and h!J Son fefus Chrifl. unto tlm, but my Father which is in Heaven. And I foy a/fo unto thee, that thOit ~ a1'1 Peter, and upon this Roe/;_ will] build my Church ; a11d the Gates of Hell jba/1 Chap. I. not prevail ag.1injl it. . . . . ~ It is acknowledged by all that profeiS Chnfi1an Rehg1on, That Chrifi is the Foundation; yea, and that other Foundation can no Man lay, than_ that which is t,,;cJ, which is ]ejiu Cbrift, I Cor. 3· I r. But let all know, that 1t IS as much a Foundation, and as abfolutely necelfary, To /;_now and believe him that is tme, (as John's word is, r Joh" 5· 20.) rhe true Chrift; that is, the True Perlon ; who and what he is, and not another 'jefos ; that is, not to miflake his Perfon. Which Mirtake, or Error Perfon£, is either, r. w~en Men knoW not, or do not ac– knowledg the Individual Perfon, who He 1s. Or, 2. underfiand not, but miC– take what that Perfon is, and what h1s Perfop confifis of: both wh1ch are ahke neceff.1ry to be underrtood aright by us. The Neceffity firrt you may fee by Chri(t's Speech to the Phariftes, John 8. 24. If JOlt believe not that [I J am HE, [that is, this my Individual Perfon to be the He,tbat is,the Meffiah]Je jbt~!l die in yourSinJ. And the neccffity of the latter ; thofe two his ~ertions, one put to the Tharifles, Matth. 2 2. and the other to his Difciples, .511atth. I6. do alfo ar– gue, r. To the 'Phariji:er; What thin/;.JOU of Chrift? Whnfe Son is He? Mat. 22. Here he cloth not ask them, Whether they would acknowledg himfelf to be the Chrifi, but what manner of Terfon the True Chrifi ihould be ? And the dint and aim of his Ql!e(\ion is, concerning his Perfon, Whqfo Son is He? Which is the true Subftance of the Perfon of the Me!Jiah : Thereby to difcover to them, and convince them that they erred as well in this, what the Chri(\ they look'd for ihould be, as in their not taking himfelf that was afore them to be that Perfon~; and fatally in both. 2. He catechileth his Difciples, Mat. I6. r 3· Whom do Mtn foJ I am? Whom do ;e fay I am? Veri. I 5· Which, verf r6. Peter, in the Name of the rert, gives anfwer to; And withal refolves that Ql!efiion which he put unto the Pha– rifles, Thou art Chrift, the Son of the Living God. In which he (peaks home to both Particulars. · r. That He, individually prefent with them, was the Chrirt, [ th01t art, &c.] And, 2. What that Chrirt was for the Subrtance of his Perfon, Son of the Li– ving God. And Chrirt in his return to this, definitively pronounceth, That the Faith of both tbefe was the R.ock which he meant to build his Church of the New Te– rtament upon. . So then, What the Perfon of Chrift is, is of the Foundation (being the R.ock); as well as that, that Je[M "'""the Chriil:. · And let me add, That this being the R.ock, the whole Church of the New Tertament bath been built upon; you therefore may fafely joyn iilues in your Faith, with what bath been the Faith and Doctrine of the whole Church in all Ages; "'touching this particular, what his Perfon for the Subrtance of it is. In this, I fay, of all Points elfe, that Promife iifues which is made to the whole Chun:h, anfwering to this Declaration of Chrirt, Ephef 4· 13. That they jhould all come into the VniiJ of tbe Faith <md ICnowledg of tbe So~t of God. They ihould all, that were in all Ages faved, agree in the Knowledg of this, in what ever other things'they might be found to differ. This is the Roe/;_ of Ages. And therefore in this Point, be wary what you entertain anew, or how you vary from the Catholick Faith of former Ages, or in what !hall any way make hts Perfon dtlfer, from that Perfon which all the Saints have underfiood him to be. I fhall not go about fedy to confute the Errors that arc abroad ; only pofitive– ly fet fotth that Perfon which the Glafs of the Gofpel holds forth. And I hope, in the end and conclufion, to give forth that Challenge, which Ta11l iu the like Cafe cloth, in that 2 Cor. r r. + If he that cometh, can jhew JOlt • better, or gre,,ter, or more jpiritual Cbrijl, ( I do not fay, !hall fet out our Chrirt better, but fhew you a better Cbrifi) then JOlt fba/1 do well to bea1· with that Man, yea, and receive him and his Chrirt alfo. H 2 Again,
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