of the Lord of what comes forth in his name And who walk thus walk not in the faith nor in the order of the Gospel which doth not suddenly reject any thing but first throughly tries both doctrines and spirits whether they be of God or no. He that rejects that which is of God cannot thrive or prosper in his spirit and he that tries in the hastiness of the flesh and not in the patience and meekness of the spirit is in great danger of rejecting what ever of God appears But can they not enjoy there own liberty and walk in the order of the Gospel and mannage the sword of the spirit against errors and spiritual enemies according to the order of the Gospel which is mighty through God to cut down the flesh unless they get the Magistrates sword to cut down every appearance of truth and every person holding forth any truth but what they themselves shall own Cannot the spirit of God lead into further truth than they were led into when they went into New-England and may not the Lord take his own time to discover it to them and to lead them into it So that when first it appears it may be hid from them and will nothing serve them but the Magistrates sword to cut it down so soon as ever it appears Did not the Bishops of England think theirs to be the Gospel order and cryed against the non-conformists that they could not live peaceably for them but they disturbed the order of the Church and drew mens minds from matters of faith and edification Surely the desire of such a kind of peace as may stop the breaking forth of light to the people of God for their further leading out of Babylon is not good This is rather a fleshly case than true peace which the Lord hath not allotted to his people but they are to wait for the pouring down of his spirit and the opening of the deep mysteries of his life in the latter daies and to try what comes forth in his name whether it be of him or no that they may not lose the good as it breaks forth nor be deceived with the evil as it gets into and appears in the shape and likeness of the good Now the drift of the argument lies in this that this liberty they cannot enjoy without a non-tolleration of others Tolleration of any but themselves and their own way disturbs their peace their faith their order Answ The true liberty the true faith the true order of the Gospel was enjoyed formerly without this power of suppressing others by carnal weapons and violent Lawes Yea this power of suppressing others and of compelling to a way of Religion and Worship came up with Antichrist and that power which came up with Antichrist is not of Christ The Dragon gave his power to the beast Rev. 13.4 and another beast riseth up with horns like a Lamb ver 11. and this Beast compelleth ver 12. Mark the beast which appeared with horns like a Lamb as if it had Christs power and maketh fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men and who can deny these to be of God that can do such things this very beast compelleth or causeth to worship as ver 12 So this beast which appears like a Lamb joines with the first beast whom it had set up under another appearance and both compel to the worshipping of an Image of the truth of such an image of the truth as they think good to advance and so from the truth it self And he that will not be deceived with their image with their likeness with that which they call the truth and way of God or order of the Gospel and so shall refuse to bow thereto he shall not he permitted either to buy or sell ver 16 17. There is no living as men within their bounds unless they will bow to their image But the true Lamb doth not compel but calls to wait on the Fathers drawings till the Father by his spirit make willing And though by the Lamb Kings Reign and Princes decree justice Pro. 8.15 yet they never had any commission from him to force men to that way of Religion and worship to which the Spirit of the Lord alone can make them willing nor to fall upon them because they were unwilling This is from the Dragon where ever it is found This then is the great matter of controversie you account it your liberty not to tollerate and here stands your peace and Religion which was a liberty the true Christians never had and you cannot with patience hear any to testifie against you and so ye now fall upon any that come to witness against you even as ye your selves once suffered when ye were witnesses But how can ye manifest that God shall reveal no truth but what he reveals to you or if he do that ye have liberty not to tollerate it or the persons that hold it forth Wherefore consider seriously whether this be a right liberty ye have aimed at for if your aim hath been at a liberty which is not granted of God at such a liberty as will not stand with the liberty of his spirit in his people no marvail though ye have run into indirect means to attain it and so from step to step have been led to the utmost degree of violence and persecution and being engaged in it are now forced to seek for arguments to maintain it This argument is further enforced by proposing the inconsiderableness of the Quakers suffering of a non-tolleration compared with a manifest and greatest hazard of a tolleration unto the country Their absence from hence is no detriment to them their presence here threatens no less than the ruine of all to us c. Answ As for outward detriment the Quakers do not consider that in cases of this nature but that in them which is born of God hearing and receiving his command presently obeys waiting for his presence and power to carry through and doth not at all mind the hardships to be met with But the inward detriment arising from disobedience to God is very great even the loss of his sweet presence life and power at present besides the utter hazard of the soul for that which draweth back from obedience to the spirit of the Lord the Lord hath no pleasure in they have known the terrors of the Lord to the disobedient therefore they may not please men in forbearing to go where he sends them nor standing in his counsel and power do they fear them which can kill the body but they exceedingly dread the death and losse of their Souls and him who hath the power thereof And as for their presence threatning the ruin of all to you that 's but a miss apprehension It may indeed be ruine to that part in you which is wise and strong without the presence of the life of God but the elect which is built upon the rock cannot be
removed far away from the present feeling of the spring of my life and drawn to neglect the little dawnings of that light which shineth more and more to the perfect day having concluded in my self that no less would suffice to heal me than its breaking forth in its full strength even as at noon upon me Thus I despised the day of small things and was seduced into a gaping after and a waiting for that which is never so to be received but the little seed of light being received and finding good and honest earth groweth up therein even to perfection and then knoweth and receiveth the light of the day in its full strength And although there was such a savour of God last in me that upon the first converse with this People called Quakers I could own the voyce of God in them and set to my seal as in the presence of God that it was the true life and power of the most high whereof they were born yet I could not but despise it as a weak and low appearance thereof yea and started back from it as being such a kind of dispensation of life and power as was to pass away and the passing away whereof from me had made me so miserable And now I am as one born out of due time and come lagging behind feeling my self altogether unworthy to be numbred amongst them or to bear a testimony to that truth and power of life wherein they flourish and by which they are redeemed and bought out of the earth with the price of the living immortal blood of Jesus by which together with the word of his testimony they cannot but overcome all the powers of darkness with all the Powers of the earth which stand in the darkness and fight under the darkness being taught thereby not to love their lives unto the death But the scoffing conceited Professor will be ready to say What are those the only People Others besides them are as dear to God as they There are many in forms equal to them and many out of forms far beyond them Whereto I answer thus Yea there are so in the scale of mans judgment but not so in the measure of the Sanctuary These are the only redeemed People that my soul knows of There is a seed besides them not yet gathered but in Babylon whom the Lord in his due season will gather into the same light life and power but there is no other Saviour but that light eternal which hath given them life and dwels in them who is risen in them come to them and hath taken them into himself in whom they are even in him that is true who is the Son of God the true God and the life eternal 1 John 5.20 who hath poured forth his spirit upon them in which they Minister and gather up to God those who have an ear to hear the voyce of his Spirit Beware therefore O ye Nations and Powers of the earth what ye do against this People for ye cannot prevail by any inchantment against these whom the Lord hath blessed but the more ye strive to villifie and suppress them the more will the Lord magnifie and exalt them And the life which God hath raised up in them must reign do what ye can against it O abase your selves and kiss the Son O Professors and Powers of the earth that ye be not cut off for the Lords hand is lifted up and in his jealousie he will smite home for the sake of Zion for his ear hath heard the cry of the poor and needy whom no man regardeth Isa 33.10 11. THE END
case of return is well known in these parts but what induced them hereunto what just Grounds and Reasons they had for it many are not acquainted with but are very much dissatisfied concerning their proceedings therein fearing that they have dishonoured God brought a reproach upon the Name of Christ and his Gospel exceeded the limits of their power given an ill example of Persecution laid a foundation of hardening their hearts against God and of drawing his heavy wrath upon them all which they cannot but be deeply guilty of in case it should be proved that they have been mistaken and that these People upon a further search should appear to them to be of God as they already have to very many who have been exceedingly prejudiced against them till they came more meekly to hear and consider their case For there are many here in Old England and in other parts who once reviled reproached and thought they could hardly do bad enough against them who now in the singleness of their hearts can bless God for raising up such a People and that they themselves were not cut off in their blind zeal against them but in the rich mercy of God had a way made for the removing of their prejudices and hard thoughts and for the opening of their eyes whereby they came to see that these are indeed a pretious people of God begotten brought forth and guided by his power and that it is his living truth which they in obedience to his living power are drawn to bear witness to and to hold forth unto the World And one such testimony for them is of more weight and value in a true ballance than thousands of testimonies against them from such who are prejudiced and have not patience to consider things in equity and uprightness of heart and also whose interest lies another way Now meeting of late with a paper beginning thus At a general Ceurt held at Boston 〈◊〉 18th October 1659. wherein by way of preface there is first an account given of what induced them to make this law of banishment and death and then grounds and considerations laid down to clear it to be warrantable and just it was upon my heart to consider and examine these to see whether they did arise from the seed of God and from the true knowledge of the Scriptures by his spirit and so were weighty to the conscience which singly waits upon God for satisfaction about truth or whether they did arise from the fleshly part and from fleshly reasonings upon Scriptures and so were but chaffy and not able to satisfie the weighty considering spirit as in the sight of God And this I was the more induced to do because I found bowels rowling in me towards them and a sense of what might easily be their snare which hath overtaken and intangled many for many who have blamed others severely and really thought how well they themselves would have amended things if ever they came into place and power yet have failed and run into the very same errour when they have come to the tryal So these persons when they were formerly persecuted in England no doubt but thought and intended if ever they came to be free from it to lay a foundation against it yet when they come to the point and feel their condition changed in so much as it was now in their hand to determine what was the way of worship Church-government and order there lay a great temptation before them to set up what they judged to be right and to force all others to a conformity to it Yea now was their great danger and time to beware lest the same persecuting spirit did get up in them which their being persecuted was a proper means to keep down And if so if the same spirit which persecuted them got up in them then they who were once persecuted could not possibly forbear persecuting for that spirit will persecute wherever it gets up And having laid its foundation of persecution under a plausible cover then by degrees it more and more vails the eye hardens the heart and takes away the tenderness which was in the persons before while they themselves were persecuted Now I cannot but pitty those that fall into any snare of the enemy especially those who are taken in so great a snare and come to so great a loss of their tenderness towards God his truths and people and run so great an hazard and danger of the loss of their souls The Grounds or Causes expressed of their making that Law of Banishment are in substance these three 1. The coming of the Quakers from forraign parts and from other Colonies at sundry times and in several companies and numbers into the jurisdiction of the Massathusets Answ This of it self is far from any warrant for the Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof and though they laim a propriety in it yet it is still more the Lords than theirs and he may send any of his servants into it at his pleasure upon what message or service it seemeth good unto him So that the great question to be determined here is this Whether these persons came from the Lord in his will and at his appointment or whether they came of themselves and in their own wills For if they came by commission and appointment from the Lord of Heaven and Earth their warrant was without doubt sufficient but if they came in their own wills and upon their own designs then they went out of the Lords counsel and protection and must bear their own burthen Now consider whether ye were tender in the due weighing of this before your imprisoning and dealing hardly with them for if at their first coming ye imprisoned them and engaged your selves against them ye thereby made your selves unfit for an equal consideration of the cause and God might justly then leave your eyes to be closed and your hearts hardned against his truths and people for beginning with them so harshly and unrighteously and not in his fear 2. Those lesser punishments of the house of correction and imprisonment for a time having been inflicted on some of them but not sufficing to deter and keep them away Why do ye omit cutting off of ears are ye ashamed to mention that amongst the rest indeed the remembrance of it strikes upon the Spirits of people here and perhaps in New-England also Answ They that are sent by the Lord and go in the guidance of his spirit cannot be deterred from obedience to him in his service and work either by lesser or greater punishments Punishments deter the evil doer but he that doth well is not afraid of being punished but is taught and made willing and inabled to suffer for righteousness sake Phil. 1.29 And ye will find your greater punishments as ineffectual to obtain your end as your lesser For they whose lives in the power of God are sacrificed up to the will of God are no more afraid of death
in the blood or prayer or watchfulness to keep the garment pure c. nor growth in the life And this we are not ashamed to profess that we are pressing after and some have already attained very far even to be made perfect as pertaining to the conscience being so ingrafted into Christ the power of God so planted into the likeness of his death and resurrection so encompassed with the walls and bulwarks of salvation as that they feel no condemnation for sin but a continual justification of the life being taught led and inabled to walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8.1 From what they bave said concerning this opinion of perfection as they call it they draw an argument against their other doctrines in these words Such fundamentals of Christianity are overthrown by this one opinion of theirs and how more by all their other doctrines Ans To which I shall say this if their grounds and proofs against any other doctrines of the Quakers be no more weighty and demonstrative then those they have here brought forth against the doctrine of perfection they may spare entertaining prejudices against them and condemning them and in the first place weigh them in a more equall ballance than they have done this And I dare appeal to any naked unbyassed spirit who shall fairly consider what is above written whether the doctrine of perfection be such an hideous error as they have represented it Nay whether it be not a precious truth of the Gospel of Christ and a great incouragement to him who shall follow the command of Christ who saith be ye perfect to believe that in the way of faith and obedience he may be wrought up to such an estate by the free grace mercy love and power of God Yea let me add this word more he that feeleth the everlasting arme working one sin out of his heart cannot but believe that the same arme can work out all and pluck up every plant which the heavenly father hath not planted which hope and beliefe causeth him with joy to follow this arme through the regeneration But if I did believe there were no perfecting the worke of redemption in this life but I must still in part be a slave to Satan still crying out of the body of sin and death and never have my heart purified for the holy one to inhabit in but remaine in part unconverted unchanged unregenerated unsanctified Oh how heavily should I go on I am sure it would be as a weight upon my spirit in resisting of sin and Satan This is not the glad tidings of the everlasting Gospel but sad news from the borders of death whith would keep the creature not only in the bonds of death but without hope of deliverance in this life and refer the hope to that day wherein there is no more working out of redemption but the eternall judgement of the tree as it fals Now having after this manner proved that the doctrines of the Quakers are destructive to the fundamental truths of religion they lay down their argument whereupon they conclude that it is lawful for them nay their duty to put them to death in these words Now the commandement of God is plain that he that presumes to speak lies in the name of the Lord and turns people out of the way which the Lord hath commanded to walk in such an one must not live but be put to death Zech. 13.3 Deut. 13.6 and 18.20 Answ 1. By what hath been said against them it is not manifest that they have spoken lies in the name of the Lord. Nay if they themselves who thus charge them could but soberly and mildly with a Christian spirit weigh the thing would it not rather appear that they in thus falsly charging them and managing such untrue and unrighteous arguments against them have spoken lies both concerning them and against the Lord and his truth And as for turning men out of the way that cannot be justly charged on them who turn men to Christ the living way and deliver the same message the Apostles did that God is light and in him is no darkness at all who point them to that place where God hath said this light is to be found which is the heart where God writes the new Covenant and the Laws thereof Heb. 8. where the word of faith is nigh Rom. 10. surely they that direct hither do not turne men out of the way But they that point men to guess at the meanings of Scriptures and to gather knowledge and form rules to themselves out of it by their own natural wit and understanding which can never reach the mysteries of the kingdome of God and which God hides the true knowledge of the Scriptures from these are those that turn men out of the way For they that rightly understand the Scriptures must first receive a measure of the spirit to understand it with even as they that wrote any part thereof did first receive a measure of the spirit to write it by 2. It is not manifest by these places quoted that the Governours of New-England have received authority from the Lord to put the Quakers to death if their doctrines were such as they accuse them to be That of Deut. 13.6 is a manifest case concerning one that should tempt to the following of other Gods of the Gods of the people round about nigh or far off in such a case the offender was to be stoned to death v. 10. but is this appliable to cases of doctrine That of Deut. 18.20 gives a clear note how the Prophet may be known that speaks a lie in the name of the Lord and what kind of lie it is for which he is to be put to death ver 22. but it doth not say that every man in the common-wealth of Israel that holdeth any doctrine contrary to what some of them might call the fundamental doctrines of the Law should be put to death That of Zech. 13.3 is a prophesy not a command and is not to be understood in mans wisdome nor to be fulfilled in mans will It were better to wait for the true openings of prophesies in the spirit than to let the carnal part loose to gather somewhat out of them for the satisfying of the flesh and making its thirst after the blood of Gods lambs appear more plausible I would but put this question to your consciences in the sight of God whether in a conscientious submission to the will of God in this scripture ye put them to death or whether from this scripture ye seek a shelter and cover for the thing having already done it or fully purposed to do it So that the case is not here the same with any of the cases mentioned in those scriptures for if some of their doctrines were lies which ye have been very far from proving yet it was not for such kind of lies that death was appointed in the common-wealth of Israel And yet
AN EXAMINATION OF THE Grounds or Causes Which are said to induce the Court of Boston in New-England to make that Order or Law of Banishment upon pain of Death against the Quakers As also of the Grounds and Considerations by them produced to manifest the warrantableness and justness both of their making and executing the same which they now stand deeply engaged to defend having already thereupon put two of them to death As also of some further Grounds for justifying of the same in an Appendix to John Norton's Book which was Printed after the Book it self yet as part thereof whereto he is said to be appointed by the General Court And likewise of the Arguments briefly hinted in that which is called A true Relation of the Proceedings against the Quakers c. Whereunto somewhat is added about the Authority and Government which Christ excluded out of his Church which occasioneth somewhat concerning the true Church-Government By Isaac Penington the Younger The Stone the Builders refused is become the head of the Corner This is the Lords doing it is marvellous in our eyes Psal 118.22 23. I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto Babes Even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight Mat. 11.25 26. LONDON Printed for L. Lloyd next to the Sign of the Castle in Cornhill 1660. To the Rulers Teachers and People of NEW-ENGLAND MAny a weary step hath my poor soul fetched and many difficulties and hardships hath it met with in its pursuit after truth The immortal seed hath deeply suffered in me through the mists of darkness and various stratagems and powers of the enemy which have often encompassed me and distressed my Spirit exceedingly I have known many battels received deep wounds yea and have been in deaths and graves often where the living seed hath languished for want of the living spring Yet this thing to the praise and glory of the preserver of Israel may I speak the sence of God and the savour of his Spirit was never wholly taken away from me though many times I knew it not but was too apt to distrust it being ignorant of the way of its appearing in me The Scriptures I alwayes exceedingly prized and a deep knowledge of them from an experimental sence of the things they spake of was bestowedon me but I knew not what it was which gave me the knowledge nor how it sprang but went about still to fix it in the letter and so gave away the glory from the spirit which shines above and beyond the letter and ought so to be acknowledged Before this despised people appeared I was even quite worn out and said my hope is cut off from the Lord there is no such appearance of him to be looked for as my poor distressed soul wants Live without the presence of his spirit I could not where to meet with his spirit could I hear no news and that pretious knowledge which I had had through the operation of God upon my heart from the living spring the same hand which gave me also brake in pieces and pulled down that inward building which was reared up in my Spirit What a man of sorrows I became hereupon how I mourned all the day long and roared out after my God all the night season is not to be uttered And if it might be the Lords pleasure O that my misery might end with me and that this might be the issue of all my sufferings to fit me to be a faithful instrument in the hand of the Lord for the preserving of others there from Now this was it which undid me namely the getting up of the fleshly wisdome and understanding which though God had broken in me mightily several times yet it still had some secret device or other to creep in again unto me and to twine about my spirit undiscerned by me but this effect still attended it by degrees like a canker it eat out the sweetness and freshness of my life and Spirit and exalted that part in me which God hides the mysteries of his kingdome from At my first acquaintance with this rejected People that which was eternal of God in me opened and I did immediately in my spirit own them as children of my Father truly begotten of his life by his own spirit but the wise reasoning part presently rose up contending against their uncouth way of appearance and in that I did disown them and continued a stranger to them and a reasoner against them for above twelve months and by weighing and considering things in that part was still further and further off from discerning their leadings by the life and spirit of God into those things But at length it pleased the Lord to draw out his sword against that part in me turning the wisdome and strength thereof backward and to open that eye in me again wherewith he had given me to see the things of his kingdome in some measure from a child and then I saw and felt them grown in that life and spirit which I through the treachery of the fleshly-wise part had been estranged to and had adulterated from And now what bitter dayes of mourning and lamentation even for some years since I have had over this the Lord alone fully knows Oh I have known it to be a bitter thing to follow this wisdome in understanding of Scriptures in remembring of experiences and in many more inward wayes of workings than many can bear to hear The Lord hath judged me for that and I have born the burthen and condemnation of that which many at this day wear as their crown And now what am I at length A poor worm whom can I warn effectually whom can I help whom can I stop from running into the pit But though I am nothing I must speak for the Lord draweth and moveth me and how unserviceable soever my pitty be yet my bowels cannot but roul both towards those that are in misery and towards those that are running into misery Read in the fear and in the simplicity what was so written and the Lord open that eye in you which can see the way of life and discover the paths of the mystery of iniquity in its most hidden workings in the heart that ye sleep not the sleep of eternal death and so at last be awakned in the bowels of that wrath and fiery indignation which that spirit which erreth from and transgresseth the life and light within can neither bear nor escape J. P. AN EXAMINATION OF THE Grounds or Causes which are said to induce the Court of Boston in New-England to make that Order or Law of Banishment upon pain of death against the Quakers As also of the Grounds and Considerations by them produced to manifest the warrantableness and justness c. THat in New-England there hath been a Law made of Banishing the Quakers so called and of death in
words will suffice to express it but the Papists and School-men having missed of the thing which the Scripture drives at and apprehended somewhat else in the wise imagining part have brought forth many phrases of their own invention to express their apprehensions by which we confess we have no unity with but are content with feeling the thing which the Scripture speaks of and with the words whereby the Scriptures express it Now whereas they call this a fundamental we do not find it so called in Scripture nor do we find the Disciples themselves understanding therein but knew not the Father John 14.8 9. and Christ going about to inform them does not tell them of another distinct being or person but hast thou not seen me and believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me vers 10. And so the believers at Ephesus had not so much as heard that there was an holy Ghost Acts 19.2 So that if ye will make this a fundamental truth yet it is such a fundamental as true faith did stand without both in believers afore Christs death and in believers after This is the great fundamental that God is light and in him is no darkness at all 1 John 1.5 and the great work of the Ministry is to shew men where this light is and to turn men from the darkness wherein is the power of Satan unto this light wherein is the power of God Acts 26.18 And he that comes into this light and into this power is owned in the light and in the power wherein is the life of all the Saints and the true fellowship both with the Father the Son one with another 1 John 1.3 and 7. And the true trial of Spirits is not by an assent to Doctrines which the hypocrite may assent to on the one hand and the true believer may startle at on the other hand but by feeling of them in the inward vertue of the light in the Spirit and in the power This was the Apostles way of trial 1 Cor. 4.19 20. I will know not the speech of them which are puffed up but the power for the kingdome of God is not in word but in power A man may speak high words concerning the kingdome and get all the Doctrines about it and yet be a stranger to it and quite ignorant of the power and another may want divers Doctrines concerning it perhaps some of those which men call fundamentals and yet be a Citizen of it and in the power But now under the Antichristian Apostacy men wanting the feeling of the life and power wherein the true judgment is they own or disown one another upon an assent or dissent to such and such Doctrines and so fall into this great error of owning many whom Christ disowns and of disowning many whom Christ owns and if they find persons not assenting to or dissenting from any of those things which they call fundamentals then they think they may lawfully excommunicate and persecute them So by this mistake they cut off that which is green they persecute that wherein is the living sap and cherish the dry and withered That which is most tender towards God and most growing in the inward sensibleness which causeth it to startle at that which others can easily swallow lies most open to suffering by this kind of trial 2. Concerning the Person of Christ They believe that Christ is the eternal light life wisdome and power of God which was manifested in that body of flesh which he took of the virgin that he is the King Priest and Prophet of his people and saveth them from their sins by laying down his life for them and imputing his righteousness to them yet not without revealing and bringing forth the same righteousness in them which he wrought for them And by experience they know that there is no being saved by a belief of his death for them and of his resurrection ascention intercession c. without being brought unto a true fellowship with him in his death and without feeling his immortal seed of life raised and living in them And so they disown that faith in Christs death which is only received and entertained from the relation of the letter of the Scriptures and stands not in the living power and sensible experience of the begotten of God in the heart Now they distinguish according to the Scriptures between that which is called the Christ and the bodily garment which he took The one was flesh the other Spirit The flesh profiteth nothing saith he the Spirit quickneth and he that eateth me shall live by me even as I live by the Father John 6.57 and 63. This is the Manna it self the true treasure the other but the visible or earthen vessel which held it The body of flesh was but the vail Heb. 10.20 The eternal life was the substance vailed The one he did partake of as the rest of the Children did the other was he which did partake thereof Heb. 2.14 The one was the body which was prepared for the life for it to appear in and be made manifest Heb. 10.5 The other was the life or light it self for whom the body was prepared who took it up appeared in it to do the will Psal 40.7 8. and was made manifest to those eyes which were able to see through the vail wherewith it was covered John 1.14 Now is not this sound according to the Scriptures and is it not a good way to know this by unity with it by feeling a measure of the same life made manifest in our mortal flesh 2 Cor. 4.11 This we confess is our way of understanding these things and likewise of understanding the Scriptures which speak of these things And we have found it a far surer kind of knowledg namely to understand the Scriptures by experience of that whereof the Scripture speaks than to guess at the things the Scripture speak of by considering and scanning in the earthly part what the Scriptures speak of them Such a kind of knowledge as this a wise man may attain to a great measure of but the other is peculiar to him who is begotten of God whose knowledge is true and certain though it seem never so different from his who hath attained what he hath by the search of his wisdome 3. Concerning the holy Scriptures being a perfect rule of faith and life The new covenant is the covenant of the Gospel which is a living covenant a spiritual covenant an inward covenant and the law or rule of it cannot be written outwardly Read the tenour of the new covenant Heb. 8.10 I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts If God himself should take the same laws and write them outwardly yet so written they are not the new covenant at most they would be but an outward draught of laws written in the new covenant And mark this is one difference given between the new covenant and the old
the laws of the one were written outwardly in tables of stone the laws of the other were to be written in the heart That is the book wherein the laws of the new covenant were promised to be written and there they are to be read So that he that will read and obey the Laws of the covenant of life must look for them in that book wherein God hath promised to write them for though in other books he may read some outward descriptions of the thing yet here alone can he read the thing it self Christ is the way the truth and the life What is a Christians rule is not the way of God his rule is not Gods truth his rule and is not the truth in Jesus where it is taught and to be heard and to be received even as it is in Jesus Ephes 4.21 Is not he the King the Priest the Prophet the Sacrifice the Altar the way to God the truth of God the life it self the living path out of Death yea all in all to the believer whose eye is opened to behold him The Scriptures testifie of Christ but they are not Christ they also testifie of truth and are a true testimony but the truth it self is in Jesus who by his living spirit writes it in the heart which he hath made living And so a Christians life is in the Spirit if we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit Gal. 5.25 The whole life and course of a Christian is in the volumn of that book as the Lord opens the leaves of it in him The gift of God the measure of faith given him by God that 's his rule that 's his rule of knowledge of prophesying of obedience Heb. 11. Rom. 1.4 and 12.6 if he keep there if he walk according to the proportion of it he errs not but out of the faith in the the error in all he knows in all he believes in all he does The new Creature that which God hath new created in the heart in which life breaths and nothing but life breaths which is taught by God and true to God from its very infancy that 's his rule whereby he is to walk the Apostle expresly calls it so Gal. 6.15 16. That which is begotten by God is a Son and the Son as he is begotten by the breath of the Spirit so he is preserved and led by the same breath and such as are so led are Sons and none else for it is not reading of Scriptures and gathering rules out thence that makes a Son but the receiving of the spirit and the being led by the Spirit Rom. 8.14 15. And being the whole worship of the Gospel is in the Spirit there is a necessity of receiving that in the first place and then in it the soul learns to know and wait for its breathings and movings and follows on towards the Lord in them The Spirit cannot be with-held from breathing on that which he hath begotten and that breath is a guide a rule a way to that which it breatheth upon Now this is most manifest even from the Scriptures themselves they expresly calling Christ the way the truth c. the new creature the rule the faith grace or gift given to be the rule testifying the heart to be that which God hath chosen to write his laws in but where do they call themselves a perfect rule of faith and obedience They are they saith Christ which testifie of me and ye will not come to me that ye might have life Iâ—â— 5.39 40. Life cannot be received from the Scriptures but only from Christ the fountain thereof no more can the Scriptures give the rule but point to the fountain of the same life where alone the rule of life as the life it self can be received The Scriptures cannot ingraft into Christ nor give a living rule to him that is ingrafted but he that hath heard the Testimony of the Scriptures concerning Christ and hath come to him must abide in him and wait on him for the writing of the law of the Spirit of life in his heart and this will be his rule from the law of sin and death even unto the land of life Now if men have mistaken in the night of darkness and put the Scriptures out of their place even into the place of the Spirit and so have become Ministers not of the Spirit but of the letter whereas the Apostles were made able Ministers of the new Testament not of the letter but of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.6 Let them not be offended at the Spirit of God for teaching us otherwise nor at us for learning as the Spirit of God hath taught us the Scriptures also testifying that this is the rule but no where setting up themselves for the rule And it is the same Spirit which would now fix men in the Scriptures to keep men from Christ the living rule and only way to life eternal as formerly kept men by traditions from the Scriptures though it is hard for them who are intangled in this deceit to see it Now for the proof of these things thus barely here charged the reader is referred to Mr. Norton's as they stile him Tractate against the Quakers Concerning the validity whereof I refer the Reader to Francis Howgils Answer thereto wishing him to read both in the fear and dread of the Almighty waiting for his counsel to guide him in the true discerning which of them savours of mans wisdome and which of them writes from acquaintance with the truth it self In which Answer of his he recites such errors of that Norton as would make a great sound against the Quakers if any such could justly be charged upon them I shall mention only two or three of them viz That God is a distinct Subsistence from the Son and Spirit and That the Son is a distinct Subsistence from the Father and the Spirit and because it is said the Father shall give you another Comforter this another he saith is intelligible of the Essence Are there then three distinct infinite Essences or Beings That the Spirit of God without the Letter is no Spirit He was before the Letter he was never limited to the Letter he will be after the Letter and he is what he is without the Letter That Christs words John 17.21 give an uncertain sound where have any of the Quakers cast such a blemish upon any portion of Scripture Surely this man had more need to seek to have his own vessel cleansed than to accuse others of Errors or Blasphemy And if he have no other way to overthrow them than by maintaining such kind of things as these against them he will never get victory over them any other wayes than by the outward sword but by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of his testimony and not loving their lives unto the death they will easily overcome all such kind of Champions 4. The fourth and last instance which they give of the
there is a large difference between what was lawful to be done in the kingdom or common-wealth of Israel and what is now lawful to be done The kingdome or common-wealth of Israel was a state outwardly representative of what was inwardly to be done in the state of the Gospel by Christ the King thereof He is the King and Law-giver to his people and he is their Judge concerning their receiving or rejecting them concerning their obeying or disobeying them concerning their holding the faith or their letting go the faith and maintaining things contrary thereto And he doth judge his people here in this life so far as he thinks fit Heb. 10.30 31. reserving also what he thinks fit for another time of judgment Act. 17.31 And who is he that shall take his office out of his hand and judge one of his servants in the things of his kingdome Rom. 14.4 Is not this an intruding into Christs Kingly office He gave authority to command for the doing of such things outwardly before his coming as might represent what he would do inwardly after his coming but where hath he given authority since his coming to do such things any more Doth not the typical King with his typical government cease after that king with his government which it figured out is come O Governours of New-England to take away the life of a man is a weighty thing and the Lord will not hold him guiltless who either doth it in a violent manner or who maketh an unjust law to do it by But how pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints O how will ye be able to bear the weight of their blood when the Lord maketh inquisition for it ye had need have a very clear warrant in this case O how will ye answer this thing at the judgement seat of Christ Alas such arguments as these will stand you in little stead But ye have done it and now must maintain it and it is exceeding hard for you being thus deeply ingaged in the sight of the Nations to come to a sober and serious consideration of the state of the case as it stands before the Lord. 2. The second ground or consideration which they hold forth to clear their Law of banishment and death against the Quakers to be warrantable and just is this Because they are far from giving that honor and reverence to Magistrates which the Lord requireth and good men have given to them but on the contrary shew contempt against them in their very outward gesture and behaviours and some of them at least spare not to belch railing and cursing speeches c. Answ That we do not give that honour and reverence to Magistrates which the Lord requireth deserves a weighty proof For what we do or forbear in this kind we do as in the sight of the Lord as persons who are not only liable to suffer from men but also to give an account to him at the last day Now towards Magistrates our carriage is thus as in the presence of the Lord. 1. We observe their commands in all things that are according to God We submit our selves to the government that is supream and to the Governours under the supream for the Lords sake who in their several places ought to be for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well according to 1 Pet. 2.13 14. This is Gods ordinance and here Magistracy is in its right place namely in punishing the evil doer for his evil deeds but not make a man an offender for a word or for a gesture which is neither good nor evil in it self but as it is done He that pulleth off his hat or boweth in flattery or to please man in him it is evil he that forbeareth to do it in obedience to God and in the fear of his name in him it is good 2. When any Magistrates punish us for wel-doing for our obedience to the Lords spirit though we know God never gave power to any Magistracy to punish therefore yet we patiently suffer under them referring our cause to him that judgeth righteously and waiting on him for strength to carry us through our sufferings for his names sake 3. When we appear before them we appear as in the Lords presence desiring his guidance that we may give due honour and respect to all that is of him in them and may be kept from honouring or pleasing that which is not of him and which he would not have us honour This is the temper of our Spirits and accordingly is our carriage as in the sight of the Lord what ever men deem of us But the great matter is because we do not pull off our hats and bow to them or that we use plain language to them as thou and thee to a particular person which some of them will needs interpret to be contempt though others of them who are more sober and considerate can clearly discern that it is not at all in contempt either to their authority or their persons but in meer single-hearted obedience to God Now to drive this a little towards a fair trial consider in meekness and in Gods fear 1. What kind of honour this is which is thus much stood upon Is it the honour which is from above or the honour which is from below What part springs it from in man from the new-birth or from the earthly nature what doth it please in man doth it please that which is begotten of God doth it please the meekness the humility the lowliness the new nature or doth it please help to keep up the old nature the lofty spirit even that part which is prone in every man to be exalted out of the fear of God For this I may freely say that whatsoever is of the earth hath an aptness in it to feed the earthly part and particularly this of outward bowing to the creature is apt to hurt him that doth it and is likewise apt to hurt him that reciveth it In mans giving and receiving honour God hath been forgotten They have forgotten God who have been giving honour to one another and they have forgotten God who have been receiving honour from one another And what if the Lord who hath made us sensible of the evil herein hath laid a restraint upon us can any forbid the Lord from laying such a thing upon us or is it lawful for any to go about to hinder us from obeying the Lord therein Thou who art thus eager in contending for honour Art thou sure it is not the evil part in thee which doth so desire it If it be the good part in thee thou wilt desire it in meekness and gentleness yea and will be able to bear the want of it with joy where it is denyed thee upon such an account that it may run more purely towards the Lord. Now if it be earthly honour it is of a perishing nature it is not
upon pain of death yet if the Lord require them either to stay or return they know whom to fear and obey which delivers them from the fear of them who can only torture and kill the body and they had rather die in obedience to the Lord than feel the weight of his hand upon their souls for their disobedience It is not in this case as it is in ordinary banishment upon civil accounts where it is in mens will and power to abstain from the place from which they are banished but they must fulfil the will of their Lord not at all regarding what befals them therein 4. The fourth Ground or Consideration to justifie their Law of Banishment and Death against the Quakers is drawn from their right and propriety which every man hath in his own house and land and from the unreasonableness and injuriousness of anothers intruding and entring into it having no authority thereto yea and when the owner doth expresly prohibit and forbid the same And that if any presume to enter thus without legal authority he might justly be impleaded as a thief or usurper and if in case of violent assault he should be killed his blood would be upon his own head Whereupon it is argued thus that if private persons may in such case shed the blood of such intruders may not the like be granted to them that are the publick Keepers and Guardians of the Common-wealth have not they as much power to take away the lives of such as contrary to prohibition shall invade or intrude into their publick possessions or territories And that the Quakers do thus invade and intrude without authority they urge thus For who can believe that Quakers are Constables to intrude themselves invade and enter whether the Colony will or no yea contrary to their express prohibition If in such violent and bold attempts they lose their lives they may thank themselves as the blamable cause and authors of their own death Answ It is no invasion nor intrusion for any Messengers and Servants of the Lord to enter into any part of his earth at his command upon his errand and about his work And if any should be so sent to the house of a particular person to deliver a message from the Lord and the owner of the house instead of hearing and considering his message in meekness and fear whether it were of God or no should be rough and violent with him and command him off before he had delivered his message and either upon his not immediate going off or his return with another message for the Lord if he please may send him again should fall upon him and kill him upon whose head would this mans blood light 2. If men will needs have it go for an invasion it is an invasion of a spiritual nature and the defence from it cannot be by carnal weapons Killing of mens persons is not the way to suppress either truth or error How have the Papists been able to defend their Kingdome or suppress the truth by their bloody weapons They may prevail in their Territories against mens persons for a season but the truth will have a time of dominion and will in the mean time be getting ground in mens minds and consciences by the sufferings of the Witnesses to it Nay my friends if ye will defend your selves from this invasion ye must get better weapons 3. Is this your rule concerning any that shall come in the name of the Lord that if they be not Constables or other earthly-Officers ye will banish them and put them to death Is the Lord of heaven and earth limited to send none but Constables among you Well ye may judge by your Law while your day lasts but the Lord in his day will clear his Servants and Messengers though they have not been Constables and lay it upon the head of them who have unrighteously shed it 5. The fifth Ground or Consideration whereby they justifie their Law of Banishment and Death against the Quakers is this Corruption of mind and judgement is a great infection and defilement and it is the Lords Command that such corrupt persons be not received into the house which plainly enough implies that the houshoulder hath power enough to keep them out and that it was not in their power to come if they pleased whether the housholder would or no. And if the father of the Family must keep them out of his house the Father of the Common-wealth must keep them out of his jurisdiction they being nursing Fathers and nursing Mothers by the account of God So that what an housholder may do against persons that are infected with the plague or pestilence who may kill them if otherwise he cannot keep them out of his house a Magistrate may do the like for his Subjects And if Sheep and Lambs cannot be preserved from the danger of Wolves but the Wolves will break in amongst them it is easie to see what the Shepheard or Keeper of the Sheep may lawfully do in such a case Answ It is granted that Corruption of mind and judgment is defiling and infectious and therefore every heart that knows the pretiousness of truth is to wait on the Lord in his fear in the use of those means which he hath appointed for preservation from it but that killing the persons is one of the means God hath appointed this is still the thing in controversie and is still denyed to be either proper in it self or sanctified by God to this end The Apostle sayes there must be Hereticks that they which are approved may be made manifest 1 Cor. 11.19 but he doth not say hereafter when there are Christians Magistrates they must banish or cut off the Hereticks as fast as they spring up but God hath use of these things for the exercising of the spirits of his people and the truth gains by overcoming them in the faith and power of the spirit And so as touching Wolves the Apostle Paul called the Elders of the Church of Ephesus and told them that after his departure grievous Wolves should enter in among them not sparing the flock Acts 20.28 29 31. The Lord hath put into the hands of his Shepherd a sword which will pierce to the heart of the Wolf he standing faithful in the power of God in the life of righteousness need not fear any Wolf but by the power of the spirit and presence of the truth shall be able to preserve the consciences of his flock pure to God What kind of Shepherd is he that cannot defend his flock without the Magistrates sword but take away that the Wolf breaks in preys upon his sheep Surely the true Shepherd who knows the vertue of the sword God hath put into his hand will never call to the Magistrate for his sword of another nature which cannot touch the Wolf the Heretick the Seducer but only flesh and blood with which the Ministers of Christ never wrestled nor fought And this is
not the way to preserve the hearts and consciences of the flock it may perhaps strike terror into the fleshly nature but their consciences are so much the more apt to be wrought upon by the doctrines patience and sufferings of those who are thus dealt with The Magistrates sword being thus used doth not at all preserve that which is tender but hurts it dis-ingages it stirs up a Witness in it against those that thus go about to defend that which they call truth that build up their Jerusalem with blood and govern their flock with force affrighting them from that which they call errors and affrighting them into that which they call truth with an outward sword whereas the true Temple is built in peace governed in peace maintained in peace defended by peace and Errors and Hereticks dispelled by the power of the spirit manifesting the deceit to the conscience and not by the sword of the Magistrate dealing with them as with worldly Malefactors Now this I say as before the Lord The true Shepherd who hath received the sword of the Spirit and hath tried the vertue of it cannot distrust it cannot desire the Magistrates help by outward force against errors or heresies he that looketh upon it as insufficient and calleth to the Magistrate for his sword plainly discovers that he hath not received or knoweth not the vertue of the true one and dishonoureth both his Masters work and weapon For that place of 2 John 10. It is one thing for a man not to receive a man into his house and another thing for him to kill that person who offers to come against his will Do ye believe in your hearts that the Apostles intent was to direct the Christians to whom he wrote to keep them out by violence and to kill them if they could not otherwise keep them out Though the parrallel is not proper for God hath often sent his Servants into countries cities places of resort against the will of the rulers Priests and false Prophets but never to break violently into any mans house The Magistrate keeping in his place cannot but be a nursing Father to the Church for let him draw out his sword against that wickedness which is proper for him to cut down it will exceedingly help to nurse up the Church but where hath the Magistrate commission to meddle with any of the spiritual shepherds work Nay his sword was never appointed to cut down errors or heresies or hereticks but the sword of the Spirit in the hand of the spiritual Shepherd God hath set up an hedge between these two powers which he that breaketh down layeth both waste as to their true use vertue and order and this Antichrist hath long done in many appearances The bringing of these two to rights setting each in their proper place will give such a wound to his kingdome as he will not be able to recover And mark this by the way Antichrist hath all along made use of the Magistrates sword to slay the Lambs under the name of Hereticks Sectaries Wolves Blasphemers but Christ comes with the spirit of his mouth to slay Antichrist 2 Thes 2.8 That 's the sword all the Hereticks Seducers and false Prophets were slain with in the Apostles dayes before the Apostacy and that 's the sword that Antichrist who hath made use of the other sword against Christ all along the Apostacy shall be slain with after the Apostacy When Christ comes to fight against Antichrist who hath cruelly torn rent and butchered his people under the name of wolves he will take his own sword which is the words of his mouth That did the work at first that must do the work again But in the middest between these two seasons there hath been bad work made with the Magistrates swords the witnesses upon every appearance and breaking forth of Gods truth in them having been liable to feel the smart of it 6. Their sixt and last ground and consideration whereby they justifie their law of banishment and death against the Quakers is this It was the commandment of the Lord Jesus unto his Disciples that when they were persecuted in one City They should flee unto another and according it was his own practise and the practise of the Saints who when they have been persecuted have fled away for their own fasety This they say reason requires that when men have liberty unto it they should not refuse so to do because otherwise they will be guilty of tempting God and of incurring their own hurt as having a fair way open for the avoyding thereof but they needlesly expose themselves thereto Whereupon they argue thus If therefore that which is done against the Quakers were indeed persecution what spirit may they be thought to be acted and led by who are in their actings so contrary to the commandment and example of Christ and of his Saints in the case of persecution which these men suppose to be their case Plain enough it is that if their case were the same their actings are not the same but quite contrary So that Christ and his Saints were led by one Spirit and these people by another for rather than they would not shew their contempt of authority and make disturbance amongst his people they chuse to go contrary to the express direction of Jesus Christ and the approved example of his Saints to the hazard and peril of their own lives Answ Afflictions tribulations tryals persecutions are not to be fled from but to be born and passed through to the Kingdome into which the entrance is through many of these Acts 14.22 and Christ saith he that will be his Disciple must take up his cross daily and follow him Luke 9.23 Now persecution for Christ is part of the cross which the Disciple must not run away from but take up and follow Christ with Yea the Apostle is very express 2 Tim. 3.12 Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution It is the portion of all and all must bear it The World hateth and persecuteth in some degree or other all that are not of the World and all must be content with their daily portion thereof waiting on God for strength to bear the cross not flying it and the Apostle commends the Hebrews for enduring the great fight of afflictions Heb. 10.32 33 34. The Jews were zealous for the Law and Ordinances of Moses and grievous persecutors of the Christians especially of such as had been of them before now the Christians are commended for standing the shock for bearing the brunt for not fearing the loss of name goods life or any thing but eyeing the heavenly treasure So Christ warning of persecution bids the Church to fear none of those things which she should suffer but be faithful unto the death and he that thus overcometh should not be hurt of the second death Revel 2.10 11. and the Apostle Peter sayes if ye suffer for righteousnest sake happy are
of Moses and the Prophets was not the law of the Children of the new covenant as such not in the time of the old covenant The law of Moses was the rule of their outward state it was the rule of the outward Israel but not the rule of the inward Israel no not then in those dayes In Deut. 29.1 Moses makes a Covenant with Israel by express command from God besides the former covenant which he made with them in Horeb. And he saith the commandment of this Covenant is not to be looked for where the other was written but in another place in a place neerer to them even in ther mouth and in their heart there they were to read hear and receive the commandment of this covenant For this commandement which I command thee this day it is not hidden from thee neither is it far off Deut. 30.11 it not in heaven ve 12. neither is it beyond the sea ver 13. but the word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart that thou mayst do it ver 14. and this was the way of life then ver 15. see saith Moses I have set before thee this day life and good and death and evil Here thy eternal happiness depends obey this word and live disobey it and die And if they had kept to this word they would also have walked in obedience to the Law but neglecting this they could never keep the Law but still came under the curse of it and missed of the blessings They thought to please God with sacrifices and oyle and incense and observing new Moons and Sabbaths wherein the Lord still rejected them for want of their obedience to this word and the Prophets still guide them to this word bidding them circumcise their hearts which alone can be done by this word and wash away the evil of their doings which alone can be done by this water Yea after much contest between the Lord and them when they seemed very desirous to please the Lord with what he should require whether burnt offerings calves rams or oyl in great plenty the Prophet laies by all that and points them to the obedience of this word as the way to please God and as the only thing that he required of them He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God Micah 6.8 All this is written in thy heart man read there obey that word that is the thing that God requires So Davids Law was the word written in his heart he saw through sacrifices and burnt offerings to the inward writing and this made him wiser than all his teachers who were busied about the outward The outward Law was but a shadow of good things to come it made nothing perfect but David knew a perfect law The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul Psal 19.7 3. The Scriptures of the New-Testament never call themseves the rule but they call another thing the rule they call the writings of Gods spirit in the hearts of his people the Laws of the new Covenant Heb. 8.10 they call Christ the way the truth the life John 14.6 the way is the rule the truth is the rule the life is the rule they call the new creature the rule walking according to which the peace and mercy is received and injoyed Gal. 6.16 they refer to the comforter as the guide into all truth John 16.13 yea as the compass of all truth wherein the believer is to have his whole life and course Gal. 5.25 live in the spirit walke in the spirit follow the spirit keep within that compass and ye connot err A man may err in understanding and interpreting of Scriptures but he that hath received the spirit knoweth the spirit followeth the spirit keepeth to the spirit so far as he doth so cannot possibly err So saith Iohn writing concerning seducers warning against them 1 Iohn 2.26 Ye have received an anointing which teacheth you of all things keep to the teachings of that in every thing and ye are safe But may we not be deceived Nay the annointing keeps from all the deceit in the heart and from all the deceits of seducers it is truth and no lie ver 27. and it leads into all truth and our of every lie And this will teach you to abide in him In whom in the word which was from the beginning which is ingrafted into the heart of the believer and into which the heart of the believer is ingrafted and so he truly is in the vine and the sap of the vine runs up into him which makes him fruitful to God he abiding in the word which he hath heard from the beginning and the word which was from the beginning abiding in him ver 24. And the Apostle Paul saith expresly that the righteousness of faith cometh by the hearing of this word making the same word the rule to the children of the new covenant now as Moses said was the commandement of God to them then quoting this place of Moses for it Rom. 10 6. c. So that Paul indeed taught nothing but Moses and the Prophets pointing to the very same word and commandement of eternal life as Moses had done That is the word of faith which we preach that word which Moses taught which he said was nigh in the heart and in the mouth no man need ascend up to heaven or go down to the deep or seek any where else for it that 's the very thing we point you to that 's the word of faith that 's the commandement of life And with what zeal would Paul were he now alive in the body declare against such who should over-look or deny this word and set up his writing with the writings of the rest of the Apostles for a rule instead thereof yea I could shew yet further how the spirit of prophecy or testimony of Jesus or living appearance of God in the heart hath been a rule to the witnesses against Antichrists deceit all along the night of Apostacy Rev. 11.3 and 19.10 though they themselves being in the night distinctly knew not what was their rule but by a secret breath of life were quickned guided preserved and in it accepted but these things will open of themselves as the mist is expelled and the vail rent which hath over-spread all Nations and covered professors generally in this night of Antichristian darkness and universal apostacy from the living power 2. Consider whether the Scripture be your rule or no that is whether in singleness of heart ye wait on the Lord to open the Scriptures to you by his spirit and to keep out your carnal reason from thence which cannot understand them but will be wresting them and making them speak as it would have them or whether ye take scope to search into them with that part which ever was shut out from the right knowledge of
open to the voyce of Gods Spirit and then no marvel if afterwards ye grew hard and fit to persecute who first had shewed your selves unfit and unworthy to suffer Ye might meet with many crosses afterwards which might neither be able to humble you nor keep you tender having once lost that cross which was appointed of God to do it for all crosses do not break humble or keep the heart low and meek but such as are sent and sanctified by God thereunto 4. Consider when ye came to New-England whether tenderness grew up in you and was abundantly exercised towards such as might differ from you or whether ye were as eager for the way that ye thought to be right as the conformists you fled from were for the way they thought to be right When Israel came out of Egypt into their own Land they were to be tender even toward an Egyptian much more towards their own brethren Now when ye were out of danger of being persecuted your selves did ye lay a foundation of tender usage towards all that should differ from you or did you lay a foundation of persecuting such as differ and would suffer none differing from you but persecute them just as the Bishops persecuted you Did ye flee the having of your selves persecuted or did ye flee the persecuting Spirit For if ye did flee only your own persecution and not the persecuting Spirit in your selves no marvel though it fell a persecuting so soon as the fear of your own persecution was over In this fleshly part there is a persecuting Spirit which if it be not kept down by the power of God though it loves not to be persecuted yet will soon be persecuting 5. Did you feel your selves to grow in the inward life upon your coming into New-England or did that begin to flag and wither and your growth chiefly consist in form and outward order in which ye might easily be mistaken too for many who have given a true testimony and have been faithful in helping to pull down yet have erred when they came to build up That Spirit which is kept low by persecution and gives forth its testimony against things in fear and trembling is many times exalted when it is out of the fear of persecution and can weigh debate consider and resolve things in that part which cannot build for God Ephraim under the rod spake trembling but the rod being off he could exalt his own wisdome and offend in Baal That worship and way of government and order which a man takes up in the fleshly reason and which falls in with the worldly interest he serves not the true God in but Baal This is that destroyes and eats out the life of Religion in many namely the mixing of it with their worldly interest for then the offence of the cross ceases to them and they begin to be offended at others on whom the cross is still laid by God thinking that they may comply with them in joyning their religion and worldly interest together and so avoyd the cross as well as they Nay he that will follow Christ must take up the daily cross even that cross which God daily layes upon him who will still be requiring somewhat which is contrary to his own fleshly part and contrary to the fleshly part of those with whom he converses And as this cross is taken up the worldly part is offended and the life grows cutting down worldly interests and wayes of Religion daily but as worldly interests are followed and kept up the fleshly part thrives and the life decayes and suffers even till at length it come under death and then death hath the dominion 6. Consider whether your chief strength of setting up your Church Government order at first of bringing persons into it and of preserving them in it lie in the spirit and spiritual weapons or in the flesh and carnal weapons if in the spirit and spiritual weapons then ye will be able in God to perswade mens consciences to it and to preserve them by the same vertue and strength which perswaded them and this ye will still have the main recourse to but if in carnal then ye will have recourse to the carnal and there will be your main confidence of keeping up your Church For if it was built by that power it must be upheld by that power so that take that away it falls This is Antichrists strength he sets up a form in the wisdome and maintains it by the outward sword Take him off from this and put him to gaining ground by the demonstration of the Spirit to mens consciences as in the sight of God or to preserving his ground so here he is at a loss and his Kingdome daily falls even in the most refined parts of it Let every Church and people that nameth the name of Christ depart from the wayes of Antichrist and make the Spirit of Christ their strength for that is indeed the only strength of the true Religion both of the inward and outward part thereof In that it begins by that it is preserved and there also it grows and is perfected 7. Consider for it lies upon me to press it yet further and lay it yet more home to you for your good whether the persecuting Spirit did not take its advantage of assaulting you upon your getting from under the cross here into New-England and whether it did not soon find a place in you there and grow up in you and bring you from step to step to that degree of hardness that ye could at length even drink the blood of the Saints That it was then the proper time of the persecuting Spirit to seek to get an entrance into you that is very manifest but whether it did get entrance or no that belongs to you narrowly to search and examine When ye were under the hatches while ye your selves were persecuted then there was little room for that Spirit in you then was not a proper time for your entertaining of it but when ye were at liberty to chuse a way and form of worship then was a proper time for this temptation to prevail with you of setting up your own way as the chief or only way and under a pretence of zeal for God to persecute the breakings forth of his light in others for it could not be expected that that Spirit should directy tempt you who had suffered so much by persecution suddainly to become persecutors of others but to hide its bait under a cover and under a pretence of zeal for God his truths and way of worship to blind your eyes and draw you aside into that which is indeed persecution of it Sin is very deceitful and seeks covers and of all sins persecution has most need of covers it is of so contrary a nature to the tender Spirit of the Gospel Now when sin hath got its cover then by degrees it hardens the heart both from and against the truth Take heed
authority But he was a servant he made use of the gift of the spirit of the power of life wherewith the Father filled him to minister and serve with He did never Lord it over the consciences of any of his disciples but did bear with them and pitty them in their infirmities what can ye not watch with me one hour The spirit said he is willing but the flesh is weak He did not hold forth to them what ever he knew to be truth requiring them to believe it but was content with them in their state and waited till their capacities were enlarged being still satisfied with the honesty and integrity of their hearts in their present state of weakness Nor did he strive to reign over the world or call for fire from heaven when they would not receive him or express indignation when they desired him to depart out of their coasts or pray for twelve Legions of Angels when they came to betray â—im and most unrighteously sought his life but the life he had received of his Father he gave up as a ransom for his disciples yea and for his enemies Mark he did not make use of what was given him to raise himself up above others to make his word to stand for a Law and be received but he waited till that was opened in his disciples and in people which was able to receive his testimony and he made use of his power of life and the fulness of the spirit to inable him the more abundantly to serve and to wait in patience for the fulfilling of the will of the Father And though Israel was not gathered by him yet was he meek and patient and at rest in the will of him that sent him and instead of reigning over all could serve all and give that life whose due it was to reign a ransom for many ver 28. His kingdom was not of this world nor did he seek any greatness or authority according to this world neither over the Jews nor over the Gentiles nor over his own disciples but he served all he sought the good of all the life in him which was to reign over all yet here served all suffered for all and from all and that was his way to his crown who having finished his course fulfilled his service perfected his sufferings is sit down on the right hand of the Majesty on high where now he reigns over all and is made a King by God in righteousness And this is the pattern which all his disciples are to walk by The more life they receive the more they are to minister the more they are to serve They must not lift up themselves by their gifts they must not hereupon Lord it over others or hold forth their knowledge or doctrines and think to make others bow thereto but wait in their service till the Lord make way into mens hearts and plant his truth there and upon him also must they wait for the watering and growth of it Quest But is there to be no greatness no authority among the disciples of Jesus or in the Church of Christ Is every one to do what he will to be subject to his own fancies and imaginations to the inventions of his own corrupt heart what a confused building will this be Sure this will not long remain a Zion but soon become a Babylon even an heap of disorder and confusion Answ There is to be no such kind of greatness no such kind of authority Yet there is both a greatness and authority suitable to the state of disciples suitable to that kind of kingdome whereof they are There are Laws there are Governments there are Governors there is ruling and there is subjection but all in the spirit all suitable to that which is to bo governed but no government of or according to the flesh As Christs kingdom is not of this world so the government of his Church and people is not according to this world but as that which gathers is his spirit and that which is gathered is spiritual so that which is governed is the spirits of his people and they are to be governed by his spirit and spiritually and not after a fleshly manner Thus Christ himself though he ministred to his disciples yet he also was their Lord and Master and in the spirit and life of the Father ruled over them and thus the Apostles and other ministers of Christ had likewise in the spirit the care of the Churches and authority in the Lord by his spirit to govern the spirits of his people not to govern after a fleshly manner by their own wills not to prescribe them in a Lordly way either what they should believe or practise but in the light and in the power of the spirit to make their way into every ones conscience in the sight of God ministring to every one in the spirit according to their capacity and growth and waiting patiently for God to convey the food and nourishment and to build their spirits up in the faith thereby The Spirit of the Prophets is subject to the Prophets Here is the government here is the law of rule and subjection in the life Every one feeling a measure of the Spirit in himself is thereby taught to own and subject to a greater measure of the same Spirit in another He that hath no measure of the Spirit of God he is not of God he is none of Christs and he that hath received a measure of the Spirit in the same spirit feeleth anothers measure and owneth it in its place and service and knoweth its moving and cannot quench it but giveth way to it with joy and delight When the Spirit moves in any one to speak the same spirit moves in the other to be subject and give way and so every one keeping to his own measure in the spirit here can be no disorder but true subjection of every spirit and where this is wanting it cannot be supplyed by any outward rule or order set up in the Church by common consent for that is fleshly and lets in the flesh and destroyes the true order rule and subjection The Apostles and Ministers of Christ come from Christ with a message of life and salvation with a testimony concerning the good will of God and his love to mankind pointing out the way from death to life from bondage to liberty from wrath and destruction to peace and salvation What they have seen what they have felt what they have tasted what they have handled what they have found redeem and deliver them that they declare abroad to others as they are moved as they are sent as they are guided and assisted Now that which they preach to is mens consciences in the sight of God They open the truth which they know they give their testimony in the moving leading and power of the Spirit and they leave it to the same spirit to demonstrate it to mens consciences as it pleaseth They are nothing they