be witnesses thereunto A Religion repleat with so much purity as ours is has somthing very excellent and Divine which you know not of and your Ignorance takes away your desire of knowing lest by the prevalency of the Justice of our Cause you should be witnesses against your selves Of how much Folly would you judge that Man guilty who never Read any part of the Law should yet assume to teach a Councel the knowledge thereof or he who understanding nothing of Physick should not only pretend to Instruct an old Learned and experienced Physitian but also presume to correct his Method and way of Practise And yet certainly the Folly and Ignorance of our Adversaries far surpasseth this in that they are so far from desiring to know the truth that they hate and malign all such as but offer although in kindness to inform them thereof such is the power and force of blind Zeal that it makes all its prostitutes chuse rather to be the Vassals of wilful Ignorance than to relinquish the greatest of absurdities although in exchange for that whose own worth might be a sufficient recompense for the greatest of deserts 3. We expected that the Adversary should have proved his Assertions in publick but that his prudence or want of abilities has made him decline for it is a thing not only improbable but also impossible for him to perform as in the Sequel hereof we hope we shall both plainly and truly make appear There is no doubt but whosoever shall be saved must necessarily be a Christian since the Scripture saith there is no other name under Heaven by which we can hope for Salvation the which is confirmed in a certain place by the Testimony of that Great and Eminent Apostle Paul where he saith that If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the Dead thou shalt be saved For with the heart man believeth unto Righteousness and with the mouth Confession is made unto Salvation Since therefore we have witnessed to the whole World a good Confession and believe in our hearts what our tongues have spoken we have not only hope but also know if the Credit of so great an Apostle may be prevalent that we are become heirs of Salvation and if heirs of Salvation then Christians since there is no Salvation by any other Name under Heaven If the Adversary Objects we believe not in our hearts it remains on his part to prove his Assertion which we know he cannot if he undertake that work he must take upon him the Prerogative of God Almighty For he that declares to man what his thoughts are the Lord of Hosts is his Name 4. That so good a Confession has been witnessed unto by us has been daily apparent ever since we have been a People called by the Lord and that both by word of mouth Writing as many thousand Witnesses living can abundantly testifie and we are faithfully perswaded that this is so apparent that our very Adversaries themselves believe nothing less in their own Consciences though since Malice and Envy has taken place in their hearts they have had boldness and impudence enough not only to belch out such Poyson and Malignity and in so large a measure that the Mists thereof seem like the Foggs out of the Bottomless Pit to darken the Air but also with such Ardency and Violence that they have even stupified their own Souls So that what they reported although at first they really knew them to be egregious Lyes yet the continuance in and accustomed use of so ill a medium has not only blinded their Knowledge obsuscated their Reason but also so benummed their Senses that they themselves begin now to think those things to be true than the which at the first they really knew there was no greater falshoods could be declared by any Mortal 5. If in order we pass over the several Testimonies of many of the Lords Servants as what John Crook has said in a Book called Truths Principles the Testimony of George Whitehead in his Divinity of Christ Confessed of Isaac Pennington in his Scattered Sheep p. 8. and in his Question to the Professors of Christianity p. 31. Of George Fox in his Declaration to the Jews Of George Fox the younger in the Collection p. 208. Of John Whitehead in his small Treatise p. 7. besides a Cloud of other Testimonies the which time would sail us here to ennumerate whose Declarations and Confessions have been so large and ample that we think they exceed the power of Words to make a more full Profession yet we think it necessary to bring in the Words of William Pen whose Confession of Faith the Adversary calls although in Scripture Language a meer Equivocation an old Art of Deceivers and so much the more especially since his Integrity and Uprightness has been so infinitely wronged by the blackness and malice of the Enemies of Truth Hear his own Expressions in the last page of his Sandy Foundation shaken And lastly as concerning Christ Although the Slander is not new yet nevertheless false for I declare on the behalf of that despised People vulgarly called Quakers the Grace of which we testifie hath never taught us to acknowledge another God than he that 's the Father of all things who fills Heaven and Earth neither to confess another Lord Jesus Christ than he that appeared so many hundred years ago made of a Virgin like unto us in all things sin excepted or any other Doctrine than was by him declared and practised therefore let every mouth be stopt for ever opening more in Blasphemy against Gods junocent heritage who in Principle Life and Death bear an unanimous Testimony for the only true God true Christ and Heavenly Doctrine 6. These things are here reminded for the sakes of such honest and simple Souls who in the integrity of their hearts desire to know the Truth as for our own particulars we could have willingly and patiently born through the strength of Christ which assists us not only all this but whatsoever the fury and rage of the evil ones should be permitted to inflict upon us It is that Christian Charity which is in our Souls towards all mankind which engages us to appear in the behalf of the Truth this day and to bear a witness to that which shall out-live all salshoods and lyes and tryumph over the strongest Power of Hell and Death We are not ashamed to be discovered what we are 't is that we seek after that we may be apparent to the whole world We esteem it our glory to bear the Reproach of our Master and account nothing dishonourable which we undergoe for his sake The Adversary accuses us of evil whose necessary appendices are both Fear and Shame but it is such an Evil as wants the proper Indications of Guilt For we have no other Fear upon us but that which keeps us from offending our God nor any other
Shame but that which causes Repentance grieving that we should so long as we have done put off the day There is only required for the condemnation of us the Judgment of our Adversaries their bare affirmation of the matter wherewith we are charged is enough to pronounce us guilty and to expose us to the publick hatred of the misguided World 7. Now to let the World know our Principles we shall do our endeavour to express our Faith in a larger Character than that in which we have but now declared it Not but that which William Pen has said is the substance of all that can be spoken But because all are not of equal Capacities and that the aforesaid word Doctrine is by Adversaries abused and we thereby rendred to hold such things as are repugnant to the Holy Scriptures we shall here do our endeavour to rend the Vail and dispel these Clouds which either has or may yet blind the mind and understanding of the Intellectual part of Man We believe that there is One only Heb. 11.6 Great Almighty Eternal and holy God Eph. 4.5.6 the Maker Creator and upholder of all things Nehem. 9.20 who has given a measure of his Spirit or Grace unto all Men by which they might come to know him the true God Gen. 1.1 the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Joh. 1.9 Through this Grace we believe that Jesus Christ our Lord Tit. 2.11 was in the fulness of time manifest in flesh 1. Cor. 12.7 being Conceived of the Holy Ghost Born of a Virgin Mat 1.20 and made in all things like unto us 1. Tim. 6.13 sin only excepted That he witnessed a good Confession before Pontius Pilate Act. 2.23.32 was condemned suffered the death of the Cross Heb. 10.12 was Buried and rose again the third day Ascended Heb. 8.1 and in his own glorious and Heavenly Body Eph. 1 2â— sits at the right hand of the Heavenly Majesty Phil. 7.9 And that this same Jesus God hath highly exalted and given him a Name above every Name Joh. 3.16 that whosoever believes in him Act. 4.12 should not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 3.16 and that there is no other Name under Heaven given among Men Joh. 11.26 whereby we must be saved We believe in the Holy Ghost Joh. 14.17.26 which is the Spirit of truth the Vnction or Anointing from the Holy One that he proceedeth from the Father Joh. 16.13.15 and will shew us things to come 1. Joh. 2.20.27 and that he beareth witness of the Son and will dwell both with us and in us and that he shall teach us all things and abide with us for ever Eph. 28. Through the teachings and demonstrations of this Holy Spirit we believe 1. Joh. 5.4 that as through faith in Christ we shall be saved so that by the vertue of that faith we shall overcome the World Tit. 2.12.14 and bring forth the blessed fruits of Repentance in an boly Life Eph. 1.7 We also believe that Sanctification is by the blood of Jesus Heb. 9.14 and that so far as we are sanctified so far we are justified and so far made the Righteousness of God in him Phil. 3.9.10 And we believe that the Righteousness of Christ is no otherwise imputed unto us but as we are true Believers and in conformity to his death and sufferings Heb 2.9 And that although Christ our Lord made his Soul an Offering for sin tasted death for every Man and is a propitiation for the sins of the whole World 1. Joh. 2.2 yet none receives the peculiar benefit thereof unless through faith in his name power 2. Thes 2.12 or spirit denying themselves and taking up the daily Cross Col. 3.5 they dye unto sin and live unto righteousness and so through a mortification of the deeds of the flesh come to witness a new Birth Tit. 3.5 and Regeneration in Spirit Joh. 4.23 We believe that the Worship of God is a Spiritual Worship Joh. 3.3.5 and that they that Worship him Rom. 6.4 must Worship in Spirit and Col. 2.11.12.14 truth and that we are Circumcised with the Circumcision made without hands Eph. 1.12 in putting off the Body of the sins of the flesh by the Circumcision of Christ Rom. 2.26.29 and in like manner Buried with him in Baptisin if we be also risen with him Philip. 3.3 through the faith of the opperation of God who hath raised him from the dead Eph. 2.15 And that he has blotted out the Handwriting of Ordinances which was against us which was contrary unto us and took it out of the way nayling it unto his Cross Col. 3.17 We believe that Prayer and Thanksgivings are incumbent duties 1 Thes 5.17.18 and holy Ordinances of Gods spiritual Worship to all the Worshipers in Gods holy Temple Prov. 2â— â— 27 but being performed and not in the sence and power of the holy Spirit and in the fear and dread of Gods great and glorious name Psa 50.16 they are not only sin but an abomination to the Lord. Isa 66.3 And we believe that the holy Scriptures are the Jer. 6.20 Declarations Amos. 5.22 Writings and Testimonies not only of holy Men but of the Spirit of Truth it self and that they ought to be read believed and practised 2. Tim. 3.15 being profitable for Doctrine reproof correction and instruction in righteousness that the Man of God might have comfort through the same be made perfect and throughly furnished unto all good works and through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord are able Joh. 5.28.29 to make wise unto salvation Lastly We believe the Resurection of the Dead both of the just 1. Cor. 15.16.17 and unjust the one to salvation to an Inheritance Incorruptible and undefiled which fadeth not away 1. Pet. 1.4 reserved in Heaven where our vile or low Bodies shall be changed Phil. 3.21 and fashioned like unto his glorious Body 2. Pet. 3.7 according to the working of his mighty power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself the other to Condemnation and wrath Eph. 1.19 according to the Judgement of the great day 8. Having thus in few words given an account of our Faith without any Equivocation Mental Reservation or secret Evasion we must tell the Adversary in the words of our Lord that Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh By thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned Our good Confession then being fully agreeable with the tenour and sense of the holy Scriptures is not only an Evidence to our Salvation but also a matter of Justification thereby demonstrating that it is as well the intent and belief of our hearts as the expressions of our mouths And we think the Dilemma is
will certainly fight thy Battles for thee in standing still is thy strength Isa 30.15 and in that thou shalt overcome Is one spot cleansed is one sin taken away if so what did do that the Spirit of the Lord did it so yes what then dost thou think it has lost its purging and cleansing quality now No it has not trust to it that which has begun will finish That which has power to cleanse one spot has power to cleanse more than one and by degrees to cleanse from many and at last from all what reason is there that that which has kept me from swearing should not also keep me from lying and if from lying why not from stealing and murthering and if from the greater sins why not from the less It has either power to preserve me or it has not if it has power it can keep me from all if it has not it can preserve me from none 19. There is a great deal of reason in all this but if you can make it a little plainer He that offends not in thought word or deed the same is a perfect man and this is attained by diligently keeping upon the watch with the Spirit of the Lord for that neither slumbers no sleeps but continually attends the motion of the enemy Sin has a conception before a bringing forth it is first conceived in thought in the mind before it is manifest in word or action and if it be cut off whilst in conception the evil consequences of its birth may be prevented and this is done by carefully setting a watch before the thoughts of the heart that whatsoever evil thing the Devil may represent to the Soul it may not consent to nor embrace it so much as in the affections of the mind and by this means the soul is kept clean and clear from sin and the temptation is seen and avoided and the Enemy with his wiles put to flight and thus as conquest is once got over the Enemy the soul gets strength till at last it becomes more than conqueror through the strength of him which assists and as victory is gotten over one lust and another sin so joy springs up in the heart through the hopes of a perfect conquest and thus the hope which purifies as God is pure is seen and that faith which overcomes the world is known whereby in the end a compleat and perfect victory is witnessed thus is there a dayly growing from strength to strength and from glory to glory till the Creature becomes wholy cloathed with the white Raiment the Righteousness of God Thus a Watch being also before the lips of the mouth there can be no offending with the tongue for the vain idle needless or evil words are seen and so condemned by that which watches them and then the soul being free from them even in its secret affections they are cut off as it were before conception and the temptation is seen and avoided and the enemy put to flight Thus continually standing upon the watch Tower many victories will be obtained and thou wilt gather great strength and the Enemy will grow heartless and faint and every day wax weaker and weaker I astly let a watch be set upon all thy actions what art thou a doing with thy hands to what do's the paths of thy seet tend is the action good or evil what may be the end of it I say the watch being set the Lord will shew the what is good and will if thou art willing to follow him for he only accepts the free and willing heart save thee and deliver thee from every appearance of evil and bring thy feet out of the mire and out of the clay and establish thy footsteps upon Mount Sion the City of the Living God where thou shalt triumph over the Enemy and Adversary of thy soul over Sin Hell and Death and be kept faultless and spotless without danger of falling Thus at length shall the Kingdom of the Lord be exalted over all the Tempter cast out from the throne presence of God for ever Thus may you see the way of Perfection is short and easie to the man of God to him which has yielded up all to the service of his Maker who in resignation humility and Obedience continually waits to receive the daily bread and the fresh Springs of the Spirit of Life from the giver of every good and perfect gift 20. You make the way of Perfection to be a very short and easie way is there any or do many attain to it Thou oughtest to look inward into thine own particular what is it to thee whether any is now perfect or whether many do attain it the way of God is the way of God if none walk in it the Truth is the Truth though all men be lyers and walk contrary to it it behoves thee since thou hast a soul to save to take heed of thy self that thou maist walk worthy of this so high a calling to which thou art called and there is no doubt but in going on and pressing forwards thou maist at length attain to the mark and prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus forgetting as once that great and worthy Apostle Paul said those things which are behind Phil. 3.12 13 14. 21. What is no distinction to be made may all be saved that will The grace of God which bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all the mercies of God are over all his works he would not the death of a sinner but rather that every man might be saved the which is known if he slight not nor over-passes the day of his Visitation if he do's he may then with Esau seek the blessing with tears and not obtain it 22. Has Man then free will and what and when is this day of Visitation that we may know it Man in his lost and fallen state has a will only free to evil so that not only all his Actions his words and his thoughts but his affections and desires are wholy evil and that continually and whatsoever he performs in this state and nature as his Prayers and Thanksgivings and Confessions and Worship are not only evil and sin but also an abomination to the Lord and since it is so what must man do now since he cannot think so much as that which is good he must wait till the day of Gods Visitation comes There is a time in which God visits the Sons of men Exod. 3.7 8. Psal 8.4 Luk. 19.42 Heb. 2.6 44. and beholds the afflictions of his people in Aegypt the Land of Darkness and Slavery a time in which he comes down to deliver them and to bring them up out of that Land unto a good Land and a larg unto a Land flowing with Milk and Honey Now that 's the time for man to look about him when the Lord begins to stir when his Holy Spirit begins to shew him the bondage and slavery of his sinful lost and
undone state 'T is true as God begins to work the Evil one works also the slavery of Israel seems to be heavier till God by a powerful Hand and a strong Arm binds the power of the Adversary till he brings the soul from under his dominion And this is understood first in the discovery of sin Secondly in the Reproofs for it and then in the drawings of Gods Spirit wherein if man although he can act nothing that is good yet if he can but stand still and only look on he may be caught before he is a ware as a firebrand out of the fire and the soul seeing its misery will then begin to groan under the bondage of its corruptions at the gronings of which the compassions of God will be stretched forth and his bowels of loving kindnesses will be extended and his Arm will be made bare to work a deliverance out of Aegypt from under the domination of the power of sin Thus will the Soul be brought into a wilderness and into a Warfare where as God of old accompanied his people in a Pillar of Cloud by day and of Fire by night so also now will he accompany them by his Holy and Saving Spirit by which he will give them the knowledge of his Law as afore time at Mount Sina wherein the Condemnation Wrath and Terrors of God against the whole man of sin comes to be known and under the banner of which man must walk till he comes to possess the blessed Inheritance as once the Apostle Paul said the Law is our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ Thus we at length following the Lord which draws us come neer to the good Land come to view and see it to behold the excelency and goodness of it and also to tast of the fruits thereof and now and not till now he sets before us life and death and the will now comes into a certain equal capacity of chosing of either the excellency of what we hope for is set before our eyes God puts us into the capacity of chosing either good or evil before he sets the choice before us and gives us the priviledge of embracing of that which the freedome of our wills inclines us to wherein if we choose death our blood is upon our own heads and the Lord our God is clear And what now could the Lord do more for us he would but we will not he did not say to us when we were in Aegypt dead in trespasses and sins this day have I set before you life and death chose you whether but he first quickned us when we knew him not and brought us into the capacity of chosing and then set life and death before us from whence forward if we dye our destruction is of our selves 23. What is not God Almighty is not he stronger than we cannot he which brings to the borders and sight of the good Land bring into it Yes he can and will bring all that chose the good into the possession thereof but he brings not man thereinto against his will for he gives him the freedome of his choice he that would enjoy life and be everlastingly happy must love and follow the Lord God with all his heart and with all his Soul and with all his might and with all his strength 24. Wherefore is it then that some chose death and perish The Answer is because of an evil heart of Unbelief the way is strait and narrow difficult to flesh and blood there are many thorns to be trampled upon and many crosses to be borne and much to be denyed that is very dear to the flesh and although the land seems to be a good and pleasant Land and infinitely to be desired yet the difficulty of attaining of it the hardships which are to be met with in the way to it and the hopelessness of entering therein seem as so many Hydra's to deter the soul and to stave it off from so much as hoping much less striving after its everlasting happiness and this is the sad condition of all those who consult with flesh and blood and have taken up a liking to and a pleasure in the sading delights and glorys of this world who think that the ways of sin are casie and the paths thereof broad and so take up through the reception of the evil report of the good Land a resolution to return back again like the Dog to the Vomit and the Sow which was washed to the wallowing in the Mire the end of whom is fearful and miserable 25. There are many ways in the World every one says they are in the right now since there can be but one right way how shall he which never knew the true escape the false He that would find the true and escape the false must come to know that which neither can deceive nor be deceived which is the holy Spirit of Truth which as is already said is that which reproves the world of sin and by the same to know the Son the belief in whom is eternal life this Faith if true is that which overcomes the world and through Christ our Lord gives us the Victory and makes us partakers of that new which is the true and living way which Jesus the Author of a better Testament than the Old has consecrated with his blood and he which comes into this Faith comes into the true way which is not in names and terms and distinguishing Titles nor in Sects nor in Opinions or any reproachful Epithite but consists in holyness and the fear of the Lord in standing and abiding in the holy life and councel of God and till people come into this they are all out of the way We desire you not to be Quakers but to come to know and believe in this and to walk as Christ our Lord and Master walked before us and then you need not doubt but to be Christians which is indeed what we are and what we indeed desire all to be 26. Tell me plainly what mean you by Jesus Christ We mean what the Scriptures mean Col. 1.16.22 him that is before all things him by whom the world was created even all things which are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible Eph. 3.19 whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers even him which in the fulness of time was manifest in flesh born of a Virgin Heb. 1.10 who having made peace through the blood of the Cross do's reconcile all things unto God whether things in Earth Act. 2.36 or things in Heaven and in the body of his flesh through death to present us holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight if we continue in the Faith grounded and setled Col. 1.22.23 and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which we have heard 2 Thes 2.16 and was preached to every creature under heaven This is he whom we mean this is he in whom we believe
Cant. 5.16 this is our Beloved and this is our Friend O Daughters of Jerusalem 27. What mean you concerning the Seed and how many Seeds are there The Seed to whom the Promise is made is Christ Gal. 3.16 the Seed of the Woman which should bruise the Serpents head Isa 62.2 But there is an off-spring of God even the workmanship of his hands Deut. 28.2 which that Seed comes to redeem Isa 61.8.9 the lost Souls of poor fallen man which when that Redemption comes to be known is also called by its name that Redeems it for that was the Promise of God Eph. 3.15 and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name even by the name of thy God Isa 65.9.15 which Moses said all the people of the earth shall see and this is that Seed with whom God makes an everlasting Covenant even the Seed which God hath blessed the Seed which God brings forth out of Jacob and out of Judah the Elect chosen people which shall inherit his holy Mountain 28. Is Immediate Inspiratition Revelation ceased or no No Eph. 1.17 It is that which Paul prayed for that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory might give unto the Saints the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation It is the Inspiration of the Almighty which gives us an understanding Job 32.8 who revealeth to us deep and secret things Dan. 2.21 And that Spirit in all Ages saith Solomon entering into holy Souls Wisd 7.27 makes them friends of God and Prophets Isa 29.11 And without this Inspiration the Scriptures and things of God cannot be known or understood 1 Cor. 2.10 11 12. for no man knows the things of God but the Spirit of God and he to whom the Spirit reveals them till when the Scriptures are but a Sealed Book Eph. 1.13 4.30 which neither the Unlearned nor Learned can read till the opening of the Seal which is the Spirit of Truth by which we also are Sealed to the day of Redemption 29. What is it to believe in the name of Christ and what is the effects of that Faith To believe in the name is to live Hab. 2.4 to live the life of Righteousness and Holyness Heb. 10.38 without which none can ever see the Lord now the true Faith is known by the effects thereof Rom. 1.17 for that gives victory over the world 1 John 5.4.5 3.3 and brings forth a lively hope which purifies the heart as God is pure 30. To whom is the Righteousness of Christ imputed Only to them which believe Act. 13.39 who walk not after the flesh Rom. 3.22.25 4.22.23.24 but after the Spirit who bear in their bodies dayly the dyings of the Lord Jesus Heb. 10.29 But he that walks after the Flesh fulfilling the Lusts of the same tramples underfoot the blood of the Covenant as an unworthy thing and makes the death of Christ to himself of none effect 31. What mean you by Sanctification and of Justification and how are they distinguished Sanctification is by the Spirit of God 1 Thes 2.13 and blood of Jesus our Lord and it is a making holy as it is written Rom. 15.16 thou shalt be an holy people to the Lord thy God Heb. 10.29 and he that is Sanctified comes to be justified for they are Concomitants in the work of Regeneration for the unsanctified or wicked man I will not justifie saith God Ex. 19.6 1 Pet. 2.9 Ex. 23.7 and they are chiefly distinguished in name as the cause and effect that Gods faithfulness might appear who will not acquit the guilty person 33. But Wherefore doth Paul say who Justifieth the ungodly The Speech is Tropical by a Metonymia of the subject Rom. 4.5 in which place the word ungodly is put for a Believer as the following words inculcate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Imputatur fidei ejus ad justitiam his Faith is counted to him for Righteousness So that he is called ungodly only in respect to what he once was before he believed and not what he is by Faith 34. Can the Creature be perfectly Sanctified seeing John saith 1 Joh. 1.8 If we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us It is falsely Translated for the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Subjunctive Mood governed by the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 si and the Preterimperfecttense of the same Mood ar appears by the ninth verse where he saith If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and how can that be if at the same time we cannot say we haue no sin the version should be thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Si dixerimus quod peccatum non haberemus nos ipsos seducimus If we say we have had no sin we deceive our selves and it is so rendred by Beza non est nobis peccatum to which Tremelius agrees nos peccatum non habere and I think out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established 35. What think you of Good Works They are the fruits of the Spirit the effects of the true faith and although that man is not saved by Works but by Faith yet he cannot be saved without them Jam. 2.22 for it is as impossible that the true Faith should be where the effects of it are not as that God should deny himself 36. What hold you of Prayer and Thanksgiving They are only to be done by that Soul which comes to dwell in the Life of Jesus 1 Thes 1.1 and 5.17 18. Jam. 1.5 6 7. and to dye dayly to Sin for to such God opens himself and then they see and know what they want and what to ask for and asking in Faith are fully assured that they shall receive the same at the hand of the Lord The Prayers and Praises then are presented to God from the Soul by the Holy Spirit which makes them a Sacrifice of sweet Savour in his Nostrils and then the Creature comes to seee that the Sacrifices of the wicked are not only sin but an abomination to the Lord. Prov. 21.28 And thus receiving an answer from God the Soul returns him a sacrifice of thanksgiving which is acceptable in his sight It is dreadful to appear before God with poluted hands and a wicked heart 37. How are the holy Scriptures to be understood By the Spirit only that gave them forth to which they are a Testimony and stand as a witness against all the wickedness and evil ways of men and all unrighteousness 2 Pet. 1.20 2 Tim. 3.16 and every evil work which is acted against God and the appearance of his holy Spirit 38. Tell me what you think of the death of Christ It was the means by which God was pleased to redeem
Lost man upon him God layed the iniquity of us all and since that sin could not be purged but by blood therefore his blood upon whom the Iniquity was laid 2 Cor. 5.21 1 Pet. 1.19 was only thought meet to be the offering of the attonement who having a feeling of our Infirmities now ever liveth to make intercession for us Heb. 7.25 39. What hold you of the Resurrection If the dead rise not our Faith is vain and we are of all men most miserable But there is a Resurrection both of just and unjust the one to Salvation who shall shine as the Stars in the Firmament 1 Cor. 15.14 Rev 20.12 John 5.29 the other to Condemnation and wrath But if any man ask with what bodies the dead shall arise with the Apostle we answer The body that is sown is not the body that shall be but God giveth it a body according to his own pleasure to every Seed it s own body suppose it be grain as Wheat or the like the grain that is sown is not that which arises but a new body yet it is its own according to the kind it is sown Wheat it is raised Wheat again not Barly Pease or the like so we in the Resurrection shall exist in our own form not that of Beasts Fish or Foul we only change an Earthly Tabernacle for a Heavenly a Carnal for a Spiritual a corruptible for an Incorruptible and a Mortal for an Immortal and so the Body is sown in Corruption and raised in Incorruption it is sown in Dishonor it is raised in Glory it is sown in Weakness it is raised in Power it is sown a Natural body it is raised a Spiritual 1 Cor. 15.53 but if any object that this Mortal must put on Immortality to that we answer it is spoken by a Synechdoche of the part wherein the Immortal part is included and so the Soul being invested with mortality is said to bear that denomination which when the Earthly house of this Tabernacle shall be dissolved shall be invested in a Building of God a house not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 2. for which cause saith the Apostle Paul We sigh desiring to be cloathed with our house which is from Heaven But though it does not yet fully appear what we shall be yet without any farther curiosity we are satisfied that when he shall appear we shall be like him and that we shall see him as he is 1 Joh. 3.2 Who shall chang our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working of his mighty power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Phil. 3.21 and with whom we shall obtain an Inheritance Immortal and Undefiled which fadeth not away reserved in Heaven even for as many as are kept by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation prepared to be shewed in the latter times 1 Pet. 1.4 40. What say you to the last Judgment and the Everlasting Life We say that all must appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ that every man may receive according to the deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil 2 Cor. 5.10 11 15 16. Rev. 20.12 13. and therefore knowing the terrors of the Lord we perswade men in which we are made manifest unto God and to mens Consciences that they henceforth live not unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again that walking in newness of life they may become Heirs of God and Co-heirs with Christ of an Eternal Kingdome in which there is the fulness of Peace and Joy for ever more The words of Dr. Moor in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may serve for a Conclusion to this Book The drift of this whole Book is to stir men up to take into their thoughts these two main points the hearty good will of God to mankind even in the life of this world made of the Commixture of Light and Darkness that he will through his power rescue those Souls that are faithful in this their Tryal and prefer the Light before the Dark that he will I say deliver them from the power of Living Death and Hell by that strong arm of their Salvation Jesus Christ the Living God Enthron'd in the Heart of Man to whom all the Genij of the Vniverse be they never so goodly and glorious shall serve they and all their Curious Devises and Inventions shall be a Spoil and Prey and a Possession to him that is most just and shall govern the Nations in Righteousness and Equity And that besides this Happiness on Earth every Holy Soul hereafter shall enjoy a never fading felicity in the invisible and eternal Heaven the Intellectual world which if it be not true I must needs confess it seems almost indifferent whether any Creature be or no. For what is it to have lived suppose seventy years wherein we have been dead or worse above two third parts of them Sleep Youth Age and Diseases with a number of poor and contemptible Imployments swallow up at least so great a portion that as good if not better is he that never was than he is that hath but such a glance or glimpse of passing life to mock him There are continually on Earth such numbers of men alive that if they lived well it would be an Heaven or Paradise but yet a scant one to every particular man whose days are as nothing So that the work of God seems not considerable in the making of this world if Humane Souls be exstinguished when they go out of it There is nothing considerable in the Creation if the Rational Creature be Mortal What design therefore can there be in God in the making of this World that will prove 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worthy of so excellent a goodness and wisdom but the tryal of the immortal Spirit of Man It seems the deepest reach of his Counsel in the Creation and the life of this world but a prelude to one of longer durance and larger Circumference hereafter And truly it is nothing else but the heavy load of this body that keeps down our minds from the reaching of these so high hopes from a certain sense and feeling of that clear and undisturbed state of Immortality Charity and Humility will certainly make us meet Eternal Mansions for the ever-living Deity But without these Mans Soul after this life becomes but a Den of Devils a Dungeon of dark and restless Phantasms being incorporate into the ever gnawing and corroding Spirit of Hell Now unto the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the Only Wise God our Saviour be Dominion Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen SALMON THE END Courteous Reader BEcause of the great Abuse that J. Ives has Publickly Proclaimed in Defamation of W. Salmon I have Inserted as a Post-script the very Discourse of S. Newton and Tho. Plant that thee mayst see how grossly they have Abused S. Newton on the one side and the unjust Contumelies cast on the Conversation of the Other The Substance of what Discourse happened between Tho. Plant and S. Newton at the Change HE asked me whether we owned William Salmon to be a profest Quaker my answer was I did not know him but if he was a Quaker I did not question but that I should know him but did believe he was no Quaker but I said we took it kindly from him or any other that would appear to plead our Innocent Cause against the Wrongs they did us his answer was we had good reason so to do he also said that they intended to write against him as a Quaker but now they would not And farther I said at parting that he might take for granted that he was no Quaker Samuel Newton THE END