again for our Justification in the same Body in which he was Crucify'd which very Temple of his Body so call'd because the Fulness of the God-head dwealt in it Bodily He foretold he would Raise again That this Christ is our Peace with God having Abolished in His Flesh the Enmity between God and Men Eph. 2. v. 14.15 that it pleas'd the Father Christ having made Peace thro' the Blood of his Cross by him to reconcile all things to himself In the Body of His Flesh thro Death Coloss 1.19 20.22 That he ascended up into Heaven in the same Body and sat down at the Right hand of God to the end That we might enter thither into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath Consecrated for Us thro' the Veil that is to say His Flesh Heb. 10.19 20. That the same Jesus who did Ascend in the sight of many of his Disciples shall so come in like manner in the same Body visibly in the Clouds of Heaven to Judge both the Quick and the Dead Whereas I say these Articles of our Faith are thus plainly deliver'd in these and many other Texts of Scripture and generally Agreed to by I think most Dissenters These unhappy People the Quakers either utterly deny 'em or make 'em void by applying them to their Light within which they call Christ Rejecting the Merits of our blessed Lord's Blood Outwardly Shed and the Sacrifice of his Body upon the Cross at Jerusalem Let us prove this Charge in its several Particulars And in order to this let me desire you to take particular Notice of this Great and Fundamental Errour upon which they raise all the rest viz. Their Distinguishing between two Christs the Christ who Suffer'd at Jerusalem whom they call the Outward Christ and their Light which they call the Christ within which is the only Christ they value or depend upon 1. Then as to the Incarnation This they reckon no otherwise beneficial than as Christ is Incarnate in every Quaker That the true Christ is he that is Born within them who grows up by degrees from an Holy Seed to a Child and then to be the mighty God applying commonly in their Writings upon this occasion that Celebrated Prophesy of Isaiah Chap. 9. v. 6 unto each particular Quaker Man or Woman Unto Us a Child is born unto Us a Son is given and the Government shall be upon his Shoulders and his Name shall be call'd Wonderful Counsellor the Mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace Thus one of them Be thou the Virgin and the Power of the Most High shall over-shadow thee and that holy Thing which shall be Born of thee shall be called the Son of God William Baily's Works p. 292 293. Faith in Christs Outward Manifestation has been a Deadly Poison this latter Age has been infected with all Quakerism a New Nick Name p. 6. 2. The same they affirm concerning the Sufferings of Christ these are to be perform'd within them too or else are to no Purpose and the Blood of the Seed shed within them as they speak is sufficient of it self to justify them in the Sight of God and reject with Scorn and Disdain that which was shed by our Saviour Outwardly Thus Mr. Penn we deny justification by the Righteousness of Christ fullfill'd in his own Person for us wholly without us and boldly affirm it in the Name of the Lord to be the Doctrine of Devils O Horrid Blasphemy and an Arm of that Sea of Corruption which does now deluge the whole World Mr. Penn's Serious Apology p. 148. Again That the Outward Person which suffer'd was properly the Son of God we utterly deny Ib. 146. If there be any other Christ but he that was Crucify'd within He is a false Christ and the Devil never made it i e. this Doctrine as was Objected to him but he and his Messengers are against it The Devils and Reprobates may talk of him without G. Fox Gr. Myst p. 206. Nay they affirm farther that a Quaker may arrive to such perfection that He may forget wholly the Christ which dy'd at Jerusalem Thus Another of them When you come to know this viz. the Operation of Christ within you will cease Remembring his Death at Jerusalem and will come to see How He has been Crucified in you p. 19. Doctr. of Perfection Vindic. by J. Whitehouse 3. As for the Resurrection This Mr Penn compares upon account of the Absurdity of it to Transubstantiation Reason ag Railing p. 134. and those Remarkable Passages concerning the Resurrection of the Body 1 Corinth 15. they apply to the Resurrection of the Soul by Faith alone from a Natural to a Spiritual Estate Which is the very Same Error with that of Hymnaeus and Philetus which St Paul speaks of 2 Tim. 2. c. 17 18. Who concerning the faith have erred saying the Resurrection is pass'd already and overthrow the Faith of some St Paul Himself was in the same state of Resurrection as I hope they will allow which they speak of and yet He Condemn'd those who taught this as the only Resurrection as overthrowers of the Faith 4. As to Christs ascension and sitting at the Right Hand of God This they Affirm to be done within 'em only as necessary to Salvation the teaching the other they call setting ones self Against Christ Thus when one J. Wrightson had dedicated a Book He wrote Against them To all them that Call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ who sits at the Right Hand of God the Father in the Heavens out of Every Man on Earth in a Preface to a Book call'd the Son of Perdition Reveal'd by the light of the Son of God in his Servants Geo. Whitehead and Ed. Burroughs they desire it may be noted How J. W. had absolutely set Himself against Christ and the Truth who herein hath Gone about to limit and divide the Holy one from his People and members Which they Explain farther afterwards In that J. W. hath accounted Christ as He is at the Right Hand of God the Father not to be in Any man but out of Every Man upon Earth He hath gone about to Separate the Saints from the Right Hand of God and so hath discover'd Himself Both Ignorant of Christ and of the Fathers Right Hand and of the Kingdom of Heaven in the Saints for they that are come to Christ and to Know Him in them they Are come to the Fathers Right Hand and being Christs Sheep none shall pull them out of His Fathers Hands And in a Primmer which they teach their Poor Innocent Children by William Smith distinguishing between the True and the False Preachers They that are false says this Author Preach Christ without and bid people Believe in Him as He is in Heaven above But this one alone would have been sufficient to Raise in You Horrour and Amazement Your Imagin'd God beyond the Stars and Your Carnal Christ is utterly
Therefore the Psalmist does not Appeal here to the mixt multitude of Jews much less to all Mankind but to those alone who fear'd God And these undoubtedly were transported with holy Joy at what he related to them How much more will they be so in the like Cases who believe truly in the Son of God For they who are always remembring the sweet Commands of Mercy and Love which the Gospel of Peace breaths out continually they who have always before their Eyes those Holy Examples of Goodness and Charity which our blessed Lord left us will also have a tender Concern upon them for the Good of their Neighbour especially in what relates to the Salvation of his Soul and therefore will rejoice to see him Recover'd from the very brink of Ruin to behold him turning back when just falling into Eternal Damnation 't is to these then alone that we Appeal at present in the Words of the Text Come and hear all ye that fear God c. 2. Let us consider the Publickness of that Acknowledgment which he design'd to make and his Earnestness with them to Attend to him Come and hear and I will declare unto you Tho' David was a very great Prince and the Sins which he fell into were very great both in their Nature and their Circumstances as being against much Knowledge and long Experience of God's Goodness and therefore the more Shameful yet He is always ready to make a Publick Confession of them as He does particularly in the 51 Psal upon the Matter of Uriah But Humane Nature generally is very Averse to this whither in Returning from Error to Truth or from Vice to Virtue With what strange Confidence do some Men Value themselves upon the foulest Vices With what Impudence do others Scoff at all Religion and Blaspheme the Son of God! With what Harden'd Obstinacy and sullen Bitterness do others again Break thro' all the Laws of Modesty and Charity to bear their Testimony to the Grossest Errors but if thro' the Mercy of God they become sensible of this and cool by Degrees from the Violent Heats of Debauchery or Enthusiasm and are Willing to Return again to themselves and to their God yet how full of Fear and Shame are they With what Caution and Privacy do they Proceed What care is taken to secure their Honour or cover their Reputation lest they should be Censur'd for want of Judgment or Levity and Inconstancy But how Unreasonable is this The want of Judgment surely was Discovered at first in the falling into Error nor in the Disclaiming it so the Levity and Inconstancy was Notorious in the Turning out of the Right way into every Dirty By-Lane and mistaking the Hot Vapours of a Distemper'd Brain for the Light of Revelation To persist in an Error for fear of being Censur'd by Weak and Wicked Men for leaving it is Obstinacy not Constancy 't is the Walking on steddily to Hell in Compliance to our Acquaintance for 't is not only making Reason Useless but doing despight to the Spirit of Grace denying the Holy Jesus while we pretend to profess Him and putting Him to Open Shame to secure ones own Reputation Whereas if Men considered things impartially if they reflected as they ought to do upon the Majesty of that God whom they have offended how much his Honour and Glory suffers by any Wickedness but especially by foul Apostacy and Enormous Crimes how the Saving Name of Jesus is expos'd to the Blasphemy of Atheists and Infidels while People Embrace such Doctrines as make Void his Cross and Render the Blood of the Covenant shed there a common or Contemptible thing If I say they wou'd be sensible of this then sure the least that they can do wou'd be to acknowledge publickly that they are so In Quarrels which happen between one another before Company To ask Forgiveness in Private is not look'd upon as sufficient Satisfaction but this must be as Publick at least as the Injury was Alas shall we proceed so nicely in the little mistakes between Brethren and Fellow Christians and yet Scruple to do any thing of this Nature after we have been Guilty of the Greatest Sins of Deserting or Rebelling against the most High and most Holy God The use of this is twofold 1. That since Men are so generally averse so very much asham'd to own their Errours and this still the more the greater those Errours are Where People Break thro' these Difficulties to own in the Face of the World Errors of the Grossest kind we ought to be satisfied of their Sincerity and Conclude with ourselves that they do that upon mature Deliberation and firm Resolution which they chuse to do before so many Witnesses 2. That what is so done and must be so acceptable to God ought to Raise our Value and esteem for such Persons and Restore them as well in Justice to themselves as for the Encouragement of others not only to our good Opinion but our Friendship and Affection for who is there that does really fear God himself that wou'd not Run forth in Holy Joy to meet any mistaken Christian Returning to His Duty that wou'd not Embrace him with the most tonder Compassion and Love and Praise and Magnify with him the Father of Mercies forasmuch as this their Brother was Dead but is alive again was lost but is sound This I am persuaded Every one wou'd Gladly do when they consider Attentively the Greatness of the Benefit Receiv'd which is our 3d. Point The most Important indeed of all included in these Words what He hath done for my Soul As this concerns the Psalmist the Benefit for which He Praises God was as may be seen by the Verses following God's Accepting of his Humiliation and Prayers and Restoring him to the Peace of a Good Conscience But to bring this directly to the Case in Hand Namely the Greatness of the Mercy which this Person hath Receiv'd together with these others his Friends and Acquaintance here Present and to move you to join with them in Praising of God accordingly it will be necessary to shew you the Greatness of that Danger which they have been in and the monstrous Errours which the People call'd Quakers with whom they lately joined are fallen into concerning the Fundamental Articles of our Faith This will be done most fairly and Impartially by Quoting to you their own Words in several Remarkable Passages taken out of such Books as were Written by their first or chief Teachers and are still own'd by them such I say as I have perus'd and Examin'd Diligently my self and most of them with others upon a Particular occasion Whereas then it is most plainly and positively affirm'd in the holy Scriptures That Jesus Christ the Son of God was Conceiv'd of the Holy Ghost made Flesh and Born of the Virgin Mary That he was put to Death upon the Cross That thro' his Blood-shed there we have Redemption That as he Died for our Sins so he Rose
Mystery p. 268. Again as to Their Infallibility Who witness these conditions that they were in that gave forth the Scriptures they witness Infallibility an Infallible Spirit Which is now Possessed and Witnessed among those called Quakers Glory to the Highest for ever Oh Horrid And a little after I say the Devil False Prophets Antichrists Deceivers which are the Names they give to all that differ from them or write against them none of these can witness an Infallible Spirit But being out of the Spirit that Christ the Prophets and the Apostles was in they are not Infallible as they were but with that they are all Judged out Gr. Myst p. 105. But of themsemselves they say again Our Giving forth Books and Printed Papers it is from the immediate Eternal Spirit of God to the shewing forth the Filthy Practices of the World's teachers Truths Def. p. 2. And George Fox speaking of other Preachers says they are Conjurers and Diviners and their teaching is from Conjuration which is spoke from the mouth of the Lord and the Lord is against all such and Who are of God are against all such Sauls Errand to Damas p. 7. Lastly Concerning Equality with God They that have the Spirit of God meaning themselves are equal with God He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit there is Vnity and the Vnity stand in Equality it self F. Howgills Work p. 232. He that hath the same Spirit that raised up Jesus Christ is equal with God and the Saints have the same spirit in measure for Gods Spirit is but one Saul's Errand by G. F. p. 8. Which he confirms in another place the Assemblies Catechism says The Holy Ghost and Son was equal in Substance und Power and Glory with the Father What says he then all that have the Son and the Holy Ghost hath that which is Equal in Power and Glory with the Father G. Myst p. 248. These are some of the Errors which this Unhappy and Deluded People are led into I mention not their Blasphemies against the Holy Trinity and their Scorn and Contempt of the Civil Power but for a further account of these and other Errors recommend to your Perusal that Excellent Book called The Snake in the Grass with other Writings of the same Author upon this Subject Also what the Learned Mr Keith has published since His Retractations And now Brethren Who is there in all this Company whose Blood has not been chill'd with a Sudden damp of Horrour at the very Recital of so many dreadful Blasphemies and who is there that has so little fear of God or Love for his Neighbour as not to magnifie and adore His Great mercy to these Persons whom He has at length Truly enlighten'd by His Blessed Spirit Recover'd from Such Errors as without Repentance might have ended in Damnation and done so much so very much for their Souls And oh that we might Ever see that Happy day When the rest of our Country-men I am sorry I cannot say our fellow Christians shall Return to Sion and build up the Walls of Jerusalem which they have made Such Breaches in Acknowledge their dreadful Errors and Give God the Glory But this is a Blessing very little to be Expected because very little Deserv'd Alas it must be confest that the Sins of this Nation are too great for it to be delivered from so Heavy a Judgment and yet the very heaviness of it ought to move us to Repentance for this is greater in itself if rightly considered than Fire War or Plague can be for those destroy only our Estates or Lives and while they are doing so often make us Better But Delusion of this kind spreads with a silent yet deadly Infection to the utter destruction of many thousand Souls And withal this particular Evil is so deeply Rooted and of so Stubborn a Kind as being Compos'd of all the Heresies of Old and fixt and settled in those it possesses by Enthusiastick Retirements by working themselves into Bitter Agonies which they call being under An Exercise and by separating themselves by a Peculiar Language Habit and Behaviour all which Sowres at last into a Hatred and Contempt of the Rest of Mankind this I say is such a Spirit of delusion upon all these accounts as is not to be cast out of this Nation but by much Prayer and Fasting By humbling our Selves greatly before the Father of Mercies for our Own Sins and then interceeding with Him in all Tenderness and Charity for their Deluded Souls And this is all the Force these are all the Arms I desire should be Employ'd against them What I have said has not been with any design to Raise or Increase any Bitterness or to Stir up Any Persecution Against them but to Shew the Goodness of God in Recovering these Persons from Such a Bottomless Pit of Error and Darkness and to Prevent others from falling into the same And what I have quoted Remains still in their Books not Retracted but Rather Confirm'd by them they Having Solemnly Resolv'd to Stand by the Testimony of their Ancient Friends Yearly Ep. 1696. meaning the Doctrines of their first Teachers such as I have recited and yet at the Same Time they have bought up All the old Editions of such Books and have left out or alter'd several passages in their New ones See the Collect at the end of the Defence of the Snake Numb 4. and as to others strain'd and tortur'd the Words a thousand Ways as some Parents serve their Crooked Children to Conceal if Possible their Odious Deformity This may be seen in the Answer to Mr Keith's first Narrative and the Switch for the Snake and prov'd Against 'em fully in Satan disrob'd the Defence of the Snake and Mr Keith's Fourth Narrative Such is the misery and folly of the Pretence of Infallibility where-ever it obtains In the Council of Trent many were for giving up some of the Doctrines which they were sensible were directly Against the Holy Scriptures and this was in a likely way of Succeeding till the Popes Creatures began to Represent How much the Dignity and Authority of the Court of Rome must be hazarded and How they must forfeit for Ever their Darling Principle of Infallibility and then all was dash'd in a moment So much more are some men concern'd to Secure their Interest than to Confess their Errors and to Gratifie their Pride than to Obey their Consciences And indeed Considering the Errors which these poor People Hold their infallibility which we have been Speaking of their Contempt of the Scripture with the Boasts of their own Perfection which are the fundamental Errors of the Papists and also the Hindring of the Common People of their Perswasion from Reading the Books of Truths Enemies as they call all that write and speak against them the Equivocations and Reserves in their way of writing to which they Retire like retrenchments as oft as they are driven from one to another and the Odd Collection of the