Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. And truly Priest Bonds Book is such a pack of Nonsence and Contradictions and Tautologies that it is loathsome and noisome to the Reader and in it there is more malice than matter as any rational man may see by the foulness of his Spirit and Tongue and his filthy Language and ungracious and filthy words that his ungodly Book is stuft withal Priest Bond I would have thee to prove that the Holy-Ghost is a Person which proceeded from the Father and the Son and leads into all Truth And when the Holy-Ghost fell upon the Disciples in the time of Pentecost did it fall upon them as a Person And when it fell upon Cornelius's Family did it fall upon them as a Person And Christ tells the Disciples that the Holy-Ghost the Comforter dwells with you and shall be in you John 14. And was this a Person Acts 11. Acts 19. The Holy-Ghost fell upon c. So where ever did Christ or the Apostles call the Holy-Ghost a Person S. B. is to prove this Word by Scripture which he saith is his Rule Now concerning the Scriptures which Priest Bond calls the Word of God first doth not the Scripture signify Writings And do not you teach your Children so that Scripture signifies Writings in your Catichisme and Matthew the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ and Christ read in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and in the Book of the Words of Isaiah the Prophet Luke 3 and 4. and Luk. 4.17 Written in the Book of the Law Gal. 3.10 and Written in the Book of the Psalms Acts 1.20 And doth not Luke set forth a Declaration Luke 1. And so doth he not call that a Declaration which he set forth and so Daniel calls them the Scriptures of Truth Daniel 10.21 And Mark calls them the Scriptures Mark 12.10 and Luke 4.21 Christ calls them Scriptures and John 2.22 and in Acts 1.16 The Apostle calls them Scriptures Rom. 10.11 and 11.2 The Apostle calls them Scriptures 2 Tim. 3.16 James 2.8 2 Peter 1.20 Acts 17.2.11 Rom. 15.4 1 Cor. 15.3 Here in all these places and many more Christ and the Apostles calls them Scriptures which signifies Writings Now Scriptures of truth which signifies Writings they are called the Words of God God spake all these Words Exod. 20. And Christ saith John 3.34 The Words of God And John 5.47 John 6.62 And John 8.20.47 John 10.121 John 12.47 48. John 14.10.23.17.8 All these are concerning the Words And Acts 2.14.5.20 1 Tim. 4.6.6.3 The words in all these places and many more Revelations 1.3 that hear the words of this prophecy and until the Words of God shall be fulfilled Revel 17.17 These Words are true Revel 21.5 Testifie saith John to every Man the words of the Prophecy of this Book if any Man shall take away from the words of the Prophecy of this Book c. So here you may see the Scriptures are called Words Books Declarations and the Writings and Scripture and are called the Words of God and the Words of Christ but Christs Name is called the Word of God John 1.8 And again Christs Name is called the Word of God Revelations 19.13 So here the Quakers own the Scriptures as they have been called by Christ and his Apostles and the Prophets S. Bond saith The written Word of God the Scriptures are an infallible Rule of Faith and Life Page 88. The matter contained in Scriptures is the only Infallible Rule of Faith and Life Page 91. See here how Priest Bond contradicts himself Let the Word of Christ dwell in your hearts in all Wisdom Coloss 3. And what Priest Bond is this the Letter Priest Bond saith The Quakers worship cannot be acceptable to God Page 89. These are Priest Bonds Lyes for Quakers worship God in the Spirit and the Truth as Christ commanded and hath taught us John 4. And Priest Bond saith The Quakers reproach the Lord when they deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God Page 88. And yet Priest Bond contradicts himself in Page 87. and saith We do not affirm the Scriptures to be the Word of God but as the written Scriptures do declare the Mind of God to us So here Priest Bond is made to confess the Quakers principles but presently after he confounds it again and saith The Scripture is the Word of God And then contradicts himself again and saith The matter therein contained is the declaritive Word of God Page 87. Priest Bond saith the Quakers are apt to say there is no sin Charged upon Zachariahs Wife who was Righteous and blameless but saith Priest Bond Death took hold as well of her as of him which is the wages of sin Rom. 6. So what must we understand from Priest Bonds words Here they that put off the Earthen Tabernacle and dye in the Lord that natural death is the Wages of Sin Rom. 6.23 But let the Reader see how he abuses the Scripture for the Wages of sin is death But saith the Apostle Now being made free from sin and become the Servants of God This is while they were upon the Earth alive and is it not a denying of Christ that dyed for Sin to say that Death took hold of Elizabeth as well as Zachariah and so upon all other People to wit a natural death and that natural death which is the wages of sin as in Page 86. where he perverts Rom. 6. But the Saints and we tell Priest Bond Christ dyed for our Sins and is risen for our Justification and so whether we live or dye we are the Lords and if we dye we dye in the Lord and Blessed are they that dye in the Lord. Priest Bond They have a Light of direction from the Law of the Creation and this Light is clear and full enough to make them Guilty in Page 82. But Priest Bond dost not thou call this Light within an Idol Light Page 90 And where doth the Scripture call the Light of Christ a Law of the Creation or a natural Light And Priest Bond thou saist in Page 81. The Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law There is naturally in all Men as such a Light of direction or natural Light And Priest Bond dost not thou call this a Natural Light or by Generation this Law written in the Gentiles hearts as thou saist in Page 81. But who writ the Law in the Gentiles hearts and how doth this Light come by nature or generation prove this by express words in Scripture which thou callest thy rule Noah was a just and a perfect man c. Job was a good and perfect man And Priest Bond saith to infer and say that Noah or Job were perfect from all Sin in this Life would be a miserable perverting of other places of Scripture c. Page 78. And in Page 87. There is in all true believers a Cursed Root of bitterness not cast out Death only
He is the true Light that enlightneth every Man that cometh into the World and Christ himself said He was the Light of the World Which things are true and his Light is truly felt and known in the Hearts of his Saints So our Testimony we are not ashamed to bring forth to the inward manifestation of the Spirit of Jesus by which we are inlightned and by vvhich the Gentiles are inlightned and is become the glory of Spiritual Israel the inward Jew whose praise is not of Men but of God And so Simeon's Words or Prophecy of him is fulfilled he is become a Light to the Gentiles and Israels glory He likewise names John 20 27. Then said Jesus reach hither thy finger c. And Thomas answered and said unto him My Lord and my God So this Scripture brought by him to prove his Argument hath quite overthrown it For by Thomas his confession the same Jesus who was the true and only Saviour of the World was God as well as Man and Christ did not at all reprove him for his Confession And if God then a Spirit and so is within as well as without As to the fourth of John 42. where he seemeth to say The Men of Samaria confest to the Man Christ only to this I answer it was the same Christ to whom Thomas confest and the same that was before Abraham was even he that whosoever saw truly to be the Christ saw the Father also So here having no ground to prove his Argument which the said S. B. calls Apostolical it doth at once fall to the ground The third Argument that this Priest uses to prove his Charge viz The Quakers Saviour within him to be the false Christ is in page 3. If the true Christ and our only Saviour did at once without us in and by his own crucfied Body on the cross finish and perfect the work office of a Saviour ithen a Quakers pretended Saviour within him is not the true Christ But the true Christ and our only Saviour did at once without us in and by his own crucified Body on the Cross finish and perfect the whole work and office of a Saviour therefore a Quakers pretended Saviour within him is not the true but the false Christ All which he grounds upon these Scriptures following Heb. 10.12 14. Heb. 2.14 1 Pet. 2.24 Eph. 2.15 16. Heb. 9.26 Eph. 5.2 Col. 1.22 Neither doth any one of these Scriptures prove the whole office of a Saviour perfected in his crucified Body at once upon the Cross Although I confess that the whole work of a Saviour so far as was of him required to be performed in and by that Body was perfectly performed and nothing wanting as pertaining to our Salvation But is this the whole office of a Saviour Is there nothing farther to be done Is the believing of this sufficient without sanctification Is it not the office of Christ as a Saviour to give rest and peace to such as he saves must he not redeem from under the power of Sin and destroy Sin in our mortal Bodys Is this no part of the office of Christ as a Saviour The Apostle Paul Rom. 8.2 testified to the work of the Spirit within saying The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free frrom the Law of Sin and Death Now this faithful Servant of the Loâ—d after he came to believe and was truly satisfied as concerning the work done by Jesus of Nazareth without him yet if you read Rom. 7. you shall see what a grievous complaint he makes concerning the Body of Death which still remained in him and of the Law in his Members that still made war against the Law in his Mind and captivated his Members to the Law of Sin and Death So that although the purchase was made the debt paid and remission of Sins obtained through the Death and Sufferings of Christ Jesus and also triumphantly manifested to the World by his Resurrection of which there were many Witnesses as the Apostle doth declare 1 Cor. 15. yet for all this the Enemy sought to keep his hold and Paul was so far sensible of the same that it made him cry out Oh Wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death which as he waited he came to know a farther work of Salvation then that which was done at once without him in the Crucified Body of Jesus on the Cross for through the power of the same Jesus not another he became crucified also to the World and the World unto him and so being Crucified with Christ by which he felt himself Dead to Sin he also did pertake of his Resurrection and so received a new Life through the quickenings of Christ Jesus who lived in him and so was truly made alive unto God Gal. 2.20 So this is the very thing that the faithful whom S. B. doth scornfully call Quakers do testifie of viz of the work of the Son of God within and of his inward quicknings in our Souls by which we also are made alive unto God though we do not deny the work of Salvation wrought by the Man Jesus Christ without us in his own Crucified Body on the Cross but believe it every whit even as the Scripture doth declâ—re oâ— it And do resolve to wait in the inward manifestation of the Son of Gâ—d wâ—o is Light whom S. B. so often reproaches in his scandalous Book â—ith wicked and reproachful Names yet we are not ashamed to own him in â—is inward manifestation through whose Power we do certainly believe and truly expect to feel the Power of Darkness Sin and Death truly vanquished in us as well as for us as it is written He doth all our works in us and for us And so he becomes the Author of Eternal Salvation to all that do obey him so Christ saves not to halves as People imagin as to pay the price of the Redemption for such as are taken Captive by the Enemy of their Souls and yet leave them under his Power and Jurisdiction but to as many as believe Love and Obey him he redeems also from under the Power of Sin and Death and gives them dominion over it and so he becomes a perfect Saviour saving both within and without saving to the uttermost all that come unto God by him So these are they who are for ever perfected through the one offering even those that according to the will of God are sanctified through the Blood and Spirit of Jesus which the Saints do inwardly feel to cleanse them from the defilements of Sin So this I Judge to any rational and unbiassed Spiritâ— is sufficient to the Answer of S. B's 3d Argument by which he seeks to prove his Charge viz That a Quakers pretended Saviour within him as he is pleased to call it is not the true Christ but the false Sam. Bonds 4th Argument in page 4. If the true Christ and our only Saviour be in Heaven
from the Law of Sin and Death he saith that the Apostle doth not mean that the Spirit did so free him from Sin and Death as that he was simply delivered from either but so that it should not Dominere over us nor Damn us Suppose it were so that we could grant him this yet still the Scripture stands on the Spirits side and so consequently on our side against this Priest for if he doth save but from the Dominion of sin that is no small degree of Salvation so by Right and good Reason the Spirit was in Paul as a Saviour and made him free which if this could be proved that the Spirit of Christ was ever in any Man as a Saviour thou saidst thou wouldst give up the Cudgels But it is plain that Paul became Dead with Christ Crucified to the World Dead to Sin and Alive to Righteousness and all this through the inward working of the Spirit of Christ Jesus Farther he Ignorantly affirms that the Death Paul was Delivered from was nothing else but the Power of a Natural Death here People may behold the Ignorance of the Man was it a Natural Death that Paul so much complained of Rom. 7.24 Was it not the Body of Death the Old corrupt Nature which was not yet quite overcome yet the Law or Power of this Body of Death was strong in his Members and this was it that he cryed for deliverance from and that was it from which that Law of the Spirit of life set him free In Page 34. S. B. saith F. E. stept again and said I in thee and thou in me I Answer The end for which I made use of the Scripture was to Testifie to the indwelling of Christ in the Saints against his wicked charge that the Quakers Saviour within was the false Christ which perhaps the word might be mistaken in uttering yet it stands firm in the Record of the Scripture for Truths advantage in plain Scripture Words I in them and thou in me and is part of Christ Prayer to the Father who heard him always although S. B. by his Interpretation seeks to hide the true sence thereof and to give a meaning that may answer his own End In pag 36. S. B. saith Mrs. Bullock asked him whether he did make our Christ within us to be the Devil to whom he saith he made answer viz. That he did Solemnly with much Reverence in the presence of God to whom I must shortly be accountable for my Words declare that I do most assuredly know that a Quakers pretended Christ within him Mark who Sam. Bond said that was page 29. The Graces effects and opperations of the Spirit within them whom here he calleth the false Christ the Devil with whom he saith We shall be Damned in Hell if we Repent not Damnable Doctrine indeed no wonder he put such a Blasphemous question to Will. Wilkinson viz. Whether our God were in Hell Sav'd or Damn'd such abominacle vapours assends out of his Bottomless Pit many times But of this foregoing answer his own Pen hath accused him for had not he accused himself I know not any that could but as Christ said Nothing is Hid that shaâ—l not be uncovered And for his Warrant to confirm this Sentence he urgeth Joh. 8.24 I said therefore ye shaâ—l die in your Sins which Scripture with the 21st verse to which it relates I turn back again upon himself as his own Portion for it is the Doctrine that he Preaches to the People that they cannot be free from sin while they live who can otherwise Judge if so but that both he and all that Dies in the Faith of his Lies can escape Damnation except with the Papist thou canst find a Purgatory for into the Holy City nothing must Enter that defileth or worketh abomination Rev. 21.27 Farther this Bond after his usual manner of wresting the Scripture goes on to comment upon another Scripture alledged by one of the Friends Eph. 5.13 But all things that are Reproved are made manifest by the Light c. Which by Light he saith we are to understand a sin Reproving Light which he farther saith is the Light of the Scripture But where dost thou find the Scripture called a sin reproving Light we read indeed in Timothy that it is profitable for Reproof and Instruction to make the Man of God perfect and to Furnish him throughly to every good work but though it be serviceable to reprove the Actual Sinner what is this to the manifestation of sin in the Heart before it breaks forth into Action which only is made manifest by the Light or Spirit of Christ as in Joh. 16.8 and whereas he saith the Scripture is frequently described by Light alledging for proof Psal 119.105 Thy Word is a Light unto my Steps To this I answer that Scripture is not there mentioned If he say it is the Word to this I farther give answer that the Scripture in no place calls it self the Word though S. B. without any Scripture ground calls it the Written Word but it saith God is the Word and Christ is the Word and Ezekiel saith often The Word of the Lord came unto me saying so that it notes the Word and the sayings which sayings are many of them Recorded in the Scriptures of Truth and are properly the true sayings of God who is the Word Joh. 1.1 He farther to confirm the Scripture to be the Light doth Note Joh. 3.16 Every one that doeth Evil hateth the Light But experience tells us that every Evil Man doth not hate the Scripture but delight many of them to Read it and Teach it their Children but their Enmity is against the Light that makes manifest sin and Iniquity in the Heart which is the Righteous Principle of God in the Heart the sure Word of Prophesie to which the Saints of Old did take heed which is prefer'd before the sound of Words without for the Words without may be falsly Translated and the true sense of them may be changed and falsly Interpreted or written in another Tongue or the Scripture being made up of several Creaters it is possible it may be destroyed but the Invisible Word the Light Christ Jesus could no Man destroy whom the Apostle Paul saith speaketh from Heaven Gods beloved Son whom we are to hear not rejecting the Scripture as it is truly Read for it bears witness to the Light Christ Jesus Several more Lies and false accusations I meet with in his Book as page 38. he saith the Teaching Quakers saith Christ is manifest in their real Flesh but the Flesh of Christ was only in shew and appearance And in page 38. he charges William Harriot for saying he denyed their out-side Christ which words I do not remember in the least neither do any Friend or other People that I have spoke withal witness any such word spoken by him And in page 40. he Proceeds farther with his false charges saying The Quakers deny that Christ was true Man consisting of
for his Seed remains in him and he cannot Sin because he is born of God 1 John 3.9 Now let Priest Bond prove where ever the Apostle Preached such a Doctrine as in all true Believers there is a cursed Root of Bitterness mortified and not nullified in this World Death only makes the Conquest over Sin So we must understand we must have this cursed Root of Bitterness as long as the Believers live according to Priest Bond 's Doctrine though he has not proved it by Scripture and then how can they be kept blameless to the Day of the Lord as in page 85 Priest Bond saith 't is an erroneous Principle for the Quakers to say that the Scriptures are not the word of God in page 77. and page 87. he brings many Scriptures and makes a great pudder and abuses them to prove it but to no purpose his declarative word of God but he hath not proved such a word in Scripture all Scripture is given forth by Inspiration of God c. 1 Tim. 3. Therefore saith Priest Bond the Scriptures is the word of God but that Scripture doth not say so 2 Tim. 3. And in page 88. Priest Bond falls a Railing against Quakers and saith Is there any word asserted to be the word of Christ but the written word of Truth Doth not the Apostle say that the Word of Faith is nigh in the heart let the word of Christ dwell in you c. Being born again not of corruptible Seed but of Incorruptible by the word of God the word of God endures for ever and are these Writings of the Letter And Priest Bond saith page 88. The Lord hath no other will as a Rule of Obedience than his will revealed in the written Scriptures had the Lord no other will or Rule of Obedience before the Scripture was written Prove that by Scripture Priest Bond runs into Lies and foul words the Quakers worship cannot be accepted of God Quakers are under the power of Satan gross blind and ignorant the Cavil is idle and vain These Lyes Priest Bond may apply to himself but where doth the Scripture say of themselves in so many words as S. B. doth that the Scripiures are the infallible standing Rule of his Faith and Life and yet acts contrary to them for the Scripture saith The Holy-Ghost shall lead you into all Truth and no Man knows the things of God But the Spirit of God and Holy Men spake forth Scripture as they were moved by the holy Ghost And Priest Bond falls a railing against Quakers Spirit and calls it their Idol light within seducing Quakers is blind These filthy ungodly words he had better apply to himself Priest Bond saith Because the Spirit is antecedent to the Scriptures therefore none can walk in the Scriptures till they walk in the Spirit This consequence is lame saith Bond Page 90. Howbeit the Scriptures are before the Spirit in respect of aid and assistance The Apostle doth not say so in 1 Pet. 1. The Apostle tells you The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned So it is the Spirit of God that brings people both to discern the Scriptures and to walk according to them which Spirit of God or Holy-Ghost was before they were written which moved the holy men to give them forth And Bond saith To the Law and the Testimony the Written Word he adds Written Word and yet he saith Scripture is his Rule And Bond saith When the Spirit of Truth is come it shall guide you into all truth of the Scriptures And yet he saith The Written Scriptures are the Infallible standing Rule of Faith and Life page 89. 91. And how can the Scriptures be the Rule and the Spirit of Truth must be the guide into all the truth of the Scriptures And again Priest Bond contradicts himself and saith He affirms that the matter contained in the Scriptures is the only infallible standing rule of Faith and Life Page 91. So then the Scriptures are not the only rule but that which is contained in them And what is that which is contained in them which is thy Rule seeing the Holy-Ghost was in them which moved them to speak them forth and in them that leads them into all the truth of them But Priest Bond is all the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelations thy Rule and all that is contained in them For the Scripture speaks of the Devils words and bad men's words as well as the good Priest Bond saith The People of God had no Word Written from Adam to Moses and yet they had a Word given from God to be the rule else their worship would have been like the Quakers Will-worship If Priest Bond have not the same Word and Holy-Ghost as they had he cannot Worship God in Spirit and Truth neither can he be born again of the incorruptible seed but by that Word which lives and abides and endures for ever And Will-worship is not the Quakers who worship God in Spirit and Truth but his own In Page 92. Priest Bond is full of railing against Quakers their Idol light within craftily thrown down the Scriptures this Plot cannot be from the Spirit of Christ blind rotten and wicked spirit your Light that false Christ within See how wickedly Bond torments himself and blasphemes against the true Christ and the Light in his people Priest Bond saith Where is that place of Scripture to be found which saith the Scriptures are to be tryed by the Spirit the Spirits are to be tryed by the Scripture and not the Scripture by the Spirit Then Priest Bond what Scripture had they to try withal from Adam to Moses before the Scripture was written And Priest Bond saith It is the Holy-Ghost that leads into all truth of the Scriptures Then it must try the truth of them whether they be rightly translated or no And the Spirit of God will not deny its own Words And again Priest Bond saith The Spirit witnesses in the Scripture But where doth the Scripture say such words That the Spirit witnesses in the Scripture Priest Bond saith The Spirit witnesses in the Scripture that he is a righteous man who walks in all the Commandments or Ordinances of the Lord page 99. And page 87. Thou saith in contradiction There is in all true Believeâ—â— a cursed root of bitterness and death makes only the conquest over sin But we tell thee That Christ through death destroys Death and the Devil the Power of Death and makes an end of Sin Then Priest Bond falls a railing Quakers damnable delusion hellish Impostor that Idol light for if they might herein prevail and withal get into the Saddle they would undoubtedly soon arreign try and condemn the inspired Bible of God to the Fire and Fagot These are horrid malicious Lies Blasphemed from Priest Bonds evil Tongue For we have esteemed and do own the Scriptures more
Name or Book whereby it might have been made manifest but in as much as he hath done neither I return it back upon him again as an Imagination forced upon his own Heart And as for that of George Fox concerning the Nature of Christ that it was not humane but Divine I have bore my Testimony agreeable thereto before and so leave S. B. to prove it by the Scripture which lies upon him as a necessity in as much as he hath laid it down as a necessary point of Faith One thing more of which he chargeth the Faithful Servant of the Lord G. F. is that he hath abused the Scripture 2 Cor. 5.11 For we which live are always delivered unto Death for Jesus sake that the Life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our Mortal Bodies Now the abuse charged on G. F. is that he reads it thus the Life of Jesus is manifest in our Mortal Bodies thereby making that present which the Apostle makes future at the Resurrection Answ The words might be doth not so much note the time as the end wherefore the Saints were always delivered up to Death even for that very end that the Life of Christ might be Manifest in their Mortal Bodies all that might Dye to the Flesh and to the World and Sin might no longer Live in them but that the Life of Jesus might be Manifest in their Mortal Bodies Now if G. Fox witnessing the fulfilling of this and did Testifie to the same how did he abuse the Scripture or belye the Apostles words as thou hast falsly charged him but it is plain thou hast wrested the Scripture in that thou say'st it is only at the Resurrection when Paul himself witnessed the same thing before he went out of the Body Gal. 2.20 And yet in contradiction Priest Bond saith in pag. 72. that the Body shall be raised Spiritual as Christs Body of Flesh and Bones after the Resurrection was Spiritual our Bodies shall not be raised Natural corruptible Bodies but Spiritual Incorruptible Bodies though the Body of Man be not Natural corruptible or Mortal Flesh and Blood and as saith unfit for the Kingdom of God but in the Resurrection the Body will not be so for it will then be Spiritual incorruptable immortal Flesh and Blood Priest Bond in this hath contradicted himself and is made to confess the Quakers Principles And for what thou hast to charge Isaac Pennington withal I believe he was a Spiritual Man and was better acquainted with Heavenly things then Sampson Bond and so could speak as he had known felt and received them in Spirit which is a Mystery to every Natural Man for the Wisdom of this World with all the acquired parts that it can Furnish the Natural Man withal cannot know or Receive the things of God because they are only known and received in the Spirit But it had been a great point of Wisdom in this Priest to have been still and quiet and not to speak Evil of the things he knew not neither understood but he that thus will rail against the Light of Christ which the Saints believe in will not spare his Disciples Thus have I searched over the first part of his Book which concerns his first charge wherein I have noted some of the abuses Slanders Blasphemies Confusions and soft contradictions of S. B. and according to the Measure of Light I have Received briefly answered the same I shall now pass on to the Second charge viz. that the main end of the Quakers Meeting in these Islands is to make the Lords Christ his Holy Spirit his Angels and Apostles all Lyers and false Witnesses of God And to make good this his Ungodly false charge against us he lays down this for his Foundation viz. That we are G. Fs. Disciples and therefore that this is our Principal that the Light is in us which he calls pretended Light is our true Christ Teacher Rule and Guide to be heard believed in walked unto and obeyed as the only Saviour to give Remission of Sins and Salvation with God to which he said we consented from whence he draws down this conclusion viz. That we did thereby Grant that the end of our Meetings is to Teach a denial of Jesus Christ of Nazareth the Man approved of God to be our true and only Saviour which Teaching said he is to make the Lords Christ his Holy Spirit his Angels and Apostles all Lyers and False Witnesses of God Reply The Ground of this his charge is of the same Nature with the former because we confess to the Spirit within which is Light and therefore he concludes that it must needs follow that we do deny the true Christ which he concludes to be the Man Jesus without without having any respect to any thing that dwelt within or at least without any Respect to the Spirit of Christ whose Office it is to cleanse the Soul from Sin and so consequently doth save and Redeem from under the power of Death Reply This his charge is absolutely false for our Hearts viz. The Hearts of the Faithful amongst us is truly set to serve the Lord and our main end is truly to Worship him in Spirit and in Truth and if in the Indeavours of our Hearts to bring this our end to pass and for want of a true understanding in the Scripture we had mist of the thing must it needs be charged on us that it was our main end so to do I believe few that have any tenderness in them will believe thee But on the other Hand it is Manifest that the Man Jesus did declare himself the Light of the World Joh. 8.12 and so to be believed in Chap. 12 46. now as Man barely understood how could he be the Light of the World which Light is a Heart searching Light Rev. 2.23 therefore it must be understood in the Spirit and he declares himself one with the Father Joh 10.30 in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodyly who was before Abraham John 8. and it was the Godhead the Invisible power for which the Body was prepared and this power dwelling and acting in the Body was that which unheld it in this great work of Mans Salvation and it was through the excellency worth and power of the Indwelling Spirit which was one with the Father which the Invisible Eye only could behold by which the satisfaction was made and the purchase of the Heavenly Inheritance obtained by whom Remission of Sins Justification Sanctification and Everlasting Redemption is obtained this is he in whom we confess to be our true and only Saviour in whom we believe And in as much as he did direct his Disciples that after his departure they should wait for his Spirit which the World could not receive then no more then they can do now which saith he dwelleth with you and shall be in you and this Spirit was to be waited for even by his Disciples that had been taught by him and he was
to whom he said positively he spake them words there inserted in his Book which I believe the one half of them were not expressed by him though what he spake was to that purpose But whether the Old Man heard his words so as to understand them or not I know not for that sence was greatly decayed iâ— him and he was likewise at a pretty distance from him but it is likely he perceived he spake to him which made him come down from his standing And had the old Man perfectly heard what he said it is probable he would hardly have answered being a Man slow of speech and not free of utterance and being aged he was constantly possessed with a trembling in his Body so that none can say truly that he trembled for any thing the Priest had said But for what end he went to this Priests House neither what he did there I know not but this I say from that day forward I never knew him any ways inclineable after any of that Generation to the day of his death who is now deceased and I believe is at peace with the Lord. But to go forward in Page 68. S. B. saith of Jesus Christ That he is in the third Heaven above and that he hath in the Heavens above true Flesh and Blood the nature and properties of a true man-kind Body And this he proves chiefly by bringing in of Four Questions so where Scripture fails they seek another way to prove their assertions Reply That Christ had a Body we own which was of the Seed of David according to the Flesh as it is said he took upon him the form of a Servant and as the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood he himself also took part of the same and in that Body performed the Will of the Father in all things that was given him to do and dyed and the Lord raised it up again and he had shewed himself many days and he ascended and a Cloud received him out of sight of whom the Angels witnessed that the same Jesus should in like manner come again afterward And John in his Revelation when he saw him in the Heavenly Visions he describes him far exceeding the outward Son in glory And as he is declared in the Scriptures we so believe avoiding his unscriptural imaginations But to go back a little to speak a few words to the matter or Argument of Sampson Bonds to prove that the Spirit of God was not in William Wilkinson in page 66. which Argument was this Because the Spirit that was in W. W. and so consequently in every Quaker doth not agree with the Water of Baptism nor the Blood of the Supper And thou said he denies both the Sacraments To which he said William Wilkinson answered he had both Baptisme and the Lords-Supper within him Reply I say also with William Wilkinson Baptisme and the Supper is within but for the word Sacrament I deny it being a non-Scriptural expression But as to your Water-Baptisme as ye now use it it is of your Father the Pope whose Children ye are while ye observe his works and do them for it neither is nor never was an Ordinance of God neither is there any express Rule in Scripture for it neither Precept nor example And farther I say as to John's Baptismes which was with Water That was to decrease as John did affirm saying I must decrease He must increase I indeed Baptise you with Water but he that cometh after me he shall Baptise you with the Holy-Ghost and with Fire And as John testified so it came to pass for as the Baptisme of the Spirit increased so that of Water decreased and the Disciples and Christians in that day did not lay such stress upon the Water then as ye do now saying That it is a matter absolute necessary to Salvation and Children cannot be saved without it if it might be had For Paul himself who was not behind the chief of the Apostles in Preaching of the Gospel what he did in that particular it is probable he did in his own freedom having no positive command for it for he said he was not sent to Baptize but to Preach the Gospel 1 Cor. 1.17 And the rest of the Disciples when they were sent forth to Teach and Baptize in Matt. 28. there is not a word of Water mentioned And the Apostle Paul in Ephes 4. saith there is one Lord one Faith one Baptisme which Bâ—ptisme is spiritual and Baptizeth or plungeth into the death of Christ all true Believers by which they feel a dayly dying to sin And their Consciences washed with pure Water which Water agrees with the Spirit in purging the Soul from Sin and this Baptisme is within known and witnessed there by the Spirit But for your Baptisme without it agrees not with the sanctifying Spirit for it reacheth no farther than to wash the Flesh And speak ingenuously now S. B. and tell me among the many Hundreds thou hast Baptized with the outward Water canst thou say in the presence of God that there is one Soul that has thereby received any true spiritual profit I conclude not one Now as the Baptisme is within so the Supper is within also for we do witness Christ Jesus to be come nigh unto our Souls who is the heavenly Substance the living Substance of which the visibles were but shadows and now the thing signified the true and heavenly substance is possessed and enjoyed inwardly by which the Souls of the Faithful are nourished up unto eternal Life for the Church is in God a spiritual House a spiritual Temple a spiritual people being born a new of the Spirit and witnessing a birth brought forth in them that cannot be sed nor nourished with shadows but its meat must be Meat indeed and its drink must be Drink indeed suitable to its own Nature which is Spiritual and Divine Neither do we who witness the Day of the Lord appeared feel the Spirit of the Lord to lead our minds back again into the signs and shadows otherwise we should be ready to follow for he is the Saints guâ—de and leads them into all Truth and gathers the mind inward to wait for the teachings of the Spirit who is their Prophet Christ within their Bishop their Shepherd their King their Lord and Law-giver on whom they wait to receive the Law from his mouth Well said Christ when he was to depart in the outward It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come but if I go away I will send him For great is the profit indeed that the Saints have and do possess in and by the Spirit Nevertheless this heavenly treasure that we do possess and enâ—oy it is in the earthen Vessels in which it doth manifestly shine forth so that we are thereby led into a good and comely order having our meetings also in the good and wholsom order where the presence of the Lord is felt
Priest Bonds mad confusion and contradiction in Page 53. Priest Bonds bad words Wickedly equivocate Idol Light within Leger-demain a Bratt hatcht in their Addle-Brain Page 53. Idol Light within p. 55. Teach a denyal of Jesus of Nazareth Lyers and False-Witnesses Page 54. Enemies Liers such Liers Seducing Quakers Cursed Liers Horrid Blasphemers aim to make the Angels of Christ Liars Again They do in their meetings and aims make the Apostles of Christ Liers and False Witnesses of God c. the Idol-light within Page 57. Here the Reader may see Priest Bonds foul Language and his ravenous blasphemous spirit and lies against the Light within And the Quakers own Christ Jesus within and without as the Prophets and the Angels and the Apostles have declared him We do witness Christ both his Birth Death and his Resurrection and Ascension Again Priest Bond saith The Light that is in every man the Quakers rotten Principle by natural generation is not the true Christ Page 58. And Page 8. in contradiction to himself saith It s true that by Light in that place of Scripture viz. John 1. That was the true Light which enlightens every Man that comes into the World the true Christ and our only Saviour is meant And yet see how often over he calls the Light of Christ an Idol Light within and now a Rotten Principle and the False Christ the Devil But how doth Priest Bond prove Christ the Light which he confesses to be the only Saviour who enlightens every one that comes into the World to be a Rotten Principle and by natural generation and that he is not the true Christ who enlightens every wan that comes into the world And yet in Page 8. Priest Bond confesses That the true Light that enlightens every man that comes into the world the true Christ and our only Saviour is meant John 1. For the Quakers never said that this Light came by natural generation which Light enlightens every man that comes into the World which is the Life in Christ our Saviour More of Priest Bonds foul words Lunatick Crafty Knave Wedding-Cloaths faced with a dissembling madness Quakers have learned their ignorant Disciples to glory in their own flesh Blasphemous contempt upon the glorified manhood Page 59. These are Priest Bonds horrid Lies and madness And yet S. B. saith in Page 21. That F. E. the Quaker did believe that Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among the people whom the Jews slew and God raised from the dead and raised up into Heaven is the true Christ and only Saviour Yet in Page 59. thou saist the bold and open wickedness of W. H. who did reflect blasphemous contempt upon the glorious manhood c. in Heaven above Here dost not thou abuse the Quaker who said he did believe and confess that Christ suffered in the Flesh and was received up to Heaven as thou confessest Page 21. And Page 23. S. B. saith W. H. called S. B's Christ an outside Christ which W. H. denies But Priest Bond calls the true Christ which is revealed from Heaven in his People a Devil and the Light of Christ in his People an Idol therefore what Christ is it that S. B. owns but Antichrist Priest Bond goes on in his foul words Thou art blasphemous rude ye make it your profest Religion to derogate from the true humane substance of the Lord 's Christ ignorant seduced Quakers Page 60. These are Priest Bond 's Lies and his own Blasphemies As for the word Humane he hath not proved it by Scripture Again Priest Bond 's foul words With a Brazen Forehead and seared Conscience villifying the holy thing born of Mary called the Son of God And yet Bond confesses a little before That the Quakers own Christ Jesus born of that Mary both his death and resurrection c. And in Page 61. Open Deriders and Blasphemers contemners of him Christ false Glossers These are Priest Bonds foul words which Lies he may apply to his self Priest Bond saith Page 62. F.E. shutes this Bolt to wit That the Deity was within him and saith that the Deity is in Cats and Dogs as well as in F.E. which he hath not proved by Scripture P. Bond The Legerdemain of seducing Quakers baffling prating Quakers page 63. which foul words he had better applied to himself S. B. F. Eastlacke said 'T is Christ in you c. Priest Bond scoffingly ask'd him Whether Christ was in his Lye Legs Brains or Bowels An Idol light within Blasphemer the Quakers who glory in their own flesh bitter mocking sarcastical blasphemous scorning scoffing quaffing Quakers All this ungracious filthy Language proceeds from Priest Bonds Lying Poisonous Tongue Page 64. 65. S. B. Thou saist F. E. thou hast renounced both the Sacraments Still the Idol Light within Fanciful Principles invisible Sacraments Blasphemy thy dreadful cursed Apostacy Page 66 67. These are Priest Bonds Lies and foul expressions Page 68. They deny Jesus of Nazareth the only Saviour O thou poor sinner that art deluded Visible and Invisible hand-shaking of God Page 80. Stephen saw Christs humane body in Heaven above Priest Bond with all his Lies who saith that Scripture is his Rule hath not proved such a word as Humane in Scripture Neither doth the Apostle say that Stephen mentioned a Humane Body in Acts 7. But Stephen saw the Heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God being full of the Holy-Ghost And the Quakers own Christ more than Priest Bond. Here are more of Priest Bonds railing words Bruitish Disputants Bruitish Principles Lude Fellows of the more bruitish sort Seducing Quakers These are more of Priest Bonds lies and filthy Language W.W. desired Priest Bond to shew him an express Scripture which saith that the Beasts which Paul fought with at Ephesus denyed the resurrection of the dead And Priest Bond makes a great rambling in three or four Pages and when he hath been beating the Air he brings no express Scripture Priest Bond saith That the Body shall be raised spiritual as Christs Body of flesh and bones after the resurrection were spiritual Page 72. And S. Bond saith in Page 69. Stephen saw Christs humane Body in Heaven above And doth not Priest Bond nick-name the Lord's Body and call it humane over and over in his Book And is humane spiritual As in Page 50. Humane Nature How doth he prove Christs Body Humane Nature And now confesses that Christs Body of flesh and bones after the resurrection was spiritual and yet humane and also confesses with W.B. the Quaker who speaks concerning the Resurrection It is sown a natural body it is raised a spirituaâ— body And S. B. doth confess in 1 Cor. 15. that the body shall be raised sâ—iritual So Priest Bond hath granted the Apostles and the Quakers Principles and yet Priest Bond makes a great noise to no purpose in three or four Pages and at last grants the thing as in Page 72 73. Priest Bond brings John 5. Christs saying who
like his Heavenly Father in Heaven And the Aâ—â—â—â—le saith in Rom. 6. Being made free from sin are become Servants to God Ye have your fruits unto Holiness and the end Everlasting Life Priest Bond tells the Apostle that 't is an erroneous Principle to be Perfect and made free from Sin in this Life And when will Priest Bond be made free from his Sins if not in this Life What will he be made free in the Papist's Purgatory Where did ever the Apostles Preach such a Doctrine that the Saints should not be made free from Sin in this Life And the Apostle tells him He that is Dead is free from Sin Rom. 6. And now if we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall Live with him yet as Priest Bond saâ—th Deduction of freedom from sin in the Saints in this Life cannot from hence be drawn Priest Bond saith Now the State which accompanies the Resurrection of the Dead excludes all Sin The Saints shall then be Legally Perfect But S. Bond has not proved his Doctrine by Scriptures and what must we understand by S. Bonds Words That the Saints which are Sanctified and made Holy while they be upon the Earth must have Sin which is of the Devil and be Imperfect in this Life Yet the Apostle says to the Philippians 3. 1 Cor. Let as many as be Perfect c. Read 1 Cor. 2.6 Then S. B. falls upon his foul Language seducing Quakers Heretical Catharishes and saith Solomon makes a Challenge to all the World Pro. 20.9 Who can say I have made my Heart Clean I am pure from my Sin But Solomon tells Bond in the same Chapter The just man that walks in his integrity his Children are blessed after him and it is the Blood of Christ that Cleanseth us from all Sin without him we can do nothing Again John 1.1.8 This Proclamature is beyond Solomon's If we say that we have not sinned we make Christ a Lyar. And Priest Bond saith We that are of the new birth say If we say we have not Sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us But this Priest Bond abuses John's Words and John says 1.3 Whosoever is Born of God doth not commit Sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot Sin because he is born of God In this the Children of God are manifest and the Children of the Devil Now I Querie of Priest Bond Whether there are any born of God whilst they are upon the Earth and if so whether they must believe John's Doctrine And Priest Bond falls a Railing If the Quakers should be so stark mad as to affirm all the Saints to be free from Sin which Priest Bond saith Cannot be meant a freedom from Sin but only of the Trade and Custom of Sinning I charge Priest Bond to bring forth the Chapter and Verse that says For his Trade and Custom of Sinning But the Apostle saith If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves c. And if we Confess our Sin he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all mark all Unrighteousness If we say we have not Sinned we make him a Lyar c. So here is a time for people to see they have Sinned and to confess their Sins and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses from all Sin mark from all Sin Joh. 1. Priest Bond makes a great Pudder about Paul who saith O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of Death Paul tells thee in Rom. the 7th and the 8th He thanks God through Jesus Christ and saith there 's no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit for the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death And he hath not seen iniquity in Jacob. Now Priest Bond Confounds himself and grants That believers may walk in the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless that is to say Rebukeless in regard of Men. We speak Wisdom among them which are perfect meaning however imperfect Weaklings Doth not S. Bond abuse the Apostles words here and add to the Scripture Page 85. And again That you may be blameless and harmless the Sons of God without Rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation amongst whom they shine as Lights in the World mark that And Priest Bond saith and Confounds himself The Phrase Blameless Simply in its own nature will be so far from proving perfection of Grace that it will not prove any truth of Grace it will not therefore follow that Elizabeth was Perfect without Sin though Priest Bond Confesses she was blameless and hath not charged her with what Sin she committed Dost not thou confess she was Blameless and Righteous c. And did not Elizabeth Believe Did not she say to Mary Blessed is he that Believes So Elizabeth was a Believer as well as her walking blameless in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord. But Saul who was a Blasphemer and Persecutor was no Believer therefore there 's no Comparison with Saul and Elizabeth But Priest Bond saith In the Day of Christs coming in Glory the Saints shall be found of God in Peace without Spot and Blameless But not thus in this Life p. 85. The Apostle saith 1 Cor. 1.8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless in the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ howbeit we speak Wisdom among them that are Perfect for I Brethren could not speak unto you as unto Spiritual but as unto Carnal even as unto Babes in Christ 1 Cor. 3. Where has Priest Bond learned this Lesson that the Saints shall not be freed from Sin in this Life Then how can they be kept blameless unto the Day of Christ and not to be kept free from Sin which is of the Devil But as Bond saith page 86. There is not a just Man upon the Earth Solomon saith in the same Chapter Be not righteous overmuch be not overmuch wicked So in a Man 's own Righteousness and Justice he may Sin But Christ Cleanses from all Sin and doth that which the Law could not do but Priest Bond saith page 87. There is in all true Believers a cursed Root of bitterness which God doth mortifie but not nullifie in this World 't is subdued but not removed 't is cast down but not cast out though Grace makes the Combate yet Death only makes the Conquest over Sin We charge Priest Bond to prove this Doctrine by Scripture his cursed Root of Bitterness in all true Believers and that they shall never Conquer it till they Dye and to prove that this was in Abraham Isaac and Jacob Abel and Enoch and in them that the Apostle said We speak Wisdom among them that are Perfect And has not Priest Bond given John the Lye who says whosoever is born of God doth not commit Sin
SB How foolishly thou strains at Gnats and swallows Camels for G. F. when he saith their he means the Apostles and the Church and thou saist not is but dost not thou contadict the Apostle who said The Son of God was reyealed in him c. So we say theirs to wit the Apostles and the Church in their days and we say ours in our days to wit for we which Live are always delivered unto Death for Jesus sake that the Life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal Bodies And so here it is plain in their mortal Flesh and in our mortal Flesh And doth S. B. say that the Life of Jesus was not manifest in the Apostles mortal Flesh and the Churches and them that hear it too and will not S. B. have the Life of Christ to be made manifest in our mortal Flesh because he makes such a pudder about our c. And because G. F. saith the Life of Christ is manifest in their mortal Bodies And doth not S. B. when he writes of others say theirs But the Apostles writes of themselves and the Church when they said ours But S. B. Thou hast wrong quoted the Scripture 2 Cor. 5.11 And there is no such saying in that Text of Scripture That the Life of Jesus might be made manifest in their mortal Flesh I query of S. Bond whether this was not while they were upon the Earth that thou makâ—s such a pudder about And whether the Apostles were not made partakers of the Glory while they were upon the Earth And is not the Light called the Life John 1. in Christs Word And doth not the Light shine in our Hearts 2 Cor. 4.6 And thou saist Page 51. That Fox endeavours as much as in him lies to choak the Lamb of God But Priest Bond Can Christ the Lamb of God which hath all power in Heaven and Earth given to him be Choaked Dost not thou herein shew thy Foolishness and Silliness And as for his railing against J. Pennington he hath not Quoted the Page where to find what he saith against him neither hath he named John Chanlers Book which he rails at against him And therefore it is like he hath belied them as he hath done G. F. and others And therefore Priest Bond had better Repent if he can find a place of Repentance for all his Lying Blasphemies and studdy to be quiet for he hath given forth his Book to his Shame And S. Bond to bring in with the rest of your cruelty and inhumane Practises I query of thee Wast not thou the man who instigated and stur'd up the Magistrates in Burmudus to take up John Tysoe with a Warrant and carried him from Constable to Constable through great part of the Island to your Town-Prison where he was kept till Banished off your Island a Man whom you had nothing to lay to his charge worthy of Bonds but for coming upon your Island to visit his Friends and people of the Lord who were gathred from your persecuting Spirit and thy Idolatrous Worships to wait upon the Lord in the Spirit of Truth and Righteousness at which Cain like you were angry and thou in thy malice wast stirr'd up to cry out against this Inocent man like thy Brethren of old Help men of Israel the turners of the World upside down are come hither also who as aforesaid came with the Love of God in his heart to visit his Friends and did desire the well-being of you all which is Sixteen years ago and how thou hast behaved thy self since it is known to some but now thou hast made thy self manifest in a large measure in thy ungodly Blasphemous Book which I hope will be a means to open the Eyes of some that yet see thee not And now we understanding that Sam. Bond 's Book was Printed at Boston in New-England by Sam. Green upon the Assignment of S. Sewall and we being sensible how forward the New-England Priests and Professors are to tolerate and Print such lying and slanderous Books against us the people of God in scorn called Quakers to cover their Wickedness in their persecuting of us who Hanged four of the said people called Quakers Cut of the Ears of others Branded with an Hot-Iron Banished many upon pain of Death and Imprisoned Beat and Cruelly Whipt many yea one William Brend till his body was like a Gelly and besides the spoiling of Friends Goods who promoted the Printing and tolerated Roger Williams's silthy slanderous Book of Lies against us We have brought forth and added some of R. Williams's one of their old Priests in N. E. false and Blasphemous Doctrines concerning Christs Body and Blood which he asserted and maintained openly at the dispute at Rhode-Island in N. England to the shame of true Christianity as follows These are four Pages taken out of G. F's and S. B's answer to Roger Williams Entituled A New-England Fire-Brand quenched part 2. Page 508. and seq Printed in the year 1679. And Roger Williams thou and the people know'st that thou brought'st G. F's Fol. 56. at the dispute at Nuport to prove that G. F. said The Blood of Christ was corruptable and that it was like the Blood of another Man and from thence thou didst endeavour to prove That our Christ was not the true Christ and G. F. a Blasphemer But when the place was read in G. F's Book it was found to be the Priests sayings and not G F's to wit That the Blood of Christ was corruptible and so like the Blood of another Man For G. F's answer to the Priest is That the Blood of Christ which cleanseth from all Sin is Incorruptible as the Reader may read Fol. 56. And so R. W. Seing it were the Priests words and not G. F's which he brought to Condemn G. F. and us withal in the Face of the Country and to prove that our Christ was not the true Christ he seeing it was proved to be the Priests words out of G. F's Book and not G. F's he turned about to maintain the Priests words to wit That Christs Blood was Corruptible and asserted as followeth which was taken then in Characters and we do not question but that the sober-minded unprejudic'd people then there may remember the Words Viz. 1st R. W. said I affirm that the Blood of Christ that he shed was material as another Mans and was corruptible 2d R. W. said I say that the Blood from hence he might as well argue that the Flesh of Christ being material was therefore Corruptible which is contrary to the Apostles Doctrine Acts 2.31 Neither did his Flesh see corruptiion Yet in another place in his Book R. W. doth affirm That he is Redeemed by the Blood of God which blood he saith is Corruptible of Christ was Corruptible and Corrupted With many other unsavory words John Stubs answered Take heed Roger what tâ—ou saist we do not deny but Blood came out of his Side but we say That the Blood of Christ