second coming of Christ as the Quakers dream for how improper were it for to celebrate an Ordinance in remembrance of him that was within them I leave to the Reader to judg 2. Christ is not come because that Kingdom is not come that Christ speaks of I will not henceforth drink of the Fruit of the Vine till I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom notwithstanding the Quakers do so abuse that Saying of our Lord. For it is the Duty of the Disciples of Christ to pray for the coming of that Kingdom and it is most evident that the Will of God is not done upon Earth as it is in Heaven for the greatest part of the World live in Disobedience to the Will of God neither doth Christ now drink of the Fruit of the Vine with his Disciples because he is at his Father's right-Right-hand in the glorious Heavens and his Disciples upon Earth are to break and eat Bread and drink of the Fruit of the Vine till he come in remembrance of his broken Body and Blood shed for their Redemption and Salvation in which Christ hath spiritual Communion with them not personal which he will have after his second Coming And 3. Paul and the Primitive Christians did not believe the givings forth of the Spirit to be the second coming of Christ because they believed and expected him to come in a personal glorious and visible manner Phil. 3. 20. We look for the Saviour who shall change our vile Bodies and make them like his own glorious Body that being one thing that will be done at Christ's second Coming And Paul and the Christians did look for Christ's second and personal Coming because they were told Acts 1. 11. That the same Jesus should come in like manner visible in his Body of Flesh and Bones as he did ascend as hath been before proved more largely and as Christ himself shewed his Disciples Mat. 24. at large that his coming should be glorious and visible Rev. 1. 7. Long after the Spirit or Comforter was come faith John Behold he cometh every Eye shall see him and they that pierced him shall mourn 1 Thess 4. 6. For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout with the Voice of the Arch-Angel and the Trump of God c. 4. If the Quakers will need have this to be true which no Christians can allow them that Christ is come the second time as the Scriptures have foretold of him and as he himself said he would and from thence they conclude that Baptism and the Supper of the Lord are at an end I would know whether all other Gospel-Ordinances are not at an end also as Preaching Prayer Acts of Mercy and Charity and the like And if so why do the Quakers pretend to Preach and Pray for in that Kingdom there is no need to teach any to know the Lord no need of Prayer for then the Saints possess the fullest Enjoyments they can pray or wish for they shall hunger no more and so have no need of Alms and in that Kingdom they neither marry nor are given in Marriage neither can they die any more Luke 20. 35 36. But the Quakers pretend to Preach and Pray and give Alms they Marry and they Die See then what horrid Contradictions and gross Absurdities attend this Spirit of Delusion And to what End they bring 1 Cor. 10. 15 16 17. Rev. 3. 20. Prov. 9. 4 5. with Joh. 6. I know not except to abuse the Scriptures or confute themselves All Christians own Christ to be the Bread of Life and have spiritual Communion with him in his Ordinances which spiritual Communion they cannot have whatever they pretend who do not obey Christ in his Ordinances but flight vilify and contemn the same as the Quakers do But those that open when he knocks by the Hammer of his Word those that receive his Word Ordinances and Appointments he will come into them by his Spirit and having Communion one with another as one Bread so their Fellowship shall be with the Father and the Son spiritually and so he hath promised to be with his Church in the participation of his Ordinances to the end of the World And though we highly own and honour the Ordinances of Christ yet as we believe those that reject and despise them whatever they pretend have no spiritual Communion with Christ so also those that are not duly fitted and prepared for them may not expect any Benefit or Advantage by them In the next place they talk of the Seals of the New Covenant Which term in the plural I deny and believe that the Spirit or Holy Ghost those Measures or Gifts thereof that God bestows upon Christians is the Seal of their Acceptance with him as Ephes 1. 13. After ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of 〈◊〉 Whoever accounts these Gospel-Ordinances the Seals of the Covenant are so far mistaken for they are part of the Covenant it self Saith Christ If ye love me keep my Commandments and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that shall abide with you for ever even the Spirit of Truth This Spirit which is promised as a Seal is upon the Terms of keeping Christ's Commandments of which are Baptism and the Lord's Supper Acts 5. 32. He gives this Seal of the Spirit to those that obey him duly observing and obeying Christ's Ordinances and Commands from a real Faith in his Word and Promises as well as in his Death Blood and Merits and also to attend this Gospel Faith with a pious Life and so resigning up our selves to be Christ's he hath promised us the Seal of his Spirit as an earnest of our Inheritance which is hereafter to be enjoyed But vainly do the Quakers feed themselves with Wind in imagining that they have the Holy Spirit or Seal of this new Covenant who rebel against Christ the Minister of the Covenant condemn his Blood despise his Ordinances c. So that from hence it appears they have nothing to do to take his Covenant into their Mouths seeing they hate to be reformed And as for their next Impertinency in talking of one outward Type or Shadow being a Type of another outward Type I am an Advocate for no such Notion neither do I believe that Circumcision was a Type of Baptism but of the Circumcision of the Heart nor that the Passover was a Type of the Lord's Supper but of Christ the true Paschal Lamb slain for the Sins of the World And now to conclude Let all Christians admire the Grace of Christ who gave his Body to be broken and his Blood to be shed and not only so but in love to his People hath left this Ordinance of his Supper in his last Will and Testament to be celebrated he before knowing our Frailties we being subject to forget his Kindness Let us therefore observe it with the rest of his Ordinances and blessed is the Servant whom the Lord
when he cometh shall find so doing A POSTSCRIPT TO THE QUAKERS SIRS You cannot be ignorant that those two great Articles of the Christian Faith viz. The Resurrection of the dead Bodies of Men from the Graves of the Earth and Eternal Judgment are believed as two Principles of the Christian Faith wherein your Belief hath been questioned and you profess your Belief in neither of them in your Paper But the contrary hath been manifested by your own Tongues and Pens for Tho. Lawson and John Slee both Quakers gave William Jeffrey a Paper under their own Hands wherein was asserted That nothing of Man that goes into the Grave shall rise again and one of your Friends with whom I was reasoning upon this Subject asked me If I were so ignorant as to believe that Bulk pointing at my Body should rise again from the Grave But upon occasion you will say You believe the Resurrection of the Body pray then what doth your Friend Turner intend by these Arguments 1. If the Bodies of Men rise again then there is a preheminence in the Bodies of Men above the Bodies of Beasts which is to give Solomon the 〈◊〉 Eccles 3. 19. 2. If the Bodies of Men shall rise again this is to give Job the Lie who saith The Eye that sees me shall see me no more Job 7. 8. 3. Flesh and Blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God who can suppose any other than that the import of these Arguments is to deny the Resurrection of the Body see Mr. Hicks's Dialogue p. 56. To which I answer That the Consequence of neither of these Arguments follows from the Premises for where Solomon saith that Man hath no preheminence above a Beast he shews in what respect he means vers 20. All are of the Dust and all turn to Dust again in this sense all go to one Place and so Man hath no preheminence But in Point of the Resurrection he hath for a way is devised 2 Sam. 14. 14. That Man shall not for ever be expelled from God And a Promise is made Hos 13. 14. I will ransom them from the Power of the Grave I will redeem them from Death for Death and Hell or saith your Margin the Grave shall deliver up the dead c. Rev. 20. 13. And it is true the Eye that saw Job should see him no more not in this mortal State But see Job 19. 25 26 27. For I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And altho after my Skin Worms destroy my Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God Whom I shall see for my self and not another Mine Eyes shall behold him tho my Reins be consumed within me What is more manifest than that Job did believe in the Resurrection After Worms had destroyed his Body yet in his 〈◊〉 he should see his Redeemer Where upon the Earth when at the last or latter Day 3. His Argument from 1. Cor. 15. 50. is exploded the Argument is Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God To which I answer 1st Then let your Friend Tho. Lawson be ashamed of what he saith in his Book p. 9 and 19. where he affirms himself and Friends to be now in Possession of the Kingdom of God aforesaid and to have Eternal Life really in Possession Do you believe Tho. Lawson or any of you now living are not made of Flesh Blood and Bones 2dly We own that Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God First Under a twofold Acceptation of the Word 1. Not carnal sensual and unregenerate Men for John 3. 3 8. Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God That which is born of the Flesh is Flesh c. Marvel not that I said unto thee Ye must be born again or from above saith your Margent The carnal unregenerate Man is said to be in the Flesh and not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be in that State So that to be carnally or fleshly-minded is Death c. Know you not such unrighteous ones cannot inherit the Kingdom of God 2. Neither shall the fleshly Bodies of the Saints inherit the Kingdom of God till a change hath passed upon them 1 Cor. 15. 50. the following words give the Apostle's meaning Neither shall Corruption inherit Incorruption v. 51. this Change must be For ver 53. this Corruption must put on Incorruption and this Mortal must put on Immortality V. 54. Then will be brought to pass the saying Death is swallowed up in Victory Hosea 13. 14. Moreover it appears that Christ rose from the dead and ascended in his Body of Flesh Blood and Bones Luke 24. 39. he said to his Disciples Feel me and handle me a Spirit bath not Flesh and Bones as you see me have and he shewed them his Hands and his Feet that were nailed to the Cross c. Even so will he change our vile Bodies and make them like unto his own glorious Body Phil. 3. 20. Secondly But not to enlarge I could never yet understand by any of your Writings that you own any other Resurrection than the new Birth or Regeneration I shall cite two or three of your Authors Smith's Catechism p. 29. Quest But must Men pass through Death and rise again in this Life or whilst in this Body Answer Yes for except he be regenerated and born again he cannot enter the Kingdom of God and therefore he must die to the first Adam's Flesh and be quickened and rise again in the second Adam's Spirit and so in the Resurrection and Life enter the Kingdom c. See James Nailor's Book Love to the Lost p. 3. Whereby saith he the Heart is freed from Corruption and made able to escape the Pollutions of the World and to run in the pure ways with delight which is the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God the Resurrection from the Dead Add to this the Skill that S. Fisher useth to make null this Article of the Christian Faith in his Velata quâ—dam Revelata Thus But if you will not be admonished nor perswaded by Moses and the Prophets within you neither will ye be perswaded by such of us who were once dead in Sin with you but are now risen to Life by the Power of God which is his Light and in the same sent to speak to you from the Dead The Text he seems to allude to is Luke 16. 31. but what an horrid Abuse this is to the words of our Lord and the Scope and Design of them the Christian Reader will easily see But from what hath been said by these your Leaders and I might enumerate many more of like import thus much may be farily concluded That you believe no other Resurrection but only Regeneration or a new Birth I own that Regeneration is set forth in Scripture under the terms of a Death Burial and Resurrection according to Rom. 6. 2 3 4. Col. 3. 1 4. and
without the Gates of Jerusalem that died was buried and rose again Luke 24. 39. saith Christ It is I my self Behold my Hands and my Feet handle and see for a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as you see me have This I say is the Christ of God as Peter testifies Acts 2. 36. Therefore let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made the same Jesus whom ye crucified both Lord and Christ I pass this and leave what hath been said and the Opinion of the Quakers about the Humanity of Christ to impartial Consideration But lest any should suppose the Quakers do not own such blasphemous condemning and railing Answers as Edw. Burroughs gave to the twenty Questions before hinted at some of which being about the Person or Humanity of Christ and Place of his Residence you have Mr. Penn warranting this Answer from God and by the sense of the Eternal Spirit for he declares It was the Portion and only fit Answer to be given to those trapanning Questions and saith he had Edw. Burroughs gone into a familiar opening unto his vulterous unclean serpertine Eye all the deep Things of the Spirit of God and Mysteries of Holy Kingdom who was in that nature that crucified the Lord of them Edw. Burroughs had brought the Wrath of the Eternal God upon himself instead of the Priest Will. Penn's Reas against Railing p. 164. IV. They profess in their Pamphlet That they believe and expect Salvation and Justification by the Righteousness and Merits of Christ and not by their own Righteousness or Works and that they believe Remission of Sins and Redemption through the Death Sufferings and Bloodshed of Christ This they make a plenary profession of in their Answer to their third and fourth Questions propounded I must now examine whether they believe what they have here so plausibly professed And there are three things to be enquired into which together with the circumstances and Concomitants will unfold their meaning in what they have here professed 1. What do the Quakers intend by the Death and Blood of Christ They do not believe in that Blood that was shed upon the Cross for Robert Ruckhill a Quaker saith in his Paper sent to Tho. Grantham That the Blood of Christ or Blood of Sprinkling never mortal Eye beheld And in pag. 11. of the same Paper he condemns all Professors that know no other Blood of Sprinkling than that which the Jews saw So that the Blood that our dear Lord shed upon the Cross they do not intend for John 19. 34. the Souldier pierced his Side and Water and Blood came out of his Wounds in the piercing of his Hands and Feet this the Souldiers and his Crucifiers saw But this is not the Blood intended see Tho. Lawson's Book pag. 18. I suppose they will not deny him to be a thorow-paced Quaker he saith The offering of Christ's Body to be broken and his Blood to be shed avails not so as through Faith therein to set free from Sin but Blood in a Mystery and a Body in a Mystery which we know not what it is saith Lawson But saith Pennington's Questions pag. 33. this we certainly know and can never call the bodily Garment Christ That is in plain English that Body of Flesh that they can never call Christ Pennington in another Page of the same Book asks Can outward Blood cleanse the Conscience we witness the same Christ that ever was now manifest in the Flesh This Isaac Pennington was an approved Quaker Now if this be not the Mystery of Iniquity I know not what may be called so and it this be not to bring in those damnable Heresies denying the Lord that bought them 2 Pet. 2. 1. prophesied of by Peter what is for the Blood shed upon the Cross is not available say they Now why should these Impostors talk of the Blood of Christ and labour to perswade the World that they expect Justification Redemption and Salvation and the blessed Effects of his Suffering and Dying even Salvation See Pennington's Questions pag. 25. Can outward Blood cleanse the Conscience can outward Water wash the Soul clean What plainer denial can there be of the Efficacy of the Blood of Christ shed on the Cross E. Burrough's Trumpet c. p. 17. All the Presbyterians and Independants with their feeding upon the Report of a thing done many hundred Years ago Thus they deridingly speak of such as believe in the Death and Sufferings of Christ upon the Cross I shall conclude this Confutation of their pretended Profession of Faith in the Blood of Christ Now if the Quakers will assign some other Blood of Christ besides the Blood of the Man Christ Jesus crucified on the Cross that is of this redeeming Nature and Efficacy then I shall be inclined to turn Quaker and not before But let Christians believe in Christ's Death and Blood-shed upon the Cross for Justification Sanctification and Redemption and let the Word of God be true and these Men Liars Rom. 3. 25. Rev. 1. 5. It was this Christ Jesus that was crucified upon the Cross that loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood Heb. 9. 14. Col. 1. 14. We have Redemption through his Blood Heb. 13. 12. Wherefore Jesus also that he may sanctify the People with his own Blood suffered without the Gate c. See Rom. 5. 9 10. Col. 1. 20. Let us believe that Christ's Blood shed upon the Cross was to reconcile us to God Let us for ever admire God for this unspeakable Gift of his Son to die for us that he by the Grace of God should taste Death for every Man Heb. 2. 9. Again Let us believe love and obey so dear a Lord that so freely gave his Body to be broken pierced and mangled in that shameful manner to redeem sanctify and justify such that lay hold upon him Let the Love of Christ constrain us to be followers of God as dear Children and walk in Love as Christ hath loved us 2. Under this fourth Head they pretend to believe and expect Justification and Remission of Sins by the Righteousness and Merits of Christ and Redemption by him I shall now examine whether they do believe and expect Justification and Remission of Sins by the Righteousness and Merits of Christ Now if you will believe their Writings you will see this their Profession to be but a painted and deceitful Flourish for Justification and Remission of Sins by the Righteousness of another is not by them believed See Edw Burrough's Works in Answer to the 14th Query p. 33. God doth not accept any where there is any failing or who do not fulfil the Law and answer every Demand of Justice This were there no other Instance confutes their plausible pretence to Justification and Remission by the Righteousness and Merits of Christ But see Will. Pen's Sandy Foundat p. 25 c. Justification is not from the Imputation of another's Righteousness but from the actual performing and