may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works 1 Tim. 4. 11. These things command and teach Vers. 13. 15. Give attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine Meditate upon these things give thy self wholly to them that thy profiting may appear to all Chap. 3. 14 15. These things write I unto thee that thou mayest know how to behave thy self in the house of God 2 Tim. 2. 2. The things which thou hast heard of me among many Witnesses the same commit thou to Faithful men who shall be able to Teach others also Vide etiam Tit. 1. 9. and 2. 15. Here then are Ministers of the Doctrine which they had learned and had been taught of men and of things committed to them by others and studying Ministers If they had received the word by Revelation like St. Paul what need he teach and direct them Did he teach and direct the other Apostles thus Was the word committed to them by men Had they learned it of others Were they who were sent forth immediatly by Christ and the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost chosen of men as being judged Faithful 3 But now let us view the Text from whence you have taken occasion to speak as you do a little consideration of which would have delivered you from your errors viz. 2 Cor. 3. 5. c. Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficience is of God Thus having told them from whence they had their ability he next tells them what a word it is which they Preached Vers 6. Who also hath made us able Ministers of the New Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit For the letter Killeth but the Spirit giveth Life And so goes on in commendation of the same Doctrine comparing it with the Law that the glory of it might appear to exceed the Glory of the Law saying The Law is the Ministration of Death and Condemnation but this the Ministration of Life and Righteousness And Moses put a Veil upon his Face and until this day remaineth the same Veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament but this Veil is done away in Christ and we use plainness of Speech and with open Face beholding as in a glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image Vid. vers 7. to 12. as by the Spirit of the Lord. Wherefore he concludes Chap. 4. 1. Therefore seeing we have this Ministry as we have received mercy we faint not So that the Letter is such a word as is external obscure dead and lifeless which is without the Spirit and which Concondemns And therefore by no means can be the Doctrine of the Gospel which on the contrary is of an internal nature perspicuous quick and powerful which is accompanied with the Spirit and which holds forth justification And that it is the Law is manifest in that as the Letter Killeth so he tells us of the Ministration of Death which you your selves will acknowledge to be the Law and this Ministration which is the Law so exactly answers the Letter that it is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Letters and as the Letter signifies that which is external Rom. 2. 28 29. so this Ministration is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Engraven in Stones vers 7. In this sense we find him using the same terms Rom. 7. 6. We are delivered from the Law that we should serve in newness of Spirit and not in oldness of the Letter And as for the killing of the Letter we read it thus v. 11. Sin taking occasion by the Commandment deceived me and slew me Again c. 8. 2. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death But I have an argument which I dare say you will not deny viz. G. Fox says the Letter here is the Law Treatise of Swearing p. 52. And so the Apostles were made able Ministers of Christ and of the New-Testament and not of the letter of the Prophets and of the law in the Old Testament in which there was Swearing for the letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life Why the Apostle calleth the law the letter in opposition to the Spirit belongs not to our present business to explain I only therefore refer the Reader for satisfaction to vers 7. 8 17 18. Heb. 8. 10. 10. 1. 9. 10. Gal. 3. 2 24. 4. 3 9. 1 Cor. 12. 8 9 10. Tit. 3. 6. Joh. 7. 39. Rom. 5. 5. And how it Kills and is the ministration of Death and Condemnation he may learn from Rom. 7. 5 8 11. with Mat. 6. 17. 27 28 31 32 33 34 38 39 43 44. Rom. 8. 3. Heb. 9. 9. 10. 4 10. Gal. 3. 10 21. 2. 16. Act. 13. 39. G. F. Christian Liberty p. 9. It was matter of Conscience towards God that Mordecay did not bow to Haman Esther 3. 2. Clarks Wise pag. 59. If they had put off their hats before you Judges respecting your persons then they had transgressed the Law Jam. 2. 9. Christ respected no mans person and God saith ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment thou shalt not respect the person of the poor nor honour the person of the mighty Lev. 19. 5. Mordecay would not bow to Haman nor do him reverence according to the King's command which was contrary to God's command And yet I say God commands to honour all men Which is not to rise up and bow down to them and to stand bare-headed before them but to do good to all men and to love them Parker's Discovery p. 30. Doffing the Hat is honour below which men seek and give one to another respecting persons bowing to the Rich giving them titles of Lords Masters Sirs but do not so to the poor who are in vile rayment Ibid. p. 65. Christ respected not the persons of men as his Enemies did confess Luk. 15. 21 22. 1 If Mordecay refused to bow to Haman and shew him reverence out of Conscience I wonder his Conscience permitted him to receive greater honour himself in riding cloathed with the Royal Apparel and upon the King's Horse through the City with Proclamation made before him of the King's favour Est. 6. If the King had commanded him to see this honour performed towards Haman I believe he would have refused as well as he did to bow and that he would likewise have refused to run before him or to wait upon him at his Table if he could have done it with equal safety For that his refusal was not out of Conscience we have this evidence Many of as good Conscience as he both gave and received this reverence you take for granted that no other bowing and reverencing is meant than what is ordinary among us at this day and they gave and received also titles of Honour 1 Kings 1. 23. Nathan the Prophet bowed himself before the King with his face to the ground and said My
QUAKER'S FALSE INTERPRETATIONS OF Holy Scripture By THOMAS WILSON Rector of Arrow in Warwick-Shire LONDON Printed for Benjamin Harris at the Stationer's Arms in Sweetings Rents in Cornhil 1678. Imprimatur Guil. Jane QUAKER'S FALSE INTERPRETATIONS OF SCRIPTURE ONly of this at present Hereafter perhaps I may Treat of their Doctrines and their Manners All that I desire of the Reader is that in the several Texts I shall instance he consult the Bible because words separated from the Discourse may seem even to a wise man to signifie what the Inspired Authors never intended and the like expressions and sometimes tho same do mean different things as in all other Books so in holy Writ G. K. Immed Revelat. p. 21. We may not nor dare not make use of the Scripture but in the Life and Spirit as that opens and influences We dare not nor ought not to speak the Spirit 's words in our own Spirit We tie the words of Scripture unto the Spirit so as not to use them but in and by the Spirit G. K. Help in need p. 77. Away with that manner of interpreting Scripture and searching truth by drawing and knitting consequences by the fallible erring mind and natural understanding Keep close in all things to the determination of the Spirit of God and where that leads you to draw a consequence or frame an argument do it else forbear W. Duesbury's discovery p. 48. The word of the Lord came upon me in the common Gaol in Warwick 13. of 1. Moneth 1664. which constrained to be given forth from the Spirit of the Lord c. N. Love to Lost p. 1. The things following are not of Man nor did I receive them but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Atkinsons Standard of the Lord p. 30. Written from the Spirit of the Lord. Burrough's Trumpet p. 1. The Order and Authority given unto me by the Spirit of the Living God 31. of 10. Moneth in the Year 1655. about the 4th hour in the Morning when my Meditations were of my God upon my Bed in Kilkenny City at that time the word of the Lord came unto me saying Write c. Given under my hand and Sealed with the Spirit of the eternal God Foster's Guide p. 59. Do you not Professors confess your selves to be fallible If then I can prove that you have Interpreted Scripture in a false Sense you must grant that you have not Interpreted only in and by the Spirit of God but in your own and by the natural understanding and fallible erring mind And I hope if it appear to you that you have thus done you will not lay the error how little soever it may be upon that Holy One but take it to your selves though it contradict your Glorious Pretence and abate your Credit and Shame you never so much And in the name of Christ I admonish you that you do so that God be not Dishonoured and his excellent Spirit Vilified The tryal follows G. K. Im. Revel p. 72. Out of Sion shall go forth the Law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem And he The word for that is his name Rev. 19. shall judge among the Nations Isa. 2 3 4. 1 Your reason why the Word of the Lord must here signifie Christ for that is it you mean viz. Because his name is the Word is infirm unless you can prove it always so signifies which it doth not as you may see in many places of Scripture particularly in this Prophet's writings Chap. 39. 5. Hear the word of the Lord of Hosts That is not Christ but this Sentence which follows Behold the day is come that all that is in thine House shall be carried to Babylon Chap. 28. 14. Hear the word of the Lord Namely this Thus saith the Lord behold I lay c. vers 16. 2 As in these former words Come and let us go up to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways He refers to God and not to house So it is manifest that in these latter For out of Sion shall go forth the Law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem and he shall judge among the Nations He refers to Lord and not to the Word For 3 it had been all one if it had been only said Out of Sion shall go forth the Law of the Lord and he shall judge The Law of the Lord and the Word of the Lord being here the same And then as the Law here is not Christ so neither is the Word 4 And thus was it fulfilled concerning the Gospel as that being distinct from Christ. For it was first Preached at Jerusalem and from thence proceeded to the Gentiles Luk. 24. 47. Thus it is Written that Repentance and Remission of Sins should be Preached in Christ's Name among all Nations beginning at Jerusalem Thus Tertullian understands the Text. Adv. Marc. L. 3. C. 21. Ex Sion exibit lex sermo Domini ex Hierusalem Haec erit via sua novae Legis evangelium novi sermonis in Christo non in Moyse And Just. Mart. Apol. 2. p. 78 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. For Out of Sion c. From Jerusalem went twelve men into the World who declared to all Mankind that they were sent of Christ to Preach the Word of God to all Ibid. p. 66. I desire the Reader to weigh what word it is David speaks so frequently of in Psal. 119. It is not any word writ any outward word or words But the eternal word which created the Heavens and Earth The word in the begining which taught him the Laws Judgments c. Jesus Christ P. 67. 68. 65. You may as well say Testimonies Statutes Judgments Commandements Law are not a written and outward word or words For they are all used promiscuously and what is spoken of the word is spoken of these As it is said I beheld the Transgressors and was grieved because they kept not thy word So Rivers of Waters ran down mine Eyes because they kept not thy Law As I rejoyce at thy word So Thy Testimonies are the rejoicing of my Heart As I have hoped in thy word So I have hoped in thy judgments As Thy word is very pure therefore thy Servant loveth it So Upright are thy judgments I love thy Commandments As For ever thy word is settled in Heaven So Thy testimonies thou hast founded for ever The word then here spoken of being the same with Testimonies Statutes Judgments Commandments Law it is as much outward written and spoken as they are and you may as well say the Testimonies Statutes c. are Christ as that this word is and that they taught the word as that the word taught them As is evident by the reading of almost any two connext verses in the Psalm and especially those single ones which contein both words for that where they thus occur there is no difference to be discerned As vers 16. I will delight my self in thy Statutes I
Pet. 3. 2. Ye wives be in subjection to your own Husbands that if any obey not the word they also way without the word be wone by the conversation of the wives while they behold your chast conversation coupled with Fear v. 15. Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear c. 2. 18. Servants be subject to your Masters with all fear See 2 Cor. 7. 15. Eph. 6. 5. Understand you not the difference betwixt fearing God and fearing men If you do not but esteem the latter unlawful being now excited to use your wits I am ready to instruct you at your request But why will you not look into your Bible and consider the Text which you cite before you write Which if you had done you would have seen that the Apostle Rom. 13. 7. speaks not of God but altogether of men As the first words shew Render to all their dues And the next following Owe no man anything but to love one another Duesberry's Discovery p. 15. Now after the witnesses have sealed up their Testimony the Beast which is thy will that ascends out of the bottomless Pit of thy deceived heart hath made War against the Witnesses Christ in thee and slain them and they lie dead in the spiritual City of Sodom and Egypt where our Lord is Crucified Rev. 11. 7 8. So again p. 33. G. K. Immed Revelation p. 117. Christ's Spirit shall consume this Antichrist that sits in the Temple of God mans heart and rules as Lord there And this Antichrist is not a person or persons particular but a Spirit Joh. 4. 2. and is the spirit of Satan which rules in the children of disobedience In this Temple the heart the Whore Mystery Babylon sits as Queen 2 Thes. 2. Thanks says the Pope I and my Clergy were wont to be branded peculiarly with these ill names but it is now declared by immediate revelation that we are no more Antichrist and the Whore of Babylon than are other sinners and even those among the Heathens for a wicked spirit was in the hearts of men before we ever came to our dominion in the Church and is now in those with whom we have nothing to do as being gone out from us and in Heathens that never were of us and this Antichrist sits in every vitious mans heart and so rules in the Temple of God notwithstanding many of them are contemptible persons and have no authority over others like as we have The Beast hath Seven Heads and Ten Horns which are Seven Mountains and Ten Kings And though it be somewhat odd and I do not understand it yet now sure I am or else Revelation fails that this Beast with all his Power Pomp and Kingdoms is the will of every naughty sinner how mean and impotent soever he be And the woman the Mother of Harlots drunken with the blood of the Saints and Martyrs that sits upon the Beast the will and upon many waters is the Spirit of Satan ruling in the children of disobedience and so this Woman drinks blood in every such Childs heart and whereas one would think she shed the blood of others and those Saints and Martyrs it is only the wicked mans own blood and though it seemeth that blood is really shed and men are literally killed it is in truth quite another matter namely Christ Crucified in the wicked mans heart by lusts which we know may be without the loss of one drop of blood And though the Two witnesses prophesying and being slain hath been judged to signify something acted by men among themselves the faithful Servants of Christ contending for his Truth against a company of evil men and this evil company overcoming them and treating them with all injuries yet it only signifieth what is done betwixt Christ and the Heart Christ speaking there and the will crucifying him there viz. in the deceived heart which is the great City where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was Crucified spiritually called Sodom Good Children go on and tell the Protestants from the Spirit of the Lord that that Spirit did not point at our Papal Power in those names of Beasts Antichrist Babylonish Whore I stroak you my Dearest and lay my hands upon you and give you my Blessing Thus glories the Pope But Friends whereas St. John Prophesies of Witnesses and of a Beast and Whore and makes accurat descriptions of these can you think he means no particular persons but only speaks of the common strife of the Flesh and Spirit in men And I would have you consider whether common vitious Persons that neither propagate nor hold Errors and Heresies nor persecute and offer injuries to the Church are called in the Scripture Antichrist But albeit you say the Beast is the Will and Antichrist is not any particular person or persons yet I find one of you and he a great man contradicting telling us plainly that the Pope is the Beast and the Antichrist G. Fox Few Words p. 6. This is clear that the Pope is the VVhore and the Beast that rose out of the Earth p. 8. The Pope saith they can forgive Sins viz. his Iesuits Priests Friars Here is the Beast with his many names the many Antichrists Seeing then some of you say the Beast is the Will some the Pope some that Antichrist is not any particular persons some that he is the Pope with his Jesuits Priests and Friars I had best stop here till you are agreed And truly may some say you might have stopped long ago and even have spared all your pains for any hope you can have of convincing them who esteem themselves infallible they knowing the shame of Recantation and what injury it will be to their Credit and what dammage to their Party But I am not altogether without hope For who knows what the Lord may do However my Labour may not be in vain to some of their Followers who scarce believe what the Doctors so confidently boast of themselves And especially may it conduce to prevent the lapse of others who by reason of their glorious pretence are smitten with some admiration of their persons and their way Besides the instances which I have given of your false Interpretations I can produce near Forty more which I have observed in reading a few of your books By which any one may perceive what sad work you make with the Scriptures But these may suffice to shew that you are far from doing according to what you affirm of your selves as in the beginning I cited your own words viz. That you dare not make use of Scripture but as the Spirit opens dare not speak the words of Scripture in your own Spirit but tie them to the Spirit so as not to use them but by the Spirit do not Interpret Scripture by the fallible mind the things which you write you received by the Revelation of Jesus Christ and you are not fallible