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
threatned they got into this Ark when the unbelieving World mocked at it the Water bears up the Ark and those in it and saves them whilst the others were destroyed So the Threats of perishing eternally are pronounced in the Gospel against Sinners Now the penitent Believer puts on Christ by Water-Baptism Gal. 3. 27. which is the initiating and ingrafting Ordinance and I demand of the Quakers if they can to prove where Water-Baptism is called a Figure of the Spiritual and also to shew me from the Scriptures where any were commanded to observe the Figure when at the same time they enjoy the Substance But Paul and Cornclius and others had the Spiritual Baptism and yet were commanded to be baptized with Water Another impertinency in their Pamphlet is they say they cannot believe dipping or sprinkling Infants unless it can be proved that none are saved without it and all are saved that have it They seem here most directly to strike at Infant-Baptism but their design is to root out that sacred Ordinance of Christ Believers Baptism And therefore I demand whether the Quakers believe that all that are baptized with the Spirit as they count it tho a Spirit of Delusion shall infallibly be saved if they say they do then what is the Reason they own or believe falling away and going from the Light and why do so many turn wet Quakers and become as vile in their Lives as they are in their Principles But if they do not own an Infallibility of being saved by that Spirit 's Baptism they pretend to then what is in these words And to conclude this Head I would not have the Quakers pretend to be baptized with the holy Spirit till they believe in Christ and obey his Appointments for Acts 5. 32. he gives his holy Spirit to them that obey him To conclude this let all that would be Christ's Disciples learn of him that hath led in the way of Righteousness when by Faith and Repentance you have laid hold on Christ O delay not to put him on by Baptism and so you will become visible Members of his Mystical Body be Heirs of the Promise of the holy Spirit and other blessed Priviledges as a Right to the Lord's Table to sup with him in this Kingdom of Grace and dwell with him in Glory hereafter 2. The Quakers in their Pamphlet in like manner with Falshoods and Impertinencies evade the Supper of the Lord instituted and administred in Bread and Wine Say they The Supper of the Lord we own and tenderly consider in a twofold sense First In the Figure Secondly In the Substance 1. That our Lord Jesus Christ at his Supper with his Disciples did eat the Passeover which was for the fulfilling and Consummation of the Feasts under the Law Luke 22. and at his Supper he did take and minister the Bread and the Cup to his Disciples for there was no Transubstantiation saying This do in remembrance of me and saith the Lord As often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew forth the Lord's Death till he come 1 Cor. 11. After this they did more clearly know his Coming and Christ after the Spirit Jesus Christ in them 2 Cor. 13. 5 c. The Reader may see with what deceivable words these Impostors go about to evade and make null the Ordinance of the Lord's-Supper administred in Bread and Wine But before I come to answer their impertinent Evasions and manifold Corruptions of the Scriptures I shall shew you that they plainly deny the Supper of the Lord administred in Bread and Wine to be now a standing Ordinance in the Church of Christ and practicable by Christians Let us hear them speak out more plainly before we answer them Parnell's Shield of the Truth p. 13. Feeding upon Husks and Shadows that are carnal for the Bread which the World that is all that are not Quakers eat is natural and carnal so also is the 〈◊〉 which they drink and there is no Communion but natural outward and carnal Smith's Primmer p. 39. Thy Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper are the Popes Invention See how bare-fac'dly they can lie against the Truth See Nailor's Love to the Lost p. 56. Which all know who are come to his Supper where the Father and Son are come in and sup with the Creature which all the Imitators and Observers of Times are ignorant of whose Contention is about outsides Lastly Let us have the Testimony of George Fox le-Grand Great Mystery c. p. 16. says he Christ has triumphed over the Ordinances and blotted them out and they are not to be touched and the Saints have Christ in them who is the end of outward Forms and thou art deceived who thinkest to find the Living amongst the Dead You see by this how miserably these Men abuse the Scriptures Now it appears by all this that either the Apostles were ignorant about the nature and manner of Christ's second Coming or else the Quakers are greatly deluded in saying he is come the second time already But to clear the Apostles and Primitive Saints from that Ignorance the Quakers cast upon them and to make it appear that they did not believe the giving of the Holy Ghost Acts 2. to be the second Coming of Christ 1. Because the Apostles are found in the administring and the Primitive Christians in partaking of this Ordinance after the Holy Spirit that Christ promised to send was come as hath been before said of Baptism This appears from Acts 2. 42 46. They continued stedfast in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship in breaking of Bread and Prayer Acts 20. 7. The Disciples came together to break Bread All Expositors that I know of conclude this was to celebrate the Ordinance of the Lord's-Supper see this fully manifest 1 Cor. 11. 1 2. compared with Verse 23 to the 29th at large Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ Montanus an approved Interpreter reads it thus Imitatores mei â—stote sicut ego Christi Be ye Imitators of me as I am of Christ Now I praise you Brethren that you remember me in all things and keep the Ordinances as I delivered them unto you Ver. 23. For I have received of the Lord that which I delivered unto you As if he had said those Ordinances that I praise you for the keeping of are the same that I received of the Lord And this is one that the Lord Jesus the same Night in which he was betrayed took Bread blessed it and brake it c. Now if the Quakers were not stark blind or wilfully ignorant would they conclude that Paul and the Primitive Saints did not know that Christ was come in Spirit or that the Promise of the Holy Ghost was given So he goes on and tells them ver 26. As often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye shew forth the Lord s Death till he come So that the giving forth of the Spirit was not the
Col. 2. 12 13. But doth it follow that because here is a Death to Sin spoken of and a being buried with Christ by Baptism and a rising again to newness of Life having put off the old Man with his Deeds c. that therefore we are to believe no other Death Burial or Resurrection The two former are self-evident and within the reach of Sense it is the third namely the Resurrection of the Body from the Grave of the Earth that you stumble at and oppose even as the Sadduces did Mat. 22. 23. But ver 29. Christ gives them an Answer saying Ye do err not knowing the Scriptures nor the Power of God and ver 31 32. he proves this Doctrine to them from what God said Exod. 3. 6. Secondly It appears you do not only deny the Resurrection of the Body from the Grave of the Earth but the eternal Judgment before the Judgment-Seat of Christ at the last Day you concluding it to be past already Else what doth your Friend Lawson intend in his fore-mentioned Book pag. 9 and 19. who affirmeth he hath eternal Life in Possession and is now in the Possession of the Kingdom And what else means your Friend Desbury in his Book called A Discovery of Man's Return to his first Estate p. 7. he saith The Judgment is past already as to us as having saith he given an account to God already for all that we have done and received the Reward for our Sins c. And this may be if what was said in your Book called Saul's Errand to Damascus were true That George Fox was the eternal Judg of Quick and Dead so that there was no occasion for you to mention either of these Points of the Christian Faith for in your proper sense you believe neither But I demand why you abuse the World in your Paper in saying You believe hope or expect Redemption Justification and Salvation when your Belief is you have them already and are in the Resurrection and in the eternal Kingdom of God already I count it improper for me to say I expect what I really have nay it 's not only improper but false and as St. Paul saith Rom. 8. 24. That which is seen is not Hope c. Now from all this tho I could have added many more Instances from their own Tongues and Pens had occasion been I shall lay before the Reader the sad Consequences of their Unbelief in these two Points of the Christian Faith And it tends to eat out and destroy the very Life and Vitals of Christianity 1. If our Bodies shall not rise from the Grave then Christ is not risen 1 Cor. 15. 13. this is clear in the Text and ver 16. If the dead rise not then is not Christ raised ver 20. But now is Christ risen c. and so certainly shall the Resurrection of our Bodies be That Christ did arise from the dead c. 1 Cor. 15. 5 6 7 8. above five hundred are Witnesses to this Truth 2. If the Dead rise not then Preaching is vain and Faith is vain and the five hundred Witnesses with the twelve Apostles are all found false Witnesses Revelat. 1. 18. I am he that was dead and am alive 3. If the Resurrection of the Dead or rising again or standing again be not a Truth for so the Greek and Latin words signify then the Prophecies of the Prophets and Doctrines of the Apostles are false Isa 26. 19. Thy dead Men shall live together with my dead Body shall they arise c. and the Earth shall cast out her dead Dan. 12. 2. Hosea 13. 14. Acts 24. 15. That there shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the Just and Unjust Must the Just be regenerated Acts 26. 8. Why should it be thought a thing incredible that God should raise the Dead It cannot be meant of Regeneration or the new Man rising in the old as you sometimes say for that was never thought incredible by the Sadduces Epicures or Stoicks nor by the Heathen Philosophers nether all did own that God or the Gods could make Men better and turn them from Vice to Sanctity c. 4. If our dead Bodies shall not rise from the Grave then the Hope of the Primitive Saints was all vain null and void John 11. 24. I know saith Martha he shall rise again at the Resurrection at the last Day Heb. 11. it is said of those famous Believers that they all died in the Faith not having received the Promise c. Phil. 3. 20. We look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile Bodies I told one of your Friends J. W. that I looked for Christ's second personal and glorious Coming He told me I may look till my Eyes fail'd 5. If the Dead rise not then the best Saints are the most miserable Men in the World 1 Cor. 15 19 30 32. it 's but vain to stand in Jeopardy every hour or to fight with Beasts yea to undergo any Sufferings for Christ if the Dead rise not And know this it is not the Sufferings but the Cause for which that makes the Martyr But if the Dead rise not there is no Cause for Sufferings at all but we may eat and drink for to morrow we shall die The licentious Atheist is the most happy Man since no Glory or future Reward in another World is to be expected So that as those Primitive Hereticks 2 Tim. 2. 18. Hymeneus and Pheletus who by saying the Resurrection was past already had overthrown the Faith of some so would you Christ died and rose again to destroy the Power of the Grave but by this Heresy the Grave must destroy our Bodies for ever which God forbid Secondly How can you conclude you are in the glorious Kingdom and that you have Eternal Life now really in Possession 1. For our Lord saith In the Resurrection they neither marry nor are given in Marriage Mat. 22. 30. Luke 20. 35. Now this you do therefore not in the Resurrection nor that Kingdom 2. In that Kingdom they can die no more but that you do as other Men Revel 21. 4. no more Death Crying nor Sorrow c. but this you have therefore c. 3. In that Kingdom no Hungering or Thirsting but these you feel and experience here therefore not in the Resurrection nor that Kingdom 4. No more Sickness nor Pains but all these you have here O then fool not your selves with such false Dreams but believe Christ will shortly come in Glory and every Eye shall see him And consider what a sad Surprise it will be to you when the Trumpet sounds the Graves are opened and your Bodies raised to stand in Judgment But let all faithful Christians say Come Lord Jesus come quickly FINIS ADVERTISEMENT THere is preparing for the Press a short but profitable Discourse entituled The Trial and Condemnation of Whispering Backbiter designed as a means to detect the Sin of Detraction an Evil too common not only amongst the Profane but Professors of this Age. By E. P.