An Antidote Against the Quakers, Title page – Dedication
AN ANTIDOTE AGAINST THAT Poyſonous and Fundamental ERROR OF THE QUAKERS, Denying the ſame Numerical true and real Manhood of Jeſus Chriſt in Heaven, a place remote from the Earth.
In two SERMONS Preached at Hartford, By W. H. CHRISTOPHILUS.
ISA. 4.2. In that day ſhall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and Glorious, and the fruit of the Earth ſhall be Excellent and Comely, for them that are eſcaped of Iſrael.
ISA. 53.2. For he ſhall grow up before him as a tender Plant, and as a Root out of a dry Ground : He hath no Form nor Comelineſs : and when we ſhall ſee him, there is no Beauty that we ſhould deſire him.
London, Printed for Jonathan Robinson, at the Golden Lyon in St. Pauls Church-Yard. 1676.
The Epiſtle Dedicatory.
To his much Honoured FRIEND, Sir John Hartop, Baronet.
SIR,
THAT which gave the Occaſion of my thoughts pitching upon this ſubject matter, viz. Chriſt's Manhood in Heaven, was that Diſpute betwixt Mr. Hicks, and Mr. Pen, at London, concerning the ſame. I being there preſent, am ſatisfied by the Quakers fallacious management of that Diſcourſe, that they deny the ſame Numerical true and real Manhood of Chriſt in Heaven, as a place remote from us. Since that I have had Diſcourſe with a Neighbour Quaker, William Bates, who frequently ſaid, He did not believe that the Humane Nature, that which was taken by Chriſt of the Virgin, had now any being. I have three Witneſſes of this, whom I can produce if need be.
Sir, I may boldly ſay, That neither you, I, nor thouſands more of Chriſtians in this Nation, ever thought that we ſhould live to ſee that day, wherein ſo many thouſands, pretending to Chriſtianity, in this Nation, ſhould be ſo Brazen-foreheaded as to diſown Jeſus of Nazareth to be the Meſsiah; yet ſo it is. O Tempora, O Mores! The Ends of the World are come upon us. My Spirit being ſtirred within me at the hearing of this grand Fundament al Errour, I thought it my duty to the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, to Antidote the poor Country, as much as in me lieth, againſt theſe damnable Deluſions; it made him ſpeak that was dumb before, when he ſaw his Fathers Life in danger. So what Babe, what Novice will want a Mouth, a Tongue to ſpeak, a Hand, a Pen to write, when the Man Christ is ſtruck at by ungodly Seducers? Therefore I, though the leaſt and moſt unfit of my Brethren, have Printed my Notes, Preached (you know) at Hartford, and humbly preſent them to you, Sir, as to one whom I know to be a ſincere lover of the One Mediator betwixt God and Man, the Man Chriſt Jeſus, and of his Evangelical Truths. Pray, Sir, vouchſafe to read them, and candidly bear with what may not be ſo congruouſly worded in ſo ſublime a Myſtery. The Lord by his Spirit eſtabliſh, ſettle, ſtrengthen you, in this and every Truth, and preſerve you and your Elect Lady, both as Veſſels of Honour, to his heavenly Kingdom, there to behold the Man Jeſus Chriſt in his Glory, which is best of all.
Your Servant for Jeſus ſake, William Haworth.
AN ANTIDOTE Againſt that Poyſonous & Fundamental Error OF THE QUAKERS, &c.
1 PETER, 3.22.
Who is gone into Heaven, and is on the Right hand of God.
THE Apoſtle Peter is here ſpeaking of the Grounds of Comfort to the guilty Conſciences. One is in Verſ. 21. The Reſurrection of Jeſus Chriſt. The anſwer of a good Conſcience through the Reſurrection of Jeſus Chriſt.
He roſe again for our Juſtification. He being acquitted by the Father then, His Members are acquitted now.
A ſecond Propoſition in order to the Anſwer of a good Conſcience is, The Aſcenſion of Jeſus Chriſt, and his ſitting at the Right-hand of God; all things being made ſubject to him. To ſee by Faith our Head exalted into Glory, and there Advocating for us, and Ruling for us, is a very comfortable thing.
In the 18 Verſe, he is ſpeaking of Chriſt's being put to death in the Fleſh, but quickned by the Spirit, (i.e.) the Divine Power: Then deſcends to ſpeak of his Reſurrection, as the true ſolid Ground of the Anſwer of a Good Conſcience; and from this Reſurrection deſcends to ſpeak of his Aſcenſion. So then, That ſame Jeſus that was put to death in the Fleſh, and Raiſed by the Power of God from the Dead; That ſame is gone into Heaven.
It's plain then, that he was put to Death in his fleſhly Body, and in This it was that he Roſe again: Why then, in This is he gone into Heaven, and in This is he at the Right-hand of God. foreign, it ſpeaks a Motion from one Place to another, a Change of the Place: Now, Whither went he? Into Heaven. Heaven is not every where, as ſome ſay, and ſo this Change is only a Change of State: But Heaven is a Place where God doth manifeſt moſt of his Glory: It's called, the Heaven of Heavens, and the third Heaven, whereunto Paul was wrapt up. 2 Chron. 6.21. Hear thou from thy dwelling-Place, even from Heaven. It's called here, and 1 Kings 8.30. Gods Dwelling-Place.
John 14.2. It's called the Fathers Houſe; In my Fathers Houſe are many Manſions: I go to prepare a Place for you. [And is on the Right-hand of God.] An Alluſion to the Cuſtom of Kings, who were wont to take their Favourites and place them on their Right-hand, as Solomon placed his Mother at his Right-hand: And as Zebedee would have had her Sons at Chriſt's Right-hand in his Kingdom. It is a Place of Honour, Glory, Power and Authority.