A JUST DEFENCE and VINDICATION OF Gospel Ministers AND Gospel ordinances AGAINST The QVAKERS many false Accusations Slanders and Reproaches In ANSVVER to John Horwood his LETTER and E. B. his Book called A Just and lawful Tryal of the Ministers and Teachers of this Age and several others Proving the Ministers Calling and Maintenance Just and Lawful and the Doctrine of Perfection by Free Justification preached by them agreeable to the Scriptures VVith the Quakers Objections answered And the Quakers Perfection by hearkning to and obeying a light within them proved contrary to the Scriptures And their Practices in ten particulars proved contrary to the Commands and Examples of Christ and his Apostles By a Lover of Gospel Ministers and Gospel Ordinances Contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered unto the Saints Jude 3. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses so do these also resist the truth men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith But they shall proceed no further for their folly shall be manifested to all men as theirs was 2 Tim. 3. 8 9. London Printed by W. G. for the Author and are to be sold by Isaac Pridmore at the Signe of the Golden Falcon neer the New Exchange 1660. The Epistle to the Reader Christian Reader I Know it will seem strange that I should spend so much time in writing An Answer to those people called Quakers for I confess it seemeth strange to my self For when I first entered upon this Work I did not in the least intend to have written so much nor that which was written should have come to publick view in Print I shall therefore give the Grounds or Reasons moving me both to write and to publish what I had written Wherefore know that the first Reason moving me to undertake this Worke was because of that great Malice and Envie against the Ministers at that time When the black Cloud appeared the Quakers Anabaptists and other Sectaries threatning the utter ruine of our Ministers not onely by their reviling Reproaches false Accusations and the like but by their labouring to get hands to Petition those then in Authoritie to take away their maintenance setled by Law and that because they were no lawfull Ministers as is expressed in one of their Printed Papers presented to those then in Authoritie and by those many Pamphlets printed against Tithes and our present Ministery Published by the Quakers and Anabaptists and when those failed by getting the Army to joyn with them to turn the Parliament men out and setting up themselves in their stead to rule all by their giddy heads theatning that now all the Priests should be turned out as unprofitable burthens to the Common-wealth Notwithstanding all this the Misters were for the most part silent not willing to foul their pens by writing against such a wild generation but in patience committed their cause unto God by prayer who hath in some measure answered them For whose sake next my Lord and Master Jesus Christ I did undertake this Work hoping they and all others will except of my poor weak endeavours and pass by my weaknesses wherein I have slipped either in impertinences or otherwise nor regard the rudeness of my Stile but look on the scope and end of my poor Labours to maintain a Gospel Ministery and Gospel Ordinances although defended without Eloquence or humane Arts in which I hope I have pleased the Adversaries though I despise them in other things The second Reason was because of those many Letters and printed Books sent unto me by several Quakers some of themselves reporting they are unanswerable And considering what Solomon the wise saith Answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his own conceit And I perceive the not answering these men is one ground of their self-confidence and being wise in their own conceit And although this Answer be plain without humane Art or Eloquence yet considering that the persons with whom I have to deal are such as despise all such Learning and mock at Universities and Colledges I suppose this Answer may best fit their spirits coming from a private person who hath not the help of outward Learning and Tongues no more then themselves of w ch they boast that they can write so many Books without those humane helps and that what the Priests as they call them write that is only by their humane learning which they think is ground sufficient for them not to regard what is written by them But I hope they will have so much regard as to read what I have written seeing we are on even terms in that particular The third Reason of writing and publishing this Answer because of the great growth and increase of these Errors by reason of the diligence of the Devils instruments in writing and printing so many Books to spread abrode their Errors some of them have affirmed in my hearing That there is a thousand of their erronious Books printed every week and most of them given away on purpose to delude ignorant people and that there are above thirty thousand Quakers in England and that within less then 3. yeers they shall stop the mouths of all our Priests as they call them they having but one string left to their bow and that Gods Sword was now drawn to cut that and then they are gone Wherefore considering the great diligence of these men and women for promoting of Errour not only by writing and printing their erronious Books but by their diligence in running or going about from one place to another to spread their errors not onely in England but in Ireland Scotland Barbadus and new England Holland and other places I was ashamed to see how cold and backward we are in opposing their errors and defending the Truth of the Gospel Ministerie and Gospel Ordinances against the many assaults of the adversaries and is it not a shame That Sectaries should be more zealous in promoting the kingdom of the devil then we are in promoting the Kingdome of Jesus Christ and yet how many of us have solemnly ingaged our selves by Oath or Covenant to indeavour the extirpation of Superstition Herisie Schism Prophaneness and whatsoever shall be found to be contrary to sound Doctrine and the power of Godliness lest we partake in other mens sins and thereby be in danger to receive of their plagues The consideration of which hath been a chief motive to undertake this work and to cast in my Mite others having brought forth out of their Treasure The fourth Reason moving me to under take this work and publish the same was because many of my old friends acquaintance are seduced from the Truth to these errors of whom I may say as the Prophet David said We took sweet counsel together and went unto the publick assemblies together and not onely friends and acquaintance but some of near relation for whom the bond of nature bindeth me to endeavour their recalling back and the rather because I
been convinced and called out from among them and that by being reasoned with and reading some books written against their errors and who knoweth whether God hath not a purpose to call others out from amongst them and who knows what God may do by small weak means and if the Lord please to convince one soul I shall think my labour abundantly satisfied Secondly I say that there is some hopes of stablishing some that are wavering and that I have had experience of in some that have been ready to close with them that by reading and conference have been setled again in the Truth Thirdly I say That supposing neither of these prove yet I shall not think my labour lost because in Answering them I have written severall Fundamentall Truths in writing which I found much benefit to my self and it may be that some may receive some benefit in reading which shall be my Prayer to God and then I know my labour is not lost in writing being written at such leisure times as I could best spare from other Imployments And I hope that some may find some spare time which they may spend in reading as I did in writing Desiring all that read may lay aside all prejudicate Opinions and accept of the good will of him whose desire and Prayer is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ his Ministers and Ordinances may be defended and maintained and all Errour Heresie Superstition and Idolatry suppressed and destroyed J. G. To John Howard one of the Quakers Teachers and all such as plead for and maintain their erroneous opinions and practices HAving received thy Paper which thou didst read or cause to be read at your meeting in William Bond 's house at Cheeswick and finding in the same many false railing accusations against all the Ministers of the Gospel calling them Parish-hirelings Deceivers and false Prophets deceivers for money such as stand up in the strength of the Dragon against the Lamb and in the way of Balam Ministers of Antichrist such who keep people in their sin by teaching that none can be perfect and free from sin so long as they live in this world And for my self to whom you direct your black Paper you do write many false slanders and revileings saying that I came into your meeting in a raging envious manner uttering forth my malice and poyson against the truth barking like a Dog vomiting up my poysonous stuffe and venomous stuffe with many other the like But I may not expect to fare better than my Master for all that have read your Papers or heard your words know that you make it your chiefest studies to utter forth railing cursing revilings against all persons that are not of your opinions But for all such as are of your opinions you call them in your Letter the Servants and Children of the Lord God the innocent Lambs of Christ the holy seed the called the chosen of the Lord the witnesses the Saints the Children of the Light the perfect ones these are your words and many more and that the truth of this heavy charge against the Parish-teachers as you call them and my self may appear and the innocencie of your self and others Quakers may appear unto all that have the Spirit of discerning I shall by the help and assistance of Almighty God vindicate both the Ministers and my Self from your false accusations And that I may keep some Order and Method which you despise I shall first shew the occasion and manner of my coming into your Meeting and shall appeal to all that heard and saw me whether I writ not the truth I hearing thee prate into the next house and into the street that the grace of God did condemn man I came into the Room being much troubled at thy many false non-sensical speeches telling thee that thou didst talk of the Gospel and the grace of God but thou didst not know what the Gospel was nor the grace of God where I did prove that men are saved by the grace of God and that the Gospel is glad tidings bringing peace and that the Law was called the Ministery of condemnation and not the Gospel which thou couldst not gain-say when and where in a peaceable manner I demanded of thee by what Authority thou didst come there to teach thou saidst that God did send thee and that thou wast not sent by men as the Parish Priests were I replied that all Ministers that were lawfully called to Preach now are not only called inwardly by the Lord but by the Church our Office bearers of the Church which I then proved by plain Scriptures which I 've here writ the better to help your memory and the rather because it is one of your Objections that our Ministers as you call them are not lawfully called as the Ministers and Elders in the Primitive time were And that you may the better perswade and delude people that they are no lawfull Ministers of Christ but of Antichrist you do write many reasons to prove them as you think to be the Ministers of Antichrist all which reasons I shall set down in order and then give you the Answer to every perticular Your first Ground you alledge is that they are not called by the holy Spirit and made over-seers by the holy Ghost but by Men. Your second Ground is because they go to Oxford or Cambridge to learn Natural Arts and Languages Hebrew Greek and Latine Logick and Phylosophy Your third Ground because they study for what they say and get their lessons as a Scholar Your fourth Ground because they study old Authors the writings of those called the Antient Fathers Popish Writers as you call them Your fifth Ground is because they take money for Preaching by the year or Tithes or Glebelands or Augmentations Your sixth Ground is because they keep People in their sins teaching none can be perfect nor free from sin so long as they live upon the Earth Your seventh Ground is because of those fruits which do spring up among Teachers and People as pride and many other sins you name These are all your Grounds which I have gathered out of your confused Paper where the same things are often repeated as your manner is both in writing and speaking and now I shall answer your grounds in order which answer in writing is the same in fact which I have formerly spoken to your self and others of your company at your Meetings at VVill. Bond 's house and other places as many other persons which were then and there present can witnesse and I am the rather moved to take this labour of writing that other sober-minded people may judge whether those things spoken were poysonous venomous stuffe barking like a Dog as you write in your Paper and others of your company have spoken Your first ground is because the Parish Hierling-Teachers as you call them are called and made Ministers by men and not by the Spirit and holy Ghost For Answer to which I shall
they are not the abler Ministers but lesse able and yet I doe not deny but they are lawfull Ministers being lawfully called But I wonder that you make these things to be a ground of their unfitnesse which is rather a ground of their fitnesse for do you not read of the schools of the Prophets and Paul doth thank God that he spake with tongues more than they all which he would not have done if it had been a sin so to do and Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel a learned man in all tongues and if there had been no Scholars that had learned the Hebrew and Greek tongues I wonder how we in England should have understood the Scriptures seeing the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the other in Greek and they are not so perfectly translated but that there is need of the Hebrew and Greek tongues to explaine some texts of Scripture And for the Latine tongue how many learned godly men have written severall excellent books in the Latine tongue usefull in the Church which we had neither known nor understood if they had not been translated out of the Latine tongue into English And besides the Latine tongue is a help to Reading and Writing in the English tongue and by this we may see what friends Quakers are to Religion that would have no helps either for understanding or reading But the Apostle saith that a Bishop must not be a novice and the Apostle Peter saith that there are some things in Paul his Epistles hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures unto their own destruction and are not you Quakers such unlearned unstable persons who plead against Learning And that you are unstable doth appear because for the most part you have been of severall opinions in Religion running from one opinion to another and now grow obstinate for the most part in your opinions But I know your objection that Peter and the rest Apostles were not brought up at Schools nor had no humane Learning To which I answer that as they had an extraordinary Call so God did in an extraordinary manner endow them with the gift of Tongues as you may read in the Acts of the Apostles where it it said They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance Now when I see or hear you Quakers have the gift of Tongues to speak all manner of Languages without being taught in a miraculous extraordinary manner as the Apostles had then shall I believe you have such an extraordinary Call as the Apostles had and till then I shall believe you are a company of deluded bewitched people To say no more to this particular but beware the Geese when the Fox preacheth who hath more Subtily then Learning or Solidity And now I shall answer your third ground against our Ministers Because they study for what they teach To which I answer that the Apostle Paul writing to Timothy saith Give attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given by prophesie meditate upon these things give thy selfe wholly to them that thy profiting may appear to all Take heed unto thy self and unto thy doctrine continue in them and is not Meditation study if you say it is not then read what the Apostle saith in the second Epistle to Timothy Study to shew thy self approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth You Quakers are wiser than the Apostle you say your teachers need not study and Timothy was I believe more able to preach without study than any of your Quakers who take upon them to Teach without study and therefore I marvel not that your Teachers Men and Women speak so much nonsense and use so many vain repetitions of the same things But for dividing the Word or Doctrine which the Apostle exhorteth Timothy to use I never heard among any of the Quakers so oft as I heard them speak also the Apostle exhorteth him that is a Minister to wait on Ministering or he that Teacheth on Teaching the Apostle would that they should make it their businesse or whole work Give thy self wholly to them saith Paul to Timothy I know your objection is that the Apostles preached without study and Paul did work and we Quakers have the same spirit that the Apostles had To which I answer That as the Apostles had an extraordinary Call so they were indowed with extraordinary gifts above any man of an ordinary Calling and although all Ministers have the same Spirit the Apostles had yet have they not the same measure of the Spirit for as the Apostle saith there are diversities of Gifts but the same Spirit to one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdome to another the word of Knowledge to another the working of Miracles to another Prophesie but all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will Now if you Quakers have the same measure of the Spirit as the Apostles had why do you not work miracles as the Apostle did when I see that then shall I believe you can Preach without study and tâ—ll then I shall believe you Prate and not Preach And now I come to answer your fourth ground which is that our Ministers study old Authors the writings of the antient Fathers and Popish Writers For answer to which I do marvel how you Quakers know those antient Fathers to be Popish Authors seeing most of their writings are in Latine and you count it a sin for a Minister to learn Latine and surely if you Quakers had formerly learned the Latine tongue yet now you dare not read Latine books wherefore you have no ground to say they are Popish Authors from your own knowledge but from hear-say of others and so you are a false witnesse-bearer But it is no new thing for you to count all men Popish that are not of your wild opinions but if you had not plowed with the Papists heifer you had never known nor learned so many of their errors as I shall prove hereafter you have but I do believe it is lawfull for a Minister to read Popish Authors and to study what they read else how shall they know what they hold and how to confute their errors unlesse they do as you do take all by hear-say But the the Apostle saith Try all things and keep that which is good and the Apostle writing to Titus that he should oppose those that say against the truth for saith he There are many disobedient and vain talkers and deceivers of mindes chiefely they of Circumcision whose mouths must be stopped which subvert whole houses teaching things which they ought not And that their mouths might be stopped the Apostle alledgeth what one of
the Apostle What doth it profit though a man say he hath Faith and have not Works shew me thy Faith without thy Works and I will shew thee my Faith by my Works according to Christs own words Let your light so shine before men that they may see you good works and glorifie your father which is in Heaven Also the Apostle Paul writing to Titus I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be carefull to maintain good works these things are good and profitable unto men as the Prophet David saith My goodnesse extendeth not to thee but to the Saints that are in the earth So that there is a necessity of good works though not for our Justification namely Gods glory it being the end of our Creation and Redemption and the good and benefit of others for we were not made for our selves but for the good and benefit one of another Also good works the fruits of Faith I conceive are necessary and profitable for those that do them in Faith to evidence aud manifest the truth of their Faith unto themselves though Doctor Crips and several others were of a contrary opinion for although it be true which Christ saith By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have love one to another yet it is also true which the Apostle John saith We know that we are translated from death to life because we love the brethren He that loveth not his brother abideth in death also in that prayer which Christ taught his Disciples Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors Now when God hath given us a heart to forgive the wrongs and injuries of men against us it is a good sign of Gods forgiving of us and this the Disciples of Christ doth evidence when Christ said unto them If thy Brother trespasse against thee seven times a day and seven times a day return saying I repent thou shalt forgive him and the Apostles said unto the Lord Increase our Faith The Apostles apprehended that they had need to have their Faith increased to believe the forgivenesse of their sins that so they might forgive their Brother so many trespasses against them for if a man have no apprehension of Gods mercy in forgiving his sins he can have no true seeling bowels of mercy to forgive others But having by Faith apprehended the free love and favour of God in Christ in forgiving our sins our hearts are so warmed and inflamed in the same that we cannot but forgive others for as the Apostle saith The love of Christ constraineth us and ye your selves are taught of God to love one another Now I hope by this you will be convinced that this doctrine of being Justified and Saved only by the righteousnesse of Christ is no doctrine of carnal liberty to sin and to live idly without doing good works but contrary that it is the only ground and foundation of all good works But because I have often heard some of your Teachers say that a man is saved by the hearkning to the light within him and obeying the same which is a doctrine I have heard taught in the open street in Branford Market by Benjamin Wallis one of the Quakers teachers Wherefore I shall endevour to cleer that to your understandings if you will not shut the eyes of your understanding against the truth Now that there is a light in every man which is a false light by nature teaching him that by doing and obeying the Law of God he shall be saved I deny not but that this light is Christ that I deny but say it is the light that is naturally in every man since the fall of Adam For as Adam did lose the estate of Innocency by disobeying Gods Commandement in eating of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of good and evill so did he naturally think that by obeying or doing he should recover himself again and therefore The Lord placed at the East end of the garden of Eden Cherubims and a flaming Sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life knowing that Adam naturally did think to recover his estate by eatâ—ng of the tree of Life as he lost it by eating of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil and this is natural to all the Sons and Daughters of Adam to believe that they shall come to an estate of blessednesse and happinesse by what they do and therefore the Lord when he gave the Law of the Ten Commandements gave it with Thunder and Lightning and Fire so that the Children of Israel were afraid and desired Moses that he should go neer and here all that the Lord our God shall say and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee and we will hear it and do it and the Lord said I heard the voice of the words of this people they have well spoken all that they have said Now Moses was to stand between God and the people in which Moses was a type of Christ The Lord your God shall raise up a Prophet among your selves like unto me him you shall hear which was Christ for God never gave the Law to that end that men should be Justified and Saved by it but that it might be the ministery of condemnation to drive them unto Christ for the Law is a School-master to drive us to Christ and so long as we live to shew us ous sins and be a rule of obedience unto us and yet the veil of Moses Law is still upon the hearts of the Jews and many of the Gentiles unto this day for as the Apostle saith The Jews which followed after the Law of righteousnesse have not attained to the Law of righteousnesse Wherefore because they sought it not by Faith but as it were by the works of the Law and thus you may see the natural light in many others did lead them and teach them this way of doing or working for life and Salvation The young man in the Gospel that came unto Christ said Good Master what good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life Christ answereth him according to his question and saith If thou wilt enter into life keep the Commandements and asking which Commandement said all this have I kept from my youth up what lack I yet and then Christ sets him such a task that he knew he would not do If thou wilt be perfect go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor and he went away sorrowfull Now the end of Christs words was to convince him of the impossibility of attaining eternal life by doing Also the Jews that came unto Christ at Capernaum said Minde What shall we do that we might work the works of God and Christ answered them plainly This is the work of God That ye believe on him whom he hath sent
forget those things which are behinde and reaching forth unto those things which are before I presse toward the mark for the price of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded that is as many as are perfect by Justification But you will say that the Apostle was then in his warfare as you say he was when he writ the seventh Chapter to the Romans To which I answer that the Apostle and every Christian are in a warfaring condition so long as they live in this world else why doth the Apostle exhort the Ephesians to take unto them the whole armour of God For we wrestle not with Flesh and Blood but against Principalities against Powers against Spirituall wickednesse in high places And the Apostle writing to Timothy saith He is a good Soldier of Jesus Christ and saith fight the good fight of Faith For every Christian hath three great enemies to fight against so long as they live The Devill the World and the Flesh and I say you are no Christians if you do not finde these enemies to fight against Christ is called the Captain of our Faith I marvel that you Quakers are so proud to think and say you are more perfect than the Apostle Paul but you say that Paul had overcome his corruptions To which I answer that the Apostle saith that he had a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet him for this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me and he said unto me my Grace is sufficient for thee Now by that thorn in the flesh is understood some corruption or some temptation which he was troubled with and was to war and fight against it so long as he lived for the Lord denyed his Petition to take it away but answered him My Grace is sufficient to support and uphold thee Wherefore know that so long as the Church of God in general or any member in particular have spiritual enemies so long are they in a warfare But the Church and people of God have spiritual enemies so long as they live in this world therefore are in a waring condition so long as they live in this world But you object the Apostle John saith He that commiteth sin is of the Devil I answer by the committing of sin is meant for a man to give himself up wittingly and willingly to sin to love it and delight in it now a Christian may say as the Apostle Paul said I do the evil that I would not so that it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me Also the Apostle saith He that is born of God sinneth not for his seed remaineth in him To which I answer that as a Christian is regenerate or born of God the regenerate part sineth not but there is in every Christian an unregenerate part which some time as the Apostle saith rebelleth against the Law of my minde or regenerate part and leading me captive unto the Law of sin which is in my members Then I my self though an Apostle in my minde serve the Law of God but in my flesh or unregenerate part the Law of sinne But some of you do farther object and say that Adam in Paradise was perfect and in his Innocency had no sin in him and all that are regenerate and born again are as righteous as Adam was in Innocency To which I answer that every believer is as righteous in and through Christ the second Adam as Adam was in the estate of Innocency and hath a more excellent righteousnesse than Adam had before his Fall for Adams righteousnesse was but that righteousnesse in which he was created the righteousnesse of a man subject to be lost but the righteousnesse which every Christian hath in and by Christ by which alone he is Justified is the righteousnesse of God as the Apostle saith we are made the righteousnesse of God in him for it is the righteousnesse of him who is God Minde in him not in your selves for if our righteousnesse were in our selves then might it be lost as Adams was but that conceit of yours of being as righteous in our selves as Adam was in Paradise you Quakers learned of the Familists and Adamites and as the Adamites did many of them go many times naked to manifest that they are as perfect as Adam was so have many of your Quakers goâ—e up and down naked to manifest that they are as perfect as Adam was in Innocency who was naked and was not ashamed And some of your company have justified the lawfulnesse of their going naked because Adam and Eve were naked in Paradise and were not ashamed But all this doth proceed from your ignorance of the righteousnesse of Christ by Faith by which alone we are made perfect not in our selves but in Christ according to that saying of the Apostle Not by works of righteousnesse which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us that being justified by his Grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life But I say you being ignorant of this righteousnesse of Justification go about to stablish an imaginary righteousnesse in your selves by which you rob Christ of his glory and take the glory due to him unto your selves and I have been the larger in this point that so you may be convinced of this your grosse error for if you erre in this you erre in the foundation and stumble at Christ the Corner-stone who will break you in pieces But if a Man hold the foundation and build upon this foundation gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble If a mans work shall be burnt he shall suffer losse but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire Wherefore I say if you did hold the foundation for your other stuffe of wood hay and stubble I should believe you might be saved yet so as by fire And now I hope I have proved that our Ministers do not preach to maintain people in sin but contrary they Preach that we are justified and made perfect in and by the righteousnesse of Christ alone which righteousnesse apprehended by Faith doth draw the Soul out in love to God in Christ which love of Christ doth constrain them to walk in all works of righteousnesse towards God and love to their brethren and these works are evidences of the truth of their Faith and negatively wheresoever these good works are wanting there is no true saving justifying Faith Now I come to your last ground by which you would prove our Ministers to be false Teachers Your seventh and last ground is because there is no better fruits of or by their Preaching for say you there are many sins in which both Priest and People do live in For answer to which I say that if this be a ground to prove a Minister to be no true
Spiritual gifts are necessary to make melodie unto the Lord in singing yet are they not the onely cause and ground of singing but the chief ground is the moral dutie lying upon all men by the commandment of God If any be merry let them sing Psalms now wicked men are merry as well as godly though they have no true cause All men in general are by the commandment of God and by the light of nature taught to pray to God for his blessings and to praise him for his mercies although I know you Quakers say and maintain the contrary having several times heard you affirm it But I shall make good what I have written by Scripture that it is a dutie incumbent to all good and bad to pray unto God for his blessings Is any afflicted let him pray is any merry let him sing Psalmes Also the Lord hath given a general Commandment to all men upon earth Sing unto the Lord all the Earth make a joyfull noise unto the Lord all the Lands come before his presence with singing Sing unto the Lord all the Kingdoms of the earth O sing praises unto the Lord. Now by all the Earth all the Lands all the Kingdomes of the Earth is to be understood all the People of the Earth Lands and Kingdomes and surely all are not Saints in them The Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods and therefore make a joyfull noise to him with Psalmes he is to be feared above all gods and therefore sing unto him all the earth So that Gods greatness and goodness in his works of creation and providence that concerneth all the sons of men in general are grounds of prayer and praises The Lord giveth food to all flesh therefore let all flesh bless his holy Name Let every thing that hath breath wicked men have breath praise the Lord for his mightie Acts and for his exceeding greatness and let us call upon him and praise him for it is he that made us and not we our selves Now God made all men the wicked as well as the godly and therefore they are bound to pray to God and praise God as well as the godly and therefore the Lord threatneth that he will poure out his wrath upon the Heathens and all the Families that call not on his Name What then shall become of you Quakers that not onely neglect this Dutie of Prayer and Praysing God in your Families but sit down to meat and rise from it more like Swine then Christians But you teach men so to do telling them that it is a sin and so teach men to sin while you teach them to disobey Gods cōmand The Heathen that were in the ship with Jonah may rise in judgement against you for they by the light of Nature knew that God was to be prayed unto and the Heathen Nincvites repented proclaimed a fast and surely prayed as well as fasted and God repented of the evil that he had said he would doe unto them Also wicked Ahab when he humbled himself before the Lord by fasting and prayer the Lord said to Eliah Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me I will not bring this evil in his dayes But you Object That the Prayers of the wicked are an abomination unto the Lord and so their Praises for what hast thou to do to take my Name in thy mouth and hatest to be reformed I answer That it is said also by the same Prophet That the plowing of the plow-man is sin and it is a truth that the eating and drinking of every man out of Christ is sin Will you therefore say that wicked men ought not to plow I fear then we should want corn and if wicked men should refrain from eating and drinking would they not strave and would not they then be guiltie of their own death and so be self murtherers But you must learn to distinguish between Actions morally good and divinely good and between actions civilly good in themselves and divinely good Now to plow or do any other action or work of a mans calling are good civill morall works in themselves and yet the person doing them being not justified they are not good unto him because Whatsoever is not of faith is sin will you therefore teach that no wicked man ought to doe the works of his calling nor eat nor drink because they are sin to him in doing them The reason is the same in morall works to hear read pray sing Psalmes and giving of thanks they are works morally good being commanded by the Lord but the person doing them being not justified they are not good to him but yet ye may no more neglect these duties then the civil duties of your calling For if a wicked man neglect these morall duties he sinneth more then in doing of them for in doing of them he may have a temporary good as Ahab and the Ninevites and we read that when the young man in the Gospel said to Christ All these have I kept from my youth that Jesus beholding him loved him so that Christ did shew his liking and approving of those moral works which he said he had done Wherefore to conclude this answer I believe that although a wicked man cannot be saved by his doing works morally good in themselves yet he shall have less torment in Hell then those that do them not For he that knoweth his Masters will and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes I have made a little digression in answering these Objections because I desire to take in all your Objections by the way and answer them hoping you will not be offended seeing your selves are often guilty of the same fault if it be a fault I aim onely at your good to rectifie your judgements But you Object That in our Assemblies many sing they know not what and many do know that they sing many of the Psalmes that are not sutable to their condition nor sutable to the time and season as when they sing O Lord I am not puft in mind they being proud and My hearts desire is bent thy Laws to keep when their hearts is against the Law This I have heard some of you often object unto me and others against singing of Psalmes That the ignorance of men in discerning the true matter or the right manner of a duty doth not exempt them from performing of their duty for if a man know not what to pray nor how yet that will not excuse him either from praying himself or from joyning with others that are better acquainted with Prayer then himself So what if many a man know not what to sing nor how to sing to Gods praise yet that will not excuse him either from singing himself or joyning with others that have more spiritual skill in that kind then himself That none are compelled to joyn in singing any Psalm in or with the