the Truth they shall believe Lyes What Difference shall we think is there between these Men The Quakers sin is like the great sin of the hardened Jews the Teachers among the Quakers who have delivered these Damnable Doctrines afore-mentioned being the Doctrines of Devils and still maintain them What difference I say between them and those Jews who Blaspemed the Holy Ghost and ran into that sin unto death Those Jews Rejected Christ his sayings and Doctrine which he Taught among them and they told him that he had a Devil Christ tells them then after that he had often spoken unto them and Taught them and they would not hear him nor regard his sayings he then Declares unto them their dreadful state And surely the sin of these Men looks so like unto the sin of those Jews that I think it 's hard for any Man to distinguish them otherwise than by saying That the sin of these Teachers does Exceed the sin of those Jews The sin of these Men seems to be much Aggravated in that they have not onely heard all those Sayings and Doctrines of Christ which he Preached among the Jews but they have had the Truths of God Offered and tendred to them by others also the Apostles Evangelists and Disciples of Christ have spoken to them in the Scriptures which those Jews never had And also many of the Ministers Messengers and Ambassadors of Christ have spoken to them and tendred the very Truths of the Gospel to them yea many others of his Faithful Saints and Servants have from time to time spoken to them and Advised Counselled and Admonished them and yet all in vain they have Rejected all and despised all and have as Swine Trampled Pearls under their Feet and turned again and Rent those that brought them they have Reviled them and Reproached them for so doing so that to what purpose should any Man go about to Teach these Teachers who are not capable to Learn as being Blinded and Hardned and Sealed up as is feaâ—ed even to destruction having their Consciences seared with an hot Iron Men of Corrupt Minds Reprobate to every good work without Judgment unfit either to Teach or Learn For we know there have been many such in former days who were guilty of this great sin some such were contemporaries with the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 6.10 Make the Heart of this People fat and make their Ears heavy and shut their Eyes c So also many such were in the Time of our Lord and Saviour Mat. 13.15 This Peoples Heart is waxed gross and their Ears are dull of Hearing and their Eyes they have closed lest at any time they should See with their Eyes and Hear with their Ears and should Vnderstand with their Heart and should 〈◊〉 Converted and I should heal them In this Generation there are just such a People even those of whom we speak they shut their Ears and their Eyes and their Hearts against Christ and the Truths of the Gospel All the Advice and Councels of Men which are according to the Truth all are Rejected and Despised The Inspirations of the spirit of God are refused but the Inspirations of the spirit of Delusion are readily Received and Embraced My Judgment is therefore let them be Rejected as Hereticks having been so often Admonished as Men that are hardned to Destruction And for the Hearers among the Quakers Advice to the Hearers among the Quakers my Councel unto you is Separate your selves from the Congregations and Meetings of these ungodly Men lest ye be Consumed in all their sin Be as much afraid of them and of their Poysonous Doctrines as ye would be afraid to eat of a dish of Meat before you on the Table that had rank Poyson in it of which ye were told and fully assured of it Would ye eat of such a Dish I know ye would not Remember and consider Eternity it will be well or ill with you for ever according as ye Receive or Refuse the Truths of the Gospel now Beware of False Prophets which come to you in Sheeps clothing but inwardly they are Ravening Wolves if ye be the Sheep of Christ follow him and know his Voice in the Scriptures in your hearts and amongst his own People and follow not Strangers that bring strange false Doctrines about the Light within and in many other things which have been mentioned contrary to the Mind of Christ Revealed in the Scriptures These People the Quakers The Quakers great Idol near falling have forsaken the Fountain of Living Waters and have run to broken Cisterns And seeing they have forsaken the Living and true God the Glory of his People and set up an Idol a false Christ the Light in every Man and Woman that cometh into the World I shall therefore bring against this their false Doctrine several Arguments from Scripture to prove the Vanity and falshood of it as so many Pieces of Ordnance Planted against this great Idol which the Quakers have set up and Worship that so it may fall as Dagon before the Ark of the Lord. Whereas they say That Christ the true Light is in every Man and Woman that cometh into the World This is not a Truth because in whomsoever Christ is and dwells he does enlighten that Soul with true Light saving Light supernatural Light even by himself by his Spirit and by the Scriptures It 's true all wicked Men that come into the World have Lights of Christ's making he Created them which Enlighten all Mankind and that both Outwardly and Inwardly 1. They are Enlightned Outwardly by Lights that God hath Created and set in the Heavens the Sun and the Moon by which all are Enlightened 2. And then Secondly All Men and Women that come into the World are Enlightned with Inward Light also Reason and Natural Conscience So Christ the true Light Enlightneth all that come into the World which is all that is Intended and meant by that place John 1.9 But Christ himself is the true Light the Light of Lights who inlightneth his own People immediately by himself and by his Spirit which the wicked of the World are not Partakers of they have onely those common Lights afore-mentioned As is fully and plainly Proved by these Scripture Arguments Ten Propositions Proved by Scripture Those in whom Christ is and and dwells First Argument Prop. 1. he Inlightens them with spiritual Light But wicked Men and women are not Inlightned with spiritual Light therefore Christ is not in wicked Men and women For Proof of these Propositions both Major and Minor then the Conclusion drawn from them must needs be granted by all Rational Men See Eph. 5.8 Ye sometimes were Darkness but now are ye Light in the Lord walk as Children of Light And Paul was sent to turn Men from Darkness to Light Acts 26.18 And we see the Corinthians who sometimes were Darkness and afterwards Converted Paul says 2 Cor. 4.6 God who commanded the Light to shine out of
People fat and blind their Eyes that seeing they may see and not perceive Not that God put in any more blindness into Mens minds but withholds his Grace and denies his Spirit but permits the Evil Spirit the god of this unregenerate World to blind the Minds of them that believe not lest the Light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ should shine unto them And seeing that the Light of the Gospel does shine so Gloriously in this Day and ye Reject it and Despise it we have cause to be perswaded you have in you this double Darkness and Blindness notwithstanding all your Pleading for the Light within Ye know not what ye say nor whereof ye Affirm Thou and thy Friends as thou callest them do quite mistake that Scripture This Scripture John 1.9 grossely Mistaken whereupon ye ground your Opinion and Perswasion concerning the Light within John 1.9 This is the true Light that Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World Thou and they put a meaning and sence upon it though in other Scriptures brought against you ye disown all meanings yet here ye make use of a meaning but it is a false one For it is not said that Christ the true Light is in every one that cometh into the World but that he Lighteth every one that cometh into the World Take then the very words and the genuine sence is plainly this That Christ the true Light doth Light every one that cometh into the World and That in two Respects First by an Outward Light and Secondly by an Inward Light The Outward Light is by the Sun in the Firmament with the Moon and the Stars this Outward Light all Men and Women have that come into the World in all Nations Tongues and People Secondly Christ enlightneth them by an Inward light also by the Light of Reason Humane Vnderstanding and Natural Conscience by these Lights also he Lighteth every one that cometh into the World according to that Scripture aforementioned And so much and no more is intended by it as it concerns every one that cometh into the World He is called the Father of Lights having Created divers Lights of several kinds But now as it concerns Believers the peculiar People of God the true Light Jesus Christ enlightneth them with another Light besides the former which none but they onely are partakers of The other Lights are but Darkness to this Light yea the Scripture calls them Darkness in Comparison of this true Light Jesus Christ himself the Son of Righteousness when he arises upon the Soul he makes things manifest and clear which before were hid in Darkness 2 Cor. 4.6 God who Commanded the Light to shine out of Darkness hath shined in our Hearts to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ But as for the Wicked and Vngodly all Vnbelievers which are the greatest part of the World they have not this Light in them as thou James Jackson and the Teachers among the Quakers do affirm and contend earnestly for But they are of the Number of those which the Holy Ghost saith by the Mouth of his Servant Paul in 2 Cor. 4.4 The god of this World hath blinded the Minds of them that believe not lest the Light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them Look well unto it that ye be not of the Number of these blind ones blinded by the Seducing Spirit which is got into your own blind Minds and which ye call and Blasphemously say is Christ the true Light in every Man And verily this is one sad Sign that ye are indeed of that very Number even because ye disown the Gospel of Christ the Scriptures of Truth spoken by Christ himself and by the Holy Ghost Saying and Affirming they are not the Rule to Christians in Faith and Obedience neither do ye submit to have your Spirits Tryed by them but trust to the Light within which is but Darkness as to Seeing and Discerning of Spiritual things For Spiritual things are Spiritually Discerned And know and consider this That if the Gospel of Christ be not Received and submitted unto but Neglected or Rejected then it is hid from such And in such a Case the Apostle Paul saith 2 Cor. 4.3 If our Gospel be hid it is hid from them that are lost whom Satan hath blinded lest it should shine unto them Thou The Quakers Doctrine is directly contrary to the Scriptures James Jackson and other Teaching Quakers teach that Christ the true Light is in every Man and Woman in the World But this is directly contrary to plain and positive Scripture For before Conversion and Regeneration all Men and Women are in Darkness and Darkness in them yea are Darkness it self in the Abstract Eph. 5.8 Ye sometimes were Darkness but now are ye Light in the Lord Walk as Children of Light And 1 John 2.8 Darkness is past and the true Light now shineth Heb. 10.32 After ye were Illuminated ye endured a great Fight of Afflictions Paul knew that all Men were in Darkness and Darkness in them And therefore his Preaching was to turn them from Darkness to Light and from the power of Satan the Prince of Darkness to the Living God Yea our Lord Christ himself the true Light saith John 1.46 I am come a Light into the World that whosoever believeth in me should not abide in Darkness plainly implying that before Men Believe they abide in Darkness And again he saith John 12.35 Yet a little while is the Light with you Walk while ye have the Light Now if Christ had been the Light still remaining in them in every one as the Quakers Teach Christ would not have used these words Yet a little while is the Light with you walk while they have the Light It 's like these Quakers would have Answered him boldly and Ignorantly enough We have the Light within us it is always in us and with us and abides in us and in all Men and Women in the World Go whither thou wilt for we have the Light within us still continually For certainly these Men would no more have owned him nor his Doctrine had they been contemporaries with him than they own him now in these Days And we know they have Denyed him both in his Person and in his Doctrlne as appears Manifestly in their Books and Writings besides Denying of him in Denying his Members It is Evident then That the Teaching Quakers do Deceive the Poor Ignorant Simple People their Hearers with this Doctrine about the light within and speak concerning it directly contrary to the Doctrine of the Scriptures And these poor simple People silly Women as the Apostle calls them 2 Tim. 3.6 finding and perceiving there is some Light within that Discerns some things to be good and moves unto it and on the contrary denies some evil things and will not consent to known Evils They do hereupon conclude that this
now become a New Man he is turned from Darkness to Light and from the power of Satan unto God he is turned from all his former Profane Wicked Debauched course of Life as he tells us and also from being a Parish Priest and not onely so but he is also turned from being a Teacher among the Independents and since come to joyn with the Quakers And now he tells us he is where he would and should be and concludes he is turned to the Lord And counts it a Marvellous thing that any should Deny the Light in every man to be Christ Strong Man Armed p. 14. but say it is the Devil or at best but the Light of Nature But saith he it was never known that the Devil or Nature did ever turn any to the Lord. Answ For Answer hereunto I say it is true it was never known that the Devil or the Light of Nature did ever turn any to the Lord. And here now is another Tryal of thy state and all others that are of thy Principles and Practices Ye take it for granted that ye are turned to the Lord by Hearkning to Obeying and Believing in the Light within for thy part James Jackson thou hast given no Proof nor Evidence at all according to Scripture or the Experience of the People of God that thou art yet Converted to the Lord whereby any Man that is Taught of God should be perswaded that thou art truly Converted to the Lord That which thou dost Manifest to all and which thou thinkest is a ground sufficient to perswade them to believe that thou art a New Man and which it seems is enough to satisfie thy self is this because thou art turned from Profaneness to a more Civil Life and hast also left several sorts of Professors and now closed with the most Holy Innocent People upon Earth yea the onely People of God for so thou hast said of them But let us further Try these two things by a true Touch-stone and Weigh them in the Ballance of the Sanctuary The one The Light within of what sort it is The other the Effects of this Light what it produceth in men And for that Causes are often Difficult to be known and discerned immediately in and by themselves it is best to Try them by their Effects that which they produce and bring forth by which we may come to know of what Nature the Cause is So then This Light within thou sayest The Light within Converts none to the Lord. and wouldest have all Men to Believe hath Converted Thee and many Thousands to the Lord of the People called Quakers but we are wholly left without any Proof Sign or Evidence that you are Converted to the Lord Nay on the contrary we see many Proofs and Evidences that thou and they are not yet Converted to the Lord as have been already and more yet shall be Discovered whereby it will be made plain and manifest that thou and they that are of thy mind are utterly mistaken and deceived concerning both the Cause and the Effect That is ye are mistaken utterly concerning the Light within and the Fruits and Effects of it in and amongst you As for Thee James Jackson Author of the strong Man Armed cast out it is plain and manifest to a Spiritual Eye That thou art yet in the Gall of bitterness and in the Bond of Iniquity for certainly The Tree is known by its Fruits a good Tree cannot bring forth bad Fruits By the Fruits of Trees we know of what Kind or Nature the Tree is that brings them forth dost thou doubt of this thou need'st not if thou dost but remember who it was that said it and all Agree and know it is a Truth So then Thy Fruits Discover thee to be a very Corrupt Tree bringing forth sower bitter poysonous deadly Fruits Thy Grapes are Grapes of Gall thy Clusters are bitter And the like are the Fruits of the Leading Quakers amongst you Thou and they bring forth False Doctrines Errors Heresies and Blasphemies against God his People and his Truths ye give heed to Seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils speaking Lies in Hypocrisie which I shall plainly Discover in several particulars First Thou sayest of many thousands of the Lords peculiar People Strong Man Armed p. 12. That they Build not upon the true Foundation Jesus Christ but that the Teachers of all other Sects and sorts of Professors amongst the Presbiterians Independents Baptists and others they ever Rejected Disallowed and set at nought this stone this true Foundation which is Christ in us the hope of Glory and Build upon some other false Foundation Now let me tell thee thou false Tongue set on fire of Hell hadst thou the true Light in thee indeed as thou sayest of thy self thou wouldst sooner have chosen to have had thy Tongue cut out than to have spoken this Lie in Hypocrisie Or to have had thy Hand cut off than to have wrote it For if it be better for a Man to have a Milstone hanged about his Neck and to be cast into the Sea than to Offend one of those Little ones that believe in Christ what thinkest thou will be the punishment of him that Offends many thousands of those Little ones Yea when the Offence is so high that he Reproacheth Slandreth and Blasphemeth them and their Lord and Saviour in them for he hath said He that Despiseth you Despiseth me Inasmuch as ye did it to one of these my Brethren ye did it unto me Thou Reproachest the true Light in many others by the Real Darkness within thy self And if the Light that is in thee be Darkness how great is that Darkness O it is very great and gross Darkness Consider these words Natural Light is Spiritual Darkness and who spake them it plainly appears from these words spoken by Christ's own Mouth that the Light in Men all unregenerate Men is but Darkness It is Real Natural Light the Light of Reason Vnderstanding and Conscience which yet as to the apprehending of Spiritual things is but Darkness for the Natural Man though never so Wise and Rational cannot see nor Discern the things of God in a Spiritual manner and such a Light within thou hast and mistakest it for the true Light Jesus Christ as is manifest by the Effects as was said for Christ the true Light cannot Reproach his own People nor the work he hath wrought in them as thou dost therefore thy Light is Darkness Nay further have we not good grounds to Believe that the Darkness in thee and many others of your Leaders is more than that Common Natural Darkness that is upon the Minds of all unregenerate Men. There is cause to believe that it is a Judicial Darkness and Blindness as was upon the Minds of many of the unbelieving Jews who Rejected Christ and his Gospel after all his Teachings and Miracles among them Such a Darkness as the Prophet Isaiah speaks of Make the Heart of this