present Church of Rome is the only True Church of Christ and all others that differ from her are Schismaticks and Hereticks good for nought but to be destroyed in Body and Soul concerning which I do most humbly crave leave to examine by the Scriptures of the Prophets and Apostles intending what I find to proceed from God's Holy Spirit of Truth which are the Things of God to treasure up in Joseph's Storehouse the rest proceeding from Man unregenerate in the fall meerly humane and what was learnt of Man in the Schools or from the Letter I intend to return back again as your own Mony in your own Sacks In the first place I must needs commend the Christian Spirit of him that wrot Fiat Lux who saith He was bettered by reading Quakers Anabaptists Books c. which shews him a Man that could receive Truth from any Man or Sect try all things and I hope receive and hold fast that which is good in every Man of all Religions Further he saith All Sects maintaining their own Opinion none condescending to others destroy all Love and Charity which wanting no Religion is any thing worth but in Charity Love and Patience he saith all Sects are pleased Also he saith Difference for Opinions is neither pious nor rational He also saith That none is fit to judg of all Sects that is of Any nor is the Atheist meet Further he saith The Spirit of Christ or Charity the Love of God being departed all Forms of Religion are but a meer Romance He also saith Truth is found in Vnity not in Division And I say Till all come to the Unity of the Spirit given to every Man to profit with there can never be Unity Also he saith That the Soul of Man is Immortal Intelligible and Rational and that Moderation Love and Charity is the Image of God in Man and that right Reason doth not cast away Christ but is one with him Also Whosoever brings to Vnity is blest though but an Owl or Fool as the Spirits Preaching is accounted foolishness by unregenerate Men Also he saith All Sects fight against each other till Christ be set up the Teacher in all These and the like I take to be Maxims of Truth meet to be considered and received In the next place the Roman Writers assert The Pope of Rome to be Head of the Church of Christ here on Earth and Christ 's Vicar as being Peter 's Successor on whose Person you say Christ 's Church is built proved out of Matth. 16.16 17. To which I make return and say That Peter's Person was not the Rock whereon Christ's Church is built but the Spirit of God which revealed to Peter the things of God as will most evidently appear by the Reasons following viz. First For that no Man knoweth the Son but the Father neither knoweth any Man the Father save the Son and he to whom the Son revealeth him Mat. 11.27 Gal. 1.12 16. 1 Cor. 2.10 1 Pet. 1.13 So it is the Revelation of God the Father gives the Knowledg of God the Son and it is the Spirit of Christ in the Saints revealing the Father and the Son which is the Rock whereon Christ's Church is built against which the Gates of Hell can never prevail Matth. 16.17 Besides had the Church bin built on Peter's Person had it not fallen into Hell when Peter's Person became Satan an Adversary to Christ and against him when he savoured more the Things of Man than the things of God read Mat. 16.23 and this was after Peter's Faith the Revelation of God was called the Rock And what became of the Church and Peter the Rock when Peter denied and forswore his Master Mat. 26.69 c. Had not then the Church of Christ fallen into Hell if Peter's Person had bin the Rock whereon it had bin built And I pray tell me What think you had become of the Church of Christ had it bin built on Peter's Person when Peter dissembled and would have brought in the Old Law which stood in divers outward Observations wherein the Kingdom of God doth not consist And was not this to bring in the first Covenant and to deny Christ come in the Flesh the Second Covenant Christ the Word in the Heart and Revelation of God in Peter before his Fall which is the Rock God builds his Church on against whom the Gates of Hell shall never prevail but when a Church savours the Things of Man more than the things of God the Gates of Hell will surely prevail against that Church And this Revelation of God was the Rock before Peter's Person was and before his Fall was and after his Fall was and is that Rock whereon all the People of God stand and are built an Habitation through the Spirit for God to dwell in Allelujah And do not you think St. Paul that great Apostle of the Gentiles did well in withstanding and reproving Peter to his Face even in the face of all the Congregation for endeavouring to bring in such a Heresy and Schism into the Church of Christ as to withdraw from the believing Gentiles and so by his Example to set up the Observations of the Old Law which stood in outward things which was to deny Christ the New Law the Word of Grace in the Heart God's everlasting Covenant of Light and Life to Jew and Gentile which certainly was and is a most pernicious Doctrine wherewith all the Jews were drawn from the Faith of Christ insomuch that Barnabas was also led aside by their dissimulation And for those who had run well and begun in the Spirit for them to imagine they ought to be made perfect by the Observation of things outward and carnal was a most damnable Heresy which Peter and the rest of the Jews and Barnabas first begun to divide the Church of God the Head from the Members was doubtless a great Schism and falling from the true Faith first delivered to the Saints which stood in the Revelation of Christ the Spirit 's teaching Allelujah When Christ bid Peter feed my Sheep you say Peter received Supremacy over the rest of the Apostles and was made General Pastor of the Church And where Christ said to Peter I will give thee the Keys of Heaven and what thou bindest in Earth shall be bound in Heaven and what thou loosest on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven Was Peter's Key think you Carnal or any thing else but the Revelation of God's Spirit to Peter before his Fall which surely is the Key of David which openeth the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God which no Man can shut And have not all true Believers born of the Spirit the same Key and Authority to bind and loose as Peter had read John 20.22 23. So that you see the Power of the Keys and the feeding Christ's Sheep stands in receiving the Holy Ghost and not in Peter's Person as Peter himself afterwards confessed read 1 Pet. 5.2 Acts 20.28 saying to the Disciples Feed
and Iniquity in whomsoever it is found so that no unclean thing can enter the Kingdom of Heaven or eat of the Tree of Life placed in the midst of God's Paradise the Hearts of the Sanctified Allelujah You say The Church of Christ is Vniversal and consists of all Nations So say I as I am a Priest of God to the Nations having Christ Jesus in me my Priest my Prophet and my King that amongst all Nations all Sects and sorts of Religions whatsoever they be called Jews Barbarians Heathens or Christians such as walk in the Light of the Lord wherewith every one is enlightned are accepted with him and they are God's Temple and Church in whom he dwells Allelujah You say The Children of the Church are the Spiritual Seed of Abraham Which Seed I say is Christ who dwells in the mortal Bodies of the Saints who convinceth of Sin and sanctifies them from committing Sin so that where two or three are met in his Name his Spirit of Grace there is He in the midst of them and thus is He with his Body the Church to the end of the World Allelujah Clergie Men you say ought not to serve for temporal Rewards and that they may not exercise that Holy Function for filthy Lucre And so say I that those that Preach and Pray what is prescribed them by Man for Temporal Rewards are not the Ministers of Christ but Anti-christs Ministers for the Ministers of Christ as they receive the Spirit of Grace Christ the New Covenant the Word in the Heart freely so they give freely and not for filthy Lucre but from a ready and willing mind to the saving of Souls and not for gaining the Fleece Allelujah You say Jews shall be converted at the end of the World I say As the Christians are converted so are the Jews who receive and obey God's Covenant of Light the free Gift of God the Word in the Heart the New Covenant God's Salvation to the ends of the Earth Allelujah You say A Conscience guilty of Sin tormenteth the Sinner So say I That the Light of Christ wherewith every one is enlightned being disobeyed is the Tormentor and the Condemnation read John 3.19 The Mysteries of Christ are as you say high things above natural Capacities So say I for the Natural Man perceiveth not the things of God which are only spiritually discerned Therefore I advise all unregenerate Men not born again of the Spirit which quickneth and createth the New Man in us in that state not to meddle with the things of God as Vzza who was smitten of God for the Spirit of God only and alone knoweth and searcheth the deep things of God for no Man knoweth the Father Son or Holy Ghost but by the Inspiration and Revelation of God Allelujah Read John 3.3 Mat. 11.27 1 Cor. 2.10 11. On 1 Cor. 1.12 you say Schism is to leave the Spirit of God in his Church and adhere too much to Man's teaching which is a Truth For Man's teaching leads into Division and Disputes about Words and Forms Sect against Sect for some outward Observation which Man sets up wherein the Kingdom of God doth not consist which Disputes have ever proved the Scab of the Church in all Times but the Spirit 's teaching every one submitting to the Commands of God the Word in the Heart leads into Unity Peace and Rest with God and one towards another Allelujah On 1 Cor. 12.13 you say Christ the Head and the Church his Members make but one Body So say I Christ in the Saints is the one Head one Body one Faith one Baptism and the only one true Church of God Allelujah On John 4.12 13. you say The Water wherewith Christ baptizeth is living and spiritual Water So say I That John's Baptism was with material Water the which is Man's Baptism and only cleanseth the outward Body and representeth the inward cleansing but Christ's Baptism is as you say with living Water which is with the Holy Ghost and Fire which cleanseth and purifieth the Heart Soul and Spirit of all true Believers Allelujah On Rom. 10.5 c. you say The Justice of the Law of Moses went no farther than the saving of the Outward Man I say Moses preached Christ the Law and Word in the Heart the New Covenant read Deut. 30.11 18.18 19. Jer. 31.31 33. with Rom. 10.6 c. Heb. 8.8 c. the which circumciseth the Heart and createth a new Heart and a new Spirit within the which redeems and saves the Soul from Sin and teacheth truly the way to Life everlasting Allelujah Thus you see I have not only read your Bible but also considered the Arguments Tables and Marginal-Notes thereupon Likewise I have read many other of your Books written and approved of by the Roman Church viz. 1. Thomas of Kempis of the Imitation of Christ 2. Cardinal Cusanus his First Second and Third Rule of Perfection and his Idiot with others of the like Divine Nature 3. The Holy Court and the Angel of Peace to all Christian Princes By Nicho. Causine 4. Devout Essays By Walter Montague Esq 5. Charroone of Wisdom 6. Essays of Lord Michael Montaigne 7. Fiat Lux with an Epistle in Answer to Dr. Owen 8. The Lost Sheep returned Home By Dr. Thomas Vane 9. Abridgment of Christian Doctrine by Question and Answer By H. T. printed at Doway 1664. 10. A Manual of Controversies demonstrating the Truth of Catholick Religion by Scriptures Councils and Fathers of the first Five hundred Years and by common Sense and Reason c. By H.T. printed at Doway Anno 1654. 11. Dialogues of William Rushworth printed at Paris Anno 1648. 12. Roman Catholick Doctrine in Answer to Dr. Pierce his Court Sermon 13. The Victory of Truth for the Peace of the Church to the King of Great Britain Written by Monsieur de la Militera Answered by Dr. Bramhall 14. A Treatise of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass By R. T. Anti-Demolin 15. Heaven Opened and the Pains of Purgatory Avoided by the very great Indulgencies of the two most Illustrious Arch-Confraternities the one of our Blessed Lady called the Rosary the other of the Seraphical Father St. Francis called The Cords of the Passion printed Anno 1663. 16. The last Apologie in behalf of the Papists and answered in the behalf of the Protestants These sixteen Books with other Historical as the Council of Trent Platina c. I have read and considered both pro and con The first two of these sixteen Books I have read with great delectation of Mind which I apprehend were written by a Divine Spirit and do recommend them to all that are partakers of the Divine Nature Allelujah The five next I apprehend to be written by Wise Men lovers of Wisdom and well worth the reading by Men of Knowledg and Understanding The last nine I apprehend were written to set forth and to defend the present Roman Faith and Church to maintain by Argument and Dispute That the
Church of Rome and a great Rbel to his Prince I pray tell me Whether any comers to these things are made the more holy and perfect by the use of them as appearing to the Conscience Or do they take away the guilt of Sin in the Conscience whilst the Witness of God condemns I say nothing besides the Grace or Spirit of God in the Heart the Blood of Christ can give Repentance and sprinkle the Conscience from dead Works to serve the Living God Allelujah And who brought in pious Frauds setting forth false Miracles never truly wrought c. for pious Ends Is not this Man's Wisdom a Lie and contrary to the Wisdom and Truth of God And when came in your Index Expurgatorius wherein Books are purged or condemned that set forth the Prince's Right over the Clergy in Temporals also expunging out of Ancient Fathers and Decrees of Councils what you like not Who invented the Mass-Book Invocation and Prayers to the Saints departed for the Living and for the Dead Were these things brought into the Church from the beginning and by the Command of God or in the dark night of Apostacy by Man's prescription when the false Church the Whore and false Prophet ruled after the True Church was fled into the Wilderness out of the sight and reach of them that sought to devour her And can Prayers prevail with God that are invented by Man which do not proceed from the Spirit of God which Prayer is heard in all that it asketh But Prayers made by and proceeding from Man in the Fall in the unregenerate state are an abomination to the Lord for God heareth not Sinners but hears and answers them only who by Christ's mediation in our hearts truly repent hate and forsake their Sin and who are Regenerate and born again of his Spirit and that pray in the Power and Demonstration of this Spiritual Birth such and only such though in a Groan or Sigh God the Father hears answers and shews Mercy unto according as they desire Allelujah And when was Purgatory found out a Place to purge the Souls of Men that repent not but live and die in Trespasses and Sins Had ye not this from the Jews or from Man in the Fall I declare and say as I am a Priest of God in the New Covenant of Grace That there is no other Purgatory neither in this World nor in any other World to come save the Blood of Christ the Lamb of God slain by Sin ever since the Foundation of the World even when Cain killed innocent Abel then did Christ who was before Abraham was suffer in Abel which Blood of Christ the New Covenant cries for vengeance against and upon all that spill it and upon all that crucifie the Lord of Life and such as resist and quench God's Holy Spirit of Grace in themselves the only one Sacrificer and Mediator between God and Man the Saints only Redeemer Sanctifier and Saviour Allelujah And woe be to them from the Lord God under whose Skirts is found the Blood of the Souls of the poor Innocent the Church of Christ whom he hath purchased washed and cleansed with his own Blood his own Light and Life in themselves which the Faithful eat and drink and is the Blood of Sprinkling which speaketh better things than did the Blood of Abel whose Blood crieth for vengeance against them that spill it which Blood of Christ God's Spirit of Grace is that which washeth and cleanseth true Believers from all Sin and which Blood redeems up to God out of the Fall into Abraham's Bosom the Habitation of the Faithful where God's Honour and Glory dwelleth Thus God's Spirit only is that which purifieth and redeemeth the Soul from all pollution of Flesh and Spirit Amen Allelujah As it is written Isa 1.25 Psal 51.7 Mal. 3.3 Prov. 16.6 1 Pet. 1.22 23. 1 John 3.3 And this I have further to say to the Church of Rome both to the Clergie and Laity That whosoever amongst them hath not the Spirit of Christ to wash and cleanse and to lead them into Truth and Righteousness is no true Christian no true Member of Christ's Church nor can be saved or inherit the Kingdom of Heaven as it is written John 3.3 Rom. 8.9 11. 1 Cor. 2.10 and 12.13 2 Cor. 13.5 Who made Parish-Churches supplying them with Parish-Priests made by a carnal Ordinance of Man and set forth Tithes forcing the payment of them by carnal Weapons the Magistrate's Sword no Gospel-way of maintenance For as Christ's Ministers receive freely of his fulness Grace for Grace so they give and where only they sow Spiritual Things of them they reap Carnal without Hire or for filthy Lucre much less by force of Man's Law For most certainly this forced Maintenance was a thing of Man's Institution and brought in by the false Church the Whore the false Prophet riding the Beast the Civil Magistrate in the dark night of Apostacy after the True Church was fled into the Wilderness not seen of Man but well known of God and whose Life was hid in Christ with God Allelujah And when were Indulgences and Pardons brought in by the Pope's Bulls and when Limbus Patrum and Processions on Palm-Sunday c. Were these things the Command of God or the Command of Man known or practised by the Primitive Saints or came they in in the dark Night of Apostacy after the True Church was fled into the Wilderness yea or nay Who brought in or when came in the Inquisition that takes away Mens Lives for Opinion's sake Was this Christian like by God's Command or by Man's think you And was not the Jewish Jubile brought in by Boniface the third more to increase the Riches and to shew the outward Pomp of the Church of Rome than by any Command or Example of Christ for the same And did not Christ foretel That many should come in his Name but not in his Spirit false Christs and false Prophets and should deceive many and those were they that came in Sheeps cloathing outwardly seeming holy but inwardly were ravenous Wolves destroying all that differed from them or refused to receive their Mark their outward Superstitions and shews of Holiness and though roved from the Spirit of God yet spake good words of Truth by which they deceived the Hearts of the Simple and brought in the Old Covenant which was but a Type Figure and Shadow of the New standing in outward observations which shadow of the Old drove out the substance of the New Covenant Christ in Spirit which New Covenant stands in the inward Spiritual Grace the Word in the Heart And was not this bringing in the Old and setting up the Old a denying Christ the New to be come in the Flesh of the Saints the new and living Way So that whosoever comes to God must come by through and in him who is the Way the Truth and Life of God Allelujah And in this roving from the Spirit and setting up the Old Law of
to withstand the Pride Usurpation Avarice and Tyranny of the Court of Rome and that gain-said such Doctrines and Practices as were brought in by the Apostacy contrary to the New Covenant and Gospel of Christ Jesus more savouring the things and Institutions of Man than the Commands of God I have read in Story That the Pope as he is Head of the Church usurps Authority over the Lives Estates and Consciences of Emperors Kings and People to set up and pull down whom he thinks meet witness the Emperors of Germany King John of England Henry the Third and Fourth of France and the Pope's Bull against Queen Elizabeth and that it is no sin to kill Hereticks nor to Absolve Subjects from their Oaths to their Soveraign and therefore they Commissionate Indulge Pardon and open Heaven Gates to such as are imployed in these Services And if you say Those things were acted and done for advancement of Religion called by you Pious Frauds I answer and say That he that doth evil that good may come of it walks not in God's way but in the Counsel of the ungodly and bears not the least similitude or likeness to a True Christian or the True Catholick Church of Christ but carries the Image of the False Church the Beast the Whore and false Prophet which leads to the Chambers of Death and is not the way to Life Eternal Allelujah And is not this to apostatize and to fall from the Faith Was the saying of Pope Pius the Fifth That neither Faith nor Oaths are to kept with Infidels more like a Christian or a Heathen And when did Popes undertake to absolve Subjects from their Oaths to Soveraigns as Pope Alexander the Third discharged Thomas Becket c. And is it not recorded how that Popes who swore to Emperors and Kings c. seldom kept their Faith with them And doth not Story inform that there have bin many Schisms and Heresies in the Church of Rome even in the very Head thereof Pope against Pope and Popes against Councils and Popes against Emperors and Kings fighting destroying and excommunicating each other Were not Pope Formosus's Orders annulled by his Successors And what Divisions have there bin betwixt the Bishops and the Monastick Orders and what Quarrels have bin betwixt the Regulars and Seculars in England as at this day in France betwixt the Jansenists and whole Gallican Church and Theological Faculty in Paris against the Jesuits who taught that the Pope was Infallible and could not err c. So endeavouring to bring the Church of France in subjection to the Court of Rome which thing had it taken effect would not only have wrought a great Schism in the Gallican Church as it hath done in other Kingdoms but also bred a great Division in the State betwixt the King and his Subjects in which Division Caesar would have lost much of his due by the subtilty and encroachment of the Court of Rome contrary to Christ's Example and Commands read Mat. 22.21 John 18.36 who would have his Followers not to mind earthly things but submit to the Civil Powers even in things contrary to Law to every Ordinance of Man in Civil things for the Lord's sake or for Love and Peace sake as did our blessed Saviour Mat. 17.26 27. Phil. 2.5 1 Cor. 2.16 Rom. 12.16 with 13.2 1 Pet. 2.13 14. Thus to follow the Example and Command of Christ in giving Caesar his due in things Civil and Temporal and Caesar in giving God his due to Rule in the Hearts and Consciences of his Subjects in things Spiritual and Eternal not imposing with Carnal Weapons will most certainly bless the World with much happiness Allelujah And did not St. Cyprian and Eusebius say That when the Pastors were got into Worldly Pomp and had lost Piety and when their Chalices were of Gold they had but Wooden Priests in which estate the Gates of Hell prevailed over the Church And when Constantine gave much to the Church whether a Voice from Heaven was not heard to say Now is Poison cast into the Church And whether all those great Revenues given to the Church by King Pepin and Charles the Great were not re-given by Pope Leo the Eighth to Otho the Emperor And were it not better for the Church of God that Priests should minister freely the Things of God as all Christ's Ministers did and not for Hire or filthy Lucre or compulsive Maintenance as the World's Ministers made by Man do I leave to the Witness of God in all to judg What Differences have bin betwixt the Bishop of Constantinople and the Bishop of Rome And was not Pope Honorius condemned by a General Council for Heresy And have there not bin great Divisions betwixt the Clergy the Souldiers and Citizens of Rome about chusing of Popes and was not the right for Confirming Popes in the Emperors till Anno 683 And were not Bishops and Priests in the Primitive Time one and the same and of like Authority Whether the Pope be more Vicar or Lieutenant of Christ than the Church and People that chose him And whether Emperors and Kings did not at first set up Popes long before Popes came to be so potent as to set up Kings and Emperors and to displace them at pleasure Did not Popes get their Dominion over Princes by Policy Force and Excommunications And when Princes were at Discord one with the other did not Popes come to Reign over them by that means And was it not the Policy of Rome to engage the Temporal Sword to maintain Spiritual Religion and when by this means Emperors and Kings grew weak then were they necessitated to take in with the Popes which made Rome grow more strong and powerful and themselves weaker and weaker But when Emperors and Kings shall cease assisting the Spiritual with their Temporal Swords whether then the Pope will have more Authority in Christendom than now at Constantinople or than Jack Cade and Wat Tyler in England or John of Leyden at Munster And whether it was wisdom in Princes to admit the Pope to Rule both Swords the Temporal and the Spiritual And whether this hath not bred great troubles in Christendom the day that is approaching will make manifest Lastly Whether Prescriptions and Impositions of Popes Prelats and other the Clergy the People yielding Obedience thereunto have not taken away all sense of Conscience towards God as also of Christ's Commands in Spirit And whether this be not to Apostatize from that Faith once delivered to the Saints I leave to the Witness of God in every Man to judg and determine Allelujah Certainly it was a true saying of that good Pope Sylvester when Constantine the Emperor endowed the Church with great Riches Now said he is Poison cast into the Church Which since hath so proved for what hath bin given and what themselves have taken by Carnal Weapons and Worldly Policies hath enabled them to give greater Troubles to the State Temporal and Civil than any Difference
meerly Worldly and Carnal hath caused betwixt Prince and Prince And doth not this plainly shew that such a State or Church as hath brought so great a Curse over God's Creation where-ever it hath bin received is not Christ's Church whose Church and Kingdom is not of this World who loved his Enemies and came to save Mens Lives and not to destroy them So by their Fruits all Men may know the True Church from the False the Church of Christ from Antichrist's Church As I am a Priest of God after the Order of Melchisedeck who was of the Order of the Holy Ghost and born of the Spirit without Carnal Father or Carnal Mother I say as I am a Priest of God ordained by having Christ Jesus in me my Priest my Prophet my King I have something from God my Father to the high and mighty Men of the Earth in whose hands the Almighty God hath placed the Rule and Government of things Terrestrial as his Vicegerents in all the Earth to them I humbly make this Request First That they would look up unto him who bestowed on them this great Honour and Glory and acknowledg him God of Gods King of Kings and Lord over all Lords Allelujah Next that they would seek the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof which having found I most humbly intreat them to adore worship and serve the Lord our God therein and therewith which Worship only stands in the Spirit of Truth the Spirit of Grace given to every one to profit withal which Worship the Omnipotent Lord God will accept and no other Service nor Worship but what proceeds from a pure sincere Heart to the Commands of Christ in Spirit the Word in the Heart And that none may be ignorant what this Kingdom of God is and wherein it doth consist and where it is to be found I most humbly offer and say The Kingdom of God stands not in any outward Observation of Man's prescription but is placed within every Man a Light to lighten the Gentiles and to be God's Salvation to the Ends of the Earth which Light is called the Word in the Heart Christ the Vnction the Messiah the Anointed of the Lord which God in his great Love to the World hath given to and in every Man a Talent to profit withal that so every Man in it might work out his own Salvation the which as it is received and obeyed giveth power to repent and forsake Sin and leadeth into Truth and Righteousness and thereby we become the Sons of God being led by his Spirit This Talent in Scripture is also called by divers Names viz. The Grace of God which appeareth to and in every one teaching those that love his appearance to deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts c. It is also called A Measure of the Spirit given to every Man to profit with also Truth in the inward Parts the Word in the Heart Christ the New Birth and New Creature God's Covenant of Light and Life to all the World who is the Light of the World and doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World and so is God's Salvation to the Ends of the Earth the way to God and Godliness that whosoever believeth in him and followeth him faithfully shall have Life Everlasting Allelujah Read Deut. 30.11 c. with Rom. 10.6 c. Isa 42.6 49.6 57.10 54.13 60.3 Jer. 31.3 c. with Heb. 8.8 c. John 1.9 1 Cor. 12.7 Tit. 2.11 And this Light of Life the Kingdom of God within every Man is compared to many things in Scripture He is the Lamb of God not the Pope's Agnus Dei that taketh away the Sins of the World the Lord our Righteousness the Spirit of Truth that leads into all Truth and the one thing only needful is that we hear and obey the Spirit of Truth and our Souls shall live Allelujah This Kingdom of God is likewise compared to a grain of Mustard-Seed sown in the Heart of every Man by God the Seed of Abraham which Seed is Christ the Light of the World also the Kingdom of God is compared to Leaven placed in a Man's Heart sufficient to leaven the whole Lump from the leaven of Malice and Uncharitableness into a lump of Truth and Love to Righteousness which Leaven is the Bread from Heaven which nourisheth the Souls of true Believers into Eternal Life Allelujah Thus you see what the Kingdom of God is where it is to be found and the blessed Effects it produceth in all that receive God's Heavenly Gift and are found walking therein and when ye know and feel this Kingdom of God in the movings thereof to be within you in the next place my most humble request and advice is That you would thenceforth seek the Righteousness thereof and walk in the same all the days of your Life in which you will find Peace with God Joy in your own Spirits and good Will from and to all Men but as you do undervalue this Small Seed the true Light and Spirit of Grace the Gift of God and prefer this present evil World Man's Prescriptions Traditions and Impositions above it then a Woe and a Curse from God to your Souls and Bodies in your Basket and in your Store but walking in the Righteousness of God's Kingdom you will know how to give God his due and to please him in things Spiritual and Temporal If you leave the Conscience of your Subjects to God alone for him to rule and guide which is God's due then will God give to Caesar his due viz. the Hearts of his Subjects to obey their Soveraigns in all things Temporal Natural and Civil then will Unity and Concord spring up Righteousness Peace and Love will kiss each other And then God will give his Blessing bless us in our Bodies and in our Souls in our Basket and in our Store in our Wives and in our Children in what we eat and what we drink and in whatsoever we set our hands unto both Prince and People Rulers and Ruled all blessed and happy and so will all the ends of the Earth fear the Lord our God bless and magnify him for ever Allelujah The Contents hereof I most humbly and heartily recommend to your most holy Father the Pope of Rome and his Clergy as they will answer it at the Day of God's Tribunal that they communicate these Matters to the Emperor and to all other Kings Rulers and Princes over whose Souls God I hope by his blessed Spirit of Grace hath made them Overseers who being born of the Spirit and having Christ Jesus the new Man in you the only begotten Son of God the Father in you go and preach Him to and in all the World a Saviour to all that believe in him and that follow him who is the Light of the World and doth enlighten every one that comes into the World Yet know that no Man can preach truly to the converting of Souls neither can turn any from
never divide the Word of Truth aright nor know Truth from Error neither have they a Will or Affection to follow the one or eschew the other for Man of himself not having Christ in him can neither think nor do any thing to please God 2 Cor. 2.17 The old Translation saith We do not sell the Word for Mony The last Translation saith We are not as many which corrupt the Word of God But such as sell for Mony making Merchandize of the Word and Prayer corrupt the Word and Prayer and are Simon Magus his Ministers and none of Christ's Ministers For as they receive freely so they give freely Allelujah In one place of the Common Prayer you say There is no health in us In another you pray quite contrary That God will not take his Holy Spirit from us also that God would cleanse the Thoughts of our Hearts by the Inspiration of his Holy Spirit And you acknowledg That all the ends of the Earth have seen the Salvation of God Also that God hath openly shewed his Righteousness in the sight of all the Heathen And is not this what the Scriptures say John 1.9 That Christ the true Light enlightneth every one that cometh into the World And 1 Cor. 12.7 that a manifestation of the Spirit is given as a Talent to every one to profit with that thereby every one may work out his own Salvation if he will And Tit. 2.11 that the grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to and in all Men that none may truly say there is no health in us for there is that Spirit of Grace in every one which is the saving Health of all that obey it and the Condemnation of all that disobey despise reject and hate it read John 3.19 c. So let all Men honour this Spirit of Light the Son as they do honour the Father of Lights Allelujah Our Father I observe you oft repeat Our Father which art in Heaven c. Which Prayer is good for a Disciple of Christ to pray one that is born of the Spirit such have right to call God their Father and such God owns for his Children but those that are unregenerate who serve the World the Flesh and the Devil whose Works they will do for such to call the Holy God Father is not this Blasphemy and a breach of the first Commandment to take the Name of God in vain And for any to teach this Prayer to unsanctified and unholy Men Is not this an Abomination that maketh desolate As I am a Priest to God I do declare That all Services Sacrifices Prayers and Acts of Religion offered up to God in any kind of Devotion whatsoever in an unclean unsanctified unregenerate Heart are an abomination to him but if any Man be a worshipper of God according to his Will writ in our Hearts him he heareth read Isa 66.3 Prov. 15.8 28.9 Psal 66.18 with John 9.31 Luke 16.15 Rev. 21.17 Seeing God doth not hear Sinners but only heareth his Son his Spirit the Word in the Heart go to him and in his Son's Name ask of the Father what ye want who heareth him and giveth liberally and upbraideth no Man ask of him to create in you a clean Heart and a right Spirit to be put within you who giveth his Holy Spirit to them that in sincerity ask it then shall ye have a Heart according to God's own Heart which will do all his Will here on Earth as it is done in Heaven This right Spirit God's Son within us worketh Miracles in the Saints as in the Son it raiseth our Souls out of the Grave of Trespasses and Sins to live in his Presence in Peace Joy and Tranquillity all the days of our Lives Amen Allelujah Athanasius his Creed Athanasius his Creed is also of great Authority in our Church which imposeth a necessity of believing the same on no less tearms than our Eternal Salvation yet I judg that there are amongst many useful Truths some things asserted in that Creed which are neither needful to Salvation nor can be made good by the Scriptures of Truth nor yet by Reason Humane or Divine First he saith There is one Person of the Father another of the Son and another of the Holy Ghost and that the belief hereof as he expresseth it is absolutely necessary to Salvation 'T is true the Eternal God who filleth Heaven and Earth with his Presence as he is pleased to hold forth himself in the various manifestations of his absolute Greatness Wisdom and Love to the World so he is thereby known to us under several Names and Appellations as most proper to those manifestations of himself for what is the Father but God the Eternal Creator of all things who forms the Light and creates the Darkness and of nothing hath made all things to appear in their order out of the first Chaos and Darkness of Confusion And what is the Son but the same Eternal God manifest in Flesh the Word in the beginning with God and was and is God the Way the Truth the Life the Covenant of God's Salvation to the World This Son as I conceive is no distinguished Person from the Father but is in Deed and in Truth the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace the Word by which the Worlds were made humbling himself into humane Nature to seek out lost Man and to gather him into a nearer acquaintance with his God And what is the Holy Ghost but the same Eternal Spirit Witnessing Quickning Renewing Sanctifying Purifying Cleansing and Comforting the Hearts of the Faithful where God is pleased to pitch his Tent and Tabernacle These are the Three that bear witness in Heaven and these Three are one not divided by personal distinction but one Individual and Eternal God in variety of manifestation Then he saith In this Trinity none is afore nor after another and none is greater nor less than another Yet in contradiction he saith the Son is of the Father alone not made nor created but begotten Certainly he that begets must be before and greater than he that is begotten For my part I am more charitable than to believe all Men damned that never heard of Athanasius his Creed and am well satisfied that whosoever believes in Christ that was that is and is to come God's Everlasting Covenant of Light and Grace to Jew and Gentile and his Salvation to the ends of the Earth shall be saved even all of every Nation that feareth God and worketh Righteousness Allelujah Infant Baptism Concerning Infant Baptism with Water I may not say it is an Ordinance of Christ nor dare I call it Christ's Baptism neither do I think there is that virtue in it as is said That it ingrafts into Christ's Church makes a Member of Christ a Child of God and an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven And whether those God-Fathers and God-Mothers that undertake promise and vow on behalf of the Child That when of Age he shall forsake the Devil
and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of the World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh and that he shall keep God's Holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of his life I say it would be inquired into Whether those God-Fathers and God-Mothers do perform and keep this Oath Promise and Vow themselves If not then why should they undertake for another what they perform not themselves And if I mistake not it is a Tenent of the Church of Englands That we cannot live free from sin so long as we live in this World If so were it not far better never to Swear and Vow than afterwards to break them Is not this to add Sin unto Sin and so bring a greater condemnation on our selves As I am a Priest to God by having Christ Jesus in me I declare That Infant Baptism is no Ordinance of Christ's neither is John's Baptism with Water Christ's Baptism Christ's Baptism is to be baptized into the Name Nature and Spirit of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost which Baptism of the Spirit is the one Lord one Faith and one Baptism one God and Father of all who is above all through all and in us all that are born of and baptized with the Spirit of Grace This Baptism is that alone which saveth by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost and not by putting away the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God And this Baptism of the Spirit which followed John's Baptism of Repentance is that only which can initiate into the Church of God make a Child of God and give an entrance into and an inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven Allelujah And I query Whether Infant Baptism were not the Invention of Man rather than the Command of God brought in by the false Church for advantage-sake in the long dark night of Apostacy after that the True Church was fled into the Wilderness there fed and preserved of God whilst the Whore the Beast and false Prophet ruled who set up Shadows instead of Christ the Substance the Letter above the Spirit Man's Baptism which is with Water instead of Christ's by Fire which is the Holy Ghost And instead of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ the New Man which is the Saints Righteousness they put on a white Linnen Surplice to make them seem outwardly Holy that inwardly were full of Sin and Uncleanness full of Self-love Hypocrisy and Pride full of Covetousness Hatred Malice and all Uncharitableness And instead of bowing at the Name of God which is the Command of God Isa 45.23 that every knee should bow to him you bow at the Name of a Man not greater than is Immanuel which is the Name God himself gave the Virgin 's Birth Isa 7.14 who is the only begotten Son of God in all the Sanctified that saves his People from their Sins And your bowing at the Name of Jesus rather than at the Name Immanuel doth it not demonstrate you to be worshippers of Angels rather than the true God And for you to bow down to any Letters or Syllables joined into a Name of God or Man is this think you to worship God in Spirit and in Truth as he requireth And for any to bow down and worship any Thing or Name that is not purely God alone is most certainly Idolatry and false Worship And be not ignorant that the Name of God is his Power his Love shed abroad in our Hearts his Immanuel a strong Tower whereinto the Righteous flee and are there in Peace Rest and Safety Allelujah Holy Days Holy Days both Fasting Days and Feasting Days were they brought in by the Command of God or prescribed and imposed by Man Was not St. Paul afraid of his Galatians that he had bestowed his labour on them in vain who instead of setting up and forming of Christ the Day-Star in their Hearts fell to the observation of Days and Months and Times and Years setting up of Meats and Drinks what to Eat and when to eat and what and when to forbear respecting of New Moons and Sabbath Days one day more holy than another all which in the first Covenant were but shadows of good Things to come which the Saints possess and enjoy in the second Covenant which is Christ in them the end of the first Covenant their Hope their Crown and Glory Allelujah In the fourth Commandment you pray That God would incline your hearts to keep this Law which is to keep holy the Seventh day according to God's Command to the Jews Thus by your Traditions ye make void the Law of God and change the Truth of God into a Lie and by bringing in the Old Covenant which stands in divers outward Observations which maketh nothing perfect ye have thrust out the New Covenant Christ the Word in the Heart the Saints Teacher which perfecteth for ever those that are sanctified Allelujah The Lord's Supper The Lord's Supper I humbly declare to be a great Mystery not rightly understood by Man in the Fall It is not Carnal Bread and Wine neither Carnal Flesh and Blood as unregenerate Men apprehend and imagine Christ's Words and Works are more Spiritual than for Carnal Men to understand them it is the Spirit that quickneth and the Inspiration of God alone that giveth to man understanding in the things of God The true Supper of our Lord is when Christ stands at the door of our Hearts and knocks that we then open to him and he comes in to us and sups with us This is the right Supper of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus who is the First and the Last the Alpha and Omega of all our Graces and Mercies Wherefore my dear Hearts Open O ye Gates and be lift up ye everlasting Doors that Christ the King of Glory may come in and sup with you Allelujah So the Flesh and Blood Bread and Wine that comes from Heaven is Christ's Spirit of Light his Body which he gives for the Life of the World this is Meat indeed and Drink indeed that feeds and nourisheth the Soul up to Eternal Life which Cup of the New Testament is the saving Health of all Nations that dwell upon the Face of the whole Earth O my dearly Beloved take and receive eat and drink abundantly of this Cup of Salvation it is the new Wine in our Father's Kingdom a Fountain of Life that can never be drawn dry Allelujah Behold I shew to you a Mystery the Word in the Heart the Love of God shed abroad in our Hearts is the Leaves of the Tree of Life St. John speaks of in the Revelations given for the healing of the Nations for the uniting of all Sects and Opinions in Religion into the one true Religion both Jews and Gentiles Barbarians and Scythians as well as Christians of all Sorts or Names whatsoever whether called Roman Catholicks Episcopal Protestants Presbyterians Independents Baptists Quakers Seekers Socinians Arminians or
and Religion but in some things Doctrinal and concerning Discipline and other outward Observations I know you disagree The Presbyterians Rule of Publick Worship is their Directory put together by their Synod which sat 1644 and 45 gathered out of the Scriptures and imposed on the People of England by an Act then made Which Worship as it was prescribed and imposed by Man I query Whether it be the Worship which God requires the which consists in the Spirit of Truth or is it think you more acceptable to God than the former Service you threw out to set up your own devised Service in the place thereof And in so doing whether you did not more aim at the Fleece than the saving of Souls I leave to the Witness of God to determine in your selves And I pray give me liberty further to enquire Whether the Nation in General had any benefit by your change of Church Government And whether Tithes were not as acceptably retained by you as by those you thrust out Besides great Augmentations given to Preachers by a Law for their Encouragement and a Law for treble Dammages from all who though for Conscience sake could not pay the Tithes and were you less troublesom to such than those you ejected or were you less persecutive or had you more humble meek charitable Spirits than they to which your own actings may speak and answer What Spirit was that which acted Calvin against Servetus Hugo Grotius a most learned Man in all kind of Learning both Humane and Divine saith That Michael Servetus by the procurement of Calvin was burnt alive at Geneva and for nothing more than that he differed in some Opinions concerning Galvin's rigid Predestination and something concerning the Trinity And did not this Spirit of Calvin so act against Luther's Disciples that they were twice expelled the Palatinate And how did this bitter Spirit act in the Synod at Dort Were not many learned pious and good Men condemned and afterwards banished and expelled the Land and all this for some few Opinions perhaps more true than their own And was it not this Spirit in others which so bitterly persecuted those Innocent People called Quakers whom they Imprisoned Banished Scourged Stigmatized putting them to greater torture than if they had killed them outright And was not this the same Spirit in them who leaving Old England for Conscience-sake went to New England where they persecuted their Innocent Brethren that differed from them in some small Points banishing them into the remotest Desarts where they were murthered by the Savage Indians And did they not deal after the same manner with Mr. Samuel Gorton Mr. Roger Williams and others that went under the Name of Antinomians Seekers Anabaptists c. Lastly To manifest your Spirit one and the same from first to last and to shew that you are no true Members of Christ's Church in this particular not being covered with his Spirit of Love to Brethren and to Enemies the only mark of his Disciples did not you lately hang and take away the lives of five Innocent Quakers and Banishing Whipping and cutting off Ears c. of many others who had not broken any just Law either of God or Man only as the Medes and Persians made a Law against Innocent Daniel and his Brethren and as did the Jews against Holy Jesus who said They had made a Law and by that Law he ought to die even so did you make a Law against the Quakers on purpose to ensnare them and to take away their Lives Which Spirit of Persecution for Matters of Religion is most certainly the Spirit of Antichrist the Whore and false Prophet which Spirit hath no agreement in the least measure with Christ and his Church And did not you as you came into Power all three agree in this Spirit to persecute those that differed from you and more especially those that had Christ the Word in the Heart and preached Christ in the Spirit to be the Gâ—ide the Way the Truth and the Life the Sanctification Redemption and Salvation of God in all the Sanctified even to the ends of the Earth Allelujah Although in many things you agree yet in some small Matters you are divided and zealously persecute each other for those things wherein you differ The difference between the Presbyterian and the Independent consists chiefly in their National Church and particular Gatherings which assemble together by a Covenant made amongst themselves whereby they are admitted as Members and their Children only admitted to Baptism under the Notion of the Promise being made to Believers and their Seed In the Fundamentals of their Faith no material difference The Anabaptist is distinguished from the Independent Gatherings by the difference of the Administration of Water-Baptism the former only admitting such Subjects to that Ordinance as are able to render a laudable Confession of their Faith in God and also of their holy and just Conversation amongst Men and by this Baptism they hold That such Subjects are initiated into the Church of Christ and are from thence-forth esteemed Brethren and not before These also are different from each other among themselves about General Redemption Free-Will Original Sin falling away totally from Grace Predestination Election and Reprobation Herein they Dispute Quarrel and Fight each with other for and about such things as the Kingdom of God and Salvation of Men are no ways concern'd in but Brotherly Love the Image of God and mark of a true Christian is utterly lost and defaced I have lately read a Book writ by Mr. Richard Baxter intituled The Cure of Church-Divisions the third Edition printed 1670 Whose Spirit and Design therein I well approve of and have unity and amity therewith He is much against that bitter rending tearing devouring Spirit that reigneth amongst Professors and will not give the same liberty of Conscience to others in Religious Matters as they desire for themselves Also he saith There be some seem wise and good themselves by making others seem foolish and bad and they are all for Concord but it is only on their narrow factious Tearms they are for Peace but it is not of the whole Street but of their House alone or not of the whole City but of their Street alone He likes not those new-made multiplied Articles of Religion these Additions to Christianity prescribed and imposed on others This proud Church Tyranny saith he I doubt not is the great Cause of Schism in the World Love is not an appearance of my Religion but my Religion it self God is Love and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God and God in him Love is the fulfilling of the Law the end of the Gospel the nature and mark of Christ's Disciples the Divine Nature the Sum of Holiness to the Lord the proper Note to know what is the Man and what his State and how far any of his other Acts are acceptable unto God without which if we had all Knowledg and Belief all Gifts of Utterance