30 1 Thessalonians 1:10 Matthew 9:6 and 9:4 Mark 2:8 and 14:13 John 14:14 and 5:27 and 5:22 and 10:25 Matthew 11:45 and 10:8 Micah 5:2 John 1:1 and 17:5 and 3:31 Philippians 3:2 1 Matthew 18:20 and 28:20 Revelation 19:26 Matthew 1:21 Acts 4:12 question what is the Third Kind of testimonies answer the worship and honor which is performed unto Christ namely invocation adoration Faith Hope Psalm 72:1 all the kings of the Earth shall worship him and all people Shall Serve him Isaiah 11:10 and Romans 15: 11 and 12 All Nations shall call upon him and trust in him Psalm 2:12 blessed are they that put their trust in him every knee shall bow unto him and John 14:1 ye believe in God believe also in me acts 7:39 Lord Jesus receive my spirit all which to prove that he is true God question why is it necessary that Christ the Redeemer should be God answer for two causes especially whereof of former is the greatness of the evil wherewith all men kind was overwhelmed which could be taken away by no creature the latter is the greatness of the good which could be restored by none to man again but by God who alone is truly good question what is the greatness of the evil answer it standeth in four things which be these the greatness of man’s sin the infinite and unsupportable weight of God’s anger the power of death the tyranny of the devil which to take away to abolish to appease to overcome none was able but God alone question what is the greatness of the good which could be restored by no creature answer the restoring again of the image of God therefore Christ one Corinthians 1:31 is made to us wisdom righteousness sanctification and Redemption not only by revealing and teaching of them but by performing and restoring of them question why is he called the word answer because it is he that spake the word and all things were made question According to which nature is he called the image of God Colossians 1:15 answer not according to his human nature alone as man is said to be made after the image of God but especially according to his divine nature but manifested in the flesh or so far forth as God hath truly manifested himself in Christ whereupon he is called the brightness of the glory of the father Hebrews 1:3 and the character or engraven form of his person because he is not some Vanishing representation but engraven and durable question prove that Christ is very man answer I will Genesis 3:15 the seed of the woman is Promised which shall break the Serpent’s head Genesis 22:17 God promised Abraham that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed 2 Samuel 7:12 it is promised to David that his son must sit upon his throne and Reign forever Isaiah 7:14 Behold a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son besides all this the history of the Gospel doth plainly prove that Christ was conceived born circumcised had a True Body and Soul was hungry thirsty shed his blood that he died and that he had all the properties and affections of man’s nature yet without sin that he ascended visibly and locally into heaven and then that he shall come again to judgment question why must Christ needs become man answer one the justice of God required it should be so that the Disobedience committed in our flesh might in the same be repaired Romans 5: 17 18 and 19 Hebrews 2:14 to the reason for our adoption for it pleased the Son of God to take the nature of man upon him and to become our brother and so by that means to become our nearest Kinsman and most near Allied unto us that we being made his members might be made the sons of God Galatians 3:16 that he might have right to redeem and Ransom us hence his matter of comfort in every kind of Temptation therefore the Apostle to the Hebrews Hebrews 2:1 17 and 4:5 saith he took not upon him the nature of Angels by the Seed of Abraham and in all things became like to his Brethren that he might have compassion of his Brethren three for the confirmation of our Resurrection for in that Christ took on him our nature and hath raised it up and given unto it immortality and hath exalted it in Heaven by virtue of that communion which we have with him we shall be raised up at the last day and this our vile body shall be made conformable to the Glorious body of of Christ Philippians 3:21 and 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all are dead so in Christ shall all be made alive question why was neither the father nor the Holy Ghost incarnate by the son answer one because it was meat that the world should be redeemed and all things restored by him by whom all things were created or that man should be redeemed from Death by him by whom he was first created and should have been brought unto life eternal if he had not sinned two it would have been unconvenient that there should be two sons one in the divine nature another in the human nature three it was the Eternal decree of the father whereby he purposed to save mankind by his son Hebrews 2:10 question whether is Christ God and man divided or joined together answer joined and United but not divided question by what kind of Union answer not by inhabitation only as God dwelleth in the Saints not by consent only as the faithful are one in the father and the son not by mixture as when water is mingled with wine not by combination as two boards be joined together lastly not by composition whereby of the mixture of two things there ariseth a third but by personal Union which as it is said the Greeks call incorporation because neither the whole deity nor any part of it is subjectively communicated to the humanity of Christ but only the human nature was assumed of the Son of God into the same person Hebrews 2:16 question what is the personal Union in Christ answer it is that whereby the person of the Son of God being a person from all eternity existing did assume the most pure nature of man wanting all personal existing of its own into the unity of his person and made it his own the properties of each nature being preserved or as Paul defines at Colossians 2:9 whereby in Christ doth dwell all the fullness of the godhead bodily whereof we have a manifest resemblance in the union of the soul and the body and therefore the Apostle doth well call it a great mystery of godliness 1 Timothy 3:16 question how is this Union made answer without all confusion without all conversion of one nature into another indivisibly inseparably the difference of the natures by no means being taken away by the union but rather the propriety of either nature being saved and joined together or concurring into one person and one subsisting as the caldon sinate speak in the history of evag liar 2 Kut 4 and from that time that the word did assume our human nature he never left it no not in his death and to this purpose make these verses I am that I was not I was that I am now both am I called thou knowest me not except thou know me subsisting of both natures see Mr John TS his Exposition upon the cdon council concerning the two Natures in Christ asserted in his book entitled Emanuel or godman section 15 question by what testimonies will you prove that the Divine and human nature in Christ did join together in one and the same person answer Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6 Luke 1:35 that which shall be born of thee shall be called The Son of God John 1:14 and the Word was made flesh not by sacri mental Union in which respect Christ was said to be a rock not by confusion of the natures nor by commutation as water is turned into wine John 2:14 but by assuming the flesh into the unity of this person the voice of God speaketh thus of Jesus Christ the son of Mary this is my beloved Son Matthew 3:17 he that descended is even the selfs same that ascended above all Heavens that he might fill all things Ephesians 4:10 God sent his son born of a woman Galatians 4:4 question why is it necessary that Christ should be both God and man in one and the same person answer one to the end he might reconcile God and man or that he might make God and man one two that he might be a fit mediator between God and Men by reason of his participation and Affinity with them both three that he might reconcile God unto us by his death which if he had been God Alone he could never have suffered if only man he could never have overcome for that the work of redemption performed in the flesh of the son might become of sufficient price for sin whereby God that infinite good was offended for although certain actions do properly proceed from the divine nature and some are done by the human nature yet all of them do equally receive their price and worthiness from the divine nature so the Flesh of Christ hath power to Quicken because it is the Flesh of that person who is God The Obedience of the man Christ doth justify because it is The Obedience of that person who is God the blood of Christ redeems the church because it is the blood of God acts 20:28 question what is the communication of properties answer it is such a manner of predication whereby those things which be proper to Natures are indifferently attributed to the person of Christ which is but one and that because Christ in his two Natures is both to it perfect God and perfect man to whom therefore these things are truly and indeed attributed as well those which are proper to God as those which be proper to man therefore it is well and truly said God or else the Son of God was born of the Virgin Mary suffered was crucified and God purchased unto himself the church with his own blood 1 Corinthians 2:8 acts 20: 28 not simply principally and by himself as he is God but by accident and in another respect or in regard of another thing because that which is proper to one nature namely to be conceived born crucified to die is not attributed to his divinity but to the person taking the name of one namely of the divine nature for this word the Son of God or God which is the subject of the proposition is the concrete and not the abstract and signifieth not the divine nature but the person who is God and man therefore it is well said the son of man or Christ man is eternal Almighty all present saveth raiseth the dead giveth eternal life and John 3:13 no man hath ascended into heaven but he that came down from heaven both in respect of the Union seeing that the self-same person is both man and God for as God by reason of the unity doth account those things which belong to the human nature proper to himself so as he is Man by reason of the Union doth account those things which belong to the divine nature to be proper to itself and also because the son of man is a word concrete which signifies the person of Christ being but one consisting of the Divine and human nature and therefore whole Christ is everywhere present but not all that is in Christ on the contrary it is wickedly said that the Divinity of Christ was born of the Virgin suffered death and that the humanity of Christ is eternal everywhere present Almighty for the Divinity is a word abstract which simply signifieth the divine nature in Christ which is most free from all manner of sufferings now the predication of diverse Natures by reason of the hypostatic or personal Union is of no Force but in those things which are signified as whole and perfect for as we do not use to say the body is the soul or the man is the soul so neither do we say this God Christ is the body of Christ or the soul of Christ but only God is Man question is the communication of properties verbal only or real answer it is a true and real speech because the person of whom by the Trope sticy as well the Divine as the human either names of properties or effects are IND different and equally affirmed containeth all those things in itself truly and indeed which to agree to very God and very man those things which be divine as he is God those also which be human as the same is man but not in respect of both Natures but according to the one and the other for then should be brought in the utian heresy of the confounding of the natures or properties and it should cease to be a speech by syntic V wherein a part is taken for the whole or or the whole for a part question about those titles which belong to the office of redemption are they to be attributed to the Nature’s severally asunder or to the person answer to the person as Christ is a mediator Pastor priest according to both Natures although each of them in that work retaining his own proper efficacy or operation question what is the effect of that personal Union answer the bestowing of gifts whereby the human nature in the person of Christ is adorned and whereby it excelth all other creatures in wisdom goodness Holiness power majesty and Glory which the old fathers call the deifying of the flesh the schoolman Habitual Grace of the communion of properties which is mutual one of another and the reciprocation of the names altogether distinct question how manifold is the state of Christ answer twofold one of humiliation whereby he willingly undergoing the burdens reproaches and punishments of our nature did humble himself to the death of the cross the Divinity in the mean while according to irenaeus resting or hiding itself that he might be crucified and die the other of exaltation whereby after his death his human nature did lay aside all the infirmities of it but not the essential properties and was wonderfully exalted Above All Creatures unto the highest honor yet not in any case matched and equaled to the divine nature of Christ Philippians 2: 7 and 9 question what are the doctrines contrary to this answer the first heresy of M sidonius and valentinus who AFF formed that Christ brought with him a Celestial body from Heaven as also of aelis who said his body was Airy his flesh starlike and that he passed from the Virgin as water from a pipe two of The maronites Who famed unto him an imaginary body three of apollonas who denied that Christ did assume a reasonable soul but that his divinity was unto him instead of his mind for of eunomius who affirmed Christ to be mere man and that he was called the the Son of God by adoption and of iion who said that Christ was born by human generation five of noorus who taught that as there be two Natures in Christ so there are two persons and that the Divinity is present with the humanity by circumstance and combination but not by personal Union therefore he denied that Mary was the mother of God or brought forth God and affirmed that man not God was crucified of the Jews six U’s heresy contrary to the former for he told that the human nature after the union was endued with the properties of the Divinity this the divine nature was turned into flesh seven of the manes who vouched that Christ had but one only will and not two a Divine and a human will eight of the ubiquitarian that attribute the properties attribute a nature and of whatsoever the essence cannot be affirmed no more can the essential properties thereof be affirmed of the same now I have here briefly given you an account of these eight opinions about Christ as a for said and by these you see St Peter’s words fulfilled 2 Peter 2:1 but there were false prophets also among the people even as there shall be false teachers among you who priv shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon them M themselves Swift destruction and many shall follow their pernicious Ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of Acts 20: 28 for St Paul saith take heed therefore unto yourselves and unto all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood for I know this that after my departing shall Grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them so Isaiah 99: 211 saith that manes against Ephraim and Ephraim against manes and both against Judah also Herod against pilate and pilate against Herod and both against Christ even so here is the eunomians or cians or bellans against the uans and both against Christ for the one denieth his divine nature and the other his human contrary to Matthew 22:45 and Revelation 22:16 I am the root and offspring of David and so by consequence both deny the true Christ for the devil knoweth there is no salvation for us without faith in him who is David’s Lord and David’s son Acts 4:12 neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Acts 4:12 and now Brethren that I may as the Apostle Paul saith Acts 20: 26 be clear from the blood of you all for I have and will declare unto you all all the counsil of God that I know touching this matter but as the Apostle saith 1 Corinthians 13:9 so I say for we know in part and we prophesy in part for now we see through a glass Darkly but then face to face now I know in part but then shall I know even as also I am known to Peter 3:17 ye therefore beloved seeing you know these things before beware lest you also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness for of you have been as Brands plucked out of the fire Jude 23 I mean out of the utian heresy which doth not only deny Christ to be truly David’s son but saith that he that was truly David’s Lord and Creator was mortal and died contrary to 1 Timothy 1:17 now unto the king Eternal Immortal invisible the only wise God be honor and Glory forever and ever amen and now because the right knowledge of Christ and Union of his Natures is so absolutely necessary to Salvation I I will add some questions and propound them for the utian consideration end of section 7 section 8 of a cure for the cankering era of the new uans by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain containing questions and answers about the union of natures in Christ question one why must Christ become man and take our nature is the Flesh of the Virgin Mary answer because the justice of God required that seeing in that nature God was offended in that nature should a satisfaction be made to God for the offense now sin was committed in man’s nature Adam sinned first and in him all his posterity therefore Christ took man’s nature that so he might suffer death and so make satisfaction to his father for men’s sins question two is there no way appointed of God to remit our sins but by sheding of blood answer no so saith the Holy Ghost Hebrews 9:22 without shedding of blood there is no remission question three can Christ considered as he is the Eternal Word John 1:1 and very God 1 John 5:20 die answer no for God is Immortal and cannot die 1 Timothy 1:17 for he only is without beginning and Without End question four but although God as God cannot die yet cannot he change himself from a Creator to a creature and so die answer no for sayith the Holy Ghost Malachi 3:6 I am the Lord I change not James 1:17 neither is there any shadow of it question five did Christ take our flesh and not our sin answer yes for the Holy Ghost saith he is made like unto his brethren in all things sin only accepted Hebrews 2:1 17 and 4:15 question 6 how could would he take our flesh and not our sin also since all other men partake of both answer all other men came from Adam and by Adam as a procreant cause Romans 5:12 but Christ came from Adam but not by Adam VI being made of a woman Galatians 4:4 even as Eve was made of a man Genesis 2 but not begotten as Cain and all other men are Matthew 1:8 question 7 how could Christ proberly be the son of man and so the son of David and of Abraham and Adam if he did not take the very Flesh and Blood of the Virgin Mary the daughter of David as St Luke in his third chapter saith she was answer he could not for God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne acts 2:30 question 8 if so whether then is not that opinion heretical and damnable that denieth Christ to be the true son of David answer it is because there is no Eternal salvation to be had in any other acts 13: 38 and 39 question 9 whether if Christ had been a creature only although an angel or man could he have overcome death answer no for as he was man the Jews did destroy the temple of his body John 2: 19 But as God he raised it up again the third day as he told the Jews he would do John 10:18 question 10 whether if death and the grave had kept Christ prisoner forever could any have been saved answer no so St Paul saith 1 Corinthians 15 for then they which are asleep in Christ are perished question 11 whether doth not this absurdity follow the utian opinion that if Christ be only God then he could not die as a for said if only man then he cannot raise himself from the dead answer it doth unavoidably follow upon their opinion question 12 whether such a Doctrine which by its natural consequences maketh the death and resurrection of Christ impossible or else in vain ought not to be abandoned by all Christians answer yes doubtless it ought for it destroyeth the faith of God’s elect utterly if believed question 13 what must we do with those Brethren that are ignorant of these bad consequences as afor said answer instruct them in the true Faith concerning Christ’s death and Resurrection question 14 but what must we do if they be obstinate and will not repent answer then after the first and second admonition reject them Titus 3:1 question 15 if Christ before he came from heaven was of the uncreated substance of the father their Essence being one then will it not follow that the father was made flesh as well as the son since you say it was the essence that was made flesh not the person of the son took it into personal Union as we with the scriptures say he did Hebrews 2:14 and 16 question 16 if it were possible for the uncreated substance to make itself into flesh which by nature is a spirit and spiritual substance John 4:4 then how could he receive nourishment from the Virgin as you say he did and grow in her womb question 17 if he be of the uncreated substance how could he grow in wisdom as he did since the uncreated substance is wisdom itself Proverbs 8 question 18 if Christ be only of the uncreated substance then how could he be ignorant of the day of judgment mark 13:32 question 19 if he was only of the uncreated substance then how could he be anointed by the Holy Ghost Luke 4:18 acts 4:27 question 20 if he be only of the uncreated substance then whose will did he obey when he said not my will but thy will be done Luke 22:42 for the essence is one in the father and the son John 14:9 9 and 11 question 21 why did Christ die as you say he did if he was only of the uncreated substance did he die to satisfy himself VI as God answer fairly and do not now when you see all these gross absurdities follow your opinion as the natural consequences of it say you cannot tell what he was before he was made flesh in the virgin’s womb for then you worship you know not what John 4:22 with the Samaritans and so you are idolators as they and the Athenians were acts 17: 22 and 23 Etc some objections objection one per Adventure some may say these absurdities will follow upon your own opinion as well as ours for you say he was God by Nature as well as we and there is but one God by Nature Galatians 4:8 answer one not so for we always distinguish between the essence of the Son and the person saying the essence is one with his father but not his person therefore we say his person was begotten not his Essence and we also say that his person took flesh of the Virgin Mary not the essence and therefore it was the person of the son that was born of her not the father nor the spirit for although the essence of the three be one yet the persons be distinct as 1 John 5:7 so that the Eternal Word the Son of God did never pray to his father as I remember till he became our mediator no more than the Holy Ghost doth pray to to the Father which for himself you know he doth not but Christ did pray for himself which could not be for his godhead but for his manhood which is a creature and therefore ought to perform homage to God the Creator for we always distinguish betwix the natures which you deny therefore we say it was his human nature that was ignorant of the day of judgment for with his divine nature he knoweth all things John 2:2 and by virtue of it he could and did forgive sins which two things V to search the heart and to forgive sins none but God can do therefore we cannot conceive how he could become Our Savior and mediator except he had these two Natures in one person for if he had not took our nature and so appeared before God in our stead bearing our sins in his own body as St Peter says one Peter 2: 24 and so St Paul saith was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him 2 Corinthians 5: 21 for else Justice could not have punished him two if he had been put to Death In the Flesh which we say only died which distinction you deny but we with St Peter say he was put to death in the flesh but quickened 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 a for said 1 Peter 3:18 objection two per Adventure 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 the Flesh of the Virgin Mary and so by Consequence the Flesh of David in as much 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 Galatians 4:4 or also Romans 1:3 born of the seed of David answer 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 is 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 bath sheba’s child was Uriah which was begotten of her by David which you know is David’s and not uriah’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 objection three but no child say the say doth take anything from his mother but only nourishment therefore Christ did not answer 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 do God forbid his children to marry their sister by the mother’s 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 Leviticus 18:9 Etc some queries to the uans query one whether doth not the utian opinion in denying the two Natures in Christ V the Divine and Human 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 answer they do for Christ as man is the lamb as God The Altar and as God man the priest question two whether doth the Holy Ghost apply these three to Christ in the New Testament yay or nay answer yes he doth apply them for he is the Lamb or sacrifice for sin John 1:29 Hebrews 9:26 and 10:10 at the altar Hebrews 13:10 and the priest Hebrews 5:6 for as the typical lamb was without blemish even so was Christ sayith St Peter 1 Peter 1:18 and chapter 2:4 secondly the priest was Sanctified or set apart to offer a sacrifice acceptable to God even so is Christ John 17:17 thirdly as the altar did sanctify the sacrifice even so did the godhead of Christ the human nature Hebrews 9:14 query three whether doth not the uan opinion make the three-fold offices of Christ of none effect or deny them all answer yes for the divine nature cannot be anointed to be priest prophet and King query four whether can any man come to the father but through faith in these three-fold offices of Christ answer no for what the Tabernacle or Temple was to them under the law that 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 as the proper object of worship to us for the flesh or human nature of Christ is the medium or mean by which we have access to God in all our worship this is proved Hebrews 10: 19 and 20 Etc some arguments to prove the opinion of the uans heretical and dangerous argument one that Doctrine or opinion that saith Christ was not the seed of the woman Genesis 3:15 which was promised of God to break the Serpent’s head is a dangerous argument two that opinion which 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 argument three that opinion which in itself or the natural consequences depending thereon maketh void all the promises of 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 Genesis 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 Galatians 4 but it was not God that was made of a woman therefore man and now for for you to say that God the creator of all things in heaven and in Earth Colossians 1:16 made himself a creature or was made so is false as I said before and also impossible since God is perfection itself and to say that he passed through the virgin’s womb as water through a conduit as some Heretics have said is also false and to say he had an imaginary body and not a real body as some Heretics have said is also very false as appear 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 there unto annexed which cannot be applied to him for his Christ except you with us Grant the two Natures to be in one person if you can show 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 denieth Christ to be the true son of David denieth all the the promises of God concerning man’s salvation but such is your opinion therefore Etc secondly that opinion that denieth the proper signification of the sacraments his baptism and the Lord’s Supper must needs be a dangerous opinion but such is your opinion therefore dangerous the reason of the minor proposition is because it denieth the two Natures in Christ which are Lively set forth by the sign and the thing signified by these sacraments one for as all the ordinances of God’s instituted work worship as sacrifices under the law Etc 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 two the divine essence or godhead in Christ seeth to be the proper object of all worship for Christ saith God is a spirit and therefore will be woried in spirit and in truth and St Paul saith that the fullness of the godhead dwelleth in Christ bodily Colossians 2:9 not locally but by personal Union and this is the proper object of All gospel worship as I have said before and it was so in the time of the law for the temple was God’s Dwelling Place Psalm 76: 2 there was the only place of God’s public worship Psalm 20 9:2 No sacrifice might be offered in any other place Deuteronomy 12: 26 and 27 for there the spiritual worshippers had by faith a sight of God and communion with him by Christ Psalm 63:2 and Psalm 68:4 towards the temple they were to look wheresoever they were 1 KS 8:29 therefore what the temple was to them under the law the same is Christ to us under the gospel therefore as the true worshippers did not worship the temple although the F did but God that dwelleth in the temple even so we may not worship the temple only VI the human nature of Christ but God in it for it is the spirit that quickeneth John 6: 53 and 54 and as there was in that Temple a veil to go into the holiest of all where God dwelt between the cherubims even so it is now Hebrews 10 we pass through the veil VI the Flesh of Christ into the holiest if we are LED thereby to worship that godhead that dwelleth in it this is a right conception and true worship of God for the humanity of Christ was to the godhead as a back of metal to a crystal glass for look on such a glass in its pure substance and it is transparent put a back of metal to it and it gives a beautiful reflex so if we take up conceptions of the godhead in its pure Essence it is transparent if we consider of God as he is infinite Almighty immense Eternal what is this to the creature or our Comfort if we consider him in his power Justice wisdom Holiness goodness and Truth what is this to us y all these are against us as we are sinners but if we take up a conception of God in all his attributes as they appear to us in Christ so they make a most comfortable reflex Upon Us in this glass we behold the glory of the Lord and are changed into the same similitude from glory to glory by the spirit of the Lord 2 Corinthians 3:18 in this class we behold that wisdom by which we are instructed that righteousness by which we are Justified That Power by which we are preserved that Grace by which we are chosen and called that goodness by which we are relieved and supplied that Holiness by which we are transformed that glory to the which we shall be conformed by all which it appear that our right apprehension and due conception of God must spring from the manifestation of God in Jesus Christ for no man knoweth the father but the son and he to whom the son will reveal him Matthew 11: 27 for the Saints in the law meditated devoutly upon his coming in the flesh many prophets and righteous men sayith Christ Desir to see the things which you see and have not seen them Matthew 13:17 Luke 10:4 and what were these things surely it is God manifested In the Flesh as appear by St Luke Luke 10:4 now as Aaron the high priest was chosen from amongst his Brethren and not of a stranger Exodus 28:1 even so Christ the antitype of Aaron was taken out of the tribe of Judah which were his Brethren according to the flesh Hebrews 2:17 for it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah sayith the Holy Ghost Hebrews 7:14 and this is that which Moses said a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you from amongst his Brethren like unto me him shall ye hear in all things Deuteronomy 18:18 whatsoever he shall say unto you acts 3:23 but notwithstanding all this the Ians deny that he was flesh of our flesh although the Holy Ghost saith it again and again both by the holy prophets in the Old Testament and the Holy Apostles and the new for St Paul saith we are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones Ephesians 5:30 now since he was flesh as the uans confess and yet deny him to be our flesh against all these faithful witnesses as a fores said I now desire them to tell me if they can what flesh it was since then Paul knew but four kinds of creator flesh there is one kind of Flesh of men another of beasts another of fish and another of birds 1 Corinthians 15:39 now which of these will you choose if neither of these I pray a sign of what matter the Flesh of Christ was for we with St Paul know no other than these four kinds of Flesh moreover Christ is figured out by melchisedek and his priesthood Hebrews 7 for as he was a priest and King even so was Christ also and as he was without father and mother even so was Christ V without father in respect of his human nature and without mother in respect of his divine nature now there is no knowing of God a right but in and by and through Christ as I said before for in the works of creation God is above us in his works of Providence a god without us in the law a God against us in himself a god invisible to us only in Christ as he Emanuel God manifested in our flesh God in us God God With Us and God for us therefore in Christ God is apprehended a right and they are also worshiped a right 1 John 2:23 whosoever denieth the son hath not the father but he that acknowledgeth the son hath the father also who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ he is Antichrist that denieth the father and the son verse 22 now as the uans ear in their opinion about Christ Our mediator even so do they about the Holy Trinity also for they do not rightly understand nor believe the unity and Trinity spoken of 1 John 5:7 now if they be three they be three operations or three manifestations or three subsisten but they be not the two former therefore the latter his three subsisten for St John saith the word was with God and was God John 1:1 now where there is one and another with him there must needs be a distinction but St John saith it is so though therefore secondly where there is one sending and another sent there is a distinction but the father sendeth and the son was sent therefore a distinction John 3: 17 and 34 for God sent his son into the world Etc therefore the father and the son send the Holy Ghost John 14:16 is another comforter therefore a distinct person both from the father and the son now if these have all of them V the father son and spirit understanding and will then they are persons and not qualities for no qualities can have understanding and will see 1 Corinthians 12: 3-2 if the father son and spirit be all creators of Heaven and Earth then are they God by nature but they are all creators of Heaven and Earth therefore God by Nature Genesis 1:16 secondly if they all know the thoughts and search the heart of man then they are God by nature but they all do so therefore thirdly if they may all be ultimately sinned against then they are God by nature but they may be so therefore fourthly if we may worship them with Divine worship then they are God by nature but we may worship them with Divine worship therefore fifthly if we may be baptized in their name then they are God by nature but we may y ought to be baptized in their name therefore God by Nature Matthew 21: 19 and 20 the reason is plain because we expect the remission of our sins in his name into which we were baptized has also promised to worship Him in spirit and in truth for God is a spirit and therefore will be worshiped in spirit and in truth now allbe at St John saith speaking of Christ I and my father are one John 10:30 he doth not by this saying deny the three persons for in that he saith we are he teacheth us that he and his father be not one person for as much as are cannot be spoken of one person properly and in that he saith one he declare that he is of the self same substance with his father oh the exceeding deepness and power of God’s word which is as a two-edged sword for with these two syllables are and one it confound two heresies Fe the Aran and patran and sabellians which rest that saying of Christ he that seeth me seeth the father also John 14 which must be understood of their Essence and not of their persons as appear by these words I go to prepare a place for you saith Christ and if I go I will come again which plainly proves a distinction of the person verses 2 and three if we may not believe St John that there be three that bear record In Heaven There is the Father the word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one 1 John 5:7 to be a unity and Trinity as a for said then these absurdities will unavoidably follow that if the father be both the Son and the Holy Ghost as he is if their persons be one as well as their Essence is one which is indivisible Isaiah 44:6 I am and there is none beside me then the father was he which took our nature upon Him Hebrews 2:16 the father was tempted of the devil he suffered hunger and thirst he was buffeted and scourged of the Jews and put to death by Wicked hands he also came down in the likeness of a dove and also a fiery tongues he begat himself he is greater than himself he sent himself into the world he gave himself a seat at his own right hand he is the express image of himself he is greater than himself but if I English uans cannot see these things as a forid to be blasphemy against God the father yet I hope you will see them to be great absurdities for they are the natural consequences of your opinion for you say it was God that died in the likeness of man and to prove this you rest as you do other scriptures Philippians 2: 6 and 8 for you say he that was in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God and you say he put himself in the likeness of men and being found in the fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death even the death of the Cross wherefore God also hath highly exalted him Etc now if the godhead was turned into flesh as water was turned into wine as you say it was and there can be but one God by Nature both you and we say and I hope believe then if the father be that one God for to us there is but one God the father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we in him 1 Corinthians 8:6 then I pray consider of your opinion as also the bad consequences that depend upon it for if you shall still be obstinate and deny that the Eternal Word did ever take any flesh of the Virgin Mary into personal Union with itself as we say it did but will still say and believe that the Eternal Word V God the creator of Heaven and Earth did make himself a creature V man and so died for our sins then how can you acquit yourselves from being rightly called blasphemers of the Eternal God which is is only Immortal and immutable as I said before I cannot yet tell because of the reasons of fores said Etc now for as much as I understand by some late conferences I have had with our English uans that they deny or at least doubt of God’s omnipresence and with the anthrop morphit think of God as if he were some old man sitting in some one place on a throne as kings used to do and so with the papists and cians think that one may see from his right hand to his left as do Owen saith in his answer to Mr John biddle’s catechism now you may see by this how one error Beth another for first they deny the Divine Essence of the Eternal God to be infinite immense and as the Prophet Jeremiah sayth to fill Heaven and Earth Jeremiah 23: 24 and as Solomon saith the heaven of Heavens cannot contain him how much less this house which I have built 2 Chronicles 6:8 but they not minding such scriptures as these or else not understanding of them but reading some other scriptures which speak of his coming down from heaven to see Sodom Etc Genesis 18th and 19th chapters as also because man was made in His image and he that hath hands and feet and that he hath hands and feet Etc therefore they cannot tell how he should properly be a spirit or spiritual substance John 4:4 and therefore cannot understand the Blessed Trinity as I said before and indeed without this be granted the Trinity cannot be proved to be three persons and yet be one God as we say and believe as a for said for although we distinguish the persons in the godhead yet we do not separate them because the essence is infinite and omnipresent Psalm 139:7 wither shall I fly from thy presence if I Ascend up into heaven Thou Art there if I make my bed in hell behold Thou Art there Amos 9: 2 3 and 4 and to give you one instance what we mean when we say they are distinct and not separated from the essence of God we mean mean after this manner as when we say there are three faculties in the soul V understanding will and memory now these three faculties are distinct yet not separated from the soul for the soul acts holy in these three yet not three Souls but one Soul even so is the Eternal godhead in the father son and spirit yet but one God but this 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 Genesis 18 and the two that went to lot Genesis 19 and there you may see although they be three persons yet but one Lord and so called and worshiped of Abraham see chapter 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 chapter 19:8 which two were the Son and the Holy Ghost which were sent by the father 18: 21 and 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 Genesis 18 compared with John 8: 56 and 58 Etc question how is God said to be present in all places at once Psalm 95: 2 and 6 and Psalm 139:7 and also to fill Heaven and Earth Jeremiah 23:4 answer 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 itself 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 unto them this is to the Church of God on Earth 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 fullness of the godhead bodily Colossians 2:9 now for the better understanding of this mystery we must know that these scriptures are to be taken four ways at least some of them VI first historically secondly analogically thirdly allegorically and fourthly morally as to instance in one of them for brevity’s sake numbers 21:9 and Moses made a serpent and put it upon a pole Etc it hath these four significations the first is historical it was a serpent made secondly analogically it was lifted up so must Christ John 3:15 thirdly allegorically that is another thing was meant by it as appear by hezekiah’s taking of it away and calling of it nush that is a piece of brass 2 Kings 18:4 for forly 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 appear from Isaiah 40:12 who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and Meed out heaven with the span and comprehended the dust of the Earth in a measure and weigh the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance behold the nations are as the drop of a bucket and are counted as the smallest dust of the balance behold he taketh up the aisles as a very little thing verse 15 by which phrases is meant that he goth and dispose 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 Psalm 104: 28 and 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 offspring 1 Corinthians 8:6 objection but sin maketh a separation betx us and God for what communion hath light with darkness and Christ with B therefore he is not present with them Etc answer this is not to be understood in the first degree if is to preserve their substances as in Acts 17 but is meant in the second degree if is his grace with his church on the earth John 14:23 If any man love me sayth 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 appear by his answer to Judas which asked why is it that thou Wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world he had told him before verses 15 and 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 forever 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 favor Grace and spirit but not from his presence as David saith wither shall I I fly 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 thee 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 then shall my hand take them though they climb up to heaven then will I bring them down and though they hide themselves in the top of caramel I will search and take them out then etc for we must not imagine him to be contained in any one place sayith the Prophet Jeremiah 23:4 do not I fill Heaven and Earth sayith 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 Kings 8:27 and since Steven saith he dwelleth not in Tabernacles made with hands acts 7 and yet he dwelt sayth David betwix the cherubims and the Lord saith of Zion this is my rest forever here will I dwell therefore sayth the prophet blessed be the Lord out of Zion that dwelleth at Jerusalem Psalm 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 bical 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 Corinthians 5: 6 and 8 he meth in the third degree there is the Glorious presence of God in heaven with the church triumphant Hebrews 12:22 question two if God be a spirit John 14:4 how then doth these scriptures ascribe to him hands and feet and almost all the parts of a man since Christ saith a spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see me have Etc answer this is to be understood metaphorically as also by way of analogy for like as men used 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 measurethe with a span and holdeth the water in the hollow of his hand Isaiah 40:2 and as men see with their eyes and hear with their ears even so the Lord is said to do Psalm 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 Etc therefore when the scriptures attribute these to God pH hands eyes lips tongue nose heart head face and back Parts Etc it is not to be understood literally but in the second or third sense VI analogically or allegorically that is another thing is meant as Galatians 4:4 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 Psalm 118: 15 and 16 and his finger is compared to the Holy Ghost Luke 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 Matthew 12:28 but if I cast out Devils by the spirit of God then the kingdom of God is come unto you and thus I might show how the rest might be applied but for brevity’s sake I forbear question three how is God said to repent Genesis 6:6 since 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 Romans 11:29 answer 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 light by his promises and follow our corrupt ways we are changed and not he we be mutable he is immutable for in him there is no variableness nor shadow of turning James 1:17 he is said to be pacified and pleased when we turn from our evil ways and so turn to him by true repentance see for this Jonah 3:9 Joel 2:12 Jeremiah 18:18 for when God is said to laugh at Men’s calamities and mock when their fear cometh proverbs 1:26 six we are not by these and such like sayings to think that God hath such affections and passions as being man for God hateth such as mock at his Messengers and despiseth his word yeah God abh horth the scornful man but as those men that laugh at our calamities are they furthest off from helping of us out of it even so is God when he laugheth at our Calamity see Proverbs 1: 26 27 and 28 so he has said Psalm 44:23 to sleep arise where Dost thou sleep oh Lord arise for our help and redeem us for thy mercy sake verse 26 now the Lord keepeth his Vineyard lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day Isaiah 27:3 David saith he neither slumbereth nor sleepeth Psalm 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 John 1:8 for he is invisible 1 Timothy 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 sth upon the circle of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain and spread 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 sayith the Holy One Isaiah 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 y the Deep things of God now we have not received the spirit of the world but the spirit that is of god for 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 Corinthians 2 Etc 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 Colossians 2:2 in as short and plain a method as I could for your information Etc now of that which hath been spoken as concerning God by me in this Treatise the this is the sum that God is a spirit John 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 y even the inward thoughts and intentions of the hearts of men forgiving sins only to be honored 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 lie now all these things as are for said be rightly applied to the father Son and Holy Spirit so that it plainly appear that to whomsoever these things may rightly be applied he is God by nature and not by name only as they are Psalm 82:6 I have said ye are Gods but ye shall die like men Etc but unto God the Father Son and Holy Spirit are these things only properly and truly applied therefore they only are God by nature one John 5:7 there be three that bear record in heaven the Father the word and the Holy Spirit and these three are one and we know that the Son of God is come and hath given us understanding that we might know him that is true and we are in him that is true even in his son Jesus Christ this is the true God and eternal life little children keep yourselves from Idols vers 20 and 21 now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all amen 2 Corinthians 13:14 Etc end of Section 8 section n of a cure for the kering era of the new uans by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain containing a brief repetition of of the present discourse concerning the Glorious Trinity and the person of Christ now because I would if possibly I could remove all doubting about the Holy Trinity concerning there being three persons and one God I will further add to what I have said some arguments to prove that they are all three God by Nature that so I might satisfy some who must and will have their reason satisfied or else they will not believe it and because all the opinions that I oppose in this Treatise as afor said seems to Grant the father of our Lord Jesus Christ to be God by Nature Galatians 4:4 I will therefore take it pro confesso and reason with them by an arum and first for the better understanding of the honest and simple-hearted which per Adventure May conly doubt whether the Son and Holy Ghost be God equal with the father because of the late opposition that is made against it by the maintainers of the aate opinions I say I will go in this plain method and make a comparison betx the father and the son v as he is the Eternal Word John 1:1 in several things that I find in scripture concerning them and then I will apply these to the Holy Ghost also as you may see if you will for I hope you are not obstinate first proposition the father is a Spirit by Nature John 4:4 therefore God parallel to this the son is a Spirit by Nature therefore God proof from God’s word 2 Corinthians 3:17 proposition two the father is immutable therefore God parallel to this the son is immutable therefore God proof from God’s word Hebrews 1:12 proposition 3 the father is invisible and immutable therefore God parallel to this the son is invisible and immutable therefore God proof from God’s word one Timothy 6:16 proposition 4 the father is everywhere present with his people therefore God parallel to this the son is everywhere present with his people therefore God proof from God’s word Matthew 18:20 proposition five the father is full of understanding therefore God parallel to this the son is full of understanding therefore God proof from God’s word 1 Corinthians 1:30 John 10:30 proposition 6 the father is eternal therefore God parallel to this the son is eternal therefore God proof from God’s word revelation 1: 8 and 11 proposition 7 the father is eternal therefore God parallel to this the son is eternal therefore God proof from God’s word word revelation 1: 8 and 11 proposition 7 the father is the maker of all things therefore God parallel to this the son is the maker of all things therefore God proof from God’s word Colossians 1:16 Proposition 8 the father goth all things therefore God parallel to this the son goth all things therefore God proof from God’s word John 5:17 proposition nine the father knoweth all things therefore God parallel to this the son knoweth all things therefore God proof from God’s word Matthew 9:4 John 2:2 proposition 10 the father forgiveth sins therefore God parallel to this the son forgiveth sins therefore God proof from God’s word Mark 2:10 Luke 7: 49 proposition 11 the father is to be prayed unto therefore God parallel to this the son is to be prayed unto therefore God proof from God’s word acts 7:50 and chapter 9:6 Romans 10: 13 proposition 12 the father giveth what gifts he pleaseth therefore God parallel to this the son giveth what gifts he pleaseth therefore God proof from God’s word Ephesians 4:8 Proposition 13 the father is Almighty therefore God parallel to this the son is Almighty therefore God proof from God’s word revelation 1:8 and chapter 15: 3 and 4 now to whomsoever all these things may be rightly applied he is God by nature but unto the son as well as unto the father may all these things be rightly applied therefore the son is God by Nature John 10 verse3 now all these may be applied to the Holy Ghost also proposition one the father is a Spirit by nature and not by creation therefore God even so also is the Holy Ghost therefore God John 14th and 16th chapters proposition two the father is immutable therefore God even so is the Holy Ghost therefore God John 14 :s 16 proposition 3 the father is immutable and invisible therefore God even so is the Holy Ghost therefore God John 14:15 proposition four the father is everywhere present therefore God even so is the Holy Ghost therefore God Psalm 139:7 proposition 5 the father is eternal therefore God even so is the Holy Ghost therefore God Genesis 1:2 proposition 6 the father is the maker of all things therefore God even so is the Holy Ghost therefore God job 26:13 and chter 33:4 Psalm 36:5 proposition 7 the Father governeth the church therefore God even so doth the Holy Ghost therefore God Isaiah 63:11 acts 13:2 and 8:26 Proposition 8 the father knoweth all things therefore God even so doth the Holy Ghost therefore God 1 Corinthians 2:10 proposition 9 the father doth forgive sins therefore God even so doth the Holy Ghost therefore God Matthew 28: 19 and 20 proposition 10 we may and ought to be baptized in the name of the father therefore he is God even so we may and ought to be baptized in the name of the Holy Ghost therefore he is God Matthew 28: 19 and 20 proposition 11 the father giveth what spiritual gifts he pleaseth to the Church therefore he is God even so doth the Holy Ghost therefore he is God 1 Corinthians 12 proposition 12 the father sendeth whom he will to preach the gospel therefore he is God even so doth the Holy Ghost therefore he is God act 18:2 Proposition 13 the father raiseth men from the dead therefore he is God even so doth the Holy Ghost therefore he is God Romans 8:1 now to whomsoever all these things may rightly be applied he is God by nature but to the Holy Ghost as well as to the father may all these things be rightly applied therefore the Holy Ghost is God by Nature now of that which hath been said concerning Christ’s divine nature this is the sum for I have endeavored in this Trea us to show you in 20 particulars that Christ is God by nature and here I will repeat them all for your memory sake the first is his eternity two his Simplicity three his immutability four his invisibility five his immensity six his infiniteness seven his omnipotency eight his wisdom nine his goodness 10 his love 11 his grace 12 his Mercy 13 his longsuffering 14 his Holiness 15 his Justice 16 his faithfulness 17 his truth 18 his omnicc 19 his omnipresence 20 his Providence over all his creatures all these 20 properties and attributes belong to God only but all these belong to Christ as he is David’s Lord therefore Christ as he is David’s Lord is God by Nature who is God over all blessed forever amen Romans 9:5 Etc and now I will briefly show you how he is David’s son according to the flesh as I have said before first he had the substance of a true body and reasonable Soul two the properties of body and soul in the body length breadth and thickness and circumscription and in the soul the faculties of understanding both simple and compound as will affection Love hatred desire Joy fear Etc the powers also of hearing feeling seeing smelling tasting moving growing eating sleeping Etc thirdly he took unto himself the blameless infirmities of man’s nature which are certain natural defects in man as passions of body and mind as to be hungry thirsty weary sad sorrowful and ignorant of some things and angry also to increase in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin Hebrews 2:1 17 and chapter 4:1 15 now since the scriptures do affirm all these things to belong properly and truly to Christ as he is David’s son and Offspring then must he needs be Man by nature for unto no creature neither in Heaven Nor in Earth doth the Holy Ghost apply all these things properly and literally but to man only Etc if he do show me an instance for as yet I know none and therefore why you should so much as once doubt whether he took our nature VI the Flesh of Mary since the Scripture affirms it so plainly again and again I cannot understand but when I do not only hear you say you doubt but confidently deny that ever he took any flesh of the Virgin Mary this makes me to stand and admire and with St Paul say who hath Bewitched you that you should deny so many plain and evident proofs can any article of the Christian faith be more plainly proved than this is surely no now if I did not think that the devil had Bewitched many and that Pride false opinions and self-love had blinded men’s understandings I could not believe any judicious man that believes the scriptures to be true if he will but now sit down in humility and seriously consider what hath here been said from them to prove that Christ is God by nature and also Man by Nature can still remain doubting and unbelieving but if he be one that was once enlightened into this truth and also professed it with us and was baptized into this faith and yet did not receive it in the love of it and after all this advice which now and at other times hath been used by myself and others to them I say if they shall still oppose this truth then what can I think about that if they do not speedily repent of this their dangerous opinion of denying the Lord that bought them 2 Peter 2:2 then that which is written in two Thessalonians 2 vers 11 will come upon them but that it may never be so is and shall be the prayer of your very good friend which loves your person but not your principles though happily not so esteemed of you that God would give you repentance to the acknowledging of the truth that you may recover yourselves out of the snare of the devil who hath taken some of you captive at his will end of section 9 section 10 of a CA for the cankering era of the new uans by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain containing an answer to several objections objection Christ as man was Flesh and Bones and not a ghost as you seem to say we by our opinion make him and this shows your ignorance of our opinion and therefore you sentence it as you do but doth not Paul say Romans 8:3 he came in the likeness of sinful flesh therefore he took not our flesh as you say he did answer St Paul doth not say he took upon him the likeness of Flesh simply as it is flesh but of the Flesh of sin or sinful flesh for he had said before chap 1:3 that he was made of the seed of David according to the Flesh and also again in chapter 9:5 whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came Etc and I pray you tell me what sin Paul meth by these words verse three for I could wish that myself were a cursed from Christ for my brethren my Kinsmen according to the Flesh and then you may tell yourselves what he means by these words verse 5 who are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came the word flesh being the same in the third and fifth verse and of the same signification objection 2 from John 1:14 but the uans say that the divine nature of Christ was turned into flesh and so was made like to his brethren in all things excepting two V sin and Earthly matter answer one the Holy Ghost doth accept but one thing V sin if it be proper to call Sin a thing Hebrews 2:17 and 4:15 and how dare you say too have you no fear of the Cur of God coming upon you since he saith Cur is he that addeth or diminishe see Deuteronomy 4:2 Revelation 22:18 add thou not unto his words lest reprove thee and thou be found a liar Proverbs 30:6 but secondly I answer to that of John 1:14 it having the most show of any of the texts that I know for your opinion therefore I will endeavor by God’s help to show you that it was never written to that end to justify your opinion and therefore I pray consider what s John saith verse one the word which was in the beginning was with God and was God by whom all things were made and without whom was nothing made that was made in whom was life and the life was the light of men for he lith every man that cometh into the World by whom the world was made was in the fullness of time made a man in a human body having his Divine Majesty dwelling in him full of grace and truth so that we beheld his glory saith St John in his miracles in his grace and truth in his holy and wise Doctrine such as manifested him to be the only begotten of the father verses 14 and 16 which is in the bosom of the father Mark that word is in the bosom of the father he doth not say which was but is which must be understood of his generation before the world was made of the substance of his father for the term notes generation and subsistence from his substance not creation or making that which was the creator into flesh that so he might be a creature and so die this was impossible since God cannot die nor yet be changed as I have oft said and proved in this Treatise from 1 Timothy 1:17 James 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 sayith he the word was made flesh even as St Paul saith Romans 1:3 made of the seed of David and came of the fathers according to the Flesh 9:5 and made of a woman Galatians 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 Psalm 10 32:11 for Solomon was but a type which came out of his loins 1 Kings 8:1 19 all these texts to expressly teach us that Christ had a human nature which is termed the flesh as it is frequent by the word flesh to understand a man or human nature see Romans 3:20 no flesh can be justified in his sight which must be understood of men also chap 11:14 Isaiah 57:7 Galatians 2:16 John 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 Etc fourthly consider this word raised up according to the flesh out of the loins of David which plainly showeth that there was another nature which was David’s Lord Matthew 22:44 which was not raised up out of his loin which was God over all blessed forever Romans 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 Kings 8:1 19 he doth not say according to the flesh neither is their distinction made concerning any man but only Christ which was Emanuel God and man in one person or God With Us Matthew 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 loin according to the flesh made of the seed of David according to the Flesh and of the fathers according to the flesh as that he also is David’s Lord and the Son of God God over all blessed forever 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 a daughter of David which Mary was see for proof of this Luke the 3r chapter and now what ha been said in answer to this objection if heeded by you will answer all your objections from John 3:15 and John 6 from the 50th verse to the 64th 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 cians your adversary 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 in his Mount horb concerning the law Exodus 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 for so he was born of her or made of her according to the flesh for it is the person V the word that is said to come down from heaven as appear John 6:62 what if ye shall saith Christ see the son of man V Christ’s human nature Ascend up where he V his divine nature was before for as he is the second Adam he was not there before as appear by Watson Paul saith 1 Corinthians 15:46 the first Adam was made a living Soul the last Adam was made a quickening spirit how be it 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 borne 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 Corinthians 3:17 for so considered as he is the eternal spirit Hebrews 9:14 1 Peter 3:18 he was before Adam or else he could not have created him and all other things which he did John 1:3 Colossians 1:16 so then as the natural Adam was the first man that God created so the second Adam V the human 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 Revelation 3:14 and the firstborn from the dead for as St Paul saith he was the first fruits of them that sleep and so because of the personal union he has called the first and the last even he that was dead and is alive and behold saith he I live forever more and have the keys of hell and death Revelation 1:8 now the name Almighty which is applied to Christ Revelation 1:8 must needs be meant as he was David’s Lord Psalm 110:1 and as St John calleth him David’s root but when St Paul with him the second Adam it must be as he is his son or offspring for the true Adam is never properly in all the scripture applied to God V the divine nature for you know Adam signifieth Earth VI the matter which man was made of and as for the term Heavenly it is as truly applied to the Saints as to the human nature of Christ for verse 48 as is the Earthly such are they also that are Earthly and as is the Heavenly such are they also that are heavenly which St Paul applies to the Saints after their Resurrection verse 44 it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body so that Paul doth not run the parallel betx the Natural Body and the spirit fears the Creator as a for said for If You observe him he calleth the second Adam spiritual also verse 46 and calleth the Saints Heavenly verse 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 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 verse 13 but if there be no resurrection of the dead then is not Christ risen in verse 7 if Christ be not raised your faith is in vain and you are yet in your sins then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished and verse 22 for as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive Etc now where there are diverse opinions they may be all false there can be but one true and that one truth ofttimes must be fetched by peace meal out of diverse branches of contrary opinions etc 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 30 parts sayith Mr poens 19 of them be heathens and pagans then there remains about 11 and of these five be Turks and muhammadans then there remain but a sixth part of the 30 and of these six how few do believe in God or right God knows they be very few as for the 24 parts of the 30 they do not own Christ to be their savior 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 savior also yet so as by some of their opinions they by just consequence deny him either in his divine nature or in his human 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 David’s Lord and David’s son also yet of them how few do love him and keep his Commandments Luke 6:46 why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things that I say the Lord grant for his son’s 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 John 10 where shall I begin to wonder at thee Oh thou Divine and eternal Peacemaker the savior 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 by the very Wonder of angels who saw thee in thy humiliation with silence and adore thee in thy Glory with Perpetual prayer and rejoicings Thou Are Forever of thyself 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 holy to thee that which he retained holy 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 cause thee oh savior to empty thyself of thy Glory that thou mightest put on our shame and misery wherefore not ceasing to be God as thou would thou began to be what thou was not VI man to the end thou mightest be a perfect mediator betwix God and man which were both in one person God that thou mightest satisfy and man that thou mightest suffer that since man had sinned and God was offended thou which were God and man mightest satisfy God for man none but thyself which art the Eternal Word can express to us this great mystery how God should be manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit scene of angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world and received up into glory and we in him Etc end of section 10 section 11 of a cure for the cankering era of the new uans by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain containing the use of the whole Treatise now as a for said I will further add to that that I have said something by way of use and application and so leave the whole to the blessing of God and you a serious consideration use one concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God we must know that it is a great mystery and therefore here observe first who is Incarnate the second person in the Trinity first for that God by him created man and therefore by by him must we be recreated and redeemed secondly for 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 nor any person but the Sun the person of the sun 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 accepted subject to all unblamable and general infirmities which pertain to the whole nature of man as passions of body and mind thirdly this I must believe and devou that it was necessary that he should become man first to satisfy God in the nature we offended secondly for that not one else could fulfill 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 fool could speak to God face to face but now cannot nor may not come near but in the face and favor of Christ whose face is to be found in the gospel end of section 11 section 12 of a cure for the kering era of the new uans by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain duties which follow this Faith first draw near to Christ and and cleave unto him for we see he has come near to us and become our Emanuel Isaiah 7 secondly here is a pattern and precedent for us of unspeakable humility Philippians 2: 6 and 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 allbe it he took of her very flesh which came of sinful Adam yet was the Flesh of Christ I mean his human body nature 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 Hebrews 2:14 I proceed onto speak of the birth of Christ he was born of the Virgin Mary and of the Union of natures Divine and human 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 Genesis 3:18 and 12: 3 and 4 and 21 Isaiah 7:14 and therefore much more ought we seeing we have in the gospel the ACC complement of all those prophecies Luke 2:7 Matthew 1:25 to believe in Jesus Christ born of the Virgin but also in time according to the course of nature born of the said virgin and brought forth into the World by her first and Duty following this faith is Thanksgiving for the Incarnation of the Son of God as we see by the examples of the Angels praising God for this benefit Luke 2:14 the Virgin praising God for this benefit Luke 1:46 and the holy priest Zachariah praising God for this benefit Luke 1: 68 secondly a consolation following this faith is preached unto us by the Angels Luke 2:10 when he saith behold I bring you Tidings of great joy that shall be to all people hence comes first peace with God secondly peace with our own conscience thirdly with the Holy Angels fourthly with all the creatures of God in the frame of Heaven and Earth the proper name of God’s mother was Mary this is testified often in the New Testament Luke 2:5 Etc this name is added for a more certain and special description of his mother that my faith may be the better certified of the truth of all Divine oracles and prophecies concerning him for this holy woman being as Matthew and Luke testify of the noble race of the kings of Judah it is clear that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came of the seed of David and so of Abraham according to the promise Genesis 12 and 49 Luke 2 again she is called a virgin both to let us see the accomplishment of the prophecy Isaiah 7:4 and 21 and to assure us of that as a for said that is that he is the only begotten Son of God conceived by the Holy Ghost and not by the ordinary cause of Nature and this blessed mother of Christ a holy prophetess Luke 1:48 we do willingly honor her three ways first by Thanksgiving to God for her secondly by a reverent estimation of her thirdly by imitation of her excellent virtues and thus having seen by clear evidence from the word of the Lord that our blessed Lord and Savior as touching his Natures is very God and very man it resteth only that we should learn also by Divine demonstration that these two Natures are united in one person use two first here then we must be advertised that there be two kinds of unions Union in nature and Union in person Union in nature is when two or more things are joined or united into one nature as the father the Son and the Holy Ghost being and remaining three distinct persons are one and the same in nature or godhead Union in person is when two things are in that manner United that they make but one person or substance as the body and soul of man meeting together make one man secondly this Union of natures then here is this the second person in the Trinity or the Son of God doth assume to it a manhood in such order that the same being void of all personal being in itself doth holy and and only subsist in the second person in the Trinity or depends wholly on the person of the son so that now it is a nature only and not a person because it doth not subsist alone as in other men thirdly this then I understand and believe here that the Everlasting Son of God without any putting off of his divine nature without any comix or conversion was made that which before his Incarnation he was not to it very Man by taking flesh by the power of the Holy Ghost from the and a human soul created of nothing both which Natures being united together in a most admirable personal Union make one Most Blessed person even the most sacred person of our only Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and our Lord Jesus Christ hath in his Humanity so assumed all the properties of man’s nature that he became in all things like unto us Hebrews 2:17 sin only accepted for he hath so personally United unto himself our nature that we cannot say properly of his passion that only the bare Humanity suffered which yet is only passible but this we are to say that the person which is very God hath suffered in our nature fifthly and lastly we must not believe that the Lord Christ assumed our nature as he did sometimes under the law before his Incarnation take to him the form of man and Angel for a time but retains still and forever the very body and soul of man how be it now glorified for the Apostle saith our mediator Not only was but also is the man Christ Jesus 1 Timothy 2:5 living forever to make intercession for us Hebrews 7:25 Romans 8:34 consolations following this Faith concerning Christ’s pure conception Incarnation and this unspeakable Union of natures in this one sacred person are these first I understand and conceive he is a most fit Advocate to his father being God and a most comfortable mediator for me being very man well acquainted with all my Grievances and one I may boldly draw near unto Hebrews 2: 16 and 17 and 18 and 4:1 16 secondly I conceive also that he hath been so acquainted in our flesh with our temptations that he hath a special experience of our infirmities in his own sacred person not that the Son of God hath need of our afflictions and temptations to make him merciful unto us but for that we can best persuade ourselves of his Mercy when we learn that he has been acquainted with our passions and now I will tell you briefly what I mean by the properties of the human and divine nature and by the communication or conjunction of properties as I said before when I say and believe that Christ did assume all the essential properties of man’s nature I mean he took not only the soul and body of man but also every quality and adjunct thereto appertaining excepting sin for he had the understanding the reason the will and all the affections of man without sin being made like his brethren in all things Hebrews 2:1 17 again when I believe and say that Christ did retain in his personal Union of both Natures all the properties of his divine nature I mean these and the like that he was this very person now God and man Eternal Almighty incomprehensible immutable most perfect for these and the like be the properties of the divine nature thirdly the communication of these properties as the learner speak for the better understanding of some scriptures uted concerning this sacred person is this when we ascribe that which is proper unto one nature and to the other because of the afores said personal Union of both Natures as when the Apostle saith God hath purchased the church with his own blood this manner of speaking is with respect to this Union and herein that which is proper to the human nature is ascribed unto the Divine for that this sacred person which did this great work with his own blood is very God but here we be also to observe that there is no communication of the essential properties of these Natures but in the concrete only as logicians speak not in the abstract as we may say truly and according to the doctrine of godliness that God died for us but we may not say therefore the deity died for us and here beloved I will show you once more why our mediator must be very God and very man and that these two Natures must thus admirably be United together and his conception so pure first briefly for the first he must be very God first because he hath received a charge from his father which did require an infinite power to it by his merits and virtue to save the elect or Believers for it was needful that his price should overprice our sins secondly if he had not been very God he could not have overcome death Romans 1: 3 and 4 thirdly for that it behoved him also to overcome and kill sin and death in us even in our consciences John 5: 25 4 and 25 and to Quicken us Romans 8:1 by giving us the spirit of Faith to apprehend all his merits and to apply the same unto ourselves now who can give the Holy Ghost but God himself Luke 11:13 John 3: 7 and 8 lastly he was to loosen and destroy all the accursed works of Satan in US secondly and for the second point he must be very man first that God might declare his unchangeable Justice and hatred of sin and his UNP aable love and mercy to the elect the first he showeth in punishing sin in his own son the second he declareth in that he punishe not our sins in ourselves but in another secondly that we might conceive rightly of the brotherly affection of our mediator towards us and how that he which sanctifieth and they that are Sanctified are all of one thirdly for that God had confirmed it with an oath that the Messiah should come of the loins of David Psalm 133 and Psalm 89 and of the seed of the woman according to the gospel preached in the beginning in Paradise Genesis 3:15 thirdly for the third point this I believe and aouch briefly that salvation could not have been obtained for man unless the nature of God and man were United together in one person first because otherwise this work had not been performed by Blood of the Son of God and so it had been insufficient for us secondly because the humanity of Christ could never have borne that punishment for sin thirdly salvation thus obtained could never have been maintained but that these Natures be thus knit together for that Christ is and must be the pledge of our reconciliation forever Psalm 110:1 Matthew 22:44 fourthly by this means we have as it were Kindred with God in Jesus Christ who has become our Emanuel God With Us or God manifest in our flesh Matthew 1:1 1 Timothy 3:16 fourthly for the four and last branch of the question I say and believe that it was necessary our Lord and savior should be pure without the stain of sin in his conception and that the Holy Ghost in This great work did so provide first for that the most glorious and divine nature of God could never else be United unto the human secondly for that a sinner could never have been accepted to make this atonement or to offer up any sacrifice for sin thirdly for that he could not have Sanctified others unless he were the most most pure and the most holy one of God himself Hebrews 2:1 andap 10: 9 and 10 thus then the Lord Jesus Christ Our most blessed savior and Redeemer hath taken to himself of the whole mass of mankind he took I say one portion thereof and did perfectly sanctify it by the power of the Holy Ghost and out of it derives perfect Holiness and sanctification upon all his elect by imputation of his merits for their justification and by his holy spirit working in their inherent righteousness and sanctification that so they may serve him continually in this life and forever and here I will also show you the use of this article which we reason so much on in our church meetings when we were upon the Creed V I believe that he was crucified dead and buried all the evangelists testify with one Accord that this was the form of his execution he was crucified on a cross and to fill him with pain his hands and feet were fastened with nails under the cross and all this was done to accomplish God’s Eternal decree manifested before by the prophets the Brazen serpent was a picture of this numbers 21 John 3 for so he saith himself as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up that all that believe in him perish not but may have life Everlasting and again John 12:32 and when I shall be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto myself of this the psalmist prophesied saying they pierced my hand hands and my feet secondly that we might in conscience be resolved that Christ came under the law and suffered the curse thereof for us and bear in his own body and soul the extremity of the wrath of God for us and albeit other punishments were notes of God’s curse yet was the death of the cross in a special manner Above the Rest OCC cursed by virtue of a particular commandment and special word pronounced by God himself for seeeing and fores showing what manner of Death Christ Our Lord should die thirdly the Apostle assure us that in this form of execution we may behold how Christ did undertake all the malediction due unto all the elect or mankind himself for he saith Galatians 3:13 that he was made a curse for us and again in the like phrase 2 Corinthians 5: 211 he was made sin for us by which manner or speaking we may not fear that any manner of reproach is offered the Son of God for both sin and the curse following are by his imputation though in regard of himself he was no sinner yet as he was our shity he became sin for us and consequently the curse of the law for us in that the curse every way due unto us by imputation and application were made his end of section 12 section 13 of a cure for the cankering era of the new uans by Thomas Monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain instructions and consolations which follow this Faith first we learn here with bitterness to bewail our sins for Christ suffered here the wrath of God not for any offense that ever he committed but all for us and therefore just cause have we to mourn for our own sins which brought our savior to this low and Bas estate if a man should be so far in debt that he could not be freed unless the shity should be cast into prison for his sake nay which is more be cruy put to death for his debt it would make him at his wits end if there were left but 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 y bankrupts before him yet have we gotten a good short even the son of God himself who to recover us to our former Liberty was crucified and died for the discharge of our 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 nails that were stricken through the Blessed Hands and Feet of Christ so should the meditation of Christ’s passion be as nails and Spears to draw blood from our hands and hearts for our sins secondly if thou doubt where to see and find Christ crucified because the prophet Zechariah bids thee look on him be advertised that he has set before thy face as nailed and fastened on a cross wheresoever he God gospel is truly preached in thine hearing for so the Apostle teacheth us Galatians 3:1 oh foolish Galatians who ha Bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was described 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 to GR Ians 4: 3 and 4 we need not go to crosses n we must not go but to the glass he hath himself appointed for us and remember it that till such time as we come thus by faith and meditation of the Gospel we lie continually as poisoned by Satan that old Serpent and stung to death thirdly we learn to follow Christ in the pursuit and crucifying of our sins for so we are taught Galatians 5:4 that they are christs having crucified the flesh with the effect ctions and lusts thereof that is they Endeavor to kill the power of sin in themselves by repentance prayer fasting meditation conference with the Saints and by avoiding All Occasions of offense fourthly we here alone in this precedent that seeing the Son of God was not only thus racked and crucified by men but also bear 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 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 John 3:16 and if we shall not acknowledge this to be so our condemnation will be the greater sixthly the coast 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 anymore 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 Isaiah 27:9 but from a most loving father and so ever to be acced Psalm 103 Hebrews 12: 5 6 7 and 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 not as many malactor were executed as aen Joshua 7 and naboth 1 Kings 21:13 but for a greater reproach they crucify him and this was the most shameful death among the Jews secondly they crucify him after much beating bleeding and fainting and so make his green wounds again to lie open even before the son to his greater grief and pain if the Son of God is crucified for us we must be intent 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 prophecy of the psalmist Psalm 22:16 in those parts which are most Lively and sensible and so the weight of his body was borne up by hands and feet fastened to the Cross but not in that gross manner that blind papists have imagined but the feet nailed aund with two distinct Nails as Godly ancients have delivered for forly they gave him vinegar and gold to drink tempered with M Matthew 27:34 something to take away his senses and memory intoxicating as it were his brain thus they hastened his death not having any respect at all of his soul whether he died in peace and favor with God yay 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 poison for Jesus Christ they crucify him between two thieves Matthew 27:38 for his greater shame whereby they testify that they esteemed him no common sinner but the captain of all thieves and malactor so think thou thyself with Paul 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 Matthew 27:39 and 45 thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it up in three days save thyself 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 any passions in Soul and body he concludes all this wearisome fight with this prayer immediately before his death father into thy hands I commend my spirit Luke 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 Timothy 1:12 I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day The Passion of Christ is a mirror of all virtues 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 virtues or special Graces is proper to Christ and communicates by him in some measure to all his Members 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 and judgment they be two special Graces differing as I take it in men on this manner the former is the general comprehension or knowledge of things the later is the experience of that knowledge in particular actions experience in other things will clear this distinction we see in physic and other Arts many by much reading have obtained singular knowledge so that they think with themselves they could do great matters yet when they come to have the use of their knowledge in some particular matters they are sometimes n often times to seek and their knowledge for want of experience doth soon fail them now for the Son of God he was full of wisdom and spiritual understanding and yet respecting his Humanity it is testified of him Luke 2:52 that he increased in wisdom his wisdom did appear in the whole work of our redemption in foreseeing and for showing to his Apostles all things which should happen and be done to him by the Jews assuring them that this was his father’s will manifested by the prophets his singular judgment is to be seen in his preparation to that conflict with Satan and Sinners by meditation and prayer in choosing so fitly the time and place for his apprehension and in all this most apt and fit answers to all questions and demands made unto him secondly for counsel the Lord Christ was full of the spirit of council for he was able to withstand and to answer all the Council of hell and Satan of Annis and Caiaphas of pilate and Herod against him he was ready in all Temptations to answer all doubts which the Prince of Darkness was able to object against him he was not doubtful nor to seek for counsel in the whole work nor in any part of the work of our Redemption the Spirit of counsel did appear notably in Him in all his arraignment and passion thirdly the spirit of fortitude was in him in a most rich measure for he wrestled not in this action with flesh and blood but encountered with spiritual powers and principalities even with all the power of hell this is the strong Lion of the tribe of Judah and the seed of the woman which in his great strength breaks the Serpent’s head Genesis 3:15 he was so full of Might that with one word speaking he cast down all that came to take him even to the ground fourthly he was full of the spirit of knowledge to discern all his enemies and to discern what was in them for so it is testified of him John 18:14 Jesus knowing all things that should come unto him Etc he knew all their purposes desires pretenses and all their designment fifthly the spirit of the fear of the Lord he was also replenished with as appear in all his service and obedience to his Heavenly Father for he honth him in all his work and Faithfully performs all that service in all respects for the which he had sent him ever seeking his glory John 13:31 now the son of man is glorified and God is glorified in him sixthly for humility is the only pattern that ever was on Earth for this cause the Apostle willth us to carry within us the same mind that was in Christ Jesus that is the same Spirit of humility for saith he he being in the form of God and think he had no robbery to be equal with God yet he made himself of no reputation and took on him the form of servant and was made like unto men and was found in shape as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto the death even the death of the cross seventhly for the spirit of meekness he was full of mildness and meekness in the whole course of his life as himself truly testified of himself Matthew 11: 28 and 29 come unto me all that are heavy laden and I will ease you take my yoke on you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart and you shall find rest unto your souls this virtue did notably appear in his passion for the prophecy of Isaiah was accomplished in him he was oppressed and Afflicted yet did he not open his mouth for so we see it testified for when false Witnesses urged him and Caiaphas yet he was silent because he was willing to die and there was no place to speak either for the glory of God or the good of men eighthly as St James commends job for patience so much more May the Son of God be recommended as a mirror of patience to all the world for he was soft in his answers and calm in his speeches to all his most bloody enemies to Judas betraying him with a kiss he said Matthew 26:50 friend wherefore art thou come and to the high priest’s offices which smote him John 18:23 if I have evil spoken bear witness of the evil but but if I have well spoken why Smit us thou me Herod thought him a fool for his silence and patience whereby we be taught in all unjust railings and injuries not to give rebuke but either to keep silence or else to speak so much as shall be for our just defense ninthly he was full of love mercy and compassion in the midst of his passions even to his enemies he cured malus’s ear which Peter had cut off with his sword and when they were practicing against him all treachery even then he performed the work of a mediator praying for them unto his father saying father forgive them for they know not what they do for his friends he is most mindful of them and loving unto them even in his greatest passions in his apprehension he desireth his disciples might be led go freely John 18:8 if he seek me let these go their way as for Peter after he had renounced him with bitter execrations he turned back and looked graciously on him and quickened him again Luke 2 2: 61 he showed Mercy on the thief which did hang by him on the cross comforting him in these words verily I say unto thee today Thou shalt be with me in Paradise verse 43 lastly he recommends his mother to the custody of John John 19: 26 and 27 where he teacheth children to give all honor and to perform all duties of love care and reverence to their parents finally we find in Christ’s passion a notable precedent for perseverance for he wads through all the Sea of his Temptations He Never slinks Back nor turns aside to rest him till he comes to the very end of all his wearisome race not withstanding all the torments and tears he had within and without yet he rested not till he came to the mark he set before him then he cried it is finished all my work is accomplished and so he departed from evil men and evil angels unto God and unto the spirits of righteous men and Holy Angels thus then we see in his passion the practice of many most excellent virtues whereby he did not only gain merits to save us but also gave special instructions to guide and direct us in the course of our whole life thus far I have declared my faith concerning The Passion of Christ under pontious pilate and now I will show you what I believe concerning his death I do believe that he died I believe his death was not a fiction or imaginary death but a true death indeed according to the prophecies which were before delivered concerning him Isaiah 53 three he was cut off from the land of the living Daniel 9 the Messiah shall be cut off the types and sacrifices of lambs daily in the temple did foreshow and preach the death of the Lamb of God the accomplishment and truth of the types and prophecies are recorded Faithfully John 1: 29 and chapter 19 Matthew 26th and 27th chapters Mark 15 Luke 23:26 first he died to satisfy the justice of God for the elect that he might free them from death and from the fear of death as it is written Hebrews 2:14 for as much as the children were partakers of Flesh and Blood he also himself likewise took part with them that he might destroy through death him that had power over death that is the devil and that he might deliver all them which for fear of death were all their lifetime subject of bondage secondly he died to fulfill all the promises of God from the beginning Genesis 3:15 thirdly I say his death was voluntary and an accurst death first voluntary for so he speaketh John 10:8 no man taketh my life from me but I lay it down of myself secondly it was an our cursed death for so it is written Galatians 3:13 Christ was made a curse for us and how he showeth it in the words following curs is everyone that hangeth on a tree as if he should aouch in effect that Christ’s death was a cursed that is that it contained in it the first death that is the separation of body and soul for that for a time he did apprehend and undergo the wrath of God due to man for sin yet was he never out of God’s favor for in the midst of his loud cries he calls God his God Matthew 27:46 he was never so oppressed of death as the Damned are for as he suffered the bodily death without any Corruption of body so he suffered the extreme pangs of the soul but not as forsaken of God more than in his own apprehension and feeling fourthly the comfort and we have of this Faith or the blessings we reap by the death of Christ are many and very precious never to be forgotten of true hearted Believers one this voluntary and true Obedience of Christ unto death even this accursed death is our righteousness before God as it is written Romans 5: 19 as by the Disobedience of one man many were made Sinners so by The Obedience of one righteous many are made righteous in this righteousness of Christ’s death life the chief matter of all our Felicity and rejoicing as the Apostle speaketh Galatians 6:14 God forbid that I should rejoice in anything but in the Cross of Christ there is no one thing more recommended in so many and so evident prophecies than this so by the death of Christ I am freed from the second death two by this faith in Christ crucified and dead for us I behold to my exceeding Comfort a Divine proportion between the infinite debt of God’s elect and the satisfaction done by the death of Christ un to God’s justice for the same as infinite as the debt three I see the Unspeakable love of God to his elect continually preached unto me and manifested as before mine eyes John 3:16 for I see that God’s Divine Justice is Satisfied by Christ’s death in the same nature which offended him Genesis 3:15 Hebrews 2:14 to mine exceeding great consolation five my trembling conscience by this faith is quiet and pacified for I feel hereby that the pollution of my conscience is done away because my heart is sprinkled with the blood of Christ Hebrews 9:4 and the scorching heat of it is abated by this Water of Life which streams unto my heart from the side and Heart of Jesus Christ Zechariah 12: 10 11 and 13:1 6 the first death by Christ is turned into a blessing and made unto me a gate of life so that now I may truly say that the day of death is better unto me I being in Christ than the day wherein I was born seven the death of Christ doth ratify his last will and testament unto me thus it pleased the father to make authentical and to seal unto me the Covenant of Grace Hebrews 9:16 eight by his death he hath not only taken away the condemnation of sin Romans 8:1 for us but also hath broken the power and infection of it in us the act of Christ’s death is passed but the virtue and power thereof endures forever when we have Grace to deny ourselves and to put our trust in Christ and by faith hold him fast in our hearts then as Christ himself by the power of His godhe had overcame death hell and Damnation in himself for us so shall we by the same power of His godhead and Grace dwelling in US Ephesians 3:20 Galatians 5: 21 2 Corinthians 13:5 crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof Galatians 5 5: 25 and 26 nine the death of Christ ought to be to all impenitent Sinners the greatest motive to move them and turn them unto Christ and to Humble them because they have pierced him by their sins this I say ought to cause them to mourn for him as the prophet Zechariah speaketh 12:1 whom even they themselves and not the Jews only have wounded Isaiah 53 wherefore if this move them not their case is dangerous 10 be lady if thou beest a Believer to lay down thy life for Christ if need so require as he hath done for thee and to die rather than to do anything which thou knowest manifestly to be contrary to his will of this mind were all the martyrs and faithful people of God in all ages 11 to give some special instructions if it be doubted what the altar was whereon Christ offered his sacrifice because the papists aou her to be the cross I believe rather that Christ himself was the priest the the sacrifice and the altar as I said before the sacrifice as he is man the priest as he is both God and man the altar as he is God for the property of an altar is to sanctify the sacrifice as Christ saith Matthew 25:9 now Christ as he was God sanctifieth himself as he was man John 17: 19 for their sakes sanctify I myself and this he did first by setting apart his manhood to be a sacrifice unto his father for our sins secondly by giving unto us his sacrifice Merit and efficacy to be a meritorious sacrifice wherefore the wooden cross was not his altar as papists have imagined 12 the prophet Hagi saith that the second temple built by zerubabel was nothing in beauty under the first which was built by Solomon for it wanted five things which the first temple had first the appearing and presence of God at The Mercy Seat between the two cherubims secondly the urm and thumim on the breastplate of the high priest thirdly the inspiration of the Holy Ghost upon extraordinary Prophets fourthly The Ark of the Covenant which was lost in the Captivity fifthly fire from heaven to burn their sacrifices and yet not withstanding all this loss the same prophet in the same chapter the 10th verse following ass sureth that the glory of the last house should be greater than the first because the sacrifice of Christ at his coming should give glory and dignity to it and for that his presence preaching and teaching in it gave it more Glory than the former five special Graces and gifts of God did or could give unto the first temple so I believe that Christ died and was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures Romans 4:25 he died for our sins and rose again for our justification 1 Corinthians 15: 3 4 and 14 now I will speak of the manner of his resurrection and the use of it first the Lord Jesus being truly dead and buried rose again by by his own Almighty power as is often testified John 18 no man taketh my life from me but I lay it down of myself I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again and so his Apostles Paul and Peter assure us he quickened himself by his own Spirit Romans 1:1 1 Peter 3:18 whereby he doth proove himself comfortable unto us to be the very Son of God as s Paul noted Romans 8:4 saying he was declared mightily to be the Son of God touching the Spirit of sanctification by the resurrection from the dead secondly as touching the form he rose in or how his body was qualified I answer that after his resurrection his body was glorified richly yeah most gloriously qualified with Supernatural Graces his body was Incorruptible and it was made a shining body a resemblance whereof some of his disciples saw in the mount and it was endued with agility to move as well upward as downward as may appear by the Ascension of his body to heaven which was not caused by constraint or by any violent motive but by a property agreeing to all bodies glorified yet in the exaltation of Christ’s manhood we must remember two caveats first he did never lay aside the essential properties of a true body as length breadth thickness visibility locality or to be in one place at once and no more but keeping all this still because they serve for the being of his body secondly we must remember that the gifts of Glory in Christ’s body are not infinite but finite for his human nature being but a creature and therefore finite could not receive infinite Graces Etc Christ’s body is not omnipotent and infinite for this is to affirm he had no human body and to make the creature the Creator that it might appear unto his disciples he had a glorious body and was changed he was not always in their presence but came often suddenly into their presence and once the doors being shut the doors giving place and being opened as saith Mr perkens they knew not how he that thickened the water to walk on can cause doors and locks to give way unto his coming without any piercing or passing through as papists have imagined finally that he had a true body a real body the very same wherein he suffered and not a feigned body as Heretics have avouched is testified by many arguments unto us he showed some scars wounds and blemishes of his passion in his body now glorified and as then remaining for the confirmation of men and to this end he conversed with men he did eat and drink often in the presence of his Apostles after his resurrection the use of this article concerning Christ’s resurrection and of this faith is this first the resurrection of Christ is a public testimony that he hath perfect righteousness for all such as trust in him and if there had remained but one of our sins either un perfectly punished in him or not fully Satisfied by him he could not assuredly then have risen from the death for where but one sin is there must be death Romans 6:23 as God hath decreed like as then the father by delivering Christ to death hath indeed condemned our sins in Christ Romans 8:3 so by raising him from Death he hath absolved Christ from our sins and us in Christ 1 Corinthians 15:17 Romans 4:25 as our sins are condemned and punished in the death of Christ so our Absolution and discharges in his Resurrection Christ was given to death for our sins and raised again for our justification secondly the believer is truly said to be dead to sin or to be dead with Christ because the virtue of Christ’s death Works effectually in his heart the death of sin and next to be buried with Christ into his death because of the virtue which proceeds from Christ’s burial to cause him so to bury sin that it never can rise up anymore to be so stirring in him as it was before he he came to Christ and lastly the believer is as truly said to be risen with Christ Colossians 3:1 because a special virtue and Grace proceeds also from Christ’s Resurrection to the believing heart to Quicken it un newness of life and this is that Grace which the Apostle desires more and more to feel and find to abound in himself when he desires to know Christ better and the virtue of his resurrection Philippians 3:10 wherefore we must Embrace Christ risen in the arms of our precious faith and so apply him unto our hearts that we may sensibly feel virtue to come from him not only to crucify our old affections but also to stir up daily new holy and Heavenly affections in our hearts Colossians 3 if you be risen with Christ seek those things which are above Etc 1 Peter 1:3 we are regenerate to a lively Hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as it was in The Cure of the woman that had the blood issue so it is in the curing and quickening of Sinners which are full of bloody issues all which must be staunched and cured by a certain virtue derived from Christ into them Mark 5: 29 and 30 this is the prayer Ephesians 3:9 thirdly the third fruit which is joined with the second is the Assurance of our perseverance in Grace and of our full Victory against sin and death for they that are engrafted into Christ by faith and continuing therein unto death draw from him such a spiritual life and power as they shall never lose no not in The Parting a of soul and body Romans 8:38 John 8:51 If any man keep my word he shall never see death fourthly the last benefit of his resurrection is the resurrection of our bodies the truth is this that good and bad shall rise again yet there is a great difference in the rising of the one and the other for The Godly shall rise by virtue of Christ’s resurrection and that to eternal glory but the ungodly Rise by the power of Christ as he is a terrible judge and to execute Justice on them now to the faithful Christ is said to be the first fruits of them that sleep 1 Corinthians 15:16 because as in the first fruits of corn being offered unto God the owner had an assurance of God’s blessing on the rest so here by Christ’s Resurrection the Believers have a pledge of their own Resurrection now of his Ascension into heaven Luke saith 1:9 that he was taken up the meaning is this was done principally by the mighty power of His godhead and partly by the supernatural property of a glorified body which is to move as well upward as downward without constraint or violence and thus Christ ascended into heaven really and actually and not in appearance only and he went also locally by changing his place and going from Heaven to Earth so as he is no more on Earth bodily as we are now in heaven and whereas as it may be doubted if he be so departed from us as touching his bodily presence how that may be true that he said he would be with us un the end of the world Matthew 28:20 the answer is he said also that he would leave the world to go to the Father John 16:28 wherefore he must be understood to speak by a distinction true it is he was before Abraham John 8:58 and so is he with the church to the world’s end according to his divine nature and Majesty Grace virtue power and effectual working of his Spirit John 17:1 and 14:16 and 17 and 16:13 but his bodily presence is in heaven secondly if any doubt further whether the natures be not thus severed if where the one is the other is not always I answer no for the Divinity which cannot be comprehended must of necessity Outreach and yet comprehend the humanity and there unto be personally United it is not always that of two things conjoined where the one is there must be the other also for the Sun and his beams are both joined together yet they are not both in all places together for the body of the sun is seated and carried only in his Celestial orb in the heavens but his beams are here beneath on the earth in those holy phrases then we must remember that as lared men speak the properties of both Natures must be distinguished in Christ for in such places properties belonging to one nature are ascribed unto the other because of the hyperstatic Union of both Natures in one person and thus far for the sense of the words of this article where we see briefly that Christ’s Ascension is an exaltation or a receiving up of his Humanity to fit in the highest Heavens till the Glorious Day of his appearance in judgment Hebrews 1:3 now I come to the use of this Faith first when I do thus believe the Ascension of Christ I do believe also the effects thereof and all the holy adjuncts appertaining there unto namely these two principle which the Apostle specially mention Ephesians 4: 8 and 12 that when he ascended up on high he led captivity captive by captivity I understand a multitude of captives as the psalmist doth Psalm 68:1 19 by captives here are meant the World the Flesh sin Satan and death itself and whatsoever enens and Confederates these had against Christ in his humiliation and his members all their days on Earth so he triumphed over them all on his cross Colossians 1:12 but especially in his Ascension that howsoever they may fear us otherwhile and scare us to waken us from security yet they shall never hurt us for Christ hath taken away their sting 1 Corinthians 15:55 and hath pinioned their hands behind them as captives and set us free if we will come unto him when he calls us by his gospel wherefore if we refuse now his call our state is the more dangerous a Man Lies bound hand and foot in a dark dungeon and the keeper sets open the prison door takes off his irons and bids him come forth if he refuse and say his will may it not be said he is mad and who will pity him in that case this is the state of all impenitence and condemners of the Gospel secondly it is said also that then he gave gifts to his church as kings do in their Triumph and his gifts were those Apostles prophets evangelists pastors and teachers for the planting of the church and the propagation of the same and for the Gathering of his elect to The World’s End if these were Christ’s principal blessings which Christ gave his church in his Ascension and so richly and highly to be accounted as being destinate and sent for so great a work as the building of the body of Christ which is his church on Earth Ephesians 4:12 then they do not believe rightly and truly the Ascension of Christ that so basely and VY esteem the sacred Ministry and preaching of the gospel of Christ and the administration of his sacraments as atheists and papist and all carnal gospelers do thirdly like as our justification is ascribed unto his resurrection and Merit of the same so our proceeding in Grace and perseverance May truly be attributed to his Ascension to heaven and intercession therefore us John 17 and like as he could never have risen in that body wherein he was accursed for us unless he had been acquitted and Justified from all our sins so much less could he have ascended into the highest Heavens if he had not been pure from all our spots imputed unto him his Ascension is a clear evidence of his righteousness John 16:9 and 10 and consequently of our righteousness in him and by him for which these articles are sweetly knit together for the confirmation of our faith touching our free justification by Christ Romans 8: 33 and 34 who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect it is God that justifieth who shall condemn it is Christ which died yay or rather which is risen again who is also at the right hand of God and maketh request for us wherefore ever remember to reject the doctrine of antichrist who teacheth that Christ by his death did Merit our justification but we once Justified do further Merit our Salvation whereas thou seest here not only the beginning but also the continuance ye the accomplishment of the whole work of our Salvation in our vocation justification sanctification and glorification is Holy and only to be ascribed to the Merit of Christ fourthly we receive also by his Ascension a confirmation touching our Ascension into heaven for in believing the one we believe the other for the head and members must go together we be not now coldly to look for heaven but by Lively hope to possess it for that we possess it in our head already for this cause it is written Ephesians 2:6 that God hath made us to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ he hath there a pledge for us even our flesh and we Again by his Ascension have received from him and Heavenly pledge even his Spirit John 6:7 I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you 2 Corinthians 1:22 he hath sealed us and given us the earnest of the spirit in our hearts end of section 13 section 14 of a cure for the cankering era of the new uans by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain duties first that our conversation be in heaven where Christ is our hearts our thoughts our words our works our whole conversation must be such as if we conversed already with the angels in the highest Heavens secondly if we believe we be possessed of Heaven in Christ we must strive to enter into him with holy contention of spirit using the means he hath appointed that we may come unto him with all the good speed we can if we be assured of his purchas made for us by his blood we must pass through all dangers to come unto him and unto it and not only contend to get in ourselves but also Endeavor to bring with us all we can especially all such as God by near bands of love hath knit unto us as our wives and children Etc providing as much as in us lith that they may be with us hes together of the same Grace of life Life 1 Peter 3:7 thirdly in all grievances of body and mind seek to no means for ease but only to the comforter and the means he hath appointed and ordained in the word if thou believest the Ascension of Christ remember this was one end of the Ascension to send down the Holy Ghost to work more effectually and comfortably in the hearts of his children and therefore Endeavor in and by the word and sacraments to be comforted by Him in all Affliction of this life I believe that Christ sth at the right hand of God Etc here two things must be understood first that this blessed person of the son ha the same equality of majesty and glory with the father secondly by this phrase is also understood that the human nature of Christ is exalted to a most high Excellency of Glory even to execute judgment as he is the son of man John 5:27 and it may not be here said as in the resurrection that like as Christ Rose only in respect of his human nature so also Al so he sits at God’s right hand in respect of the same nature for the session on God’s right hand is not a property of nature but signifi the state of the person of Christ resting now in the execution of his duties as being King priest and mediator between God and his people the benefits which follow this exaltation and session of Christ at the right hand of God are either in respect of his priesthood or of his kingdom the believer gains these benefits by his priesthood first he is now and may be truly persuaded that as the Covenant of Grace and priesthood of Christ have no end so his intercession for him and for all and every believer shall never cease to the end of the world for all Romans 8:34 Christ is risen again and sth at the right hand of God and maketh request for us and for everyone I have prayed for thee Peter that thy faith fail not the manner of this is thus he appears in heaven as a public person in our stead he appears in the sight of God for us Hebrews 9: 24 and makes the same requests he made on Earth John 17 the difference between Christ’s passion and intercession is this the passion is a satisfaction to God’s justice for us Etc and as it were the tempering of a plaster but intercession applies it to the very sore so then the believer is hereby sweetly comforted in heart being persuaded that Christ Jesus God and man now sitting in great majesty and glory in heaven first hears his prayer in heaven and secondly accepts and sanctifies all his sacrifice and service which the believer offers to the father by his hand Hebrews 13:15 Psalm 119: 106 for all our service is imperfect yet for his intercession sake it is accepted as perfect a second consolation here arises to the believing heart he may now with boldness go to the throne of grace Hebrews 4:16 because we have there and high priest that City at the Throne of the Majesty in the heavens Hebrews 8:1 and for this cause the same Apostle in the same epistle chapter 10 verse 19 and 20 bth us draw near with a true heart and with an undoubted persuasion of faith and again most sweetly Philippians 4:6 be careful for nothing but in all things let your requests be showed unto God In Prayer the third consolation is this his intercession preserves every repenting sinner in the state of grace that being once Justified and Sanctified they may so continue un the end fourthly a most sweet consolation in this the intercession of Christ in heaven casteth down such beams of Grace Into the believer’s Heart on Earth that it causeth another intercession of the spirit in him or causeth the spirit of prayer to be effectual and working in him Zechariah 12:10 and 11 Romans 8:26 he giveth us his Spirit which helpeth our infirmities and maketh request for us with sigh and groans that cannot be expressed but he which searcheth the heart knoweth what is the meaning of the spirit for he maketh request for the Saints according to the will of God the Holy Ghost makes request by stirring every repenting heart to pray with groans and size which the mouth cannot express and this is a special fruit of the intercession of Christ in heaven so that a man May soon know by the spirit of Prayer in his own heart how Christ prayeth for him in heaven a man May soon find it by his own coldness or fervency in prayer or by the inward groans of his heart when he cannot so well Express his grief in words before God here I renounce the opinion of papists touching intercession as being heretical uncomfortable and condemned of God first for that the Saints departed who be their mediators with angels know not our particular wants and griefs secondly for that he that makes this intercession must bring something of his own of price and value unto God to procure the grant of his request thirdly it is a prerogative belonging only to Christ to make request in his own name and for his own merits fourthly scriptures never mention any other but contrarily fifthly we must pray to him in whom we believe Romans 10:14 we believe only in one God Etc therefore we pray only to one God furthermore as touching his kingdom we are willed to consider what kingdom he hath next what the administration of his kingdom is and how comfortable to the Believers first that he is Lord and King over all in respect of creation as also of preservation and Providence it is Manifest Colossians 1: 16 and 17 for by him were all things created in Heaven and Earth Etc and in him all things consist he is the same also much more by right of redemption and his kingdom is eternal and spiritual respecting the very conscience having that only absolute power to to command and forbid to condemn and to observe the soul and conscience this is testified Acts 2:36 that all Israel know for assurity that God hath made him both Lord and Christ this Jesus I say whom he have crucified and to testify this his Excellency when Christ went up to sit on his throne for the government of his church it is said he gave great gifts to his church far excelling the gifts of Earthly princes in their coronations for it is said he gave his Church Apostles prophets pastors and teachers Ephesians 4: 11 and 12 now the end and use of these gifts and benefits given by this great king is comfortable for there it is said that these were given for the collecting of his church and the building of it this collection is a separation of the precious from the vile Jeremiah 15: 19 and a translation of men from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light 1 Peter 2: 9 10 and 11 Ephesians 2: 2 and 3 by the Ministry and dispensation of the word of reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:8 outwardly and the working of the Holy Ghost inwardly and this is the first part of Christ’s office in his kingdom secondly Christ leads his precious people as a great General doth his army through the Wilderness of this world into his Everlasting Canaan and this he doth also by the same means whereby he called them by his word and sacraments outwardly the mighty operation of his spirit inwardly and and in this travail he doth exercise them as in Canaan with manifold afflictions and Temptations in this life Psalm 23 and yet defends them against the Rage of all enemies first giving them in their lifetime strength to suffer and to fight against all his enemies most mightily Philippians 1:4 unto you it is given for Christ that not only ye should believe in him but also suffer for his sake 4:13 I am able to do all things through him which strengtheneth me Romans 8: 36 and 37 for thy sake we are killed all the day long we are counted as sheep for the slaughter nevertheless in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us and in death itself he never forsakes them Romans 8: 38 and 39 but then makes an everlasting separation between them and all their enemies Zechariah 13 Luke 16 now I shall speak something to the last article concerning Christ which is this from then he shall come to judge the quick and the dead first I say this article follows fitly after the former for confirmation of it for the Excellency of his kingdom shall mightily and wonderfully appear in the execution of Justice in the great day of the general judgment which shall be in the last day of the world first to judge or to give judgment is the proper action and function of a judge in condemning or justifying of any man in condemning by pronouncing him guilty guilty of sin and therefore judging him to some punishment for his sin in justifying by pronouncing him just or acquitting him of sin and so freeing him from the punishment of sin I say then the meaning of this article is this I believe that Jesus Christ doth not only now exercise his kingly office in heaven as is afores showed but shall also triumphantly descend from the right hand of his father in a visible form and Corporal presence to judge all men that shall be found at his coming alive or dead now to proceed in order to speak of this great judgment these points must be considered first by what arguments it may appear that there shall be a general judgment secondly what the form and manner thereof shall be thirdly how this argument serves to comfort us and to Humble us first that there shall be an Universal judgment may appear thus against Cavaliers that deny it first the scriptures are most evident for this Psalm 50:1 the god of gods hath spoken and called all the Earth from the rising of the Sun to the setting of the same Our God shall come and shall not keep silence Hebrews 9: 27 it is appointed unto men that they shall once die and after that cometh the Judgment secondly Christ promiseth his coming to judgment by himself Matthew 25:31 and by his Apostles 1 Thessalonians 4:16 thirdly for that he hath charged us to wait for his coming Luke 21:28 and for the Redemption of our bod Luke 21:28 fourthly for that the justice and mercy of God requires this to punish the wicked and to Crown The Godly which we see is not in this present life therefore there is a special day and time appointed with God for it fifthly for that the Lord hath often forewarned the world of this first by pronouncing the sentence of death against sin even before the fall Genesis 2:17 secondly by repeating the same sentence in his law Deuteronomy 27:26 thirdly by the evidence of conscience citing as it were men to appear at a time appointed before the great judge Romans 2: 15 and 16 fourthly by his judgments particularly on Sodom and Gomorrah on Egypt on Jerusalem and all the Jews and generally on the world in the Deluge first the preparation under judgment first before his coming preparation shall be made by fire Psalm 50:13 a fire shall devour before him as we heard before out of St Peter 2 Peter 3: 7 10 11 and 12 for heaven and earth must pass through a fire not to consume them to nothing for then where should Christ appear in judgment and sinners must be judged on the earth and in the place where they have sinned but to consume their leprosy and Corruption wherewith the sin of man hath infected Heaven and Earth and so being as gold purified in fire they may shine bright and glorious and may be fit to entertain the Majesty of this great King at his glorious coming to judgment for as the Apostle saith 1 Corinthians 7:31 it is the figure or form not the nature or substance of the world that passeth away the same is testified Romans 8:21 the creature also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the Glorious Liberty of the sons of God so acts 1 and Psalm 102: 27 and 28 the heavens shall wax old Etc and shall be changed meaning into a better State as other scriptures also so testify Revelation 21:1 Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22 Titus 2:14 secondly then shall be the appearing of the glory of the Mighty God and of Our Savior Jesus Christ who shall come from the highest Heavens accompanied with an exceeding great host of Mighty angels and Souls of righteous men Hebrews 12:22 1 Corinthians 6: 1 and 2 thirdly then shall be heard the sound of a trumpet a wonderful piercing and long continuing sound summoning all men and angels under judgment fourthly the good Angels Shall Gather All Nations and bring all unto the place of judgment all I say the living and the dead for the very dead shall first be called out of their graves and they shall come clothed with their own bodies 1 Thessalonians 4:16 1 Thessalonians 4:16 2 Timothy 4:10 and with them shall appear all that be alive changed in a moment in the twinkling of of an eye and corruptible bodies shall become Incorruptible natural shall be turned into Spiritual Living immediately by The Virtue and power of God and the bodies of the Saints shall be like the Glorious Body of Christ shining as the sun Matthew 13:43 and the wicked shall be full of Shame and dishonor Daniel 12:2 the evil angels also as they are reserved for the Judgment of the great day Jude 6 and then Antichrist the son of pedition shall appear in his colors who shall shall be consumed and wasted continually by the spirit of Christ preaching in the gospel but by his final abolishing and pedition shall be at the Glorious coming of Christ 2 Thessalonians 1: 7 and 8 fifthly then shall Christ sit on his throne of judgment as the evangelists speak then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory Matthew 25:31 and this Throne shall be like a flame of fire Daniel 7:9 so that the wicked shall desire the mountains to cover the from the sight of it sixthly this done the Lord will make separation between the elect and the reprobate as he doth here on Earth in the church make separation between the precious and the vile by the same of his gospel preached so will he by his own immediate voice and Ministry of his angels make a final separation in that day between the one and the other the Sheep which heard his voice and testified their faith by their innocency like Lambs they shall stand on his right hand they which contr rily testify their unbelief by their lasciviousness and lusts like goats shall be set on his left hand seventhly Every Man’s particular cause shall be tried before this judge by the evidence which his Works shall give with him or against him to Corinthians 5:1 we must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ that every man may receive the things which are done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or evil here the better to assure us of the truth and certainty of the Lord’s proceeding and of his particularizing of all things in this action the Holy Ghost tells us that the Lord hath as it were books of record to manifest all and every work of man and his books be three in number first his book of Providence which is the knowledge of all particular things past present and to come Psalm 136:6 secondly his book of judgment which is divided as it were into two parts first his prience or knowing everything far more evidently than we know anything recorded in a book before our eyes secondly the second part of the book of judgment is the conscience of every man standing before him which shall then be so qualified by the great power of God that it shall be able to record and testify so much of all his particulars as Shall Serve to testify his faith and justification by Christ or his most just condemnation without Christ the third book is The Book of Life which is the Eternal decree of God concerning the salvation of all believers by Christ whose names be written in this book that they being as God’s precious poles of this book Isaiah 4:3 and exodus 32:32 and of this distinction of books Revelation 20:2 and I saw the dead both great and small stand before God and the books were open and another book was opened which is The Book of Life and the dead were judged of those things which were written in the books according to their works and after that men’s works are made manifest by these books then must they be tried whether they be good or evil the Gentiles and Jews that never heard of Christ by the law of nature which shall prove them inexcusable Romans 2: 12 and 16 the rest that have heard shall be Tried by the law and gospel verse 16 the word of God shall serve as a bill of indictment for the just condemnation of all such as have condemned the law and Gospel of Jesus Christ for the sentence of the judge in the last day of General judgment shall be nothing else but a manifestation and Declaration of the sentence pronounced and published before by the ministry and preaching of the go gospel touching justification and condemnation of every particular person now after the manifestation of all things and that every particular conscience sees his blessed justification by Christ or his just condemnation by unbelief and for his works then the judge shall proceed to his definitive sentence and this is twofold the first is pronounced to the elect in these words Matthew 25:34 Come Ye blessed of my father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you before the beginning of the world this sentence is full of affection and love most sweet and most comfortable recommending the free grace of God their election their adoption and blessedness in Christ and not their works for the cause of their salvation and then he addeth the evidence of their faith by The Works of Mercy which they have done to his members here on Earth I was hungry and who gave me to eat Etc the answer of the Saints saying when saw we the and hungry Etc argues that they are far from vain glory in their works or seeking any justification ation by them and Christ’s last words to them in as much as you did it to the least of these my brethren Etc gives us an infallible argument of God’s child which is not to love because we are loved again but to love for Christ’s sake and the living members of Christ because we see his picture and image in them renewed this is a special grace of God and of this love speaks David psalm 16 all my delight is in his Saints which are in the earth the second sentence pronounced against the reprobates is go ye cursed into hillfire prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungry and you gave me no meat Etc in which sentence are contained a heap of woes present and to come for the present what can be more woeful than to see so many admitted into the kingdom of God and yet themselves shut out and excluded yay per adventure to see them that they have hated and disdained and refused to give any honor unto as when the rich man shall see Lazarus received by God into the Kingdom of Heaven whom he he vou safed not to sit 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 rejoicing 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 cries yellings or Mourning can be heard or Prevail with him who is their judge no one to mediate or speak for them to reverse or stay judgment but needs without Mercy without stay without any fare will they shall presently be cast even to the endless eess 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 judge’s sentence is Lord have mercy upon thy soul but here the Lord himself shall not only not show any token of mercy and loving countenance but also with a voice surpassing any Thunderclap to be heard in all Heaven Earth and hell curse them body and soul to the pit of Hell forever more 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 horror 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 misspent and to conclude what doth not the fear of Hell work upon them surely my heart dreadthagod it 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 sth 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 endure 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 chariots 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 oh you dead and let all men come to judgment oh 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 recompense them that have fed him how shall he pay them them that by arms deeds and holy Works have lent unto him how shall he honor them that have honored him how shall he revive and comfort them that have died or mourned for him and to conclude shall he not give them 10,000 times more than all their evils amounted unto in this present World well oh 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 numbered with thy Saints in glory Everlasting now beloved I shall speak one word to the place of glory and so shall conclude this matter Luke 12:32 fear not little flock it’s your father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom Matthew 25:34 Come Ye blessed of my father receive the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world John 3:4 except a man be born of water and of the Holy Ghost he cannot enter into the kingdom of God 1 Peter 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 verse four to an inheritance Immortal and undefiled which fadeth not away reserved in the heavens for us John 17:4 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 man manest that the place is heaven where God and Christ is where is fullness of joy and at his right hand are Pleasures forever more as it is written I 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 Revelation 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 verse 17 and the spirit and the bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him taketh the Water of Life freely amen even so come Lord Jesus end of section 14 section 15 of a cure for the cankering era of the new utian by Thomas monk this LibriVox recording is in the public domain the author’s apology to his friends giving them some reasons why he did not print the other parts of the manuscript with this since it was once intended and so much desired by many friends which consisteth chiefly of these particulars VI one how many ways a man may be guilty and partaking of other men’s sins from 1 Timothy 5:22 where is showed eight ways two of 10 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 is heresy and hypocrisy as also the remedies of the Cure of the kering nature of these two great sins which is true faith in Christ and sincere love to him three an essay for a right stating of the question whether Christ died for all men or for the elect only which when I have showed 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 honor and the church’s peace and that I may attain to The End by me propounded as a fores said I intend God willing if ever it be published to the view of the world to proceed after this manner as first to show 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 and 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 send forth before Christ’s coming in the flesh and since his coming and ascension all which scriptures make distinct but they are usually confounded by the inconsiderate as I hope by God’s grace I shall be enabled to make it plainly appear now the reason why I did not print it with this was because it would make make it too voluminous or big so that the poorest sort of Christians for whose sake it was chiefly intended could not be able to buy it I could show many more reasons but shall forbear to declare them here end of section 15 end of a cure for the kering era of the new utian by Thomas Monk …