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<DATE>2012-02-16</DATE>
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<NAME>Louis Goldberg</NAME>
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<ITEM>Checklist: xChange DATE, validate xAdd DIV TYPEs, validate Review structure, use FRONT,BODY, BACK or rarely GROUP xCheck PB placement and completeness, ensure sequence of N= xProof title page(s) xAdd FIGDESC= to any and all likely illustrations. xCheck HEAD TRAILER ARGUMENT EPIGRAPH xCheck OPENER CLOSER SIGNED SALUTE BYLINE DATE xCheck ^, oe, abq, italic I / J, _Initals, tb, space between &amp;c. xCheck hashes at signs -- UNCLEAR LB FIGURE xCheck frac; eogon; deg; BLANK xCheck GAP MISSING DUPLICATE xCheck for &punc; xCheck ABBR, q-semi-colon, start-q end-q to remove them, look for Q that shouldn't be marked as such xCorrect errors from proof sample xCorrect illegibles from proof sample xCheck illegible page, para, line, span, word, dollar signs xSkint if need be xRun Check afterwards Look at html online view if need be Note that in Black Letter, every capital U must be changed to a V Look for lists, illustrations, tables, music, math, end-notes, quasi-tabular arrangments, and marginalia Look for unobtrusive numerations: Do they mark divs? milestones? Examine marginalia. Is it all best tagged as NOTE? If appropriate, check for yoghs If appropriate, check for Latin problems, e.g. oe and ae digraphs If appropriate, check for abbreviation and brevigraph problems (1500s) If appropriate, check for units of measure, symbols (alchemical, astronomical, etc.) and the like xFinal validate Corrected [ ] illegible groups out of [ ]. Converted [ 108 ] illegible groups to GAP DESC="illegible". DONE</ITEM>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE MARROW OF CHRISTIANITY: OR, A &s;pirituall Di&s;coverie of &s;ome Principles of Truth, meet to be known of all the Saints; repre|&s;ented in ten Sections.</P>
<P>By <HI>T. Collier,</HI> Mini&s;ter of the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P>Whereunto is added an Epi&s;tle, <HI>Written by</HI> M. SALTMARSH.</P>
<Q><P><BIBL><HI>I&s;aiah 32 20.</HI></BIBL> Ble&s;&s;ed are ye that &s;ow be|&s;ides all waters, &amp;c.</P>
<P><BIBL><HI>I&s;ay 33.16.</HI></BIBL> He &s;hall dwel on high, his place of defence, &s;hal be the munitions of Rocks, bread &s;hal be given him, his wa|ters &s;hal be &s;ure, <HI>ver&s;. 17.</HI> and thine eyes &s;hall &s;ee the King in his beauty, &amp;c.</P></Q>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed for <HI>Giles Calvert</HI> at the Black &s;pread Eagle, neer the We&s;t end of <HI>Pauls,</HI> 1647.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>To the Reader.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Chri&s;tian Reader;</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>FOr to thee alone, do I commend this &s;mall Trea|ti&s;e, who alone, art able to judge of &s;pirituall things; for, the &s;piritual man judgeth all things. I have here in this Treati&s;e, pre&s;ented unto publike view, &s;ome principles of Truth. Although I &s;up|po&s;e that &s;ome particulars herein, may &s;eem &s;ome|what &s;trange at the fir&s;t &s;ight; yet I que&s;tion not, but the &s;ame Spirit of Truth, which is given forth from the Father, through the Son, to the Saints, wil by degrees &s;o gather Vs up into the my&s;terie of Truth, that we &s;hall all &s;peak the &s;ame thing, from our walking in the &s;ame light, and acting in the &s;ame power. I have in this place only three words to mind thee of, as a preparative to what thou &s;halt reade in this en&s;uing Treati&s;e.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that the di&s;covery of the fir&s;t man, <HI>Adam,</HI> to be but a humane man: a man, indued, with hu|mane perfections; is not a &s;trange, but a glorious truth, and meet to be known: for, the knowledge of this one particular, leades us to the knowledge of the Creatures nothingne&s;&s;e; the wi&s;dome, power, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &amp;c. of the Creature, it is all but of the Earth, and that it is the proper work of Chri&s;t, the &s;econd man, to ruine and de&s;troy in thee, all, that is of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> even tho&s;e reliques that re|main;
<PB REF="2"> that wi&s;dome is turned into folly, that &s;trength, into weakne&s;&s;e; that righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e &amp; ho|line&s;&s;e; into meer filthine&s;&s;e and pollution: &s;o that Chri&s;t doth not where he comes in mercy, re&s;tore man to his fir&s;t condition, as it was in <HI>Adam;</HI> but de|&s;troyes tho&s;e principles, as we are Chri&s;tians, and &s;o creates a new man in us, which, after God, is created in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and true holine&s;&s;e, <HI>Ephe&s;. 4.24.</HI> and he that is in Chri&s;t, is a new creature, <HI>2 Cor. 5.17.</HI> All old things are done away, behold all things are become new; and as is the earthly, &s;uch are they who are earthly; as is the heavenly (that is, Chri&s;t) &s;uch are they who are heavenly, <HI>1 Cor. 15.48.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, that the glory of a Chri&s;tians life is in the knowledge of Chri&s;t, living in him: &s;o the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Gal. 2.20.</HI> I am crucified with Chri&s;t; Ne|verthele&s;&s;e, I live, yet n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">t I, but Christ liveth in me, and Chri&s;t in you: the hope of glory, is the great my&s;tery of the Go&s;pel for the Saints to know, <HI>Col. 1.27.</HI> that is, not to live wholly on the eying of what Chri&s;t hath d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ne, without us, for us; but likewi&s;e to be able to experience the life of that Christ in us, being made partaker of the &s;ame &s;pirit, of the &s;ame Annointings, &amp;c.</P>
<P>Thirdly, that the knowledge of Antichri&s;t, is the knowledge of a my&s;tery, I mean, a my&s;tery of Iniqui|<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">, which none can know, but tho&s;e enlightned from <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">bove: that, as the my&s;tery of the Go&s;pel is bid; &s;o
<PB REF="3"> likewi&s;e is the my&s;terie of Iniquitie hid from them that peri&s;h.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, and in a word; My de&s;ire is, that, what truth thou finde&s;t here written, thy &s;pirit may bee made one, in, and with the &s;ame truth; that &s;o, both thou and I, may have communion &amp; fellow&s;hip with the Spirit in the &s;ame truth; and what informa|tion or con&s;olation thy &s;pirit findeth from what is truth, (letting any Creature-weakne&s;&s;e, thou finde&s;t, pa&s;&s;e) let God have the glory, and &s;o, thy poore friend in the unity of truth, and fellow&s;hip of the Go&s;pel, hath his utmo&s;t end.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>THO: COLLIER.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<HEAD>A Table of the principall things contained in this Treati&s;e.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECTION 1.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>OF <HI>Adams</HI> condition before his fall. <HI>pag. 1.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Adams</HI> in a condition of humane per|fection. <HI>pag. 1. 2.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Image of God, what in <HI>Adam. pag. 2. 3 5.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Mans be&s;t wi&s;dome, but the remain|der of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam;</HI> in it; many too much glory. <HI>pag. 3. 4.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What the Image of <HI>Adam</HI> is not. <HI>pag. 8.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECTION 2.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>The cau&s;e or ground of mans fall. pag. <HI>8.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Fir&s;t the mutability of his condition. pag. <HI>8.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God not the cau&s;e of &s;in. pag. <HI>10.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="3">
<ITEM>The &s;econd cau&s;e of mans fall. pag. <HI>11.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Satans Temptation. pag. <HI>12.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Why Satan called a Serpent. pag. <HI>12.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The cau&s;e of mans fall, di&s;obedience. pag. <HI>13.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Tree of Knowledge of good and evill; why &s;o called. pag. <HI>13.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECTION 3.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Mans mi&s;ery by rea&s;on of his fall. pag. <HI>14. 15.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Mans mi&s;ery con&s;idered under <HI>3.</HI> heads. pag. <HI>16.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECTION 4.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>What is the meanes God hath appointed for the recovery of man out of this condition, that is, ie&s;us Chri&s;t. <HI>pag. 27.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The &s;in and fault is laid upon Chri&s;t. <HI>pag. 17. 18.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Chri&s;t bare the &s;ins of all: all are &s;aved, and how not &s;aved, and the rea&s;on why. <HI>pag. 19. 20. 21.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Chri&s;t not the efficient cau&s;e of love, but rather an effect of love. <HI>pag. 22. 23. 25.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How Chri&s;t delivers from wrath. <HI>pag. 23. 24.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECTION 5.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>How per&s;ons come to have benefit by this meanes that God hath appointed, as the way of life; which is by Faith. <HI>pag. 26.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What Faith is. <HI>pag. 26. 27.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How faith is obtained. <HI>pag. 28.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Faith, not a condition of the Covenant. <HI>pag. 29.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Faith a branch of the Covenant. <HI>pag. 30.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Faith an evidence of the Covenant. <HI>pag. 30.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="4">
<ITEM>The meanes by which Faith is wrought. <HI>pag. 31.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The properties and effects of Faith. <HI>pag. 32.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How faith ju&s;tifieth. <HI>pag. 32. 33.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Faith produceth peace with God. <HI>pag. 33.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Faith puts the &s;oule into the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, of love, it fills the &s;oule with joy. <HI>pag. 34.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECTION 6.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Wherein the condition of per&s;ons re&s;tored by Chri&s;t, and their union with God, is di&s;covered: which is, fir&s;t; a free|dome from &s;in. <HI>pag. 35.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Second, in being one with, and in Chri&s;t. <HI>pag. 36.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Chri&s;t and the Chri&s;tians relations, one: fir&s;t, Chri&s;t a Son; &s;o the Saints. <HI>pag. 36.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Secondly, relation of &s;pirituall union. <HI>pag. 37.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>In the Spirit, power, wi&s;dome, righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e, love, and glory. <HI>pag. 38.</HI> to the <HI>49.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Saints Communion with the Father, Son, and each other. <HI>pag. 50. 51. 52.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECTION 7.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Wherein is declared what the Law is, and what the Go&s;pel; with the dif|ference between them, both in the Letter, and in the Spirit. pag. <HI>55.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Fir&s;t, what the Law is, in the Letter. pag. <HI>55. 56. 57.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Secondly, what the Law is, in the Spirit. <HI>pag. 56.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What the Go&s;pel, in the Letter, is. pag. <HI>61 62.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>What the Go&s;pel, in the Spirit, is. pag. <HI>64.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The My&s;tery of the Go&s;pel, what. pag. <HI>65.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="4">
<ITEM>The life of Faith in the mo&s;t &s;pirituall pag. <HI>67. 68.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The difference between the Law and the Go&s;pel. pag. <HI>70. 71.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The glorious effects of the knowledge of God in the Spirits. pag. <HI>63.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECTION 8.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>The Matter of the Church, what. <HI>pag. 75.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECTION 9.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>The &s;pirituall Kingdome of Chri&s;t in his Church in the latter dayes of the Go&s;pel, di&s;covered. pag. <HI>80.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Who are the &s;ubjects of Chri&s;ts Kingdome. pag. <HI>81.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The externall glory of the Church of Chri&s;t in the latter dayes. pag. <HI>82. 83.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The &s;pirituall glory of the Church. <HI>pag. 85.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Kingdome of Chri&s;t wholly &s;pirituall. pag. <HI>90.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Objections an&s;wered, concerning the per|&s;onal reigne of Chri&s;t. pag. <HI>93.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>SECTION 10.</HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM>Of death, re&s;urrection, and Judgment. pag. <HI>108.</HI> <LIST>
<HEAD>2 Part.</HEAD>
<ITEM>A briefe di&s;coverie of Antichri&s;t or the man of &s;in, both in the Hi&s;tory and in the My&s;tery. pag. <HI>113.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="5">
<HEAD>To the Reader.</HEAD>
<P>PEru&s;ing this Treati&s;e, I could not but take notice of &s;ome pretious truthes in it, and com|mend them abroad.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 14.17. Ephe&s;. 4.3. 1 Cor.</NOTE> The <HI>&s;pirituall de&s;igne</HI> of this <HI>Author</HI> I finde to be this; to &s;et up the <HI>King|dome of God</HI> in &s;pirit, and to draw believers by <HI>that</HI> more into &s;pirit; and that no difference of outward admini&s;trations, or <HI>Ordinances</HI> &s;hould divide Chri&s;tians that are bapti&s;ed into one &s;pirit; which Truth <HI>I</HI> did much rejoyce to &s;ee from his <HI>penn</HI> and <HI>practice,</HI> and &s;hould rejoyce to &s;ee the like from all the re&s;t. We know, he is not a <HI>Iew,</HI> who <HI>is one outward,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2.</NOTE> neither is <HI>that Circumci&s;i|on which is outward in the fle&s;h, we are the circumci&s;ion</HI> &s;aith the Apo&s;tle,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 3.</NOTE> who rejoyce <HI>in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, and have no confidence in the fle&s;h.</HI></P>
<P>There are &s;ome excellent Truthes <HI>hinted</HI> in this booke which <HI>I</HI> intend to &s;peake on, (as, of the two <HI>Adams,</HI> the <HI>&s;pirituall Church,</HI> the <HI>&s;pirituall Liberty,</HI> the <HI>&s;pirituall,</HI> not per&s;onall <HI>reign of Chri&s;t</HI>) in a little Treati&s;e of my own.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 1.17. 1 Cor. 2.</NOTE> The Lord fill us with the <HI>Spirit</HI> of <HI>wi&s;dome and Revelati|on:</HI> The <HI>&s;pirituall man</HI> judgeth all things.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Iohn Saltmar&s;h.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="tract">
<PB REF="5">
<HEAD>THE <HI>Marrow of Chri&s;tianity.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECTION 1.</HI> Of <HI>Adams</HI> Condition before his fall.</HEAD>
<P>_THe condition of <HI>Adam</HI> in his in|nocercy before his fall, war, 1. A condition of humane perfecti|on, an upright and perfect man, this is the conclu&s;ion of wi&s;dome, <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 7.29. Loe, this onely have I found that God hath made man upright, but they have &s;ought out many inventions.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> But it is &s;aid, <HI>Gen.</HI> 1.27. that
<PB REF="6"> God created man in his own Image, in the Image of God created he him there|fore it &s;eemes that <HI>Adam</HI> had more in him then perfect humani<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y, that he was partaker of the divine nature.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> For the clearing of his Scrip|ture, two things are to be con&s;idered. 1. what is meant by the Image of God? 2. 2. what is not mean, by it? 1. what we are to under&s;tand by the Image of God in which <HI>Adam</HI> was crea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ed: 1. rea&s;on, wi&s;dome and under&s;tanding, <HI>Adam</HI> was made a rea&s;onable wi&s;e and under&s;tan|ding man: in this particular he was in the Image of God: A wi&s;e God; there is no &s;earching of his under&s;tanding. <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 46.28. <HI>Adam</HI> had the Image of Gods wi&s;dome, not the wi&s;dome of God, not the thing it &s;elfe, it dwelled in God fully, it was e&s;&s;entiall in him, but imparted to <HI>Adam,</HI> it was, and is in God e&s;&s;entially, he is wi&s;dome it &s;elfe, <HI>Adam</HI> was but the Image, God him&s;elfe the &s;ub&s;tance. That this Image was in man at fir&s;t, appeares fir&s;t from Scripture, <HI>Gen.</HI> 2.19.20. the Lord brought all the creation, to wit, &s;en&s;itive Creatures before <HI>Adam,</HI> that he might give names unto them, or to &s;ee what he
<PB N="3" REF="6"> would call them: God would now put him to the imploying of that rea&s;on and un|der&s;tanding he had given unto him, a per|fection of rea&s;on above all other Crea|tures. 2. It appeares from naturall expe|rience, hence it is, that there is &s;o much enquiring after a perfection of humane rea&s;on, &s;o much &s;tudying of Arts, as <HI>Phi|lo&s;ophy, Logick, Rhetorick,</HI> &amp;c. but from the&s;e corrupted reliques, or principles of rea&s;on yet remaining in faine man, &s;tri|ving after, and hardly being &s;atisfied, wi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hout the perfection of rea&s;on, able to give a rea&s;on of all things, and this your heathen <HI>Philo&s;ophers</HI> have gone far in, and this is that may be attained in an high mea&s;ure, and yet be but a rea&s;onable mo|rall man, nay, were it po&s;&s;ible to attaine that perfection that was in <HI>Adam,</HI> yet it would be no more then a morall and hu|mane perfection, and this is that which many who beare the name of Chri&s;tians too much pre&s;&s;e after and glory in, as if without this wi&s;dome there could be no knowledge of the minde of Chri&s;t, thus did the Greekes &s;eeke after wi&s;dome. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.22. the Greekes being the dee|pe&s;t in the knowledge of humane Arts,
<PB N="4" REF="7"> and of the nature and cau&s;e of things, therefore they would judge of the Go&s;pel according to rea&s;on, they &s;eeke after natu|rall wi&s;dome: but &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, we preach Chri&s;t to the Greekes, fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e; &s;o indeed is the Go&s;pel in the mini&s;tery of it meer folly to the highe&s;t naturall un|der&s;tanding in the world, nay it is that which the wi&s;dome of the Go&s;pel de|&s;troyes, where it comes in power, he de|&s;troyes, the wi&s;dome of the wi&s;e, and brings to nought the under&s;tanding of the prudent, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.19. and here lies the great mi&s;tery of mi&s;take, I had almo&s;t &s;aid, of Iniquity, we &s;eeke after the knowledge of God in the wi&s;dome of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> how many are there that would confine the knowledge of God unto this wi&s;dome who are not a&s;hamed to &s;ay that <HI>Philo&s;o|phy</HI> is the mother of <HI>Theologie,</HI> and with|out this naturall wi&s;dome men mu&s;t come &s;hort in the knowledge of God? when the truth is, the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> was of the earth, earthly, the &s;econd is the Lord from hea|ven, and they who have but the fir&s;t <HI>A|dams</HI> wi&s;dome are &s;till of the earth, earthly, the wi&s;dome of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> comes in|finitely &s;hort of bringing us to the know|ledge
<PB N="5" REF="7"> of God in the &s;pirit, but it is by the wi&s;dome of the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> who is the Lord from heaven, and the wi&s;dome of the father, we attaine the knowledge of God in the &s;pirit; which wi&s;dome de|&s;troyes, and brings to nought the wi&s;dome of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.19. <HI>Chap.</HI> 2.6.7.8. and 3 <HI>Chap.</HI> 18.19.20.</P>
<P>Note that all unbe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ievers and car<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">all profe&s;&s;ors are in the wi&s;dome of the fir&s;t <HI>Ad<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">m,</HI> all believers &s;piritually made alive by Je&s;us, being delivered from them&s;elves, are in the wi&s;dome of the &s;econd <HI>Ad<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">m,</HI> the Lord Je&s;us who is the wi&s;d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">me of the Father, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.24.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Adam</HI> was in the Image of God, that was in a perfect morall pure and &s;in|le&s;&s;e condi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ion, he was made upright, in|nocent without &s;in, but he &s;ought out many inventions.</P>
<P><HI>Qu.</HI> How may a morall purity and righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e be &s;aid to be the Image of God?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. God was, and is perfectly, e&s;&s;entially, and &s;piritually pure, <HI>Adam</HI> was but the Image or Character of this purity, as it is po&s;&s;ible to draw a compleate Image or Caracter of a living man in peece of &s;tone or timber, and we &s;ay and &s;peake truly, that it is the
<PB N="6" REF="8"> Image or likene&s;&s;e of a living man, yet it is not a living man, nor hath it any part of mans nature in him: even &s;o was <HI>A|dam</HI> in the Image of God, there was not onely the wi&s;dome of God in creating of him, but the properties of God in &s;ome mea&s;ure imparted to him, yet not parta|ker of the divine nature, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and freedome from &s;in was morally in him, yet not partaker of that &s;pirituall ho|line&s;&s;e that is in God.</P>
<P>But &s;econdly and more principally in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> who was earthly, was the Image of the &s;econd who was the Lord from heaven, &s;o that all the righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e, holine&s;&s;e, wi&s;dome, &amp;c. of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> was but an Image of the &s;e|cond <HI>Adam,</HI> and that morall and humane perfection in the fir&s;t, and tho&s;e remain|ing principles that yet remained in his na|ture was at the highe&s;t and yet is but an Image, as a drawn Character in a peece of timber or &s;tones: of the &s;econd; the &s;piri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">uall and divine nature which dwelt in Chri&s;t bodily, and is communicated &s;piritually unto all the &s;pirituall po&s;terity of the Lord Je&s;us, who in him&s;elfe and in
<PB N="7" REF="8"> his &s;aints is the &s;ub&s;tance of that Image which was in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Adam</HI> was in the Image of God in re&s;pect of a power: he had power given him to &s;tand or fall, and in this power he &s;tood till the temptation came: the fir&s;t temptation he fell, and this power was but an Image of the power of God in which the &s;econd <HI>A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">m</HI> came, and of which all the Saints are made partakers, they injoy the &s;ub<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tance of <HI>Adams</HI> I|mage.</P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>Adam</HI> was in the Image of God in re&s;pect of eternity, he had given him an everla&s;ting being in that morall upright e&s;tate, had he not degenerated from it as appeares <HI>Gen.</HI> 2.17. In dying thou &s;halt dye, hence a negative mu&s;t be nece&s;&s;arily included, in obeying thou &s;hal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> live, but this life in <HI>Adam</HI> was but a Character or Image of that &s;pirituall and eternall life, &s;oules are made par<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">akers of in the &s;econd <HI>Adam, Iohn</HI> 4.14. thus it appeares that <HI>Adam</HI> was a man in whom all humane perfections, wi&s;dome, righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and purity dwelt, yet &s;econdly, he was in a mutable and changable condition, and &s;o quickly fell from his &s;tation, and perfecti|on
<PB N="8" REF="9"> in which he was created, he &s;ought out many inventions.</P>
<P>A &s;econd thing con&s;iderable, is; what this Image is not?</P>
<P N="1">1. It is not that wi&s;dome and under|&s;tanding which the &s;econd <HI>Adam</HI> was in|dued with, and all believers are made par|takers of in the dayes of the Go&s;pel, <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 11.1.2. 1 <HI>Iohn</HI> 2.27.</P>
<P N="2">2. It is not that purity and righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e which dwelt in the Lord Je&s;us the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> and &s;o &s;piritually in all the &s;aints, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.21.</P>
<P N="3">3. Neither was it that power put in the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> who is one in God, and &s;tands while God &s;tands, for he is the Lord from heaven: neither that power &s;aints are made partakers of, who are one with God in Chri&s;t, and kept by the &s;ame power unto &s;alvation, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.5. pre|&s;erved in Chri&s;t, <HI>Iude</HI> 1.</P>
<P N="4">4. Neither was his eternity &s;uch an eter|nity in which the &s;aints are inve&s;ted, a &s;pirituall eternity, an eternity in God the Father and in the Son, a glorious, uncon|ceivable eternity, <HI>Col.</HI> 3.4. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 16.11.</P>
<P N="2">2. As it was a condition of humane profection, not of &s;pirituall perfection, &s;o
<PB N="9" REF="9"> it was a condition free from payne and &s;orrow, for he was free from &s;in, and &s;o, from &s;orrow; his &s;in brought in &s;weat and &s;orrow.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECTION 2.</HI> The cau&s;e or ground of mans falling.</HEAD>
<P>THE cau&s;e or ground of mans falling from his fir&s;t e&s;tate, may be con&s;ider|ed under three particulars. 1. The muta|bility of his condition. 2. The temptati|on of Sathan. 3. His di&s;obedient acting, contrary to the revealed minde of God.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, the mutability of his condition, he was created of God, though upright and perfect, yet &s;ubject to a change: the power being put in his own hand; the fir&s;t opportunity pre&s;ented him, he falles, and (indeed) it could not be otherwi&s;e, he could not &s;tand of him&s;elfe unle&s;&s;e he had bin God.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> If the mutability of <HI>Adams</HI> con|dition was the fir&s;t cau&s;e of his fall; then it &s;eemes that God him&s;elfe was the fir&s;t
<PB N="10" REF="10"> cau&s;e of &s;in, if God made man at fir&s;t in that condition that he might fall, nay, that he could not but fall, then God him|&s;elfe &s;eemes to be the fir&s;t cau&s;e both of &s;in and mi&s;ery.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> It is true, that the fir&s;t cau&s;e of all things is in God, he was before all things, he created all things, and all things live and move in him, and by him, and he worketh all things after the councel of his own will, yet 2. although he be the fir&s;t cau&s;e of all created things, yet not of any evill that through degeneration, and Sa|thans temptation, flowes from tho&s;e be|ings: man in his fir&s;t creation was good, but through his degenerating from it, he became evill; &s;o that the evill was not in God, but in man.</P>
<P N="3">3. God having made man in &s;uch a con|dition, man of him&s;elfe freely, voluntari|ly, and rebelliou&s;ly falling, God bringeth about his everla&s;ting purpo&s;e in ray&s;ing up &s;ome in the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> to a &s;piritu|all and everla&s;ting union with him&s;elfe, where they &s;hall be for ever pre&s;erved, and be kept by the power of God from falling: and others; (to wit) all unbelievers left in the nature of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam:</HI> and there he
<PB N="11" REF="10"> manife&s;teth. 2. the cau&s;e of mans falling, his ju&s;tice, the temptation of Sathan, or the Ser|pent, &s;o he is called <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.1. note fir&s;t what Sathan is that tempts and overcomes man, 1. he is a &s;pirituall enemy to mankinde, as appeares not onely by his deluding of our fir&s;t parents, but the whole Scripture di&s;|covers as much, he goeth about like a roaring Lyon, &s;eeking whom he may de|voure, no &s;ooner was man created of God, but he &s;eekes pre&s;ently to devoure him, God having given forth Chri&s;t as a reme|dy, he pre&s;ently &s;ets upon him likewi&s;e, to devoure him, if he could, and &s;o in him all mankinde for ever&punc; <HI>Mat.</HI> 4. Thus you &s;ee Sathan is an adver&s;ary to mankinde, 2. Sathan or the divells, or the falne An|gels, the Angels that fell &s;eeme to be ma|ny, <HI>Iude</HI> 6. the Angels that kept not their fir&s;t e&s;tate are re&s;erved in everla&s;ting Chaines under darkne&s;&s;e, unto the Judg|ment of the great day, &s;o there are many devills or evill &s;pirits, as appeares by the man po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed by the Divell, when Chri&s;t asked his name, he an&s;wers my name is Legion, for we are many, 3. He is a lying and deluding Spirit, that oft times tran&s;|formes him&s;elfe into an Angel of light:
<PB N="12" REF="11"> hence it comes to pa&s;&s;e, that he &s;o deludes all the Sons and Daughters of di&s;obedi|ence that they looke upon all his workes of darkne&s;&s;e with delight and plea&s;ure: and oft times it comes to pa&s;&s;e, that he &s;o farre transformes him&s;elfe into a &s;on of light, that he delivers &s;oules under the name of Chri&s;t, and when nothing le&s;&s;e then the name of a Chri&s;tian will &s;erve, he will be the Chri&s;t, or rather the Antichri&s;t to de|ceive &s;oules, hence it comes to pa&s;&s;e, when down-right papacy will not &s;erve, he will turne him&s;elfe into a prelaticall &s;hape, rather then loo&s;e his Rule and credit among&s;t the &s;ons of men: if once prelacy grow out of date, he can change him&s;elfe into other &s;hapes; if ten hornes be too heavy to be borne, he will be content to weare but two like a Lambe, rather then none at all.</P>
<P><HI>Qu.</HI> Why is Sathan called a Ser|pent?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Becau&s;e in his fir&s;t prevailing with the woman he did either make u&s;e of the Serpent, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.1. who was a &s;ubtill creature, and &s;o comes in the Serpent un|to the woman, or el&s;e &s;econdly transforms him&s;elfe in the &s;hape and forme of the
<PB N="13" REF="11"> Serpent, and &s;o repre&s;ents him&s;elfe unto the woman, and &s;o from hence received the denomination of a Serpent, <HI>Rev.</HI> 12.9. If the fir&s;t, then learn, that Satan u&s;ually makes u&s;e of the wi&s;e&s;t and &s;ubtile&s;t creatures to bring to pa&s;&s;e his will in or by them: If the &s;econd, learn that Satan can transform him&s;elfe into any &s;hape or form to delude and deceive &s;oules.</P>
<P>A third cau&s;e of Mans fall, was, di&s;obe|dient acting, contrary to the mind of God, <HI>In the day thou eate&s;t thereof, thou &s;halt dye,</HI> &s;aith the Lord, <HI>Adam</HI> eateth thereof, and dieth: di&s;obedience was the cau&s;e of mans fall, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.18, 19.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> What was <HI>Adams</HI> di&s;obedience?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Eating the forbidden fruit, <HI>Gen.</HI> 2.15.</P>
<P><HI>Qu.</HI> What was this fruit?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> The fruit of a Tree in the Garden or Paradice of God, <HI>Gen.</HI> 2.9.16. called the Tree of knowledge of good and evill: good, if a man did not eate of it; evill, if he did eate of it, A Tree, who&s;o eateth the fruit thereof, &s;hall know the difference be|tween good and evill; &s;o he indeed knew good by the want of it, and evill by the &s;en&s;e and enjoyment of it.</P>
<PB N="14" REF="12">
<P>What my&s;tery might be repre&s;ented by this plea&s;ant fruit, I &s;hall not at pre&s;ent di&s;pute, becau&s;e it is &s;omething dark un|to me; whether &s;inne, which &s;eemes very plea&s;ant unto a carnall eye; or the world, which much prevailes upon a carnal mind; or honor, or both: All the&s;e temptations Satan made u&s;e of unto Chri&s;t him&s;elf, and repre&s;ented them to his eye, as a deceive|able fruit, if po&s;&s;ible he might deceive him: And the Tree of Life repre&s;enting Chri&s;t, that who&s;oever eateth and drinketh of him, might live for ever, <HI>Jo.</HI> 4.14. <HI>Rev.</HI> 22.2.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT. III.</HI> Mans Mi&s;ery by rea&s;on of his Fall.</HEAD>
<P>MAns mi&s;ery by the &s;inne of <HI>Adam,</HI> was death, <HI>In dying thou &s;halt dye;</HI> or <HI>thou &s;halt dye the death, Gen.</HI> 2.17. Now under the name of <HI>Death,</HI> the Scriptures comprehend divers things: A &s;pirituall death in &s;in; &s;o are all Naturall men <HI>dead in tre&s;pa&s;&s;es and &s;ins,</HI> &s;ubject to externall mi&s;e|ries, and deadly plagues, <HI>Exod.</HI> 10.17. Ex|ternall afflictions upon the body, &s;o <HI>Paul,</HI>
<PB N="15" REF="12"> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.23. the di&s;&s;olution of mans exter|nall and naturall life, <HI>Gen.</HI> 35.18. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 146.4. The perdition of body and &s;oule for e|ver: All which mi&s;eries come in by the &s;in of <HI>Adam.</HI> As the &s;econd <HI>Adam</HI> was the way letting in all good to mankind; &s;o was the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> the way or flood-gate letting in all mi&s;eries upon &s;oul and body.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> Some will object and &s;ay, But how could <HI>Adam</HI> lo&s;e a &s;pirituall life, and &s;o come under a &s;pirituall death? &s;eeing he never had a &s;pirituall life in God; how could he lo&s;e that which he never had?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Although <HI>Adam</HI> had never a &s;pirituall life in God, yet he had a &s;piritu|all &s;ub&s;i&s;ting given him of God, free from &s;in; and &s;o, capable of defilement: For the truth is, it is the internall part of man that &s;ins, the forme or body of man is acted by the guiding of the internall part; &s;o that <HI>Adam</HI> now dies in his &s;pirit, he hath nei|ther power, wi&s;dome, nor will to doe that which is well-plea&s;ing to the Lord; he hath not onely lo&s;t that wi&s;dome, will, and pow|er of acting in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam;</HI> but likewi&s;e of beleeving, and &s;o of applying that &s;alva|tion tendered in the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> untill he &s;piritually and powerfully draw up the &s;oul
<PB N="16" REF="13"> unto him&s;elfe, <HI>John</HI> 6.44. and &s;o makes him not onely partaker of all that compleat righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e wrought for him; but like|wi&s;e fulfils all righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e in him, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.4. Or el&s;e mans mi&s;ery may be con&s;ide|red under the&s;e three heads: 1. A condi|tion of death, as you have heard, <HI>In the day thou eate&s;t thereof, thou &s;halt dye the death;</HI> that is death internall, and death externall, and death eternall; without a meanes, or a remedy preventing it. 2. A condition of en|mity, <HI>I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy &s;eed and her &s;eed;</HI> &amp; all unbeleevers, which &s;o live &amp; remain, are in a &s;tate of enmity, God hath not declared him&s;elfe any other unto them; and their nature is &s;till at enmi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y with God. 3. A condition of in&s;ufficiency to help them|&s;elves: <HI>Adam</HI> was notable to help him&s;elf, all that he could doe, was to hide him&s;elfe, he could not deliver him&s;elf out of this con|dition: neither are all the &s;ons and daugh|ters of <HI>Adam</HI> able to help one &s;oule out of this condition, if God help not. Therefore this &s;hould teach &s;oules made alive by Chri&s;t, to admire mercy, and to cry <HI>Grace, Grace,</HI> unto the whole work of God, both in them, and for them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="17" REF="13">
<HEAD><HI>SECT. IV.</HI> What is the meanes God hath apppointed for the recovery of man out of this condition?</HEAD>
<P>THe meanes God hath appointed to de|liver Man out of this condition, is <HI>Je|&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> and therefore promi&s;eth Chri&s;t immediatly upon the Fall, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.15. Here|in is Gods love manife&s;ted, that hee leaves not man in his lo&s;t e&s;tate; but gives forth his &s;on out of his bo&s;ome, that he might &s;eek and &s;ave that which was lo&s;t, and &s;o deliver us from wrath to com, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.9. 1 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 1.10. He is Je&s;us the Saviour, and the alone Saviour of his people from their &s;ins, <HI>Mat</HI> 1.21. <HI>Acts</HI> 4.12. that is, he is the a|lone way, through which the Father brings down &s;alvation to &s;inners, and through which he drawes up &s;oules to him&s;elfe; there is no other way, of God, down to the &s;oul, nor of the &s;oul, up to God, but through Je&s;us, <HI>Joh.</HI> 14.6.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> What mu&s;t Chri&s;t Je&s;us under|take and perform; before the breach is made up, and faln man recovered?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. He mu&s;t take the &s;inne and fault upon him&s;elfe, <HI>I&s;ai</HI> 53.6. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.24.
<PB N="18" REF="14"> <HI>He that knew no &s;inne, was made &s;inne, for us, that we might bee made the righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.21. Ad|mirable mercy, that when man had &s;inned, and lo&s;t him&s;elfe; Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who never knew &s;in, either in act or thought, mu&s;t now take upon him the &s;inners &s;in, and &s;o be made as it were, a lump of &s;in! and this he did willingly of him&s;elfe, he bare our &s;ins on his own body on the Cro&s;&s;e; Chri&s;t took the whole &s;in of <HI>Adam,</HI> and the whole world upon him&s;elf, when <HI>Adam</HI> had &s;in|ned, and all mankind him, <HI>Adam</HI> and all mu&s;t have died, Chri&s;t takes the &s;in upon him&s;elfe; and &s;o taking the &s;in upon him|&s;elfe, he withall takes the cur&s;e, and &s;o un|dergoes the &s;entence of death The cur&s;e was, <HI>In the day thou eate&s;t thereof, thou &s;halt dye the death.</HI> Chri&s;t he dies the death, that &s;o he might free man from death; and &s;o Chri&s;t in bearing the &s;inne and the con|demnation, recovers man out of this lo&s;t and undone condition. Two objectictions here need to be cleared.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> 1. Whether Chri&s;t Je&s;us the &s;e|cond <HI>Adam</HI> bare the &s;ins, and &s;o, the con|demnation of all men?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Fir&s;t, it is without que&s;tion, that he
<PB N="19" REF="14"> took the &s;in and fault of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> up|on him, and &s;o, the &s;inne of the world of man, who&s;e nature was in him, and &s;o ta|king the &s;inne, &s;o the condemnation of the whole upon him; el&s;e he could not have effected that work for which he came.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> If Chri&s;t beare the &s;in and con|demnation of all, why then are not all &s;aved?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. All are, in one &s;en&s;e, &s;aved, that is, with an externall &s;alvation from the pre&s;ent cur&s;e and death pronounced, and &s;o the whole world have a being by Chri&s;t, and a redemption, a &s;alvation, a peace, which it enjoyes by him; a mercy that they are not &s;en&s;ible of, <HI>Col.</HI> 1.20. <HI>Having made peace by the blood of his Cro&s;&s;e, by him to reconcile all th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ngs to him&s;elfe, whether things in heaven, or things on earth, &amp;c.</HI> Note, all things are reconciled. What things? The &s;ame that were made by him, <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 16. All things partake of this recon|ciliation and peace.</P>
<P>Secondly, all are not &s;aved with an eter|nall &s;alvation, b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">cau&s;e all doe not beleeve. It is true, that there was a &s;alvation pur|cha&s;ed from the externall part of the pre|&s;ent cur&s;e for that pre&s;ent &s;in; yet <HI>Adams</HI>
<PB N="20" REF="15"> po&s;terity acting other &s;ins, draw on other externall judgements; but there was like|wi&s;e, by the taking away of the pre&s;ent judgement, or death threatned, a preven|tion of the pre&s;ent execution of that eter|nall death, included; and &s;o a &s;pirituall and an eternall life by Chri&s;t obtained; yet &s;o, as that none partake of it but beleevers: &s;o that, although there be a &s;alvation purcha|&s;ed by Chri&s;t, and tendered unto all, yet none are made partakers of this &s;alvation, but beleevers; and none can beleeve &s;aving|ly, but tho&s;e who are drawn up to the Fa|ther, through the Sonne by a power above them&s;elves, who were known and beloved of God from everla&s;ting, the Father gi|ving forth his Sonn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> as a publick per&s;on, making &s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">is<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">action to the Law of Tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ion, rhat all mankind might bee brought under the tender of the Go&s;pel; that &s;o, upon beleeving, they might be de|livered from both the fir&s;t covenant, and tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, no man being (indeed) deli|vered from either, but by beleeving; all men remaining in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> and &s;o un|der the Law of tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion in the Spi|rit, unle&s;&s;e beleev<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rs; Chri&s;t having pur|cha&s;ed an eternall &s;alvation; but keeps it in
<PB N="21" REF="15"> his own hand and di&s;pen&s;eth it in the Spi|rit, to tho&s;e to whom God gives hearts to receive both him and it: &s;o now, nothing hinders the &s;alvation of any man, with re|lation to Chri&s;t, a Saviour or Deliverer, from the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion and &s;in of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam:</HI> (on Gods part) externally all par|take of it; internally, onely believers: <HI>Hee is the Saviour of all, but e&s;pecially of them that beleeve.</HI> And nothing (on Gods part) hinders the eternal &s;alvation of all, with re|lation to the purcha&s;e, or price paid, but only on Gods part, his eternall purpo&s;e to draw up &s;ome into union with him&s;elfe, in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">is Son; and leaving others to beleeve, if they wou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d, or could. And from hence, on the crea ures part, being thus left, onely a Chri&s;t tendered, able to &s;ave them, if they beleeve, they being left of God, having neither, wi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l, skill, nor pow|er to bele<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ve; peri&s;h everla&s;tingly, under the rejecting of the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> It &s;eemes to be inju&s;tice in God to condemne the &s;in of all upon Chri&s;t, and yet to condemne it upon the &s;inner too.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. It was as ea&s;ie for Chri&s;t, be|ing thereunto appointed of the Father, to make &s;atisfaction to the Law of Tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ion
<PB N="22" REF="16"> for the &s;ins of all; as one. Such was his excellent worth.</P>
<P>Secondly, the &s;piritua<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l and eternall part of it remains &s;till with God in Chri&s;t, and is handed forth to none but beleevers; and &s;o it remaines that there is no inju&s;tice in God to put &s;uch a worth in the &s;ufferings of his Son, that it is able to &s;atisfie the law of tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion for all, and able to &s;ave all that come to God by him; and yet to con|demne &s;inne, even the &s;inne of the fir&s;t, as iwell as the rejecting of the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> n all tho&s;e that refu&s;e him, &s;eeing his eter|nall purpo&s;e in all, was, the &s;etting forth of his Son as a peace-maker, that &s;o there might be a vi&s;ible ground upon which the beloved of God might accept of peace, and &s;o come to enjoy that invi&s;ible union with the Father in the Spirit, which he from e|ternity intended: and likewi&s;e, that there might be a vi&s;ible rule of rejecting all who wilfully con<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">emne their own peace, and &s;o judge them&s;elves unworthy of eternall life.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> Did Chri&s;t purcha&s;e life and love from the hand of the Father?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> Nay, he did not purcha&s;e life and love from the hand of the Father, but was
<PB N="23" REF="16"> a gift flowing forth from the Fathers love: The death of Chri&s;t was not the cau&s;e effi|cient either of life or love: but love in God was the efficient cau&s;e of the coming forth, and &s;uffering of Chri&s;t, <HI>John</HI> 3.16. <HI>God &s;o loved the world, that he gave his Sonne.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Qu.</HI> In what &s;en&s;e then may Chri&s;t be &s;aid, <HI>to deliver from wra<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h,</HI> 1 The&s;&s;. 1.10. And, to <HI>purcha&s;e his Church with his blood?</HI> Acts 20.28.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. He delivers from wrath in a two-fold con&s;ideration: Fir&s;t, from that wrath and ju&s;tice of God, gone forth in a righteous law; it being broken, wrath is gone forth upon all, becau&s;e God is Truth, and &s;o in the letter, wrath is gone forth up|on all through <HI>Adams</HI> trna&s;gre&s;&s;ion, and &s;o all unbelievers in that &s;en&s;e, are under wrath, and there remain eternally, if not delivered, <HI>John</HI> 3. la&s;t. 2. They are delive|red from wrath with relation to their ap|prehen&s;ion: Never any &s;oul comes &s;aving|ly to Chri&s;t, but he fir&s;t makes him &s;en|&s;ible of an e&s;tate of wrath, and &s;o every be|leever may truly &s;ay, <HI>They were once chil|dren of wrath,</HI> that is, in an e&s;tate of wrath, under the Law of Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, and &s;o are
<PB N="24" REF="17"> delivered from wrath to come; becau&s;e if God had not from everla&s;ting received them into the number of tho&s;e written in heaven, they mu&s;t likewi&s;e have endured wrath to come.</P>
<P>Secondly, He purcha&s;ed his Church with his blood, and &s;o &s;alvation for them, under two con&s;iderations: 1. He purcha&s;ed his Church from the Law of Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, God having &s;aid, <HI>In the day that thou eate&s;t thereof, thou &s;halt dye.</HI> Man eates, and &s;o &s;hould have died eternally, had not God provided &s;uch a remedy; therefore he gives his Son to purcha&s;e Man from that condi|tion. 2. He purcha&s;eth His with his blood, from wrath and condemnation in their own apprehen&s;ions; Man being &s;en&s;ible of his lo&s;t condition, mu&s;t have &s;omething to &s;atisfie his con&s;cience, there|fore likewi&s;e the Father gives Chri&s;t, and in both the&s;e, not as the fir&s;t and moving cau&s;e of any thing in God; but God out of his love gives forth his Son to effect that work. As if a man indebted for more than he is ever able to pay, the Creditor having vowed &s;atisfaction, the debter is ca&s;t down and troubled exceedingly: the creditor to &s;atisfie both his own word, and the mind
<PB N="25" REF="17"> of the debter: &s;ends forth his Sonne, and fully inables him to pay the debt; he brings along the debter with him, payes the debt, cancells the bands and &s;ets him free, and thus it was with the Father, man had &s;inned, God had &s;aid, in the day thou &s;inne&s;t thou &s;halt dye, this debt of death mu&s;t be di&s;charged: the Father, that he might be ju&s;t, and yet a ju&s;tifier, and that the con&s;cience of falne man whom he loved might be &s;atisfied, he gives or &s;ends forth his Sonne, he payes the debt, and &s;o &s;atisfies the word of the Father, and the con&s;cience of the &s;inner, and &s;o (indeed) is not e&s;&s;entially the procuring cau&s;e of love, but rather an effect of love to &s;atisfie both the word of the Father, and the con&s;cience of the &s;inner, and this was Gods way from eter|nity, through which he intended to ma|nife&s;t him&s;elfe to his people.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<PB N="26" REF="18">
<HEAD><HI>SECTION 5.</HI> How per&s;ons come to have benefit by this meanes that God hath appointed as the way of life?</HEAD>
<P>SInners come to have benefit by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, by believing, <HI>Iohn</HI> 3.16.36. he that believeth on the Son, hath life, and he that believeth not on the Son, &s;hall not &s;ee life, but the wrath of God abideth in him: Faith as an in&s;trument is the meanes appointed of God, by which, &s;inners re|ceive, and owne Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and life by him. For clearing this truth, three things will be nece&s;&s;ary to be con&s;idered.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, what faith is?</P>
<P>Secondly, how it comes?</P>
<P>Thirdly, the properties and effects of it.</P>
<P N="1">1. What it is; faith is the apprehen|ding and applying Chri&s;t, and &s;o the fa|ther, and his everla&s;ting grace in him. 1. It is the apprehending of Chri&s;t that is the ob&s;erving and beholding of him, as he is
<PB N="27" REF="18"> in him&s;elf, the &s;eeing of him in his beauty, and excellency, <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 33.17. thine eyes &s;hall &s;ee the King in his beauty, it is to &s;ee all that worth to be in him that the &s;oule needs, and then 2. to apply him ac|cording to the &s;oules pre&s;ent occa&s;ion, a dying Chri&s;t, to a dead &s;oule, and this Chri&s;t commends unto us to be the faith by which &s;oules come to enjoy &s;alvation, <HI>Iohn</HI> 6.40. this is the will of him that &s;ent me, that he that &s;eeth the Son and belie|veth on him, may have everla&s;ting life, (note) he that &s;eeth the Son, that is appre|hends that wor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h and excellency, that a|bility the Father hath put in him to &s;ave &s;inners, able to &s;ave all tho&s;e to the utmo&s;t that come unto God by him, and belie|veth on him, that is applyeth him, recei|veth him as its alone Saviour, and ju&s;tifier, to them he gives power to become the Sons of God, <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ohn</HI> 1.12. even to as many as believe on his name. 2. this faith doth not onely apply Chri&s;t, as given forth of the Father &s;ingly, and a part from the Father, but it applyes, that is, ownes the Father in the Son, and that everla&s;ting love of the Father to the Soule, brought downe through the Son; for the Son is
<PB N="28" REF="19"> but the Fathers way down to &s;inners, <HI>John</HI> 24.6. <HI>Iohn</HI> 12.44. He that believ|eth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that &s;ent me that is, be loveth not a|lone in Chri&s;t, but believes &amp; injoyes <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hat everla&s;ting good will and love of the Fa|ther, to the Soule, and &s;o &s;eeth the Father in Chri&s;t, commending love, and &s;o give|ing forth him&s;elfe to the Soule, and &s;o is able to &s;ee and &s;ay tha it is indeed God that ju&s;tifies, and that God was in Chri&s;t, (as the way) reconciling &s;inn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rs to him|&s;elfe, not imputing their &s;ins; and now the &s;inner &s;ees that Chri&s;t never acted any thing, or brings down any thing to the Soule, bu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> what was and is the good will and plea&s;ure of the Father, and &s;o faith ownes, not onely Chri&s;t, but the Father giving forth the Sonne as the price of their redemption, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1.7. <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.13. and way of their adoption, <HI>Gal.</HI> 4, 5.</P>
<P N="2">2. How is this faith obtained?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> It is the free guift of God, as Chri&s;t who is its objects and all other good things, or every good and perfect guift comes down from the Father, God, in Chri&s;t, is the Prince and Author of our faith, <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.2. Looking to Je&s;us the Author and fini&s;her of our faith, <HI>Eph.</HI> 2.8.
<PB N="29" REF="19"> <HI>ye are faved freely by grace, through faith,</HI> &amp; that not of our &s;elves, it is the gift of God; faith is the proper and peculiar guift of God, no man cometh unto me, except the Father which hath &s;ent me, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">raw him, it is the Father that workes all, the Father fir&s;t loves, and then gives his Son, and then drawes Soules up unto him&s;elfe in the So<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l&s;e they never come: No man comes t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ne, unle&s;&s;e the Father draw him, <HI>Iohn</HI> 6. hence it is that the experienced &s;oule de|&s;ires to be drawn, <HI>C<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> 1.2. <HI>Phil.</HI> 1.29. for unto you it is given in the behalfe of Chri&s;t, not onely to believe, but to &s;uffer, that is, you who have received this guift of faith, mu&s;t expect to &s;uffer likewi&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> But is not faith held forth in the Go&s;pel, as the co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">di<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">ion of the Covenant of grace, he that believeth &s;hall be &s;aved? <HI>A.</HI> 1. Although it &s;eems in the letter of the Go&s;pel, to be held forth as a condi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ion of the Covenant, he tha believeth, &s;hall be &s;aved, yet it is in the &s;pirit or my&s;tery of the Go&s;pel, of conditio<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> on Gods part, it is true, none can be &s;aid, &amp; &s;ay truly him&s;elf, that he is in the C<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">venant of grace, before faith; yet this faith is the guift of God, as you have heard, and if any condition it is on Gods part in the my&s;tery, and it is his
<PB N="30" REF="20"> promi&s;e, <HI>Heb.</HI> 8.10. this is the Covenant I will make with them, I will write my Lawes in their hearts &s;aith the Lord, that is, I will take them off them&s;e ves, and make them partakers of my &s;pirit, which &s;hall cau&s;e them to own love in God, and o live out of them&s;elves, in God, and &s;hall cau&s;e them to act &s;piritually, even as Je|&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elfe acted, and &s;o faith may be &s;aid (indeed) to be rather a b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">anch, or part of the Covenant of grac<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, than the condition, for God in the Covenant pro|mi&s;eth to write his Law, and to give faith and all good unto the &s;oule, he gives Chri&s;t a Covenant, and with him he gives all, having given us his Sonne, how &s;hall he not with him, give us all things?</P>
<P N="2">2. Faith is (indeed) an evidence to the Soule, that it is in the Covenant of grace and made one with God, hence it is called <HI>Heb.</HI> 11.1. The evidence of things not &s;eene, that is, not &s;eene with a carnall eye, the &s;pirit evidenceth it, and faith recei|veth that evidence, &amp; to the &s;oule is &s;atis|fied through faiths believing of the word and &s;pirit of God.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> What is the meanes by which God worketh faith?</P>
<PB N="31" REF="20">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> The meanes by which God workes faith is his word and &s;pirit, by the preaching of the Go&s;pel, as the in&s;tru|mentall meanes of his &s;pirit working as the principall meanes, <HI>Rom.</HI> 10.14. <HI>Iohn</HI> 6.63. now it is true God is not limited in his way of working, (that is) he hath not confined him&s;elfe to a verball preach|ing, although it is true likewi&s;e, that he ordinarily and u&s;ually, worketh faith by by &s;uch meanes: but a Go&s;pel preaching as of nece&s;&s;ity in the working of faith: that is a &s;pirituall Go&s;pel de&s;iring of the love of God in Chri&s;t, and &s;uch a preach|ing may be by the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t in read|ing &s;ome word: or any other way he plea&s;eth to worke, and it may truly be called a Go&s;pel-preaching: any &s;pirituall Go&s;pel di&s;coverie to a &s;oule, through which it is brought up into Go&s;pel-injoy|ments, may truly be called a &s;pirituall un|folding or preaching of the Go&s;pel. Hence it is, that the preaching of the letter, or a verball preaching, is no where called a powerfull and prevailing preaching, unls the &s;pirit preach: it is the &s;pirit that mu&s;t convince the world of &s;in, <HI>Iohn</HI> 16. and our Go&s;pel came not onely in word, but
<PB N="32" REF="21">in power and in the holy &s;pirit, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 1.5. It is true, God u&s;ually worketh by means, but it is as true that he can as well worke &s;piritually without meanes, if he plea&s;e, and this he hath done much of late, I do not que&s;tion but many who are &s;piritual|ly inlightned, and live in the &s;pirituall in|joyments of God, have had experience of it.</P>
<P><HI>Qu.</HI> 3. What are the properties and effects of faith?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> The properties and effects of Faith are many: It ju&s;tifies the &s;oule from &s;in, <HI>Act.</HI> 13.39. by him all that believe are ju&s;tified from all things, from which they could not be ju&s;tified by the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Qu.</HI> How may faith be &s;aid to ju|&s;tifie?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. Not as the efficient cau&s;e of our Ju&s;tification, that is, God onely in Chri&s;t, it is God that ju&s;tifies who &s;hall condemn?</P>
<P>But 2. Faith ju&s;tifies, as it receives Chri&s;t and applyes him as its ju&s;tification: &s;o that it is &s;aid to ju&s;tifie, becau&s;e it &s;atisfies and quiets the &s;oule in Chri&s;t who is its ju&s;ti|fication, <HI>Rom.</HI> 4.5. he that worketh not,
<PB N="33" REF="21"> <HI>but beleeveth on him that ju&s;tifieth the un|godly, his faith is counted for righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e.</HI> Note two words: 1. <HI>He that be|leeveth on him that ju&s;tifieth,</HI> that is, <HI>Chri&s;t; all that beleeve, are ju&s;tified, by him,</HI> Acts 13.39. So it is Chri&s;t that ju&s;tifieth; faith onely ownes that ju&s;tification held forth in Chri&s;t. 2. word, <HI>His faith is coun|ted for righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e;</HI> that is, either fir&s;t, God never declares a man righteous and ju&s;t, untill he give him faith to enjoy his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e in Chri&s;t: or el&s;e &s;econdly, his faith is counted or called his righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e, becau&s;e he never till then enjoyed his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. And &s;o that when I &s;ay, or the Scripture &s;aith, that <HI>Faith ju&s;tifieth:</HI> that is, faith receives and ownes the ju&s;ti|fication of God in Chri&s;t declared, and &s;o the &s;oule by it lives in the enjoyment of ju&s;tification and freedome from &s;in.</P>
<P>The 2^d property or effect of faith, is, uni|on &amp; peace with God, <HI>Rom.</HI> 51. <HI>Being ju|&s;tified by faith, we have peace with God, chap.</HI> 15.13. <HI>Now the God of hope fill you with joy and peace through beleeving.</HI> This is one glorious effect, that tho&s;e who once were a-farre off, &s;hould now bee made nigh by the blood of Chri&s;t, and be brought
<PB N="34" REF="22"> into the enjoyment of it by beleeving.</P>
<P>The third effect is, it puts the &s;oul into the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the love of God, 1 <HI>John</HI> 4.16. <HI>We have known &amp; beleeved the love that God hath to us: and God is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him:</HI> It acts the &s;oule above it &s;elfe, and cau&s;eth it to dwell in God, and &s;o to dwell in his love, and this is an exceeding glori|ous effect, and that which, in the fourth place, fills the &s;oule with joy, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.8. <HI>Joy un&s;peakable, and full of glory.</HI> What can a &s;oule de&s;ire more, than to dwell con|tinually in the love of God; When the &s;oule is &s;atisfied from its union with God, and its dwelling in God, that all the admi|ni&s;trations and makings forth of God, is love unto it! And thus it dwels in love, and from hence is filled with joy, it cau|&s;eth the &s;oule alwayes to dwell at the right hand of God, where is <HI>joy and plea&s;ure for evermore.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, in a word to conclude, the effect of faith is &s;uch, as that God by it workes up the &s;oule to an internall and externall conformity to Chri&s;t in &s;ome mea&s;ure, with a &s;pirituall and eternall conformity in perfection in another world, 1 <HI>John</HI> 3.
<PB N="35" REF="22"> 1, 2.3. <HI>Phil.</HI> 3.19. where faith &s;hall cea&s;e, and love and unity be made perfect, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.13.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT. VI.</HI> Wherein is the condition of per&s;ons re&s;tored by Chri&s;t, and their union with God, di&s;|covered?</HEAD>
<P>THe Re&s;tauration of per&s;ons by Chri&s;t may be con&s;idered, 1. either exter|nall and generall: or el&s;e 2. more &s;peciall and &s;pirituall.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, externally and generally, and that hath a relation to a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l, it is as ye have heard formerly, 1. A condition of being in the world: 2. A condition of po&s;&s;ibility of a &s;pirituall and eternall well-being in God, if God in his S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nne draw up the &s;oule to him&s;elfe, <HI>John</HI> 6.44.</P>
<P>But &s;econdly, and that I principally in|tend, is the more &s;peciall and &s;piritual con|dition of &s;oules thus drawn up to God in Chri&s;t; it is not onely a re&s;tauration to the condition of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> with re|lation to a freedome from &s;in. This every
<PB N="36" REF="23"> belee|ver enjoyes by Chri&s;t a freedome, a ju&s;tifi|cation from &s;in: But &s;econdly, every &s;oule drawn up out of it &s;elfe to God, is brought into the condition of the &s;econd <HI>Adam;</HI> which is a condition as far above the fir&s;t, as the heaven is above the earth: For, <HI>the fir&s;t man is of the earth, earthy; the &s;econd Man is the Lord from Heaven: And as all men have born the Image of the earthy, &s;o tho&s;e who beleeve, beare the Image of the heavenly; &amp; as is the heavenly, &s;uch are all they that are heavenly,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.47, 48, 49. And wherein Chri&s;t exceedes the fir&s;t <HI>A|dam,</HI> therein beleevers exceed; for they are as he is, even in this world. 1 <HI>Iohn</HI> 4.17.</P>
<P>Now the condition of Chri&s;t, and &s;o the Saints, exceeds the condition of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> not onely in their being upheld by God; but principall<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> in the&s;e foure parti|culars:</P>
<P N="1">1. In their &s;pirituall relations unto God: Chri&s;t, and &s;o all beleevers are related to the Father as Sons, and that not onely by creation, as the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> or naturall ge|neration: but fir&s;t Chri&s;t a Son by a &s;piri|tuall proceeding and comming forth from the Father, who was eternally one in the Father, and &s;o in him all beleevers are
<PB N="37" REF="23"> made by the &s;ame Spirit, the adopted Sons of God, being made partakers of the &s;ame divine Nature. <HI>Adams</HI> Son&s;hip was in the fle&s;h by creation, or in the Spirit by rege|neration, and the Spirit of adoption; which is indeed a my&s;tery to all naturall men, and worthy to be looked into and known of all the &s;onnes and daughters of Syon, 1 <HI>Iohn</HI> 3.1, 2, 3. <HI>Behold what manner of love is this, that we &s;h uld be called the &s;onnes of God.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Relation of Chri&s;t, and &s;o of the Saints as of &s;ons, &s;o of a &s;pirituall union with God, not onely a union by way of peace, but a union of Spirit: thus was the Father and the Son, one, <HI>Iohn</HI> 14.10, 11, <HI>Iohn</HI> 10.30. <HI>I and the Father are one.</HI> And thus are all the Saints one in the Father and the Son, and in and with each other in the Spirit, <HI>Iohn</HI> 17.21. It was a part of the prayer of Chri&s;t, who was heard in all things he asked, <HI>That they al&s;o may be one in us.</HI> Now the union of the Father, Sonne and Saints, may be con&s;idered, either as fir&s;t a union of &s;pirits; The Lord powred down of his Spirit abundantly upon the Lord Je|&s;us, according to that glorious prophe&s;ie, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 11.2 <HI>And the Spirit of the Lord &s;hall rest upon him, the &s;pirit of Wi&s;dome and un|der&s;tanding,
<PB N="38" REF="24"> the &s;pirit of coun&s;ell and might, the &s;pirit of knowledge and the feare of the Lord.</HI> And this was fulfilled when Chri&s;t was baptized, <HI>Matth.</HI> 3.16 <HI>Iohn</HI> 1.22, 23. Of this &s;pirit are the Saints made parta|kers, <HI>Iohn</HI> 14.16, 17. <HI>I,</HI> &s;aith Chri&s;t, <HI>will pray the Father, and he &s;hall give you another Comforter, and he &s;hall abide with you for e|ver, even the &s;pirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive.</HI> This Spirit of Chri&s;t, or this &s;pirituall anoynting, is that which every &s;on and daughter of God are made parta|kers of, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.9. <HI>Now if any man have not the Spirit of Chri&s;t, he is none of his.</HI> Chri&s;t dwels &s;piritually in all the Saints, Chri&s;t is in you, except yee bee reprobates. Therefore it concernes all who profe&s;&s;e them&s;elves to bee Chri&s;tians, to examine them&s;elves: It is much to bee feared that there are exceeding many carnall Chri&s;ti|ans, I mean, that bear the name of Chri&s;ti|ans, and that in a more than a common and ordinary way. <HI>And if Chri&s;t be in you, Rom.</HI> 8.10. <HI>the body is dead becau&s;e of &s;inne,</HI> that is, the body is a dead and &s;infull body, and cannot act toward God; and if Chri&s;t be in you, you &s;hall be &s;en&s;ible of it. Never a &s;oule wherein Chri&s;ts dwels, but is &s;en&s;ible
<PB N="39" REF="24"> of its own deadne&s;&s;e, through the dwel|ling of Chri&s;t there, <HI>Col.</HI> 3.8. ye are dead (&s;aith the Apo&s;tle) and your life is hid with God in Chri&s;t: but the &s;pirit is life becau&s;e of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, that &s;pirit of Je&s;us, that adopteth &s;ons to the Father in him, and hath di&s;covered and made the &s;oule partaker of the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him: lives and acts continu|ally in the &s;pirituall Chri&s;tian. Hence it is, the Apo&s;tle could &s;ay by experience, <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.20. I live, yet not I, but Chri&s;t lives in me: Thus are the Saints made par|takers of the &s;ame &s;pirit of life that was in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.17. he that is joyned to the Lord is one &s;pirit, of the &s;ame annoyntings, and the annoyntings that ye have received &s;hall teach you all things, 1 <HI>Iohn</HI> 2.27.</P>
<P N="2">2. They that are joyned to the Lord, are made partakers of the &s;ame power: there is a union with the Father in his power, the &s;pirit of Might was powred upon Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and he &s;tood in the power of the Father: as he came forth in the wi&s;dome of the Father, &s;o he acted by the power of the Father, and this power the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> never had,
<PB N="40" REF="25"> and as Chri&s;t the head was upheld in the Fathers power, he was annointed with the holy &s;pirit and with power, <HI>Act.</HI> 10.38. All power in heaven and earth was given to him, &s;o that he &s;tood in the power and &s;trength of the Almighty (and this did not the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> if he had, then he had not fallen) he is called, <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 9. the mighty God, the everla&s;ting Father, the Prince of Peace, &s;o that he &s;tands while God &s;tands: So likewi&s;e this is the condition of all the Sain<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s, &s;piritu|ally made one with God in him, the &s;ame power upholds them that upheld Chri&s;t, they are kept by the power of God un|to Salvation, Gods power is become the Saints power: A glorious word of com|fort for the Sons and Daughters of Syon, with relation to aff<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ictions, either exter|nall or internall, they &s;tand not in their own &s;trength, they are not founded up|on their own bottome, they are out of them&s;elves, the power of God is theirs, and they may conclude with comfort, that while God &s;tands, they &s;hall &s;tand, he hath promi&s;ed to be with his in aff<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">icti|on, to uphold them, to comfort them, to carry them through in his bo&s;ome: If the
<PB N="41" REF="25"> Saynts were but &s;en&s;ible of this truth, that the power of God is for them; it is that would exceedingly helpe them a|gain&s;t the feare of fa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ling. 2. Con&s;ider this might be a warning to the Saints, to take heede of acting in their own pow|er, but in all undertakings, to &s;ee them|&s;elves acted by a power above them|&s;elves.</P>
<P N="3">3. As there is a union of &s;pirits, a u|nion of power; &s;o there is a union in wi&s;dome, the wi&s;dome of God is become the Saints wi&s;dom, and that not as in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam;</HI> he was made partaker of wi&s;dome, God imparted wi&s;dome unto him, &s;o as to make him a rea&s;onable man humane wi do~e according to his humane nature; &s;o that here dwelt in him, as you have h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d formerly, a humane perfecti|on in this par icular: but the &s;econd <HI>A|dam,</HI> Chri&s;t, was not onely made partaker of the guifts of wi&s;dome; but he was the very wi&s;dome of the Father, he was both the power and the wi&s;dome of God, he had the &s;pirit of wi&s;dome powred down upon him, he dwelt in the Fathers bo|&s;ome, and lived in the knowledge of the whole Councel of God, and from hence
<PB N="42" REF="26"> he never did his own will, but the will of the Father, and as Chri&s;t, &s;o all the Saints are made one in this wi&s;dome Chri&s;t who is the wi&s;dome of God is made unto us, wi&s;dome, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.30. not onely by way of imputation, but by the operation of the &s;ame &s;pirit, who dwells as truly in every beleever as in Chri&s;t, and as the wi&s;dome of the &s;pirit increa&s;eth, &s;o the wi&s;dome of the fle&s;h decrea&s;eth: that wi&s;dome in the fir&s;t <HI>A|dam</HI> was a humane wi&s;dome, this a &s;pi|rituall and heavenly wi&s;dome, this wi&s;|dome de&s;troyes that wi&s;dome: that is, in the things of God, he de&s;troyes the wi&s;dome of the wi&s;e, and brings to nought the under&s;tanding of the pru|dent: that wi&s;dome &s;ets the creature a-working; this, &s;ets the creature a belee|ving: that wi&s;dome carried on the crea|ture in its own power; this &s;pirituall wi&s;dome &s;ets the creature out of him&s;elfe in the power of God: that wi&s;dome car|ried on the creature to the an&s;wering of God in the letter; (and yet in all comes &s;hort) this wi&s;dome carries on the &s;oule, where it dwells, not after the oldne&s;&s;e of the letter, but after the newne&s;&s;e of the
<PB N="43" REF="26"> &s;pirit: In a word, that wi&s;dome could not helpe to the knowledge of God in the &s;pirit; this doth, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1. after that in the wi&s;dome of God, the world (<HI>viz.</HI> in the wi&s;dome of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI>) by wi&s;dome knew not God, but the wi&s;|dome of Chri&s;t teacheth the &s;piritual knowledge of God, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.12.14, 15, 16. Hence it is, that tho&s;e who are taught of God, de&s;pi&s;e the worlds wi&s;dome, and are content to be fooles to the world, and in the worlds eyes, that they may be wi&s;e in God. Hence it is likewi&s;e, that &s;o many Ignorants, in the wi&s;e and learned mens account, are made partakers of the know|ledge of God in the my&s;tery; which (in|deed) according to the Word of the Apo|&s;tle, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.27. Confounds the wi&s;e and learned, and mighty things of the world: this being a truth; that Saints are made one in the wi&s;dome of the Father: How &s;hould this, in the fir&s;t place, incourage them to look up to the Lord, for the more full enjoyment of this &s;pirituall wi&s;dome; that as they are made one in the wi&s;dome of God, &s;o they might live in the &s;ame wi&s;dome; and from a deep &s;ence of their own folly, to look unto the Lord for con|tinuall
<PB N="44" REF="27"> teachings, and leadings forth in the Spirit, expecting that promi&s;e to be fulfil|led, thou &s;halt heare a voyce behind thee, &s;aying; <HI>This is the way, walk in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t, when thou turne&s;t to the right hand or to the left.</HI> 2 This might bee a ground of comfort to the Saints, in all their walkings with God; the wi&s;dome of God is theirs, that GOD, with, and in, whom they are made one, is their wi&s;dome; and in the conclu&s;ion, they &s;hall be &s;wallowed up in the perfection of it, as Chri&s;t him&s;elf, 1 <HI>Iohn</HI> 3.2. 3 This might an&s;wer that fooli&s;h opinion of the world, who look upon the mo&s;t Spirituall Saints, as the wor&s;t Fooles in the world: It is true, the wi&s;dome of God is folly with men; but if they could looke with a &s;pirituall eye, they &s;hould &s;ee, that tho&s;e people, are the only wi&s;e people, wi&s;e in God; and tho&s;e who live below upon Creatures, and things that will not, nor cannot &s;atisfie, are (indeed) in Gods ac|count, the only fooles, and they them&s;elves &s;hall bee driven to confe&s;&s;e it one day. 4 Chri&s;t and the Saints are made one with God in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; Gods righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e was Chri&s;ts righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e: for the fulne&s;&s;e of the God-head dwelt in him bo|dily;
<PB N="45" REF="27"> He was filled with the &s;pirituall in|dwellings of God, who continually acted him according to the divine plea&s;ure; and as the &s;econd man was made one in the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the Father; &s;o are all the Saints made one in the &s;ame righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e: he was made &s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ne for us, that wee might be made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.21.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> How may the Sa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nts be &s;aid to be the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e f God, in Chri&s;t?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Either, Fir&s;t in the Letter; or &s;econdly, in the Spirit. Fir&s;t, in the Letter, there is a righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e pre&s;ented, which is the fir&s;t thing &s;inners are made parta|kers of; that is, the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of a Chri&s;t, dying upon the Cro&s;&s;e, making &s;a|tisfaction to the letter of the law, and to the Con&s;cience troubled, by rea&s;on of that letter, which is (indeed) the cau&s;e of &s;inne; for where no law is, there is no tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ion: Now, Chri&s;t dying upon the Cro&s;&s;e, &s;atisfies the Law; and likewi&s;e upon the &s;ight &amp; applicatio~ of him, &s;ati fies the trou|bled Con&s;cience. This is the fir&s;t righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e God di&s;covers to the &s;oules of &s;inners, and by Faith makes them parta|kers of it, and this is called the righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e
<PB N="46" REF="28"> of God, becau&s;e God gave forth his &s;onne, inabled him to go through, and by his &s;uffering, to obtaine &s;uch a righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e for his people, that might both &s;ati&s;|fie the law tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed, and the Con&s;ci|ence of man tran&s;gre&s;&s;ing.</P>
<P>Secondly, in the Spirit, the Saints are made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God; that is, God, now as in Chri&s;t, dwells and acts in his Saints by his Spirit, writes his law in their hearts, makes them partakers of his own nature, and &s;o goes on in fulfilling his own righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e in them: For, the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the law in the Spirit is fulfilled in us, a&s;well as the law in the let|ter for us who walke not after the fle&s;h; that is, after the law in the letter, but after the Spirit of Chri&s;t who dwells in us, and acts according to its own plea&s;ure, and &s;o by degrees drawes up the &s;pirits of his people to him&s;elf, untill at la&s;t, they are &s;wallowed up in the fulne&s;&s;e of the righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in the Spirit, and bee made wholly and for ever one in the Fa|ther with Chri&s;t, 1 <HI>Iohn</HI> 1.2. A glorious my&s;terious truth, meet to be known of all &s;pirituall Ones; this is the top of the Saints glory, and their height of &s;pirituall
<PB N="47" REF="28"> perfection, the knowledge and enjoyment of this &s;pirituall Onene&s;&s;e in the Father, &amp; in the &s;onne, 1 <HI>John</HI> 2.24</P>
<P N="5">5 There is an Onene&s;&s;e in love and de|light between the Father, Son, and Saints: the Fathers love and delight is in his Son, and Saints, <HI>Matth.</HI> 3.17. <HI>This is my belo|ved Son, in whom</HI> I <HI>am well plea&s;ed;</HI> well plea&s;ed with his Son, and with his Saints in his Son. Hence the Lord &s;peaking after the manner of men, is &s;aid to delight and &s;ing, and rejoyce over his people, even as the Bride-groom rejoyceth over the Bride, <HI>E&s;a</HI> 62.5. <HI>Zeph.</HI> 3.17. to rejoyce even with joy and &s;inging: So likewi&s;e it is the de|light and joy of the Saints to live in the Fathers love, the very thoughts of it is precious, and the enjoyment of it, excee|ding glorious: though the &s;oule &s;eemes to come &s;hort of the perfection of that en|joyment in this world; yet what it &s;ees and enjoyes, with the expectation of per|fection in another world, fills the &s;oule with joy un&s;peakable, and full of glory; and now as the &s;oule dwels in the Fathers love, delight, and joy; &s;o likewi&s;e, it dwels in the Fathers will, and it delights in, and is well plea&s;ed with, the wil of the Father,
<PB N="48" REF="29"> it can &s;ay with Chri&s;t, what ever tempta|tion pre&s;ents it &s;elf; <HI>yet not my will, but thy will be done,</HI> &s;uch is the Onene&s;&s;e betweene the Fa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">her, Sonne, a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d Saints, they de|light &amp; take plea&s;ure in each other.</P>
<P N="6">6. There is a union in g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ory like wi&s;e; the Fathers glory is the Sonnes glory, and the Sonnes glory is the Saints glory, what this glory &s;hall be is unconceivable and unexpre&s;&s;able: to go about to expre&s;&s;e it either with tongue or pen, would ra|ther darken it than illu&s;trate it: yet, a word by the way; The perfection of the Saints glory &s;hall be the enjoyment of all things in God, who is, and &s;hall be, their everla&s;ting fulne&s;&s;e in the &s;pirit. Tho&s;e who dreame of a Kingdome after the fle&s;h, or of any externall plea&s;ures in the highe&s;t mea&s;ure, di&s;cover them&s;elves, to have exceeding carnall thoughts of the Saints glory: It is true, they &s;hall have a Kingdome, but a &s;pirituall one, &s;o called, becau&s;e injoying all &s;pirituall &s;atisfacti|ons in the Fountaine, when the body and all the whole internall and externall part of man &s;hall be turned into &s;pirit, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.44. <HI>And our vild body &s;hall be chang|ed and made like his glorious body.</HI> In a
<PB N="49" REF="29"> word; Such is the Saints glory, and &s;hall be in the perfection of it, through their u|nion with God in Chri&s;t; that wee mu&s;t conclude with 1 <HI>Iohn</HI> 3.2. We are already the &s;ons of God; but it doth not yet ap|pear what we &s;hal be. But this we know, when Chri&s;t &s;hall appeare, wee &s;hall bee made like unto him; and this is enough for us to know: And as there is an One|ne&s;&s;e between Father, Son, and Saints; &s;o likewi&s;e there is a &s;piritual union between the Saints: This was Chri&s;ts prayer, who was heard in all things hee prayed for; that the Saints might be one, as he him&s;elf was one, in, and with the Father: the uni|on of the Saints, is not a carnal union, but a &s;pirituall: they who are joyned to the Lord, are one &s;pirit.</P>
<P><HI>V&s;e</HI> 1. To incourage all the Saints to pre&s;&s;e forward in the power of the Lord, after a farther knowledge, and injoyment of this &s;pirituall union with the Lord, and with the Saints: Truly friends, as this was not only the re&s;olution of the Apo|&s;tle him&s;elf, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3. but his prayer for the Ephe&s;ians, 1.16, 17. That the God of our Lord Je&s;us, the Father of glory, might give unto them the &s;pirit of wi&s;dome, in
<PB N="50" REF="30"> the Revelation of him, that their eyes be|ing inlightened, they might know what was the hope of their calling, &amp; the riches of his glorious inheritance in the Saints: &s;o is it my de&s;ire, not only to pre&s;&s;e for|ward in the power of God, after the knowledge of this my&s;tery; but that all the Saints might live in the knowledge of it, that their hearts might bee comfort|ed together, being knit together in the &s;pi|rit of unity and love. The effects of the knowledge of this ble&s;&s;ed union will prove exceeding glorious.</P>
<P N="1">1 It is that will produce a glorious &s;pi|rituall communion, and fellow&s;hip with the Father, Son, and Saints; union alwayes being that which produceth communion, even a civill union after the fle&s;h; when once the Lord &s;aith, concerning man and woman, <HI>they are no more twaine, but one fle&s;h,</HI> that produceth fellow&s;hip and com|munion after the fle&s;h: &s;o likewi&s;e, and much more doth a &s;pirituall union pro|duce a &s;pirituall communion and fellow|&s;hip; a fellow&s;hip and communion with the Father and the Son, in all his admini|&s;trations, in all the wayes and acts of his providence, civill or &s;pirituall: the &s;piri|tuall
<PB N="51" REF="30"> Chri&s;tian enjoyes God in all, 1 <HI>Iohn</HI> 1.3. Our fellow&s;hip is with the Father &amp; his &s;on Je&s;us Chri&s;t (Chri&s;t and the Saints from their union with each other.)</P>
<P N="1">1 They dwell together in the &s;pirit, they are his hou&s;e, and he dwels in them; the Temples of the holy &s;pirit, and they dwell in him: they who dwell in God, dwell in love.</P>
<P N="2">2 They enter together in the &s;pirit, eate, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly; the Lord takes as it were &s;pirituall &s;atisfacti|on in his Saints, and they take &s;piritual &s;a|tisfaction in the Lord; it is their life to live in the enjoyment of him.</P>
<P N="3">3 They walk together in the &s;pirit, they have their garden and galleries, and plea|&s;ant delights.</P>
<P N="4">4 They talk together, and commune with each other in the &s;pirit, the Lord he makes forth him&s;elf in the &s;piritual di&s;co|veries of his love to his Saints, &amp; the~ they are carryed forth to tell him of it, to ad|mire him in it, and to prai&s;e him for it: and thus there is many a &s;weet confe|rence, and heart-di&s;covery betweene the Lord, and a &s;pirituall Chri&s;tian, which makes the &s;oule to revive within it &s;elfe.</P>
<P N="5"><PB N="52" REF="31">5 Chri&s;t and the Saints lye down toge|ther in the &s;pirit, and take their fill of love each with other, they &s;leep, as it were, in the bo&s;ome of each other, and &s;o they re&s;t them&s;elves in love. And this likewi&s;e pro|duceth fellow&s;hip among&s;t Saints, a fel|low&s;hip in &s;pirituals, a fellow&s;hip in tem|porals, and they continued in the Apo&s;tles Doctrine, &amp; fellow&s;hip, in breaking bread and prayer, &amp; breaking bread from hou&s;e to hou&s;e, being filled with gladne&s;&s;e and &s;inglene&s;&s;e of heart, <HI>Act.</HI> 2. and they who beleeved had all things commune, a com|munity as well as a unity; that is, &s;o far forth, as need is, and cals for it; &s;o in guifts; &s;o in all things. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.22. <HI>All is yours, Paul, Apollo,</HI> &amp; <HI>Cephas,</HI> And &s;e|condly, the knowledge of this &s;pirituall glorious onene&s;&s;e which the Father, pro|duceth an exceeding earne&s;t de&s;ire in the &s;oule enjoying of it; to live more &amp; more in that glory. What is the rea&s;on Profe&s;|&s;ors content them&s;elues to be &s;o low, &s;o carnall in their minds; but becau&s;e they were never acquainted with, nor enjoyed higher things? but the Apo&s;tle who had &s;een and ta&s;ted of that glory, forgets all be|hind, and pre&s;&s;eth forward; if &s;o be, that he
<PB N="53" REF="31"> might obtaine the re&s;urrection of the dead, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3. and apprehend that for which he was apprehended, that love, that grace, that God who had apprehended him. Certainly, that &s;oule who hath once ta&s;ted how good, how gracious the Lord is, in the &s;pirit, can never be &s;atisfied with the knowledge of him, in the Letter. 3 The knowledge of this &s;piritual union with God produceth an acting more in and af|ter the &s;pirit of God: How doth the crea|ture &s;et it &s;elf a-work, and acts it &s;elf even in the Letter of the Go&s;pel, a&s;wel as for|merly in the Letter of the Law, for want of knowledge of the union in the &s;piritual power of the Lord! although without Chri&s;t, that is not being acted by Chri&s;t; we can do nothing; the Creature being un|acquainted with that &s;piritual my&s;tical u|nion with God, acts him&s;elf in the things of God. 4 The knowledge of this &s;piritual union with God, produceth the killing &amp; crucifying of that earthly part: nothing kils and de&s;troyes the fle&s;h, but the grow|ing up in the &s;pirit. Oh! how would the &s;oule many times be content to undergoe any thing, &s;o it might bee rid of pride and &s;elfe, and tho&s;e fle&s;hly corruptions; and
<PB N="54" REF="32"> why? it is the growing up in the &s;pirit, that de&s;troyes the fle&s;h: the more you live in and after the &s;pirit, the le&s;&s;e, after the fle&s;h. 5 It is that will help us to know Chri&s;t and the Saints, more in and after the &s;pirit, and le&s;&s;e after the fle&s;h, and &s;o wil produce a more &s;piritual communion among&s;t all the &s;piritual Saints of Je&s;us. 6 And la&s;tly, it is that wil make the thoughts of a change exceeding &s;weet, be|cau&s;e the &s;oule lives in expectation of a glorious freedome from &s;inne and &s;orrow, and a full perfection of &s;piritual and eter|nal glory, therefore it can be contented to be di&s;&s;olved, and to be with Chri&s;t, which is be&s;t of all, where it &s;hal for ever live in the continual admiration of, and glorying in the &s;piritual enjoyment of God, who&s;e work &s;hal bee everla&s;tingly and fully to enjoy, and freely to &s;ing pray&s;es unto the Lord.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="section">
<PB N="55" REF="32">
<HEAD><HI>SECTION. VII.</HI> Wherein is declared what the Law is, and what the Go&s;pel is; with the difference betwee<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> them both in the Letter, and in the Spirit.</HEAD>
<P>THE Law in the Letter is a rule of life an&s;werable to tho&s;e moral principles of nature left in man &s;ince his fall; the &s;ub&s;tance of which Law was written in the heart of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> and was con|tained in that Verbal word; <HI>In the day thou eate&s;t, thou &s;halt dye the death:</HI> Man having yet the principles of that Law remaining in him. God having by the promi&s;ed Me&s;|&s;iah given a farther being to Mankind in the world; hee gives forth the righteous Law more at large in the Letter, that &s;o his Creatures might have a rule in the let|ter to walk by, and likewi&s;e might bee the more &s;en&s;ible of the lo&s;&s;e of both; that principle and power they had once in <HI>A|dam,</HI> given unto them; and likewi&s;e with it, gives, though not the &s;ame power, yet the &s;ame promi&s;e of external life in the Land, God gives them. 2 The Law was that by which &s;in came: that is, by which
<PB N="56" REF="33"> &s;in became &s;infull: For it is true, had not God given a Law; yet' man would have been acting contrary to the pure mind of God: therefore he giues a Law, that &s;inne might become out or mea&s;ure &s;inful, and it was added, becau&s;e or tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion; for where no law is, there is no tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion: For, by the Law, was the knowledge of &s;inne, and &s;o it was an Admini&s;tration of death, both in the hands of <HI>Adam,</HI> as wel as <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3 6, 7.</P>
<P N="3">3 The Law in the Letter was an Image or Character of that &s;piritual righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e, God intended to bring in by Je&s;us Chri&s;t: Aas <HI>Adam</HI> was an Image of that &s;piritual perfection God intended to make his partakers of in the &s;pirit by Chri&s;t; So this Law in the Letter was a rule an&s;we|rable to that moral principle of righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e in <HI>Adam,</HI> and a Character likewi&s;e of that &s;piritual righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e that every beleever attaines in Chri&s;t: the righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e of the Law in the Letter, was not that beleevers enjoy in Chri&s;t; but that righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e <HI>Adam</HI> injoyed in his &s;tate of innocencie. It was not the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God; but a Character of that righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e, holine&s;&s;e, and purity, that all belee|vers
<PB N="57" REF="33"> are made partakers of in the &s;pirit: It was not that righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, by which God intended to give life and glory eter|nally; but &s;uch a righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e which had external promi&s;es annexed unto it: For, if there had been a Law given, that could haue given life; then righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e had been by the Law. Wherefore, I coclude, that the Law in the Letter was but a cha|racter of the &s;piritual righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, which is the life of the Saints, and that by which God never intended to ju|&s;tifie any to Eternity: For, the Law in the Letter killeth, not ju&s;tifieth; but the &s;pi|it giveth life, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.6. The Law was gi|ven to <HI>Adam</HI> in th Letter, and <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was he Mini&s;ter of the Law in the Letter, but, Chri&s;t is the Mini&s;ter of the Law in the &s;pirit: Therefore <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;aith him&s;elfe, <HI>A Prophet &s;hall the Lord your God rai&s;e up, unto you, like unto me, him &s;hall you heare in all things, Acts</HI> 3.22, 23. <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.15.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> It is &s;aid, <HI>Rom.</HI> 15.8. that <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t was the Mini&s;ter of Circumoi&s;ion.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> True, hee was the Mini&s;ter of it for the truth of God, to confirme the promi&s;es made unto <HI>Abraham,</HI> he was a Mini&s;ter of it, &s;o as to fulfill the truth held
<PB N="58" REF="34"> forth in it: So the word Mini&s;ter <HI>(Diaco|nos)</HI> &s;ignifies, God having promi&s;ed Chri&s;t to come of the &s;eed of <HI>Abraham,</HI> he gives forth circumci&s;ion, and divers other ordinances, as Types repre&s;enting him, and he is the Mini&s;ter of all, to act and fulfill all, and to bee the &s;ub&s;tance of all tho&s;e types for the truth of God: El&s;e God had not been true in his promi&s;es, neither had &s;alvation been obtained either by the Fa|thers, to whom the promi&s;es were made, or the Gentiles who were a-farre off, and likewi&s;e included in the promi&s;es: There|fore hee was the Mini&s;ter of circumci&s;ion for the truth of God, to confirme the pro|mi&s;es unto the Fathers, and likewi&s;e that the Gentiles might glorifie God for his mercy: Not &s;o much a Mini&s;ter in the gi|ving forth of it; but in the fulfilling of it, which gives occa&s;ion to the Gentiles to re|joyce and prai&s;e the Lord.</P>
<P><HI>Object. Paul</HI> applieth the words of <HI>Mo|&s;es</HI> in the Law, <HI>Deut.</HI> 30.12, 13, 14. <HI>Rom.</HI> 10.6, 7, 8. to be the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of faith, <HI>The righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of faith &s;peaketh on this wi&s;e.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> It is true, that Chri&s;t and the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the Go&s;pel, was included
<PB N="59" REF="34"> in the Law. There was a literall or externall righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e expre&s;&s;ed in the letter, to which were externall promi&s;es annexed: but there was a &s;pirituall and internall righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e included, which, onely be|leevers were made partakers of, which was a righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e brought in by Chri&s;t, and obtained by faith, which is the law in the Spirit, or that &s;pirituall righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, that beleevers are made partakers of, which is the &s;econd thing propounded, what the Law in the &s;pirit, is.</P>
<P>Secondly, the Law in the &s;pirit, or the &s;pirituall righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e contained in the Law, as you have already heard, is the righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, which every beleever is made partaker of. Note the&s;e two words for the more full clearing of it.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that there was a &s;pirituall righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e included my&s;tically in the letter of the Law, which none ever &s;aw into; but tho&s;e &s;piritually enlightned. <HI>Paul</HI> had ex|perience of it, <HI>Rom.</HI> 7.14. <HI>For we know that the Law is &s;pirituall, but I am carnall.</HI> The Law in the Letter was not &s;pirituall: For the &s;ame Apo&s;tle could &s;ay, that he walked concerning the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the Law in the letter, <HI>blamele&s;&s;e, Phil.</HI> 3. yet he call<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="60" REF="35"> it, <HI>a fle&s;hly walking: If any man had cau&s;e of glorying in the fle&s;h, I much more.</HI> And he &s;aith, he <HI>was alive once without the Law; but when the commandement came, &s;in revi|ved, and I dyed, Rom.</HI> 7.9. alive, without the Law, in the &s;pirit; for, he was not with|out the Law, in the letter: by that it was he judged him&s;elfe to be alive; he walked concerning that, blamele&s;&s;e; but when the commandement came, that is, when the &s;piritual righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the law was un|folded, which was no le&s;&s;e than the righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God; then he &s;aw how &s;hort he came of that righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e: hee was yet but in the letter, in the fle&s;h, and not in the &s;pirit; <HI>Then &s;in revived, I died</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, that this Law in the &s;pirit, is that &s;pirituall righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, that beleevers are made partakers of, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.6. <HI>The letter killeth, but the &s;pirit giveth life.</HI> The letter killeth, the letter requireth an exact and perfect obedience, which none was able to performe; and &s;o, the very let|ter of the Law did kill. So at fir&s;t it kil|led <HI>Adam</HI> and all his po&s;terity; and &s;o it killed the Jewes, being given forth in a more large way; for it was <HI>the admini&s;tra|tion of death: but the Spirit giveth life,</HI> viz.
<PB N="61" REF="35"> the Lord Je&s;us, the &s;pirit and &s;ub&s;tance of the Law, both morall and ceremoniall; for <HI>the fir&s;t man was made a living &s;oule,</HI> to an|&s;wer a morall righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; <HI>the &s;econd was made a quickning &s;pirit,</HI> to give life to tho&s;e, dead in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam:</HI> And as the Father hath life in him&s;elfe; &s;o hath he given to the Son to have life in him&s;elfe, and hee quickneth whom he will, <HI>John</HI> 5. The Law, in the letter killeth; the law, in the &s;pirit, quickneth: Therefore Chri&s;t &s;aith, <HI>I came not to de&s;troy, but to &s;ave, Iohn</HI> 12.47.</P>
<P>Secondly, what the Go&s;pel is, There is likewi&s;e the Go&s;pel in the Letter, and the Go&s;pel in the Spirit: The Go&s;pel in the letter; which properly doth &s;ignifie <HI>glad tidings:</HI> and this Go&s;pel is to goe forth a|mong&s;t all; but none are made partakers of it in the &s;pirit, but beleevers: All are made partakers of it in the letter, it is glad tidings to all; and that in a double &s;en&s;e: 1. It is glad tidings to all; for, all have a Being by it: it is that which hath made peace for all; an external peace, in taking a|way that pre&s;ent cur&s;e.</P>
<P>Secondly, it is that wherein internal and external peace is held forth and propoun|ded to all, which is glad tidings; none are
<PB N="62" REF="36"> exempted in the letter, til they exempt them&s;elves through unbelief, and &s;o judge them&s;elves unworthy of eternal life.</P>
<P>Secondly, there is the Go&s;pel in the let|ter likewi&s;e, as it is a Go&s;pel of &s;piritual peace and reconciliation: And thus every beleever receives it, fir&s;t in the letter, through the power of the &s;pirit, and this is Chri&s;t in the fle&s;h, dying upon the cro&s;&s;e, taking away the condemnation of the Law in the letter. And this is that an|&s;wers the guilt of &s;in in the natural con|&s;cience; a vi&s;ible &s;atisfaction for a literal tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion: This was Gods way to take away &s;in, and this is the fir&s;t di&s;covery God makes of him&s;elf to a &s;inner, becau&s;e he is plea&s;ed to conform him&s;elfe to that way that might be&s;t &s;uit with our under&s;tan|ding, and &s;o by degrees to draw us up more in the &s;pirit unto him&s;elfe, and this is the Go&s;pel in the letter, an&s;wering the Law in the letter, and the con&s;cience trou|bled through the &s;en&s;e of &s;in, which is the fir&s;t knowledge of Chri&s;t; and is (indeed) but a knowledge after the fle&s;h, and &s;o is in the e&s;teem of the Apo&s;tle, but a carnal knowledge (that is) being compared to the &s;piritual knowledge: therefore the A|po&s;tle
<PB N="63" REF="36"> &s;aith, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3. <HI>I cannot write unto you as unto &s;pirituall, but as unto carnall, even as unto Babes in Chri&s;t.</HI> Note, I doe not &s;peak thus of the knowledge of Chri&s;t upon the Cro&s;&s;e, and the application of it, taking away the guilt of &s;in, as a low and &s;light thing in it &s;elfe: For fir&s;t, it is Gods way to &s;atisfie &s;inning &s;ouls, and &s;o none ever partake of mercy, but by this way. Secondly, it is that, being wrought by the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t, brings &s;ouls under the de|nomination of children, 1 <HI>Iohn</HI> 2.12. Thirdly, it is that by which the &s;oule en|joyes much joy and peace; who &s;o hath obtained it from the Lord, hath obtained a good degree, and much boldne&s;&s;e in the &s;pirit. Yet fourthly, God u&s;ually by this way, brings &s;ouls up into a &s;piritual union with him&s;elfe, and in compari&s;on of the &s;ouls enjoying of God in Chri&s;t, the Scrip|ture calls it <HI>a carnall or fle&s;hly knowledge:</HI> and doubtle&s;&s;e many may attain the know|ledge of the Go&s;pel in the letter, and may own a dying Chri&s;t upon the Cro&s;&s;e, and yet be but a humane faith, a literal Go&s;pel, and never truly known in the Spirit. But tho&s;e who are brought to the knowledge of and beleeving in, Chri&s;t dying upon the
<PB N="64" REF="37"> Cro&s;&s;e, by the &s;aving work of the &s;pirit, &s;hall grow up in the more &s;pirituall know|ledge of him.</P>
<P>Secondly, the Go&s;pel in the &s;pirit is the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God imparted in the &s;pi|rit to the beleever: it is the making of the beleever partaker of the &s;ame nature, of the &s;ame &s;pirit that was in Chri&s;t Je&s;us. The Go&s;pel in the &s;pirit is the &s;ame as the Law in the &s;pirit, and repre&s;ents the &s;piritual righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, with which he in|tends to cloath his people, and it is cal|led, <HI>The righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in Chri&s;t,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5. As there was a literal tran&s;gre&s;&s;i|on of the Law; &s;o there is a Go&s;pel in the letter, to an&s;wer it; &amp; a Chri&s;t dying upon the cro&s;&s;e. As there was a &s;pirituall righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e included in the Law; &s;o likewi&s;e is there a &s;piritual righteou&s;nes in the Go&s;|pel, that is, in Chri&s;t, they are both in Chri&s;t: the former righteou&s;nes is the knowledge of Chri&s;t, without, as dying, and &s;atisfying: the &s;econd, is the knowledge of Chri&s;t &s;pi|ritually formed in us, which is here done in part, and we &s;hall in the conclu&s;ion bee wholly changed, and &s;wallowed up in that &s;pirituall righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. And indeed here lies the great my&s;tery of the Go&s;pel in the&s;e three particulars.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="65" REF="37">1 God in Chri&s;t, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.16. 2 Chri&s;t &s;piritually in the Saints, <HI>Chri&s;t in you the hope of glory, Col.</HI> 1.27. 3 That ful &s;piritual change into the &s;pirit at the la&s;t day, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.15. So that this is the glad tydings of the Go&s;pel in the &s;pirit, not only that wee are made one with God, but likewi&s;e that wee are made one in God; he dwelleth in us, &amp; we dwell in him, and wee now &s;erve no longer in the oldne&s;&s;e of the letter; that is, with our old nature, in the old letter given forth to <HI>Adam,</HI> &amp; by <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to the old end, the obtaining of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, but in the newne&s;&s;e of the Spirit; that is, the renewed mind by the &s;pirit, to a new letter written in the heart, to a new end, to glorifie the name of our Lord Je&s;us, and to declare our co~formity to him in the &s;pirit. That this is in the Go&s;pel, in the &s;pirit, which the Lord Je&s;us brings up his unto by degrees; the Scriptures in the &s;piritual under&s;tanding will declare, not onely for confirmation, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.16. with <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.19, 20. In the fir&s;t, the Apo&s;tle &s;aith: <HI>Henceforth we know no man after the fle&s;h; yea, though wee have known Chri&s;t after the fle&s;h, yet henceforth we know him no more after the fle&s;h.</HI> Note fir&s;t there is a knowledge of Chri&s;t after the
<PB N="66" REF="38"> fle&s;h, even of the Saints; <HI>Although we have known Chri&s;t after the fle&s;h, yet know we him no more.</HI> Why? ver&s;. 17. <HI>If any man bee in Chri&s;t, he is a new Creature,</HI> Chri&s;t is for|med in him after the &s;pirit, and hee comes now to know a &s;piritual Chri&s;t within him, as well as a fle&s;hly Chri&s;t without him. The &s;econd Scripture &s;aith, <HI>Wee have boldne&s;&s;e to enter into the holye&s;t, by the blood of Chri&s;t, by a new and a living way, that he hath con&s;ecrated for us through the veil;</HI> that is to &s;ay, <HI>his fle&s;h:</HI> where likewi&s;e note, that the bloud of Chri&s;t is but the way in|to the holye&s;t, and the fle&s;h of Chri&s;t is the veil, through which we enter into the ho|lye&s;t; that is, into the &s;piritual and heaven|ly injoyment of God. We come fir&s;t to the fle&s;h, and &s;econdly to the &s;pirit, the fle&s;h being the way to the &s;piritual enjoyment of him, where Chri&s;t is entred already in the perfection, and will in conclu&s;ion draw all his &s;piritual Ones after him unto the &s;ame perfection, into the &s;ame glory.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> If this be the Go&s;pel in the Spi|rit, to know Chri&s;t no more after the fle&s;h, and to live in the &s;pirit, to look upon Chri&s;t as the way, in the fle&s;h, into the &s;pi|rit, or holye&s;t where he is; then what need
<PB N="67" REF="38"> of faith &s;o much &s;poken of in the Scrip|ture, <HI>the ju&s;t &s;hall live by faith, and</HI> We <HI>are ju&s;tifi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d by faith? &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. Faith may be acted not on|ly on Chri&s;t dying upon the Cro&s;&s;e, but in Chri&s;t living in the &s;oule: that is, my be|leeving that Chri&s;t is &s;piritually formed in me; as wel as that he hath dyed for me, that I am ju&s;tified in the &s;pirit, as wel as in the fle&s;h; faith hath the &s;ame object in the &s;pirit, as in the fle&s;h, to beleeve that Chri&s;t lives &s;piritually in the &s;oule, and that it &s;hal bee &s;wallowed up in the conclu&s;ion wholly in the &s;pirit.</P>
<P N="2">2 There may be often occa&s;ions to make u&s;e of faith likewi&s;e, while we are in this body of fle&s;h: although the &s;oule obtaines a good degree of the enjoyment of the &s;pi|rit, from, and in God; yet there wil bee through the pre&s;ence of corruption &s;ome &s;tirre and trouble: and this God in his wi&s;dome permits for ends be&s;t known to him&s;elfe. The Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul,</HI> who lived exceeding highly in the &s;pirit, &s;ometimes in the third heaven, that is, in the highe&s;t di&s;covery of God; yet he meets with a thorn in the fle&s;h, the me&s;&s;enger of Satan to buffet him, that was, &s;ome &s;trong lu&s;t in
<PB N="76" REF="39"> the fle&s;h, that might cau&s;e him to look down again: And the rea&s;on he renders, <HI>Le&s;t he &s;hould be exalted above mea&s;ure,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12. For, the truth is; if God &s;hould cau&s;e any one to live alwayes in heaven, that is, above all lu&s;ts and corruptions, in the highe&s;t di&s;covery and enjoyment of God; he would be ready to be lifted up a|bove mea&s;ure. Experience teacheth us as much, ready to look upon all knowledge and enjoyment, beleeve it to be nothing but carnal; therefore he brings down <HI>Paul,</HI> that he might exerci&s;e faith, and live upon grace, as well as others, <HI>My grace is &s;uffi|cient for thee, My &s;trength &s;hall be perfected in thy weakne&s;&s;e.</HI> So that notwith&s;tanding this life of a Chri&s;tian in the &s;pirit; yet there will be the u&s;e of faith alwayes ei|ther in the Spirit, or in the Letter: &s;ome|times God brings a &s;oule to live upon grace, as it was revealed by Chri&s;t in the fle&s;h, and brought home and enjoyed by the &s;pirit: when we are at home in the bo|dy, we are ab&s;ent from the Lord in the &s;pi|irit; but when we are ab&s;ent from the bo|dy, we are at home in the Lord in the &s;pirit.</P>
<P N="3">3. There is a continuall u&s;e of Faith, and
<PB N="77" REF="39"> that of the mo&s;t &s;pirituall Chri&s;tian, with relation to the perfection of our eternall injoyments: for, the Saints do not onely injoy a onene&s;&s;e with God here, and from hence much &s;pirituall and internall glory; but by faith, believes, and hope, expects that perfection of glory hereaf|ter, wherein it &s;hall be perfectly made like unto Chri&s;t, <HI>when this vile body &s;hall be changed, and made like unto his glorious body,</HI> which at pre&s;ent &s;o acts it &s;elfe even in the Saints, which prevents them even of that perfection of glory, which they by faith expect when the change comes: <HI>when Corruption, &s;hall put one Incorrupti|on, and Mortall, &s;hall put on Immortality: When this naturall body &s;hall become &s;piri|tuall;</HI> then &s;hall be fully injoyed what hath been by faith believed, and by hope expected; and of this hath the &s;pi|rituall Chri&s;tian a ta&s;te, in the &s;pirituall injoyment of God here, although not as then &s;o fully &s;wallowed up in that glory.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> But it &s;eemes that Chri&s;t in the fle&s;h is the way to Ju&s;tification and glo|ry, the way into the holye&s;t, which is heaven it &s;elfe, <HI>where none &s;hall enter till
<PB N="70" REF="40"> they are changed, but Chri&s;t who is entred already, Heb.</HI> 9.24.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> True, Chri&s;t is entred into hea|ven it &s;elfe onely in perfection, but be|leevers they enter likewi&s;e in part, <HI>viz.</HI> when they are got within the veil, that is to &s;ay, the fle&s;h; then they &s;ee into the &s;pirituall my&s;tery and man&s;ions of glory unconceivable, and indeed un-utterable, as the Apo&s;tle &s;aith; and de&s;ire to live continually within the veil, if it might be, while they are here, yet they are ray&s;ed up more and more, in the &s;pirit: and in the conclu&s;ion, &s;hall be for ever with Chri&s;t within all veiles, which was be&s;t of all; as the Law in the Letter was a veil to the Go&s;pel, both in Letter and Spiri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.14. So is the Go&s;pel in the fle&s;h a veil to the Go&s;pel in the Spi|rit, a veil through which, and within which all the Saints by degrees &s;hall ful|ly enter.</P>
<P><HI>Qu.</HI> What is the difference between the Law and the Go&s;pel?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> The difference is both in the Letter, and in the Spirit, the Go&s;pel in the Spirit is the &s;ub&s;tance of that righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;piritually included in the Law,
<PB N="71" REF="40"> as the Type, Image, or Character of that &s;pirituall &s;ub&s;tance the Saynts are parta|kers of. Hence, it is often called the Law in the Spirit, the Letter killeth, the Spi|rit giveth life, and I through the Law am dead to the Law, that I might live unto God, <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.19. that is, I through the Law of the Spirit, that is, the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in Chri&s;t, am dead to the Law in the Letter, that I might live unto God in the Spirit, and not to the Law and &s;elfe in the Letter.</P>
<P N="2">2. Difference is in the Letter of the Law, and &s;o of the Go&s;pel, and this is glorious, for the letter of the law required a righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e that was broken, death cei&s;eth on all by that meanes, the Go&s;|pel in the Letter holds forth a righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e in Chri&s;t, fulfilling the Letter of the Law &s;o that what righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is in the Law required, is obtained by Chri&s;t, and every beleever is made partaker of it, and &s;o the difference is, 1. The Law pre&s;cribes a Rule, the Go&s;pel fulfills the Rule, <HI>Mat.</HI> 5.28. The Law requires a righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, The Go&s;pel fulfills that righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e. <HI>Rom.</HI> 10.3. The Law was the
<PB N="68" REF="41"> admini&s;tration of death; the Go&s;pel, the admini&s;tration of life.</P>
<P><HI>Qu.</HI> Is not the Law in the Letter, a Rule to beleevers?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. Not as it was handed forth by <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> from Mount <HI>Sinai:</HI> &s;o it was a killing Letter; but 2. as it was taken in|to the hand of Chri&s;t, and &s;o &s;atisfied and handed forth by Chri&s;t being turned into Go&s;pel-Rules; it remaines a Rule, &s;o farre as we are in the fle&s;h, I meane, in the knowledge of Chri&s;t after the fle&s;h&punc; but as God writes his Lawes in the he<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ris of his people, and taketh them up in the &s;pirit; &s;o &s;hall they live above the Law in the Letter, even of the Go&s;pel; yet not without: for they have it within them: it is in their hearts; and &s;o they are a Law unto them&s;elves: Then the Rule in the Letter is as a &s;tay in the hand, or as a guide in the way, helping the &s;oule up to the Spirit, and then he walkes not after the fle&s;h, but after the &s;pirit, having the Law of the &s;pirit of life within him&s;elfe, guiding him in the way of holine&s;&s;e, and &s;o that Scripture is made good, 1 <HI>John</HI> 3. <HI>The annoyntings which you have received &s;hall teach you all things,
<PB N="69" REF="41"> and ye need not that any man teach you:</HI> and <HI>The &s;pirituall man judgeth all things, yet he him&s;elfe is judged of no man,</HI> 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.14.</P>
<P>Application: To incourage the Saints in the power and &s;pirit of Je&s;us to pre&s;&s;e forward after this knowledge, and injoy|ment of God in the Spirit: this was <HI>Paules</HI> re&s;olution, who had ta&s;ted of the &s;piritual di&s;coveries of God (as deeply as any) to pre&s;&s;e forward after perfection, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3. <HI>Forgetting things that are behinde, not alwayes living below.</HI> The effects of it will prove very glorious. 1. It is that by which you &s;hall be able, with the more evidence of light and truth, to judge of things that differ, the &s;pirituall man judgeth all things. 2. It is that will make the life of a Chri&s;tian exceeding glorious, carrying him through all difficulties with much &s;pirituall joy. 3. It is that will put a period to all differences and divi&s;ions among&s;t the Saints. Divi&s;ions flow from our ignorance, and dwelling &s;o much in the Leter, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.3. <HI>where|as there are among you divi&s;ions and &s;trife; are ye not carnall, and walke as men?</HI> Tho&s;e divi&s;ions, and that &s;trife among&s;t the
<PB N="74" REF="42"> Saints about things in the Le<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ter, argue that they are exceeding carnall, but this knowledge of God in the Spirit, will as a mighty Gu<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="2 letters">e &s;wallow up all tho&s;e lit|terall differences, and put an end to all &s;trife, both among particular Saints, and in the Nations. <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 2.2.3.4. <HI>When once the Mountaine of the Lords Hou&s;e (which is his Saints) comes to be e&s;tabli&s;hed on the topp of all Mountaines and Hills, that is; in the &s;pirituall injoyment of God, a|bove all carnall and fl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;hly things; then &s;hall all warres and divi&s;ions have an end, and not till then.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. It is that will cau&s;e many a glori|ous Starre to fall from heaven: many who have acted much after the Letter, will upon the di&s;coveries of the glory of God in the Spirit; fall from that light they &s;eemed to have.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="section">
<PB N="75" REF="42">
<HEAD><HI>SECTION VIII.</HI> The matter of the Church, what?</HEAD>
<P>THE Church of Chri&s;t may be con&s;i|dered either as more generall or more particular. 1. More general, and then it includes the whole body of the Saints in the &s;pirit, this of &s;ome is called the invi&s;ible Church, but to &s;peake in the Scripture-Language, it may be rather called the general or univer&s;al Church, the whole body of Saints in the Spirit, called the my&s;ticall body of Chri&s;t, be|cau&s;e of their &s;piritual union with and in Chri&s;t their head: This Church or a&s;|&s;embly (for &s;o the Greek <HI>Eccle&s;ia</HI> pro|perly &s;ignifieth) we &s;hall read of <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.22.23. ye are com<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> to Mount <HI>Sion,</HI> and unto the City of the living God, the heavenly Ieru&s;alem, and to an innumera|ble company of Angels, and to the gene|rall a&s;&s;embly or Church of the fir&s;t borne, and written in heaven, and to the &s;pirits of ju&s;t men made p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rfect; this is the Church that &s;hall be made one in glory; he generall a&s;&s;embly of Saints, the &s;pi|its of ju&s;t men, and it is that might be
<PB N="72" REF="43"> de&s;ired at pre&s;ent, that Saints Commu|nion might flow more from their union in the &s;pirit, and not altogether from the union in the letter: this is the glorious Church of Chri&s;t; and the knowledge of it in the &s;pirit, will cau&s;e Saints to own each other more in the &s;pirit. 2. The Church of Chri&s;t may be con&s;idered more particular, or a particular body, or company of Saints in the vi&s;ible pro|fe&s;&s;ion of the Go&s;pel, walking in the in|joyment of Ordinances; taking particu|lar care of each other, and building up each other in the faith: &amp; of this Church we &s;hall reade, frequent in the new Te|&s;tament; and this Church is likewi&s;e called the body of Chri&s;t, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.27. and it is not to be que&s;tioned, but that this practi&s;e is very commendable a|mong&s;t Saints: and the knowledge of God in the Spirit, and of Saints in the Spirit, will not breake or le&s;&s;en the fel|low&s;hip of particular Churches; but in|crea&s;e it, and make it to be more &s;piritu|all: for, que&s;tionles that which tends to the breach of communion and fellow&s;hips a|mong&s;t Saints, is not of God, for God is love, &amp; they who dwell in God, dwell in
<PB N="73" REF="43"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ove: it is that will increa&s;e love, and this is the more excellent way, and that which in conclu&s;ion will &s;wallow up all differences: yet one thing is much to be de&s;ired, that is, that there might be a generall union among&s;t the Saints; that tho&s;e who are &s;pirituall might not be di|vided in &s;piritual Communion, becau&s;e of &s;ome litterall differences about the u&s;e of ordinances and the like. Oh that the Lord would helpe us to beare with each other in &s;uch things! why cannot Saints in matters of difference beare with each other according to the Apo&s;tles rule? &s;eeing he that ob&s;erveth a day, ob&s;erveth it to the Lord; and he that ob&s;erveth not a day, ob&s;erveth it not to the Lord, and both give God thankes.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> But our difference is in matters of Ordinances for the mo&s;t part which God commands, and hath given them to us as priviledges;</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> True, yet they are &s;uch com|mands and priviledges as God hath given to his Servants to leade them up to him|&s;elfe in the Spirit: and what if &s;ome in|joy God gloriou&s;ly in the Spirit with|out the&s;e, and we finde them &s;piritual,
<PB N="78" REF="44"> and walking an&s;werable to the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t: why &s;hould my con&s;cience judge another mans Liberty? and why &s;hould not we hold Communion with &s;uch in the Spirit, and in the letter too, in tho&s;e things wherein there is a union? but the truth is there is too-too much err|ing at pre&s;ent upon both hands; the one judging it too carnal for any Saints to walke in the u&s;e of ordinances, which is not a truth at pre&s;ent; the other judging it incon&s;i&s;tent with the Go&s;pel, and the &s;tate of a Chri&s;tian to live without the practi&s;e and u&s;e of Ordinances; a third &s;ort there are that would &s;ubmit to Or|dinances, but want Admini&s;trators, and this is more carnal than ether of the for|mer, becau&s;e they expect that to be in a creature which is onely in God; but here &s;hould be a learning and forbearing, where the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t is.</P>
<P>A fourth &s;ort there are who put Ordi|nances upon tho&s;e not capable of them without any word at all in the letters and this is the mo&s;t carnal work of all, and &s;avours much of the earth, and of an old Te&s;tament-&s;pirit, from whence u&s;u|ally, the ground is brought, and it were
<PB N="79" REF="44"> much to be de&s;ired that the Lord would be plea&s;ed to enlighten their eyes, that they might have more &s;pirituall appre|hen&s;ion of the Go&s;pel, and the end of Go&s;pel-Ordinances: yet it &s;hould be the wi&s;dome of tho&s;e taught from a|bove, to own any thing of God where|ever they finde it: and although, it is true, there cannot be a Communion with and in things never of God pre&s;cribed; yet the &s;pirit of lov<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;hould &s;o temper <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;pirits, as that we &s;hould not bite and devoure each other; but, let as many as are &s;piri|tual, though differing in &s;ome circum|&s;tantial things in the letter, yet own each other in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he &s;piri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, impu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ing tho&s;e diffe|rences to the fle&s;h: a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d this union in the &s;pirit, the knowledge of it, will in con|clu&s;ion bring all the Saints into one &s;pi|ritual way, <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 35.9. And &s;o they &s;hall wor&s;hip God in the Spirit with one heart, <HI>Z<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ph.</HI> 3. and &s;o pu an end to di|vi&s;ions, and dividing principles which flow meerly from the fle&s;h.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="section">
<PB N="80" REF="45">
<HEAD><HI>SECTION IX.</HI> The &s;pirituall Kingdome of Chri&s;t in his Church in the latter dayes of the Go&s;|pel, di&s;covered.</HEAD>
<P>THE Kingdome of Chri&s;t hath al|wayes been, and &s;till is, &s;piritual, but in the latter dayes of the Go&s;pel, it &s;hall be much more &s;piritual and glorious than formerly with relation to the &s;ub|jects of it. For the clearing of this truth in hand, note the&s;e 4. particulars.</P>
<P N="1">1. That Chri&s;t is a King.</P>
<P N="2">2. Who are the &s;ubjects of his King|dome.</P>
<P N="3">3. That his Kingdome &s;hall increa&s;e in glory and &s;pirituallne&s;&s;e in the latter dayes.</P>
<P N="4">4. That his Kingdome is &s;piritual, and not of this world.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that Chri&s;t is King; I &s;uppo&s;e it is unque&s;tionable: all who own the Go&s;pel but in the letter, confe&s;&s;e as much in word; &s;ee a Scripture or two to con|firme it, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 2.6. The Lord &s;peaking of Chri&s;t, &s;aith, <HI>Yet have I &s;et my King upon the holy hill of Sion,</HI> notwith&s;tan|ding the rage of men, yet Chri&s;t is
<PB N="81" REF="45"> King, and will reign &s;o likewi&s;e, <HI>P&s;al</HI> 45. with <HI>Heb.</HI> 1.8. but unto the Son he &s;aith, <HI>thy Throne, O God, is for ever, and ever;</HI> a Scepter of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is the Scepter of thy Kingdome: he hath a Kingdome and a Scepter by which he rules; he is the Prince of the Kings of the earth, a King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.</P>
<P N="2">2. Who are the &s;ubjects of his King|dome; it is true, he is King over all, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, he will rule over his enemies with his Iron rod, and da&s;h them in peeces like a Potters ve&s;&s;ell; but he is in a more &s;pe|cial manner King over the Saints, and in them he lives; and &s;o rules: in them as wel as over them: he is not only King of nations, but king of Saints, <HI>Rev.</HI> 15.3. It is part of the Saints &s;ong of joy, Ju&s;t &amp; true are thy wayes O thou King of Saints: and in the Saints he reigns &s;piritually &amp; pow|erfully; for in the day of his power he maketh them a willing people: the &s;ub|jects of Chri&s;ts Kingdome are a free people: the manner how Chri&s;t reignes in and over his people, and what are his Lawes, I pa&s;&s;e it in this place, and referr you to the Kingly Office of Chri&s;t in my
<PB N="82" REF="46"> booke intituled, the exaltation of Chri&s;t in his Offices: and, and &s;o come to the 3. thing propounded; That is, that the Kingdome of Chri&s;t &s;hall increa&s;e in glo|ry and &s;piritualne&s;&s;e in the latter dayes: the glory of the Church in the latter dayes &s;hall increa&s;e, and the manife&s;tati|on of Chri&s;ts Kingly power &s;hall increa&s;e, <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 9. of the increa&s;e of his Govern|ment and Peace; there &s;hall be no end. The Churches glory &s;hall con&s;i&s;t of 2. particulars, that is external and in|ternall.</P>
<P N="1">1. External, the Church &s;hall injoy much external glory, liberty, and peace, even in the world in the latter dayes.</P>
<P><HI>Qu.</HI> Wherein &s;hall the external glo|ry of the Church con&s;i&s;t?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. In the abundance of peace and quiet, even from the men of the world, <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 66.12. I will extend peace to her, like a River, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing &s;treame: peace &s;hall be extended not onely in the Spi|rit, but in the letter likewi&s;e; for the ground of this peace is rendred in, ver&s;es 15.16. for behold the Lord will come with fire, &amp;c. <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 65.25. the
<PB N="83" REF="46"> Wolfe and the Lamb &s;hall feed together, &amp;c. they &s;hall not hurt nor de&s;troy in all my holy Mountain, &s;aith the Lord: God will take away the Wolvi&s;h di&s;po&s;i|tion of men, that they &s;hall live peaceably among&s;t the Saints, they &s;hall not hurt nor de&s;troy, &amp;c.</P>
<P N="2">2. God wil take off the &s;pirits of evil men, he will make them &s;toop and fall before the Saints, <HI>Mich.</HI> 7.16.17. <HI>The Nations &s;hall &s;ee and be confounded at all their might, they &s;hal lay their hand upon their mouth, their eares &s;hall be deaf, they &s;hall licke the du&s;t like a Serpent, they &s;hall move out of their holes like wormes of the earth, they &s;hall be afraid of the Lord our God, and &s;hall feare becau&s;e of thee.</HI> Thus will the Lord deale with his enemies in the latter dayes, he will take a|way their Chariot-wheels, and cau&s;e them to drive heavily.</P>
<P N="3">3. God wil give the Saints a good name, even among&s;t their enemies: they &s;hall be high even in the thoughts of bad men, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 65.15. <HI>And yee</HI> (to wit the Lords ene|mies) <HI>&s;hall leave your name for a cur&s;e to my cho&s;en: for the Lord will &s;lay thee, and call his &s;ervants by another name.</HI> Formerly, the Saints had a name of reproach among&s;t the
<PB N="84" REF="47"> wicked: if a man departed from iniquity, he made him&s;elfe a prey; but the Lord wil give his &s;ervants another name, even a|mong&s;t their enemies, that men &s;hall not ble&s;&s;e them&s;elves in their evill wayes; but who&s;o ble&s;&s;eth him&s;elfe in the earth, &s;hall ble&s;&s;e him&s;elfe in the God of truth.</P>
<P N="4">4. God will make his enemies in &s;tead of per&s;ecuting, to &s;erve the Saints, <HI>I&s;ai.</HI> 60.12. <HI>For the Nation and kingdome that will not &s;erve thee, &s;hall peri&s;h; yea, tho&s;e Nati|ons &s;hall be utterly wa&s;ted.</HI> Ver&s;. 14. <HI>The &s;onnes of them that afflicted thee, &s;hall come bending unto thee; and all they that de&s;pi&s;ed th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e, &s;hall bow them&s;elves down at the &s;oles of thy feet, and &s;hal call thee the Citie of the Lord.</HI> Thus you &s;ee the Churches enemies &s;hall not only acknowledge the Saints, and confe&s;&s;e them to be the Lords Citie; but bow down unto them, and do them &s;ervice.</P>
<P N="5">5. The Saints &s;hall be exceeding many, and that will adde to their externall glo|ry: Times have been, that to be a Chri&s;ti|an indeed, would have been a wonder, and he that departed from iniquity, made him|&s;elfe a prey, and &s;o were counted the off|&s;couring of all things; but now a little-one &s;hall become a thou&s;and, and a &s;mall
<PB N="85" REF="47"> one a &s;trong Nation, yea, the Lord will ha&s;ten it in his time&punc; <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.22. and ver&s;. 5. Then &s;halt thou &s;ee and flow together, and thy heart &s;hall feare and be enlarged; becau&s;e the abundance of the Sea &s;hall bee converted unto thee, the forces of the Gen|tiles &s;hall come unto thee. This, with much more, &s;hall be the eternall glory of the Church.</P>
<P>Secondly, the Church &s;hall enjoy abun|dance of internall glory in the latter dayes: both is coming on apace.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> Wherein &s;hall the Churches in|ternall glory con&s;i&s;t?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. In the abundance of &s;piritu|all light and knowledge: Much ignorance hath po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed the &s;oules, even of Saints, a long time; a veil hath been &s;pread over all Nations, both Gentile as well as Jew; but the veil &s;hall be taken away, <HI>I&s;ai.</HI> 25. <HI>And I will, &s;aith the Lord, de&s;troy or &s;wallow up in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">his mountaine,</HI> (that is, in the Church) <HI>the face of the covering ca&s;t over all people, and the veile &s;pread over all Nations.</HI> Such hath been the ignorance that hath over|&s;pread all People, and Nations, through the &s;piritual operation of the man of &s;inne; that, the my&s;tery of the Go&s;pell hath been
<PB N="86" REF="48"> hid, as it were, from us, and &s;ealed up even with &s;even &s;eales, a perfection of dark|ne&s;&s;e, that none was found worthy to open it: Humane Arts, and Creature-wi&s;dome being &s;et a-work, did but &s;o much the more darken it, and ca&s;t a veile upon it, till at la&s;t the Lord <HI>Je&s;us</HI> begins to open it him&s;elfe, and will un&s;eale it by degrees, and cau&s;e the veile to vani&s;h away, to the great glory of his &s;pirituall Ones; but to the great terror of all humani&s;ts, who were left without this &s;pirituall knowledge of Chri&s;t. See the further confirmation of this truth, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 11.9. <HI>The earth &s;hall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the &s;ea.</HI> As ignorance hath, as a veil, been &s;pread over all Nations: &s;o &s;hall the knowledge of the Lord goe forth abun|dantly throughout all Nations, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 60.17, 19, 20. <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.22, 23.</P>
<P>Secondly, that which &s;hall make for the Churches &s;pirituall glory, &s;hall be the en|joyment of a full freedome from the guilt of &s;inne; that which much troubles many a pretious &s;oule: and it was that the Apo|&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> was freed from, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. <HI>We have not received the &s;pirit of bondage to feare a|gain; but the &s;pirit of adoption whereby we
<PB N="87" REF="48"> cry, Abba, Father.</HI> And this is that the Lord hath promi&s;ed to his people in the latter day, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 33.24. <HI>And the inhabitant &s;hall not &s;ay, I am &s;ick, the people that dwell therein, &s;hall be forgiven their iniquity.</HI> Sin is the cau&s;e of &s;pirituall &s;ickne&s;&s;e: This cau&s;e &s;hall be taken away; for, <HI>they &s;hall be forgiven their iniquity; i. e.</HI> they &s;hall live in the knowledge and enjoyment of it. And from henceforth they &s;hall not &s;ay, <HI>I am &s;icke, and the voyce of crying and wee|ping &s;hall be no more heard in her, for, the for|mer things are pa&s;&s;ed away: there &s;hall bee no more &s;in nor &s;orrow, but everla&s;ting joy &s;hall be upon her head and &s;orrow and &s;ighing &s;hall pa&s;&s;e away, I&s;ai.</HI> 35.10.</P>
<P>A third thing that &s;hall make for the Saints &s;piritual glory, is the knowledge of, and enjoyment of, a &s;piritual Onene&s;&s;e with God in Chri&s;t, and each with other: al|though this be a glorious &s;piritual truth: yet it is that the Saints have lived excee|ding &s;hort in the knowledge of it; the knowledge and enjoyment of it will be exceeding glorious to the &s;piritual Chri&s;ti|an. What this union is, and wherein it con&s;i&s;ts, I referre it to what hath been &s;aid formerly in the glorious condition of
<PB N="88" REF="49"> per&s;ons in the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> above the fir&s;t.</P>
<P>A fourth thing that will make for the Saints &s;pirituall glory, is, a living above creatures and things, in the &s;pirituall en|joyment of God, whom to enjoy is life; when all things below, &s;hal bee nothing; when the &s;oule &s;hall be content to &s;uffer the lo&s;&s;e of all things, that Chri&s;t may bee <HI>all, and in all;</HI> the glorious Lord will bee unto us a place of broad rivers &amp; &s;treams, wherin &s;hal go no Gally with Oares, nor &s;hall gallant Ships pa&s;&s;e thereby, <HI>I&s;ai.</HI> 33.24. no need of rowing in creatures or things, no need of gallant &s;hips, of any thing to carry the &s;oul up unto God, or to bring God in Chri&s;t down to the &s;oule; but the glorious Lord will be <HI>all, and in all,</HI> and the &s;piritual Chri&s;tian &s;hal live in the enjoyment of him. ver&s;e 23. Then &s;hal the tacklings be for&s;aken, or loo&s;ed, they could not &s;trengthen their Ma&s;t, they &s;hal not be able, who de&s;ire it, to &s;aile any further or longer in ordinances, duties, creatures; but the great &s;poyle &s;hal be divided, and the lame take the &s;poyle, the lame contemp|tible ones, they are the people that are like to enjoy this &s;piritual glory.</P>
<PB N="89" REF="49">
<P>A fifth thing that wil make for the Saints &s;piritual glory, is a &s;piritual and in|ternal conformity unto God: they &s;hal live up in the &s;pirit, and walk after the &s;pi|rit, Chri&s;t will manife&s;t him&s;elfe &s;piritual|ly in them: the light of the Moone &s;hall be as the light of the Sunne; and the light of the Sunne &s;hall be &s;euen-fold as the light of &s;even dayes; the light of the Moon, that is, of the Church, &s;hal be as the light of the &s;un, <HI>that is,</HI> Chri&s;t the &s;onne of Righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e, who is both a Sun and a &s;hield; and the light of the &s;unne &s;hall be &s;even-fold, <HI>that is,</HI> Chri&s;t &s;hal appeare in the &s;pirit to his, conforming them to him&s;elf in the &s;pi|rit, which wil appear &s;even times more glo|rious, than formerly when we knew him after the fle&s;h. <HI>Zach.</HI> 12.8. <HI>He that is weak and feeble amongst them, &s;hal be as David;</HI> that is, <HI>Chri&s;t; David</HI> &s;hal be as God, even as the Angels of God before him: This is the glorious conformity that all the Saints &s;hal have unto Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the &s;pirit, &amp; this glorious unity and conformity unto the Law of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is that wil ap|pear at the fir&s;t &s;ight of it very terrible and dreadful to the &s;ons of men. <HI>Cant.</HI> 6.10. <HI>Who is She that looketh forth as the morning,
<PB N="90" REF="50"> faire at the Moon, cleare as the Sun, terrible as an Army with Banners:</HI> &s;uch wil bee the &s;trangene&s;&s;e of this glorious truth, that it wil not only appear terrible and dread|ful to the men of this world, but even Chri&s;t &s;ets it forth him&s;elf with a note of admiration, not as if it were &s;trange to him, but rather to di&s;cover her excellent glory; and (indeed) the Church will bee worth a looking on, &amp; her glory a &s;eeking-after, of all &s;piritual ones.</P>
<P N="4">4 Particular propounded for the clea|ring of the truth in hand, is; that the king|dome of Chri&s;t is wholly &s;piritual, and not of this world, that as formerly, &s;o in the latter dayes, the glory of his Kingdom &s;hal be in the &s;pirit, and not in the fle&s;h; it wil be &s;piritual, and not per&s;onal: for clearing of it, I &s;hal fir&s;t prove it from te&s;timony of Scripture. 2ly. By &s;piritual Arguments grounded upon Scripture. 3ly An&s;wer &s;uch Que&s;tions and Scripture-grounds, which &s;eeme to hold it forth.</P>
<P N="1">1 By te&s;timony from Scripture, it is the word of Chri&s;t him&s;elf. <HI>My Kingdom is not of this world;</HI> that is, not a fle&s;hly, and ex|ternal Kingdome over the bodies of men; but a &s;piritual and internal one; <HI>the kingdom
<PB N="91" REF="50"> of heaven is within you:</HI> So likewi&s;e, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.16. There is no more knowledge of Chri&s;t after the fle&s;h, they are too fle&s;hly thoughts for a &s;piritual Chri&s;tian. Secondly, it wil appear by &s;piritual Arguments like|wi&s;e.</P>
<P N="1">1 <HI>Argument.</HI> The &s;piritual pre&s;ence of Chri&s;t with his Saints, is the mo&s;t glorious pre&s;ence. Chri&s;t wil be mo&s;t gloriou&s;ly pre|&s;ent with his people in the latter dayes, <HI>er|go,</HI> his pre&s;ence, and &s;o his Kingdome, will be a &s;piritual pre&s;ence, and not a per&s;onal, The major Propo&s;ition is evident from Scripture, that the &s;piritual pre&s;ence of Chri&s;t, is the mo&s;t glorious pre&s;ence: This Chri&s;t tels his Di&s;ciples when he was per|&s;onally with them, <HI>Iohn</HI> 16.7. <HI>Neverthele&s;&s;e it is expedient that I go away, for if I goe not away, the Comforter wil not come unto you:</HI> And therefore, Chri&s;t tels his Di&s;ciples, <HI>Ioh.</HI> 14.26. <HI>That if they loved him, they would not rea&s;on, becau&s;e he &s;aid, he would goe away;</HI> becau&s;e his &s;piritual pre&s;ence was the mo&s;t glorious pre&s;ence: and we &s;ee it by experi|ence, that the Di&s;ciples of Chri&s;t were mo&s;t &s;piritual, and had mo&s;t &s;piritual en|joyment of God, when Chri&s;t was gone from them in per&s;on, and they enjoyed him
<PB N="92" REF="51"> in the &s;pirit. That the pre&s;ence of Chri&s;t in the latter dayes will be mo&s;t glorious; ap|peares by all that have been formerly &s;po|ken, and I think none of light, deny it: then the conclu&s;ion holds true, that the pre|&s;ence of Chri&s;t with his people in the lat|ter dayes, wherein they &s;hal enjoy mo&s;t light and glory; wil be a &s;piritual pre&s;ence.</P>
<P N="2">2 <HI>Argument.</HI> If Je&s;us Chri&s;t be known of the Saints no more after the fle&s;h, but after the &s;pirit; then his reigne in the latter dayes of the Go&s;pel wil not be per&s;onal, but &s;piritual: but, hee is no more to be knowne of the Saints after the fle&s;h, as you have formerly heard, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.16. <HI>Therefore his pre&s;ence, and &s;o his Kingdome will not bee a fle&s;hly or per&s;onal pre&s;ence and kingdome; but a &s;piritual.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3 <HI>Arg.</HI> Spiritual glory, and &s;piritual en|joyment, is that which mo&s;t of all &s;uites with the maje&s;ty and glory of God. <HI>Ioh.</HI> 4.22, 23, 24. <HI>Col.</HI> 3.1. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.9, 10, 14 <HI>The glory of the Saints &s;hall be &s;piritual, and their enjoyment &s;piritual in the latter dayes; &s;piri|tual knowledge, E&s;a</HI> 11. <HI>and &s;piritual confor|mity unto Chri&s;t, Zach.</HI> 12.8. <HI>and &s;pirituall joy and rejoycing, I&s;a</HI> 35, 10. Ergo, <HI>the pre|&s;ence and Kingdome of Chri&s;t, in, and with
<PB N="93" REF="51"> his Saints, will be a &s;piritual Kingdome, and not a per&s;onal.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4 <HI>Arg.</HI> Chri&s;ts Kingdom and pre&s;ence &s;hal bee with all his people, filling them with &s;piritual glory, <HI>I&s;a</HI> 25.7. <HI>He will take away the veil &s;pread over all Nations,</HI> &amp; <HI>v.</HI> 9. <HI>And they &s;tall &s;ay, Loe, this is the Lord, wee have waited for him.</HI> Chri&s;ts per&s;onal pre|&s;ence can<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ot be with all his at once: there|fore his pre&s;ence and kingdome wil be &s;pi|ritual, and not per&s;onal.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Objections an&s;wered concerning the per&s;onal reign of Chri&s;t.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> 1. That Chri&s;t was promi&s;ed to the Jewes to come as a King, and they to this day expect him to come a King, to deliver them from their captivity;</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> 1. It is true, hee was promi&s;ed to come as a King, <HI>I&s;a</HI> 9.7. and &s;o he came a King, although not in outward appearance, <HI>Matth.</HI> 2.2. <HI>Where is he that is born King of the Jewes? we have &s;een his Star in the Ea&s;t, and are come to wor&s;hip him.</HI> He was the King of the Jewes, when He was born, he was a Child, and yet a King. 2 He is King of all &s;piritual Jewes, for he is not a Jew, <HI>that is</HI> one outwardly, but he is a Jew, <HI>that is</HI> one inwardly: and Chri&s;t reignes &s;piritually in
<PB N="94" REF="52"> all his people, the Kingdome of Heaven is within you. 3 Chri&s;t will appear a &s;piritual glorious King to the Jewes, the naturall &s;eed of <HI>Abraham,</HI> in the latter dayes, gathe|ring them from among the Heathen to him|&s;elf in the &s;pirit, &amp; &s;o will raign in &amp; over them in the &s;pirit gloriou&s;ly, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 37. throughout. See ver&s;. 24, 25. <HI>That they &s;hall be gathered in with all the beloved of God, by the &s;piritual working of Chri&s;t,</HI> and not by his per&s;onal appearing; is cleere from this ground: They &s;hal be gathered unto Chri&s;t, from the beholding of Chri&s;t cruci|fied, and not from the beholding of his glo|rious per&s;onal appearing: Therfore, Chri&s;t &s;hal come a King, in the &s;pirit, to his peo|ple, and not in the fle&s;h: &s;ee <HI>Zach.</HI> 12.10: <HI>They &s;hall looke upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn over him, &amp;c.</HI> The eying of a pierced Chri&s;t, &s;hal bee the way of bringing in Jew, as wel as Gentile.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> 2. Chri&s;t &s;uffered reproach &amp; &s;hame in the fle&s;h from his enemies: therefore, it is likely he &s;hall be glorified in the fle&s;h be|fore his adver&s;aries.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Chri&s;t &s;hal without que&s;tion bee glorified in the pre&s;ence of his adver&s;aries, and all Nations &s;hal be gathered together
<PB N="95" REF="52"> before him, when he &s;hal appear from hea|ven in flaming fire, to render vengeance to them that know not God, and obey not his Go&s;pel; but, whether Chri&s;t &s;hal appeare per&s;onally, or in any per&s;onal forme, wil bee a great que&s;tion: but with much &s;piritual power manife&s;ting him&s;elf to the &s;alvation of his people, and to the confu&s;io~ of al his, and his Churches enemies, <HI>Matth.</HI> 5.25.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> 3. It is &s;aid <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.4. That tho&s;e that had been beheaded for the te&s;timony of Je&s;us, and for the Word of God, that had not wor&s;hipped the Bea&s;t, nor his Image, nor received his marke in their fore-heads, and they lived and reigned with Chri&s;t a thou&s;and yeares, and the re&s;t of the dead lived not again.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> For clearing the my&s;tery of this Scripture, it wil bee requi&s;ite, fir&s;t to &s;et down the things a&s;&s;erted fro~ hence. 2ly To unfold the my&s;tery intended, which will an&s;wer the things a&s;&s;erted: the things a&s;|&s;erted hence are the&s;e: 1 That Chri&s;t &s;hal raign a thou&s;and yeares per&s;onally. 2 That all the Saints departed from the beginning of the world, &s;hal be rai&s;ed, and come and reign with him. 3 That the wicked &s;hal not be rai&s;ed till after the thou&s;and yeares bee fini&s;hed,</P>
<PB N="96" REF="53">
<P>For an&s;wer unto, and clearing of the truth.</P>
<P N="1">1 I conceive it to be a glorious truth, that Chri&s;t &s;hal come &amp; reign a thou&s;and years, along time, &s;piritually in his people; but not per&s;onally among&s;t his people: that Chri&s;t &s;hal reign thus gloriou&s;ly, &s;ee not only this Scripture, but <HI>Rev.</HI> 11.15. <HI>And the &s;eventh Angel &s;ounded, and there were great voyces in Heaven, &s;aying, the Kingdomes of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Chri&s;t, and he &s;hall reign for ever.</HI> Thus, you &s;ee, Chri&s;t &s;hal have a Kingdom, and for the time of it, it is &s;aid <HI>Revel.</HI> 20. to be 1000. yeares, and in <HI>I&s;a</HI> 60, to be many Generations, <HI>I will make thee an eternal ex|cellencie, a joy of many Generations.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> But its &s;aid, <HI>Rev.</HI> 11.15. <HI>That the Nations and Kingdomes of the world, are be|come the Nations of Chri&s;t, and he &s;hall reign for ever:</HI> therefore, it &s;eemes that his king|dome &s;hal be per&s;onal.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> The Nations and Kingdomes of the world may be &s;aid to be the Nations &amp; Kingdomes of Chri&s;t, in a twofold re&s;pect, and yet Chri&s;t not reign per&s;onally; &amp; this the Scripture clearly holds forth.</P>
<P N="1">1 In re&s;pect of the abundance &s;hall bee
<PB N="97" REF="53"> converted unto Chri&s;t in all nations, that in compari&s;on of what hath been formerly: the Nations and Kingdoms &s;hal become the Kingdoms of Chri&s;t, <HI>E&s;a.</HI> 66.19.20.60. Chap. from 5. to 12. ver&s;e. 2. Chri&s;t may be &s;aid to be the King of Nations, in re&s;pect of the ruling of his Saints over their enemies; for in this Kingdome of Chri&s;t &s;hall the enemies of Chri&s;t be &s;ubjected and &s;hall &s;erve the Saints, the Nations that wil not &s;erve thee &s;hall peri&s;h, and Chri&s;t reigning in his Saints over them, may be &s;aid truly to reigne over them, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 149.7.8.9. <HI>Rev.</HI> 2.26.27. <HI>Rev.</HI> 5.10. Thus the fir&s;t a&s;&s;ertion in part is truth, Chri&s;t &s;hal reign 1000. yeares, that is many Generations; but it wil be &s;piritual, and not per&s;onal.</P>
<P N="2">2. A&s;&s;ertion from thence is, that all the Saints from the begining of the world &s;hal be rai&s;ed and come, and reign with Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> For the clearing of the truth in this Scripture, which wil an&s;wer this a&s;&s;ertion, con&s;ider, 1. what is meant by the beheading for the witne&s;&s;e of Je&s;us, 2. What is meant by not receiving the marke of the bea&s;t. 3. What is meant by
<PB N="98" REF="54"> being rai&s;ed, living and raigning with Chri&s;t. 4. What is meant by the not liv|ing of the re&s;t of the dead until the 1000. yeares were fini&s;hed. 1. What is meant by being beheaded for the witne&s;&s;e of Je&s;us: It is a &s;piritual beheading; &s;uch a beheading are all the Saints who &s;hake off Antichri&s;ts badge and yoake like to meete withal. Chri&s;t is &s;aid to be the head of the Church, and the head of every man, that is, of every Saint, is Chri&s;t now, when the Lord di&s;covers the evil of Antichri|&s;tian wayes to his people, and they for|&s;ake it, they dur&s;t not receive either the Image, name, or marke of the bea&s;t, they &s;hal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> pre&s;ently be beheaded by the bea&s;t, that is, they wil condemn them as tho&s;e that for&s;ake Chri&s;t, and cry out on them, that they are revolted, that they are Sectaries, Hypocrites, Hereticks, &amp;c.</P>
<P>And thus they behead the Saints &s;piri|tually, and that for the te&s;timony of Je|&s;us, becau&s;e they cannot but declare the things that they have &s;eene, and heard from him, which wil overthrow and ru|ine all things contrary to him&s;elfe in the end. 2. What is meant by a receiving of the Image or marke of the bea&s;t?</P>
<PB N="99" REF="54">
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> By the Image of the bea&s;t is meant that likene&s;&s;e that it hath unto the fir&s;t bea&s;t, who &s;eemes to receive a deadly wound being compared with Chap. 13.11. to 16. that is, this bea&s;t &s;eems to make a change, he &s;peaks great words, his looke is more &s;tout than his fellows; he thinks to change times and Lawes, yet when all is done, it is but the Image of the fir&s;t bea&s;t, the exerci&s;e of the &s;ame power, the &s;ame wi&s;dome in the things of God, the &s;ame wor&s;hip for &s;ub&s;tance, it is all the &s;ame in &s;ub&s;tance, and it is but the number of a man all of the fle&s;h, it is from below, yet &s;uch mu&s;t the worth and the excellency of it be for a time that who&s;oever wil not receive the Image of the fir&s;t bea&s;t, and account it &s;omthing too, is likewi&s;e to be beheaded, and not to be &s;uffered either to buy or &s;el among&s;t them, and many a Saint is like to be giv|en into his hand, and he &s;hal prevaile o|ver them, but it &s;hal be but for a time, times, and the dividing of a time, and then the Kingdome &s;hal become the Saints. <HI>Dan.</HI> 7. 2ly. The Image is that in|ternal &s;piritual principle from which the bea&s;t acts, for none can truly follow the
<PB N="100" REF="55"> bea&s;t, but tho&s;e who have received this Image, that is who act from the &s;ame prin|ciple, tho&s;e are acted, who act for and from the man of &s;in, and it is called an I|mage, becau&s;e it re&s;embles Chri&s;t both in the internal as wel as the ex<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ernal part; yet acts from his own wi&s;dome by its own power, according to its own mind, to its own end, and this in all re&s;embles Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Now the&s;e who refu&s;e this Image in the &s;pirit, and cannot be contented with a wi&s;dome like Chri&s;t, a &s;elfe acting in the roome of Chri&s;t, a rule &s;hort of Chri&s;t; an end be&s;ides Chri&s;t: from hence ca&s;ting off this Image, is carried on in another track then before: they come to be be|headed for Chri&s;t, becau&s;e they cannot receive the Image, who is the Antichri&s;t in the Spirit and not Chri&s;t, &s;o that here is not onely the Image of the fir&s;t bea&s;t, with relation to patern and power, but likewi&s;e in relation to holine&s;&s;e, the fir&s;t wil be for Chri&s;t, and &s;o the &s;econd, yet are both but Antichri&s;t, 2. What is meant by the marke of the bea&s;t in the forehead, and in the right hand; by the marke in the forehead, is meant the vi&s;ible pro|fe&s;&s;ion of Antichri&s;t in the external part tho&s;e that would not vi&s;ibly profe&s;&s;e the
<PB N="101" REF="55"> wayes of Antichri&s;t: or in the right hand; that is, to act for him, the&s;e were denyed to buy or &s;el, Chap. 13.17. to &s;el, that is to preach the Go&s;pel; for Antichri&s;t un|der the notion of preaching the Go&s;pel, &s;els his wares, but a time is coming that none wil buy their wares anymore, &s;o they deny any who own not the Image name, or marke, to &s;ell; hence they may examine tho&s;e who preach upon &s;uch and &s;uch in|tergatories, and if it appear that they de|ny the Image, name, or marke; they may not &s;el, that is, give forth freely what God communicates unto them, when others &s;ell or buy, that is, partake of any &s;piritual good among&s;t them if they could prevent it, &amp; tho&s;e were beheaded for the witne&s;&s;e of Je&s;us, but they were at la&s;t rai&s;ed, and lived with Chri&s;t 1000. yeers, that is rai&s;ed up from their low condition, taken up into heaven in the &s;ight of their adver&s;aries, and lived with Chri&s;t in the Spirit, reigning trium|phantly over all &s;piritual enemies, &s;elfe, &s;athan, world, and tho&s;e Merchants that &s;el all (yea the &s;oules of men too) &s;hal be weeping, and crying alas, alas, <HI>Rev.</HI> 18. when the Lord &s;hal make good that word of truth, <HI>E&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> 66.5. heare the word of the
<PB N="102" REF="56"> Lord ye that tremble at his word, your brethren that hated you, that beheaded you, that ca&s;t you out for my name &s;ake, &s;aid, let the Lord be glorified, that is, (it tends to the Honor of God to behead and to ca&s;t out the&s;e men) but he &s;hal ap|peare to your joy, you &s;hal be rai&s;ed up with Chri&s;t, and I wil give you a new name, but they &s;hal be a&s;hamed.</P>
<P><HI>Obj. John</HI> &s;aith, the Saints that had not wor&s;hipped the Bea&s;t (he &s;peakes in the Preterpluperfectence therefore it &s;eemes not to be the Saints rai&s;ed who at pre|&s;ent were beheaded in the my&s;tical &s;ence, but the Saints that had been beheaded in the litteral &s;en&s;e.)</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Fir&s;t it is the u&s;e of the Spirit, or the &s;pirits Language, to deliver it &s;elfe in darke and my&s;tical termes, &s;o the A|po&s;tle &s;aith in another ca&s;e, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4.5. that we which are alive and remaine til the coming of the Lord, &amp;c. the Apo&s;tle &s;peakes of, we, as if he had intended the The&s;&s;alonians and him&s;elf, which was lea&s;t intended; but the Saints, who being all one in the &s;pirit, and but one my&s;ticall bo|dy in Chri&s;t, while there are any Saints in the world, the Apo&s;tle makes it to bee all
<PB N="103" REF="56"> one, as if Hee and the The&s;&s;alonians were them, &amp; &s;o delivers it in the pre&s;ent ten&s;e; when he might haue &s;aid rather, to &s;peake after the manner of men, then they which &s;hal be alive at his coming, &amp;c. as in <HI>Revel.</HI> the word might have run thus; and &s;o que&s;tionle&s;&s;e, it is to be under&s;tood: then they that were beheaded for the witne&s;&s;e of Je&s;us, were rai&s;ed or lived, &amp; reigned with Chri&s;t, as the &s;ence of the former; then they that &s;hall bee alive at the comming of the Lord, &s;hal not prevent them which are a|&s;leep: &s;o that the &s;pirit of God, might as wel deliver a truth, which is in the Pre&s;ent ten&s;e, in the Preterpluperfect ten&s;e; as, a truth in the Pre&s;ent ten&s;e, which was in the Future; and yet is, all to exerci&s;e the mind of him that readeth, and to let us know, there is my&s;tery in the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P>Secondly, very few Saints have been be|headed in the litteral &s;ence: tho&s;e that have dyed for Chri&s;t, have dyed other deaths, &amp; not beheaded; therefore, we cannot under|&s;tand it in the letter, but in the &s;pirit.</P>
<P>The fourth particular propounded, was, what was meant, in that the re&s;t of the dead were not rai&s;ed, until the 1000. yeares were fini&s;hed; that is, none that had beene
<PB N="104" REF="57"> bodily dead, Saints, or wicked, good or bad, were rai&s;ed, till after the 1000, years were fini&s;hed, and then you &s;hall &s;ee the re&s;urre|ction of all, which is called the &s;econd re|&s;urrection: The fir&s;t, is called a re&s;urre|ction, and the fir&s;t re&s;urrection; becau&s;e it &s;hall be a re&s;urrection from &s;hame &amp; di&s;|grace in the world. And &s;econdly, it &s;hal be a glorious re&s;urrection in the &s;pirit: this fir&s;t, all the Saints have in &s;ome mea&s;ure been partakers of it. Thus it appeares, that Chri&s;t &s;hall have a Kingdome, a glorious, a &s;piritual One.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> But when &s;hal this Kingdom be?</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. It is already begun in the &s;pirits of Saints; <HI>the Kingdome of Heaven is with|in you.</HI> 2 I beleeve that the time of the 1000 years, which is a more glorious e&s;tate in the &s;pirit is not yet begun: but the begin|ning of that time &s;hal be when the 7 &s;eales are fully opened, and the 7 trumpets fully founded, and the 7 vials powred forth, they being but effects of each other; the opening of the &s;eales, occa&s;ions the &s;ound of the trumpets; the &s;ound of the trumpets occa|&s;ion the vials, the opening of the &s;eales, the unfolding of the my&s;teries of the Go&s;pel, (which have been hid, <HI>Rev.</HI> 5.1, 2.) As light
<PB N="105" REF="57"> breakes forth, the trumpets &s;ound, the &s;er|vants of Je&s;us preach forth the my&s;tery of the Go&s;pel: the preaching of the my&s;te|ries of the Go&s;pel, in the power and puritie of it, occa&s;ions the vials of wrath to fal up|on the Antichri&s;tian e&s;tate, both in the &s;pirit, and in the letter; which work is now a doing. (Wait the Lords time, and it wil come on apace.) But fir&s;t, we are yet like to be given into the hands of the little horn, who changes times &amp; lawes; the two witne&s;&s;es are yet like to be &s;lain, &amp; to &s;ydead 3 dayes &amp; a half; and the woman cloathed with the Sun, to be driven into the wilder|ne&s;&s;e for a little &s;pace, a time, times, &amp; halfe a time; the Bea&s;t with two hornes like a Lambe, hath yet a little time to make u&s;e of his power; per&s;wading them that dwel in the Earth, to make an Image to the fir&s;t Bea&s;t; and that none but tho&s;e who own it, &s;hal buy or &s;el with them: the Saints be|headed under the Altar to wait a little time, before they be rai&s;ed up to live with Chri&s;t 1000. years: but it is not long, the vi&s;ion is for an appointed time: in the end, it wil &s;peak, and not ly; it wil come, and not tar|ry: The fir&s;t 1000. is almo&s;t pa&s;t the &s;e|cond and third, are coming on apace; &amp; all
<PB N="106" REF="58"> the Nations and Kingdomes in the world wil come apace to be the Kingdoms of the Lord, &amp; of his Chri&s;t, and he &s;hall reign for ever; their lives &s;hal be prolonged for a &s;ea|&s;on, &amp; a time; and other Scriptures are al|ledged for the per&s;onal reign of Chri&s;t; as the &s;tone cut out of the Mountain, without hands, <HI>Dan.</HI> 2. that is, the glorious power of Chri&s;t, by weak meanes, &s;ubduing all Anti|chri&s;tian enemies, without his Saints, &amp; all Antichri&s;tian things, by his &s;pirit, within them: So that in <HI>Dan.</HI> 7.10. the glorious company of Saints attending on Chri&s;t in the &s;pirit, which &s;hal be fulfilled at the rai|&s;ing of the two witne&s;&s;es up into heaven, in the &s;ight of their enemies, <HI>Rev.</HI> 5.10, 11. This is the fir&s;t glorious work of the Lord Je&s;us, in, and among&s;t the Saints: the Lord reigneth, let the Saints rejoyce: the Lord reigneth, let the world tremble. See <HI>Zach.</HI> 14.5. The Lord our God wil come, and all the Saints with him; that is, Chri&s;t will come in the &s;pirit, and all the Saints &s;hall appear gloriou&s;ly in him.</P>
<P>A word of Application: Fir&s;t, if this bee truth, that the Kingdome of Chri&s;t is a &s;pi|ritual kingdome, &amp; not of this world; this may inform us how far, be&s;ides the Go&s;pel
<PB N="107" REF="58"> in the &s;pirit and truth of it; tho&s;e men are, who make the Kingdome of Chri&s;t to bee meerly political and a &s;tate Kingdom, who turne the world by a humane power into the Church and Kingdome of Chri&s;t (as they &s;ay) &amp; Chri&s;t mu&s;t have a worldly carnal Kingdome, no better than the Kings of the earth enjoy; or el&s;e he &s;hal have none at all: it &s;avors exceedingly of the earth, &amp; ere long, thither it mu&s;t return.</P>
<P>Secondly, this &s;hould incourage the Saints to pre&s;&s;e forward after the knowledge of God in the &s;pirit; that as the kingdome of Chri&s;t is &s;piritual, and not of this world; &s;o may the Saints Kingdom likewi&s;e be in the &s;pirit, and &s;o all their enjoyments may be &s;piritual enjoyments: this is that will make the &s;oule fat, and wel-liking in the Lord, fill the &s;oule with joy &amp; peace, which the world is not acquainted with; their eyes never &s;aw it, nor their hearts concei|ved it; neither are they like to &s;ee it, un|le&s;&s;e the Lord make them &s;piritual.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="section">
<PB N="108" REF="59">
<HEAD><HI>SECT. X.</HI> Of Death, Re&s;urrection, Judgement, and the &s;tate of the Saints, after judgment, eter|nally with God.</HEAD>
<P>FIr&s;t, of death: It is appointed for all men once to dye; <HI>Du&s;t we are, and to du&s;t we mu&s;t return;</HI> and therefore, it behoves us to expect it: All the dayes of mine ap|pointed time, wil I waite, till my change come: Death is certain, although the time be uncertain: it is, that none are in a com|mon and ordinary way exempted from, unle&s;&s;e tho&s;e Saints who are alive at the la&s;t coming of Chri&s;t; they &s;hal be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.51, 52. and &s;o &s;hall bee caught up in the &s;pirit, to meet the Lord in the Ayre, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4.17. Secondly, of the re&s;urrection.</P>
<P>That there &s;hal be a re&s;urrection of the body at the la&s;t day, is evident, <HI>Iohn</HI> 5, 28, 29. <HI>Iohn</HI> 11.24. with 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. throughout, <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.12, 13. although this truth is by &s;ome, denyed, and by others, too carnally
<PB N="109" REF="59"> looked upon; &s;ome thinking, that our bo|dies of fle&s;h &s;hall bee rai&s;ed in the &s;ame forme, in which it dyed; others, that it &s;hal be &s;piritual, yet que&s;tion, whether it &s;hall he of the &s;ame &s;ub&s;tance: therefore, it wil be nece&s;&s;ary, to con&s;ider two particulars, for the clearing of it. Fir&s;t, by what power we &s;hal be rai&s;ed. Secondly, with what bo|dies.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="part">
<HEAD><HI>1.</HI> By what power.</HEAD>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. By the &s;ame power, by which Je&s;us Chri&s;t was rai&s;ed; which was by the power and &s;pirit of God: he was declared to be the &s;onne of God with power by his re&s;urrection from the dead, <HI>Rom.</HI> 1, 4. Se|condly, by the &s;ame power and &s;pirit the Saints are enlightned, and rai&s;ed from the &s;piritual death of &s;inne, and &s;elfe, which is the &s;ame power, by which the body of Chri&s;t was rai&s;ed: &s;o that when we &s;ay, we are rai&s;ed by the re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t in the &s;pirit; that is, by the &s;ame power, by which Chri&s;t was rai&s;ed: therefore, the Apo&s;tle de&s;ireth to know the power of the death, and re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3.10. by the &s;ame power and Spirit &s;hall
<PB N="110" REF="60"> our bodies be rai&s;ed at the la&s;t day, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.11. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15 13, 14, 15, 16. this being a truth that they &s;hal be rai&s;ed by the &s;ame power: it may &s;omwhat direct us to the form in which they &s;hal be rai&s;ed, which is the &s;econd particular, that is in a &s;piritual forme, not in a fle&s;hly, for as the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t rai&s;eth us up in the &s;pirit while we are here, &s;o &s;hal it rai&s;e up our bodies in the &s;pirit at the la&s;t day, it is &s;owne a natural body, it is rai&s;ed a &s;piritual body, our vile bodies &s;hal be changed and made like his glorious body, he tooke upon him our forme that &s;o we might be brought into his forme, for when he &s;hal appeare we &s;hal be made like unto him, the &s;ub&s;tance of our natu|ral body rai&s;ed in &s;pirit.</P>
<P>Of Judgment, It is appointed to all men once to dy, but after this the Judgment; when all men &s;hal be called to an ac|count before him (to wit the Lord Je&s;us) there to give an accompt for all things done in their bodies, whether good or bad, <HI>Mat.</HI> 25. and &s;o God in this way wil acquit his Saints and cleare them
<PB N="111" REF="60"> before the world, although this is not their life; neither that in which they ap|peare, <HI>Mat.</HI> 25.36. to 40</P>
<P>Fourthly, of the e&s;tate of the Saints af|ter Judgment, it is fir&s;t ever to be with the Lord, beholding his glory, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4.17. <HI>Iohn</HI> 17.24. and in his pre&s;ence wil be fulne&s;&s;e of joy, and 2. at his right hand everla&s;tingly to be compleated in the &s;ame glory, <HI>Col.</HI> 3.3. when Chri&s;t who is our life &s;hal appeare, we &s;hal ap|peare with him in glory, all fle&s;h &s;hal be &s;wallowed up in Spirit, and our bodies &s;hall be changed and made like his glo|rious body, all things that offend &s;hal be done away, and we &s;hal be made eter|nally one in the Father and in the Sonne, &amp; in the &s;pirit one in eternity, one in in|joyment, and one in glory, this for the Saints is enough to know, be&s;ides, what &s;hal be, we do not know, it is an height, and depth, a length and breadth un|&s;earchable. Oh the un&s;earchable riches of Chri&s;t! what the Saints do injoy, what they &s;hal injoy, &s;wallowes up the &s;piritual Chri&s;tian in the beholding of it&punc; hence let us continue &s;earching after an higher mea&s;ure of the height, depth,
<PB N="112" REF="61"> bredth, and length of his love, which pa&s;&s;eth knowledge: and there &s;hall we be able to &s;ee and &s;ay that <HI>his wi&s;dome is un&s;earchable, and his wayes pa&s;t finding out.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="tract">
<PB N="113" REF="61">
<HEAD>A briefe Di&s;covery of An|tichri&s;t, both in the My&s;tery, and in the Hi&s;torie.</HEAD>
<BYLINE>By THOMAS COLLIER. 1647.</BYLINE>
<P>For my more cleare proceeding in the di&s;|covery or the Man of Sinne, five things are con&s;iderable.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1 <HI>What Antichri&s;t, or the Man of Sin is.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>What his Reigne.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>What &s;hall be his di&s;covery.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>What his ruine.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>5 <HI>When his ruine &s;hall be.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECTION I.</HI> What Antichri&s;t, or the Man of Sin is.</HEAD>
<P>ANtichri&s;t or the Man of Sin, is to be con&s;idered, either in the Spirit, or
<PB N="114" REF="62"> in the Letter. 1 In the Spirit, Antichri&s;t &s;ignifies one &s;eemingly for Chri&s;t, yet in deed is again&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">m, and &s;o is but a Man of &s;in, a &s;on of perdition, and this hee will ap|peare to be, both in the My&s;tery, and in the Hi&s;tory.</P>
<P N="1">1 In the my&s;tery, or &s;pirit, and in this he hath taken hold of every man, e&s;pecially in the&s;e latter dayes; yet tis true, much time hath been &s;pent by many, to find out this Man of &s;inne, who he is, and for the mo&s;t part a&s;cribe it to &s;ome particular man ne|ver looking at the my&s;tery, or root of ini|quity, which is not in the fir&s;t place, a man, but a wicked thing in man; and this, for want of a &s;pirit of di&s;cerning, we have not &s;een Antichri&s;t in our &s;elves, but have ca&s;t him upon others, and &s;o mi&s;&s;e of the thing, or at lea&s;t, mo&s;t &s;trike at the top-boughes, and are ignorant of the root: Now Anti|chri&s;t in the my&s;tery, or &s;pirituall and in|ternal part; It is a confederacie betweene Sathan, &amp; the deceitful heart of man, tran&s;|forming him&s;elf into an Angel of light; nay into the Son of light: and while nothing le&s;&s;e than Chri&s;t, and Chri&s;tian wil &s;atisfie; he wil be the Chri&s;t, or at lea&s;t the Anti|chri&s;t, in&s;tead of Chri&s;t to deceive &s;oules.
<PB N="115" REF="62"> For this was and is the la&s;t, the greate&s;t and mo&s;t deceiving &s;tratagem that ever Sathan made u&s;e of to rui<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">s; that, where he cannot content &s;oules but they mu&s;t be Chri&s;tians, he can be content with that, &s;o he may be the Ch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">i&s;t: hence he is called the man of &s;in, the Son of perdition, that wicked deceiver, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2. It is not Sathan acting in a carnal and fifthly forme of the fle&s;h, but in the mo&s;t refined part of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> &s;o he keepe the creature in the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> &s;till, he cares not.</P>
<P N="1">1. There mu&s;t be a reformation that it &s;hall injoy, provided it be legally in the Letter, it mu&s;t believe or el&s;e it can|not be &s;atisfied, and b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lieve it doth; but the ground mu&s;t be built upon that fir&s;t reformation, qualification, &amp;c, wi&s;dome is required to walke in Gods wayes, and to the knowledge of the mi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">de of God: wi&s;dome mu&s;t and may be obtained; pro|vided it be humane, the wi&s;dome of the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> that is en<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ugh: power of acting mu&s;t likewi&s;e of nece&s;&s;ity be ob|tained: a power &s;hall be obtained, but it mu&s;t be a creature-power, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nd a creature-acting under the name and no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ion of the<PB N="116" REF="63"> power of God; that is indeed and in|truth condemned though in none owned there mu&s;t now &s;omtimes be a &s;piritual minde, and that it injoyes likewi&s;e in its own apprehen&s;ion, although hardly ob|tained, and indeed the highe&s;t pitch of &s;piritualne&s;&s;e is but carnal to the &s;piritual mans injoyment: this is a high pitch of &s;pirituall mindedne&s;&s;e where Sathan dwells; to have &s;elfe thoughts of Refor|mation, thoughts to pray more, to walke more exactly, and to plea&s;e God better; never, thoughts of living out of its &s;elfe more, and of living in the injoyment of God in the Spirit more; and &s;piritual joy it mu&s;t have &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">mtimes too: why? that it &s;hall have likewi&s;e, but it mu&s;t ari&s;e from inlargement in duties, humiliati|ons, &s;elfe-actings, reformation, &amp; all from &s;elfe, and thus Sathan and the deceitful heart joynes together, to the delu&s;ion of many a &s;oule, and this is Antichri&s;t in the My&s;tery; the man of &s;in &s;poken of in Scripture, that comes with all deceiv|ablene&s;&s;e of unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e: and wel may he be called a man of &s;in an Anti|c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ri&s;t, a my&s;tery of iniquity; for in this &s;hape he deceives &s;oules, and they are
<PB N="117" REF="63"> never &s;encible of it, drawn in and never know it, until everla&s;tingly undone, and he hath his diver&s;ities of formes in this kinde.</P>
<P N="1">1. If the name of Chri&s;tian wil &s;erve, and yet live loo&s;e and prophane; that they &s;hall have, and there he wil hold them. If there mu&s;t be a conformity to Chri&s;t, and a more zealous and con&s;cionable walking; to quiet the Con&s;cience, it &s;hall have it: he will go as neere unto Chri&s;t with the &s;oule as may be, provided it re&s;t it &s;elfe below: and thus, Chri&s;t &s;aith, ma|ny &s;hall come under this delu&s;ion, ex|pecting life from duty, and it wil appear to be but workes of iniquity of &s;in, (why) becau&s;e acted by the man of &s;in, acted not from a right principle, nor by a right power, neither to a right end; acting there mu&s;t be, but not Chri&s;t-acting. Hence it is, that though he wil be a Chri&s;tian, and &s;o talkes much of Chri&s;t, yet; he denyes Chri&s;t to be come in the fle&s;h, that is in the fle&s;h of his Saints, the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t acting and working all things in the Saints (and they are &s;en&s;ible of it) and thus this de|ceivable man of &s;in carries on hood|winkt
<PB N="118" REF="64"> to perdition many and many a &s;oule, And now it is more wicked and deceivable, than when in its proper place, acting after the lu&s;ts of the fle&s;h, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.19.20.21. then every one al|mo&s;t is &s;encible of it. Hence it is, that Chri&s;t &s;aith, <HI>Mat.</HI> 12.45. The uncleane &s;pirit being ca&s;t out, that is out in its un|cleane forme; it can no longer be owned: he is now content to come in, when it is &s;wept and garni&s;hed, prophane&s;&s;e and filthyne&s;&s;e is gone, and now he comes in a more refined forme, perhaps legall reformation, as the pre&s;ent Phari|&s;ees to whom Chri&s;t &s;pake, or el&s;e the name of Chri&s;tian, or the knowledge of Chri&s;t, after the fle&s;h; but Chri&s;t &s;aith, the latter end of the man thus deceived is &s;even times wor&s;e than the begining: he comes in this refined forme with &s;e|ven wor&s;e &s;pirits than him&s;elfe, and &s;o makes him &s;even times more, the Child of perdition than before. Oh then, how doth it concern every one bearing the name of Chri&s;tian to looke about them|&s;elves, if they are not deceived and delu|ded, with this Antichri&s;t under the name of Chri&s;t! &s;eeing it is the high-way
<PB N="119" REF="64"> of &s;oules ruine, now in the dayes of the Go&s;pel; for herein doth Sathan declare him&s;elfe to be the Ma&s;ter of Arts in tran&s;|forming him&s;elfe into the &s;on of light, and under the name of Chri&s;t, and Chri|&s;tian, to ruine &s;oules.</P>
<P N="2">2. There is Antichri&s;t in the Hi&s;tory or in the Letter, and this flowes from Antichri&s;t in the Spirit: now the &s;oule being po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed with Antichri&s;t, he growes up into &s;ome forme, and now not onely in the &s;pirit invi&s;ibly, but in the letter: more vi&s;ible he appeares &s;it|ting in the &s;eate of God, and he may be de&s;cryed principally under the&s;e 3 heads, as &s;itting in the &s;eate of Chri&s;t, and acting tho&s;e things which properly belong to Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="1">1. In making Chri&s;tians by a hu|mane power, it being the proper worke of God in Chri&s;t to make Chri&s;tians, <HI>Iohn</HI> 6.37.44. but now here is an Antichri&s;t will undertake the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, and &s;o turns the world into Chri&s;tians or rather An|tichri&s;tians, and pretend that they do the worke of Chri&s;t too: when, if he did the worke of Chri&s;t, he would rather keep off all carnal ignorant ones, and ac|cept
<PB N="120" REF="65"> of none, until made willing and &s;pi|ritual by Je&s;us Chri&s;t; for Chri&s;t doth not onely owne &s;oules, when they come; but fir&s;t gives them a will to come, and that by a &s;piritual, and not a humane power. Hence it comes to pa&s;&s;e, that there are &s;o many carnal profane ones under the name of Chri&s;tian, becau&s;e made Chri&s;tian not by Je&s;us Chri&s;t but by men.</P>
<P>Oh that the Lord would be plea&s;e to inlighten the under&s;tandings of the&s;e men betymes, that they might not walke in a way &s;o directly oppo&s;ite to the Go&s;|pel, and de&s;tructive to their own &amp; milli|ons of &s;oules.</P>
<P N="2">2. In pre&s;cribing rules of wor&s;hip which is proper onely to Je&s;us Chri&s;t to pre&s;cribe rules, and to carry through the &s;oule in acting according to the&s;e rules.</P>
<P N="1">1. To pre&s;cribe rules; this belongs unto Chri&s;t, and who ever undertakes it, puts them&s;elves in the roome of Chri&s;t, and is the Antichri&s;t: this is to exerci&s;e creature-wi&s;dome in the things of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and (indeed) to &s;it in the &s;eate of God. It is the worke of Chri&s;t in the Spirit to helpe; in prayer or any duty; we
<PB N="121" REF="65"> know not what we pray for as we ought, but the &s;pirit helpeth our infir|mities, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8. It is Chri&s;t that helpeth both to &s;ee our wants, and formeth by his &s;pirit, words within accordingly. Therefore tho&s;e who pre&s;cribe formes and rules of wor&s;hip, put them&s;elves in the roome of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="2">2. It belongs to Chri&s;t to give in pow|er to act according to tho&s;e rules, but Antichri&s;t gives the command, and &s;o carries on an external acting, not accor|ding to Chri&s;t; but his own minde.</P>
<P N="3">3. Antichri&s;t may be di&s;covered as &s;itting in the &s;eate of God not onely 1. In making Chri&s;tians. 2. In pre&s;cri|bing rules, but 3. In compelling all un|to tho&s;e rules whatever Chri&s;t &s;aith, that matters not; he him&s;elfe will be the Chri&s;t, and mu&s;t be obeyed, let Chri&s;t &s;ay what he will, and all that que&s;tion his power mu&s;t be the Antichri&s;t, for he exalteth him&s;elfe above all that is called God, or that is wor&s;hiped; &s;o that he, as God, &s;itteth in the Temple of God, &s;hew|ing him&s;elfe that he is God, and in all the&s;e particulars there is a my&s;tery lyeth, a my&s;te<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y of iniquity, that is iniquity
<PB N="122" REF="66"> hid under the name and notion of Chri&s;t; therefore, &s;o much the more to be dreaded. To be a Chri&s;tian, is accounted a gallant thing: and therfore, not only him&s;elf; but o|thers likewi&s;e look upo~ it to be a matter of much piety, to make men Chri&s;tians, and cau&s;e them to own Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Oh! but here lyes a my&s;tery of iniquity, many &s;oules made Chri&s;tians by a humane power, are but Antichri&s;tians, and &s;o under the name of Chri&s;tian, are likely to be un|done for ever, if the Lord prevent it not: An excellent thing accounted in the world to make creatures Chri&s;tians, as &s;oone as they are born, by &s;prinkling a little water upon them, &amp; &s;o in bearing them in hand, that they are &s;o ever after: but here lyeth a my&s;tery of iniquity, &amp; one of the &s;oule ruining&s;t my&s;teries of iniquity as ever came from Hel: Speak <HI>England,</HI> &s;peake all Na|tions called Chri&s;tian; whether (almo&s;t all people of all &s;orts, devoutly &s;lain in the &s;pi|rit under this my&s;tery of iniquity) to have formes of wor&s;hips pre&s;cribed, that all Prie&s;ts and People may walk in one forme and way of wor&s;hip, and all compelled un|to it, is accounted an excellent part of Chri&s;tianity? but here lyeth a my&s;tery of
<PB N="123" REF="66"> iniqui<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y under it. Fir&s;t, it brings all &s;orts of people to be acting in &s;omething, though wor&s;e than nothing, and &s;o de ude them|&s;elves in all their actings; it cau&s;eth them to look to men, and not to Chri&s;t Secondly, it cau&s;eth them to ble&s;&s;e them&s;elvs in their unity, in formes and wor&s;hips, never que|&s;tioning their Onene&s;&s;e with Chri&s;t in the Spirit, they are as &s;trangers unto it. Hence it is, that uniformity in the Letter, is &s;o much called for among&s;t all &s;orts of peo|ple, being wholly ignorant of unity in &s;pi|rit.</P>
<P>I could in&s;tance in divers other particu|lars as Mini&s;try, Guifts, Church, Ordinan|ces all have &s;omething like Chri&s;t in them; but it is al but the number of a man, meer|ly humane, carnal Mini&s;try, humane guifts, and annointings in &s;tead of the &s;pirit, car|nall Church, invented Ordinances: but I pa&s;&s;e it at pre&s;ent.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="124" REF="67">
<HEAD><HI>SECT. II.</HI> What is his Reigne.</HEAD>
<P>ANtichri&s;ts reigne is likewi&s;e in the &s;pirit, and in the letter; Antichri&s;t or the Man of &s;inne, is as high in his reign, as confident of his good e&s;tate.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, his reign in the &s;pirit in the my&s;te|ry, he &s;heweth him&s;elf, that he is God; he per&s;wades &s;oules, that he is the Chri&s;t, his wi&s;dome and his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, his rules &amp; his Ordinances, they are of God; and they mu&s;t &s;tand, although it hath neither Scri|pture nor rea&s;on, I mean in the &s;pirit for it: and thus this my&s;tery of iniquity hath reig|ned a long time; it began to work in the Apo&s;tles dayes.</P>
<P>Secondly, the reign of Antichri&s;t in the Letter: he al&s;o vi&s;ibly &s;heweth him&s;elfe, that he is God, and mu&s;t be &s;ubmitted un|to, under penalties, fines, and impri&s;on|ments, better &s;peaking again&s;t the Ordi|nances of Chri&s;t, than his Ordinances. And thus he reignes with power, and likewi&s;e with much confidence; for, She &s;itteth as QVEENE, and &s;aith, &s;he &s;hall &s;ee no
<PB N="125" REF="67"> &s;orrow; but her &s;orrowes will come in one day, &amp;c.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT. III.</HI> The di&s;covery of Antichri&s;t.</HEAD>
<P>THE Revelation of Antichri&s;t may bee con&s;idered, either fir&s;t, as he openly and publicly reveales him&s;elfe to bee the Anti|chri&s;t by his confidence, and powerful act|ing, as the Chri&s;t, or above Chri&s;t: of this, the Apo&s;tle &s;peakes, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.3.</P>
<P N="2">2 It may be con&s;idered, as a my&s;tery of iniquity, and &s;o revealed by the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t unto his &s;ervants; and &s;o the revela|tion or di&s;covery of Antichri&s;t unto the Saints, &s;hal be by the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t in the preaching of the Go&s;pel: as it is a my&s;tery of iniquity in it &s;elf; &s;o it mu&s;t be that hid|den wi&s;dome in a my&s;tery, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2. that mu&s;t di&s;cover it. Now where the Lord worketh for his di&s;covery, hee fir&s;t di&s;co|vers him to be the Antichri&s;t; hee helpes the &s;oule to find him out: And then &s;econd|ly, he di&s;covers the evill, the iniquity of him he lets the &s;oule &s;ee; that it is, the greate&s;t,
<PB N="126" REF="68"> and the &s;ubtle&s;t adver&s;ary that ever it had to deal withall; the mo&s;t dangerous, be|cau&s;e cloathed under &s;o faire and Chri&s;t|like a Garbe, and the harde&s;t to be di&s;cove|red; &s;uch an Adver&s;ary, as bears &s;oules in hand, that they are going to heaven, when they are in the broad and rode-way to ru|ine, like a cunning <HI>Hocas-Pocas,</HI> that jug|leth away a mans e&s;tate, before he is aware of it, and all the while pretends friend&s;hip: &amp; thus it is the &s;pirit o God in the Go&s;pel, that mu&s;t di&s;cover and reveal Antichri&s;t in the my&s;tery; that &s;ame &s;pirit who revealed it to the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul,</HI> and the &s;ame who revealed both his ri&s;ing and falling, to <HI>John</HI> in the Revelations; tho&s;e who thinke to attain the di&s;covery of him by humane in|du&s;try, hi&s;toricall readings, &amp;c. are excee|ding low in their apprehen&s;ions, and come &s;hort of the di&s;covery of him: he may bee &s;trongly working in a man, while hee is di&s;covering of him.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="127" REF="68">
<HEAD><HI>SECT. IV.</HI> What &s;hall be the ruine of Antichri&s;t?</HEAD>
<P>THe con&s;ummation of Antichri&s;t &s;hall be by the &s;ame meanes that di&s;covers him, the bright goings forth of Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the Go&s;pel: for, as the kingdom of Je&s;us Chri&s;t goes up in the &s;pirit; (for the kingdo~ of heaven is within you &amp;c.) &s;o the kingdom of Antichri&s;t mu&s;t go down: this is the meanes fore-told and pre&s;cribed by the Apo&s;tle, who fore-&s;aw him in his ri&s;ing, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.8. <HI>The Lord will con&s;ume him with the breath of his mouth, and de&s;troy him with the brightne&s;&s;e of his coming,</HI> the preaching of the Go&s;pel, and the bright comings forth of Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the &s;pirits of his people &s;hall both con&s;ume and de|&s;troy him: As it is not a humane wi&s;dom that &s;hal di&s;cover him, &s;o neither is it a humane power that mu&s;t de&s;troy him: for all humanity in the things of God, whe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">her wi&s;dome or power, it is Antichri&s;tian: Therefore, not that which &s;hall de&s;troy Antichri&s;t; but that which will uphold him untill he be de&s;troyed: the ruine of Antichri&s;t is farther held forth, <HI>Rev.</HI> 14.6.
<PB N="128" REF="69"> <HI>The Angel flyeth through the mid&s;t of hea|ven, preaching the everla&s;ting Go&s;pell;</HI> and ver&s;. 8. Another Angel followeth, &s;aying, <HI>That Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great City, &amp;c.</HI> The preaching of the Go&s;pel, is the meanes, you &s;ee, of Antichri&s;ts ru|ine; and the Sermon is, <HI>Feare God, and give glory to him.</HI> This Sermon, is that wil ruine Antichri&s;t, both in the letter, and in the &s;pirit; <HI>give glory to God,</HI> that is, let God be all, and in all: let God bee your enjoy|ment in the &s;pirit; &s;ee you live upon no|thing below him; give not glory to crea|tures, duties, actings, any thing either of the fir&s;t Adam, or Antichri&s;t: give glory to God in the letter, give not glory to Man, &s;et not up Man in the roome of God; doe not cry the voyce of Man, and not of God, in any of the things of God; and this is the Sermon that &s;hal ruine Antichri&s;t.</P>
<P>See likewi&s;e, <HI>Rev.</HI> 12.9. The Divel and Sathan, the my&s;tical Antichri&s;t, was ca&s;t forth of heaven, to the Earth; that is, he &s;hal not bee &s;uffered any more to delude &s;oules, in a heavenly &s;hape: the Divel is now turned Chri&s;tian, and he makes warre with the Saints, under the name of Chri&s;t, both in the Spirit, as wel as in the Letter:
<PB N="129" REF="69"> And hence the great warre is betweene Chri&s;t and Sathan in Heaven; that is, be|tween the Heaven of Chri&s;t, and the Hea|ven of Sathan, under the name of Chri&s;t. But now John &s;aith, he &s;aw Sathan ca&s;t out of Heaven; that is, he &s;hal deceive &s;oules no more, in a Heavenly forme; neither per&s;e|cute the Saints any more under the name of Chri&s;t: (A glorious word, and it is com|ming on apace) for, the mo&s;t part of &s;oules in that part of the world, called Chri&s;tians, are ruined in the Divels Heaven; and be|leeve it, this is the great work Chri&s;t hath to doe, in the&s;e latter dayes, the con&s;umma|tion of Antichri&s;t; that is, Fir&s;t of all, Antichri&s;ts &s;piritual delu&s;ions, by which he hath deceived &s;oules. 2 And all Anti|chri&s;ts deluding formes and ordinances, by which the common &s;ort of people are ge|nerally deluded: the worke of Chri&s;t is to powre downe Vials of wrath upon the head of the Man of &s;inne, both in the &s;pi|rit, and in the letter: Looke about you therefore, all you, who&s;e &s;piritual life con|&s;i&s;ts in nothing, but &s;piritual and Antichri|&s;tian delu&s;ions, with invented and Anti|chri&s;tian formes and ordinances. A Vial of Wrath is coming on you, which wil &s;hat|ter
<PB N="130" REF="70"> to pieces al your confidence: and then, if mercy prevent not, you may &s;tand looking on, and crying; alas, alas, in one houre is &s;o great riches come to nought? and then, when this is fulfilled, there &s;hal be no more warre in Heaven, or &s;piritual delu&s;ion un|der the name of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>A glorious word for tho&s;e that dwel in Heaven, and that which wil cau&s;e joy to the Saints.</P>
<P>For, fir&s;t they &s;hal bee without, and a|bove, all danger of delu&s;ions, in the &s;pirit, or in the letter,</P>
<P>And &s;econdly, they &s;hal from the &s;ame ground, be for ever freed from fellow&s;hip with Hypocrites, and literal Chri&s;tians; for their communion &s;hal bee more, in the &s;pirit, and le&s;&s;e, in the letter: and there &s;hal in no wi&s;e enter into it, any thing that de|fileth; neither what&s;oever worketh abho|mination; that is, lives earthly, carnal, and prophane, or maketh a lye; that is, Hypo|criticall, that &s;eemes to be what he is not; But they which are written in the Lambs book of life: and there &s;hal be no more a Cananite in the hou&s;e of the Lord for e|ver. This is the great work Chri&s;t hath to do in the&s;e latter dayes; the con&s;umma|tion
<PB N="131" REF="70"> of the Kingdome of Antichri&s;t, who hath a long time &s;ate in his &s;eate, with the exaltation of his owne Kingdome in the &s;pirit.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT. V. Que&s;t.</HI> When he &s;hall be ruined.</HEAD>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> FIr&s;t, in the my&s;tery and &s;pi|rits of the Saints, as Je&s;us Chri&s;t comes in, and &s;hiues gloriou&s;ly in the &s;pirit; &s;o &s;hal Antichri&s;t bee di&s;covered, and de&s;troyed: and &s;o hee hath received a great blow already in this Nation, through the &s;hinings in of Je&s;us Chri&s;t in the &s;pi|rit among&s;t many of his Saints: &s;o that this is the time of Antichri&s;ts ruine: when Je|&s;us Chri&s;t comes in, and takes place in the &s;pirit of his people; as the Kingdome of Chri&s;t increa&s;eth, &s;o the Kingdome of An|tichri&s;t decayeth and con&s;umeth.</P>
<P>Secondly, Antichri&s;t &s;hal bee de&s;troyed when the everla&s;ting Go&s;pel &s;hal be prea|ched; that is, when the Angel flyeth through the midde&s;t of Heaven, preaching the ever|la&s;ting Go&s;pel; that is, when the Mini&s;ters
<PB N="132" REF="71"> of the Go&s;pel &s;hal come forth with their ful, and heavenly di&s;coveries of God in the &s;pirit, being permitted to preach the Go|&s;pel, by the Earthly power in all places with liberty: For, much hath beene done already by the witne&s;&s;es profe&s;&s;ing in &s;ack|cloth: that is, almo&s;t always in danger of a civil per&s;ecution; and much ignorance of the my&s;tery of the Go&s;pel, which hath cau|&s;ed them to prophe&s;ie in &s;ack-cloth; yet they have had power, to cau&s;e fire to come from Heaven, as oft as they plea&s;e, burning up all Antichri&s;tian formes, and invented delu&s;ions: And then, what wil be done, think you, when the Mini&s;ters of the Go|&s;pel &s;hal come forth in the full and bright di&s;coveries of the Go&s;pel, with liberties here below for the publi&s;hing of it?</P>
<P>Thirdly, Antichri&s;t &s;hal bee de&s;troyed, when the witne&s;&s;es have beene &s;laine, and laine dead three dayes; (that is a &s;hort &s;pace) then a tenth part of the City &s;hal fal, and the re&s;t &s;hal have their time pro|longed; but, for a time and a &s;ea&s;on. The fir&s;t woe is almo&s;t pa&s;t; behold, a &s;econd, and third woe cometh quickly: waite, and it wil come apace.</P>
<PB N="133" REF="71">
<P>Thus have I from the Light of Truth, with as much brevity as may be, in &s;ome mea&s;ure, hinted at this Man of &s;inne, this My&s;tery of Iniquitie, with his reign, ruine, with the meanes and time.</P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<PB REF="72">
<HEAD>Errata.</HEAD>
<P>PAge <HI>4.</HI> line <HI>5.</HI> for mini&s;try, read my&s;tery, p. <HI>5.</HI> l. <HI>29.</HI> for in peece, r. in a peece, p. <HI>11.</HI> l. <HI>1.</HI> for ma|nife&s;teth. <HI>2.</HI> The cau&s;e of mans falling, his Ju&s;tice, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> r. manife&s;teth his Ju&s;tice, the &s;econd cau&s;e of mans falling, is the temptation of Satan, p. <HI>12.</HI> l. <HI>7.</HI> for he delivers, r. h. deludes, p. <HI>18</HI> l. <HI>13.</HI> for all man|kind him, r. in him, p. <HI>22.</HI> l. <HI>3.</HI> for and eternal, r. and internal, p. <HI>28.</HI> l. <HI>2.</HI> for John <HI>24.</HI> r. Iohn <HI>14.6.</HI> p. <HI>28.</HI> l. <HI>25.</HI> f. or, r. for, p. <HI>29.</HI> l. <HI>24.</HI> f. of, r. a, p <HI>30.</HI> l. <HI>10.</HI> for blanch, r. branch, p. <HI>31.</HI> l. <HI>12.</HI> for as, r. is, p. <HI>30.</HI> l. <HI>13.</HI> for de&s;iring, r. di&s;covering, p. <HI>37.</HI> l. <HI>4.</HI> f. or, r ours, p. <HI>51.</HI> l. <HI>9.</HI> for enter, r. eate, p. <HI>66.</HI> l. <HI>11.</HI> f. beleeve, r. below it, p. <HI>66.</HI> l. <HI>11.</HI> f. ever of, r. the pre&s;ent enjoyment of, p. <HI>78.</HI> l. <HI>20.</HI> f. learning, r. bearing, p. <HI>85.</HI> l. <HI>8.</HI> for eternal r. external, p. <HI>93.</HI> l. <HI>7.</HI> f. &s;tall, r. &s;hall.</P>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
