TRVTH Vindicated Against All HERESIES SHEWING How the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent is distinguished THE Woman cloathed with the Sun discovered she having the Moon under her Feet The Old and New Testament made to agree AND God's JUSTICE and MERCY Magnified LONDON Printed and Sold by Edward Pool at the Sign of the Half Moon under the Royal Exchange Abel Roper at the Black Boy over against St. Dunstan's Church Fleet-street Mr. Michael at the Crown and Cushion in Westminster-Hall And at Mercer's Chappel in Cheapside 1698. I have by God's assistance made plain the true meaning of this Text which I found to be much abused by one who in his Book saith He knows not but that he may be the Elias which was to come And he in his Book has thrown the miscarriage of the Devil and Man upon God upon the mistakes of this and some other mistaken places of Scripture By which mistaken places the Prince of Darkness has got wonderful advantage to the destruction of many thousand poor Souls I. Chap. GEN. 3.22 And the Lord God said Behold the man is become as one of us to know good and evil And now least he put forth his Hand and take also of the Tree of Life and eat and live for ever Now in that God said Behold the Man is become as one of us to know goâ—… and evil That was the Man became like God in the knowledge of good and evil For God had the knowledge of good and evil to distinguish between the excellency of the one and the abomination of the other For God was of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity Hab. 1.13 That is to behold either the Pride or Malice of the Devil or the evil of Man with approbation And Adam and Eve when they had eaten of the forbidden Fruit they became ashamed of the Evil they had done whereby their Nakedness was discovered to them And so the Evil of Sin became disliked by them And in that Adam and Eve disliked Sin and liked Good therein they became like God in the knowledge of good and evil In that they disliked the one and loved the other tho' not in that perfect degree yet unto God it might bear a resemblance For Man was at first created in the Image of God yet infinitely short of the glorious perfection of God who is an unchangeable Being and beyond the Power of Satan's deceiving But Adam and Eve being ashamed of what they had done therein they were quite contrary to the Devil for he was without shame and without excuse For whatsoever Evil he commits he never is surprized or drawn into it but he always doth the worst of Evils with his best liking And whatever Wickedness he does he is the Father of it John 8.44 And not that the Evil of Sin was first determined by God as is falsly asserted by some Now Adam and Eve were beguiled and drawn into the Snare by the Devil And he endeavoured to ensuare our blessed Lord when he said If thou be the Son of God cast thy self down for it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their Hands they shall bear thee up least at any time thou dash thy Foot against a Stone Mat. 4.6 So likewise Satan used perswasions to Adam and Eve in setting forth how beneficial the eating of that Tree would be to them And then she apprehended it was a Tree to be desired to make one wise And Wisdom is pleasing to God and Man And he that hateth Understanding is a Fool 1 King 3.9,10 Prov. 1.22 And it was by Satan's plausible Insinuations that he deceived them he telling them They should be as Gods knowing Good and Evil. And that God did but threaten them and that they should not surely dye Gen. 3.4 So he beguiled them and they did eat but not as they had any dislike to good or delight in evil but the contrary for he perswaded them they should be like Gods or God and when they saw by what they had done that their Natures were defiled so as thereby their Nakedness did appear to them they were ashamed And where there remains Fear and Shame there remains a Child-like frame Now Adam beholding his Sin with fear and Shame Gen. 3.7.10 He thereby shewed his dislike to Sin And therefore God had compassion on Man and promised him a Saviour And in the State that Adam was then in God saw a probability that he might still take and eat of the Tree of Life and therefore the Lord sent him forth of the Garden least he should put forth his Hand and take also of the Tree of Life and eat and live for ever Gen. 3.22,23 the which God before they had Sinned gave them free liberty to do Gen. 2.16 And therefore God determined not Mans miscarriage by not putting him in ability capable to stand as some have falsly imagined But God having said before to Adam that in the Day that he did eat of the Tree of knowledge of Good and evil he should surely die Gen. 2.17 And it being impossible for God to lye Heb. 6.18 Therefore God sent them out of the Garden least they should take hold of the Tree of Life and eat and live for ever And God rather choosing to part with the Son of his Love from the Throne of his Glory to Suffer for Sinners his Love to his Creatures made that possible but for God to lye is impossible Therefore Adam for his transgression dyed in the day of a Thousand Years For one day is with the Lord as a Thousand Years and a Thousand Years as one day 2. Pet. 3.8 And for the Sin of Adam's transgression there was but the punishment of this Life and Death pronounced against them with a comfortable promise by the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15,16,17,18,19 but the Fire of Hell was not threatned to them neither was Hell Fire prepared for Man but for the Devil and his Angels Matt. 25.41 who before the Creation of the World rebelled 2. Now there is a great deal of difference in Scripture between the meaning of the Creation of the World and the Foundation of the World there being but one Creation of the World but several Foundations in as much as there was made several Worlds Heb. 1.2 As the Old World This World and the World that is yet to come All having several Foundations Adam being the Foundation of the Old World Noah the Foundation of this World And Abraham the Foundation of the World to come So as all that come in heirs to that World must come in as the Seed of Abraham Gal. 3.28 And as the Twelve Tribes are the Foundation of the World to come so the Twelve Apostles are said to be the Foundation of the Heavenly City having their names writ on the wall thereof Reve. 21.14 And the Twelve Tribes when they were brought out of Egypt to be placed in the Heart of the Earth and to
further to consider wherefore the Lord sent them forth from the Garden Which was Least he should put forth his Hand and take also of the Tree of Life Gen. 3.22 By which words we are to take notice that God doth positively declare that he did not know what Man would do till he proved and tryed him and saw what was in Man And Therefore least he should also take of the Tree of Life and eat and Live forever God having before pronounced Death for his offence God sent him out of the Garden These words we are to take in the plain Letter of the Text. That God did not then know what Man would do And this God declaring we are bound to believe In as much as it is impossible for God to ly Heb. 6.18 But many by not rightly apprehending these forementioned places have laid the generality of the world under Eternal Damnation by a fore sight in God of Adams transgression Notwithstanding God hath fully declared that when he saw that the wickedness of Man was great upon the Earth and that man had wholly corrupted his way except Noah It repented the Lord that he had made Man on the Earth and it grieved him at his Heart Gen. 6.5,6,9,12 And this we are to take in the plain Letter of the Text without we will blaspheme his Holy Name in making the God of Truth a lyer which is impossible for him to be Heb. 6.18 And when God promiseth a Blessing whether conditional or absolute according as he hath promised he will make it good Hath he said and shall he not do it or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good For God is not a man that he should lye nor the Son of Man that he should repent Numb 23.19 But upon man's returning God is often said to Repent of the Evil he thought to do unto them So likewise of a Blessing when it is promised on condition and the condition not performed Jer. 18.8,9,10 And it was after God had proved and tryed man he saw what was in man And seeing our great High-Priest could not be touched with the feeling of our Infirmities till he took our Nature Heb. 4.15 So it was much more impossible that God who is of purer Eyes then to behold Iniquity with approbation could be cumbred with the foresight of all the abominations and wicked stratagems of the Devil or Man before they were created or the World in which man offended And the God of Truth having sworn that he delighteth not in the Death of a Sinner but rather that he should return and live Ezek. 33.11 And how can this be true if God had reprobated the generality of all Mankind from all Eternity And likewise God saith The Soul that sinneth it shall dye the Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father Ezek. 18.20 that is when they come to be judged And accordingly it is said when they are judged That every one shall receive for the things done in the Body whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 For Christ will then condemn none for the Sin of Adam's Transgression the which we call Original Sin for which we have laid the greater part of the World under Eternal Damnation by a foresight in God of Adams transgression And it is by the false Notions which the Christians have received through the mistaken places of Scripture which has caused several to deny the Lord Christ to be the Son of God knowing that the God of Truth would not send his Son and the Servant of his Son to contradict what he had before declared for tho' our Faith in some things may be above our Reason but not contrary to Reason And tho' it is said He that planted the Ear shall he not hear he that formed the Eye shall he not see Psal 94.7.9 This is spoken only to the time after Man had a being and when they transgressed and thought God did not see But in that God said when Man had corrupted himself that it repented him that he had made Man and that it grieved him at his heart Therefore with permission I speak this it being not improbable that if Man had fallen no otherwise then in Adam's transgression that then Christ by taking our Nature and therein performing perfect Obedience he might thereby have satisfied Divine Justice without making his Soul an Offering for Sin Which made the Lord Christ desire of God that if it were possible that Cup might pass from him But it being impossible that God's justice could be otherwise satisfied therefore he drank it and God was troubled that Man had so corrupted himself as to fall under his severe Condemnation he having no pleasure in the Death of a Sinner Ezek. 18.32 But many by their false apprehensions that all things were fore-ordained before the Creation making no distinction between the great difference that is betwixt the Creation of the World and the meaning of the Foundation of the World and by several mistaken places Whereby they have made the wonderful Love of God in the gift of his Son only a thing fore-determined according to the Counsel of his own Will and that from all Eternity And the wonderful Love of Christ in laying down his Life for the World which Love passeth Knowledge has been made a design in God that thereby some might be saved and the rest damned And these conjectures some have had of God who is the Fountain of all Wisdom Love and Justice as to think that God from all Eternity elected some without Reason and left the rest to eternal Damnation without having any regard to Reason Pity or Love But when such come to be judged they will find that God has a reason for what he doth And some there are that hold that God hath two Wills an outward Will to invite all to come and accept of Salvation and a secret Will that only the Elect shall be saved Which Notions were no other then Blasphemy against the God of Truth were they wilfully committed And because most of the received mistaken Notions will not permit God a Reason for what he doth therefore the foresaid Elias Thomas Moor pretending to vindicate God's justice more than the others saith God not making the Angels that fell nor Man at first of ability to stand and therefore he saith God in Justice cannot punish Man in Hell nor leave the Devil to damnation And were this true that God did not at first make the Angels that fell and Man of ability to stand I should be of his mind also in thinking it could not be justice in God to condemn them to the Fire of Hell for doing that which he had before determined But now the Prince of Darkness through our mistaken Notions by the false Interpretations put upon the Scriptures has compleated his design in throwing his miscarriage and the World 's upon God that thereby Man might be as wicked as the Devil would have them Concerning Adam's Fall I