Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is applyed no less to the Principles of the Christian Doctrin of Christ and Oracles of God which therefore by his Argument being Elements are to be thrown aside As for his other Arguments in those two Treatises against the outward Baptism and the Supper they are no other that I can find but such as are above mentioned in my Reply to those of William Penn and Robert Barclay and therefore one Answer will serve both to them and him PART II. SECT I. The Arguments against the outward Supper examined and Refuted THus having finished my Examination and Refutation of the Arguments of the above mentioned Persons against Water-Baptism and the outward Supper in general I think fit to bring to the like Examination what R.B. hath more particularly Argued against the outward Supper as being not any longer to continue but until Christ's inward coming to arise in their Hearts and give a plain Refutation of the same In the beginning of the Chapter or Head wherein he discourseth concerning the Body and Blood of Christ although he saith truly that the Communion i.e. the Participation thereof is inward and Spiritual yet he was under a great mistake to affirm that the said Body and Blood of Christ whereof true Believers do participate is only inward which he afterwards explains to be that Light and Seed in every Man as he expresseth plainly in several places as p. 61 of the above said Treatise and p. 65 where he saith and that Christ understands the same things here viz. John 6. by his Body Flesh and Blood which is understood John 1. by the light hath enlighteneth every man and the life c. And p. 77. he chargeth it to be an Error to make the Communion or Participation of the Body Flesh and Blood of Christ to relate to that outward Body Vessel or Temple that was Born of the Virgin Mary and walked and Suffered in Judea whereas it should relate to the Spiritual Body Flesh and Blood of Christ even that Heavenly and Celestial Light and Life which was the Food and Nourishment of the Regenerate in all Ages as we have said he already proved Ans In this he was in a great Error to make the Eating or Participation of Christs Flesh and Blood to have no relation to Christ's outward Body of Flesh and Blood that was Born of the Virgin and Suffered Death for our Sins on the Tree of the Cross For the Regeneration of Believers and Justification with all the Spiritual Blessings of Life and Light and inward Divine Virtue and Might wherewith they are inwardly Refreshed and Nourished by Christ hath a most near and immediate Relation to Christ's outward Body and Blood and to his coming in that outward Body because that most Holy and Perfect Obedience of Christ which he performed in that Body and became Obedient to the Death of the Cross was and is the procuring and meritorious Cause of all that inward Grace Virtue Light and Life whereby Regeneration was wrought in any in any Age of the World either before or since Christ came in the Flesh as well as it was and is the procuring and meritorious Cause of their Justification and the Remission of their Sins For Christ Died as well for the Sins of those who lived in the Ages before he came in the Flesh as since and they had the same Benefits by his Death and by his Body and Blood that we have the same inward Grace and Light to Regenerate them as the same Mercy and Favour to Justifie them and give them the Remission of their Sins which they received through Faith in Christ as he was to come in the Flesh without them and whole Christ is the Food of true Believers I mean Christ not only considered as the Word simply but as the Word made Flesh And having taken or assumed the Seed of Abraham and the true Nature of Man into such a high Union as that the Godhead of the Word and the Manhood assumed thereby is but one Christ and as such is the Food of all true Believers both as he outwardly came in the Flesh and as he is inwardly come the Light and the Life in them and Believers Eating of Christ is their Believing in him and by their Faith being United to him and he to them so that he dwells in them and they in him And though it may be owned that Believers Feeding upon Christ's Light and Life Metaphorically and Allegorically speaking that Light and Life may be called according to Scripture Meat and Drink and Flesh and Blood of Christ as it hath many other such Metaphorical Names such as Milk Honey Wine Marrow and Fatness Oyl c. All which Names are given because of Men's Weakness and that they have not proper Words to express Divine Things by yet that ought not to make us reject and lay aside Christ's outward Body of Flesh and Blood from having any Relation to the Saints feeding upon him Nor do the Arguments brought by R.B. here prove in the least what he intends as the following Examination of them will sufficiently I hope manifest He begins with a Quotation out of Augustine in his Tractat Psalm 98. The words which I speak unto you are spirit and life understand spiritually what I have spoken ye shall not eat of this body which ye see and drink this blood which they shall spill that shall crucifie me I am the living bread which have descended from heaven he called himself the bread which descended from heaven exhorting that they might believe in him c. Ans It is evident from these last Words that by Eating Augustine meant in one Sense Corporal Eating and in another Sense Believing as elsewhere Tract 25. ad cap. 6. Johan Hoc est opus Dei ut quid paras dentem ventrem crede manducasti Credere enim in eum hocest comedere panem vinum qui credit in eum manducat eum in English thus why preparest thou thy Teeth and Belly believe and thou hast eat for to believe in him is to eat the Bread and Wine who believeth in him eateth him Both these Quotations are good against the Papists who hold that Believers eat the Body of Christ Corporally with their Mouths but say nothing against this Spiritual Way of Eating Christs Body but plainly confirm it The plain Sense therefore of Augustin's Words Quoted by R.B. is this Ye shall not eat Corporally with the outward Mouth the Body of Christ which ye see but ye shall eat it Spiritually that is believe with a sincere Faith which the Spirit of God worketh in you that Christ shall give his Body that ye see speaking then to the Jews to be broken for you and his Blood even the Blood of that Body to be shed for you And in so Believing ye shall eat my Body and drink my Blood that is ye shall be united to me and I to you that I shall abide in you and
Protestants in tying this Participation of the Body and Blood of Christ to that Ceremony used by him with his Disciples in the breaking of Bread c. As if it had only a Relation thereto or were only enjoyed in the use of that Ceremony which it neither hath nor is Ans For any to tye the Participation of Christs Body and Blood to the outward Eating in the Supper as above mentioned is indeed a great Error But it was a great Mistake in him and too rashly charged in general by him upon both Papists and Protestants their being guilty of that Error For it can be shewn that some of the Popish Writers have affirmed the contrary and delivered it as the common Faith of their Church that true Believers partake of Christ's Flesh and Blood although they Dye before they receive the outward Supper for which Lombard Lib. 4. Dist 9. citeth Augustine saying Lib. de med paen Nulli ambigendum est c. No man ought to doubt that any Man is then a partaker of the Body and Blood of the Lord when he is made a Member of Christ nor is he Alienated from the Communion of that Bread and Cup although before he Eat that Bread and Drink the Cup being Constituted in the Unity of the Body of Christ he depart out of this World for he is not deprived of the benefit of that Sacrament when he is found to have that which that Sacrament signifieth And as for the generality of Protestants I know not nor ever knew any that so tyed the Participation of Christs Body to the outward Supper as he mentioneth They say indeed it is a Means of Grace and of our Communion of the Lord's Body but not the only means or so absolutely necessary as without it none have that Communion Another great Mistake I find in R.B. p. 81. of that Treatise where he saith as for the Paschal Lamb the whole end of it is signified particularly Exod. 13.8.9 to wit that the Jews might thereby be kept in remembrance of their Deliverance out of Egypt Ans That is indeed mentioned as an end of it but not the whole end of it for the end of the whole Law was Christ whereof that Command of the Passover was a part but that the Passover was a Type of Christ particularly as he was to be Slain for their Sins is plain out of Paul's Words 1. Cor. 5.7 Let us keep the feast c. for our passover is slain for us Now as the Jews were to Eat the Flesh of the Passover so the Believers in Christ are to Eat his Flesh even that Flesh that was Slain to wit by Faith as is above declared but not by any Corporal Eating and why did John the Evangelist apply these Words of the Passover to Christ's Body a bone of him shall not be broken This plainly proveth that the Passover was a Type of Christ and therefore one great end of it was to hold him forth to their Faith In p. 87. R.B. saith let it be observed that the very express and particular use of it according to the Apostle is to shew forth the Lord's Death c. But to shew forth the Lord's Death and partake of the Flesh and Blood of Christ are different things from whence he infers as his following Words shew that this Practice of the outward Supper hath no inward or immediate Relation to Believers Communicating or Partaking of the Spiritual Body and Blood of Christ or that Spiritual Supper spoken of Rev. 3.20 Ans This Consequence doth not follow that Practice of the outward Supper had not only that end to Commemorate and shew forth the Lord's Death but had other great ends also as another was to signifie their Communion of Christ's Body as not a bare Sign but as a means of that Communion though not the only means or such a means as if the said Communion were tyed thereto another end was to signifie their Union and Communion one with another both which ends are plainly held forth in these Words The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Lord's Body c. and we being many are one bread and all are made partakers of that one bread And though R.B. denyeth that by Bread in those Words the bread which we break is it not the communion of the Lord's body is to be understood the outward Bread yet I have above proved it to be the outward Bread that was used in the Supper for to understand it of the Lord's Body were to make it Non-sense as to say the Body of Christ is it not the Communion of his Body Whereas the true Sense is Obvious taking it for the outward Bread The Bread which we break is it not a Sign of the Communion of the Lord's Body c. And such a Sign that is a means whereby our Communion of the Lord's Body and of the Spiritual Blessings we have thereby is confirmed to us and an increase of Grace is Exhibited unto us as it is duly Administred and Received SECT V. PAge 83. He puts a very false and strained Sense upon these Words ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of Devils ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of Devils 1 Cor. 10.21 which shews saith he that he understands not here the using of Bread and Wine because those that do Drink the Cup of Devils and Eat of the Table of Devils yea the Wickedest of Men may partake of the outward Bread and the outward Wine Ans By the Lord's Table is not meant barely and simply the Signs of Bread and Wine but as they do signifie and are Means Exhibitive of the Spiritual Blessings understood thereby The Wickedest of Men may indeed receive the Bread and Wine but they are not to them any Significative or Exhibitive Signs and Means of these Spiritual Blessings which are the things signified and intended and are the Kirnel without which the bare outward Signs are mere Shells and broken Cisterns Again Let us distinguish betwixt what is de jure i.e. of Right and what is de facto i.e. in Fact Wicked Persons though in Fact they may receive the outward Part yet they have no Right to it The manner of Speech used here by Paul is like that of James doth the same fountain send forth sweet water and bitter How then can the same tongue bless God and curse men My brethren these things ought not to be And when as Paul said elsewhere no man can say Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost he may outwardly say the Words but he hath no Right to say them nor can his saying them profit him without the Holy Spirit But that by the Table of the Lord and the Cup of the Lord here are to be meant the outward things of Bread and Wine as above described is evident from the Antithesis or Opposition he makes betwixt the Table of Devils and the Table of the Lord and
Christ's Death as he Dyed outwardly may be forgotten But if by the Lord's Death is understood his outward Death by as good reason by his coming is understood his outward coming SECT VII HAving thus shewn the Invalidity of his Proofs that by the Lord 's coming is understood his inward coming into their Hearts and not his outward coming I shall give some clear Reasons why it must be understood his outward coming at the general Judgment The first Reason is because the Reason of the Command continuing to his last outward coming the Command doth also continue for so long doth any Command continue in Force as the Reason of it continueth but the Reason of the Command Do this in remembrance of me c. doth continue to Christ's last outward coming which Reason is this that by that Practice they might remember the Lord's Death and not only remember it but shew it forth Publickly Declare and Profess it and the inestimable Benefits they have by it Now put the case that any had so good and living Remembrance of it that they needed not the outward things to put them in remembrance thereof yet that is not enough to Answer the Reason and End of the Command which is by this outward Practice to shew it forth and declare it by a publick Profession that they owe Remission of Sin and Salvation to the Crucified Jesus and that they are not ashamed to own and confess him their Saviour their King their Priest and Prophet and in Token thereof they give Testimony of their Obedience to these his peculiar positive Laws and Institutions of Water-Baptism and the Supper for if these be rejected by the same Method Men may reject all other his positive Institutions relating to External Practice of Religion and so turn the Christian Religion into meer Deism and Pagan Morality The second Reason is that the end of this Institution being a solemn Commemoration of Christ's Death and Sacrifice which he offered up to God for our Sins above sixteen hundred Years ago and of the great Spiritual Blessings we have thereby there is the same Cause and End for it to continue to our Day and to the end of the World as when it was first appointed Had it been indeed only a Prenuniciative Sign of some things to come or of the hidden invisible Substance as W. Penn terms it meaning thereby the Spirit of Christ within at the coming of the Spirit within into their Hearts the Sign might have ceased as the Prenunciative Signs of Christ's outward coming in the Flesh were to cease after his outward coming and accordingly did cease But the Signs of Water-Baptism and the Supper as commanded by Christ and Practised by the Apostles were not such Prenunciative Signs of the coming of his Spirit within them but were chiefly Commemorative Signs of him as he had come for both of them were appointed by him when he was come and the Institution of Baptism was appointed by him after his Death and Resurrection the Institution of the Supper so near to his Death that it was in the very Night when he was Betrayed and at which time he had the great Sense and Weight of his Sufferings upon him and as then in great part begun and because the use of those Signs of Bread and Wine the Bread being broken and the Wine poured out was a Solemn Commemoration of his having given his Body to be broken for them and his Blood to be shed for them therefore he said Take Eat this is my Body that is broken for you he did not say this is my Spirit or this is the inward visible hid Substance that ye shall afterwards receive but this is my Body Take Eat and though they were not to eat his Body with the Carnal Mouth but only the Bread which signified it yet by Faith they were to eat his Body that is to say they were to partake of a Mystical Union with his Body and to have their Right and Interest in him confirmed to them by that Symbol by means whereof they were to receive plentifully of his Grace and Spirit as the Consequent and Effect of that Union with him Therefore they were not so to mind the Effect as to neglect the great Cause of that Effect which great cause was his giving his Body to be broken for them and his Blood to be shed for to mind only the Effect and neglect the Cause were like the Hogs that greedily run after the Acorns or Nuts but are unmindful of the Tree that beareth them But as the Spiritual Eyes of Believers are to be to the Graces and Gifts of Christ so especially and chiefly to him from and by whom they have them and their Faith and Love ought chiefly to act upon him and upon God the Father in and through him as also upon the Holy Spirit as principally residing in him from and by whom we derive our several Measures of the same The Third Reason is this when Christ gave the Cup he said this Cup is the new Testament in my Blood shed for the remission of the sins of many Now how is that Cup the New Testament surely no other ways but as an Obsignatory Sign of the New Testament obsignating to Believers remission of Sins by his Blood outwardly shed which New Testament hath in it the Force and Essence of the Covenant of Grace which God â—â—keth with Believers through Christ the Mediator of it and as Christ hath confirmed this Covenant of Grace and Testament with his Blood that was Shed once for us so he hath given to Believers this obsignating Pledge of it by way of Investiture as when a Man has an Estate of Land conveyed to him and gets the Investiture of it it is by some outward Sign as here in England in some Places by delivering to him Twig and Turf and as Kings were Invested with their Kingly Power by having Oyl poured on them and as Aaron was Invested into the Office of Priesthood And indeed all Covenants that ever God made with any People have always been by some outward obsignatory things as in his Covenant he made with Noah he gave the Bow in the Cloud for the Token of that Covenant in the Covenant with Abraham he gave the Sign of Circumcision which by a Metonymy is called God's Covenant in Scripture Also the Sacrifices under the Law were Signs of obsignatory of God's Covenant with them who offered those Sacrifices And in all the Covenants that we read of in Scripture that any of the Fathers made with the Neighbouring Princes or Inhabitants there were obsignatory Signs and Pledges so that who rightly understand the Nature of a Covenant Transacted after any publick manner must acknowledge it cannot be without some obsignatory Pledge or Sign outwardly to be seen given by the one Party to the other insomuch that it seems to be a general Instinct in Mankind or at least the Equivalent of it an universal Custom received and practised even among
this is as Similes seldom go on all four so neither must Parables be pursued too far I Answer Though every Circumstance of a Parable is not to be pursued yet every necessary part of it is whoever Expounds the Parable is bound to Expound what the nine Pieces are as well as what the tenth was But he thinks to pinch me with great Difficulties in my Exposition As first He demands whether there be no difficulty to find who the Woman is that had ten Souls kept nine and lost one Ans There is no difficulty in this more than in finding who the ninety nine Sheep were that were not lost and who the Elder Brother was in the other two Parables And who they were I had formerly shewn but that his Prejudice blinds him that he will not see Many Angelical Created Rational Spirits did not Sin so were not lost but the Souls of Men did Sin so were lost And the number nine in the one Parable and ninety nine in the other answer one to another the Definite Numbers being put for Indefinite as is ordinary in Scripture But he thinks it a mighty difficulty according to my Exposition to tell what the House was which in effect has no difficulty at all the House where the Soul is as Buried under a great heap of Filth and Sin is the Body wherein the Soul is Lodged and the Animal and Natural Faculties with which also the Soul is Defiled so the House to wit the Body and Animal and Natural Faculties being Swept and Cleansed by him who hath his Fan in his Hand purely to Purge his Floor to wit Christ signified here by the Woman he finds the lost Soul for as he said himself he came to seek and to save i. e. that which was lost For Christ had not lost Christ nor God had not lost God but they had in a Sense lost the Souls that had Sinned as the Souls had lost God and Christ Page 45.46 In Opposition to me he will needs have all these Places 1 Cor. 2.2 Rom. 66. Gal. 2.20 Heb. 6.6 To be understood of Christ's being Crucified in Men else why doth he oppose me with his Queries and at this rate we shall not find any place in the New Testament where Paul Preached Christ Crucified without Men but only within for by the same Liberty he may Expound all other Places only of Christ Crucified within But there is no reason why any of these places should be understood of Christ's Crucifixion in Men the Crucifying the Old Man is so far from being joyned with the inward Crucifying of Christ that it is rather a Sign and Effect of Christ's Power Triumphing Victoriously in Man than of his being Crucified in Man The Crucifying Christ afresh is not so much the Crucifying him within Men as its Men Acting so Unworthily as if they did Act over again the Jews Part in Crucifying him outwardly Page 47. His base Reviling me for my Retracting some things in my Book of Universal Grace used by way of Argument unduly by me ing Thus in him is verified the saying of the Apostle James 1.8 A double minded Man is unstable in all his ways By this means he will allow no Man to Amend or Correct his Faults or Retract his Errors however truly convinced of them if he does he is Condemned by J. Pennington and not by the Apostle James to be a dâ—uble minded Man But what if perhaps G. Whitehead or W. Penn should find cause to Retract or Correct some Passages in their Books which formerly they thought Divine Openings must they also be judged double Minded Men c. Is it not more an Evidence of Sincerity to Retract an Error than to persist in it Have not many good Men done it Yea have not the Quakers commended some for Retracting and Condemning some things which formerly they reckoned to be Divine Openings Must all that Retract from their Errors be Reputed double Minded Men Oh unfair Adversary full of deep Prejudice and Spite I pray God give him Repentance and Forgiveness Page 50. He is so Ignorant and Blind as not to understand my distinction betwixt Essentials of true Religion Indefinitely and Essentials of the true Christian Religion in Specie Cornelius's Religion being Gentile Religion was true in its kind before he had the Faith of Christ Crucified but I say the Faith of Christ Crucified in some degree is Essential to the Christian Religion and otherwise to Assert its plain Deisme yet that Faith may be where the knowledge of the Circumstances of Times Places and Persons may be wanting Page 52. He blames my saying upon Supposition that any suchh thing can be found in my Books I Retract and Renounce it viz. That any are saved without all Knowledge and Faith of Christ Explicit or Implicit this he saith is Childish all over And for a Proof he Querieth Can a Man Retract and Renounce a Passage upon Supposition and not know what the Passage is But his Query is Impertinent and hits not the Case a Man may Retract a Saying upon Supposition that he had said it yet not knowing that ever he said it as if he were accused that he had said B. is a Dishonest Man and replyeth I know not that ever I so said but on Supposition that I so said I Retract it This is not Childish but Manly and Christian if he had no cause to say B. is a Dishonest Man It seems J. Pennington never Repented of his Sins of Ignorance he thinks that 's Childish all over I pity his Childishness Page 54. His blaming me for saying in my Retractations The breaking of the Union betwixt Soul and Body is more properly a Death than the breaking the Union betwixt the Life and Spirit of Christ and the Soul of Man is the Death of Christ in the Soul For of that I was Trâ—aâ—ing and at this rate of his blaming me when Christ Dyed upon the Cross that was not so proper a Death as when he is Crucified in Men by their Sins and consequently his Death in Men is the only proper Sacrifice for that Mans Sins His Death without being not so proper a Death is not a proper Sacrifice by his most Ignorant way of Reasoning But my Reason for my Assertion holds good and which he has not touched for when a Man Dyeth his Soul leaveth the Body and ceaseth to Act in it nor is the Body any more sensible but Christ Acteth in a Dead Soul and the Soul though Dead is oft made in some degree sensible of the Spirit of Christ Acting in it in order to its being further quickned as frequently comes to pass in Thousands and Millions of Souls Besides as I Argued the Union of Soul and Body is a Personal Union whereby what the Body doth is chargable upon the Soul but the Union betwixt the Spirit of Christ and Men is not a Personal Union otherwise when those Men Sin their Sin would be chargeable upon Christ Page 61. He
he is very short and defective in his Expression they were both appointed and used in the beginning I mean from the time of Christ's Resurrection and Ascension to be Figures and Signs of Christ's outward Body that was broken for us on the Cross and his Blood that was outwardly shed In the first place and consequently of the inward Graces of the Spirit and Benefits coming to Believers by his outward Body and Blood and by the Man Christ wholly considered both in Soul and Body and whereas he saith 2. They were no longer to endure than till the Substance was come All this sheweth W. Penn's great Misunderstanding of the Nature of these Institutions both of Baptisme and the Supper as if they only signified some inward hidden Virtue which he calls a more hidden and spiritual Substance that was to come and so were only as he calls them in his Defence of his Key called a Reply to a pretended Answer c. Prenuniative and forerunning Signs but were not commemorative Signs as well of things past as of things present for this is utterly false that Water in that Baptisme which the Apostles used after Christ's Resurrection and Ascension was prenunciative and not commemorative for on the contrary it was not simply prenunciative but commemorative as commemorating and signifying the Blood of Christ that had been shed outwardly for the Remission of our Sins and the same commemoration and signification had the Wine in the practise of the Lord's Supper and the Bread that was broken in the Supper signified after Christ's Death and Resurrection his Body that was outwardly broken on the Cross and that outward practise was Instituted by Christ for a Memorial of his Death and Sufferings which all true Believers in Christ ought to have fresh and lively in their Minds to which the outward practise both of Baptisme and the Supper is of great use and the more frequent the practise of the Supper is being duly used as with Faith Reverence and Devotion the more profitable it is Therefore said Christ as oft as ye eat this bread c. As if one did say as oft as ye Pray with true Faith and Fervency it turns the more to your Spiritual Advantage And though the Spirit of Christ in true Believers is the great and principal rememberer unto them yet he oft doth remember them in the use of that outward Practise using it as a means and blessing it unto them even as the Spirit useth the frequent outward Institutions and Exhortations that Ministers give to Believers as a means and blesseth that outward means unto them also the more to quicken and enlighten them and as Peter said to stir up the pure mind in them by way of remembrance which was the end of his Epistles and also of Paul's Epistles unto the Churches and therefore it is but weakly and falsly argued by many of the People called Quakers and their Teachers the Spirit in them is their remembrancer and they have the more hidden and invisible substance in them and therefore there is no use of these outward Signs to them for this Argument has the same force against all outward Teaching and External Acts of Worship And indeed as I have oft observed and considered the chiefest Arguments used by these Men against these outward Practises of the outward Baptisme and the Supper may be as much brought against all outward Teaching and External Acts of Worship and against all use of Books yea of the Holy Scriptures themselves and the like may be said of these Arguments that are commonly in the Mouths of the People called Quakers that Bread and Wine and Water are carnal things and visible which may be touched tasted handled whereas the Scripture saith touch not tast not handle not which are all to perish with the using and the kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost Again we look not at things seen for they are temporal but at the things unseen which are eternal and Col. 3. If ye be risen with Christ seek the things which are above and set your affection on things above not on things on the earth but Water Bread and Wine are things on earth and let no man judge you in meats and drinks Col. 2.17 which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ All these and the like Scriptures I say may with as great show of reason be brought against all good Books and outward Teachings Instructions Exhortations yea against the Books of the Holy Scriptures which G. Fox hath called the Carnal and Earthly Letter that he touched and handled as much as Water Bread and Wine and is visible and consequently by their Argument is not to be look'd into nor is the Scripture nor the best of words uttered in Speech or Written the Kingdom of God or the hidden invisible Substance as neither Water Bread and Wine yet all these have their use when duly used on a Spiritual Account for as words signifie and hold forth Christ and the inward and spiritual Benefits that Believers have by him to the outward hearing so do these other hold forth Christ and his spiritual Blessings to their Sight Tast and Feeling for which reason antient Writers did call the outward Baptisme and Supper verbum visible i.e. the visible word God having so appointed it in his Wisdome that the Knowledge of Divine and Spiritual things after a sort should be given to us by outward Signs and Symbols that affect our Senses and by our Senses as by so many Doors and Windows should be let into our Souls by means whereof through the inward Operation of the Holy Spirit the inward and Spiritual Faculties of our Souls and Minds are awakened and enabled to apprehend the Spiritual things themselves whose Symbols and Emblems these outward Elementary things are And none of these Scriptures above mentioned have any relation to the outward Baptisme and Supper which were the Institutions of Christ but to such outward things the observations of which were after the Commandments and Doctrines of Men as not only the Jewish Rites but Gentile Customs and Traditions also were touching Meats and Drinks and other things which the Apostle calls Col. 2.20.21 22. the Rudiments of the World which as they are of a perishing nature so the use and service of them but so is not the use and service of the outward Baptisme and Supper which is a holy Commemoration of our Lord's Death and Sufferings and of the great benefits we have thereby tending to excite our ardent Love and Affections to him and to raise them up to ascend to him in Heaven therefore though true Believers at Christ's command use the outward things yet neither their Minds nor Affections are set on them but on him and the heavenly Blessings they have by him which holy Commemoration we should not let dye or perish in us but keep alive for our spiritual Benefit and Advantage
and as concerning Colos 2.17 The things there mentioned are called shadows of things to come such as the Types of the Mosaical Law were but Water-Baptisme and the Supper which the Christians were enjoyned to practice were simply not shadows of things to come but are commemorative Signs of Christ as he hath already come in the Body that was prepared for him and of his Body and Blood which he hath given for us together with the spiritual blessings of Grace Life and Light that we have by him to make us comformable to him in holiness as well as to give us the pardon of our Sins and to justifie us and give us a right to eternal Life But it bewrayeth still great in consideration in W. Penn to argue against the outward Baptisme and Supper as he doth in his Defence of his Key above-mentioned p. 154. They that personally saith he enjoy their dearest Friends will not repair to their Pictures though drawn never so much to the life to quicken their remembrance of them His similitude of a Picture to which he compareth the outward Baptisme and Supper is a good Argument against him the Saints on Earth have not the Man Christ personally present with them they have not his Body that suffered Death for them and rose again a present object to their outward sight therefore did he in his great love appoint these outward Signs to be a Memorial of him until they should have himself Personally present with them as they will certainly have in the time appointed and to as little purpose is his arguing in that same page That the true Believers were come to Mount Zion Heb. 12.22 and sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus which must be an attainment above signs of invisible grace being the life and substance of Religion and so the Period and Consummation of Types Shadows and such sort of Signs or Significations as are in question Answer It is a great Misrepresentation of the State of the Question in W. Penn so to place it as well as a weak Argument as because true Believers are come to Spiritual Attainments above Signs of invisible Grace that therefore there is no use of Signs in Religious Matters Why then doth he speak and writ so much in Religious Matters for all his Words and Writings are but Signs and he thinketh that his Brethren are come to higher Attainments than these Signs yea why doth he kneel in Prayer and discover his Head when he Prayeth what are these but Signs And why so much strife and contention about G. Fox's Papers of Church Orders and Womens Dresses Are not his Brethren come to higher Attainments than these outward things But it is an observation of many that after G. Fox had taught his Followers to throw down the outward Institutions of Christ he set up among them his own and so did persuade them to exalt them that whoever did not comply therewith were to be judged by his zealous Admirers to be Apostates thus Pharisee like setting up Humane Traditions above Divine Precepts and in so doing W. Penn has had no small share who hath as eagerly promoted G. Fox's Institutions about outward things as he hath laboured to throw down the Institutions of Christ SECT VII TO avoid the Argument for Water-Baptism it being an Institution of Christ from Matt. 28.19 Go teach all Nations Baptizing them into the name c. he saith but no water is mentioned page 106. Reason against Railing and therefore he concludes in the next p. that Christ commanded the Apostles to Baptize with the Holy Ghost and the like evasions is made by R.B. in the abovesaid Treatise p. 26. where he putteth them who understand it of Water-Baptisme to prove that Water is here meant since the Text is silent of it Ans As Water is not mentioned so nor is Baptizing with the Holy Ghost mentioned and at this rate of arguing used by them nor must Baptizing with the Holy Ghost be understood which yet they so inconsiderately affirm must be meant here But R.B. thinks to prove that Baptisme with the Holy Ghost is here meant arguing from the literal signification of the Text which we ought not to go from except some urgent necessity force us thereunto but no such urgent necessity forceth us thereunto Ans The literal signification of the Text is not Baptizing with the Holy Ghost but on the contrary the word Baptizing literally signifieth to Wash with Water or Dip into Water Yea R.B. grants p. 49. If the etymology of the word should be tenaciously adhered to it would militate as well against most of their Adversaries as the Quakers When it is transferred from the literal signification to a Metaphorical as to signifie the Inward and Spiritual Baptisme with the Holy Spirit it is never when so transferred applied to Men as having any command so to Baptize but wholly and only to God and Christ I challenge any Man to give but one instance in all the Scripture where Baptizing with the Spirit is ever referred to Men either by way of Precept or Practise as if ever any Man but the Man Christ did Baptize with the Holy Spirit or were commanded so to do the quibble from the Greek Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is answered and refuted above as also his arguing from the word one Baptisme and whereas he saith the Name of the Lord is often taken in Scripture for some thing else than a bare sound of words or literal expression even for his Virtue and Power I answer and so is it oft taken otherwise as the Name of God in Scripture signifieth himself so the Name of Christ signifieth Christ and that both considered as he is God and Man and yet one Christ and that to be Baptized into the Name of the Lord Jesus did not signifie the Baptisme of the Holy Ghost I have proved already out of Acts 8.16 Besides the Name of the Father is not the Holy Ghost as neither is the Name of the Son for as the Father is neither the Son nor the Holy Ghost so nor is the Name of the Father nor the Name of the Son the Name of the Holy Ghost as they are distinguished by their relative properties so by these Names though the Name God belongeth to each of them and who are one only God blessed for ever But that he further contends that the Baptisme commanded here in Matth. 28.19 is Christ's own Baptisme I answer Christ's own Baptisme whereof John makes mention and of which he is the author and giver is indeed the Baptism with the Holy Ghost which he promised unto the Apostles to give them and accordingly did perform but we no where find that ever he promised to give them Power to give it to others or commanded them to give it that is wholly an unscriptural Phrase and scandalous if not Blasphemous to say that poor mortal Men hoever so Holy could give the Baptisme of the Spirit this is to give to them what
that Christ had appointed his Disciples to use towards the Sick when he gave them power of healing them miraculously Mark 6.13 The abstaining from Blood and things strangled was certainly a part if not of the Ceremonial Law yet of the positive and Judicial Laws given by the Jews which the Apostles thought fit to enjoyn to the believing Gentiles at that time to prevent the giving of Scandal to the believing Jews who would have taken offence at the Gentiles for so doing And that the practice of abstaining from eating Blood continued among the Christians until Tertullian's time is clearly evident out of his Apology for the Christians where answering that abominable Charge against the Christians that they did eat the Blood of Infants shewed that they were so far from that that they did abstain from the Blood of Beasts Now this abstaining from the Blood of Beasts and things strangled belonging to the positive Judicial Laws given to the Jews the Apostles might and no doubt did see cause to enjoyn that Abstinence to the believing Gentiles for a time to prevent the Scandal of their Brethren who believed of the Jews But notwithstanding the Apostle Paul doth plainly teach that whatever was sold in the Shambles might be eaten and that nothing was now unclean provided it be not unwholsome and prejudicial to Health as some things are for said he every Creature of God is good being Sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer and to be received with Thanksgiving And lastly as to that of having Community of Goods it was only practised at Jerusalem and was a voluntary Act not enjoyned to them or any others and therefore doth not oblige Christians to practise it nor do the Quakers practise it more than any others But when it was practised it was not any symbolical Act or commemorative Sign of Christ's Death and Sufferings and of the spiritual Blessings that Believers have thereby such as Baptism and the Supper was and therefore to argue from the ceasing of that or any other of the above-mentioned things their ceasing is altogether impertinently and groundlesly argued Before I close this Head of Baptism I think fit to take some notice of this Title given by the Son to his Fathers Treating against the outward Baptism and the Supper Baptism and the Lord's Supper substantially asserted A Man might as well having writ a Book against all outward Teaching and Ministry and against all vocal Prayers and all external Acts of Worship and against all outward Meetings of the Bodies of Believers give it this Title True Teaching and Ministry true Prayer and Worship true assembling together substantially asserted and all this by throwing aside all outward Teachings of Men however so well divinely Gifted and Qualified and all outward Ministry and all external Acts of Worship and outward Assemblies of Persons and telling us the true substantial Teaching and Ministry is only inward the true substantial Worship is inward and the true substantial Assemblies and Congregations of Believers is only inward in the Heart and Spirit which manner of dealing as it would not a little tend to the decay if not rather the total destruction of the inward and substantial parts of all these things so it is against the Practice of the People called Quakers who are as much for outward Teaching and an outward Ministry after their own way and external Acts of Worship in outward Meetings and Assemblies and other outward Forms of Church Discipline and Government set up by their Leaders and especially by G. Fox as any other People divers of which outward Forms set up by them and greatly contended for against others of their Brethren who said they saw no need of them but thought the inward Principle abundantly sufficient without these outward things have less ground from Scripture than the practice of Water-Baptism and the outward Supper have And if only the substance of things must be regarded and all useful and convenient adjuncts and accidents of them rejected and thrown off then all the Quakers at this odd way of arguing may throw away their Cloathing and go naked pretending they are no substantial Parts of them but only accidental and by the like Reasoning they may throw away their Estates and worldly Goods as being no substantial Parts of them as they are Men or rational Creatures But what hurt Religion would suffer by throwing off and laying aside all outward Teaching and all outward Acts of Worship all sober and intelligent Persons that have the least true sense of Religion do know And though the true Christian Religion may consist without these External Things of Water-Baptism and the Supper as in respect of its Essentials and Men and Women may be true Christians without them and they may be more tollerably wanted at certain occasions than outward Teaching and other External Parts of Religion as where they cannot be practised without great mixtures of Superstition and Idolatry as in Popish Countries or other Places where they cannot be duly had and practised according to their due Institution or where fit and due Administrators are wanting to Administer them yet all this is no Argument against their being divine Institutions and really serviceable to all who can have the due and right use of them they being proper and useful means to preserve the Christian Doctrin Faith and Religion in the World as duly practised as useful Appendices and Concomitants to the outward Ministry and Preaching of the Word and it is not to be questioned had the right and due practice of them been continued among Professors of Christianity and a due regard had been preserved among them chiefly and primarily to the things signified by them and secondarily to the outward Signs so that all possible care had been used that Power and Form had gone along together and all scandalous and unworthy Persons plainly known to be such as well as ignorant Persons not duly instructed in the Essentials of Christian Religion had been excluded and debarred from the use of them that the continuance of them in the manner as above described would have been of singular use to have preserved the Christian Doctrin Faith and Religion sound and free from the great Corruptions that have crept in to the great Corrupting and Adulterating both the Doctrin and Worship as it hath been for many Ages past among Professors of Christianity as it hath been already proved and yet may be further proved against them SECT XI AND it is morally impossible that any People practising these things duly having their true and proper Signification truly and faithfully taught them and inculcated into them on all occasions when they are used as well as at other convenient Seasons ever could or can lose the Doctrin and Faith of Christ Crucified or that that Doctrin and Faith can ever be made as an indifferent thing among them as it is made by many of the People called Quakers yea not only so but by some of their chief
is betwixt the Husband and the Wife who are said to be one Flesh This is a great Mystery said Paul but I speak concerning Christ and the Church who according to Paul's Doctrine as they are one Spirit so they are one Flesh And as elsewhere he said we are of his Flesh and of his Bone and forasmuch as the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood he took part of the same wherefore he is not ashamed to call them Brethren Now in this R.B. was in a great Error that by his thus excluding the Flesh of Christ's outward Body from being any means of the Saints Communion with God he excludes the said Body of Christ from being any necessary part of the Mediator and at this rate of his Arguing only the Divine Light or Seed in Men is the Mediator betwixt God and Men but according to the Doctrine of the Apostle Paul the Mediator of God and Men who is one is the Man Christ Jesus and by the Man Christ Jesus is understood in Scripture not the Spirit only nor the Soul of his Manhood only but the Body also together with the Soul even Jesus Christ made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh And as really as there is a Relative Union betwixt Brethren and near Kindred with respect to their Flesh and Blood on which account it is said Concerning Joseph Gen. 37.27 He is our Brother and our Flesh and 2 Sam. 5.1 The Tribes of Israel said unto David behold we are thy Bone and thy Flesh So believing Gentiles as well as believing Jews may say concerning the Man Christ who is the Seed of the Woman of whom to wit Eve we are all descended we are his Bone and Flesh and because he hath taken Flesh and Blood like unto us therefore in that very respect he is compleatly qualified and fitted to be our Mediator and High Priest with God by whom because of the true Nature of Man consisting of a true reasonable Soul and true and real Body of Man which the Eternal Word is united unto we have Communion with God His fourth and last Argument hath the like Defect with the former That which Feedeth upon it shall never Dye but the Bodies of all Men once Dye Ans Men are said in Scripture to Dye though the Soul Dyeth not yet Men are said to Dye because the Vital Union of the Soul with the Body is Dissolved which being but for a Time and that a very small Time as a Moment in respect of Eternity and after that their Bodies shall be raised up again and Vitally be United to their Souls therefore by the contrary Argument by the Flesh of Christ that the Saints Feed upon must be meant in part his outward Body of Flesh now Glorified which is a Glorious Spiritual Body because the Resurrection of Christ's Body is the Ground of the Saints Hope wrought in them by the Spirit of Christ that their Bodies shall be raised up and shall together with their Souls inherit Eternal Life And to conclude this whole Matter when Christ said it is the Spirit that Quickneth the Flesh profits nothing His meaning is that according to their Carnal and Fleshly Sense it doth not profit as if he had said it would profit you nothing to Eat my Flesh as ye imagin by the Bodily Mouth but to Eat it Spiritually and by Faith this doth profit but to take the Words the Flesh profits nothing in the Sense that some take them is most Blasphemous as to say Christ's outward Body of Flesh profits nothing to our Salvation for this would make his Coming and Death for us in the Flesh to have been in vain and also would render our Faith Vain that he did so come yea so necessary was Christ's coming in the Flesh for our Salvation that it is by his Flesh and Soul Constituting his Manhood that we have his Spirit the Man Christ is that Olive Tree consisting of Soul and Body United Personally to the Godhead of the Eternal Word which giveth us the Oyl of the Holy Spirit and poureth it into our Hearts and as in the Natural Olive Tree it is by its Body that we have of its Oyl or Spirit and when we Eat of its Oyl we are said to Eat of the Tree because the Tree yields us its Oyl even as when we Eat of an Apple or Drink the Fruit of it or of the Vine we may be said to Eat of the Apple-Tree and Vine-Tree the Fruit being what the Tree naturally yields so the Man Christ consisting of Soul and Body is that Precious Olive Tree and Vine-Tree that yields us the Oyl and Wine of the Holy Spirit and pours it into our Hearts who Believe in him and Love him and as Effectual as his Soul and Flesh of his Manhood is now to Believers for their receiving the Spirit by the same since he came in the Flesh no less Effectual it was to Believers before he came in the Flesh even from the beginning of the World according to B. Jewel's Words he was not come in the Flesh yet they Eat his Flesh to wit by Faith he had not Shed his Blood yet they Drank his Blood viz. by Faith and both his Flesh and his Blood before it had any visible Being or Existence together with his Soul was Effectual to Believers in all Ages for their Reception of the Spirit and all Spiritual Blessings of Justification and Sanctification c. as well before he came in the Flesh as since And thus he was the Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the World whose Death was of the same Efficacy from the beginning and will be to the end of the World to all that believe in him And as God is the giver of the Spirit and of all the Graces of the Spirit so he giveth it to Believers by and through Christ even the Man Christ who is both the Procurer and Dispenser of all that Grace that God giveth unto them and though Men most properly Eat the Meat and Drink the Drink that is bought with Money yet in ordinary Speech by a common Metonymy they are said to Eat and Drink the Money that buyeth it as the Poor Widows two Mites were called her Living so after some sort though the inward Life and Spirit of Christ be the most immediate Food of the Souls of Believers Yet because the Flesh of Christ as it was broken for us and his Blood as it was Shed for us is the Price and Purchase Money which hath procured to us the inward Life and Spirit of Christ with the various Graces and Gifts thereof therefore we are said to Eat his Flesh and Drink his Blood by the Like Metonymy But there is much more in this Great Mystery than can be demonstrated by these Similitudes and Examples or any others of the like Nature SECT IV. P. 77. R.B. chargeth it as another Error which he calleth a General Error wherein he saith they all agree viz. both Papists and