Salvation had been wholy perfected by the â—ody without the Spirit of Christ then our Faith and Hope should have stood there but the same Apostle saith Our Faith and Hope is to stand in God 1 Pet. 1.21 And the Apostle to the Hebrews saith The Hope that anchors the Soul enters within the Vail Heb. 6.19 And John did bear witness to the Word which was in the beginning John 1.1 which Word the World was made by and saith of it that it was God in this Word was Life Vers 4. and the Life was the Light of Men and this was the Light which that Faithful Witness of God John bore witness to That is the true Light that Enlighteneth every Man that cometh into the World Vers 9. So People that which enlighteneth both you and us and every Man that cometh into the World is not a Natural Light as some say the Priest sometimes nor yet the Light of the Devil as the Priest saith othertimes but it is the Light of him that made the World as V. 10. and this is he that was made Flesh V. 14. the Word was made Flesh dwelt amongst us we beheld his glory the glory as of the onely begotten Son of God full of Grace Truth So here John bears a full Testimony to the Saviour of the World and so do we who is the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sins of the World it is not said he takes away the Guilt oâ— Condemnation of Sin only but the Sin it self thus do we believe in him So let People judge whether this be not the true Christ So here John did not bear Record to a Body only but to the â—nal Power and Godhead so the Apostle Heb. 10.5 bears witness to him for whom the Body was prepared saying a Body hast thou prepared me to do thy will O God So it is clear that this Body was prepared for him that was before that Body was this was he who David in Spirit called Lord saying The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my Right Hand till I have made thine Enemies thy Foot-stool And in the 2 Cor. 5.19 the Apostle gives this Testimony God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself And Jesus himself said before Abraham was I am and in another place He that hath seen me hath seen the Father also So let any one judge that hath a good Understanding whether any of the Witnesses of Christ did ever bear witness against the Spirit in the Salvation of Man but doth truly and really bear a living Testimony to the Spirit Rom. 8.2 The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death now at that time when Paul cryed out of the Body of Death he was a Believer and was come so far as to a willing mind to serve the Lord but yet the Captivating Spirit was felt the Law in the Members in which state Paul did not sit down in a belief of Christ at a distance only as People now a days do but crys out for Deliverance even from the Body of Death and afterward testifies to the Law of the Spirit saying The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath set me free from the Law of Sin and Death So here is Salvation witnessed indeed he did not say Sin must live in him while he had a Body but saith Christ liveth in me Gal 2.20 And it is through the Spirit that Sin is mortified Rom. 8.13 and in Rom. 10.8 The Apostle testifies to Christ nigh and not to Christ at a distance saying The Word is nigh thee in the Mouth and in the Heart and in the 2 Cor. 13.5 Examin your selves whether ye be in the Faith try your selves know ye not your own selves that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates and in Col. 1.27 Which is Christ in you the hope of Glory For it is no other then that Christ the Saints did believe in in dayes by past It is his Spiritual indwelling in us through which we come to be sanctified and cleaâ—sed from Sin and the Comforter the Spirit of Truth which Christ promised to send to his Disciples which they were to wait for at Jerusalem and accordingly they did receive it and this dwelt in them to direct them into all Truth and so it was not a Spirit without them or a Christ without them only but within according as Christ said John 17.14 He dwelleth with you ond shall be in you And the Apostle testified in his day Christ was in the Saints who was their Hope of Glory and this hope purified their Hearts in whom it dwelt and Anchored their Souls in that which is sure and stâ—dfast and in him is our hope and confidence who we believe is able to save to the utmost all that come unto God by him And so People it is in the Name of Jesus we Witness Salvation which is his Power to which comeing we Witness Salvation thereby and so we know not another Name through which Salvation is Witnessed but through this Name and this is he whom we declare of who is not far from us and the efficacy of his Blood we feel as we abide in him to cleanse us from Sin So I do not matter what your Teacher S. B. saith viz. The Blood of Christ cleansith no Man from Sin It being so contrary unto the Apostles Doctrine 1 John 1.7 which is But if you walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have Fellowship one with another and the BLOOD of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin And we witness it in its Opperation Cleansing and Washing the Soul from the Spiritual Defilements of which some amongst us are come to the experience of in our measure So that we are not as those that beat the Air but we are come to experience in some measure as I said although S. B. did mock at it the Vertue and Power of that Grace of God which hath appeared to all Men through which the Saints were taught in dayes by past and in Ages and Generations long since to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Godly Righteously and Soberly in this present World now this Grace is the same t at ever it was and its teachings are the same to all that are Obedient in this day as it was then to bring Salvation indeed I do not know any Doctrine so plentiful in the Scripture as the Indwelling or Inward or Spiritual Appearance of his Spiritual Kingdom which whoso doth come to pertake of must be redeemed from the Kingdom of the Devil So having taken off that Reproach and Slander from Christ whom we believe in and is our Saviour the first and the last the Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End of the Work of God Who S. B. call'd the Devil and said he would prove it by the Scripture but hath indeed fallen short of his
the Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures through Holy Men 2 Pet. 1.21 And it is the Spirit that must open the mysterys in the Scriptures 1 Cor. 2.12 Or else all are blind like thee Sampson And S. B. doth strongly plead for his Masters Kingdom of Sin and Darkness from the 77 to the 87 Page of his Book and in these 10 Pages he hath made such a Babel building in confusion and wresting the Scriptures and giving his meanings upon them to prove what he saith and then concludes never to come our of Sin nor no Man else till they be Dead and hath charged all the Holy Prophets Fathers and Apostles to live in Sin he hath thrown dirt in the faces of them all and with his cloud of Darkness where under he dwells would he cover them all But God will judge thee for thy Lies and reproach thou hast cast upon his Ministers Servants and Prophets who were redeemed from the Earth and knew the Kingdome to be come in Power and sate together in Heavenly places in Christ Iesus who were Washed and Cleansed by his precious Blood and their Bodys were Temples for God to dwell in and walk in and not receptacles for Sin and Darkness as S. B. is and cannot come out of it as he saith till he be dead and so he will live and have all Men to live â—in and serve the Devil till they be dead and then they shall pertake of the fulness of God in Heaven 8 Page of his Book Oh! S. B. Thou hast sound out easy way to please Hypocrites to go to Heaven But if thou repent not of this thy wicked and confused work and believe in the Light of Christ Iesus that thy Heart may be cleansed thou wilt perrish in Darkness for ever But Job and Paul and John with the rest of Gods Servants whom thou hast falsly accused who were humble Men fearing God and did not justifie themselves but saw they were weak without him but as they stood in the Faith they beheld his glory and confest to his power which redeemed their Souls from Death and their Feet from falling And David was washed from his Sin through Repentance and Job was accepted of God but not in Sin S. B. do thou look to that Neither did Paul sit down in that state crying out O Wretched Man Who shall deliver me from this Body of Death But as a good Soldier in the Spiritual Warfare he followed Christ Jesus the Captain of his Salvation and sought a good fight and kept the Faith and did not sit down in unbeleif but bore Teâ—timony to the Power of Christ Jesus that had made him more then a Conquerer and then he came to know a better state and a growth in Christ Jesus and then he could say There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walks not after the Flesh but after the Spirit for the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death Rom. 8.1 2. And Christ Jesus said The Strong Man keeps the House till a stronger comes and binds him and spoils his Goods and disposses him And so they that are in the Faith which purifies the Heaâ—t not a Notion only they have experience of this blessed work and cannot plead for Sin term of Life but are in him that destroys the Devil and his works and brings in Everlasting Righteousness And they that are born of God sins not 1 Iohn 3.9 We believe the Apostle John spake true although thou S. B. would make him a Liar as in thy 83 Page where thou chargest the Apostle with saying We that are in the new Birth if we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us But John doth not say so but it is thou that art adding to his Words for he doth not say He that is born of God commits Sin but He that is born of God doth not commit Sin and so thou art a false accuser of the beloved Disciple of Christ Jesus Who saith 1 John 1.5 This is the Message we have heard and declare unto you that God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in Darkness we Lie and do not the Truth but if we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have from fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin But if we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us but if we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness And here the Apostle speaks of states and conditions he had passed through that others who where Travelling after might be Encouraged to walk in the Light that they might know the Blood of Christ to cleanse them from their Sins And so he that hath this Hope purifies himself as he is pure 1 Iohn 3.3 And so we have Testimony unto the Power of Christ Jesus who destroys the Devil and his works and brings in Everlasting Righteousness and makes an end of Sin and so we cannot plead for the Devils Kingdom of Sin and Darkness like S. B. till he is Dead But let Sampson Bond plead for Sin till his Tongue cleave to the Roof of his Mouth yet God will establish Righteousness in the Earth And in thy 82 Page thou falsly accuseth Paul That perfection from Sin was not attainable in this Life but at the Resurrection of the Dead and bringest Phil. 3.12 But Paul says no such thing but he says He follows after that he may Apprehend that for which he is Apprehended of Christ And 14 Vers I press towards the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus and preached wisdom amonâ—st them that were perfect And if S. B. had experience of the work of Christ Jesus in his Heart he would have seen a possibility of being washed and cleansed from his Sin and a further growth increase into the manifold Gifts and Graces of Gods Spirit for to be cleansed from Sin is not the highest perfection attainable in this Life But S. B. saith in his 80 Page The meanest Saint upon the Earth is like his Father in Heaven that he is like to God who begitteth all his Children in his own Likâ—ness How now S. B. what must we be like our Father which is in Heaven who begets his Children in his own likeness what is not this perfection to be like God But if this be true as no doubt it is then what will become of thy Kingdom of Sin and Death thou art pleading for term of Life in these 10 Pages of thy Book thou hast overthrown it all at once But saith S. B. No Man is like the Father or the Son in the degrees of these perfect or pure Qualities No who ever said they
by 4 Apostolical Arguments First Because Jesus Christ of Nazareth a Man approved of God among the People was and is the true Christ and our only Saviour for to prove which he notes many Scriptures Acts 2.21 22 23 24. Acts 4.10 11 12. Acts 10.38 39 40 42 43. From these Scriptures mentioned S. B. draws this Argument If Jesus Christ of Nazareth a man approved of God among the People of Israel be the true Christ and only Saviour then a Quakers pretended Saviour within him is not the true Christ But Jesus Christ of Nazareth a Man approved of God among the People was and is the true Christ and our only Saviour therâ—fore a Quakers pretended Saviour within him is not the true but the false Christ Reply The Apostles Testimony we believe that this Jesus of Nazareth was he that was to come of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote and of whom the Apostles bore so strict a testimony especially before the Jews under the Name of Jesus of Nazareth Because they having read of the glory of this Saviour did expect it to be outward and visible and that he should have come with the Pomp and Glory of this World and that the Redemption which should have been wrought by him should have been outward and that he should have sat upon the Throne of David as an outward and visible King and when contrary to this their expectation he was raised up of so mean a place as Galilee and Nazareth and of so mean Parentage they slighted him saying Is not this the Carpenter the Son of Joseph His Father we kâ—ow and his Brethren are with us we know whence he is But when Christ cometh wâ— know not whence he is search and see say they for out of Gallilee ariseth no Prophet So they slighted and scorned him and put him to Death therefore the Apostle did bear so strict a Testimony to this Man and we do believe that this vvas he that was to come and we look not for another But that the Apostle by this Testimony did deny the Godhead or Invisible Power that dwelt in Jesus of Nazareth by which he became a Saviour we do not believe Neither do we believe that the Man Jesus of Nazareth only as Man was the Saviour of the World For in him dwells the fullness of the God-head Bodily Coll. â— 9 And Christ himself testifies that he was in the Father and the Father in him John 14.10 11. And in the same place he testifies That the Words he spake and the Works he did were done by the Father that dwelt in Him Now if the whole work of Mans Salvation had been wrought by the Body or visible Man only then must our Faith and Hope have stood there but the same Apostle saith 1 Pet. 1.21 Our Faith and Hope must stand in God By which Scripture with many more that might be named it appears that the Salvation of Mankind was wrought by the vvhole entire Christ of God vvho vvas truly God and Man And the Apostle saith That God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself 2 Cor. 5.19 So that it was the Word the invisible Power that dwelt and wrought in the Body that gave the value of the worâ— done in and by the Man by which the work of Mans Salvation was effectually wrought So after the work was performed in by the Body in order to Mans Redemption yet there remains a large work to be performed in such as believe For there is a power of Darkness in Man to be overcome the Antichristian Spirit â—s to be cast out the Body of Sin and Death is to be destroyed the captivating Spirit that captivates the Members and keeps the Members in subjection to the Law of Sin and Deaâ—h to be redeemed from yea the Regeneration is to be witnessed that begets again unto God and the new-born â—abe must be known which is born of God that cannot Sin which only is Heir to the Kingdom which is brought forth in the Image and Likeness of the Invisible God which Image stands in Holiness and Righteousness And all this is formed in the Saints through the powerful working of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sins of the World and destroys the work of the Devil in us and for us and so becomes a perfect Saviour saving to the uttermost those that come unto God by him and all this is purchased through the one offering even perfect Salvation for his People even for all those that do truly and effectually believe in him who through faith lay hold on the invisible Power so that they thereby feel the inward operation or the working of the Spirit within to wash and cleanse the Heart not only from the Guilt or Condemnation as ye say but also from the defilement of Sin So is Christ Jesus become the Author of Eternal Salvation to all that through Faith are brought into obedience unto him But these things I judge are a mystery to S. B. who is ignorant of the work of Salvation of the Grace Hope and Faith within by Christ for if he had been acquainted with the inward forming of Christ he could never have formed such an Argument as this That because Jesus Christ of Nazareth a Man approved of God among the People in whom dwelt the fulness of the God-head which was the Creator of all things was the true Christ and only Saviour that therefore the Saviour cannot be within although the Saints did witness that Christ in them was their Hope of glory But to leave this and to take a view of his 2d Argument as laid down in the second Page of his Book which is grounded upon this Because the Saints of God by the direction of his Spirit have alwayes acknowledged the Man Jesus Christ to be the true and only Saviour Upon which ground he brings forth the same conclusion viz That Christ within Man which he calls the Quakers pretended Saviour within is not the true but the false Christ Reply This Argument is also false being one with the other grounded upon a foundation as to me it appears hid in his own Breast not truly laid down in express Words yet truly intended by him which is this that Christ Jesus only as Man without the Godhead was by the direction of the Spirit always acknowledged to be their true and only Saviour if this be not the ground of his Aâ—gument then could he not have formed such an Argument as this because Christ as God is a Spirit and so within as well as without Now for the proof of his Argument he brings the words of Simeon Luke 2. from Verse 25 to Verse 31. by which words it doth not at all appear that the Man or visible Body only of it self is the only Saviour for he declares of him as a Light to go before the face of all People a Light to lighten the Gentiles and John bore witness to him and saith John 1.9
He is the true Light that enlightneth every Man that cometh into the World and Christ himself said He was the Light of the World Which things are true and his Light is truly felt and known in the Hearts of his Saints So our Testimony we are not ashamed to bring forth to the inward manifestation of the Spirit of Jesus by which we are inlightned and by vvhich the Gentiles are inlightned and is become the glory of Spiritual Israel the inward Jew whose praise is not of Men but of God And so Simeon's Words or Prophecy of him is fulfilled he is become a Light to the Gentiles and Israels glory He likewise names John 20 27. Then said Jesus reach hither thy finger c. And Thomas answered and said unto him My Lord and my God So this Scripture brought by him to prove his Argument hath quite overthrown it For by Thomas his confession the same Jesus who was the true and only Saviour of the World was God as well as Man and Christ did not at all reprove him for his Confession And if God then a Spirit and so is within as well as without As to the fourth of John 42. where he seemeth to say The Men of Samaria confest to the Man Christ only to this I answer it was the same Christ to whom Thomas confest and the same that was before Abraham was even he that whosoever saw truly to be the Christ saw the Father also So here having no ground to prove his Argument which the said S. B. calls Apostolical it doth at once fall to the ground The third Argument that this Priest uses to prove his Charge viz The Quakers Saviour within him to be the false Christ is in page 3. If the true Christ and our only Saviour did at once without us in and by his own crucfied Body on the cross finish and perfect the work office of a Saviour ithen a Quakers pretended Saviour within him is not the true Christ But the true Christ and our only Saviour did at once without us in and by his own crucified Body on the Cross finish and perfect the whole work and office of a Saviour therefore a Quakers pretended Saviour within him is not the true but the false Christ All which he grounds upon these Scriptures following Heb. 10.12 14. Heb. 2.14 1 Pet. 2.24 Eph. 2.15 16. Heb. 9.26 Eph. 5.2 Col. 1.22 Neither doth any one of these Scriptures prove the whole office of a Saviour perfected in his crucified Body at once upon the Cross Although I confess that the whole work of a Saviour so far as was of him required to be performed in and by that Body was perfectly performed and nothing wanting as pertaining to our Salvation But is this the whole office of a Saviour Is there nothing farther to be done Is the believing of this sufficient without sanctification Is it not the office of Christ as a Saviour to give rest and peace to such as he saves must he not redeem from under the power of Sin and destroy Sin in our mortal Bodys Is this no part of the office of Christ as a Saviour The Apostle Paul Rom. 8.2 testified to the work of the Spirit within saying The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free frrom the Law of Sin and Death Now this faithful Servant of the Loâ—d after he came to believe and was truly satisfied as concerning the work done by Jesus of Nazareth without him yet if you read Rom. 7. you shall see what a grievous complaint he makes concerning the Body of Death which still remained in him and of the Law in his Members that still made war against the Law in his Mind and captivated his Members to the Law of Sin and Death So that although the purchase was made the debt paid and remission of Sins obtained through the Death and Sufferings of Christ Jesus and also triumphantly manifested to the World by his Resurrection of which there were many Witnesses as the Apostle doth declare 1 Cor. 15. yet for all this the Enemy sought to keep his hold and Paul was so far sensible of the same that it made him cry out Oh Wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death which as he waited he came to know a farther work of Salvation then that which was done at once without him in the Crucified Body of Jesus on the Cross for through the power of the same Jesus not another he became crucified also to the World and the World unto him and so being Crucified with Christ by which he felt himself Dead to Sin he also did pertake of his Resurrection and so received a new Life through the quickenings of Christ Jesus who lived in him and so was truly made alive unto God Gal. 2.20 So this is the very thing that the faithful whom S. B. doth scornfully call Quakers do testifie of viz of the work of the Son of God within and of his inward quicknings in our Souls by which we also are made alive unto God though we do not deny the work of Salvation wrought by the Man Jesus Christ without us in his own Crucified Body on the Cross but believe it every whit even as the Scripture doth declâ—re oâ— it And do resolve to wait in the inward manifestation of the Son of Gâ—d wâ—o is Light whom S. B. so often reproaches in his scandalous Book â—ith wicked and reproachful Names yet we are not ashamed to own him in â—is inward manifestation through whose Power we do certainly believe and truly expect to feel the Power of Darkness Sin and Death truly vanquished in us as well as for us as it is written He doth all our works in us and for us And so he becomes the Author of Eternal Salvation to all that do obey him so Christ saves not to halves as People imagin as to pay the price of the Redemption for such as are taken Captive by the Enemy of their Souls and yet leave them under his Power and Jurisdiction but to as many as believe Love and Obey him he redeems also from under the Power of Sin and Death and gives them dominion over it and so he becomes a perfect Saviour saving both within and without saving to the uttermost all that come unto God by him So these are they who are for ever perfected through the one offering even those that according to the will of God are sanctified through the Blood and Spirit of Jesus which the Saints do inwardly feel to cleanse them from the defilements of Sin So this I Judge to any rational and unbiassed Spiritâ— is sufficient to the Answer of S. B's 3d Argument by which he seeks to prove his Charge viz That a Quakers pretended Saviour within him as he is pleased to call it is not the true Christ but the false Sam. Bonds 4th Argument in page 4. If the true Christ and our only Saviour be in Heaven
the Heart and this is a certain Truth where the Heart is Purified the Hands will not be Defiled And in 1 Joh. 3.3 The Apostle gives a certain and undeniable Character of a Lively hope saying Every Man that hath this hope in him Purifieth himself even as he is pure And in the 9 ver Speaking of this Nature saith He that is Born of God Sinneth not So now compare thy self with these Testimonies of the Saints in Ages past and see if Thou can bring forth such a Testimony of the true Divine Nature in thy self If Thou should say Thou could Thy Book would stand as a Testimony against Thee especially toward the latter end where Thou art found to contend with all thy Might for Sin the Devils Kingdom that Men cannot be free as long as they are in the Body Now then tell me where is thy living Faith and lively Hope thou spoke of and art thou not then one of the Carnal Gospellers thou spoke of And whereas S. B. seeks to cast this upon the Quakers he hath fallen exceedingly short of his purpose for we are not the Men that ever said the Graces or the Effects or opperations of the Spirit within is the true Christ and our only Saviour as thou chargest us but our true Saviour is he from whom those Graces and Effects come and by whom those Opperations are wrought in us And seeing Thou wert so exceedingly mistaken that Thou didst understand indeed as by Thine own Confession that we did make the opperations of the Spirit of God within us which thou callest the effects or Graces of the Spirit to be our True and Only Saviour How darest Thou then so Wickedly to Villifie the Graces Effects and Opperations of the Spirit of God and Man if we had been so mistaken with such Ungodly Blasphemous Infamous Terms or Expressions as in many places in thy Book are found as Antichrist Cursed Gospel within Idol-Light Glow worm Familier c. How canst Thou escape the Judgment of the Righteous God for the Lord hath found Thee out and Thine Enmity against his Spirit is now discovered thy covering is found to be too short and too narrow for thou art not covered with Gods Spirit Thine own Pen hath discovered thine own Shame and the Lord will make the People to see it even as many whose Eyes he shall open and thy words shall be thy Burthen in the day of the Lord for the time draws near that the Lord will Reckon with thee he doth but wait till thy Cup is full and then he will Smite and not spare except in the mean time thou do Repent But to Proceed The next Scripture he saith mentioned by me was 1 Cor. 6.11 We be to prove Christs Inward Manifestation in the Heart to Sanctifie and save Man from the Power of Sin but ye are washed c. where he saith I Craftily omitted in the Name of the Lord Jesus to abuse their Judgments to make them believe Justification in the Sight of God is a work of the Spirit within us which I can see no other but that he would have the work of Justification altogether without and nothing of it known within But miserable is that Mans condition who hath no better Evidence of his Salvation then so but must needs leave his Assurance for another World In Page 31. Take notice of the confusion of this Priest who after he hath so strongly argued for the work of Mans Salvation viz. that the whole work was perfectly Finished at once without us in Christs own Crucified Body on the Cross Yet now he grants that it is to be wrought within us not at once but by degrees even by the Spirit of God so the work which was so perfectly and compleatly Finished before without us yet now it must be wrought within us by the Spirit of God before it can be effectual to us This is confusion with a Witness is not thy whole work overthrown let the Reader consider and judge is it not the same thing we have contended for and is it not the same thing against which thou hast hardned thy Heart and Stiffned thy Neck Is not this the Spirit of God that works thus Inwardly that which thou callest The Quakers Pretended Saviour which thou so often call The False Christ The Devil with many other Reviling Ungodly Blasphemous Speeches or did the Quakers ever pretend to any other Saviour within then the Spirit of Christ Jesus who is the Light who is the worker of the things whereof thou Speaks Well all this doth Redound to thy own Shame and will also make thy Judgment more then thou wilt be able to bear except thou speedily Repent Again in pag. 31. S. B. saith that I said that I was in some measure washed from my sins which he calls new Divinity and a most false and dangerous Doctrine for saith he he doth clearly deny that the Messiah Jesus Christ of Nazareth hath at once by his own Crucified Body without us on the Cross finished Transgression and Sin Answer When will thy confusions come to an end didest thou not say but now that though the Work of Salvation were done at once without us yet it must be wrought by degrees by the opperation of the Spirit within and now I come to bear Reoord to the same thing you cries out false and dangerous Doctrine who is so Blind that cannot see thy confused Doctrines who can but Judge thee even Drunk with Enmity as a Man overcome with Strong-Drink Reeling this way and that way and but seldome in the Right way one while confessing to the Spirits working within and by and by denying it again besides he doth not only say that it is false and dangerous Doctrine but in Pag 32. he tells wherein saying it plainly denies the one Propitiatory Sacrifice of the one Crucified Body of the Man Jesus Christ Immediately after his usual manner breaking forth in reviling expressions against the Light calling it unbloody Redeemer Idol-Light and the Pope in all which his Enmity is greatly manifested against the Graces Effects and opperations of the Spirit within which he saith in page 29. the Quakers make their true and only Saviour The next Scripture words mentioned by Friends was as he said by Stephen Bullock Rom. 8.2 The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death which was brought to prove that the Spirit of Christ in Man did save from Sin and although the Scripture was clear in it self yet it appears he would have some Argument framed by the Friend who not answering immediately Ismael like the Mocker who Mocked at Isaac the Figure of the true seed he broke forth in a Mock saying Long fasting parhaps hath made him so Empty Note this was the Friend that gave forth the Challenge to try their God by Fasting By this Scripture i. e. The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the Law of Sin and Death he saith that the Apostle doth not mean that the Spirit did so free him from Sin and Death as that he was simply delivered from either but so that it should not Dominere over us nor Damn us Suppose it were so that we could grant him this yet still the Scripture stands on the Spirits side and so consequently on our side against this Priest for if he doth save but from the Dominion of sin that is no small degree of Salvation so by Right and good Reason the Spirit was in Paul as a Saviour and made him free which if this could be proved that the Spirit of Christ was ever in any Man as a Saviour thou saidst thou wouldst give up the Cudgels But it is plain that Paul became Dead with Christ Crucified to the World Dead to Sin and Alive to Righteousness and all this through the inward working of the Spirit of Christ Jesus Farther he Ignorantly affirms that the Death Paul was Delivered from was nothing else but the Power of a Natural Death here People may behold the Ignorance of the Man was it a Natural Death that Paul so much complained of Rom. 7.24 Was it not the Body of Death the Old corrupt Nature which was not yet quite overcome yet the Law or Power of this Body of Death was strong in his Members and this was it that he cryed for deliverance from and that was it from which that Law of the Spirit of life set him free In Page 34. S. B. saith F. E. stept again and said I in thee and thou in me I Answer The end for which I made use of the Scripture was to Testifie to the indwelling of Christ in the Saints against his wicked charge that the Quakers Saviour within was the false Christ which perhaps the word might be mistaken in uttering yet it stands firm in the Record of the Scripture for Truths advantage in plain Scripture Words I in them and thou in me and is part of Christ Prayer to the Father who heard him always although S. B. by his Interpretation seeks to hide the true sence thereof and to give a meaning that may answer his own End In pag 36. S. B. saith Mrs. Bullock asked him whether he did make our Christ within us to be the Devil to whom he saith he made answer viz. That he did Solemnly with much Reverence in the presence of God to whom I must shortly be accountable for my Words declare that I do most assuredly know that a Quakers pretended Christ within him Mark who Sam. Bond said that was page 29. The Graces effects and opperations of the Spirit within them whom here he calleth the false Christ the Devil with whom he saith We shall be Damned in Hell if we Repent not Damnable Doctrine indeed no wonder he put such a Blasphemous question to Will. Wilkinson viz. Whether our God were in Hell Sav'd or Damn'd such abominacle vapours assends out of his Bottomless Pit many times But of this foregoing answer his own Pen hath accused him for had not he accused himself I know not any that could but as Christ said Nothing is Hid that shaâ—l not be uncovered And for his Warrant to confirm this Sentence he urgeth Joh. 8.24 I said therefore ye shaâ—l die in your Sins which Scripture with the 21st verse to which it relates I turn back again upon himself as his own Portion for it is the Doctrine that he Preaches to the People that they cannot be free from sin while they live who can otherwise Judge if so but that both he and all that Dies in the Faith of his Lies can escape Damnation except with the Papist thou canst find a Purgatory for into the Holy City nothing must Enter that defileth or worketh abomination Rev. 21.27 Farther this Bond after his usual manner of wresting the Scripture goes on to comment upon another Scripture alledged by one of the Friends Eph. 5.13 But all things that are Reproved are made manifest by the Light c. Which by Light he saith we are to understand a sin Reproving Light which he farther saith is the Light of the Scripture But where dost thou find the Scripture called a sin reproving Light we read indeed in Timothy that it is profitable for Reproof and Instruction to make the Man of God perfect and to Furnish him throughly to every good work but though it be serviceable to reprove the Actual Sinner what is this to the manifestation of sin in the Heart before it breaks forth into Action which only is made manifest by the Light or Spirit of Christ as in Joh. 16.8 and whereas he saith the Scripture is frequently described by Light alledging for proof Psal 119.105 Thy Word is a Light unto my Steps To this I answer that Scripture is not there mentioned If he say it is the Word to this I farther give answer that the Scripture in no place calls it self the Word though S. B. without any Scripture ground calls it the Written Word but it saith God is the Word and Christ is the Word and Ezekiel saith often The Word of the Lord came unto me saying so that it notes the Word and the sayings which sayings are many of them Recorded in the Scriptures of Truth and are properly the true sayings of God who is the Word Joh. 1.1 He farther to confirm the Scripture to be the Light doth Note Joh. 3.16 Every one that doeth Evil hateth the Light But experience tells us that every Evil Man doth not hate the Scripture but delight many of them to Read it and Teach it their Children but their Enmity is against the Light that makes manifest sin and Iniquity in the Heart which is the Righteous Principle of God in the Heart the sure Word of Prophesie to which the Saints of Old did take heed which is prefer'd before the sound of Words without for the Words without may be falsly Translated and the true sense of them may be changed and falsly Interpreted or written in another Tongue or the Scripture being made up of several Creaters it is possible it may be destroyed but the Invisible Word the Light Christ Jesus could no Man destroy whom the Apostle Paul saith speaketh from Heaven Gods beloved Son whom we are to hear not rejecting the Scripture as it is truly Read for it bears witness to the Light Christ Jesus Several more Lies and false accusations I meet with in his Book as page 38. he saith the Teaching Quakers saith Christ is manifest in their real Flesh but the Flesh of Christ was only in shew and appearance And in page 38. he charges William Harriot for saying he denyed their out-side Christ which words I do not remember in the least neither do any Friend or other People that I have spoke withal witness any such word spoken by him And in page 40. he Proceeds farther with his false charges saying The Quakers deny that Christ was true Man consisting of
like his Heavenly Father in Heaven And the Aâ—â—â—â—le saith in Rom. 6. Being made free from sin are become Servants to God Ye have your fruits unto Holiness and the end Everlasting Life Priest Bond tells the Apostle that 't is an erroneous Principle to be Perfect and made free from Sin in this Life And when will Priest Bond be made free from his Sins if not in this Life What will he be made free in the Papist's Purgatory Where did ever the Apostles Preach such a Doctrine that the Saints should not be made free from Sin in this Life And the Apostle tells him He that is Dead is free from Sin Rom. 6. And now if we be dead with Christ we believe that we shall Live with him yet as Priest Bond saâ—th Deduction of freedom from sin in the Saints in this Life cannot from hence be drawn Priest Bond saith Now the State which accompanies the Resurrection of the Dead excludes all Sin The Saints shall then be Legally Perfect But S. Bond has not proved his Doctrine by Scriptures and what must we understand by S. Bonds Words That the Saints which are Sanctified and made Holy while they be upon the Earth must have Sin which is of the Devil and be Imperfect in this Life Yet the Apostle says to the Philippians 3. 1 Cor. Let as many as be Perfect c. Read 1 Cor. 2.6 Then S. B. falls upon his foul Language seducing Quakers Heretical Catharishes and saith Solomon makes a Challenge to all the World Pro. 20.9 Who can say I have made my Heart Clean I am pure from my Sin But Solomon tells Bond in the same Chapter The just man that walks in his integrity his Children are blessed after him and it is the Blood of Christ that Cleanseth us from all Sin without him we can do nothing Again John 1.1.8 This Proclamature is beyond Solomon's If we say that we have not sinned we make Christ a Lyar. And Priest Bond saith We that are of the new birth say If we say we have not Sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us But this Priest Bond abuses John's Words and John says 1.3 Whosoever is Born of God doth not commit Sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot Sin because he is born of God In this the Children of God are manifest and the Children of the Devil Now I Querie of Priest Bond Whether there are any born of God whilst they are upon the Earth and if so whether they must believe John's Doctrine And Priest Bond falls a Railing If the Quakers should be so stark mad as to affirm all the Saints to be free from Sin which Priest Bond saith Cannot be meant a freedom from Sin but only of the Trade and Custom of Sinning I charge Priest Bond to bring forth the Chapter and Verse that says For his Trade and Custom of Sinning But the Apostle saith If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves c. And if we Confess our Sin he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all mark all Unrighteousness If we say we have not Sinned we make him a Lyar c. So here is a time for people to see they have Sinned and to confess their Sins and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses from all Sin mark from all Sin Joh. 1. Priest Bond makes a great Pudder about Paul who saith O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of Death Paul tells thee in Rom. the 7th and the 8th He thanks God through Jesus Christ and saith there 's no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit for the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death And he hath not seen iniquity in Jacob. Now Priest Bond Confounds himself and grants That believers may walk in the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless that is to say Rebukeless in regard of Men. We speak Wisdom among them which are perfect meaning however imperfect Weaklings Doth not S. Bond abuse the Apostles words here and add to the Scripture Page 85. And again That you may be blameless and harmless the Sons of God without Rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse Nation amongst whom they shine as Lights in the World mark that And Priest Bond saith and Confounds himself The Phrase Blameless Simply in its own nature will be so far from proving perfection of Grace that it will not prove any truth of Grace it will not therefore follow that Elizabeth was Perfect without Sin though Priest Bond Confesses she was blameless and hath not charged her with what Sin she committed Dost not thou confess she was Blameless and Righteous c. And did not Elizabeth Believe Did not she say to Mary Blessed is he that Believes So Elizabeth was a Believer as well as her walking blameless in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord. But Saul who was a Blasphemer and Persecutor was no Believer therefore there 's no Comparison with Saul and Elizabeth But Priest Bond saith In the Day of Christs coming in Glory the Saints shall be found of God in Peace without Spot and Blameless But not thus in this Life p. 85. The Apostle saith 1 Cor. 1.8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless in the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ howbeit we speak Wisdom among them that are Perfect for I Brethren could not speak unto you as unto Spiritual but as unto Carnal even as unto Babes in Christ 1 Cor. 3. Where has Priest Bond learned this Lesson that the Saints shall not be freed from Sin in this Life Then how can they be kept blameless unto the Day of Christ and not to be kept free from Sin which is of the Devil But as Bond saith page 86. There is not a just Man upon the Earth Solomon saith in the same Chapter Be not righteous overmuch be not overmuch wicked So in a Man 's own Righteousness and Justice he may Sin But Christ Cleanses from all Sin and doth that which the Law could not do but Priest Bond saith page 87. There is in all true Believers a cursed Root of bitterness which God doth mortifie but not nullifie in this World 't is subdued but not removed 't is cast down but not cast out though Grace makes the Combate yet Death only makes the Conquest over Sin We charge Priest Bond to prove this Doctrine by Scripture his cursed Root of Bitterness in all true Believers and that they shall never Conquer it till they Dye and to prove that this was in Abraham Isaac and Jacob Abel and Enoch and in them that the Apostle said We speak Wisdom among them that are Perfect And has not Priest Bond given John the Lye who says whosoever is born of God doth not commit Sin
Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. And truly Priest Bonds Book is such a pack of Nonsence and Contradictions and Tautologies that it is loathsome and noisome to the Reader and in it there is more malice than matter as any rational man may see by the foulness of his Spirit and Tongue and his filthy Language and ungracious and filthy words that his ungodly Book is stuft withal Priest Bond I would have thee to prove that the Holy-Ghost is a Person which proceeded from the Father and the Son and leads into all Truth And when the Holy-Ghost fell upon the Disciples in the time of Pentecost did it fall upon them as a Person And when it fell upon Cornelius's Family did it fall upon them as a Person And Christ tells the Disciples that the Holy-Ghost the Comforter dwells with you and shall be in you John 14. And was this a Person Acts 11. Acts 19. The Holy-Ghost fell upon c. So where ever did Christ or the Apostles call the Holy-Ghost a Person S. B. is to prove this Word by Scripture which he saith is his Rule Now concerning the Scriptures which Priest Bond calls the Word of God first doth not the Scripture signify Writings And do not you teach your Children so that Scripture signifies Writings in your Catichisme and Matthew the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ and Christ read in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and in the Book of the Words of Isaiah the Prophet Luke 3 and 4. and Luk. 4.17 Written in the Book of the Law Gal. 3.10 and Written in the Book of the Psalms Acts 1.20 And doth not Luke set forth a Declaration Luke 1. And so doth he not call that a Declaration which he set forth and so Daniel calls them the Scriptures of Truth Daniel 10.21 And Mark calls them the Scriptures Mark 12.10 and Luke 4.21 Christ calls them Scriptures and John 2.22 and in Acts 1.16 The Apostle calls them Scriptures Rom. 10.11 and 11.2 The Apostle calls them Scriptures 2 Tim. 3.16 James 2.8 2 Peter 1.20 Acts 17.2.11 Rom. 15.4 1 Cor. 15.3 Here in all these places and many more Christ and the Apostles calls them Scriptures which signifies Writings Now Scriptures of truth which signifies Writings they are called the Words of God God spake all these Words Exod. 20. And Christ saith John 3.34 The Words of God And John 5.47 John 6.62 And John 8.20.47 John 10.121 John 12.47 48. John 14.10.23.17.8 All these are concerning the Words And Acts 2.14.5.20 1 Tim. 4.6.6.3 The words in all these places and many more Revelations 1.3 that hear the words of this prophecy and until the Words of God shall be fulfilled Revel 17.17 These Words are true Revel 21.5 Testifie saith John to every Man the words of the Prophecy of this Book if any Man shall take away from the words of the Prophecy of this Book c. So here you may see the Scriptures are called Words Books Declarations and the Writings and Scripture and are called the Words of God and the Words of Christ but Christs Name is called the Word of God John 1.8 And again Christs Name is called the Word of God Revelations 19.13 So here the Quakers own the Scriptures as they have been called by Christ and his Apostles and the Prophets S. Bond saith The written Word of God the Scriptures are an infallible Rule of Faith and Life Page 88. The matter contained in Scriptures is the only Infallible Rule of Faith and Life Page 91. See here how Priest Bond contradicts himself Let the Word of Christ dwell in your hearts in all Wisdom Coloss 3. And what Priest Bond is this the Letter Priest Bond saith The Quakers worship cannot be acceptable to God Page 89. These are Priest Bonds Lyes for Quakers worship God in the Spirit and the Truth as Christ commanded and hath taught us John 4. And Priest Bond saith The Quakers reproach the Lord when they deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God Page 88. And yet Priest Bond contradicts himself in Page 87. and saith We do not affirm the Scriptures to be the Word of God but as the written Scriptures do declare the Mind of God to us So here Priest Bond is made to confess the Quakers principles but presently after he confounds it again and saith The Scripture is the Word of God And then contradicts himself again and saith The matter therein contained is the declaritive Word of God Page 87. Priest Bond saith the Quakers are apt to say there is no sin Charged upon Zachariahs Wife who was Righteous and blameless but saith Priest Bond Death took hold as well of her as of him which is the wages of sin Rom. 6. So what must we understand from Priest Bonds words Here they that put off the Earthen Tabernacle and dye in the Lord that natural death is the Wages of Sin Rom. 6.23 But let the Reader see how he abuses the Scripture for the Wages of sin is death But saith the Apostle Now being made free from sin and become the Servants of God This is while they were upon the Earth alive and is it not a denying of Christ that dyed for Sin to say that Death took hold of Elizabeth as well as Zachariah and so upon all other People to wit a natural death and that natural death which is the wages of sin as in Page 86. where he perverts Rom. 6. But the Saints and we tell Priest Bond Christ dyed for our Sins and is risen for our Justification and so whether we live or dye we are the Lords and if we dye we dye in the Lord and Blessed are they that dye in the Lord. Priest Bond They have a Light of direction from the Law of the Creation and this Light is clear and full enough to make them Guilty in Page 82. But Priest Bond dost not thou call this Light within an Idol Light Page 90 And where doth the Scripture call the Light of Christ a Law of the Creation or a natural Light And Priest Bond thou saist in Page 81. The Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law There is naturally in all Men as such a Light of direction or natural Light And Priest Bond dost not thou call this a Natural Light or by Generation this Law written in the Gentiles hearts as thou saist in Page 81. But who writ the Law in the Gentiles hearts and how doth this Light come by nature or generation prove this by express words in Scripture which thou callest thy rule Noah was a just and a perfect man c. Job was a good and perfect man And Priest Bond saith to infer and say that Noah or Job were perfect from all Sin in this Life would be a miserable perverting of other places of Scripture c. Page 78. And in Page 87. There is in all true believers a Cursed Root of bitterness not cast out Death only