undone state 'T is true as God begins to work the Evil one works also the slavery of Israel seems to be heavier till God by a powerful Hand and a strong Arm binds the power of the Adversary till he brings the soul from under his dominion And this is understood first in the discovery of sin Secondly in the Reproofs for it and then in the drawings of Gods Spirit wherein if man although he can act nothing that is good yet if he can but stand still and only look on he may be caught before he is a ware as a firebrand out of the fire and the soul seeing its misery will then begin to groan under the bondage of its corruptions at the gronings of which the compassions of God will be stretched forth and his bowels of loving kindnesses will be extended and his Arm will be made bare to work a deliverance out of Aegypt from under the domination of the power of sin Thus will the Soul be brought into a wilderness and into a Warfare where as God of old accompanied his people in a Pillar of Cloud by day and of Fire by night so also now will he accompany them by his Holy and Saving Spirit by which he will give them the knowledge of his Law as afore time at Mount Sina wherein the Condemnation Wrath and Terrors of God against the whole man of sin comes to be known and under the banner of which man must walk till he comes to possess the blessed Inheritance as once the Apostle Paul said the Law is our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ Thus we at length following the Lord which draws us come neer to the good Land come to view and see it to behold the excelency and goodness of it and also to tast of the fruits thereof and now and not till now he sets before us life and death and the will now comes into a certain equal capacity of chosing of either the excellency of what we hope for is set before our eyes God puts us into the capacity of chosing either good or evil before he sets the choice before us and gives us the priviledge of embracing of that which the freedome of our wills inclines us to wherein if we choose death our blood is upon our own heads and the Lord our God is clear And what now could the Lord do more for us he would but we will not he did not say to us when we were in Aegypt dead in trespasses and sins this day have I set before you life and death chose you whether but he first quickned us when we knew him not and brought us into the capacity of chosing and then set life and death before us from whence forward if we dye our destruction is of our selves 23. What is not God Almighty is not he stronger than we cannot he which brings to the borders and sight of the good Land bring into it Yes he can and will bring all that chose the good into the possession thereof but he brings not man thereinto against his will for he gives him the freedome of his choice he that would enjoy life and be everlastingly happy must love and follow the Lord God with all his heart and with all his Soul and with all his might and with all his strength 24. Wherefore is it then that some chose death and perish The Answer is because of an evil heart of Unbelief the way is strait and narrow difficult to flesh and blood there are many thorns to be trampled upon and many crosses to be borne and much to be denyed that is very dear to the flesh and although the land seems to be a good and pleasant Land and infinitely to be desired yet the difficulty of attaining of it the hardships which are to be met with in the way to it and the hopelessness of entering therein seem as so many Hydra's to deter the soul and to stave it off from so much as hoping much less striving after its everlasting happiness and this is the sad condition of all those who consult with flesh and blood and have taken up a liking to and a pleasure in the sading delights and glorys of this world who think that the ways of sin are casie and the paths thereof broad and so take up through the reception of the evil report of the good Land a resolution to return back again like the Dog to the Vomit and the Sow which was washed to the wallowing in the Mire the end of whom is fearful and miserable 25. There are many ways in the World every one says they are in the right now since there can be but one right way how shall he which never knew the true escape the false He that would find the true and escape the false must come to know that which neither can deceive nor be deceived which is the holy Spirit of Truth which as is already said is that which reproves the world of sin and by the same to know the Son the belief in whom is eternal life this Faith if true is that which overcomes the world and through Christ our Lord gives us the Victory and makes us partakers of that new which is the true and living way which Jesus the Author of a better Testament than the Old has consecrated with his blood and he which comes into this Faith comes into the true way which is not in names and terms and distinguishing Titles nor in Sects nor in Opinions or any reproachful Epithite but consists in holyness and the fear of the Lord in standing and abiding in the holy life and councel of God and till people come into this they are all out of the way We desire you not to be Quakers but to come to know and believe in this and to walk as Christ our Lord and Master walked before us and then you need not doubt but to be Christians which is indeed what we are and what we indeed desire all to be 26. Tell me plainly what mean you by Jesus Christ We mean what the Scriptures mean Col. 1.16.22 him that is before all things him by whom the world was created even all things which are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible Eph. 3.19 whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers even him which in the fulness of time was manifest in flesh born of a Virgin Heb. 1.10 who having made peace through the blood of the Cross do's reconcile all things unto God whether things in Earth Act. 2.36 or things in Heaven and in the body of his flesh through death to present us holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight if we continue in the Faith grounded and setled Col. 1.22.23 and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which we have heard 2 Thes 2.16 and was preached to every creature under heaven This is he whom we mean this is he in whom we believe
his Soul and will not inform him of it unless the Person so misled be willing to be subservient to his way of doing it O no unless he will condescend to my way of doing of it he shall be damned he shall perish this is the Charity of the Adversary with whom we deal not only to root us off from the face of the Earth but to cut us off from heaven also if so be it lay in his power O! prodigious kindness surely it is as Elijah said he is a God cry aloud to him But if the Adversary cannot prove his affirmation then it will appear that his Charges are not only horrid Lyes of an immeasurable Latitude but also the Productions of Malice whose Center is Hell it self 10. He now comes to speak to my Paper but yet not one word of Answer to what I desired The chief matter which he says is that I use an uncivil Dialect with high Rants and boasting Rhodomontadoes insult over my Adversary and that I can Encounter him and all his abettors and that this my undertaking is in the name of that despised People called Quakers To which I Answer The speaking of truth is no uncivil Dialect to tell a Lyer he lyes are but the words of truth the same Spirit which taxes me with uncivil Language would without doubt have charged Paul with the same when he said to Elymas the Sorcerer O full of all subtilty and mischief thou Child of the Devil thou Enemy of all Righteousness c. It is not plain Language and Truth which makes a Dialect uncivil but the affirmation of Lyes and therefore the Adversary's Accusation is returned upon himself again he talks of high Rants and boasting Rodomontadoes but they are his own till he hath proved his Assertions the Adversary although in his altitudes sees not himself and yet pretends he sees all others he needs not say that that is the way of our resuting our Adversaries whilst his own way whether of refuting or proving is only by accusing and confidently affirming upon no greater credit than his own ipse dixit that his protestations are true He is the insulter who would force our belief without demonstration and make us subject our reason to what our sences only are able to evince a salcity He tells me that I say that I can Encounter him and all his abettors but leaves out the former of my words viz. through the assistance of the Divine Power by which it appears the Mans only intention is Slander and Infamy He says that I say I did it in the name of that despised People called Quakers and what then must a Man deny the truth because Slanderers and Lyers despise it Is iâ— not the duty of a Christian to embrace that which the World is not worthy to receive But I talk to Prejudice and Folly for should he be bray'd in a Morter I see little hopes of his learning to speak the truth or probabilities of his amendment 11. He says The former words were Reasons of Inducement to make him believe me to be a Quaker but upon Inquiry of Samuel Newton and others they did say that they did hear my Conversation was not answerable to my Profession and that they did disown me Since which I have spoken with Samuel Newton and he affirms that he neither heard nor spake any such words but says he is very much abused therein It is to be feared that it is his design to tax the Conversations of other men with Guilt to cover the Infamy of his own and by disparaging Language to wound the Reputation and Credit of those whom he has a particular design to abuse He says he had the same report of others also but what these others are he either may not or cannot tell however who or whatsoever they were having found already that he has belyed Samuel Newton I have as much ground to believe that his slanderous tongue has done the same by those too 12. This Accuser because that he understands that I am a Professor of Physick would fain Insinuate to the world that my particular and private interest not my love to the Truth was the only motive and induction of my appearing in the behalf thereof this day Certainly this man measures the honesty and actions of every man by his own he was resolved that if what he had said before would not disparage me enough this should if that he had not told a lye big enough he would strain a little more to tell a bigger as far as I can perceive it is the only Art in which his chief Excellencies lie The opposition of his belief concerning me and belying and slandering of my Reputation and Credit he thinks may pass for an answer to me an excelent way of encountring with irrefutable Arguments Who should believe or credit a man that is false to his own Principles who could blame with Cowardise and Temporising his Brethren Pitman and Shewwell and tell them in a Letter he wrote to them That they had quitted the cause of Righteousness and ways of Holiness complying with the Precepts of men because they had taken Oaths which is indeed contrary to the Principles of Christianity and yet he himself our present Accuser in about five days after to avoid suffering not only did the same but also justified his Apostacy as more fully may appear in Samuel Fishers Antidote against Swearing in Calce Libri 13. But why should the Accuser tax me in respect of the Interest of my Profession since had I designed Interest I could have espoused that which should have been very much a greater than this whose Appendices should have been accompanied with worldly Glory and Repute but contrarily meerly for the Truths sake I have chosen that wherein I can look to meet with only Contempt and Ignominy to be made the Scorn and Mock of the World and instead of gaining Interest and External Happiness can expect nothing but Persecution Contumely and Reproach Surely no man that has reason would judge but that if I had made my Interest my end but that I could have made a much better choice had the love of the World been my design I would have had my eye upon that which to the appearance of Reason might in some measure have answered my expectations and not upon a despicable People which the World tramples upon and make the off-scouring of all* things I have now done hoping I have said enough to that which I can never expect should be just to me since it has been so unjust to it self III. An Explication of our Principles by way of Question and Answer 1. WHat is the way of God The way of God is the way of Holiness and Truth the way of Salvation Isa 26.7 a way of Uprightness Joh. 14.6 that leads to an Eternal Life It is a plain and easie way not hard and difficult to be understood but a way in which the wayfaring man Isa
Lost man upon him God layed the iniquity of us all and since that sin could not be purged but by blood therefore his blood upon whom the Iniquity was laid 2 Cor. 5.21 1 Pet. 1.19 was only thought meet to be the offering of the attonement who having a feeling of our Infirmities now ever liveth to make intercession for us Heb. 7.25 39. What hold you of the Resurrection If the dead rise not our Faith is vain and we are of all men most miserable But there is a Resurrection both of just and unjust the one to Salvation who shall shine as the Stars in the Firmament 1 Cor. 15.14 Rev 20.12 John 5.29 the other to Condemnation and wrath But if any man ask with what bodies the dead shall arise with the Apostle we answer The body that is sown is not the body that shall be but God giveth it a body according to his own pleasure to every Seed it s own body suppose it be grain as Wheat or the like the grain that is sown is not that which arises but a new body yet it is its own according to the kind it is sown Wheat it is raised Wheat again not Barly Pease or the like so we in the Resurrection shall exist in our own form not that of Beasts Fish or Foul we only change an Earthly Tabernacle for a Heavenly a Carnal for a Spiritual a corruptible for an Incorruptible and a Mortal for an Immortal and so the Body is sown in Corruption and raised in Incorruption it is sown in Dishonor it is raised in Glory it is sown in Weakness it is raised in Power it is sown a Natural body it is raised a Spiritual 1 Cor. 15.53 but if any object that this Mortal must put on Immortality to that we answer it is spoken by a Synechdoche of the part wherein the Immortal part is included and so the Soul being invested with mortality is said to bear that denomination which when the Earthly house of this Tabernacle shall be dissolved shall be invested in a Building of God a house not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 2. for which cause saith the Apostle Paul We sigh desiring to be cloathed with our house which is from Heaven But though it does not yet fully appear what we shall be yet without any farther curiosity we are satisfied that when he shall appear we shall be like him and that we shall see him as he is 1 Joh. 3.2 Who shall chang our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working of his mighty power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Phil. 3.21 and with whom we shall obtain an Inheritance Immortal and Undefiled which fadeth not away reserved in Heaven even for as many as are kept by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation prepared to be shewed in the latter times 1 Pet. 1.4 40. What say you to the last Judgment and the Everlasting Life We say that all must appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ that every man may receive according to the deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil 2 Cor. 5.10 11 15 16. Rev. 20.12 13. and therefore knowing the terrors of the Lord we perswade men in which we are made manifest unto God and to mens Consciences that they henceforth live not unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again that walking in newness of life they may become Heirs of God and Co-heirs with Christ of an Eternal Kingdome in which there is the fulness of Peace and Joy for ever more The words of Dr. Moor in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may serve for a Conclusion to this Book The drift of this whole Book is to stir men up to take into their thoughts these two main points the hearty good will of God to mankind even in the life of this world made of the Commixture of Light and Darkness that he will through his power rescue those Souls that are faithful in this their Tryal and prefer the Light before the Dark that he will I say deliver them from the power of Living Death and Hell by that strong arm of their Salvation Jesus Christ the Living God Enthron'd in the Heart of Man to whom all the Genij of the Vniverse be they never so goodly and glorious shall serve they and all their Curious Devises and Inventions shall be a Spoil and Prey and a Possession to him that is most just and shall govern the Nations in Righteousness and Equity And that besides this Happiness on Earth every Holy Soul hereafter shall enjoy a never fading felicity in the invisible and eternal Heaven the Intellectual world which if it be not true I must needs confess it seems almost indifferent whether any Creature be or no. For what is it to have lived suppose seventy years wherein we have been dead or worse above two third parts of them Sleep Youth Age and Diseases with a number of poor and contemptible Imployments swallow up at least so great a portion that as good if not better is he that never was than he is that hath but such a glance or glimpse of passing life to mock him There are continually on Earth such numbers of men alive that if they lived well it would be an Heaven or Paradise but yet a scant one to every particular man whose days are as nothing So that the work of God seems not considerable in the making of this world if Humane Souls be exstinguished when they go out of it There is nothing considerable in the Creation if the Rational Creature be Mortal What design therefore can there be in God in the making of this World that will prove 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worthy of so excellent a goodness and wisdom but the tryal of the immortal Spirit of Man It seems the deepest reach of his Counsel in the Creation and the life of this world but a prelude to one of longer durance and larger Circumference hereafter And truly it is nothing else but the heavy load of this body that keeps down our minds from the reaching of these so high hopes from a certain sense and feeling of that clear and undisturbed state of Immortality Charity and Humility will certainly make us meet Eternal Mansions for the ever-living Deity But without these Mans Soul after this life becomes but a Den of Devils a Dungeon of dark and restless Phantasms being incorporate into the ever gnawing and corroding Spirit of Hell Now unto the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the Only Wise God our Saviour be Dominion Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen SALMON THE END Courteous Reader BEcause of the great Abuse that J. Ives has Publickly Proclaimed in Defamation of W. Salmon I have Inserted as a Post-script the very Discourse of S. Newton and Tho. Plant that thee mayst see how grossly they have Abused S. Newton on the one side and the unjust Contumelies cast on the Conversation of the Other The Substance of what Discourse happened between Tho. Plant and S. Newton at the Change HE asked me whether we owned William Salmon to be a profest Quaker my answer was I did not know him but if he was a Quaker I did not question but that I should know him but did believe he was no Quaker but I said we took it kindly from him or any other that would appear to plead our Innocent Cause against the Wrongs they did us his answer was we had good reason so to do he also said that they intended to write against him as a Quaker but now they would not And farther I said at parting that he might take for granted that he was no Quaker Samuel Newton THE END