be Baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as We It Imports with submission no more than this That Peter well knowing the Narrowness of his Country Mens Spirits was Cautious lest his Latitude should Distaste them For the Gentiles being Unholiness to the Jews and even Peter himself without a Vision from God too narrow Spirited for the Convictions and Devotion of that excellent Centurion Cornelius It behoved him to ask if any body had any thing to say Why they might not be baptised as well as the Jews being Proselites to the Christian Profession In all which he seems more concerned to save his Own Credit than to recommend or establish that of Water Baptism As if he had said Why should this Custom be forbid to the Gentiles more than to the Jews But this will not warrant the Practice in General because Practice is no Institution and that their appears no Command to make It one So that asking who can forbid what was not commanded strengthens his Question instead of weakening it since what was done of Condescention could not have been forbid upon Authority There needed not so much Care or Strickness in the Matter And indeed the Apostles themselves seem not to have been so clear about the abolishing of the Jewish Observations as appears by the want Peter had of a Vision his own apprehension of the straightness of his Brethren and their calling him to Account for what he had done as may be seen in the same Chapter But I confess I cannot see why the Bishop should assume the Power of Unchristianing Us for not practising of that which he himself practices so unscripturally and that according to the Sentiments of a considerable part of Christendom having not one Text of Scripture to prove that Sprinkling of Water in the Face was the Water Baptism or that Children were the Subjects of Water-Baptism in the first times And yet this is all the Baptism the Bishop practices who seems so severe upon us I think our forbearing of Water Baptism from a Belief and Sense of the coming of the Invisible Grace signified by that Visible Sign cannot be reputed such a slight to Water Baptism as presuming to alter the Manner and Substance of its first Institution For then it was in the River of Jordan now in a Bason it was then unto Repentance now to Children Uncapable of Repentance But that which perhaps misled the Doctors of the Declining Church first into this Practice being at the distance of some Hundreds of Years from the Apostolical Times might be the supposition that Water Baptism came in the place of Circumcision and that being to Children so might Water Baptism too But they forgot among other things which even before that time were crept into the Church without Precept or Evangelical Example that Repentance was not made a Condition to Circumcision at it was to Water-Baptism I would beseech the Bishop to tread softly in this Matter for if Water Baptism should indeed prove a Badge of Christianity he would be at a loss for one that would pass currant in Scripture Thus much for this Point What I have said upon this Head of Water Baptism may serve also for what is commonly called the Lord's Supper which the Bishop Reproves us for Omitting to Practice Urging Luke 22. 19. This do in Remembrance of me And the Apostles words 1. Cor. 11. 24. 25. It is true indeed Christ said when he eat it with his Disciples That they should do it in remembrance of him till he came And this seems much more of the Nature of a Commission than that cited by the Bishop for Water Baptism But the Limitation Christ â—ives to the Practice of it and a Right and â—roper Consideration of the Import of his â—ords and the Nature of the thing will best â—ad us to undestand his Mind therein 1st This was also a Jewish Practice as â—ell as Water Baptism and so in Nature of â—o Gospel Institution but Temporary in its â—se 2dly Christ seems by this to break or â—pen to them what was so hard for them to â—ear to wit his Departure and Death by a â—oken of Memorial till he should come to â—hem again 3dly Christ takes occasion from thence â—o shew forth to his Disciples the Mystical Supper they should eat and the Fellowship â—hey should have with him when he came again Now we believe this Coming was Spiritual suitable to that saying of his I will drink no more of This Fruit of the Vine till I drink it New with you in the Kingdom of my Father And some here shall not taste of Death till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom Matth. 16. 28. Again He that dwelleth with you shall be in you John 14. I in them and they in me Chap. 17. All which plainly Imports a Spiritual Coming Also Rev. 3. 20. Behold I stand at the Door and knock if any Man hear my Voice and open the Door I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me which was said near Fourty Years after his Ascention Now since this is acknowledged to be an Outward Sign of an Inward and Invisible Grace what can Outward Bread and Wine more properly Signifie and Resemble than Inward Bread and Wine And an Outward than an Inward Supper And if so the words may reasonably be read thus Eat this Supper of Outward Bread and Wine till I come into and sup with you and be your Supper that am the Bread and Wine from Heaven which Nourishes the Soul unto Eternal Life 4thly The Kingdom of God being Spiritual and in the Soul such should be the Ordinances of that Kingdom Now Christ tells the Pharisees Luke 17. 20. The Kingdom of God is within And the Apostle Paul Rom. 14. 17. saith The Kingdom of God is not Meat and Drink but Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost But the outward Supper is Meat and Drink and therefore not of the Kingdom of God which is not Meat and Drink but Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost And this was made Use of by Christ in the State of Humiliation before his Death and the pouring forth of the Holy Ghost to fasten upon his Disciples that were weak and of little Faith the Remembrance of him till they should know him with them and in them by his Spiritual Appearance as he was the Lord from Heaven the Quickning Spirit according to his Promise For if the Scripture be consulted we shall not only find that Christ Reproves the Apostles for their Infideâ—ity in him but after all the Example Precepts and Miracles they saw by him and that he had so very lately left them with such Assurances of his Coming to them again yet when Mary c. brought them the Tidings of his Resurrection it is said Luke 24. 10 11. Their words seemed to the Disciples as Idle Tales and they believed them not Which sufficiently shews the low State they were
yet he does not thereby bid them do it often if at ail 5ly And whereas the Bishop would make it a fresh Revelation to the Apostle when he says for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you I must dissent from him I cannot apprehend that means any more than this that what account he had received of Christ's Eating the Supper with his Disciples the Night he was Betrayed the same also he had Delivered unto them For what need could there be of an Immediate Revelation for so late a Fact so well Witnessed by the Disciples But if my Reader will peruse that Part of the Chapter which relates to the Supper he will find the Stress lies upon Remembring of the Lord which is indeed our Daily Indispensible Duty and he that lives without it may be said to live without God in the World of which those Corinthians at that time seemed to Insensible and as such are severely reproved by the Apostle being Irreverent Greedy and Drunken hardly fit for the Sign and less able to discern the Thing Signified 6ly Nor does the Apostle seem to recommend this practice but rather reprehend their Abuse of it and if my Reader will look back to the foregoing Chapter from the beginning to die 18 Verse he may find a more Spiritual Supper and Mystical Bread and Cup hinted at by the Apostle as well as Mat. 26. 29. Rev. 3. 20. by our Lord Jesus Christ himself Which is indeed very copiously exprest by Luke in the Parable of the Supper chap. 14. from the 16. to die 24. Verse where One that was at Meat with Christ speaking of the Blessedness of eating of Bread in the Kingdom of God Christ takes occasion to shew forth the Gospel Supper by a Parable viz. A Certain Man made a Great Supper and bid many but they refused upon divers pretences and came not He sent out a second and third time to invite an inferiour sort of Guests and they came to the Supper that is they received the Gospel which is the Power of God to Salvation and the evidence as Well as means of It Which Christ in the 27th verse further expresses thus viz. and whosoever doth not bear my Cross and follow me cannot be my Disciple Now the Cross of Christ the same Apostle also says is the Power of God 1 Cor. 1. 18. all which referrs to an Inward and Spiritual Work and Supper and that they who receive Christ in Spirit Sup with him in Spirit being the partakers of his Spiritual Supper which Christ promises and prepares for all those that open at his knocks the Door of their Hearts unto him Rev. 3. 7ly But besides what I have said both from Scripture and the Nature of the thing in Proof of Christ's Spiritual Supper and Defense of our disuse of the visible Sign the Bishop himself does the same thing in relation to another Ordinance For our Lord Jesus Christ did as solemnly Command his Disciples to wash one anothers Feet as to eat the Supper The Passage is large and edifying and I must recommend it to my Reader to peruse in his Bible John 13. But that part of it which more strictly concerns this point between the Bishop and me I shall repeat here verse 12 13 14 15. So after he had washed their Feet and taken his Garments and was set down again He said unto them Know ye what I have done to you Ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am If I then your Lord and Master have washed your Feet ye also ought to wash one anothers Feet For I have given you an Example that ye should do as I have done to you Thus Christ Commanded his Disciples not only by his Authority but Example Now does the Bishop and his Friends follow Christ's example and obey this Precept He and they know they do not What must I Infer from thence that the Bishop is no Christian I suppose he would take it very ill from me Tho' he has treated me and my Friends after that sort But I will shew him a better example and suppose he thinks that if Christian Ministers and People walk Humbly towards God and one with another they fulfil this Commandment tho' they disuse the Sign by which the Lord Jesus exprest and recommended Humility to his Followers Now that which excuses the Bishop in reference to this Ordinance of Washing of Feet will also excuse our disuse of the Supper viz. Our eating of the Spiritual Bread and Wine of the Kingdom the Thing Signified by the Outward Supper But it is an Error incident to srail Man to prefer the Practice of those things that have a Shew of Religion and have least of Uneasiness and of the Nature of the Cross of Christ in their Performance Just thus it is easier to receive the Supper than to be Humble if not easier than to wash Feet For one is but a Memorial of Christ but the other perhaps is a Reproach of present Practice and to be sure a Command to Mortification and Self-denial the hardest Lesson in Religion And who knows but for the Reason it has been dropt so long since it must be very uneasie for People to continue a Custom to which their Daily Practice is so visible a Contradiction Though I hear the Roman Bishop â—â—mocks the Text Once a Year 8ly But in Relation to the Supper we farther say the Practice is varied Then they Sat â—ow one sort Stands another Walks a third Kneels a fourth Lies down upon the Ground as in the East Countries The Romans have one Opinion the Greeks another and the Lutherans and Calvinists Divide to great Bitterness in their Sentiments about It. 9ly Again in those Days they were Disciples such as followed Christ now all are admitted that profess Christianity tho' they do not follow him or forsake any thing for his Name sake or keep any of his Holy Precepts Matth. 5 6 7 Chapters 10ly Nor is this all we have to say to Justifie our Disuse of this Practice It is too much Look'd at and Relied upon by the People And indeed is become a kind of Protestant Extream Unction for if the Generality of them can but have it administred just before they Die they are too apt to presume upon it for an acceptance in the other World And indeed it is very frequent if not natural for many Men to excuse their Disobedience by Sacrifice and where Ceremonies or Shadowy Services are continued People rest upon their observance of them and Indulge themselves in the Neglect of the Doctrine of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ I need not look far nor yet the Bishop for a proof of what I say we can hardly miss which way soever we throw out Eyes the more is the pity And as this is no small Abuse of Primitive Practice so no small Argument for our disuse of it For when the Brazen Serpent was over-valued by the Jews God
that had commanded It for their benefit stirred up Hezekiah to Destroy it 11ly Besides these things are become matter of Gain and made a Sacerdotal Revenue not to say Merchandize which has also helpt to Scandalize People to Tender Consciences who think it a Prophanation of Religion to suffer any part of it to be Excised to the People that ought to be Free 12ly But passing that by at present and supposing Water Baptism and the Supper were not Antiquated but still in Force Who is there Qualified to Administer them Who has received a Commission or the Mind of the Holy Ghost and Power from on High to perform these things For if those that hold they are in Force have no Divine Force or Authority to qualifie them to Administer them there will be but a Lifeless Imitation instead of an Edifying Reality Which â—eads me to what I promised long since That I would at the Close of this Discourse â—ay something of the True Ground of our Difference and Dissent I say then that where we are supposed to â—iffer most we differ least and where we â—re believed to differ least we most of all differ Which I explain thus It 's generally thought that we do not hold the Common Doctrines of Christianity but have Introduced New and Erroneous Ones in lieu thereof Whereas we plainly and entirely Believe the Truths contained in the Creed that is commonly called the Apostles which is very Comprehensive as well as Ancient But that which hath affected our Minds most and engaged us in this Separation was the great Carnality and Emptiness both of Ministers and People under their Profession of Religion They having hardly the Form of Godliness but generally speaking denying the Power thereof from whom the Scripture warns Believers to turn away Next Ministers being made such and preaching and the People worshipping without the Spirit confining the Operations of it to the First or Apostolical Times as if these did not want them as much or that Christ would be less Propitious where his Gifts were not less needful I say an Humane and Lifeless Ministry and Worship together with the great Wordliness of Professors have occasioned our Separation and the Persecution that has commonly followed it hath abundantly confirmed our Judgment In that Matter Hence it was we Retired our selves to wait upon God together according to the Gift of his Holy Spirit and as the Apostle Paul exhorted the Athenians Acts 17. We felt after him with our Souls if by any means we might find him and hear what God the Lord would say unto us who speaks Peace unto his People and his Saints but let them never turn to folly any more We could not I say tell how to think that such as God had never sent but run of themselves and were made Ministers by Humane Learning and Authority not knowing the Work of the Spirit to their own Regeneration could possibly Profit or Edifie the People unto their Regeneration And yet that is the very Work and End of the true Gospel Ministry for no Man can guide another in the way he never trod Besides we apprehended the Ministry was â—ery much a Temporal Preferment and thereâ—ore few were to be found among them that â—â—d not court the Better Places I mean those â—â—at gave the Greatest Pay and by those â—ethods mounted to Worldly Wealth and â—onour as the rest of the World did Turnâ—â—g Alms into Dues and by Law making â—ifts Rents and vexing those extreamly â—â—at for Conscience sake could not uphold â—â—em Which we thought very Foreign to Primitive and an Apostolical Spirit and â—ort of a True and Through Reformation This is not said with any disrespect to their â—ersons or yet Calling simply Considered for â—e that desires the Office of a Bishop certainly â—esires a good thing but the Holy Ghost in â—hose days had the Making of them and the â—ood thing then was their Service and not â—evenue or Worldly Dignity They were then â—ot only no Lords one being their Lord â—ut they lorded it not over God's Clergy or Heâ—itage which was the People in those days â—or â—o the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies tho' it is now â—â—scribed only to the Ministry Then the Ground of Prophesie or Ministry was the Revelation of the Spirit in those ancient Assemblies as may be read 1 Cor. 14. 29 30 31 32. For all might Prophecy that is Preach as the Spirit of God moved upon their Spirit and gave them utterance be it to Reproof Instruction or Consolation Now Study Collection and Memory In those Days they Preach'd their Own Experience of die Work of God upon their Hearts but most now Preach of the Experiences of Others recorded in Scriptures but according to their own and others Humane Apprehensions To be brief we Ground our Conviction Conversion Ministry Prayer and Praise upon the Light and Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Powerful and Effectual Spring of our Religious Performances and that alone which prepares the Soul and Enables it to Perform those respective Services and Duties in a Manner Acceptable to God And that Ministry and Worship which stands not in the Spirit and is not performed in the Preparation and Inspiration thereof but according to the Compilings Traditions and Precepts of Men we cannot allow to be Primitive and Evangelical and consequently cannot join in them And we are satisfied that it is the good Pleasure of God that all who profess the Name of his Dear and Only Begotten and Well-beloved Son should Acquaint themselves with the Spirit of His Son in their own Hearts in its Reproof Instruction Conviction and Consolation that they may become Spiritually Minded such as mind Spiritual Things more than Earthly Ones and that Daily sow to the Spirit that is bring forth the Fruits of the Spirit and become the Children of God who are led by the Spirit of God Now the Fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance Against such there is no Law And they that are Christ's have Crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts thereof But the Works of the Flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murder Drunkenness Revilings and such like Of which I told you before as also in time past that they which do such things shall not Inherit the Kingdom of God Rom. 8. 6. 14. Gal. 5. 16. to 24. Chap. 6. 7. 8. And under these Marks and Directions all People may examine themselves and know their Birth Family and Inheritance whether they are the off-spring of God and true Christians or Children of the Evil One Those that are born of the Spirit for whom is reserved an Inheritance With the Saints in Light or the Seed of Evil Doers for whom is reserved the Blackness of Darkness for ever And truly it seems just with God that those who love Darkness
Supper can any Command be more Express than This do in Remembrance of Me Four times repeated in the New which you call the better Testament To which St. Paul adds It is a shewing forth the Lordâ— Death until He come 1 Cor. XI 26. Now if Christ and his Apostles have commanded this who hath Authorised you to disuse it Remember what St. Paul tells the Corinthians he received from the Lord that which on this Subject he delivered to them 1 Cor. XI 23. And 't is a severe Passage in another Epistle of his Gal. I. 8. If we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed That which lays aside so much of the Old Gospel and sets up a New and Variable Rule oâ— Faith we know not what Light within is Another and New Gospel To draw towards a Conclusion I have written this short Paper in much and true Compassion to you It had been far easier to me to have said more than thus to have confined my self I look upon many of you as an harmless well-meaning People but under strong Delusions This your Deluded State proceeds from your making what you call The Light within you which is in many Cases nothing but your own Presumptive Perswasion or Fancy a Rule of Faith and Practice Co-ordinate if not Superiour and Antecedent to the Holy Scriptures These words in your Paper Which are the Double and Agreeing Record of True Religion intimate at least thus much That you will not believe what Scripture saith except the Light within you dictate the same and so make a Double Record Now my Friends do not flatter your selves GOD is not mocked you must Answer at the Dreadful Day of Judgment amongst other Points to such as these and therefore Examine your Consciences before-hand 1. Is it not your main End and Study by pretended Mortifications and Renouncing the World while there are no sort of Men alive that more eagerly pursue it nor have more effectual wily and secret ways oâ— getting Wealth than your selves Is it no I say your main Aim and End to make your selves a Party considerable and such tâ— which for Reasons of State peculiar Priviledges must be Indulged 2. Are not to this purpose many of your Distinctive Characters such as you Different Garb for it is plain not a few oâ— your Peoples â—loaths as to materials are more costly than many of ours your way of speaking yea even your Looks and Gestures assumed rather to make your selves remarkable and at first sight known from other People than out of any Perswasion Sense of Duty or Conscience of Obligation 3. What reasonable or tolerable Warrant can you plead for waving suppressing at least not confessing much the greater part of the Christian Faith and Rejecting all Outward Positive Parts of Worship especially Baptism and the Lords Supper which have such plain and Repeated Evidences in Holy Scripture Your Light within or Sense and Perswasion which you say you have and are sure is from Christ forasmuch as in the present Cases it dictateth against Holy Scripture can never be proved even to your selves much less to others to be from Christ But must rather in all reason be resolved to be one of the Heights or Depths of Satan transforming himself into an Angel of Light And for any Persons to yeild to such Conduct besides or against Holy Scripture is plainly to abandon themselves to the Delusions of the Devil In a word therefore I again require you as you will answer all your Secret Arts and high Pretensions at Christ's Tribunal that you either Embrace and Profess the intire Christian Faith in the Points wherein I have shewn you to be defective and that you receive the Christian Seals or Badges Baptism and the Lord's-Supper or else that you desist to lay claim to the Name of Christians It is not for me to Judge you but again I say unto you truly from GOD as His Minister Judge your selves This is the Case If Men who take away even from the Faith once deliver'd to the Saints at least Two Thirds besides many main Points of the other Third who Equal their own Presumptuous Conceits to the Divine Oracles and Revelations who use and disuse at pleasure what parts of GOD's Instituted Worship they think fit even the very Badges of Christianity I will not here Interpose your Making Gain your Godliness but if the aforesaid Men are in a Way of Perdition what can you conclude of your selves In the Name of GOD Repent and Return And from my Soul I pray That GOD will please to give you Repentance EDW. CORK and ROSS Cork July the 2d 1698. A DEFENCE OF a PAPER Entituled GOSPEL-TRUTHS c. I Have given the Bishop's Exceptions together at Large as he did our Paper and shall now Consider their Validity He is pleased to say at the beginning of his first Paragraph he is such a Reader as in our Paper â—we desire Words that gave me great hopes of not only fair but friendly dealing and I heartily wish it had been so But since it seems to me the Reverse of his Promise he must not take it ill from me if I stop a while and shew him a little to himself and how much he is mistaken in his own Temper as well as in our Principles For tho' he begins with the Names of Moderation Charity and Meekness that 's all He quickly Loses sight of them and forgets them with himself almost all the way And unless my Taste be Extreamly Depraved there is little Relish of those Vertues in his Management or a tolerable Temper shewn towards us respecting either our Belief or Practice We desire such a Reader indeed as had rather we were in the Right than in the Wrong One that did not Prejudge our Case and would give us and not our Enemies the wording of our own Belief While the Bishop but too plainly shews he would not have us in the Right Even where he dares not say however freely he suggests it that we are in the Wrong Which appears First by his Unnecessary Exceptions to such Truths as we have Declared in our Paper and he cannot deny as imperfectly Exprest because we have not said all that might be said to Branch them out or Illustrate them tho' enough to be understood by such as are not Captious Secondly by Suppositions Incongruous and that can have no other Service than to Expose us and that in a very ill Manner Thirdly by rendring us to Deny what we don't Express in our Paper Tho' indeed we Believe it Fourthly in not taking due notice of what is Implied as well as Exprest Which had been but Just Fifthly in making the worst of what is not concurrent with his Belief and not the best where we believe the same thing Sixthly by Grosly Misrendering our Pretences to Strict Living Lastly by Condemning us upon Rumour All which is more than leaning
Now this certainly must be Unlawful to Give or Receive which hinders true Faith And what was this Hoâ—our but Salutations after the fashion of the Times As the Text shews Mat. 23. and for Calling and being Called of Men Rabbi Christ was so far from Commanding or Imitating them in such things that He expresly forbids it But the meaning of Christ's â—aying Mat. 5. And if ye Salute Your Brethren only what do ye more then Others do not even the Publicans so is this That in all Acts of Love Mercy and Goodness they were to Exceed the Practice of that time They were to take more notice of and to look more kindly and friendly upon All Men. But in another sense He that bid them Salute Enemies as well as Friends also forbids his Disciples to Salute any Man or call any Man Rabbi or Master for that One was their Lord and Master and they were all Brethren Mat. 23. 6 7 8. and Luke 10. 4. And between such Relations Worldly Honours were of no use as well as of no value And did a Primitive Spirit Prevail in those that so much pretend to be the Successors of the Apostles we should see them more Exemplary in Self-denial and Holiness Encouraging and not Undervaluing and Brow-beating the Serious and Conscientious But Trees are known by their Fruit for Grapes are not gathered of Thorns nor Figs of Thistles In the mean time if my Reader please to peruse the Ninth and Tenth Chapters of that Book Entituled No Cross No Crown he will I hope be satisfied that we are for Honour Respect and Civility according to Scripture tho' Non-conformists to the Empty and Troublesome Ceremonies of the Times left by us not of Rudeness but Conviction and forbore of Duty and no otherwise of Choice For Humanely Speaking that Contradiction to Custom cannot be Pleasant to us I have detained my Reader longer upon this Head than I expected or perhaps he desired I shall therefore proceed to the Bishops next Paragraph which contains his Exceptions to our Tenth Gospel-Truth about Baptism and the Supper and the â—ast he has to take notice of the Eleventh about Government being by him already granted in the beginning of his Paper He begins thus In your Xth Article you believe a Spiritual Baptism and a Spiritual Supper and Communion but acknowledge you disuse the outward Signs by us commonly called Sacraments Now did not Christ command Water-Baptism Go ye and Baptize all Nations Matth. 28. 19 20. He goes on The Baptism here commanded was Water-Baptism His reasons are first that Baptizing with the Spirit was God's work not the Apostles 2dly Primitive Practice Acts 10. 47 48. in Cornelius's Case Who can forbid Water But this is also gratis dictum For the first Reason is no Reason since it is not true And the second seems to me Defective and Short I am very sensible of the Disadvantage I am under and that I touch a tender Place and what I say upon this Head as also anon upon the Supper will be against Wind and Tide with the Generality But as I hope I shall express my self Reverently as well as Plainly upon this Occasion so I beseech my Reader for his Own sake as well as Ours not to Prejudge us as I am sure he will not if he be a Searcher after Truth and that I charitably suppose of him I say then The Bishop's first Reason is not true for God by the Apostles did Baptize Believers with the Holy Ghost It fell-upon them through the Powerful Preaching of the Word Thus Acts 10. 44. While Peter yet spoke these words the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word By which it is evident that Peter in that Sermon was the Minister of the Spiritual Baptism to Cornelius and his Company And Peter gives this account to those of the Circumcision at Jerusalem Acts 11. 15. And as I began to speak the Holy Spirit fell on them as on us at the beginning Then remembred I the Word of the Lord how that he said John indeed Baptized with Water but ye shall be Baptized with the Holy Spirit So that Peter evidently declares the Gift of the Spirit by the Ministry of the Gospel to be the Baptism of Christ or the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire which Christ promised at his Ascension into Heaven But the Apostle Paul puts this Matter beyond all Doubt in his Excellent Account â—e gives of his Conversion and Commission to King Agrippa Acts 26. where my Reader will find these words dropping from the Mouth of the Lord Jesus to Saul Delivering thee from the people and from the Genâ—iles to whom now I send thee to open their Eyes and to turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto GOD that they may receive Forgiveness of Sins and an Inheritance among them which are Sanctified through Faith that is in Me Verse 17 18. Now if this could be done without the Holy Ghost let my Reader judge 'T was with the Holy Ghost that Peter's Hearers were Prick'd to the Heart and fitted to receive more of It And it was by the same Holy Ghost that Paul's Hearers had the Eyes of their Minds opened to see the Mysteries of God's Kingdom and by which they were Converted from Darkness to Light that they might receive the Forgiveness of their Sins and Inheritance among them which are Sanctified So that the very End and Benefit of the Apostolical Ministry was Converting that is Baptizing them into Christianity in the Nature Power and Life of It by the Holy Ghost Now for the Bishop's Second Reason viz. Practice I say it is granted that Water-Baptism having got place among them by John's Ministry the Fore-runner it held after Christ's Coming but that was Ex Gratia and of Condescention not of Commission for that properly ceases when his Ministration begins of which John's was but the Fore-runner For Moses and the Prophets were till John and John till Christ And this John the Water-Baptist tells us Mat. 3. 11. I indeed Baptize you with Water unto Repentance but he that cometh after me is mightier than I He shall Baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire see Mark 1. 8. Luke 3. 16. Here 's a different Baptism and Baptizer the Servant and the Master the Water and the Holy Ghost One Transcient the Other Permanent One the End of the Jewish and the Other the Beginning of the Gospel Dispensation Wherefore says our Lord Jesus Christ the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is Greater than John Matth. 11. 11. Why is not John in Heaven No doubt of it at all and a Glorious Saint too But the Least in Christ's Dispensation viz. The Kingdom of God in the Soul the Work of Christ the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost and Fire is Greater than John as to the Nature of his Administration See John 3. 30 31. He must Increase but I must Decrease What! John decrease or his Ministration His
in or that at least they needed a Sign or Token as that of the Supper to Commemorate Him But this Reason which is yet true does not Credit its Continuation for when the Spirit was come or Christ in his Spiritual Appearance their Eyes were opened and they saw then it was the Spirit that Quickens the Flesh profiteth nothing John 6. 63. 5thly Most certainly Christ meant no less when he Preach'd himself the Bread that came down from Heaven John 6. 31 to 52 and that they that would have Life Eternal must eat his Flesh and drink his Blood That is they must feed upon Spiritual Food Not the Outward but Inward Supper the thing signified and Substance it self For Christ opposes Himself who is the Bread of God to the Bread their Fathers eat in the Wilderness who were Dead which was of an Elementary Nature therefore it can never be that such Bread as perisheth should be the Bread of the Evangelical Supper when Christ by Companion undervalues it to the Bread he had to give them 6thly Our blessed Lord Mark 7. 18. taught That it was not that which went into the Man that defileth the Man because it went but into his Body and not into his Heart and if so the Argument is undeniable that it is not that wich goeth into the Man that is into his Body and not into his Heart that Sanctifieth the Man But Material Bread and Wine goeth only into the Body and not into the Heart therefore they cannot Sanctifie The Import of Christ's words is plainly this Meats and Drinks neither Defile nor Sanctifie they neither Benefit nor Harm any one upon a Spiritual Account Consequently Elementary Bread and Wine cannot be the Evangelical Supper but a Figure of It which is ended in Christ the Bread of God that cometh down from Heaven John 6. 31 32 48 49 50. That a Man may eat of and not dye The Substance of all Shadows for saith the Apostle the Body is of Christ and where that is our Lord tells us Luke 13. 37. the Engles are gathered together Where the Apostles Wise Men 1 Cor. 10. 15. seek for the true Supper which nourishes their Souls unto Eternal Life 7thly But the Bishop will have this Supper four times repeated in the Scripture of the New Testament besides that of the Apostle Paul which must be his mistake since there is no Command to practice it beyond that very Time but in Luke 22. 19. If there it self For tho' his Eating of the Passover is there related as also in Mark and Luke It was but once done and the Command this do in Remembrance of me is only Once Related among the Evangelists as well as it is but Once Commanded And would we be strict with the Bishop we need not allow him that Command to reach further than the present Time in which it was Given for This Do or Take Eat are Equally in the present Tence for thereby you shew forth my Death And the following words viz. I will Drink no more of This Fruit of the Vine until that Day when I Drink it New with you in my Father's Kingdom Mat. 26. 29. further explains it Thus Mark has it 14. 25. Verily I say unto you I will Drink no more of the Fruit of the Vine until that Day that I Drink it New in the Kingdom of God Luke 22. 18. gives it thus I say unto you I will not Drink of the Fruit of the Vine till the Kingdom of God shall come Now it is plain that Christ refers them to the Spiritual Supper which we Prefer and Practice and which is the Supper Signified by That of outward Bread and Wine that was to serve till the Kingdom of God came and then he would Communicate with them in a way Suitable to the Kingdome which Kingdom as before said is not Meat and Drink but Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost And as the same Apostle has it 1 Cor. 4. 20. The Kingdom of God is not in Word but in Power of which Power and its coming from on High upon the Apostles Read Acts 1. 6 7 8. For when they asked Christ Lord wilt thou at this time Restore the Kingdom again to Israel and that he told them 't was not for them to know the Times or the Seasons which the Father had put in his own Power He also adds But ye shall receive Power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be Witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and Judea and in Samaria and in the uttermost Parts of the Earth This Power was the Kingdom of God for it stands in Power says the Apostle but it seems he thought fit to wave their Question as to a direct Answer and left it a Secret to be revealed unto them when the Holy ghost should Come and the Power from on High should fall upon them And thus he takes his leave of them and is Immediately received by a Cloud out of their Sight Before I conclude with this Paragraph I would observe First that it was the Passover and Custom of the Jews which properly speaking we conceive hath no just plea to continue as a Gospel Ordinance or Institution since it was a Type of Him to come therefore ended as to Institution by his coming Secondly That the Evangelist John the Beloved Disciple that lay in the Bosom of Christ does not so much as mention It or Water Baptism as left by Christ to be continued by his Followers Concerning the Spirit 's Baptism tho' he uses not the word Baptism yet he is very full John 14 16 17. Chapters where he tells them that he would send them the Comforter the Spirit of Truth to lead them into all Truth and that he would dwell with them for ever I say It seems very Improbable if not Incredible that what the Bishop stiles the Badges of Christianity in his 17th Paragraph should be wholly forgotten by so great an Apostle of Christianity 3dly And as the Beloved Disciple says nothing of these visible Signs which the Bishop calls the Badges of Christianity so neither are they made an Article of any of the Ancient Creeds Extant which certainly does not make for their Credit or Authority Since had they then been of that Importance they are now by some esteemed we cannot think they would have been forgot by the Compilers of those Creeds 4ly The Apostle Paul though he repeats the Tradition he received of the Lord's Supper that night he was betrayed does not Injoyn it but as often as the Corinthians did it he tells them they should do it in remembrance of Christ Which is far from commanding it as it would be for the Bishop if he should say to his Friend as often as he comes to Cork he should come and Eat with him obliges that Person to come often to Cork So that tho' the Apostle bids them that as often as they did it they should do it in Remembrance of Christ
us to take his Advertisement that our Liberty hangs but by slender Threads and a Reason of State and not of Nature Right or Christianity which certainly is not to bespeak this Considerable Party to the advantage of the Government And for which I think the Bishop a very moderate States-man and the Government as little beholding to his Politicks as we are to his Charity However we will have a better Opinion of our Superiors Regards to Liberty and conclude that their Inclination equals their Discretion and that their Judgment as well as Prudence is of that side Let the Bishop say what he pleases And tho' he deserves it not at my Hands I could almost perswade my self to think that he does not begrudge us and means not so loosly as he writes But be it as it will That God that has upheld us by hit free Spirit to this Day through many and great Afflictions we firmly believe will suffer nothing to attend us that shall not in the Conclusion work for his Glory and our Good if we continue stedfast to the End in the blessed way of Righteousness wherein he has so often and signally Owned and Preserved us notwithstanding the Violence of Open Enemies and the Treacherous and Restless Endeavours of False Friends His 16th Paragraph multiplies Reflection as before observed and Repeats what I have already largely answered particularly that we own the Christian Faith which he makes us to Wave Suppress or at least not to Confess and have express'd it even in the Paper he has faulted so much of Shortness and that more fully in all Points than in the Creed commonly called the Athenasian except that about the Trinity which seems to me less plain by that Copious way taken to explain It. He also says We Reject all Outward Positive Parts of Worship which we deny For we own and use Prayer Preaching and Praising in the Spirit without which they cannot be Owned or Joined with for they cannot be so performed to Edification by a true Christian Worshipper since God who is a Spirit will be Worshipped in Spirit and in Truth which Christ's Spirit must enable us to perform And such Worshippers Only God the Father seeks to Worship him Implying he regards not other Worshippers But Especially the Bishop says we reject Baptism and the Supper We say we do not Reject but Disuse the Signs because we felt the Invisible Graces in our Souls they were Signs and Shadows of and therefore not in Disrespect to the Signs but in Reverence to the Divine Substance they shew forth we discontinue their use among us They obtain'd place in the Infancy and Twi-light of the Church in her more weak and Ceremonious time directing as I may say that Inter-regnum between the Law and Gospel before the Dispensation of the Holy Ghost had Fully obtained Place and Preheminence in the Church But of this I have been already very particular He grows warm in his 17th Paragraph and Episcopal for he says In a word I again Require you as you will answer all your Secret Arts and Pretensions at Christ's Tribunal that you either Embrace and Profess the Entire Christian Truth in the Points wherein I have shewn you to be Defective and that you receive the Christian Seals or Badges Baptism and the Lord's Supper or else that you Desist to lay claim to the Name of Christians But first I must return the Bishop his Secret Arts and Pretensions In all which he is Greviously Mistaken For either I do not understand his meaning or I abhor it Next be it known to him we Wave not we Suppress not but heartily Embrace and Profess before the whole World all Points of Christian Doctrine according to the mind of the Holy Ghost as I have amply signified before upon this subject And where the Bishop takes leave of the Text he must excuse me if I leave him to keep company with it We did not Entitle our Paper All Gospel-Truths but Gospel-Truths which extended so far as we were Tax'd with Error about those Truths And yet he must have but a little Charity that will not allow a Believer and Follower of those Truths to be a Christian Nor indeed has the Bishop given us the Articles of Faith he says we Wave or Suppress or told us his own or that One Churches Faith he would have us receive as I have Complained already But that the Bishop should forbid us so much as to lay claim to the Name of Christians unless we will Practice what he calls the Seals or Badges of Christianity which divers Churches in Christendom think he misuses is very Uncharitable and Dogmatical But besides what I have said at large in our Excuse and Defence in that Matter he produces not one Scripture that calls them either Seals or Badges But yet there are other things that are so represented by our blessed Saviour and his Apostles which he takes no notice of As Mat. 16. 24. where they that will he reputed Christ's Disciples must take up his Cross and follow him Christ's Cross is a Christians Badge and Seal of Discipleship Again John 13. 35. He said to his Disciples By this shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another Likewise Mat. 25. 34 35 36. The Distinguishing Character of the last Day is not Water Baptism and the Outward Supper but Love Mercy and Compassion Bowels and Charity not being Ashamed or Afraid of Owning and Helping the Lord's Servants in their Afflictions viz. I was an Hungry and ye gave Me Meat I was Thirsty and ye gave Me Drink I was a Stranger and ye took Me in Naked and ye Cloathed Me I was Sick and ye visited Me I was in Prison and ye came unto Me. This is the Christian Badge that will be Recognized by our Lord Jesus Christ at the last day We have his own Word for It. In all which He is so far from mentioning either of the other Badges that Luke 13. He brings in the Unhappy that are on his left hand using this Argument to engage him to receive them into blessedness viz. We have Eaten and Drank in thy Presence and thou hast taught in our Streets A plain Instance they had the use of such Ordinances as the Bishop reputes Badges of Christianity but it is as plain that such Pleas would not do For behold the Lord Jesus says unto them in the Parable I know you not depart from me ye workers of Iniquity I recommend the perusal of the following Verses to my Reader which confirm my sense of the Text For He spoke to an outside People that counted themselves the People of God and were observers of Meats and Drinks and Divers Washings And that which was Doctrine and Caution then is Doctrine and Caution now for Truth holds the same to the End I might add Holiness for a Characteristick without which no Man shall ever see the Lord And that neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor
Uncircumcision but a New Creature Gal. 6. Also the Fruits of the Spirit Chap. 5. among which there is not one word about Water Baptism or the Outward Supper with many more Passages that are Close and Cogent His 18th and last Paragraph tells us He will not judge us and yet his whole Paper is but one Continued Judgment of us But from God as he says and as his Minister he bids us Judge our selves First We thank God we are before-hand with the Bishop having Judged our selves and that by the Judgment of God upon us and so have right to Judge others according to that Judgment Secondly We have no proof that the Bishop speaks from God to us Nor can I tell how he should that does not acknowledge the Inspeaking Word of God in the Soul Thirdly For his being God's Minister he has not shewn us his Commission yet and I fear it will not be from Heaven when ever he does But if my Reader will take the pains of perusing this very Paragraph he will not only see a Judging Spirit but that the Bishop holds out abusing of us to the last rendring us as bad as bad can be viz. That we Subvert the Faith once delivered to the Saints and equal our Conceits to the Divine Oracles Using and Disusing what Parts of God's Instituted Worship we please adding I will not Interpose your making Gain your Godliness But as I have already taken ample notice of this Charge so I shall say no more of his Irreligious Slant at our Sincerity than this That I cannot pretend to tell the Bishop what Tribe of Men in Christendom it is that have long made Gain their Godliness and the Pretence of it their Worldly Inheritance since he has been so much more Sensibly instructed in this Affair than my self But one thing I am sure of that if Gain and not Godliness was our Motive to be the People we are we mightily Mistook our way when we left the Bishops For Afflictions Spoiles Prisons Banishments yea and Death it self have attended us since God was pleased to manifest his Truth to us And if under all those Calamitys that have followed us since we were a People for the sake of our Unfashionable Profession the Bishop or any else is so Unnatural as to envy us the Blessing of God upon our honest Industry and to render that which is an Effect of God's Goodness the Reason and End of our Religion God forgive them I could Enlarge upon this Topick but time would fail and the Discourse swell beyond Bounds as indeed it hath already beyond my Expectation for which I should Excuse my self to my Reader but that it was not Simply from the Regard I had to the Bishop's Sheet since that could not have deserved this Notice from me but might have been answered as Concisely as that was written had I only considered his Undertaking and Treatment and not my Readers Satisfaction in the better Knowledge of our so much Misrepresented Perswasion Especially in a Nation where of late I had occasion so Generally to Travel and the Bishop's Paper hath been I suppose as Generally Disperst I owe it therefore to My Profession to My Self and to the Country to Vindicate the One and to Express my Christian Regard and Acknowledgment to the Other having received a more than common Civility from the Inhabitants in General To whom I wish as to my own Soul the Saving Knowledge of the Truth as it is in Jesus That Christians Indeed and at Heart They may be to the Glory of God their Creator and the Eternal Salvatiou of their Souls through Jesus Christ the alone Redeemer and to whom with the Father by the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory Thanksgiving and Praise World without End FINIS BOOKS Printed and Sold by T. Sowle next Door to the Meeting-House in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-Street And at the Bible in Leaden-Hall-Street near the Market 1698. SAmuel Fisher's Works in Folio The Works of the Long Mournful and Sorrowful Distressed Isaac Pennington's in Folio William Bayly's Works Quarto The Works of that Memorable and Ancient Servant of Christ Stephen Crisp containing also a Journal of his Life giving an Account of his Convincement Travels Labours and Sufferings in and for the Truth Price Bound 5 s. A Collection of the several Writings and Faithful Testimonies of that suffering Servant of God and patient Follower of the Lamb Humphry Smith Price Bound 2 s. 6. d. A Collection of certain Epistles and Testimonies of Divine Consolation Experience and Doctrine Written by that Faithful Patient and Long-suffering Servant of Christ William Bennit Price Bound 1 s. 8 d. The Memory of the Righteous Revived being a brief Collection of the Books and Written Epistles of John Camm and John Audland Together with several Testimonies relating to those two Faithful Labourers Price Bound 2 s. Truth Vindicated by the Faithful Testimony and Writings of the Innocent Servant and Handmaid of the Lord Elisabeth Bathurst Deceased Price Bound 1 s. Baptism and the Lord's Supper Substantially Asserted being an Apology in behalf of the People called Quakers concerning those Two Heads By Robert Barclay Price Bound 1 s. A Catechism and Confession of Faith By R. Barclay Price Bound 9 d. No Cross No Crown A Discourse shewing the Nature and Discipline of the Holy Cross of Christ By W. Penn. In Two Parts The Fifth Edition Price 3 s. An Address to Protestants of all Perswasions more especially the Magistracy and Clergy for the Promotion of Virtue and Charity In Two Parts By W. Penn a Protestant The Second Edition Corrected and Enlarged Price Bound 1 s. 6 d.
known to deny and others of you only say It may be so And Lastly Tho' you acknowledge Everlasting Rewards for them that fear GOD yet nothing of the Everlasting Punishment of Wicked Men You mention Hell indeed in a very unnatural place viz. in your first Article of â—he Being of GOD but whether you mean thereby the Grave as most commonly in â—cripture is meant or a place of Temporal Punishment after this Life as some have â—one or a State of total Destruction and Annihilation as many now a days do no one knows Upon the whole As to the Sum of the Christian Faith which you have been pleased to set down there is not any one Article of our common Twelve that you have own'd intirely and Eight at least if not more of them that you have here totally suppressed or waved And how influential to a holy Life those which you have waved are and therefore how necessary to Salvation I must require and conjure you on your own Eternal Account to consider I will only mind you of two passages out of the Scriptures of Truth 1 Cor XV. 16 17. If the Dead rise not that is if there be no Resurrection of the Flesh then is not Christ Raised And if Christ is not raised your Faith is vain you are yet in your Sins Hence it appears All other points of Faith are in vain if this be not true The other is Rom. X. 9. If thou shalt confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy Heart that GOD hath raised Him from the Dead thou shalt be saved This Article alone is of such force and influence on Mensâ—Hearts that if believed as it should be such belief will save Men. But both Christ's Resurrection and Our own are by You in this Paper left out of your Faith I judge You not but judge Your selves lest you be condemned of the LORD Your V VI and VII Articles treat of what you call The Light of Christ within Man This You have never been able yet that I could find to make out what You mean by For You will not allow it to be either the Natural Rational Faculty or common innate Notions or Natural Conscience or Conscience Illuminated by the Preaching of the Gospel and the Operation of the Holy Ghost thereby Till You can make us understand your meaning or indeed till You understand it Your Selves that is till you are less confused in this the very Fundamental Principle or Rule of what you profess You must not think of Declaring or Publishing an Account of your Faith See you understand it first There are some Men who have a Faculty to speak things seemingly profound but in the End neither themselves nor others can make any distinct sense of what they have said This we usually call Banter And I must acknowledge as far as I can see your Discourse of his Light within is perfectly such Take notice We in our Preaching require People to look within as much as You do We strictly charge all to walk according to the Convictions and Light they have received We daily appeal unto Conscience but then we teach that Conscience opened by the Holy Spirit under the Ministry of the Word Acts XVI 14. does and must take in its Light from Holy Scripture The Commandment of the Lord is pure inlightning the Eyes Ps XIX 8. viz. of the Mind Ephes I. 18. Thy Word is a Lamp to my Feet and a Light to my Path. Ps CXIX 105. To the Law and to the Testimony If they even Men in their Consciences speak not according to this Word it is because there is NO LIGHT in them Isai VIII 20. Now these things are intelligible This Rule is fixt and certain nothing of which can be said of Your Light within In Your VIII Article You tell us Worship under the Gospel is Inward and Spiritual If You mean hereby that all Outward and Bodily Worship ought to be accompanied with an Inward and Spiritual Worship it is what we daily Preach and Practice and even in private press But if as it would seem You mean all the Worship GOD now requires is from the Inward Man or from the Spirit this is abominably false For Our Bodies are GOD's handy-work and Christ's Purchase as well as Our Souls on which reason GOD by His Apostle commands Glorifie â—OD in Your Body and in Your Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in the Plural Number that is both which are GOD's Not to tell You that You your selve now a days perform somewhat of Bodily Worship And indeed if there be not a worship of the Body as well as of the Spirit there can be no Publick Worship This Article therefore must also be mended to make it Christian In your IX Article You tell us of youâ— Denying all the vain Customs and Fashions of the World as also Excess in all things I know no sort of Christians who teach otherwise I wish I could say I knew none even of your selves that practice otherwise It is one part of the Catechism We teach our Children to renounce all these But there are many Innocent and laudable Customs which You call vain Would it not almost make a Mans Stomach turn to hear one forbear in point of Conscience â—â—ying You to a single Person because it 〈◊〉 improper and at the same time while â—e is speaking to his Superiour because Thou doest sounds a little rudely to soften the Thou and say Thee doest which is commonly Your Peoples Practice and much more improper Will You ever be able to prove the Primitive Christians â—sed a Dialect or Dress different from others of their Nation and Qualities and placed Religion in it Does not Christ require Saluting even those who salute not us And no doubt his and his Apostles Salutations were in the common form In a word There is more Vanity in Singularity and Affectation than in moderate following a common innocent Phrase Garb or Custome In your X Article you believe you say a Spiritual Baptism and a Spiritual Supper and Communion but acknowledge you Disuse the Outwards Signs by us commonly called Sacraments Now did not Christ command Water-Baptism Go ye and Baptise all Nations Matth. XXVIII 19 20. The Baptism here commanded was Water-Baptism For Baptising with the Spirit was GOD's work not the Apostles and tho the Baptism of the Spirit commonly accompanied Baptism with Water yet not always as in the Case of Simon Magus and many others Yet did not Christ promise to be with them Preaching to all Nations and Baptising to the End of the World Further Did not the Apostles in Obediencâ— to Christs Command both constantly practice and also require Water-Baptism to all Initiated Christians Can any Man forbiâ— Water that these should not be Baptised which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we And he Peter commanded they should bâ— Baptised Acts X. 47 48. Then as to the Outward use of Bread and Wine for the Lord's