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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33498	The books and divers epistles of the faithful servant of the Lord Josiah Coale collected and published, as it was desired by him the day of his departure out of this life.	Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668.; Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668. Collection of the several books of Josiah Coale.; Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668. Whore unvailed.; Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668. Vindication of the light within.; Parker, Alexander, 1628-1689.; Whitehead, George, 1636?-1723.; Penn, William, 1644-1718.	1671 (1671)	Wing C4751_PARTIAL; Wing C4760A_PARTIAL_CANCELLED; ESTC R23397	193,793	414

that in this present Visitation he taketh away the Righteous from the Earth as well as the wicked therefore the wicked cannot discern betwixt him that serveth God and him that serveth him not according to that saying of Daniel viz. None of the wicked shall understand but the wise shall understand c. But they are ready to conclude and many do conclude that the Righteous are not Righteous and that the Just and Innocent are not Just and Innocent But because they have slighted the Day of Gods love unto them in which his Hand was stretched forth to gather them he hath so brought it to pass and takes away the Just as well as the Unjust that thereby their Eyes may be blinded that they may not see a difference and that their years may be stopped left they should hear his Word and that their hearts may be hardned as Pharaoh's was lest they should understand the way of Life in which the just walketh and be converted thereunto and healed and yet in all these thing iniquity cannot he charged upon the Lord because he willed not their destruction but did strive with them long and gave them space to repent but they repented not therefore their destruction is of themselves for when he would have gathered them they would not therefore I say it s of themselves that they are left so desolation yet there is a remnant in the midst of thee Oh England whose day is not yet over and them he will spare and will gather them to himself and they shall see the path of Life and hear the voice of the Bridegroom of their souls and understand the things that belongs to their everlasting peace and shall be glad and rejoyce in his great Salvation Written by a Servant of the Lord. JOSIAH COALE The Whore Unvailed Or the Mystery of the Deceit of the CHURCH of ROME REVEALED BEING A brief Answer to a Book Entituled The Reconciler of Religions or A Decider of all Controversies in Matters of Faith Written by a professed Roman Catholick who subscribes his name A. S. in which he endeavoured to prove the Church of Rome to be the True Church But what his Arguments therein produced are worth for his purpose may here be seen in this following Treatise Also his Reflections upon the Principles of the People called Quakers Answered With a brief Discovery of the true Church in which the Doctrine of Perfection is Vindicated by sound Scripture Arguments Whereunto is added the 14th Chapter of A. S. his Book in which he declares the Protestant or Sectarian Ministers not to be true Preachers nor sent of God which I thought meet to publish herewith that the Sectarians or Episcoparians may Answer for themselves O thou that dwellest upon many Waters aboundant in Treasures thine End is come and the Measure of thy Covetousness Jer. 51.13 For out of the North there cometh up a Nation against her which shall make her land desolate and none shall dwell therein chap. 50.3 And a mighty Angel took up a great stone like a milstone and cast it into the Sea saying Thus with violence shall that great City Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all Rev. 18.21 Printed in the Year 1667. To the Reader Reader ALthough the Author of the pretended Reconciler of Religions did in the conclusion thereof seem to Challenge an Answer to all Particulars therein laid down according to the Chapters and Numbers thereof yet I did not look upon his Challenge to be any Obligation to me to proceed according to his Directions neither indeed was it needfull or necessary that I should answer his desire therein for it would have required more time then I was willing to spare for that work and more labour then I was willing to bestow about it because there is an easier way which I have taken to do the Work as effectual as though I had gone through with every particular there inserted For when the Foundation of a Building is Raced the whole Building will fall as effectually as though a man should begin at the top and pull down all one Stone after another and with a great deal less labour it is done So for my commodity I have observed that Rule in answering the aforesaid Book by Racing the Foundation of the Contents thereof or answering the chief Heads by which he therein endeavoured to prove the Church of Rome to be the True Church upon which all the rest of his Book hath its dependancy and those Heads or Particulars being confuted the rest must of themselves needs fall or of necessity be of no validity and so not worth spending Ink and Paper about upon consideration of which I doubt not but the Reader will find as good satisfaction in what I have hear written concerning the Church of Rome as though I had answered all his particulars particularly And so to the Grace of God do I commend thee J. C. The VVhore Unvail'd c. GReat is the controversie at this day throughout Christendom concerning the way of Worship and Salvation and great is the confusion that is about Faith and Religion c. even amongst all professing Christianity and many and cruel are the murthers that have been acted by them one against another about Faith and Worship since the Apostacy began and since people forsook the right way and went in Cains way and in Balàams Jude ver 11. For then persecution began amongst the profest Christians and not before and when the right way was forsaken then people went into Envy and then they withstood the truth even as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses and then they began to be scattered from the holy Mountain of the Lord where nothings hurts nor destroys to the barren mountains where they have been destroying one another and there in the dark and cloudy day of Antichrist's reign they have been worshipping the many headed Beast that then arose and also the Dragon that gave power to the Beast to make War with the Saints and they who have been worshipping upon one mountain they have cryed salvation is here And they who have been worshipping another head or upon another hill they have cried that salvation was to be found there For the seven Heads of the Beast are seven Mountains upon which the Whore sits that drinks the Blood of the Saints And so they fell out one with another about the way of Salvation upon these barren Mountains unto which people are in looking for Salvation the strife and the envy hath been And there people hath been killing one another about the way and themselves all out of the way in an Antichristian destroying persecuting spirit as their fruits declare for the Spirit of Christ never led the true Christians to persecute any about Religion neither doth any who are in the right way kill and destroy mens lives about Religion Nay they that do so are not true Christians but of an Antichristian spirit for I testifie in

to betray his Master did afterwards rebuke him for it but then his Ignorance would have somewhat more plainly appeared But it was indeed the same spirit which led Judas into that presumptuous act as to betray his Master that afterwards led him to desperation and to hang himself and that Spirit which let him see his wickedness which he had done and rebuked him for it was Light For whatsoever makes manifest is Light Eph. 5.13 Eleventhly then lastly he saith Thus far have we digressed for the Conversion of Quakers c Answ To which I say that if he hath no better way to convert Quakers nor no better Arguments to produce in order to their Conversion then what he hath made use of in his pretended reconsiler of Religions he were better be silent and save his Labour for I cannot believe that a thousand such Books will ever convert or rather divert one Quaker nay nor convince them neither except it be of his own gross Ignorance or wilful wickedness of which there is enough appears as before manifested Thus having briefly answered the most remarkable Arguments produced by A. S. to prove the Church of Rome the true Church and also the several particulars by which he endeavoured to render the people called Quakers as a people led by a deluding Spirit I find the rest of his Book consists of divers Arguments in which he controverts with Sectaries and their Bibles and Ministers c. whose cause as aforesaid I am not ingaged in therefore it doth not concern me to answer his Charges against them but shall leave them to answer for themselves Although there are indeed many things contained in the remaining part of his Book from which I might lay open much of the deceit and Ignorance of A. S. and the Abominations of the Church of Rome But the generality of people being alreadly so fully satisfied concerning her and the confusion and ignorance of A. S. also being herein so fully manifested already I look upon it as superfluous at present to inlarge on this account and indeed if never a word had been said the very fruits brought forth by the Church of Rome in the view of all Nations are enough to foreware them of adhering to her for can a man touch Pitch and not be defiled A hint towards the discovery of the true Church But for all that hath been said It may be some will say that grand Question propounded by A. S. in the second Chapter of his Book Remains yet unanswered viz Which is the true Church c. First to which I answer that is the true Church and no other whose fruits make manifest that they are govern'd by the invisible head Christ and that continue in the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles and that are found in the same order or discipline in their Assemblies that the true Church was in the primitive times and that have the same way of ordaining Ministers that the true Church had and that lives soberly righteously and godly in this present World as the true Church did But the people called Quaekers are such as hereafter I shall prove Therefore the people called Quakers are the true Church Secondly It is manifest by the fruits of the people call'd Quakers that they are governed by the invisible Head Christ for Christ commands his Followers not to swear at all which command the aforesaid people observe and keep as this Nation of England full well knows Again Christ came not to destroy mens lives but to save them and commanded his Followers to love their Enemies And it is manifest that the people called Quakers have the mind of Christ because they seek not the destruction of any but the preservation and good of all and that they love even their Enemies who hate and persecute them because they are ready to assist or be helpfull to them upon all occasions or opportunities in any thing that may tend to their present and future well-being therefore they are governed by the invisible Head Christ Again Christ commanded saying whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you even so do ye unto them Mat. 7.12 which command the aforesaid people observe and keep as thousands can bear witness for them Therefore they are governed by the invisible Head Christ and are the True Church Thirdly Again the people called Quakers continue in the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles for Christ preacht the Doctrine of Perfection saying Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect Math. 5.48 And the Apostle preacht the same Doctrine Heb. 6.1 and Laboured to persent every man perfect in Christ Col. 1.28 having received gifts for that very work Ephes 4.11.12 And the people called Quakers do preach the same Doctrine of Perfection and Labour in the Power and Spirit of the Lord to present people perfect in Christ as the Apostles did as thousands can bear Testimony by which it sufficiently appears that they continue in the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles and therefore they are the true Church But this Christian Doctrine is opposed by all the Antichristian Ministers thoughout the whole Christendom or by all Babylons Merchants in every part of her Teritories who ignorantly produce many good words to oppose this Doctrine 1. As First they urge Solomons words viz There is not a just man upon the Earth that doth good and sinneth not Therefore say they people cannot be perfect But alas they do not discern the signs of the times neither do they consider the time and season when these words were spoken for at that time all were gone out of the Way and there was none that did good Psa 14.3 and they had forsaken the Lord and knew not so much of him as the Oxe did of his Owner Isa 1.3 and were in the transgression of Gods Covenant which he made with their Fathers Jer. 31.32 so that although there were none without sin at that time yet it doth not follow the people can never be free from sin no more then their being then ignorant of God doth argue that people should never come to the knowledg of him the contrary of both which may be easily proved by plain Scripture for at that time when Israel were strangers unto God and were all gone out of the way and none amongst them did good c. even then did God promise that the day should come in which he would make a new Covenant with the house of Judah and with the house of Israel who were in the transgression of the first Covenant Jer. 31.31 and that he would finish transgression and make an end of sin Dan. 24. who had hid his face from them and by which they were made Strangers to him Isa 59.2 and that he would remember their Iniquities no more and that they should all know him from the least to the greatest Jer. 31.34 by which it is evident that although in the Prophets days they were all in transgression and had not

men their wandering and tossings to and fro with every Wind or Tempest that hath arised in this Nation been evidently enough seen in this our Generation yea surely all who are not wilfully blind cannot but perceive how not long since they preached up the Common-Prayer-Book seemingly with a great zeal as though Salvation was not to be attained without Conformity thereunto but no sooner did the windy tempest arise which blew that away and the then Powers of the Nation by whom it was upheld and which these men swore for and prayed for c came to be subdued and the Church Faith and Directory come to be set up in its stead but presently they were turned or driven about with the tempest and wandered from the comnon-prayer-Comnon-Prayer-Book and swore against the King and House of Lords by whom it was upheld and whom before they prayed and swore for and began to swear for the Common-Wealth and to preach up the Church Faith and Directory with as much seeming zeal as before they had done the other And now again since the tempest hath risen and the wind hath blown another way and their Church Faith of which Christ was not the Author and Directory hath faln thereby and the common-prayer-Common-Prayer-Book again set up in its old place they are persently wandered back again to that and driven about thither preaching of it up and praying and swearing for King and house of Lords whom they formerly preached and prayed and swore against and these things they do with as impudent faces many of them as though they had never varied from it Oh hypocritical treacherous deceitful hearted Generation who shall believe them to be Messengers or Ministers of God that have no more stability with them truly their very actions in turning and tossing and wandering to and fro hath sufficiently declared them to be without any true foundation and who shall conside in them for the time to come that are so variable have we not ground to believe that they will turn to the old Mass or to the Turk's Alcharon or any thing that the Powers of the Nation shall countenance surely they who believe better then so of them will be deceived by many or most of them as many have been already in times past for although they feignedly appear as such who should take care and watch for the Soul yet we experimentally see that they seek for their own gain and indeed they serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own bellies for their fruits declare that they will Murder as they have done many for their Bellies And although they flatter with the King and thy Rulers Oh England as though they sought and study'd their Well-fare and Safety and would counsel them for their Establishment and Security yet they are a treacherous Generation and it is not safe for the King to trust then for they have an End unto themselves in most or all that they do and their own Interest is concern'd in most of their Enterprizes for they are Lovers of their own selves and of Pleasures more then of God as the King and his Council may easily see if they consider it and take an inspection into it And let me tell the King and his Council this by the way together with the rest of thy Rulers Oh England That if they hearken to the Counsel of these Self-seeking and Time serving-men who are Wandring Stars and Clouds driven with Tempests as afore is declar'd I say if they follow these Blind Guides and hearken to their Counsel so as to be sway'd by them and become their Vassels to fulfil their Blood-thirsty Desires in Prosecuting Banishing and making Havock of the People of God then in the end they will certainly fall into the Ditch of Everlasting Destruction and Perpetual Shame and Contempt out of which there is no recovery and then shall they know that God hath spoken by me and that a Prophet of the Lord hath been amongst them Wherefore Oh Nation and you Inhabitants thereof let my Counsel be acceptable unto you at this time that if possible so many of you who have not quite sinn'd out your Day and have yet any Tenderness of Heart left in you towards God may come to find a Hiding-place from the Wrath to come For if the aforesaid crying Sins and Abominations which your Teachers are a great Cause of as afore-shew'd are continu'd in then utter Destruction and Desolation must and will unavoidably come upon you Wherefore hearken not to them who tell you that you cannot be made free from Sin while you remain in this Body but hearken to the Voice of God who is Light and who searcheth your Hearts and declareth the Secrets thereof unto you by his Faithful and True Witness which he hath placed in your Consciences and which calls out of Sin and Transgression for if you are in the Light and walk in the Light wherewith you are enlightened the Blood of Jesus Christ will clense you from all Sin and Wash you from all Iniquity as the Apostle testified Neither lend an Ear to them who stir you up to Persecute the Innocent for the exercise of their Consciences towards God in his Worship for they cause you to Err and to Transgress the Royal Law of God which saith Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you even so do ye unto them and thereby you will purchase the displeasure of the Lord against your selves as many have already done which will not easily be appeased Wherefore save your selves from this untoward Generation of false Prophets who cause you to Err and who make a prey upon you and Come out from amongst them and be seperate from them and Touch not the unclean thing or any thing whatsoever that will defile the Conscience but break off your Sins and all kind of Iniquities by speedy Repentance and by true submission to Gods faithfull Witness his Spirit of Grace in your inward parts which will Teach you as it did the Saints of Old and as it doth us that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts you should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World for there is not another way to escape the Righteous and Dreadful Judgments of the Lord which are already begun to be Revealed upon thy Inhabitants Oh England but only by turning to the Lord with their whole hearts and by truly humbling themselves before him and by learning obedience to the Gift of his Spirit which hath long strived with them for it is not an out-side Profession that will serve turn the Lord hath been long grieved therewith already and many have soared aloft above the Measure of the Gift of the Spirit of God into an airy Profession of high things but have not had the Life of what they have Professed only have made their Profession a Cloak for their Wickedness many of them and thereby the Spirit of the Lord is and hath been grieved and he is now arisen to lay open their Madness

therefore she is infallible I answer He hath not at all confirmed that by any proof neither hath he any farther proof than his own affirmation except he would produee that saying of the Mother of Harlots viz. I sit as a Queen and am no Widdow and shall see no sorrow Rev. 18.7 And indeed that would be a very pittiful Argument to prove the Church of Rome infallible but none other can he produce except he could first prove her to be the true Church which he is never able to do his best Argument by which he hath undertaken it being already confuted Therefore we have no more cause to believe his Affirmation than we have to believe the sayings of the forementioned Mother of Harlots for they are both alike to us and though she said she should see no sorrow yet John who was in the Spirit of the Lord said that in one day her Desolation should come Rev. 18.8 And although A. S. saith That the Church of Rome shall alwayes remain to the end of the World yet I say in the Name of the Lord and by the same Spirit that John was in That the one day of which John spake is already dawned in which the Desolation of that Great Whore the Church of Rome shall come and as surely as when Sodom was overthrown the Cities round about it were overthrown also 2 Pet. 2.9 Jude ver 7. so certainly when this great City Babylon is overthrown and made desolate the Suburbs thereof shall be overthrown and made desolate also The Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it and therefore she must fail in her Prophesies and cease in her Beeing which as A. S. saith the true Church cannot Fourthly And farther the Church of Rome is variable in her Judgments as the diversities of Councels that she hath held concerning matters of Faith beareth witness for the following General Counsel hath oft-times excluded that which was concluded on by the former and surely both cannot be infallible they being quite contradictory one to the other Read the 15th chapter of F. H. his Book entituled THE GLORY OF THE TRUE CHURCH DISCOVERED c. wherein the contradictions of the General Counsels which the Church of Rome hath held are sufficiently made manifest so that I need not trouble my self to insert them here and thereby its evident enough that the Church of Rome is not infallible Fifthly Again if A. S. or any other could prove that the Church of Rome had alwayes remained since Christs time yet as aforesaid that is not a sufficient Argument to prove her infallible or that she cannot fail nor cease For consider the Dragon that old Serpent called the Devil who was a Murtherer from the beginning who gave power to the Beast that carries the Whore that drinks the Saints blood that said she should see no sorrow was before the dayes of Christ's appearance in the flesh yet the Dragon is not infallible But the Church of Rome is upheld by the Murtherer or carried by the Dragons power in the Beast as the Murthers acted by her beareth witness therefore she is no more infallible than the Dragon is Seventhly And as to the 7th part of A. S. his Argument wherein he saith The True Church is inerrable and then saith that the Church of Rome is this inerrable True Church for all the Sectaries Schismaticks and Hereticks in the World saith he could never yet shew wherein she erred nor ever shall Therefore she is inerrable Answ 1. I answer although the Hereticks could not prove that the Church of Rome hath erred yet there are many who are members of the true Church of which Christ is Head and supreme Governour alone that can prove wherein she hath erred and doth still grosly err from the Doctrine Practice and Discipline of the true Church as it stood in the Apostles dayes for the Apostle in his dayes said Let every man be fully perswaded in his own Conscience Rom. 14.5 and did not go about to force People to conform to such things that they were not perswaded of in their consciences nor to compel them by outward Laws to conform thereunto but the Church of Rome doth not admit that every one should walk or act according as they are perswaded in their own Consciences but goes about by outward Laws to compel them to conform to that which she calls her holy Ordinances and Institutions which many for conscience sake towards Gods dare not conform to because they know them to be invented Idolatries and they who cannot for Conscience sake submit to her Impositions or drink of her Cup of Abominations then to be sure she will drink their Blood Witness the Blood she hath drunk for above this thousand years past of them that could not for Conscience sake towards God conform to her Ordinances And therefore she hath erred from that Spirit which was in the true Church and from the Apostles Doctrine and is still in the Error Secondly In the true Church in the Apostles dayes every one as he had received the Gift of the Spirit of God so he might Administer 1 Pet. 4.10 and the Prophets might speak two or three and if any thing was revealed to him that stood by he might speak and the first should be silent 1 Cor. 14.29 30 31. But this is not the order of the Church of Rome as is sufficiently manifested to all Christendom therefore she hath erred from the Apostles Spirit and Order and is still in the Error And thus I might produce many more Arguments to shew wherein the Church of Rome hath erred and doth err only my desire is to be as brief as may be so that satisfaction may be given for which I doubt not but this is sufficient as to that particular 8. And as concerning Miracles in the true Church I do confess and bear witness that there are Miracles wrought in her daily but that all Miracles are an Argument sufficient to prove a people to be the true Church that I do not acknowledge but deny For First the Magicians of Egypt could by their Sorceries or Inchantments imitate those things in the sight of the Egyptians that Moses and Aaron did by the Power of God Exod. 8.7 and the false Prophet he wrought lying Miracles before the Beast that carries the Whore insomuch that he caused fire to come down out of Heaven in the sight of men Rev. 13.13 14. and chap. 19. ver 20. And this the Whore might have said was done in confirmation of her faith doctrines as A. S. doth yet nevertheless it was done by the Dragons power who was a Murderer from the beginning For he gave power to the Beast that carries the Whore to do such things Rev. 13.2 and therefore the Miracles in the Church of Rome if now there be any is no infallible evidence to prove her to be the true Church Well 2. But then it may be some will say that this is harsh judgment and how can you tell but

already proved the true Church was interrupted and yet remained 4. But then said A. S. If any can say that there hath remained any other Church on Earth since Christs time unto this day without interruption and error let him tell what was she or what is she where was she or where is she what is her name what Bishops Pastors and Believers had she or yet hath she what Emperors or Kings did adhere to her or now do what general Councils did she hold what Hereticks did she condemn what Academies did she erect or confirm what Churches or Monastries did she build c. And then said he To these and such like Interrogatories all the Schismaticks Sectaries and Hereticks in the World cannot answer Answ To which I answer Although all the Sectaries in the World cannot answer those questions yet there are many who are Members of the true Church not of the Church of Rome that can answer them and first I say there hath remained another Church since Christs time to this day besides the Roman Pontificial that now is though not without interruption yet the true Church as before proved was interrupted And as to those questions viz. What was she or what is she c. I answer she was in Johns day a wonder in Heaven a Woman cloathed with the Sun that and there she was and the Moon was under her Feet and upon her Head a Crown of twelve Stars Rev. 12.1 And having brought forth a man-child that was to rule all Nations with his rod of Iron the enmity of the Dragon then arose who sought to devour the Man-child but being by the Hand of God prevented of his purpose on the man-child ver 5. he than cast out his flood of Persecution after the Woman ver 15. of whom this Ruler was born and drove her into the Wilderness whither she fled from him to her place prepared of God that they might feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes Rev. 12.6.14 * To A. S. his Query viz. where was she and there she hath been and there she hath sitten as in a sollitary place and in a Mourning State and Condition out of which she * To where is she is now returning and is now coming up out of the Wilderness and is descending from God as a Bride adorned for her Husband Rev. 21.2 and her * To A. S's query what is her name name is the Bride the Lambs Wife the holy City ver 9. New Jerusalem And now is Jerusalem shaking her self from the Dust of the Earth in which she hath been trodden of the Gentiles and now is she putting on her beautiful Garments and now doth the Solitary begin to rejoyce and the barren that did not bear begins to break forth into singing Isa 54.1 And the things that many prophets desired to see and could not see is now seen and revealing glory to God in the highest The day is come which we have waited for we will be glad and rejoyce in it and now the Time Times and a half Time is expired in which the true Church hath been fed in the Wilderness and now is the forty and two Moneths expired also for which Time the holy City hath been trodden under foot of the Gentiles Rev. 11.2 in which Time the Beast had power given him to continue Rev. 13.5 and the whole World wondered after him and worshipped him and in that Time it was given unto him to make war with the Saints and to overcome them and he received power over all Kindreds and Tongues and Nations that all that dwelt upon the Earth should worship him whose names were not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World if any man have an Ear let him hear Rev. 13.7 8 9. And this was the Time that the true Church was in her mourning state which now begins to be over Glory to God for ever the day of rejoycing is come And for her Bishops Pastors and Believers that she had I answer Christ was and is her Bishop and chief Pastor 1 Pet. 2.25 And the rest after the Apostles days were they that fed her in the Wilderness and her Believers were those that had the Testimony of Jesus Rev. 12.17 whose Blood the Whore drunk And they are now her Believers whose Blood the Whore thirsts after And as to that question viz. What Emperors or Kings did adhere to her or now do Answ I answer On this wise did the Pharisees Query with those Officers whom they sent to take Jesus and bring him unto them saying Have any of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him Joh. 7.48 Well what Emperors or Kings did adhere to him at that time Was he not therefore the true Christ because the Rulers of the World and the Pharisees rejected him And what said the Apostle to the true Church in his day You see your calling Brethren how that not many wise men after the Flesh not many mighty nor noble c. but God hath chosen the foolish things of this World to confound the wise c. that Flesh might not glory in his Presence 1 Cor. 1.26 27. And further the Apostle who preacht Christ said That he preached the Wisdom of God in a Mistery which none of the Princes of the World know c. 1 Cor. 2.7 8. By which it appeares that none of the Princes of the World knew Christ the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.24 And the true Church was in the World as Christ was for the Apostle said as 〈◊〉 so are we in this present World 1 Joh. 4.17 And 〈◊〉 World knows as not ver 1. because it knew not him So that understanding the Princes of this World knew not Christ when he was amongst them and although the Rulers believed not in him nor did adhere to him when he was come yet that did not argue that he was not the true Christ And notwithstanding it was so that the true Church was unknown to the World and was composed not of many wise men after the flesh nor of the Nobles of the Earth but was persecuted by them as she is at this day yet she was the true Church for all that And seeing it was so that the Princes and Rulers did not adhere to her in the time of her flourishing state when she was cloathed with the Sun how can it be expected that they should adhere to her in her persecuted state and in her mourning Wilderness-state for a rich man shall very hardly enter the Kingdom Mat. 19.23 but there is more in them words And moreover seeing the Kings of the Earth committed Fornication with the great Whore and went into her how then can it possibly be expected that they should adhere to the true Church Surely all who have a spiritual eye open may be hereby satisfied as to this particular And further as to that Query viz. What general Councils did she hold and what

said he they are continually doing the Works of the Devil and are his children and consequently cannot truly call God Father I answer therefore the Church of Rome cannot call God Father for she is and long hath been doing the works of the Devil the Murderer as before proved therefore she is of her father the Devil and cannot call God Father in Truth and in Righteousness Then A. S. rambles through several other particulars in which he controverts with Sectaries c. whose cause I am not concerned to plead only this small hint before I have given to prove the Church of Rome one of those Sects who cannot speak the fore-mentioned words truly and so I shall leave the Sectaries with whom A. S. controverts to plead their own cause for the thing that was chiefly in my heart when I took in hand to write this brief Reply was to prove the Church of Rome not to be the true Church and the Chief Arguments by him Produced to prove her the True Church I have already in brief answered Again A. S. in his 6th Chapter makes it his business to prove the Church to be the Judge of all controversies in matters of faith and saith That not every man nor human reason nor the private Spirit nor the Bible is this Judge and to prove it he quotes Matth. 18.17 where Christ said tell the Church c. Answ To which I answer That the Judgement of the true Church of which Christ is Head in matters of Faith I do not deny for being governed in all things by the Head Christ to whom all Judgment is committed John 5.20 the Judgment thereof must of necessity be Ture for the Strength of Israel cannot Lye and ought for to be submitted unto by all But the Church of Rome being not the True Church she being not Governed by the invisible Head Christ to whom all Judgment is committed as before proved Therefore she is not Judge of Controversies in matters of Faith And the True Church to whom Christ said He that Heareth you Heareth me were such as heard Christ and in whom the Spirit of the Father spake Mat. 10.20 But the Church of Rome doth not hear Christ as hereafter I shall prove therefore they who hear the Church of Rome do not hear Christ But surely when A. S. began this work of deciding Controversies he had forgotten that the Church was the only Judge in that particular and not every man nor the private spirit for had he considered that he being but a particular man would not have undertaken the Churches work as appears by the Title of his Book he hath for he calls it A brief Decider of all Controversies in matters of Faith which Book we have cause to judge is his own only work and not the Churches in which we find him condemning himself for the thing which he is doing for as appears by his aforesaid Title himself undertakes to decide controversies and in his 6th Chapter he affirmeth ' That the Church is the only Judge or decider of all controversies But this is that his confusion may the more appear as it hath done in many other things as may be seen in this small Treatise and surely if the Pope have no better Servants then A. S. to do his work for him he had better keep them idle than to employ them in such a work for in the end they will bring more shame to him than they will honour for such like confusions and other abominations have already made the very name of the Pope an ill favour to all true Christians And one thing more in A. S. his 6th Chapter I cannot well omit to observe where he said The spirit inspireth when he will and you hear his voice but cannot tell whence from God or the Devil he doth come or whither to Heaven or to Hell he doth go and then saith So is every one that is born of the spirit and to prove this he quotes Luke 9.55 where Christ said Ye know not what Spirit ye are of Now consider the blindness and ignorance or else the wilful wickedness of A. S. who jumbles a deal of Scriptures together blasphemously wresting of them to his own destruction or at least to the destruction of his own work in hand thinking thereby to blind the minds of people and with his good words mixed with blasphemies and fair speeches to deceive the hearts of the simple as his Predecessors have done in the long night of Apostacy which hath been over all Nations since the Apostles days But it s in vain for him to strive to accomplish his end for the Day is dawned unto many and there is an eye opened in many thousands in this Nation of England that gives them to see over and beyond all this Babylonish or confused trumpery and stuff and have a feeling of that which was before Babylon was and shall out-last Babylon to the praise of God and to the glory and honour of his Name who is blessed for ever Well Although it was so that Christ said unto his Disciples You know not what spirit ye are of yet consider the time when he spake these words was it not before they were born of the Spirit although called to be Apostles for Christ said unto them you must be born again John 3.7 8. and that he would send them the Spirit of which he said they must be born which shall lead them into all Truth John 16.13 and he did not say as A. S. doth that they should not know whence from God or the Devil the Spirit came or whither to Heaven or to Hell it went Oh horrid blasphemy in A. S who saith so is every one that is born of the Spirit as much as to say that he that is born of the Spirits knows not whether he be from God or the Devil or whither he shall go to Heaven or to Hell Oh wickedness indeed Christ said no such things as A. S. doth although that blessed worthy saying of our Saviour and Lord Christ was and is very true viz. Marvel not that I say unto you that you must be born again for the wind bloweth where it listeth and men hears the sound thereof but cannot tell from whence it cometh nor whither it goeth adding even so is every one that is born of the Spirit John 3.7 8. Mark they that were born of the Spirit were unknown to the World for said the Apostle after they were born again the World knows us not So although they were in the World and men saw them yet the World knew them not no more than they knew from whence the wind came and wither it went which they heard the sound of and indeed so is the state of the True Church in the World at this day And the Apostles did know from whence the Spirit came and of what Spirit they were after they received the Spirit of Truth and were born of it for Christ told them John 14.16 That

of the Lord and your souls are not satisfied with all that ever you received from them And why then will you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which doth not satisfie your souls Oh hearken diligently unto the voice of God who is Light that you may eat of that which is good and your souls may be satisfied for why should your souls be in poverty and dry and barren now the Fountain of durable Riches is open but because you are alienated from the Lord and Strangers to his Covenant of Light Wherefore the Restoration all wait to know by him who brings back again that which hath been driven away that the return of your Captivity you may come to know and witness out of Babylon that great City whose desolation cometh suddenly and be ye separated from the abominations thereof touch not the unclean thing that you may be receiv'd of the Lord into my Fathers house where my dwelling is in which there is no want of any good thing for here is all plenty of Heavenly rich vertue and sweet Consolation wherefore I cannot but invite all who are hungry to come freely for the Fountain is open and whosoever thirsts may drink of the water of life freely But now my Friends this know that the Way that leads to this Ocean of Rest Kingdom of Grace and Fountain of Life is strait and norrow and none can walk therein but through Self-denial and taking up the daily Cross to the Carnal Mind which may seem hard to such as enter into Reasonings and Consultations with the wrong nature which would still live but that being deny'd the Light being joyn'd unto which manifests the Way the Cross being taken up and the Yoak submitted unto then the Power of the Lord you will feel which will subject the contrary nature and will make the Way easie and plain before you yea and delightful unto you though it be in the midst of the paths of Judgment for the Righteous will rejoyce therein And though many oppositions sometimes many difficulties you may find in the way yet keeping to the Light in singleness and feeling the Power of God and the secret working thereof it will keep the mind cool and exclude the Consulter And then the way thou wilt see open clear before thee through all difficulties and as thou waitest in the pure fear of the Lord keeping thy mind stayed upon him thou wilt feel his good hand of love reaching unto thee daily administring renewedness of strength unto thee whereby thou wilt be sufficiently encouraged to press on in the strait and narrow way and the way of his Commandments will be delightful unto thee and not grievous and he will replenish thy heart with his Grace and make thee know the aboundings of his love which wil exceedingly enlarge thy heart So let none stumble or start aside at the straitness of the Way but be willing to submit to the Cross that the Crown thou mayst come to receive which is Immortal and Eternal and then it will never repent thee whatsoever thou art made to deny For an Hundred-fold thy Reward will be in this life from the Hand of the Lord and Peace and Life everlasting thou wilt have the assurance of and it thou wilt possess and enjoy and this is of more value with the Upright in Heart then all the Love Glory or Friendship of the World for that lasts but for a little season and then passeth away but this Inheritance is Everlasting and never hath End Wherefore let not your Minds be captivated with any perishing thing whatsoever but in that which will redeem the mind out of all that is perishing in that dwell and you will know a daily dying unto sin and to all things of that nature which keep the soul in Death and thereby you will be quickened unto God and the Desires and secret Breathings which are in you after God will more and more encrease and be renew'd and Fervency of heart and Zeal for the Lord will encrease also And where these fervent Desires and Breathings are in any one nothing will satisfie but the Presence of the Lord And as this is dwelt with in sincerity and in singleness the Lord in his own time will manifest himself to thy everlasting Satisfaction Comfort Joy and Content Wherefore let not any thing be accounted dear for his sake For he that loveth Father or Mother Wife or Children or any thing more then me saith Christ is not worthy of me Wherefore I now publish the Decree of the Almighty unto all Nations That whosoever will not serve worship and obey the God of Heaven who is Light and searches the heart of man even he shall dye and Darkness shall be his Covering and gross Darkness his Pavilion and Death shall be his Life and the Terror thereof shall compass him about World without End JOSIAH COALE A VINDICATION Of the Light Within Against the Darkness Error and Blasphemy of JOHN NEWMAN in his Book Entitul'd The Light Within c. Concerning The Scriptures The Word of God The Only Rule The Light Within The True Saviour The Body of Jesus The Spirit 's Guidance THE main Controversie with John Newman being at this time Whether or no the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament so called be not properly and principally called the Word of God and that distinct from Christ whose Name is called the Word And whether the Scriptures be not a perfect Rule for all men to walk by and none other Who for the proving of the Affirmative hath instanced several places of Scripture My Work at this time will be to shew That those Scriptures produced by him do not any wise serve to prove his Affirmations but rather the contrary though he hath much wrong'd them by wresting of them as is usual with those who labour to pervert the Right Way of the Lord as John Newman hath endeavour'd to do which I doubt not but I shall sufficiently shew hereafter The first Scripture that he produceth as a Foundation from whence to argue the Scriptures to be the Word of God is Luke 11.28 where Christ said Yea rather Blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it Now saith he in page three whether it be Jesus Christ which in Scripture is stil'd the Word of God a Name which is given unto him or whether the words which God hath spoken by his holy Prophets and Blessed Son and Apostles in the two Testaments of his Will c. be not the Word of God Answer Christ did not intend the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament at that time when he so spoke but he meant himself who was the Word that was with God in the beginning John 1.1 whom they were to hear and obey as the Father had given Commandment by the Mouthes of his Prophets and also by Immediate Voice from Heaven as by Moses who said A Prophet shall

Spirit which the Apostle said was the New Testament and 5thly Whether those sad Consequences do follow by denying the Scriptures to be the Word or no as J. N. hath affirmed Concerning Christ being the Word of God AND now I shall come to the next thing which he insists upon which is Christ being the Word of God in which I observe he will own That he is call'd so but he is not really so pag. 49. and that he is call'd by many Names comparatively as a Door a Vine an Ensign a Star a Lamb c. but yet he is not really any of these pag. 50. Answ What absurdities are here might not J. N. as well have said that though Christ is called Christ yet he is not really so and although he is called a Saviour yet he is not really so hath he not the same ground for the one as the other If Christ be not really what he said he was is it not to make him a Lyar whether is it more safe to believe what Christ said himself was or to believe what John Newman saith he was For J. N. altogether contradicts Christ's sayings in Scripture concerning himself for Christ saith Joh. 15.1 I am the True Vine But J. N. saith in the 50. Pag of his Book he is not a Vine Certainly the greatest Truth that I can perceive demonstrated in this matter is That J. N. is no Branch of the True Vine nor yet grafted into it for if he had been a Branch in the Vine or a member in the Body that holds the Head he would have known that Christ is really a Vine and he would have also known that he is really all those things which he said of himself and which they that knew what he was to them said of him and that it is by the diversities of the Operations of this one Lord that he is known to be really all those things but J. N. hath sufficiently declared himself to be a stranger to the diversities of the operations of this one Lord by denying him to be really what he affirmeth himself to be and so hath given Christ the Lye of which let him repent before it be to late But what 's the cause that he thus works and shuffles and denys Christ before men to be what he said he was and what they that knew the diversities of his operations declar'd him to be is it not to take away the Key of Knowledg to hinder them from going in at this Door that are entering is it not to keep people from believing that the operation of the Word in the Heart which is a Hammer knocking for resception is the appearance of Christ lest they should be converted thereto by its own operation and thereby be healed of all their putrifying sores and is not this to do the Divel's work to shut Christ and his saving Power out of his People as though he whom the Apostle said ascended far above all Heavens that he might fill all things could be circumscribed onely to a Body of Flesh Mark he did not only say that he ascended into Heaven neither do I deny but acknowledge that he sits at the right Hand of God in Heaven But he also said that he ascended far above all Heavens that he might fill all things And because he fills all things therefore None need say who shall ascend into Heaven to fetch Christ from above or who shall descend into the deep to fetch him up c for the Word is nigh unto thee in thy Mouth and in thy Heart which is incomprehensible and filleth all things so that all may look unto him and be saved even to the Word which is really the Word and is able to save the Soul even to the uttermost from all iniquity whatsoever but J. N. would not have this Word to be properly Christ by any means but shifts and shuffles and wrests the Scripture and brings in his Meanings as though they were of more credit then the plain words of Scripture and would fain put out our Eyes with his Atoms But in the true Light which makes all things manifest he is seen comprehended and denyed to be any true Follower of Christ or Branch of the true Vine or spiritual Worshipper But then in the 50. Page of his Book where he affirmeth that Christ is not really the Word though so called he saith there is an objection brought against this Truth in Joh. 1.1 where the Evangelist saith In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the word was God from whence saith he they object and say That Christ was the Word from the beginning which thing saith he I cannot grant for this place doth not prove Christ as Christ to be the Word from the beginning but it proveth the Word to be God from the beginning for Christ was not Christ in the beginning but the Word was God in the beginning but Christ was in time when the God head had taken Flesh to it self and not before c. And in pag. 51. he saith It cannot be understood that Christ as Christ should be the Word of God from or in the beginning or yet called the Word of God for he was not Christ till he took to himself Flesh in the Womb of Mary therefore Christ as Christ could not be the Word of God from the beginning Answ Mark Reader whether or no the Affirmations of J. N. do not frequenly contradict the Testimonies of Christ and his Servants for the Apostle speaking of the spiritual Rock which follow'd Israel of which they all drunk said That Rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10.4 But J. N. affirms That Christ was not Christ till he took to himself Flesh c. Therefore he contradicts the Apostle's Testimony who said That Rock was Christ and therefore is not to be received Again The Apostle said by vertue of the Revelation of the Father That Christ was the Son of God Mat. 16.16 17. Thou art the Son of God And this Christ the Son of God was glorified with the Father before the World was For that was Christ that said Glorifie thy Son with the same Glory that he had with thee c. Therefore Christ was Christ before the World was and before he took to himself Flesh And whereas J. N. saith He cannot grant that Christ was the Word from the Beginning Answ That doth not at all weaken the Testimony of John who said The Word was with God in the Beginning for his Testimony doth as much prove That Christ was the Word in the Beginning as it doth That the Word was God and J. N. in effect confesseth it but that he is blinded being a Stranger to the Spirit that giveth Understanding and being gone from the Scriptures which elsewhere he seems so much to applaud into his own Imaginations and Fancies for saith he He was not Christ till he took to himself Flesh and he that took to himself Flesh he acknowledgeth to be the Word