translated from death to life before ever the Scriptures were written which thou sayest is the rule to walk by though the Scriptures do not say any such thing but another that the Sons of God were both ruled and led by the Spirit of God and though we do say and testifie these things as the faithful and true sayings of God and as John did bear witnesse of him so do we that he is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world yet those things as thou hast wickedly and maliciously laid them down as our principles were never spoken nor owned by us neither do we slight the Scriptures at all but own them as they are and ought to be owned yet Christ the light the bright and the morning Star that is the same and changes not but spake in all the Prophets the eternal arm and power of the Father to Salvation we say is not changed but is able to save now without the Scriptures as before they were written so this is not to make void the Scriptures at all which do declare what was the Judge of the Spirits and Saints rule in all ages their guide and what was the wisdom and power of God to the salvation of their souls and as the Prophets and holy men found them to be in themselves and as this Spirit did inspire them and gave them utterance so they spake of him as his People do in the same spirit in this age now this is onely to set Christ the Eternal Son of God above all visible things and the chief corner stone in his place where it ought to be and therefore the builders of Babylon and children of confusion which are setting him at nought and cannot see the hidden treasure which is bread indeed nor look any further then the things that are earthly in whom the treasure and life is hid and are feeding upon the husks and shadows with the Swine are now condemning them that have been in those carnal Ordinances and washings but could never find the pearl in them where it was not to be found but now having found him that is living which is not among those dead things but onely to be found in Spirit we leave those things behind us and go on to perfection and look no longer at the things that are seen which are temporal but at those things that are not seen but in that Light which is eternal which whilst we look at and believe in we have strong consolation and confidence in him that is our hope and purifies our hearts as he doth arise he doth also condemn fin in the heart and destroy the Devils work where it hath been wrought which is yet standing in thy heart and in the hearts of all Lyars and false accusers who are speaking evil of those things they understand not but as a natural bruit beasts wherein they defile themselves as thou hast done it doth finish sin in us and makes an end of transgression and brings in and us into his everlasting righteousnesse which is by faith in his bloud but the blind will be blind still and cannot see any bloud but that which doth not wash the heart nor sprinkle the Conscience from dead works nor know any nor believe in any Resurrection but that which doth not give the answer of a good Conscience towards God I say if thou canst receive it and believe in him who is the Resurrection thou mayest but if otherwise thou shouldst dye in thy sins and pine away in thy transgressions and then Christ is not risen to thy advantage but condemnation if thou art yet in thy sins Therefore thou Hypocrite who art hipt from the Light and climbed above the door of the sheep who is the incorruptible and eternal Light and he onely it is that gives an entrance into the Kingdom that is incorruptible eternal and fadeth not away But many have been setting up another Saviour then he that saves his people from their sins and therefore have his Servants been imagining of a kingdom power and glory that is of this fading world and therefore instead of hearkning to the light and innocent Lamb which faith My Kingdom is not of this world if it were my Servants would fight therefore such who have rejected the word of the Lord which word is Light as thou dost and scornest the Quakers for walking in it they have betaken themselves to carnal weapons and gone from the Spiritual weapon which is the Light and have sought for a Kingdom that is of this world and so in their imaginations have set up both a visible Saviour and Kingdom Therefore try thy self whether thou art in that faith which the just lives by and purifie the heart that comes to see the pure God if not thou art but a reprobate concerning the faith that is a mystery held in a pure Conscience which was once delivered or given to the Saints neither shalt thou ever have the witnesse in thy self of thy rejoycing as many that have been in thy dark and blind condition never had until they were turned to the Light in their Consciences but now can through mercy and grace that is powred out upon his off-spring testifie to his glory and praise everlastingly be it given to him alone who doth the work in us and for us that in the same place where it hath been said unto us ye are not my people there are we called the Children of the living God at this may the Serpent catch that is cursed of the Lord but own it if thou canst it is thy condemnation in that state thou art in eternally thou shalt witnesse it true except thou repentest A little I shall reason with thee concerning thy principle what some of thy brethren which thou and they have affirmed in dispute First thou say est the eternal Spirit is not the Saviour of the world but the man Christ Jesus that dyed and was a body which the Apostles handled outwardly Answ Did not Christ say who is that Spiritual Rock who saved Abraham and the Fathers before that body was into thy hands Father I commend my Spirit and then did he not give up the Ghost and dyed and when the eternal Spirit did ascend to the Father was not the body dead without the Spirit and lay in the Sepulchre until the same Spirit and power of the Father raised it again is your confidence in the flesh or in the Spirit and power that quickned the dead do ye believe the Scriptures are true which say he ever liveth and is the same yesterday to day and for ever I in the Father and the Father in me or do ye believe there was no Saviour before he was born in Bethlehem who was it then in whom Abraham believed or who did the Prophet speak of when he saith unto us a child is born unto us a Son is given or what dost thou in thy dark mind imagine the Prophet meaneth when he saith his name shall
his Scepter known and his dwelling place is become great in Israel eternal God King of Kings and Lord of Lords is his Name thoughout all Generations Kings shall hear of him and submit themselves Princes shall be turned aside by the brightnesse of his rising who is the Resurrection and the life who comprehends the Heavens and the Earth with a span and layes up the Sea as in store houses this is our God the living and true God which you Baptists are fighting against What was Pauls the Saints Weapons I querie of you Baptists and what was his Armour which he and the Saints put on was it not the Lord Jesus Christ the Light who is called a Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit Is it not the Word of God which is Light unto which word Paul did commit the Saints and told them it was able to keep them from falling Or do you imagine the Letter to be the Armour of Righteousnesse which I say doth but only declare of them Is your faith begotten by the Preaching of the dead letter which the Jews thought to have eternal Life in or by the Preaching of the Gospel which is the eternal Word of God which was Preached to Abraham and which was and is and is to come a Preacher of Righteousnesse in all Generations and which the Apostle saith Was Preached to every Creature under Heaven where the Scripture is not known nor heard of but this light which you Baptists trample on I say all have so heard so as to be convinced thereby though not saved because they have not obeyed but as the Apostle saith so say I by the same Spirit and Faith Faith comes by hearing and hearing by this Word of God the Jews had not this Word and Faith and therefore fought against the Life as ye do but the Light within they could not indure no more then you but hated it Therefore said Christ Ye shall die in your sins except ye believe that I am he the Light is the eye in which Abraham saw his day and by which I will guide my people saith the Lord What is that eye that must be made blind and that hand that must be cut off Is it not the eye that sees not the Son and therefore is not satisfied And was not this eye in Herod which is the eye of the Adulterour and hunteth for the pretious Life And was not this life in Esau who missed the Blessing and in Nimrod and in all the Children of confusion who are hunting mightily before the Lord without the Spirit who is the Lord and should lead you by the Fountains of living Water and feed you with the Living Bread of Heaven which Living Bread you are seeking among the Graves and Tombs dead forms carnal Ordinances which I say with J. Fuce makes nothing perfect but Christ the better Hope who doth thorowly walk and reform change and translate out of death into Life out of darknesse into Light out of Satans power and kingdom into Gods Power and Kingdom as the Saints were and is not this the same state that Adam was created in who was the Son of God before either Types Shadows Vails Coverings Death or Grave Hell or the Bottomless Pit were What is your Water Baptism Is it not a figure which gives not the answer of a good Conscience What is your Bread Wine and Ordinances which ye like the Jews so much cry up having lost the Spirit which the true Jew they that had the one Baptism into the one spirit and the new wine in the Fathers Kingdom and the living Bread which came down from Heaven had MATTHEW CAFFIN For the Truths sake and simâ—â—â—â— an open enemy to it and hatest the Light and canst not abide that it should be so much Preached I shal answer to those things charged against us in thy book so far as they are our words and not thy own with wicked inventions cast upon us by thy venemous tongue And as for our Principle it is the Way the Truth and the Life and it is clear and innocent in it self though its image and beauty hath been more mared by such as thou who like the Jews are crying up the Ordinances of the Lord which makes the comers thereunto no more perfect then theirs did then by any Professors besides in the Nation and it will clear it self should we be silent and spew such as thou art out of its mouth 1. The first thing thou chargest the Quakers with is That they say the eternal Spirit of Light and Power is the Saviour of the world Ans This is owned and not denyed but that I or any of the Quakers deny the man Christ Jesus is not our Principle but thy own lie cast upon us and my words do not agree with thine but with the Scripture and Christs words John 5. where he saith Ye have neither heard his voice nor seen his shape at any time Now if thou sayst this was not spoken of Christ but the Father I say it was spoken of both for they are one if thou couldst but believe the Scripture or own the Light John 14. I am in the Father and the Father in me the words that I speak I speak not of my self but the Father that dwelleth in me he doth the work blessed is the eye that sees him it is satisfied vers 8. Philip said unto him Lord shew us the Father and it sufficeth mark Philip a hearer with the outward ear but being dull of hearing and dim sighted at the present he was unsatisfied though he had seen and heard with the outward ear vers 9. Jesus said unto him have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me Phillip he that hath seen me hath seen the Father also but thou sayest the eyes of all in the Synagogue saw him and were fastned on him and thou supposest the Quakers have no shew of Scripture to prove that they which crucified him had any other eyes here thy malice hath transported thee beyond thy own rule the Scripture saith expresly The Vail was over their Hearts and they had outward eyes and saw him and said he was the Carpenters Son but Christ said they were blind leaders of the blind mark the Light which he bids them believe in whilst they had it is the eye and that they had eyes and saw not ears and heard not and hearts but understood not Mark 8.18 Ezek. 12.2 Jer. 5.21 Therefore what eye did Paul open or what ear was he sent to unstop and what prisoner was that which he was sent to proclaim liberty unto and what was that house and prison he was to bring him out of what did he minister and what did he minister to was he not a Minister of Christ after his own eye was opened and Christ revealed which before was vailed in him did he not minister to the Spirit in prison Answer if thou canst and sow the seed of eternal
the Prophets and Righteous men heard his voice and he wrought all their works in them for them and saved his people from their sins took away the shadowand destroyed death and ransomed them from the power of the grave and did such works in them for them as never man ever did is not this the very Christ yea this is he and besides him there is no Saviour neither do I look for another he opens the blind eye and the deaf ear he causeth to hear he makes the dumb to speak and the lame to walk he opens the heart to discipline and commandeth man to depart from iniquity he saith and it cometh to passe as ever the Winds and the Sea doth he rebuke and still the proud Waves thereof as in the Generations past this is the Lords doing and in my eyes very marvellous this is his Name and his Memorial the Lord our Righteousnesse throughout all Generations this is he that saith I am the Lord and change not that is my Name and besides me there is no Saviour let all Disputers of this World be confounded before him whose way is everlasting that sitteth upon the Flouds and walketh on the Sea as on dry land and the waters sink not under him that turneth the darknesse into light and the day light into the shadow of death let all the wise to do evil and oppose him be made mad for ever and let them not find an arm to help them that cannot see the Arm of Gods Salvation but are comparing the Holy One of Israel the Immanuel to and with themselves and likening the invisible and incorruptible Redeemer of the invisible and immortal soul unto corruptible man that are setting up the letter instead of the eternal quickening Spirit that giveth life that sees not a difference betwixt the flesh that profiteth not and the flesh that is the life and if I say the Saviour of the World I lie not between the word that doth wash cleanse and purifie the Hearts of the Saints and was like a hammer and a fire in Jeremiah and in all the Prophets and is the same and changes not in all Generations which word they heard and believed in it and therefore spake and the Word that the Apostles did feel taste hear and handle which was in the beginning with God and was God and this is the Saviour of the World and besides him there is not another but ye being blind cannot perceive him that took Flesh upon him and had a Body prepared to do the will of him that set him if thou hast an ear to hear or an eye to perceive this is he that descended and the same that ascended far above all Heavens into the bosom of the Father and sitteth on the right hand on the Majesty on high and is glorified with the same Glory that he had with the Father before the world began this is a mystery if thou canst receive it thou art happy But may not I say as once was said to the men of Galilee Why stand ye gazing Why are you seeking the Living among the Dead Is not he the Resurrection And is there any life in any other Is not this he that is the eternal and everlasting day in which ye ought to walk And out of the Bosom of the Father did he not proceed and was one with him who saith This is my beloved Son hear Him And the Holy Ghost did appear in the likenesse of a Dove yet was not a Dove so say I and my sayings are faithful and true Christ the Saviour of the World came in the likenesse of sinful flesh and took upon him the form of a Servant yet was he not sinful flesh but the eternal Son of God which was begotten of the Spirit and is Spirit there is a Spiritual Body and there is a natural Body there is a corruptible and there is an incorruptible Body but this is a mystery to the World in a few words time would fail me to declare his Generation to the uttermost I may say that which I have seen of him Oh the depth and heighth length and breadth of his unsearchable riches and wisdom and how in all generations he hath been to his people an infinite treasure a boundlesse fountain and an everlasting stream of goodnesse life vertue peace and pure satisfaction in all generations who was before all the Authour Creator and Maker of all in whom was Life and he is not changed but in him is life eternal peace everlasting and satisfaction eternally and his life runs through all discerns and beholds all and shines in the darknesse and none can flee from him neither is there any darknesse nor shadow of death where the worker of iniquity can hide himself from his dreadful hand that it should not find him out though man being in the first birth and born blind and a transgressor from his mothers womb doth not see nor comprehend the Light that hath enlightned him though it shine in his heart and doth convince all and reprove all of their ungodly deeds and hard speeches that they have wickedly spoken against the Lord yea and it will condemn thee Matthew Caffin for all thy ungod like and unchristian-like lyes and slanders cast upon the people whom the Lord hath blessed and chosen for his peculiar treasure even thee in whom the Father of lyes ruleth and his works are wrought in thy wicked heart out of which cometh slanders and lyes abundantly and them thou dost invent thy self and calst them the Quakers errors when thou hast done whose foundation and principle thou knowest not but speakest evil of that wch thou art a stranger unto though thou talkest of faith of being a Christian indeed which thou sayst few do attain unto yet art thou one of the vain disputers of the world like Cain art wounding and shooting thy arrows against the innocent and like Ishmael art scorning the Lords people saying the Quakers saith turn to the light within this was Pauls Commission and the Quakers work which in this world they have to do this was the Prophets work and Johns message to turn people from darknesse to the light and from the Power of Satan to God Act. 26.18 and 1 John 5. and Paul saith it was the Light that shone in the heart which must give them the knowledge of the glory of God and John said the anointing which was in them that was truth and nolye taught them all things and with this anointing or unction they were to try the false Spirits though thou scornest at the Quakers because their message is to turn people to the light and though it be true that the light within was sufficient and it is the same and changeth not to all the Fathers which died in the faith to save them from all sin and redeem them out of all tribulation and in which Light they walked with God who is the Fountain and Father of Lights and they were