pure Spirit of Christ doth never join in working with it but judgeth and reproveth it and therefore in so far as the unclean part worketh in any that man in whom it worketh is not throughly justified and approved by the Lord but there are who witness the cleansing from all the uncleanness and so as clean Vessels and Instruments throughout bring forth clean things clean works Thy Example how that Clean water passing through an unclean Pipe receives a tincture of uncleanness hits not the case The spiritual Water is undefilable For the spiritual Water is not like the common gross outward Water which an unclean Pipe can defile but like the fire and the Light which though it touch unclean things cannot be defiled by them Every thing of the Spirit is undefilable as the Spirit is which no unclean thing can defile And if thou wert well skilled in the outward Creation thou might'st find an outward Water so pure that passing through an unclean Pipe shall not be defiled with it But if thou knowest not these earthly things and believest them not as Christ said John 3.12 How shalt thou believe if we tell thee heavenly things Page 25. Thou chargest us with Erring grievously in confounding Justification and Sanctification Answ. Justification is either taken for God his adjudging a man unto Eternal Life A twofold Justification and in that sense it is not to be confounded with Sanctification yet it is not to be separated there-from for God adjudgeth no man but the sanctified unto Eternal Life or Happiness Or it is taken for the making a man righteous and then it is all one with Sanctification And that thou say'st The word is most frequently used in Scripture in that sense of adjudging being opposed to condemnation Doth imply thou hast not the confidence to assert that it is always so used as indeed it is not And whereas thou citest Philip. 3.9 to prove That the choicest Saints upon Earth have disclaimed all Righteousness wrought in them by which they could be justified I say that Scripture proves no such thing and thy Observation to prove it is insufficient to wit that the Apostle doth not speak of his Righteousness whilest he was a Pharisee for that he disowned vers 6 7. for admitting it yet he was still to deny and disown the Work and Righteousness which could proceed from his own Will and Spirit even all the willings and runnings which can arise from a man's self though he be a Saint Self-righteousness to be watched against without the immediate operation of the Spirit of Christ the Saints have this to watch against to keep down the active and working self-will and stop it from working the Self-righteousness which if it be not watched against and stood against will fall a working its Righteousness which God accepts not as being but the bare Righteousness of man And this is that Righteousness which Paul denied to have which he even calleth the Righteousness of the Law but this which is of the Law thou cunningly omittest because it made against thee it seems Now what that Righteousness of God through Faith was which he desires to have he plainly expresseth verse 10. That he might know him and the power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his Sufferings in being made conform unto his death Now is not the knowledge of him and the power of his Resurrection a work of the Spirit of Christ in the Saints by which they are justified according to that By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many And is not the fellowship of his suffering or the suffering with him a work of his Spirit And Lastly is not the Conformity unto his Death a work of his Spirit in the Saints comprehending the whole work of Mortification Page 26. Thy last Argument from 2 Cor. 5.21 is most absurd and impious for accordingly it would follow that as Christ was made sin for us or suffered for our sins who himself had no sin no not in the least So we may be made righteous before God though we have no righteousness no holiness no faith no repentance no mortification no good thing wrought in us Christ's Righteousness made by the Priest a strengthning of the wicked And doth not this strengthen the wicked ungodly and profane in their Presumption to have title to Christ his Righteousness And so to return thy mis-applied Instance in another case Suppose some of the profane who plead a right to Christ's Righteousness having lost some of their number should happen to hear thee disputing against all Good Works as being profitable to Justification might they not say concerning thee and thy Brethren who teach such Doctrine We have not only got the lost sheep but the lost shepheards and the chiefest of them too on our side let us rejoice we have found them We find the Apostle makes a far better Inference from Christ his dying for us 2 Cor. 6.15 He died for all that they who live might not any longer live to themselves but to God yea and every where he holdeth forth Inward holiness and righteousness as that without which no man can lay claim to Christ If any man be in Christ he is a New Creature but he doth not say God reputes him a New Creature though he be not really renewed And though it be said that we are made righteous in him This hinders not as thou vainly inferrest That we are not made righteous by an inward righteousness for he is in the Saints and fulfils the righteousness of the Law in them that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us The righteousness of the Law fulfilling in us Rom. 8.4 Therefore that 2 Cor. 5.21 is thus to be understood that Jesus Christ who knew no sin was made to be sin for us that is suffered for our sins that we who had really sinned and so deserved wrath might partake of the Love and Grace by him and through the workings thereof be made the Righteousness of God in him For that the Apostle understood here a really being made righteous and not a being esteemed or held as righteous while indeed impure is very evident by the whole following Chapter but especially towards the end What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness Wherefore come out from among them touch not the unclean thing be ye separate and I will receive you and ye shall be unto me for sons and daughters Now to be Received of the Lord is to be justified of him and here we see plainly that in order thereunto there is required a Righteousness by which they must be separated from the evil and unclean and must not touch it And whereas thou say'st That the holiest Actions of the Saints because of the sinfulness of these Actions deserve Condemnation I ask thee Whether did the Apostles sin in writing the Scriptures Then writing the Scriptures was Sin in the holy men of God according to
I say That as to us they cannot be separated Then all must be Redeemed the one way who are Redeemed the other and that then every Man must be Redeemed from the power of Corruption and saved But here according to his Custom he cites not my words justly which are That they are both perfect in their own Nature albeit in their Application to us-ward they cannot be separated that is he that comes Effectually to Enjoy the Benefit of the one must Enjoy the other he that Receives the second partakes of the first also he that really receives the first receives the second also but that hinders not but many may be offered the Benefit of the first and by rejecting and resisting it lose the Benefit both of first and second and he that rejecteth it at any time albeit he receive it for a season as by his falling he loses what of the second is wrought in him to wit of Purification so he doth also lose the first which was Remission of Sin His last Cavil at this is very Impertinent which is by way of Question That if this second Redemption be necessary to Salvation as indeed it is what shall become of the Child of God that hath no Light What shall become of them J. B's Absurdities that Saints may be Vnited to Christ and not see it that have true Grace uniting them to Christ c. and yet through darkness can see and acknowledge no such thing For to pass-by the Absurdities here supposed that Saints can be said to have no Light or have Grace and be Vnited to Christ yet neither be able to see it nor acknowledge it and that not during their life-time here for unless this be also supposed he cannot Conclude what he will for that a Saint may be clouded at a time is not denied yet this maketh nothing for his purpose Will it follow because they see it not that it therefore is not needful to their Salvation His own words Imply a Contradiction to this And thus the Man Confutes that by which he would urge another in the very words by which he expresses it For is not Grace to unite the heart to Christ necessary to Salvation He will surely say Yes If then the acknowledgment of that and seeing of it which is needful to Salvation be not needful then the not-seeing or not acknowledging of a thing makes it not a thing unnecessary to Salvation which is the Absurdity he would Insinuate ¶ 3. Thus having removed out of the way his most obvious Perversions and Abuses I come to Treat of the main matter which all depends upon this one Question What is that whereby a Man is Justified so as to appear truly Just in the sight of God This he supposes to be done by the Righteousness and Death of Christ without even before any work of Righteousness be wrought in Man even as a Cautioner to whom he Compares Christ in this case frees him whose Debt he pays I on the contrary affirm By the Death of Christ no Man can be said to be Justified until Christ received in the heart there Renew and make him Just. That albeit Reconciliation and Remission of Sins be by the Death of Christ without and the door opened so that all may be at Peace by the Offer of Grace made in Christ if they reject it not yet hereby no Man can be said to be Justified or appear Just properly until Christ be received in his heart there to renew and purify him and make him Just so that however Justification may be distinguished from Sanctification yet not divided nor yet so distinguished that a Man can be truly said to be Justified who is Vnholy and Vnsanctified And therefore upon the Examining of what he urges against this and for his Position as also what he answers to my Probations for it depends the whole matter But before I enter particularly upon this and that there may no Interruption meet me when entred in it I will first take notice and remove his Mistakes and Misapplied Proofs thereupon both in what he Opposes me and Affirms for himself as also here take notice of his meer Assertions And first then pag. 299. he supposes There can be no Reconciliation by the Blood of Christ's Cross c. unless for such in whose Room Christ died as a Cautioner and Surety and so made Satisfaction that they should be Redeemed and Delivered But albeit upon this Notion and Affirmation all depends yet I miss the Proof of it if his After-Proofs say any thing to it I shall Examin them That which he mentions here written Rom. 8.3 4. is so far from doing it that it proves the Contrary For albeit the Death of Christ was that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us yet it follows not that the Righteousness of the Law must be fulfilled in all for whom he died yea the following words who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit shew The Benefit of Christ's Death is to them that Walk after the Spirit this to be the Condition Requisite on our part that we may partake of the Benefit of his Death If to prove that Man should be Reconciled Redeemed and Delivered by the Death of Christ he bring the Instances of the Righteousness of the Law to be fulfilled in us then Men cannot be said to be Reconciled Redeemed and Delivered until this Righteousness of the Law be fulfilled in them What he addeth to this That we cannot be said to be accounted Righteous and absolved from Accusation upon the account of our works of Righteousness I say no such thing freely confessing that not only pardoning of Sin but removing of the Filth as well as of the Guilt is the Act of God's Mercy and Grace as saith the Apostle Tit. 3.5 6. And yet we are saved The removing both Filth and Guilt of Sin is the Act of God's Grace and Mercy and consequently Justified according to his Mercy by the washing of Regeneration since this is the Fruit of the Grace and Spirit of God freely given us And therefore it is not enough for him pag. 203. to affirm That I pervert the Apostle's words 2 Cor. 5.19 20. God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself upon this bare supposition That this World is only understood of the Elect for if this Reconciliation had been Absolute and not in part only that is a Readiness on God's part to be Reconciled with them if they Repent which I affirm to what purpose should the Apostle as an Embassador Intreat them to be Reconciled there needed no Intreaty to that which was already done neither are his meer Assertions to this p. 303. any Answer It is strange that to prove That all for whom Christ died are certainly made alive one time or other he brings these words And that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them
it is not he that speaketh but the Spirit in him for this savoureth not of a Christian Spirit to seek to draw an Absurdity or make a Mock of that which is no other than Christ's Express Words Matth. 10.20 Mark 13.3 And indeed what he saith in this page N. 9. in answer to these Scriptures seemeth rather a Mock at Christ and his Apostles than any Answer asking me If I know not that Christ gave them their Preaching with them telling them what they should say And as ye go preach saying The Kingdom of God is at Hand And a little after he saith They had their Sermon taught them before-hand But dare he say That Christ's Words before-mentioned were therefore false This he must say or else prove nothing Or will he say that the Apostles in all that Progress said nothing but these seven Words The Kingdom of God is at Hand For according to him this was all they said which they had learned afore-hand and not as the Holy Ghost taught them in that Hour what to say albeit it be Christ's Express Words Luke 12.12 Pag. 447. to my Argument that according to their Doctrine the Devil himself ought to be heard seeing he knoweth the Notion of Truth and excelleth many of them in Learning and Eloquence he answers Why doth the Man thus speak Vntruth Do we say that every one though he were the Devil if he speak Truth should be heard Do they not say That Men ought to be heard and accounted as Ministers albeit void of the true Grace of God if having the formality of the outward Call And to prove this do not they bring the Example of Judas whom Christ called a Devil And they suppose him to have been such even when sent by Christ and deserved to be heard as his Apostle Let him consider then how he can shun what I have affirmed And albeit the Devil may speak without Study J. B. argues for acquiring the Gift of Preaching by outward Study of the Letter yet he cannot be said to Speak by the Spirit of God which is the thing we affirm needful to Gospel-Preaching And for his last Argument pag. 448. That since extraordinary Gifts Ceased there hath been no ordinary way of Preaching but by ordinary Gifts studied and acquired It is but a bare begging of the Question and the same upon the Matter with his new-enforced Objection which I answered towards the beginning of my Third Section of Immediate Revelation ¶ 4. I come now to his Twenty fourth Chapter of Prayer And as to his first Paragraph there needs no Debate for except some Railing intermixed I own what is asserted in it as to the Necessity of Prayer and its being through Christ as Mediator In the next he alledgeth I speak untruly in saying That the Acts of their Religion are produced by the Strength of the Natural Will for they can pray when they please But how truly this is affirmed concerning them will after appear Albeit in opposition to it after citing a passage out of the Larger Catechism J. B. owns the Spirit necessary to Prayer he saith They own the Influences of the Spirit as alsolutely necessary to this Duty Which if he would hold to there needed no further Debate I should agree to it For he doth untruly state the Question when he saith a little after That the Motions and Inspirations I plead for are extraordinary which is false and never said by me And therefore his building on it is in vain as well here as pag. 452-457-459 461. where he insinuates That I judge not the gracious and ordinary Influences of the Spirit a sufficient Warrant to pray which is false What he saith pag. 451. of the Necessity of Prayer at some times and of the Scriptures mentioning Prayers being made three times a day I deny not nor is it to the purpose The Question is Whether any can pray acceptably without the Spirit We see he hath granted they cannot then the thing to be proved is Whether the general Command authorized any to set about it albeit in a manner which is granted will not avail and is unacceptable So the matter resolves in Examining what he can say from Scripture or other ways to prove this And that there may be no Mistake let it be considered that I deny not the General Obligation to pray upon all so that they Who do not pray do sin who do not pray sin albeit they be not sensible of the Spirit 's Help enabling them to do it But that the way to avoid this Sin is not to Commit another to pray without the Spirit but to Wait for the Spirit that they may pray acceeptably seeing without it though they should use words of Prayer it would be no fulfilling of the Command And first then to what he argueth pag. 452. from the Reiterated Commands of God to pray I answer That God's Command lays upon Man an Obligation to pray I deny not but God commands no Man to pray unacceptably God Commands the right Performance of Prayer and this he has confessed cannot be without the Spirit therefore God commands no Prayer without the Spirit God Commands no Prayer without the Spirit neither is the Command answered or fulfilled by such as pray without it To this he Objecteth pag. 453 and 458. That the same Moral Duties might be shifted until the Spirit lead to them and also Natural Acts of Sleeping Eating c. which are Abomination in the Wicked And yet to go round he accuseth me p. 454 albeit falsly of saying Men may pray without the Grace of God Which by this Objection is his own Faith since he will not deny but Men may Sleep and Eat without the Grace of God But to this Objection I answered in my Apology shewing the difference betwixt these Acts and Acts of Worship which he grants pag. 461. And albeit I confess which he urgeth here that these profit not the Man at all as with respect to God's Favour when done without the Spirit yet they really fulfil the Matter of the thing Commanded in relation to our Neighbours and to our selves in Eating Drinking Sleeping else it would be Self-Murder But in Prayer the matter is not fulfilled without the Spirit which relateth only to God to whom every Prayer without the Spirit is an Evil Savour and not in any true and proper Sense a Prayer for Prayer as to the material Part cannot be performed without the Spirit He confesseth according to their Catechism That the Spirit is needful to know what to pray for which is the material part but the necessity of the Spirit as to these other things is only as to the formal part The formal part of Nature's Acts directed by the Spirit or right manner And this pleading for Praying from these Natural Acts shews how he Contradicts himself in saying It is untrue that they are for Prayer without the Spirit for if they be not this Argument were
them hungry and hardly bestead for many years feeling after Life and Immortality but could not find that somewhat was raised in me that Words and Reports could not feed Names and Notions I minded little but Christ to dwell in me was that and is that more and more I press after And now I must for the Truth 's sake say somewhat which I humbly mention with a fresh Remembrance of the Love L. S. his first Convincement Power and tender Mercy of God who enabled me I know the Lord will not impute it to be boasting in that season wherein the Lord Revealed the true way to Life and Immortality to me by his Inward Appearance in my Soul it was a time wherein he had mercifully turned me from all that ever his Light inwardly and Law outwardly had Condemned me for my heart also did bear witness for me that whatsoever I had known would please him I was chusing to do that not that thereby I was seeking Justification in my own Righteousness but a sure Evidence of my Interest in him who was made unto us Righteousness Justification c This blessed Glimps of my begun Freedom was given me in a seasonable time that I might thereby be enabled to speak with mine Enemy in the Gate and be encouraged to believe in the Light and wait upon the Lord to feel his vertue perfectly to Cleanse me from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit Neither was I an Vnder-valuer of the Scriptures they were my Rule then and I hope for ever my Life shall answer them I think To whom and how the Scriptures are a Rule they honour the Scriptures most who live most according to them and not they who call them the Only Rule yet do not make them their Pattern The Scriptures of Truth were precious to me and by them was I taught not to walk nor worship in the Way of the People the Spirit shewing me his mind in them and then I saw in his Light that it is not the Scriptures many Adore so much as their own Corrupt Glosses upon them Neither can my Experience go along with what thou affirmest of the hazzard of Converse with that People It is very well known to all that lived in the place where I sojourned I was none who Conversed with them I was never at one of their Meetings I never read one of their Books unless accidentally I had found them where I came and lookt to them and laid them by again So now it remains with me to tell thee what was the Occasion I joined with them The occasion of L. S. 〈◊〉 joining with the Quakers since it was none of those thou mention'st which I will very singly and can very comfortably do It was that thing ye School-men call Immediate Objective Revelation which my desire is ye were more particularly and feelingly acquainted with whereby the Lord raising in my Soul his feeling Life I could not sit down satisfied with hearing of what the Son of God had done outwardly though I believe thereby he purchased all that Grace and Mercy which is inwardly wrought in the hearts of his Children until I should be a partaker of the Vertue and Efficacy thereof whereby I might possess the Substance of things hoped for I saw an Historical Faith would neither Cleanse me nor Save me if that could save any the Devils were not without a Door of Hope I felt I needed the Revelation of the Son of God in me all that ever I read or heard without this could not give me the Saving Knowledge of God None knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son Revealeth him through the Vertue whereof mine Eyes were more and more by degrees opened For the tender-hearted Samaritan had pity upon my wounded Soul when both Priest and Levite passed by and the Watch-men rent my Vail and when there was no Eye to pity nor Hand to help me he drew near and poured in Wine and Oil as he saw needful and fulfilled the Promise in measure wherein he had long caused me to hope He that follows me The Scriptures made Comfortable by the Spirit of Truth shall not walk in Darkness but shall have the Light of Life and that sweet saying whereby I am confirmed and comforted If evil Parents know how to give their Children good things how much more will the Lord give his holy Spirit to those who ask him When your Children ask bread will ye give them a stone or when they ask a fish will ye give them a serpent These precious Scriptures and many such like being opened up and applied by the Spirit of Truth powerfully and seasonably in saying Be not faithless but believing times above number before and since hath made me set to my seal to these words of Christ The words that I speak are Spirit and Life and as I walk with him and abide in him watching at the posts of Wisdom's gates travelling in Spirit more and more to bring forth Fruit unto him and walk worthy of him unto all well-pleasing daily to die unto self that Christ may live in me I becoming a passive Creature and he an active Christ in the Increase of his Government I feel the Increase of my Peace And so My Friend thou hast here by some Touches at things occasion to see how far thou art mistaken concerning us and how far contrary to the Truth as it is in Jesus thou represent'st many things to the world speaking evil of things which thou knowest not and if thou dost the greater is thy sin Two Particulars indeed I cannot strain Charity so far as to believe Christ owned and the Scriptures thou thinkest Do we deny Jesus Christ and Justification through his Righteousness because we make the Sufficiency thereof of a more universal Extent than ye or because we love whole Christ so much and his seamless Coat that we will not have it divided Nay we dare not divide Justification and Sanctification neither confound them we have felt the Blood and the Spirit distinct things yet inseparable Neither canst thou think We make void the Scriptures because we honour the Spirit that was before the Scriptures were written and bear Testimony against all who deny the Spirit 's Immediate Teachings to be the Vniversal Priviledge of his People whereby ye take away the key of Knowledge and neither enter the Kingdom nor suffer others who would but monopolize Knowledge to your selves Monopolized Knowledge by Professors and intrude your Meanings upon the Consciences of men as the Rule which Meanings indeed I do not own either as the only or any Rule but as the Spirit of Christ in my Conscience answers it The Testimony of the Spirit of Truth in Thousands with me will stand and rise up against thee in the presence of the Lord when all thy Vnjust Reproaches and Malitious Accusations shall melt away before the presence of the Glory of the heart-searching God before whose
first may deceive over again that makes nothing against the Insufficiency of the Spirit to discover the delusion but if a man be deceived either first or again he is to blame himself for his defect in not being duly watchful and faithful in what is discovered to him of God truly and certainly Consider the tendency of thy Argument which strikes not only at the certainty of the Saints faith now from the Spirit within and the assurance of Knowledge therefrom but also strikes at the very certainty and assurance of all the Faith and Knowledge the holy Prophets and Men of God had from the Spirit within when Scripture was not We are in no greater hazard to be deceived now than they were then You that set up the Scripture as your only Rule the many Sects of you what jangling and contesting is among you while one pleads for his sence and another for his Which all proceeds from their wandring from the Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures And as to satisfying of others we refer and recommend them to the same Spirit in them to receive their satisfaction from that which only can and will satisfy them who wait for it in singleness Page 18. And whereas thou sayst The Saints are led and guided by the Spirit but it is according to the Scriptures So say we too but it doth not therefore follow that the Spirit hath so tyed and limited himself to the use of the Scriptures as always to use them in every particular step of his guiding the Saints the Spirit is free to use or not use the Scriptures at his pleasure and guideth the Saints in many particular steps of their life for which there is no particular Scripture either to approve or disprove them in The more sure Word of Prophecy As for the more sure Word of Prophecy we grant it is the Rule but deny that that more sure Word is the Scriptures but it is that Word in the heart from which the Scriptures came and in and by which the Scriptures are to be interpreted And is it not gross blindness and darkness to say The Scripture is more sure than that Word Light Life and Spirit from which they came Had not the Scriptures all their sureness from the inward Testimony of the Spirit How then can they be more sure Thy example of the Schoolmaster and the Copy serves not thy turn for the Spirit is unto the Saints both their Teacher and their Copy and they need not go forth for a Copy and if they walk according to this by looking upon it and eying it they shall be good Scholars and Proficients He writes them a living Copy in their hearts engraves it on fleshly Tables whereas they who look upon no other Copy but the Words without them are those who are ever learning but never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth Page 19. Thou askest Why we disjoin the Spirit and the Scriptures citing Isaiah 50.21 Answ. We are not to disjoin what the Lord putteth together sometimes the Spirit joineth or concurreth with the Scripture-Words and sometimes not how many preach and pray and read the Scriptures and talk of them without the joint concurrence of the Spirit Which we say they ought not to do the Scriptures should never be used to preach and pray c. but in the concurrence and assistance of the Spirit for they are not of true use to any without the Spirit but ye disjoin them who would have praying in the letter and using of it without the Motion of the Spirit to such the Scripture is indeed but a dead letter and it is no ways a reproach unto them to be so called Yea what are the best of men without the Spirit but dead men And this is not a reproach to them but their Glory so nor is it to Scripture Thou sayst They are said to be a killing letter and this shews that they are not dead Answ. A poor Argument indeed Can not dead things kill if men feed upon them If thou seedest upon sand gravel stones The Letter killeth shells will not these things kill thee though they be dead And if thou feedest upon the Letter without thee and not upon the Life thou canst not live yea if one that lived did depart from feeding upon the Life to feed upon the Letter it would kill him And as for that Scripture cited by thee it makes very much against thee to wit Isaiah 59.21 For it is one thing for God to put Words into mens Mouths and far another for men to gather these Words from that without Isaiah 59.21 and put them into their own Mouths nor doth it say that the Words God shall put into their Mouths shall be no other Words more or less but the express Scripture Words Why art thou not ashamed to cite this Scripture Do ye not say To speak as the infallible Spirit gives utterance is ceased and consequently God's putting Words into the Mouth God's furnishing them with Words suggested from his own Spirit and Life which the holy Prophets and Apostles witnessed to speak as moved by the Holy Ghost do ye not say this is ceased Why then citest thou a Scripture which is so plain and clear for it but that thou art in Blindness and Confusion Page 19. In thy procedure upon the point of Justification thou makest a large step in that crooked path of deceit wherein thou hadst too much traced from the beginning but now more abundantly than ever thou displayest the Banner of thy Dis-ingenuity and gatherest all thy Forces together it should seem resolving to give the Quakers a final Overthrow And to make the matter misty in the very entry of it thou raisest Dust to thy self venting thy own filthy Imaginations under the notion of coming from them applauding thy endeavours as if thou wert studying to preserve pure the principle of Justification in a point where none is jumbling it among us As thou advancest a little further Page 20 21. having given a very scant Account of their Doctrine in this Matter couching it in most disadvantagious terms thou takest great liberty to extend thy self in a foolish and vain Excursion as if having fathomed the Quakers thou hadst discovered them to be either turned or turning rank Papists therefore to trace thee throughly in this matter that if it be possible thou may'st come to have a discovery of thy Vanity and Malice or though thou shouldst prove irrecoverable yet others may have a view of both I shall first in honesty and plainness declare the Principle of Truth in this matter thereby observing thy Mis-representations Secondly shew what Vast Difference is betwixt us and the Papists therein And Thirdly make manifest how much nearer of kin ye are to the Papists even as to this particular and the things relating thereunto than we which may serve as a seasonable shower to allay that windy Triumph which thou endeavourest to establish unto thy self
As to the first We are justified by Christ Jesus both as he appeared and was made manifest in the Flesh at Jerusalem and also as he is made manifest and Revealed in us And thus we do not divide Christ nor his Righteousness without from his Righteousness within but we do receive and embrace him wholly and undivided THE LORD OVR RIGHTEOVSNESS Jeremiah 23.6.1.30 By which we are both made and accounted Righteous in the sight of God and which ought not nor cannot be divided Christ's Righteousness ours And the manner and way whereby his Righteousness and Obedience Death and Sufferings without become profitable unto us and is made ours is by receiving him and becoming one with him in our hearts embracing and entertaining that holy Seed which as it is embraced and entertained becometh a holy Birth in us which in Scripture is called Christ formed within Christ within the hope of glory Gal. 4.19 Coloss. 1.27 By which the Body of Sin and Death is done away and we cleansed and washed and purged from our sins not imaginarily but really and we really and truly made righteous and holy and pure in the sight of God which Righteousness is properly enough said to be the Righteousness of Christ for it is immediately from him and stands in him and is as unseparable from him as the Beams are from the Sun and it is through the Vnion betwixt him and us his righteous Life and Nature brought forth in us and we made one with it as the Branches are with the Vine that we have a true Title and Right to what he hath done and suffered for us for being so closely united to Christ his Righteousness becometh ours his Obedience ours his Death and Sufferings ours Thus we know him and the power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his Sufferings being made conformable to his Death Philip. 3 10. By which Nearness and Fellowship we come to know an Vnity with the suffering Seed both in our selves and others and therein to travel for its raising and deliverance which yet no ways derogates from the Worth of the Sacrifice he offered up unto God without the Gates of Jerusalem while he humbled himself unto Death even unto the Death of the Cross tasting Death for every man This is an honest and plain and true Account of our Belief in this matter and is in Substance one and the same with that which at sundry times thou and thy Brethren hast received from us notwithstanding the bare scanty and dis-ingenuous Account thou givest of us in this matter Secondly As to the Vast Difference that lyeth betwixt us and the Papists any who are not wilfully blind may see it who know their Doctrine and ours in this thing It is not the Works of Christ wrought in us nor the works which we work in his Spirit and Power that we rest and rely upon as the Ground and Foundation of our Justification How Christ is our Justification but it is Christ himself the Worker revealed in us in-dwelling in us his Life and Spirit covering us that is the Ground of our Justification and we feeling our selves in him feeling him in us and his Spirit his Life covering us we feel our Justification and Peace with God in him and through him the alone Mediator betwixt God and Man Now this manner of Justification by the indwelling of Christ in the Saints and of his Spirit is not held by the Papists but is expresly denied by them and disputed against particularly by Bellarmine And Christ Jesus himself is both first and last our Justification and Foundation of it And as to being Justified by Works the Scripture is plain for it and so we may not deny it but plead for it according to the true sence and mind of the Spirit as we are taught of him But to be Justified by him is more than to be Justified by Works Works wrought in Christ. and therefore are we justified in our Works which we work in him and because the Lord accepteth and justifieth us in him therefore he accepteth and justifieth our Works wrought in him and accepteth and justifieth us in relation to these Works And though it hath been said by us that Good Works which are wrought in Christ and are rather his than ours are Meritorious yet we understand it not any other ways than thus That all their Merit or Worth is from Christ. And seeing they are said in Scripture to have their Reward and Reward and Merit are Relative Terms inferring one another in that sence wherein they are said to be Rewarded they may also be said to be Meritorious which yet hinders not the freedom of God's Grace in Justification For we do verily believe and confess that both the Works and the Reward are of the Free-grace of God and that the Lord giveth us all things not of Debt or as being in our Debt but of Free-gift and his infinite Goodness and Wisdom hath seen it meet to promise a Reward to Good Works and so he doth Reward them because of his Goodness and Faithfulness and not because he is addebted unto any of us otherwise then as he hath bound himself by his promise And this is contrary to that false Popish Doctrine which affirms That men deserve a Reward from God for Good Works upon the account of strict Justice without respect to the Promise And if it be answered That all Papists do not say so but are more moderate Well then I say If some of them be moderate and pass from the erroneous Opinion of Popery and speak that which is true if others speak what is true also in that particular should the Truth be accused and condemned for Rank Popery because some Papists at times confess to it You your selves know that Papists contradict one another in divers things and where men directly contradict one another one of the sides must speak true But as to that wherein the Justification stands and on which it is grounded to wit Christ himself as in-dwelling in the Saints none of all the Papists for ought we ever heard or read do own it but are against it Again As to the Works by which the Papists seek to be justified The Papists justifying Works pretended they are such as we believe none can be justified by viz. their outward Observations their Invocation of Saints bowing to Images saying Ave Maries telling their Beads their Pilgrimages their whipping themselves their keeping Lent and many other such like Works of voluntary Humility by which they seek to be justified though they are evil Works as not done in the Faith and Power of God Nor does it serve thy turn to say That Papists think not that Works considered as evil and sinful are sufficient to justify them for that is not the question Whether the Papists think to be justified by Works sinful and evil but this is the Question Whether the Papists think to be justified by Works which are really
sinful and evil however they may imagine them to be good And herein I say we differ vastly from Papists they think and seek to be justified by such Works as are evil in the sight of God whereas we believe that by no such Works can any man be justified Other weighty Differences could be shewed in relation to this Matter but what is here in short declared may suffice to evince that we differ widely from the Papists concerning Justification Thirdly Look how near a kin ye are to Papists as in many other things so in these relating to Justification First Do ye not say That ye are not justified by Christ in-dwelling in you So say the Papists Secondly Do ye not say That the way to attain to a state of Justification is not by believing in the Word of Faith which is in every man and in the Light wherewith Christ has enlightned every man that comes into the World And so say the Papists who though they talk of Vniversal Grace yet they deny that this Vniversal Grace is an Evangelical Principle of Light by believing in which men can attain unto a state of Justification immediately Thirdly Do ye not say That God's Act of Justification is not an immediate Testimony of his Spirit declaring or pronouncing men righteous And so say the Papists Fourthly Do ye not say That men are not to know their Justification or that they are in a justified state by an immediate Testimony of the Spirit in them by way of object for this were to assert Immediate Revelation So do the Papists So by these few Instances given here and by many other Instances given by others in other particulars try your selves and first clear your selves of Popery before you or thou dost throw it upon us Now whereas thou alledgest That the Apostle in the matter of Justification excludes all Works even those of Christ his working in the Saints and which they work in him 'T is false nor do the Scriptures cited by thee prove thy intent As Rom. 3.20 Gal. 2.16 Tit. 3.5 thou say'st The Apostle speaks of Works in general Works of the Law and of the Spirit without any limitation But herein thou contradictest the very express Scriptures cited by thee for all these Scriptures speak of Works with a limitation As Rom. 3.20 By the deeds of the Law there shall no Flesh be justified and Gal. 2.16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the Works of the Law Here the Works of the Law are excluded but not the Works of Christ in us which are not of the Law for the Law or first Covenant was weak and gave not strength to them who were under it to fulfil Righteousness but these who were in Christ Jesus witnessed the Righteousness of the Law fulfilled in them who walked not after the Flesh but after the Spirit And as for that other Scripture Tit. 3.5 though it exclude Works of mens doing as of themselves yet it excludes not all Works nor inward Righteousness of Christ but expresly includes it According to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Ghost Thou couldst not have brought a more plain proof against thy self for thou citest this Scripture has holding forth Justification Now the Apostle saith He saved us according to his Mercy by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost and is not the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost a Work which comprehends many particular Works of the Spirit of Christ in the Saints And is not Regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost a Righteousness wrought in us How is it then that thou art not ashamed to charge us with Rank Popery for saying We are justified by a Righteousness wrought in us seeing the very Scripture cited by thee is expresly for it May we not pertinently return these words upon thee which thou mis-appliest to us Oh! tell it not in Gath publish it not in the Streets of Askalon c. that a man who pretends to teach others a-right in the matter of Justification hath so confounded himself that to prove that Justification is not by a Righteousness wrought within brings a Scripture which speaks expresly of Righteousness within to wit that of Regeneration and Renovation by which we are saved And if any should say The words do not say We are Justified by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost but we are Saved thereby as intending Sanctification and not Justification I answer This helps not the Author out of the Ditch for he brings this Scripture forth applying it to the matter of Justification But again If these words exclude all Works generally and without any limitation then they exclude all Works which are wrought by the Spirit of Christ from sanctification as if men were sanctified by no Works of the Spirit of Christ within them Sanctification by the Works of the Spirit Or if it be said that Works of our own doing Self-righteousness are only excluded from having place in our Sanctification but not the Works wrought in and by the Spirit of Christ then I say why may not the same Distinction have place in all these other Scriptures which say We are not justified by Works c. And indeed in all these Scriptures it holds true no less concerning Sanctification than concerning Justification As thus By the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be sanctified knowing that a man is not sanctified by the Works of the Law c. But it were vain to infer from this that men are sanctified by no Works of Righteousness wrought in them by the Spirit of Christ. Therefore it is as vain to infer that men are justified by no Works of Righteousness wrought in them by his Spirit Page 22 Thou say'st We can shift off Popery with this that they are not our Good Works which deserve and merit Justification but the Good Works of Christ's working in us Yea I say we do justly cast off the Accusation of Popery as having the express testimony of Scripture that we are justified by Works to wit such as are wrought in Christ and by him in us James 2.24 You see then that a man is justified by Works and not by Faith only Compared with Tit. 3.5 before-mentioned And as for the Papists Works by which they seek to be justified we do not acknowledge them to be such Works as whereby or wherein any can be justified And whereas thou pleadest That the Good Works of Christ's working in us are ours citing Isai. 26.12 Matth. 5.16 c. We grant it but they are not ours in that signification as where it is said He that is entred into his Rest hath ceased from his own Works Hebr. 4.10 There are Works which are so ours that they are not the Works of the sanctifying renewing Spirit of Christ in us What works do justify and such are Works both of open Unrighteousness and of
Bread Is it the Outward or is it the Inward and Spiritual The one Bread not many If it be the Outward then there is no Inward and Spiritual Bread Or if it be the Inward and Spiritual which is that one Bread then that Outward Bread as being but a Figure is ceased from being of use as to any necessity And this he spoke unto the Wise who saw beyond the Shadow and Figure unto the Substance the end of it which was that Heavenly Bread and Refreshment which Christ himself giveth unto those Souls to feed upon who know the Mystery of his Indwelling in them which Bread is indeed his Body So that now the Bread being one which is the Body of Christ the Outward Bread hath no place in the Supper of the Lord for then there should be not one Bread but two for the Outward Bread and the Inward are two and not one Bread And if any say The outward Bread though it be not properly the Body of Christ and thing signified yet it may be said to be one with it because of that Agreement betwixt the sign and the thing signified I Answer That is not sufficient why the outward Bread should be called the one Bread or one with the thing signified otherwise by the same evasion one might plead for the Continuance of all the Sacrifices and Offerings of Rams and Bulls and Goats and say they are one with that one Offering of Christ mentioned Hebr. 10.14 because they signified that one Offering Now were not this an abominable wresting of the Apostle's words to say All these outward Offerings were the one Offering because they did signify it For indeed he does contra-distinguish them from this one Offering that because of its being come he infers they were to pass away And so it is as plain that the Apostle contra-distinguished betwixt that one Bread and the outward Bread together with the other Figures and Shadows according to which writing to the Colossians he saith Coloss. 2.16 17. Let no man condemn you in Meat or Drink or Holy Day or New Moon or Sabbath-days which are a Shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ. And he bids them seek the things above and not the things which the Apostle said did perish in the using saying Touch not taste not handle not Coloss. 2.10 21 22. compared with Coloss. 3.1 2. which he spoke because they began to lay too great a weight upon these things and to hold them up as perpetual which were to pass away For a Sixth Reason thou say'st The Apostles and Primitive Christians who did partake of the Spirit in a large measure did use it Answ. That they used it for some time is granted but that they used it as of Necessity or Command is denied nor did they use it for themselves but for the sake of the weak who could not be suddenly weaned from it Thy Seventh Reason is That it is the Mind and Will of God that this Ordinance should be continued in his Church until the Second Coming of Christ to Judgment Christ's Second Coming is spiritual By which Second Coming thou and you understand his Outward Coming for which you have no ground to say that he bid them Observe it till his outward Coming so many hundred years after for the Scripture speaks nothing so but thus Ye shew forth my Death till I come Now we say he did Come according to his Promise in a Spiritual and Inward way of Appearance in their Hearts feeding them with the heavenly Food and Refreshment of his own Life and Spirit which is the Substance And concerning this Coming he spake unto them in many places particularly John 14.18 I will not leave you Fatherless I will come unto you Yet a little while and the World seeth me not but ye shall see me And Verse 23. If any Man love me he will keep my Word and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our Abode with him Which Coming was inward according to Verse 20. You in me and I in you And those that witnessed him thus Come needed not outward Bread and Wine to remember them of him for his own Spirit would bring all things to their remembrance they need not look upon the Figure and Shadow who have the Substance Paul said We look not upon things which are visible neither will God's Condescendence to their Weakness God's Condescension to the Weak who were but newly Redeemed from out of a mass of Heathenish Superstitions prove a Command or a Rule to the whole Church or a Warrant for any now to be found in the Administration thereof and to hold up the outward Figure do cloak themselves by shutting out and denying the Spiritual Appearance of Christ as he doth immediately Reveal himself in his Children in whom he has made manifest the Substance which ends the Shadow For an Eighth Reason thou say'st That Persons who cast off this Ordinance are their Soul 's great Enemies for they stand in the way of their Soul 's Spiritual good in that this is a Spiritual Nourishing strengthening Ordinance where Spiritual Food is offered and delicate Meat and Drink for strengthening Believers in their Journey to Heaven To which I Answer That those who neglect and despise having Fellowship and Communion with God and laugh and scoff at the useful and necessary Duty of Waiting upon the Lord in silence wherein his Children feel their Souls nourished with the Body and Blood of Christ The â—â—ue Nourishment of the Soul and with Spiritual Manna which descends from Heaven and is distilled into their Souls not only once or twice a year which are the Seasons wherein that which thou termest Spiritual Food is ministred among you but daily and hourly by the fresh Incoms of Life such indeed are to their Souls great Enemies though they be sticking to the performance of some External Ceremonies wherein in former times God in Condescendence to some because of the simplicity of their hearts appeared and yet even then frequently and as much and more at other times But now the Sun is set upon those who will needs be upholding the Shadow in opposition to the Substance therefore their Table is become polluted The polluted Table and may more truly be termed the Table of Devils than the Communion of the Body of Christ where a mixt Multitude of all sorts of Wicked Persons living out of God's fear sit down together being seemingly in words Excommunicated from Approaching by the Preacher and yet presently Admitted to it by the same And to turn away from such an Ordinance so called is no sin nor hurt but all who become obedient to the Light of Christ in them will find in their place to forsake it as being such an Ordinance which the Apostle said Touch not taste not handle not which is all to perish with the using In the fourth place Page 41. thou wilt prove That the Ministry of the
which is to deny God a part of that Worship which is due to him 1 Tim. 4.4 5. Answ. To receive the Gifts and Benefits of God with Thanksgiving and to witnese it blessed and sanctified to us by the Word and Prayer is owned by us and to know this so without taking off the Hat or using of formal speaking of words though it be a thing frequently used by us also tends to no Irreligiousness For it is a thing usual amongst us when we sit down to Eat to wait upon the Lord for some time that we may feel his presence and know our selves stated in his fear to which the blessing is and as we there stand if any outward Expressions be required of any then in God's fear they may utter them and this is to know the blessing indeed and to be in the place that is blessed But for People that are conversing out of God's fear stated in a light airy Spirit not only many times laughing and scoffing but some times even blaspheming presently so soon as the Meat cometh to clap off their Hats and speak a few words in a custom and so soon as they have done fall to their former work again is not this Atheism and Irreligiousness For if such did think of God aright and knew what it were to fear him they would be far from addressing themselves in such Postures unto him neither could they be so impudent as to expect a blessing from him while they stand in that condition to which the Curse is annexed In the second place Page 51. thou say'st Doth not the taking men off from Prayer tend to Irreligiousness and Atheism Now you teach we must not pray in private nor in families without an impulse Therefore Answ. This is no sound Argument To take men off from prayer tends to irreligiousness is granted but to say That a man cannot or ought not to pray without the Spirit 's drawing and motion which you commonly name by Impulse a word which common People do not understand hath no such tendency Hypocritical Prayers an Abomination or that it takes any off from prayer truly so called is denied For hath that a bad tendency which takes men off from such Prayers as are abomination and are not true Prayers but hypocritical and deceitful As all such Prayers are that are performed without the help of the Spirit We say whosoever can pray to the Lord indeed let them pray we are not to forbid them but that any can pray without the Spirit that we deny according to 1 Cor. 14.15 I will pray with the Spirit c. And Rom. 8.26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought Now if we know not what to pray for without the Spirit how can we pray without it Paul durst not adventure upon this duty without the assistance of the Spirit yea he said no man could say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost but here an arrogant Generation will needs be praying without it which yet is not Prayer and such Families where this only is used cannot be truly said to call upon God while such truly may be said so to do that wait upon the Lord and stand in his fear and bring forth the fruits of Righteousness though they be not so much in the external signification of words which also at times is found in our Families as the Lord requireth it and giveth utterance And whereas thou say'st That thou believest it will be found that some of us for the space of a whole Year have not so much as once bowed a Knee to call upon God in their Families What ground hast thou for this thy belief May they not bow their knees in their Families though it be hid from the observation of malicious eyes who may so asperse them May they not pray in secret Prayers in secret with out words and be seen of the Father to pray according to Matth. 6.6 Though they cannot be seen by the eyes of malicious Spies And where a publick Testimony in words is required it is also given nor do we know any Friends of Truth who have any whom they can joyn with in Prayer in the Family but do meet together in the Family and wait together breath together and pray together and that much oftener than thou insinuates sometimes without and sometimes with the outward signification of words so that we return this thy Charge as false and malicious Thou say'st If this Impulse be denied for years men all that while according to us must not pray But here thou speakest as one wholly unacquainted with the ways and motions of the Spirit to suppose such a case which cannot be Breathings of the Spirit frequent for the breathings and motions of the Spirit and especially unto Prayer are very frequent unto those who wait for them and are as necessary unto the Children of God as their daily bread yea and more which the Father with-holdeth not but giveth in due season But many times the Spirit of Prayer is felt to move and is answered when there is no liberty given to speak words in the hearing of others Nor is thy other Supposition less vain and foolish That if a man were at the Gates of Death and in danger of present drowning yet without an Impulse as thou callest it he must not adventure to cry to God for Mercy and Help For suppose he did Cry without all help of the Spirit Prayer without the Spirit avails not what would it avail him would it have any acceptance with God Shew us where-ever a spiritless Prayer was accepted of God or required Nay it is a vain Oblation which is expresly forbidden and it is expresly commanded that praying be always in the Spirit Eph. 6.18 And as for the Saints when they are dying or in any difficulty we know the Spirit of Prayer will never be wanting to breath through them at such Occasions and to give words as there is a service for them But further thou alledgest That this Principle of ours leadeth to woful security for what need you be disquieted for refraining Prayer before God thou say'st or any other piece of Service seeing you have salve at hand to heal this sore and that is the want of an Impulse Answ. If any fall into security and refrain Prayer it is not that our Principle leadeth into it for our Principle leadeth out of all security into continual watching unto Prayer and waiting upon the motions of the Spirit of God now if any feel not these motions they are nothing the less guilty because by their neglect they provoke the Lord to with-hold them and render themselves out of frame to feel or entertain them and thus who neglect the Worship of God are justly under Condemnation and if they have Peace it is but a false Peace which will fail them And as for our Peace we have found it to
saith so These are his most Frequent and Inforcing Arguments against us Of this nature is his Arguing page 11. Reckoning it as a great Absurdity flowing from our Doctrine that it would Import Christ in some measure to be in the Americans because He bears Testimony in them against Iniquity Christ in the Americans in some measure But to prove this to be Absurd he produceth no Reason and if we may believe the Apostle Paul he tells us That a Manifestation of the Spirit is given every one to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 So this Every one Includes the Americans The second Absurdity which he seeks to Infer from this hath no better bottom That then it might be said that Christ is Revealed to Devils and that we do the Heathens small favour in putting them but in the same case with such For the Revelation of Christ to man before the Day of their Visitation be Expired and to such after they have sin'd it out is far different as may appear by Luke 17. Likewise W. M. hath forgot how easily this Argument may be Retorted upon himself for it is not questioned but Devils have enough of outward Knowledge even such as is gathered from Scripture and that which W.M. accounts the great Priviledge of Christians doth it therefore follow that Christians are in no better condition than Devils And thus is Answered another of his profuse Assertions page 12. That if Pagans have Saving Light their State should be as good as the State of real Christians For it is one thing to have Saving Light and another to harken to and receive it else according to his own Argument the State of Devils should be as good as the State of Real Christians He adds Where Saving Illumination is there is Saving Faith because there is a Concatination betwixt these Graces of the Spirit Answ. There is Grace given in order to Save where Faith doth not follow upon it which is evident by the Parable of the Seeds Matth. 13.3 it was the same Seed was sown in the Stony and Thorny Ground that was sown in the good Ground and yet it only brought forth Fruit there The Light enlighteneth every man He came unto His own and they received Him not but it was only To as many as received Him that He gave Power to become the Sons of God And whereas he Objecteth That where we are desired to believe in the Light it is understood of Christ's Person else it would Import a belief in a Creature I Answer He that believeth in the Light believeth in Christ for where the Light of Christ is as saith W. M himself page 22. there is Christ himself In the same page he further adds That if Pagans have Saving Light then there is no Spiritual Benefit accrues to Christians by the Scriptures and Gospel Pagans have Saving Light and Gospel But he hath not heard us contra-distinguish this Light from the Gospel We say expresly it is the Gospel according to Col 1.23 where the Apostle saith That the Gospel whereof he was a Minister was preached to every Creature This Scripture mentioned by me in my last he hath wholly Omitted Nor is this Arguing of his concerning the bad tendency of our Principle but a reiterate Clamour of what is already Answered in page 16. of my last where I shew him we distinguish betwixt things absolutely needful and things very profitable and how they Admit of this Distinction themselves As also how these bad Consequences of rendring the Gospel and Preaching useless doth far more follow from their Doctrine of absolute Predestination all which he hath also Omitted Predestination made void Now such are far likelier than we to reprove David his Praying for more Vnderstanding and that he might keep the Precepts of God for being Predestinate to Life he could not miss of it and how can such but reckon it folly for him to Pray that he might keep the Precepts whose Principles Obliges them to believe they can never be made able to keep them Page 13. To say That men are Brutish in their Knowledge because they turn their Backs upon the Light he reckons a Begging of the Question as having no proof at all Whereas it is particularly Intimated 1 Joh. 1.5 6 7. where the cause of mens Walking in Darkness is said to be their not Walking in the Light though it be Pastors mentioned in that 10 th of Jer. 19. that are said to be Brutish Brutish Pastors yet he cannot be Induced to name them It is easie to prove though he Insinuate the contrary that what in Scripture is called Darkness hath Saving Light seeing it is expresly mentioned that the Light shineth in the Darkness but the Darkness comprehended it not And this was Saving being Christ who is the Saviour Joh. 1.5 Nor doth his supposed Contradiction follow from this as if men could be Spiritually Dead and not Spiritually Dead in respect they have this in them which is Saving for though it be in them yet it is not of them he that believeth in me saith Christ though he be dead yet shall he live Joh. 11.25 If Life be not in them as their permanent Condition yet they may have some touches of it and the Principle of Life is Permanent even in those that are Spiritually Dead though many times as a Spark covered under the Ashes He addeth further That according to us such who are the Children of Darkness may be called the Children of Light because a Child of Light is as much as one in whom there is Saving Light and Grace citing for proof Luke 16.8 the words are For the Children of this world are wiser in their generation than the Children of Light But he offereth from this to Inter That such who are indeed the Children of Darkness because of their Disobedience to the Saving Light and Grace of Truth that is in them he has not offered so much as to mention Page 13. He confesseth with me That the Light in some may be Darkness but speaks not one word of what Light I mention may be so page 17. of mine only adds That we will do well to exhort our Disciples to take heed of our Light not to it But we desire not People to take heed to our Light or their Light as he terms it but to the Light wherewith Christ Jesus hath Enlightened them and in this there is no danger He greatly declares his Ignorance in alledging Our way of bidding People heed the Light within is not warranted by Scripture for God is Light 1 Joh. 1.3 Is he not in us Acts 17.27 28. God is Light Must we not then there take heed unto Him Or is not that Light to be taken heed unto which shineth in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the glory of God 2 Cor. 4.6 And is not the Word of God Light which the Apostle saith expresly is not far off neither above us below us nor without us but Nigh even
of the Scriptures and confirm negligent Atheists in their contemptuous slighting of them Because we speak of walking The Anointing is no Confirming of Atheists or doing our Work by the immediate Counsel of God But he might as well babble against the Beloved Disciple 1 Joh. 2.24 Ye have received an Anointing and ye need not that any man should teach you and yet was then teaching them himself without Contradiction As for that Scripture Joh 12.24 48. which he desires us to read we find not how in the least they strike against our Principle for as it is without doubt to us that the words which Christ spake will stand in Judgment against him and his Brethren because while in words they pretend to Exalt it both in Principle and Practice they vilifie and deny it As a third Reason he alledges We prefer our silent Waiting to the Reading of Scriptures as if we must first come to this e're we can know the Scripture aright adding that this Waiting is defined by us To be a silent posture of the Heart without thinking good or evil Answ. These thoughts which we say ought to be excluded from Waiting are man's own thoughts Waiting excludes man's own thoughts not such as the Spirit of God furnisheth him with and it is great Ignorance to say That without this we can use the Scriptures aright seeing the things of God knoweth no man save the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.11 As for his own Imaginations which he subjoins concerning our Waiting they signifie nothing because alledged without any proof We deny not but that Faith Hope and Charity is exercised in waiting yet not without such thoughts as proceed from the Spirit of God And whereas he finds we clear our selves of this Calumny of being Vilifiers of the Scripture by shewing how much it is our desire to try Doctrines by them he alledgeth We have herein been suspected of Juggling the proof is R. Farmer saith so But R. Farmer 's saying and W. M's saying is all one in this matter neither of them are to be trusted without proof Now the Reason because we say that the Scriptures are not the Saints Rule of knowing God and living to him But this is just to beg the thing in Question That Story mentioned by him of a Quaker's telling a certain Woman in Aberdeen that she might as well read a Latin Book as the Bible doth no ways prove that we are against trying of Doctrines by the Scripture seeing the Quaker he speaks of might have had good reason to look upon that supposed Religious Woman as one alienated from that Spiritual Key of David which can alone truly open the Scriptures and so might well tell her she would do well first to come to that else her Reading might be so far from profiting her that she might come to wrest them to her own Destruction 2 Pet. 3.16 Sect. 2. Page 30. He begins with Acknowledging That something may be accounted the Declaration of ones Mind which is not his Word Though page 12. of his Dialogue he could not but smile at it as Irrational To prove the Scriptures to be truly and properly called the Word of God he subjoineth That the Precepts of the Scripture were uttered and spoke of God But in Answer to this I shew him page 26. of my last that the Properties peculiar to the Word cannot be spoken of the Scripture The outward and inward word distinguish'd but of the Inward and Living Word To which he replies nothing only tells There is a twofold Word a Co-essential Co-eternal Word and a Spiritual Word the Temporal expressed Word or the Word written in time But seeing he pretends to be pleading for the Scripture he should have used the Language of it and not such strange Anti-scriptural Expressions which are not to be found in all the Bible Where doth he read of a Spiritual Temporal expressed Word A part of my Argument shewing that these Scriptures Hos. 1.1 Joel 1.1 Isai. 38.4 are understood of that Word from which the Scriptures are given forth he hath but mentioned not answered for I told him page 26. of my last that where it is said The Spirit of God came upon such a one or to such a one that therefore the Scripture is the Spirit and so as do the Socinians call the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles the Spirit denying the necessity of any other Spirit this he hath wholly omitted And indeed he seems pretty much to incline to the Socinians in this matter Sword of the Spirit for he says That the Scripture is the Sword of the Spirit and that because Christ in his conflict with Satan said It was written But had this been Christ's only Sword we must conclude the Devil to have had the same for he said also It is written and according to this Doctrine who hath a Bible in his pocket wanteth not the Sword of the Spirit which savoureth of that Popish soppery That the sign of the Cross puts away Devils but experience teacheth us both these Opinions to be alike ridiculous Upon this occasion in his Dialogue page 13. he asserted That it is all one to say the Scripture saith and God saith And whereas in Answer to this I told him that they might be said to be one because of their Agreement yet were no more one than the Sun-beam and the Shadow is one though they agree together Because he knew not what to reply to this he mentions a part of these words of mine and subjoins by way of Answer to them That they tend to advance humane Writings and equal them with the Scripture when they agree with what God saith Which as it is a manifest shift and no Reply so it is a notable Impertinency to say There is any Hazzard of advancing such Writings as truly agree with what God saith for upon what other account are the Scriptures to be esteemed Page 32. to prove That word mentioned Mark 7. which he fancies is said to be made void is not the Living Word but the outward Precept of the Scripture he says It is plainly held forth to be so without any further Probation He addeth page 34. That it seems we think they set up the Scriptures us an Idol instead of that from which they come asking If we did ever hear them call it the Eternal Son of God that Saviour who died c. Answ. Though we have not heard you term the Scripture yet it is not without Reason we say ye set them up in Christ's stead For I have a Letter under one of the present National Teacher's hand A National Teacher's belief of the Scriptures wherein he says The Scriptures are the alone means of Salvation yea the alone Way Truth and Life and that none can be saved without them And I have heard another call the Greek Testament The only Foundation Now being these are the peculiar Properties of Christ have we not reason to say that such
parties and though it do not actually convince the stubborn yet there is enough in it to satisfy any Inquisitive Adversary Answ. And is not that Spirit sufficient to satisfie any Inquisitive Adversary that 's willing to be undeceived which searcheth all things even the deep things of God There is no inconvenience can be pressed from making the Spirit a Rule or Guide but the same recurs by making the Scripture one Men of different Judgments claiming the Scriptures without the Spirit falsly For is it not laid claim unto by Persons quite different in Judgment yea both some times to one verse and will have it speak opposite to the other If it be said That Scripture being compared explains it self Has not such as have so compared been found incessantly to jangle even in their comparing of it And this W. M. cannot deny but this hath been because one or both Parties have been estranged from the true Testimony of the Spirit What is then the Vltimate Recourse that can only resolve all Doubts even concerning the meaning of the Scripture but the certain Testimony of the Spirit For if the Scriptures be only certain because they came from the Spirit of God then the Testimony of the Spirit must be more certain than they The certainty of the Testimony of the Spirit according to the received Maxim of the Schools Propter quod unumquodque est tale id ipsum magis est tale That which makes a thing certain must be more certain than it And this arguing against the Certainty of the Spirit checks not only at the certainty of the Saints Faith now from the Light within and the assurance of Knowledge but at the Faith and Knowledge which all the Saints and holy Prophets had not only before the Scripture was writ but even in their writing of them We are in no greater hazzard to be deceived now than they were then therefore the Apostle notably reproves such Pratlers against this Certainty 1 Joh. 4.6 We are of God he that knoweth God heareth us he that is not of God heareth not us hereby know we the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error Page 48. He asks Why I complain for his improving Isai. 59.21 but mentions not one word of that part of page 32. of mine wherein I shew him how this Scripture made against him as holding forth God's putting words in mens mouths which they deny as a thing ceased This the Reader by looking to the place may observe that the Lord there Promises his Spirit and Word shall continue to direct his People is not denied In his Dialogue page 16. he says That the Scriptures cannot be said to be a dead Letter because they are called killing and whereas I told him page 31. of my Answer That as dead things do kill if fed upon so if men feed upon the Letter of the Scripture without the Spirit which is the Life How the Letter killeth they will kill He shifts a Reply to this telling me The Scripture is called killing as being the Ministration of the Law which threatens Death against the sinner What then doth it therefore follow that they are not dead and deadly to such as feed upon them without the Spirit which giveth Life It is an apparent Malitious Passion to add That the drinking in of the Lifeless Poisonous Opinions of the Quakers will prove hurtful to the Soul seeing he bringeth not the least shadow of proof for it I observe that he â—ntitleth this Section The Quakers way Ineffectual to Convince an Opposer And yet how is it that he and his Brethren are so afraid that it spread and are daily so much crying out and clamouring against it as dangerous Priests call for the Magistrates Sword to defend their Doctrine against the Quakers intreating and beseeching People to beware of us and comparing our Words and Writings to Poison as that which is so ready to gain ground I say how comes it that they are so pressing in their importunate and often reiterate Pulpit-Exhortations to the Magistrates to Suppress Imprison us and break up our Meetings as such against whom their Labours will prove altogether fruitless and ineffectual if not assisted by the external Sword Sect. 5. Page 49. He undertakes to compare us with Papists as having learned our Language about Scripture from them But herein he hath notably manifested both his Self-contradiction and Ignorance He alledgeth We agree with Papists in that we say If the delusion be strong in the Heart it will twine the Scriptures to make them seem for it and in that we say They are dead and occasion Sects and Janglings whereunto we always add because the Spirit is wanting And yet in this sense he fully grants it himself page 43. saying It is granted that deluded Souls do wrest the Scriptures c. He concludes us one with Papists for saying There was a Rule before the Scriptures And yet grants it himself page 46. in confessing The Scripture was not a Rule to such Saints as lived The Saints had a Rule before the Scriptures was writ before it was writ Such then had some Rule before the Scriptures Thus far as to his Self-contradictions As to his Ignorance Can there be any thing more sottish to compare us with Papists for our preferring and calling the Light within as that which only makes the outward dispensation of the Gospel profitable and for our saying that the Spirit is both our Teacher and our Copy according to which if we walk we may profit without going forth for a Copy seeing it is known none to be more Enemies to these Doctrines than Papists And if we deny the Scripture to be the principal and compleat Rule of Faith that proves us no ways to agree with Papists except we all agreed with them concerning what is the Rule of Faith wherein we differ wider from Papists than our Opposers Therefore that sentence of Tertullian viz. That Christ is always Crucified betwixt two Thieves is impertinently objected by W M. against us and if the Lord will it may in due time be made appear to publick view that it far better suits our Adversaries He looks upon it as a great Absurdity page 51. To deny the more sure Word of Prophecy The more sure Word of Prophecy is not the Scripture but the Spirit mentioned 2 Pet. 1.19 to be the Scripture alledging I should have confuted the Apostle who expounds it so vers 20. But before he had been so peremptory in his Conclusion he should have first proved that the Apostle mentions these words by way of Exposition to the former Seeing he thinks himself so secure here why did he omit to answer that part of page 31. of mine where I told him That seeing the Scriptures have all their Sureness from the Spirit they cannot be more sure than it For to say that Scripture is more sure as to us being a standing Record than a Transient Voice from Heaven which
the fall of the first Adam He being put on by us as the new and heavenly Adam of which the Apostle Ye have put on Christ put him on I say as a Form i. e. the Wisdom Righteousness and Life of God And Pareus de Just. Cont. Bellar. lib 2. cap. 7. pag. 469. We saith he neither ever spoke nor thought the Righteousness of Christ to be imputed to us that by it we were and might be named formally Righteous as we have oft now shewed for surely that should no less fight with reason than if one quite absolved in Judgment should say he were formally Righteous by the mercy of the Judge These are the plain and positive expressions of several famous Protestants though W. M. reckons G. Keith's words mentioned by him page 55. as Popish which are nothing different from these And of late R. Baxter whom W. M. page 37. terms A Judicious Servant of God holdeth this Doctrine throughout in his Book termed Aphorisms of Justification who page 80. saith That some ignorant Wretches gnash their teeth at this Doctrine as if it were flat Popery not understanding the nature of the Righteousness of the New Covenant which is all out of Christ in our selves though wrought by the power of the Spirit of Christ. Page 195. he saith How this differeth from the Papist he need not tell any Scholar who have read their Writings Hereby the Intelligent Reader may observe how ridiculous if not malitious W. M. is in making such a noise as if we were in this matter either going with Papists or opposing Protestants In his second Section page 58. though he would be making a great bussle of our speaking of Justification by Works yet in the very entry he cannot deny but he is for it according to the true sense and meaning of the Spirit And therefore it remains to prove that ours is not so His alledging from some words of Samuel Fisher where he speaks of Works having Merit saith nothing for the Question recurs concerning the signification of the word Merit which we use in a qualified sense for we say That Works are no other ways Meritorious Works are Meritorius by the promised Reward upon Conditions than as they are Rewarded Merit and Reward being Relative terms as I told him in my last to which he returneth no Answer And thus is solved Sam. Fisher's using of that Argument mentioned by him page 60. to whom he foolishly supposes I cannot reconcile my self without being of a higher strain than for a Reward of Merit to wit That as Condemnation is the reward of evil works so Eternal Salvation and consequently Justification is the reward of good works Now Merit in a qualified sense doth not import an absolute desert according to strict Justice as on our part but a sutableness agreeableness or congruity according to these Scriptures Matth. 3.8 Bring forth fruits worthy of Repentance the Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth Meritorious or Worthy and the same Greek word is used in these other Scriptures 1 Thess. 2.12 Walk worthy of God 2 Thess. 1.5 That ye may be counted Worthy of the Kingdom of God And thus R. Baxter speaketh of Merit in the Book above-mentioned page 90. In a large sense saith he as promise is an obligation and the thing promised is called debt so the Performers of the Conditions are called Worthy and their Performance Merit Though properly it is all of Grace and not of Debt Moreover whereas Augustine Bernard and others of the Fathers use the word Merit in this qualified sense W. M and his Brethren can give it the right hand but where we use it notwithstanding we tell them the simplicity of our meaning we must be upbraided with Popery It is here observable how he turns it to my Reproach That I seem to draw near in the least to any of the moderate sort of Papists And yet as to things wherein I charged him of Affinity with them he returneth no solid Answer Papists and W. M. agree but says I must not be credited Yea he plainly not only draws near but fully acknowledges his agreement with them saying They hold some things common with the Orthodox His third and fourth Section containeth not any thing of a solid Reply to that which is writ from page 36. to 44. of my last which the Reader by comparing them may easily observe He begins alledging That Rom. 3.28 Gal. 2.19 must exclude all Works even the Works of Christ in us And that because the Apostle must be supposed to exclude either evil or good Works not evil therefore good And consequently the Works of Christ in us But as I told him in my last some Works may be good materially The Works of the Spirit of God and those of Man 's own Spirit differ which proceeding not from the Spirit of God but Man 's own Spirit are therefore excluded And thus the Case of Abraham doth not answer who though a godly man was capable sometimes to have done Works from his own Spirit It is here observable how he seeks to shift that which I inforce upon him from Tit. 3 5. alledging He mentioned it in opposition to Justification by Works as the Meritorious cause thereof But of this there was not one Word where he cites in his Dialogue page 20. Nor doth he answer any thing for that which I infer from this Scripture shewing page 37. of my last to which I refer the Reader he having wholly omitted it that by this Scripture where the Apostle says According to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration the Apostle includes Good Works as to Justification now all this he shuffles over as Insulting Triumphing Words and yet notwithstanding he himself insults here as though he had found us guilty of Popery though what we say in this matter be no other than what is clearly asserted by these famous Protestants above-mentioned and more particularly by R. Baxter in his Book aforesaid The Works of the â—aw excluded from Justification not the Works of the Gospel from page 185. to the end where he says That we are Justified by Works in the same kind of causality as by Faith viz. as causae sine quibus non Conditions or Qualifications of the New Covenant requisite on our part in order to Justification shewing how the Apostle Paul in the places above-mentioned excludes only the Works of the Law from Justification and never at all the Works of the Gospel as they are the Conditions of the New Covenant and there he refutes W. M's Exposition upon Isa. 2.12 As if our Justification were only Justified by Works or we declared Just by them before men And seeing W.M. hath declared he hath so good an Esteem of R. Baxter I refer him to read how he is Refuted by him as being too large to be here inserted Pag. 65 66. To overturn that which is said by me concerning the Faith Knowledge and Obedience
yea saith plainly in the next page That Prayer without the Spirit is Abomination And whereas he adds That forbearing of Prayer is also Abomination we do not deny it but freely confess that forbearing of Prayer in the Wicked is sinful But the way to prevent this is not to commit a second evil viz. to Pray without the Spirit they ought first to come to the Spirit that thereby they may Pray acceptably according to that of Paul Rom. 8.26 Prayer without the Spirit availeth not Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groans that cannot be uttered 1 Cor. 14.15 I will pray with the Spirit which being brought by me in my last he hath wholly omitted so much as to mention far less to answer And though omitting of Prayer be sinful yet to bid a man Pray without the Spirit is as much as to desire a man to see without opening his eyes This thing may appear by a familiar Example thus Suppose a Servant turn sluggard and sleep while he should be about his Master's work if when he is raised out of his bed he should run naked to it without taking along those Tools or Instruments which are absolutely needful for the doing of it what will he profit either himself or his Master Yea he will but hinder the work more Even so the Wicked as they ought to Pray so they ought first to come to the Spirit whereby they may do it to the glory of God and their own Souls good Now though this be so undeniable that he cannot gainsay it yet in Contradiction to the Truth and his own Concessions he goes about to Cavil against it alledging It might take off men as well from their necessary works because the ploughing of the Wicked is Sin and that also it might follow from this That Children should not honour their Parents and Husbands love their Wives but when they have a motion of the Spirit for it Answ. This Objection hath no weight to overturn the Truth for there is a great difference betwixt these things that relate to the Worship of God and what relates to Outward things either concerning our selves or our Neighbours The Worship of God is Spiritual The Worship of God is a Spiritual thing relating to himself which we are commanded to perform in the Spirit and God doth offer us his Spirit for the performance of it And because it is that which is meerly relative betwixt God and the Soul he doth not accept of it but as so offered we cannot Pray as we ought saith the Apostle But the Spirit helpeth c. Now though these other things would no doubt be the more acceptable to God and more frequently accompanied with his blessing that they were done in the sense of his Fear and in the drawings of his Spirit yet they are materially good in themselves answering really their End to them unto whom they immediately Relate without it But it is not so of Prayer which as it immediately Relates to God so W. M. himself confesseth without the Spirit to be Abomination The Prayer of the Wicked is sin Thus is also solved his Supposition page 124. That if a wicked Man contract guilt he may provoke the Lord to withdraw the Motions of the Spirit and then his Not Praying is not Sin For I have asserted that the Not Praying of the Wicked is sinful And this doth not Lull People in a sinful Security on the contrary they are alike rather to be Lulled in such a Security by being told they may be set about Prayer when they please whereby they foster themselves in a groundless hope because of their now and then repeating their words of Prayer neither expecting nor looking for the Spirit 's Assistance whereby instead of advancing in Grace and Righteousness they do but reiterate Abominations and so aggravate their own Guilt And whereas here he is forced to acknowledge that Motives of the Spirit will not be wanting to the Saints to Pray when they are at the Gates of Death or in danger of present Drowning He asks me Let the Wicked Repent c. What shall the Wicked do in this case Shall they not follow the Advice which Peter gave to Simon Magus Acts 8.22 Pray God if perhaps the thoughts of thy heart may be forgiven thee But here he minceth the Apostle's words which are Repent therefore of thy Wickedness and pray c. here the Apostle puts Repentance before Prayer it shall not be denied but when the Wicked have Repented of their Wickedness the Spirit will not be wanting to assist them to Pray Craving a blessing before Meat It is therefore to little purpose that page 120 and 121. he pleads for Craving a Blessing when we use the Creatures of God calling the neglect of it a Profane Custom For we do not deny it and Condemn a Profane Neglect of it as much as themselves And as Christ had the Spirit without and above measure having always a ready Access to the Father so we are glad and willing at such Occasions to express Words if we find the Spirit assisting us so to do yea we reckon that we ought not to use the Creatures without our hearts be in some measure retired to the sense of God's presence and stayed in his Fear whereby we may secretly breath for a Blessing for to speak audible words is not Essential And therefore it is apparently malitious for him to say That when we are not stayed in God 's fear we have liberty and freedom to fall to Meat my words had no such Importance though he seeks to turn them And yet can wholly omit much of page 44. of mine where I shew their Abuses in this matter how they mock God in it and provoke him to withdraw his Blessing And whereas he says One of us Confessed That he had not called together nor Prayed in his Family for a Twelve-month past He should have produced the Person 's Name that we might have inquired concerning it and therefore until he so do we can lay no stress upon it but reject it as False especially considering that W.M. being particularly challenged upon this refuseth absolutely to do it nor durst he aver he had any better ground for it than Hear-say Upon this occasion he asks If Abraham must not keep up Religion in his Family because an Ishmael is in it But this maketh nothing against us for none of us that are Masters of Families have forborn to keep up the Worship of God though Enemies of Truth have been in it whom we have not barred from being present Praying for Enemies and for whom we have not been wanting to Pray though we cannot join with them in their Prayers as W. M. adviseth us until first they Repent of their Wickedness This was the Method of Peter's Advice to Simon Magus first to Repent
are seen to be in one Spirit with those who spat in the face of the LORD JESVS and buffeting him bid him prophesie who smote him Therefore consider O ye Inhabitants and be serious standing in fear Where are ye who are called Christians Among whom it is become a Wonder A Stone of Stumbling or Matter of Mockery or a Ground of Reproach for one in the Name of the LORD to invite you to Repentance in Sack-cloth and Ashes Would not the Heathen condemn you in this thing And will not Ninive stand up in judgment against you How is it that ye that are called Christians can willingly give room to every idle Mountebank and can suffer your minds to be drawn out to behold these sinful Divertisments which indeed divert the Mind from the serious sense of God's fear The People can be gathered there and neither the Magistrates complain of Tumult nor yet Preachers nor Professors cry out against it as Delusion or Madness O my Friends consider Can there be any more strongly Deluded than for People daily to Acknowledge and Confess they are Sinners and sinning in words and to startle at that which did so lively Represent unto them what they own to be their Condition Were it in good Earnest or were it from a true sense of your Sins that ye so frequently seem to acknowledge them ye would not despise nor overlook that which calleth you to Repentance for it How is it that you can so confidently Array your selves in all manner of gaudy and superfluous Apparel and exceed in lustful pouderings and perfumes and yet are ashamed and amazed at Sack-cloth and Ashes which according to your own acknowledgment is so sutable to your states Is not this to glory in your shame and to be ashamed of that which ought to be and would be your greatest glory to wit true and unfeigned Repentance I shall add that which upon this occasion I declared unto you I was for a Sign from the Lord unto you I desire ye may not be among those that wonder and perish but rather Repent and be Saved And this is my Testimony unto you whether you will hear or forbear I have peace with my God in what I have done and am satisfied that his Requirings I have answered in this thing I have not sought yours but you I have not coveted your gold or silver or any thing else nor do I retain or entertain the least Hatred Grudge or Evil Will towards any within or without your Gates but continue in pure and unfeigned Love towards all and every one of you even those who do most despise or reject me and my Testimony being ready to bless those that curse and to do good to those that despitefully use me and to be spent in the will of the Lord for your sakes that your Souls may be saved and God over all may be glorified For which I travel and cry before the Throne of Grace as becometh This came before me to signifie unto you by Writing at Urie the 12 th of the first Month 1672. A Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ ROBERT BARCLAY After this Paper was committed to the Press some Queries concerning this Matter were sent to a Friend in Aberdeen by One who in the Inscription styles himself a Sober Inquirer which Mask he quickly pulled off either for want of Wit or from too much Malice against the Truth by spreading these Queries at the same time among several Hands which no truly Sober Inquirer would have done until he had first received or been refused Satisfaction from him to whom he particularly directed them In order therefore to dispel such Cloudy Mists as the Enemy seeks to raise for darkning the Day of God's Appearance through his Children These Answers are judged fit to be here anexed The Premisses and Queries following upon them being all one on the matter the first being Positions in general and the other the particular Application of them hereto they need not different Answers both of them are herein comprehended and implied as any that will be at the pains to look after the Queries and Compare them may Observe To the first is therefore Answered 1. R. B. denies his Message to have proceeded from any Light or Illumination in him as a man but from the Immediate Testimony of the Spirit of God in his heart A Manifestation of which Spirit is given to every man to profit withal according to the plain Testimony of the Scriptures 1 Cor. 12.7 1 John 2.20 27. Hebr. 8.10 11 12. The which Spirit and Anointing teaches all the Saints under the New Covenant whereunto an Audible voice is not required For this is said to be within them and not without them Nor can it be proved that God spake always to the Prophets by an Audible Voice or that such a thing is requisite to every true Revelation received from the Spirit else none could be truly certain that the Scriptures came from the Spirit of God until they received an Audible Voice by the outward Ear confirming them of it nor could any have the Assurance of Salvation without the same both which the generality of Protestants hold needful to Believers and Calv. Inst. lib. 1. cap. 7. sect 4. cap. 8 sect 1. lib. 3. cap. 1. sect 4. cap. 3. sect 39. That by the inward secret Testimony of the Spirit without an Audible Voice Nor was John Huss his Prophecy of Luther or George Wishart's of the Cardinal's Death alledged to have proceeded from an outward audible voice and yet proved both True As likewise several others of latter years which might be mentioned 2. A Message thus delivered from the Testimony of the Spirit of God in the heart reaches to the Manifestation of the same Spirit in the hearts of those to whom it is delivered if they wilfully do not resist and shut it out Thus the Ninivites were reached at the Call of Jonah and those who heard Peter were pricked in their hearts yet neither the one or the other had such an immediate particular Call as Jonah and Peter had but the Testimony of the Spirit through these two touched reached and raised that of God in their hearts and made it applicable unto them Yet those that despise this Light and Manifestation of God in themselves may come to jeer and mock at a Message proceeding from it through another even as the Scribes and Pharisees did at Christ and therefore were worthy of Condemnation and judged by the Heathen such as Tyre and Sidon and Ninive Even as it is with those of the same Spirit at this day who while they cry up the Writings of the Prophets and other Scriptures as did the Pharisees are despising Prophesying or the teaching or leadings of the Spirit which the Apostle declared to be the nature of the New Covenant-Dispensation and therefore no wonder if according to the Scripture Prov. 28.18 Where there is no Vision the People perish 3. The Assisters to this Action having
the Love of God because He laid down his Life for us Hebr. 9.15 And for this Cause he is the Mediator of the New Testament that by means of the Redemption of Transgressions that were under the first Testament They which are called might receive the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance Q. Is Christ then the Mediator 1 Tim. 2.5 A For there is One God and One Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due time Q. Was not Christ the Mediator until he appeared and was Crucified in the Flesh Rev. 5.12 and 13.8 A He is the Lamb that was slain from the Foundation of the World Q. Is it then needful to believe that the Saints of old did partake of Christ as then present with and nourishing them 1 Cor. 10.1 2 3 4. A. Moreover Brethren I would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our Fathers were under the Cloud and all passed through the Sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the Cloud and in the Sea and did all eat the same spiritual Meat and did all drink the same spiritual Drink for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. Q. But whereas most of these Scriptures before-mentioned do hold forth that the Death and Sufferings of Christ were appointed for the destroying removing and remitting of Sin Did he so do it while he was outwardly upon Earth as not to leave any thing for himself to do in us nor for us to do in and by his Strength A. For even hereunto were ye called 1 Pet. 2.21 because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an Example that ye should follow his Steps Whereof I Paul am made a Minister Col. 1.23 24. who now rejoice in my Sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind of the Afflictions of Christ in my Flesh for his Body's sake which is the Church Always bearing about in the Body the Dying of the Lord Jesus 2 Cor. 4.10 11. that the Life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our Body For we which live are alway delivered unto Death for Jesus 's sake that the Life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our Mortal Flesh. And that he died for all that they which live 2 Cor. 5.15 should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him that died for them and also rose again That I may know him and the Power of his Resurrection Phil. 3.10 and the Fellowship of his Sufferings being made conformable to his Death CHAP. IV. Of the New Birth the Inward Appearance of Christ in Spirit and the Vnity of the Saints with him Question DOth Christ promise then to Come again to his Disciples Answer I will not leave you Comfortless I Come unto you John 14.18 Q. Was this only a Special Promise to these Disciples Or is it not the Common Priviledge of the Saints A. For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabits Eternity whose Name is Holy I dwell in the High and Holy Place Isa. 57.15 with him also that is of a Contrite and Humble Spirit c. For ye are the Temple of the Living God as God hath said 2 Cor. 6.16 I will dwell in them and walk in them Behold I stand at the Door and knock if any man hear my voice Rev. 3.20 and open the Door I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me Q Doth the Apostle Paul speak of the Son of God's being Revealed in him A. But when it pleased God Gal. 1.15 16. who separated me from my Mother's Womb and called me by his Grace To Reveal his Son in me that I might preach him among the Heathen Q. Is it needful then to know Christ within A. Examine your selves whether ye be in the Faith 2 Cor. 13.5 prove your own selves Know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates Q. Was the Apostle Earnest that this Inward Birth of Christ should be brought forth in any A. * Gal. 41.9 My little Children of whom I travel in Birth again until Christ be formed in you Q What saith the same Apostle of the Necessity of this Inward Knowledge of Christ and of the New Creature beyond the Outward A. Wherefore henceforth know we no Man after the Flesh yea though we have known Christ after the Flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more 2 Cor. 5.16 17 Therefore if any Man be in Christ he is a New Creature Old things are passed away behold all things are become New But ye have not so learned Christ if so be that ye have heard him Ephes. 4.21 22 23 24. and have been taught by him as the Truth is in Jesus That ye put off concerning the former Conversation the Old Man which is corrupt according to the deceitful Lusts and to be Renewed in the Spirit of your Mind and that ye Put on the New Man which after God is Created in Righteousness and true Holiness Q. Is this Christ-within the Mystery of God and Hope of Glory which the Apostle Preached Col. 1.27 28. A. To whom God would make known what are the Riches of the Glory of this Mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the Hope of Glory whom ye preach Q. Doth the Apostle any where else press the putting on of this New Birth A. Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof Rom. 13.14 Q. Doth he write to any of the Saints as having put off the Old and on the New Man A. For as many of you as have been Baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Gal. 3 27. Seeing that ye have put off the Old Man with his Deeds and have put on the New Man Col. 3.9 10. which is renew'd in Knowledge after the Image of him that created him Q. What speaketh Christ himself of the Necessity of this New Birth John 3.3 A. Jesus answered and said unto him Verily verily I say unto thee Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God Q Of what Seed cometh this Birth 1 Pet. 1.23 A. Being born again not of Corruptible Seed but of Incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever Q. What doth the Apostle Paul witness of himself concerning this New Life A. I am Crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me Gal. 2.20 Q. What is the Preaching of the Cross of Christ 1 Cor. 1.18 A. For the Preaching of the Cross is to them that perish Foolishness but unto us that are saved it is the Power of God Q. What Effect had this Cross in the Apostle and how much preferreth he the New Creature to all outward and visible Ordinances
in the Church concerning Preachers Is it fit that only one or two speak or many more if moved thereto 1 Cor. 14.30 31 32 33. A. If any thing be Revealed to another that sitteth by let the first hold his Peace For ye may all prophesie one by one that all may learn and that all may be comforted And the Spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets for God is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace as in all the Churches of the Saints Q. Is there any Promise that Daughters as well as Sons shall Prophesie under the Gospel Joel 2.28 A. And it shall come to pass afterwards that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all Flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesie your old Men shall dream Dreams your young Men shall see Visions Q. Is that Promise fulfilled and to be fulfilled Acts â—â— 17. A. But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel and it shall come to pass in the last days saith God I will pour out my Spirit upon all Flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesie and your Young men shall see Visions and your Old Men shall dream Dreams Q. Is there any such Instance of Old in the Scripture Acts 21.9 A. And the same Man had four Daughters Virgins which did prophesie Q. But may All Women speak or are any commanded to keep Silence in the Church 1 Cor. 14.34 35. A. Let your Women keep Silence in the Church for it is not permitted unto them to speak but they are commanded to be under Obedience as also saith the Law And if they will learn any thing let them ask their Husbands at Home for it is a Shame for Women to speak in the Church 1 Tim. 2.11 12. Let the Woman learn in Silence with all Subjection But I suffer not a Woman to teach or usurp Authority over the Man but to be in Silence Q. The first of these seems only to relate to Women that have Husbands What comes of them that have none The second speaks nothing of the Church but only that she ought not to usurp Authority over the Man hath this no Limitation Doth not the same Apostle give Directions how Women that speak should behave themselves in the Church 1 Cor. 11.4 5. A. Every man Praying or Prophesying having his Head covered dishonoureth his Head But every Woman that Prayeth or Prophesieth with her Head uncovered dishonoureth her Head for that is even all one as if she were shaven CHAP. X. Concerning Worship Question WHat is the Worship that is Acceptable to God Answer But the Hour cometh and now is John 4.23 24. when the True Worshippers shall Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth Q. Seeing Prayer is a part of Worship when ought we to Pray A. And he spake a Parable unto them to this End Luke 18.1 That men ought Always to Pray and not to faint Pray without ceasing 1 Thes. 5.17 Q. Hath God no respect to the Manner of Calling upon him For there is no Difference between the Jew and the Greek Rom. 10.12 for the same Lord over all is Rich unto all that call upon him Q. Doth God hear the Prayers of all that call upon him A. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him Psal. 145.18 to all that call upon him in Truth The Lord is far from the Wicked Prov. 15.29 but he hears the Prayer of the Righteous Now we know that God heareth not Sinners John 9.38 but if any man be a Worshipper of God and doth his Will him he heareth And this is the Confidence that we have in him 1 John 5.14 that if we ask any thing according to his Will he heareth us Q After what Mannner doth the Apostle then declare he will Pray A. What is it then I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with the Vnderstanding also I will sing with the Spirit 1 Cor. 14.15 and I will sing with the Vnderstanding also Q. Must we then pray always in the Spirit A. Praying always Ephes. 6.18 with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit and Watching thereunto with all Preseverance and Supplication for all Saints Q. Since we are commanded to pray always in it can we do it of our selves without the Help thereof A. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought Rom. 8.26 27. but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with Groanings which cannot be utter'd And he that searcheth the Hearts knoweth what is the Mind of the Spirit because he maketh Intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God Q. I perceive that without the Leadings and Help of the Spirit prayers are altogether unprofitable may not a man truly utter these things that are Spiritual without the Spirit 's Assistance A. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus Accursed and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 18.3 Q. That is strange It seems the Spirit is much more necessary than many called Christians suppose it to be some of which can scarce give a good Account whether they have it or want it But if a man speak things true upon the Matter are they not true as from him if spoken without the Spirit Jer. 5.2 A. And though they say The Lord liveth surely they swear falsly Q. It is apparent from all these Scriptures that the True Worship of God is in Spirit and as it is not limited to a certain place neither to any certain time what shall we think of them that plead for the Observation of certain Days A. But now after that ye have known God or rather are known of God Gal. 4 9 10 11. how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly Elements whereunto ye desire again to be in Bondage Ye observe Days and Months and Times and Years I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you Labour in vain Col. 2.16 17. Let no man therefore judge you in Meat or Drink or in respect of an Holy Day or of the New Moon or of the Sabbath Day which are a Shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ. Q. Seeing it is so may not some Christians as lawfully esteem all Days alike as others may esteem some Days above another What Rule giveth the Apostle in this Case A. One man esteemeth one Day above another another esteemeth every Day alike Rom. 14.5 6. let every man be fully perswaded in his own Mind He that regardeth a Day regardeth it unto the Lord and he that regardeth not the Day to the Lord he doth not
Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the whole World q 1 Joh 2.1 2. For by the Grace of God he hath tasted Death for every Man r Hebr 2.9 And gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due Time s 1 Tim. 2.6 Willing all Men to be saved and to come to the Knowledge of the Truth t 1 Tim. 2.4 Not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance u 2 Pet. 3.9 For God sent not his Son into the World to Condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved x John 3 17. And Christ came a Light into the World that whosoever believeth in him should not abide in Darkness y John 12.46 Therefore as by the Offence of One Judgment came upon All Men to Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of One the free Gift came upon all Men to Justification of Life z Rom. 5.18 ARTICLE XI Concerning the Light that enlightneth every Man THe Gospel was preached to every Creature under Heaven a Col. 1.23 which Gospel is the Power of God unto Salvation to them that believe b Rom. 1.16 And if it be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the Minds of them which believe not lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine into them c 2 Cor. 4.3 4. And this is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men love Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are Evil d John 3.19 And this was the true Light which lightneth every Man that cometh into the World e John 1.9 By which all things that are reproveable are made manifest for whatsoever maketh manifest is Light f Ephes. 5.11 Every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved but he that doth Truth cometh to to the Light that his Deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God g Joh. 3 20 21. And they that walk in the Light as Christ is in the Light have Fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth them from all Sin h 1 John 1. Therefore ought we to believe in the Light while we have the Light that we may be the Children of the Light i John 12.36 Therefore to Day if we will hear his Voice let us not harden our Hearts k Hebr. 4 7. For Christ wept over Jerusalem saying If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy Day the Things which belong unto thy Peace But now they are hid from thine Eyes l Luke 19.42 And he would often have gathered her Children as a Hen gathereth her Chickens but they would not m Matth. 23.37 for the stiff-necked and uncircumcised in Heart and Ears do always Resist the Holy Ghost n Acts 7.51 And are of those that Rebel against the Light o Job 24.13 Therefore God's Spirit will not always strive with Man p Gen. 7.3 For the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness of Men who hold the Truth in Unrighteousness q Rom. 1.18 Because what is to be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them r Rom. 1.19 And a Manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Man to profit withal s 1 Cor. 12.7 For the Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World t Tit. 2.11 12. And this Word of this Grace is able to build up and give an Inheritance among all those that are Sanctified u Acts 20.32 For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of the Soul and Spirit and of the Joints and Marrow and is a Discerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart x Hebr. 4.12 Is that more sure Word of Prophesy whereunto we do well that we take heed as unto a Light that shineth in a dark place until the Day dawn and the Day-Star arise in the Heart y 2 Pet. 1. â—9 And this is the Word of Faith which the Apostles Preached which is nigh in the Mouth and in the Heart z Rom. 10.8 For God who commanded Light to shine out of Darkness hath shined in our Hearts to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ a 2 Cor. 4.6 But we have this Treasure in Earthen Vessels that the Excellency of the Power may be of God b 2 Cor. 4.7 and not of us for the Kingdom of God cometh not by Observation but is within us ARTICLE XII Concerning Faith and Justification FAith is the Substance of things hoped for and the Evidence of things not seen d Hebr. 11.1 Without which it is impossible to please God e Hebr. 11.6 Therefore we are justified by Faith which worketh by Love f Gal. 5.6 For Faith without Works being dead is by Works made perfect g Jam. 2.23 26. By the Deeds of the Law there shall no Flesh be justified h Rom. 3.20 Nor yet by the Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy we are saved by the Washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost i 1 Tit. 3.5 For we are both washed sanctified and justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God k 1 Cor. 6.11 ARTICLE XIII Concerning Good Works IF we live after the Flesh we shall die but if we through the Spirit do mortifie the Deeds of the Body we shall live l Rom. 8.13 For they which believe in God must be careful to maintain good Works m T it 3.8 For God will render to every Man according to his Deeds according to his Righteous Judgment to them who by patient Continuance in well-doing seek for Glory Honour and Immortality Eternal Life n Rom. 2.6 7. For such are counted worthy of the Kingdom of God o 2 Thess. 1.5 and cast not away their Confidence which hath great Recompence of Reward p Hebr. 10.35 Blessed then are they that do his Commandments that they may have Right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the Gates into the City q Rev. 22.14 ARTICLE XIV Concerning Perfection SIn shall not have Dominion over such as are not under the Law but under Grace r Rom. 6.14 For there is no Condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit for the Law of the
preparing War against all such as put not in their Mouths teaching for Hire and divining for Money p Mich. 3.5 11. Nor yet of those which teach things which they ought not for filthy Lucre's sake q Tit. 1.11 That run greedily after the Error of Balaam for Reward loving the Wages of Vnrighteousness r 2 Pet. 2.15 And through Covetousness with feigned Words making Merchandise of Souls s 2 Pet. 2.3 Men of corrupt Minds destitute of the Truth supposing that Gain is Godliness t 1 Tim. 6.5 but they know that Godliness with Contentment is great Gain u 1 Tim 6 6. and having Food and Raiment they are therewith content x 1 Tim. 6.8 ARTICLE XVII Concerning Worship THe Hour cometh and now is when the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him y John 4.23 God is a Spirit and they which worship must worship him in Spirit and in Truth z John 4 24. For the Lord is nigh to all them that call upon him to all that call upon him in Truth a Psal. 145.18 He is far from the wicked but he heareth the Prayer of the Righteous b Prov. 15.29 And this is the Confidence that we have in him that if we ask any thing according to his Will he heareth us c 1 John 5.14 What is it then We must pray with the Spirit and with the Vnderstanding also d 1 Cor. 14.15 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with Groanings which cannot be uttered And he that searcheth the Heart knoweth what is the Mind of the Spirit because he maketh Intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God e Rom. 8.26 27. ARTICLE XVIII Concerning Baptism AS there is One Lord One Faith so there is One Baptism f Ephes. 4.5 which doth also now save us not the putting away of the Filth of the Flesh but the Answer of a Good Conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ g 1 Pet. 3.21 22. For John indeed baptized with Water but Christ with the Holy Ghost and with Fire h Matth. 3.1 Therefore as many as are baptized into Jesus Christ are baptized into his Death and are buried with him by Baptism into Death that like as Christ was raised up from the Dead by the Glory of the Father even so they also should walk in Newness of Life i Rom. 6.34 having put on Christ k Gal. 3.27 ARTICLE XIX Concerning Eating of Bread and Wine Washing of one anothers Feet Abstaining from things Strangled and from Blood and Anointing of the Sick with Oil. THe Lord Jesus the same Night in which he was betrayed took Bread and when he had given Thanks he brake it and said Take eat this is my Body which is broken for you this do in Remembrance of me After the same manner also he took the Cup when he had supped saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood this do ye as oft as ye drink it in Remembrance of me For as oft as ye do eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew forth the Lord's Death till he come l Cor. 11.23 24 25. Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his Hands and that he was come from God and went to God he raiseth from Supper and laid aside his Garments and took a Towel and girded himself after that he poured Water into a Bason and began to wash the Disciples Feet and to wipe them with the Towel wherewith he was girded So after he had washed their Feet and had taken his Garments and set down again he said unto them Know ye what I have done unto 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 unto you m John 13 2 3 4 12 13 14 15. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater Burden than these Necessary Things That ye abstain from Meats offered to Idols from Blood and from things Strangled and from Fornication from which if ye keep your selves ye do well n Acts 15.28 29. Is any man sick among you let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them Pray over him Anointing him with Oil o James 5.14 ARTICLE XX. Concerning the Liberty of such Christians as are come to know the Substance as to the Vsing or not Vsing of these Rites and of the Observation of Days THe Kingdom of God is not Meat and Drink but Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost p Rom. 14 17. Let no man therefore judge us in Meat or Drink or in Respect of an Holy-Day or of the New-Moon or the Sabbath-Days q Col. 2.16 For if we be dead with Christ from the Rudiments of the World why as though living in the World are We subject to Ordinances Let us not touch or taste or handle which all are to perish with the Using after the Commandments and Doctrines of Men r Col. 2.20 21 22. For now after we have known God or rather are known of him why should we turn again unto the Weak and Beggarly Elements or desire again to be in Bondage to observe Dayes and Months and Times and Years lest Labour have been bestowed on us in vain s Gal. 4.9 10 11. If one man esteem a Day above another another esteemeth every day alike let every man be fully perswaded in his own Mind He that regardeth a Day regardeth it unto the Lord and he that regardeth not the Day to the Lord he doth not regard it t Rom. 14.5 6. ARTICLE XXI Concerning Swearing Fighting and Persecution IT hath been said by them of Old Thou shalt not Forswear thy self but shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths But Christ says unto us Swear not at all neither by Heaven for it is God's Throne nor by the Earth for it is his Foot-stool neither by Jerusalem for it is the City of the great King neither shalt thou swear by thy Head because thou canst not make one Hair white or black But let your Communication be Yea Yea Nay Nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of Evil u Mat. 5 33 34 35 36 37. And James chargeth us Above all things not to swear neither by Heaven neither by the Earth neither by any other Oath but let your Yea be Yea and your Nay Nay lest ye fall into Condemnation x Jam. 5.12 Though we walk in the Flesh we are not to War after the Flesh for the Weapons of our Warfare are not to be
needful for the good Ordering and Disposing all things in their proper Place and for preserving and keeping all things in their right Station did in the Dispensation and Communication of his holy Spirit Minister unto every Member a Measure of the same Spirit yet divers according to Operation for the Edification of the Body some Apostles some Teachers some Pastors some Elders there are Old Men there are Young Men there are Babes For all are not Apostles neither are all Elders neither are all Babes yet are all Members And as such all have a Sense and Feeling of the Life of the Body which from the Head flows unto all the Body as the Ointment of Aaron 's Beard unto the Skirts of his Garment and every Member has its place and Station in the Body so long as it keeps in the Life of the Body and all have need one of another yet is no Member to assume another Place in the Body than God has given it nor yet to grudg or repine its Fellow-member's Place but to be content with its own For the Vncomely Parts are no less needful than the Comely and the less-Honourable than the more-Honourable which the Apostle Paul holds forth in 1 Cor. 12. from Verse 13 to 30. Now the Ground of all Schisms Divisions or Rents in the Body is The Ground of Rents and Divisions when-as any Member assumes another Place than is allotted it or being gone from the Life and Vnity of the Body and loosing the Sense of it le ts in the Murmurer the Eye that watches for Evil and not in holy Care over its Fellow-members And then instead of coming down to Judgment in it self will stand up and judge its Fellow-members yea the whole Body or those whom God has set in a more Honourable and Eminent Place in the Body than it self Such suffer not the Word of Exhortation and term the Reproofs of Instruction which is the Way of Life Imposition and Oppression and are not aware how far they are in the things they Condemn others for while they spare not to reprove and revile all their Fellow-members Yet if they be but admonished themselves they cry out as if their Great Charter of Gospel-Liberty were broken Now though such and the Spirit by which they are acted The Subtilty of that Spirit be sufficiently seen and felt by Thousands whose Hearts God has so established as they are out of Danger of being intangled in that Snare and who have Power and Strength in themselves to judge that Spirit even in its most subtil Appearances yet there are who cannot so well withstand the Subtilty and seeming Sincerity some such pretend to though in measure they have a sight of them and others that cannot so rightly distinguish betwixt the Precious and the Vile and some there are that through Weakness and want of true Discerning may be deceived and the Simplicity in them betrayed for a season as it is written With Fair Speeches and Smooth Words they deceive the Hearts of the Simple Therefore having according to my measure received an Opening in my Understanding as to these things from the Light of the Lord and having been for some time under the weighty sense of them I find at this instant a Freedom to commit them to Writing for the more Universal Benefit and Edification of the Church of CHRIST Now The Heads treated of viz. for the more plain and clear opening and understanding of these things it is fit to sum up this Treatise in these following general Heads to be considered of First From whence the Ground and Cause of this Controversy is the Rise and Root of it Secondly Whether there be now any Order and Government in the Church of Christ Thirdly What is the Order and Government which we plead for in what Cases and how far it may extend in whom the Power decisive is and how it differeth and is wholly another than the Oppressing and Persecuting Principality of the Church of Rome and other Anti-christian Assemblies SECTION II. Concerning the Ground and Cause of this CONTROVERSIE WHenas the Lord God by his mighty Power began to visit the Nations with the Dawning of his Heavenly Day for thus I write unto those The first Dawning of the Heavenly Day of the Lord described that have received and believed the Truth and that he sent forth his Instruments whom he had fitted and prepared for his Work having fashioned them not according to the Wisdom and Will of Man but to his own heavenly Wisdom and Counsel they went forth and preached the Gospel in the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit not in the Enticing Words of Man's Wisdom but in Appearance as Fools and Mad And breaking forth to those that judged according to Man But their Words and Testimony pierced through into the Inner Man in the Heart and reached to that of God in the Conscience whereby as many as were simple-hearted and waited for the Redemption of their Souls received them as the Messengers of the Most High God and their Words were unto them not as the Words of Men but as the Words of God for in the receiving and embracing the Testimony of Truth through them they felt their Souls eased and the Acceptable Day began to dawn in and upon them Now what Evidence brought these Men to make their Testimony to be received did they Entice did they flatter did they daub up did they preach Liberty to the Flesh or Will of Man Nay verily they used no such Method their Words were as Thunder-Bolts knocking down all that stood in their Way and pouring down the Judgment of God upon the Head of the Transgressor every where Did they spare the Zealous Professor more than the open Profane Nay verily they condemned equally the Hypocrisy of the one as well as the Profanity of the other yet wanted they not Regard to the tender Seed and Plant of God in either Did they give way Did they yield to the Wisdom of Man To the Deceitfulness of the Serpent that would reason Truth for themselves saying I must stay until I be Convinced of this and that and the other thing I see not yet this to be wrong or the other thing to be my Duty How did they knock down this manner of Reasoning by the Spirit of God which wrought mightily in them shewing and holding forth that this is the Day of the Lord that is dawned that all are invited to come that none ought to tarry behind that that which so pleadeth is the same Spirit which of old time said in those that were invited I cannot come yet I must first marry a Wife I must go prove my Yoke of Oxen I must go visit my Possessions let me first bury my dead Father Did not the Lord through them testify and declare against these things and is there not a Cloud of Witnesses who felt the Enemy thus reasoning to keep us in the Forms Fellowships false Worships and
themseves when-as the Cause and Ground for which they were commanded is removed As there is no need now for the Decision about Circumcision seeing there are none Contend for it neither as to the Orders concerning Things Offered to Idols seeing there is now no such Occasion yet who will say that the Command enjoin'd in the same place Acts 15.20 To abstain from Fornication is now made void seeing there is daily need for its standing in force because it yet remains as a Temptation man is incident to We confess indeed we are against such as from the bare Letter of the Scripture though if it were seasonable now to debate it we find but few to deal with whose Practices are so exactly squared seek to uphold Customs Forms or Shadows when the Vse for which they were appointed is removed or the Substance it self known and witnessed as we have sufficiently elsewhere answered our Opposers in the Case of Water-Baptism and Bread and Wine c. so that the Objection as to that doth not hold and the Difference is very wide in respect of such Things the very Nature and Substance of which can never be dispensed with by the People of God so long as they are in this World yea without which they could not be his People For the Doctrines and Fundamental Principles of the Christian Faith we own and believe originally and principally because they are the Truths of God whereunto the Spirit of God in our Hearts hath constrained our Understandings to obey and submit In the second place we are greatly Confirmed The Joint-Testimony of the Apostles c. to the Truths of God in our Hearts Strengthned and Comforted in the Joint-Testimony of our Brethren the Apostles and Disciples of Christ who by the Revelation of the same Spirit in the Days of old believed and have left upon Record the same Truths so we having the same Spirit of Faith according as it is written I believed and therefore have I spoken we also believe and therefore we speak And we deny not but some that from the Letter have had the Notion of these Things have thereby in the Mercy of God received Occasion to have them Revealed in the Life for we freely acknowledge though often calumniated to the contrary that Whatsoever Things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures may have Hope So then I hope if the Spirit of God lead me now unto that which is good profitable yea and absolutely needful in order to the keeping my Conscience clear and void of Offence towards God and Man none will be so unreasonable as to say I ought not to do it because it is according to the Scriptures Nor do I think it will savour ill among any serious solid Christians for me to be the more confirmed and perswaded that I am led to this Thing by the Spirit that I find it in it self good and useful and that upon the like Occasions Christ Commanded it and the Apostles and Primitive Christians practised and recommended it Now seeing it is so that we can boldly say with a good Conscience in the Sight of God that the same Spirit which leads us to believe the Doctrines and Principles of the Truth and to hold and maintain them again after the Apostacy in their primitive and ancient Purity as they were delivered by the Apostles of Christ in the Holy Scriptures I say that the same Spirit doth now lead us into the like holy Order and Government to be exercised among us as it was among them being now the like Occasion and Opportunity ministred to us therefore what can any Christianly or Rationally object against it For that there is a Real Cause for it the thing it self speaketh A Real Cause for the same Order and that it was the Practice of the Saints and Church of old is undeniable what kind of Ground then can any such Opposers have being such as scrupling at this do notwithstanding acknowledge our Principle that this were done by Imposition or Imitation more than the Belief of the Doctrines and Principles seeing as it is needful to use all Diligence to Convince and Perswade People of the Truth and bring them to the Belief of it which yet we cannot do but as Truth moves and draws in their Hearts it is also no less needful when a People is gathered to keep and preserve them in Vnity and Love as becomes the Church of Christ and to be careful as saith the Apostle That all things be done decently and in Order and that all that is wrong be removed according to the Method of the Gospel and the good cherished and encouraged So that we conclude and that upon very good Grounds That there ought now as well as heretofore to be Order and Government in the Church of Christ. Head III. That which now cometh to be examined in the Third place is First What is the Order and Government we plead for Secondly In what Cases and how far it may extend and in whom the Power Decisive is Thirdly How it differeth and is wholly another than the oppressive and persecuting Principality of the Church of Rome and other Antichristian Assemblies SECTION IV. Of the Order and Government which we plead for IT will be needful then before I proceed to describe the Order and Government of the Church to consider what is or may be properly understood by the Church for some as I touched before seem to be offended or at least afraid of the very Word because The Power of the CHVRCH The Order of the Church The Judgment of the Church and such like Pretences have been the great Weapons wherewith Antichrist and the Apostate Christians have been these many Generations persecuting the Woman and warring against the Man-child And indeed great Disputes have been among the Learned Rabbies in the Apostacy concerning this CHVRCH what it is or what may be so accounted Which I find not my place at present to dive much in but shall only give the true Sense of it according to Truth and the Scriptures plain Testimony What the word Church signifies properly The word CHVRCH in it self and as used in the Scriptures is no other but a Gathering Company or Assembly of certain People called or gathered together for so the Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies which is that the Translators render Church which word is derived from the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Evoco I call out of from the Root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Voco I Call Now though the English word CHVRCH be only taken in such a Sense as People are gathered together upon a Religious Account yet the Greek word that is so rendered is taken in general for every Gathering or Meeting together of People and therefore where it is said The Town-Clark of the Ephesians dismissed the Tumult that was gathered there together the same Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used Acts 19.41 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he dismissed the Assembly or the Church dimisit concionem A Church then in the Scripture-Phrase is no other than a Meeting or Gathering of certain People which if it be taken in a Religious Sense as most commonly it is are gathered together in the Belief of the same Principles Doctrines and Points of Faith What a Religious Church is whereby as a Body they become distinguished from others and have a certain Relation among themselves and a Conjunct Interest to the maintaining and propagating these Principles they judge to be right and therefore have a certain Care and Oversight over one another to prevent and remove all Occasions that may tend to break this their Conjunct Interest hinder the Propagation of it or bring Infamy Contempt or Contumely upon it or give such as on the other hand are or may be banded together to undo them just Occasion against them to decry and defame them Now the Way to distinguish that Church How to distinguish the true Church from the false Gathering or Assembly of People whereof Christ truly is the Head from such as falsly pretend thereto is by considering the Principles and Grounds upon which they are gathered together the Nature of that Hierarchy and Order they have among themselves the Way and Method they take to uphold it and the Bottom upon which it standeth which will greatly contribute to clear all Mistakes Forasmuch as Sanctification and Holiness is the great and chief End among true Christians which moves them to gather together therefore the Apostle Paul defines the Church in his Salutation to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 1.2 Vnto the Church of God which is at Corinth them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints so the Church is such as are Sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints The Power and Authority Order and Government we speak of The Churches Care over its Members c. is such as a Church Meeting Gathering or Assembly claims towards those that have or do declare themselves Members who own believe and profess the same Doctrines and Principles of Faith with us and go under the same Distinction and Denomination whose Escapes Faults and Errors may by our Adversaries justly be imputed to us if not seasonably and Christianly Reproved Reclaimed or Condemned For we are not so foolish as to concern our selves with those who are not of us far less who stand in Opposition to us so as to Reprove Instruct or Reclaim them as Fellow-Members or Brethren Yet with a respect to remove the general Reproach from the Christian Name with a tender Regard to the good of their Immortal Souls for the Zeal we owe to God's Glory and for the Exaltation and Propagation of his Everlasting Truth and Gospel in the Earth we have not been wanting with the Hazzard of our Lives to seek the Scattered Ones holding forth the Living and Sure Foundation and inviting and perswading all to Obey the Gospel of Christ and to take Notice of his Reproofs as he makes himself manifest in and by his Light in their Hearts So our Care and Travel is and hath been towards those that are without that we may bring them into the Fellowship of the Saints in Light and towards those that are brought in that they may not be led out again or drawn aside either to the Left hand or the Right by the Workings and Temptations of the Enemy These Things being thus cleared and opened we do positively Affirm that we being a People gathered together by the Power of God which most if not all of those that arising among our selves do Oppose us herein have acknowledged into the Belief of certain Principles and Doctrines and also certain Practices and Performances by which we are come to be separated and distinguished from others so as to meet apart and also to Suffer deeply for our Joint-Testimony there are and must of Necessity be as in the gathering of us so in the preserving of us while gathered Diversities of Gifts in the Church Diversities of Gifts and Operations for the edifying of the whole Body Hence saith the Apostle 1 Tim. 5.17 Let the Elders that rule well be counted worthy of double Honour especially they who labour in the Word and Doctrine And this we suppose neither to be Popish nor Antichristian let our Opposers say it as oft as they can without reckoning the Apostles such Secondly Forasmuch as all are not called in the same Station some rich some poor some Servants some Masters some married some unmarried some Widows and some Orphans and so forth it is not only convenient but absolutely needful that there be certain Meetings at certain Places and Times Meetings about Business as may best sute the Conveniencies of such who may be most particularly concerned in them where both those that are to take Care may Assemble and those who may need this Care may come and make known their Necessities and receive Help whether by Counsel or Supply according to their respective Needs This doth not at all contradict the Principle of being Led inwardly and immediately by the Spirit else how came the Apostle in that Day of the Powerful pouring forth of the Spirit of God to set apart Men for this Purpose established by the Apostle sure this was not to lead them from their Inward Guide yea of the contrary it is expresly said Look ye out among you Seven Men of honest Report full of the Holy Ghost and Wisdom whom we may appoint over this Business Sure they were not to undertake a Business being full of the Holy Ghost which might import a Contradiction to their being led by it So we see it is both fit and suitable to the Apostle's Doctrine to have Meetings about Business Now if any should be so whimsical or conceited as to scruple their being at set Places and Times though these be nothing relative to the Essential parts but only Circumstances relating to the Conveniency of our Persons which we must have Regard to so long as we are cloathed with Flesh and Blood and such Notionists as are against this Godly Care work far more in their vain Imaginations than they reduce to Practice being like unto such of whom the Apostle James testified who content themselves with saying to the Naked Be â—loathed and to the Hungry be fed while they offer not in the least to Minister to them those Things which are needful for Cloathing and Feeding of them Yet shall we not scruple to make it appear that it is not without very good Ground that we both appoint Places and Times Convenient Places to Meet in And first As to the Place I say as before it is with our Bodies we must meet as well as with our Spirits and so of Necessity we must convey our Bodies unto one Place that we may speak and act in those Things we Meet for
the true Faith that they might learn not to Blaspheme In short if we must as our Opposers herein acknowledge preserve and keep those that are come to own the Truth by the same means they were gathered and brought into it we must not cease to be plain with them and tell them when they are wrong and by sound Doctrine both Exhort and Convince Gainsayers If the Apostles of Christ of old and the Preachers of the Everlasting Gospel in this day had told all People however wrong they found them in their Faith and Principles Our Charity and Love is such We dare not judge you A wrong Charity and false Love to Cherish in Error is nor separate from you but let us all live in Love together and every one injoy his own Opinion and all will be well how should the Nations have been or what way now can they be brought to Truth and Righteousness Would not the Devil love this Doctrine well by which Darkness and Ignorance Error and Confusion might still continue in the Earth unreproved and uncondemned If it was needful then for the Apostles of Christ in the days of old to Reprove without sparing to tell the High-Priests and great Professors among the Jews That they were stubborn and stiff-necked and always resisted the Holy Ghost without being guilty of Imposition and Oppression or want of true Love and Charity and also for those Messengers the Lord raised up in this day to Reprove and Cry out against the Hireling Priests and to tell the World openly both Professors and Profane That they were in Darkness and Ignorance out of the Truth Strangers and Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel if God has gathered a People by this means into the Belief of one and the same Truth must not they they turn and depart from it be Admonished Reproved and Condemned yea rather than those that are not yet come to the Truth because they Crucifie afresh unto themselves the Lord of Glory and put him to open Shame It seems the Apostle judged it very needful they should be so dealt with Tit. 1.10 when he says There are many unruly and vain Talkers and Deceivers especially they of the Circumcision WHOSE MOVTHS MVST BE STOPPED c. Were such a Principle to be received or believed That in the Church of Christ no man should be Separated from no man Condemned or Excluded the Fellowship and Communion of the Body for his Judgment or Opinion in Matter of Faith The Inlet to all manner of Abominations then what Blasphemies so horrid what Heresies so damnable what Doctrines of Devils but might harbour it self in the Church of Christ What need then of sound Doctrine if no Doctrine make unsound what need of Convincing and Exhorting Gainsayers if to Gainsay be no Crime where should the Vnity of the Faith be Were not this an Inlet to all manner of Abominations and to make void the whole tendency of Christ and his Apostles Doctrine and render the Gospel of none Effect and give a Liberty to the unconstant and giddy Will of Man to innovate alter and overturn it at his Pleasure So that from all that is above-mentioned we do safely Conclude That where a People are gathered together into the Belief of the Principles and Doctrines of the Gospel of Christ if any of that People shall go from their Principles and assert things false and contrary to what they have already received such as stand and abide firm in the Faith have Power by the Spirit of God after they have used Christian Endeavours to Convince and Reclaim them upon their Obstinacy to Separate from such and to Exclude them from their spiritual Fellowship and Communion for otherways if this be denied farewel to all Christianity or to the maintaining of any sound Doctrine in the Church of Christ. But secondly Taking it for granted that the Church of Christ or Assembly of Believers may in some Cases that are Matter of Conscience Quest. II pronounce a positive Sentence and Judgment without hazzard of Imposition upon the Members it comes to be inquired In what Cases and how far this Power reacheth I answer First As that which is most clear and undeniable In the fundamental Principles and Doctrines of Faith Answer in Case any should offer to teach otherways as is above declared and proved But some may perhaps acknowledge that indeed if any should Contradict the known and owned Principles of Truth and teach otherways it were fit to cast out and exclude such but what judgest thou as to lesser matters as in Principles of less Consequence or in outward Ceremonies or Gestures whether it be fit to press Vniformity in these things Consideration For Answer to this it is fit to Consider First The Nature of things themselves Secondly The Spirit and Ground they proceed from And Thirdly The Consequence and Tendency of them But before I proceed upon these I affirm and that according to Truth That as the Church and Assembly of God's People may and hath Power to Decide by the Spirit of God in Matters fundamental and weighty without which no Decision nor Decree in whatever Matters is available so the same Church and Assembly also in other Matters of less Moment The Decision of Matters of less Moment in the Church Obligatory as to themselves yet being needful and expedient with a Respect to the Circumstance of Time Place and other things that may fall in may and hath Power by the same Spirit and not otherways being acted moved and assisted and led by it thereto to pronounce a positive Judgment which no doubt will be found Obligatory upon all such who have a Sense and Feeling of the Mind of the Spirit though rejected by such as are not watchful and so are out of the Feeling and Vnity of the Life And this is that which none that own Immediate Revelation or a being inwardly led by the Spirit to be now a thing expected or dispensed to the Saints can without contradicting their own Principle deny far less such with whom I have to do in this Matter who claiming this Priviledge to Particulars saying That they being moved to do such and such things though contrary to the Mind and Sense of their Brethren are not to be judged for it adding Why may it not be so that God hath moved them to it Now if this be a sufficient Reason for them to suppose as to one or two I may without absurdity suppose it as well to the whole Body And therefore as to the first to wit Cons. 1 The Nature of the things themselves If it be such a thing the doing or not doing whereof that is either any Act or the Forbearance of any may bring a real Reproach or Ground of Accusation against the Truth professed and owned and in and through which there may a visible Schism and Dissension arise in the Church Against the Reproach of Truth by which Truth 's Enemies may be
preaching to the Gentiles and what Weight his and James's Words had in the Contest about Circumcision towards the bringing the Matter to a Conclusion Acts 15. Yet that we may see Infallibility was not inseparably annexed to him he was found blamable in a certain Matter Gal. 2.11 notwithstanding his Sentence was positively received in many particulars So also the Apostle Paul argues from his Gathering of the Churches of Corinth and Galatia that they ought to be Followers of him and positively Concludes in divers Things and upon this Supposition exhorts the Churches both he and Peter in many Passages heretofore mentioned which I will not to avoid Repetition again rehearse To obey the Elders that watch for them to hold such in Reputation and to submit themselves to them that have addicted themselves to the Ministry of the Saints 1 Cor. 16.15 16. Also we see how the Lord makes use of John his beloved Disciple to Inform and Reprove the seven Churches of Asia and no doubt John the Rest by the usual Computation being at that Time all Removed was then the most-noted and famous Elder alive And indeed I mind not where under the Gospel Christ hath used any other Method but that he always in Revealing his Will hath made use of such as he himself had before appointed Elders and Officers in his Church Though it be far from us to limit the Lord so as to Exclude any from this Priviledge nor yet on the other hand will the Possibility hereof be a sufficient Warrant to allow every obscure Member to stand up and offer to Rule Judge and Condemn the whole Body nor yet is it without Cause that such an one's Message is Jealoused and called in Question unless it have very great Evidence and be bottomed upon some very weighty and solid Cause and Foundation And God doth so furnish those whom he raises up in a singular Manner of which as I said I mind no Instance in the New Testament and in the Old we see though it was strange that little David should Oppose himself to the great Goliah yet he had before that killed both the Lion and the Bear which was no less improbable and which of all is most observable was before that Time by the Appointment of God and the Hand of the Prophet Anointed King of Israel Compare the 16th and 17th Chap. of the 1 st of Samuel Now as to the Third That any particular Persons de facto or effectually Assert 3 giving out a positive Judgment Proved is no Incroaching nor Imposing upon their Brethren's Conscience is necessarily included in what is said before upon which for further Probation there will only need this short Reflection That for any Member or Members in Obedience to the Lord to give forth a positive Judgment in the Church of Christ is their proper Place and Office they being called to it and so for them to exercise that Place in the Body which the Head moves them to is not to Vsurp Authority over their Fellow-Members As on the other Hand to submit and obey it being the Place of some so to do is not a Renouncing a being led by the Spirit seeing the Spirit leads them so to do And not to Obey in Case the Judgment be according to Truth and the Spirit lead to it is no doubt both Offensive and Sinfull And that all this may be supposed in the Church of Christ without Absurdity and so establish the above-mentioned Propositions will appear by a short Review of the former Passages If that Peter and James their giving a positive Judgment in the Case of Difference in divers particulars did not infer them to be Imposers so neither will any so doing now being led to it by the same Authority Every one may easily make the Application And on the Contrary if for any to have stood up and Resisted their Judgment pretending an Vnclearness or so and thereby held up the Difference after their Sentence breaking the Peace and Vnity of the Church Things being concluded with an It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us I say if such would have given just Cause of Offence Acts 15.21 and have been Cut off as Despisers of Dignities of old will not the like Case now occurring hold the same Conclusion Now whether those Propositions do not hold upon the Principles before laid down and proved I leave to every Judicious and Impartial Reader to judge Moreover we see how positive the Apostle Paul is in many particulars throughout all his Epistles insomuch as he saith 2 Thess. ult v. 14. If any Man obey not our Word by this Epistle note that Man and have no Company with him that he may be ashamed And in many more Places before-mentioned where he Commands them both to Obey him and several others Submission and Obedience to the Judgment of Truth the Spirit of God leads into who were Appointed no doubt by the Spirit of God to be Rulers among them and yet who will say that either the Apostle did more than he ought in Commanding or they less than they were obliged to in Submitting and yet neither were to do any thing Contrary or more than the Spirit of God in themselves led them to or allowed them in And if the Church of God bear any Parity or Proportion now in these Days with what it did of Old as I know no Reason why it should not the same things may now be supposed to take Effect that did then and also be lawfully done upon the like Occasion proceeding from the same Spirit and established upon the same Basis and Foundation And thus much as to that Part to shew In whom the Power of Decision is Which being seriously and impartially considered is sufficient to clear us from the Tyranny either of Popery or any other of that Nature with those that are not either wilfully Blind or very Ignorant of Popish Principles as the Judicious Reader may observe But seeing To manifest that Difference was one of those things propsoed to be Considered of I shall now come to say something of it in its proper Place Section VIII How this Government altogether differeth from the Oppressing and Persecuting Principality of the Church of Rome and other Anti-Christian Assemblies Head III. WHatever Way we understand the Popish Principles in this Matter Prop. 3 whether of those that are Most devoted to the See of Rome as the King of Spain's Dominions Proved and the Princes of Italy the Jesuites and Generality of all those called Religious Orders who hold that Papa in Cathedrâ non potest errare licet absque Concilio that is That the Pope in his Chair cannot Err though without a Council or of those that are Less devoted who plead this Infallibility in the Pope and Council lawfully Convened who yet by the more zealous are reckoned Petty Schismaticks I say whatever Way we take them all those that do profess themselves Members of the Romish Church Principles
of the Romish Church and are so far such as to understand their own Principles do unquestionably acknowledge First That no General Council can be lawfully called without the Bishop of Rome as Christ's Vicar and Peter 's Successor call it Secondly That either he himself or some for him as his Legates must be there present and always preceed Thirdly That the Members having Vote are made up of Bishops or Presbyters or Commissioners from the several Orders being of the Clergy Fourthly That what is Concluded on by Plurality of Votes and Agreed to by the Pope and his Legates must necessarily be supposed to be the Judgment of the Infallible Spirit Fifthly That all the Members of the Church are bound Implicitly to Receive and Believe it because it proceeds from a Council to be accounted Lawful in the Respects above-mentioned without Regard to the Intrinsick or Real Truths of the Things prescribed or bringing them in any Respect to the Test or Examination of the Spirit of God in themselves or the Scriptures Testimony or their Agreement or Disagreement with Truths formerly believed and received for so much as to Prove or Try them by Way of Doubt they reckon a Breach of the first Command as on the other Hand a matter of Merit Implicitly to receive and believe them however inconsistent with the Testimony of the Spirit in ones own Heart Scripture Truth and Reason Sixthly That no Man as a Member of the Church of Christ in that simple Capacity unless a Clergy-man or the Ambassadour of some King c. can be admitted to Sit Vote or give his Judgment Seventhly That it is in no Respect to be supposed that any Members especially Laicks whether in a particular City Country or Nation may meet concerning any Things relating to the Faith and Worship of the Church and give by the Spirit of God any Judgment but that all such Meetings are to be accounted Schismatical and Unlawful And Lastly That the Promise of Infallibility and the Gates of Hell not prevailing is necessarily annexed to the Pope and Council called and authorized in the Manner above-expressed Now if to deny every one of these Propositions wherein all Understanding Men know the Errors and Abuses of the Romish Church consist be to be Popish then indeed may we be supposed to be one with the Papists in this Matter but no otherwise So that the very mentioning of these things is sufficient to shew the Difference betwixt us and them But if any will needs plead our Agreement with them thus The Papists affirm an Infallibility of Judgment in the Church of Christ Objection and so do you therefore you are one with Papists I Answer That proves no more our Oneness in this Matter than if Answ. 1 it should be said The Papists plead that God ought to be Worshipped and so do you Therefore ye Agree Notwithstanding of the Vast Differences as to that which is known not only betwixt us and them but betwixt them and all Protestants who Agree more with them in the matter of Worship than we do Next again Infallibility in the Church according as we hold it Answ. 2 and I have above Defined it no man upon our Supposition or Hypothesis can deny it For since we first Assert as a Principle That no Gathering no Church nor Assembly of People The true Church is Led by the Infallible Spirit however True their Principles or Exact their Form be are to be accounted the Church of Christ except the Infallible Spirit lead and guide what can be the Hazzard to say that in such a Church there is still an Infallible Judgment Indeed this is so far from Popery that it resolves in a Proposition quite Contradictory to them The Romanists say That the Infallible Spirit always accompanies the Outward Visible Professors and is annexed to the External Succession of Bishops and Pastors though ever so Vitious as to their Lives yea though perfect * For some Popes have been known to deny or at least to doubt the Truth of the Scriptures as to the History of Christ and to call in question the Immortality of the Soul and the Resurrection Atheists and Infidels in their private Judgments yet if outwardly professing the Catholick Faith and Subjection to the Church they must be partakers of the Infallible Spirit We say the quite Contrary That where there is either Vitiousness of Persons or Vnsoundness of Judgment in the particular Members these cannot by Virtue of any outward Call or Succession they have or any Profession they make or Authority they may pretend to so much as claim an Interest in any part of the Church of Christ or the Infallible Spirit So then if we admit none to be Members of the Church but such as are led and guided by the Spirit The Infallible Judgment where it is it will be no Popery in the Second Place to affirm That were there is a Company of People so gathered who are not any longer to retain justly the Name of the Church of Christ than they are led and guided by his Spirit or a Church so qualified and designed there is still an Infallible Judgment So that this Infallibility is not annexed to the Persons to the Succession to the bare Visible Profession though true which the Church of Rome is denied to be or to any Society because of its Profession but singly and alone to the True Real and Effectual Work of Sanctification and Regeneration the New Creature brought forth in the Heart And this is the Spiritual Man which the Apostle saith Judgeth all Things 1 Cor. 2.15 To affirm there is an Infallibility here cannot well be Condemned by any or whoso doth must needs say the Spirit of God is fallible For we place the Infallibility in the Spirit and in the Power not in the Persons And so these are the Degrees we Ascend by Because such and such Men are led by the Spirit of God and are obedient to the Grace in their Hearts therefore are they Members and Officers in the Church of Christ. And because they are Members of the Church of Christ in the Respect before declared therefore there is an Infallible Judgment among them We do not say Because such men profess the Christian Faith and have received an outward Ordination and so are by a lawful Succession formally established Officers in the Church when they Meet together according to certain Rules above-declared there is an Infallibility annexed to their Conclusions and they cannot but Decide what is Right or rather what they Decide must needs be supposed to be Right Who seeth not here a vast Disproportion Now we differ herein fundamentally that is as to the very Basis and Foundation upon which we build and that not only from the Church of Rome but also from the Generality of Protestants in this matter All Protestants do acknowledge a General Council to be useful The Constitution of a Synod or General Council among yea necessary
is so much the better that the Elders and greater Number do agree to it and if Wrong their Affirming of it will not make it Right And truly a Gathering where the Elders and greater Number are always or most frequently Wrong and the Younger and lesser Number Right is such as we cannot suppose the True Church of Christ to be And if any will plead that there is now no Infallible Judgment to be expected from the Spirit of God in the Church it no doubt will leave the Dissenters as much in the Mist and at as great a loss as those they Dissent from both being no better than blind men hitting at random which will turn Christianity into Scepticism And though we may acknowledge that this Vncertainty prevails in the generality of those called Churches yet we do firmly believe for the Reasons above declared and many more that might be given That the True Church of Christ has a more solid stable Foundation and being never separated from Christ her Head walks in a more certain steady and unerring Path. The CONCLUSION THE Substance then of what is Asserted and Proved in this Treatise resolves in these following Particulars A Summary Recollection of the whole First That in the Church of Christ when it Consists of a visible People for I speak not here of the Church in the dark Night of Apostacy that consisted not of any Society visibly united gathered into the Belief of certain Principles and united in the joint Performance of the Worship of God as Meeting together praying preaching c. there is and still must be a Certain Order and Government Secondly That this Government as to the Outward Form of it Consists of Certain Meetings Appointed principally for that End yet not so as to exclude Acts of Worship if the Spirit move thereunto Thirdly The Object of this Government is twofold Outwards and Inwards The Outwards relate mainly to the Care of the Poor of Widows and Fatherless where may be also included Marriages and the Removing of all Scandals in things undeniably wrong The Inwards respect an Apostacy either in Principles or Practices that have a Pretence of Conscience and that either in Denying some Truths already Received and Believed or Asserting New Doctrines that ought not to be Received Which again to subdivide may either be in Things Fundamental 1674 and of great moment or in things of less Weight in themselves yet proceeding from a Wrong Spirit and which in the natural and certain Consequence of them tend to make Schisms Divisions Animosities and in sum to break that Bond of Love and Vnity that is so needful to be upheld and established in the Church of Christ. And here come also under this Consideration all Emulations Strifes Backbitings and evil Surmisings Fourthly That in the True Church of Christ according to the Definition above given of it there will in such Cases of Differences and Controversies still be an Infallible Judgment from the Spirit of God either in one or other few or more Fifthly That this Infallible Judgment is only and unalterably annexed and seated in the Spirit and Power of God not to any particular Person or Persons Meeting or Assembly by vertue of any setled Ordination Office Place or Station that such may have or have had in the Church no Man Men nor Meeting standing or being Invested in any Authority in the Church of Christ upon other Terms than so long as he or they abide in the living Sense and Vnity of the Life in their own particulars which whosoever one or more inwardly departs from ipso facto loses all Authority Office or certain Discerning he or they formerly have had though retaining the true Principles and sound Form and may be not fall'n into any gross Practices as may declare them generally to be thus withered and decayed Sixthly That Jesus Christ under the Gospel hath ordinarily Revealed his Will in such Cases through the Elders and Ministers of the Church or a General Meeting whose Testimony is neither to be despised or rejected without good Cause Neither is their taking upon them Really to Decide any just Ground to charge them with Imposition or to quarrel their Judgment unless it can be proved that they are decayed and have lost their Discerning as above Seventhly That to Submit and Obey in such Cases is no detracting from the Common Priviledge of Christians to be Inwardly led by the Spirit seeing the Spirit has led some heretofore so to do and yet may And that every Pretence of Vnclearness is not a Sufficient Excuse for Disobedience seeing that may proceed from Obstinacy or a Mind prepossessed with Prejudice Yet say I not any ought to do it before they be Clear and who are every Right will not want Clearness in what They ought to do And Lastly That these Principles are no ways tainted with Imposition or contrary to true Liberty of Conscience And that they fundamentally differ from the Vsurpations both of Popery Prelacy and Presbytery or any other of that Nature Robert Barclay Robert Barclay HIS VINDICATION year 1679 WHEREIN The Scruples and Mistakes some have had touching his Book called The Anarchy of the Ranters are Cleared and the Ground upon which W. R's Papers against it are Built Removed the Substance of the Papers being briefly Answered by way of EPISTLE to FRIENDS who therein have or may be Concern'd Which may serve as an EXPLANATORY P0ST-SCRIPT to Robert Barclay's Book of GOVERNMENT Aberdeen-Prison the Sixth of the First Month 1679. Dear Friends and Brethren UNTO all my Dear Friends and Brethren unto whose Hands this Paper may come or who may be any ways more particularly Concerned in the Contents hereof The Salutation of my unfeigned Love in that Vnchangable Truth whereunto it hath pleased the Lord to Call me according to his great Mercy so as to be a Partaker in some measure of the Peace and Glory which in this Day is Revealed wherewith my heart hath been often filled as I have Waited in Faithfulness according to the Dispensation of Light Manifested in me and to me And since it hath pleased God to make me a Living Witness of the pretious Truth and to Commit unto me any Share of the Ministry thereof my Conscience bears me Witness in the sight of God that I have Laboured according to my Knowledge to follow Love and Peace with all my Brethren R. B's Ministry and to do those things which might tend to advance strengthen and confirm Vnity and Brotherly Love as also to Avoid what had a tendency to beget Strife Jealousies or Evil Surmises Likewise I have studied as well in my Publick Testimony His Writings as in my Writings to beware of any thing that to my Understanding might minister just Occasion of Stumbling or Offcence to the least of my Brethren or the youngest and weakest Babe in the Truth as such as are Conversant with me iâ— my own Country as well as those elsewhere where I have
as is hoped solidly Refuted THESES THEOLOGICAE year 1675 To the CLERGY of what Sort soever unto whose hands these may come but more particularly to the Doctors Professors and Students of Divinity in the Vniversities and Schools of Great Britain whether Prelatical Presbyterian or any other Robert Barclay a Servant of the Lord God and one of those who in Derision are called Quakers Wisheth Vnfeigned Repentance unto the Acknowledgment of the Truth FRIENDS UNto You these following PROPOSITIONS are Offered in which they being Read and Considered in the Fear of the Lord you may perceive that Simple Naked Truth which Man by his Wisdom hath rendred so Obscure and Mysterious that the World is even Burthened with the great and Voluminous Tractates which are made about it and by their Vain Jangling and Commentaries by which it is rendred a hundred fold more Dark and Intricate than of it self it is which Great Learning so accounted of to wit your School Divinity which taketh up almost a Man's whole Life-time to learn brings not a-whit nearer to God neither makes any Man less Wicked or more Righteous than he was Therefore hath God laid aside the Wise and Learned and the Disputers of this World and hath chosen a few despicable and Unlearned Instruments as to Letter-learning as he did Fisher-men of old to publish his pure and naked Truth and to free it of these Mists and Fogs wherewith the Clergy hath Clouded it that the People might Admire and Maintain them And among several others whom God hath Chosen to make known these things seeing also have Received in Measure Grace to be a Dispenser of the same Gospel it seemed good unto me according to my Duty to Offer unto You these Propositions which though short yet are Weighty Comprehending much and declaring what the true Ground of Knowledge is even of that Knowledge which leads to Life Eternal which is here witnessed of and the Testimony thereof left unto the Light of Christ in all your Consciences Farewel R. B. The First Proposition Concerning the true Foundation of Knowledge SEeing the Height of all Happiness is placed in the true Knowledge of God This is Life Eternal to know the true God and Jesus Christ John 17.3 whom thou hast sent the true and right Understanding of this Foundation and Ground of Knowledge is that which is most necessary to be known and believed in the first place The Second Proposition Concerning Immediate Revelation Seeing no Man knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son Revealeth him Matth. 11.27 and seeing the Revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit therefore the Testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true Knowledge of God hath been is and can be only Revealed Who as by the moving of his own Spirit Converted the Chaos of this World into that Wonderful Order wherein it was in the beginning and Created Man a living Soul to Rule and Govern it so by the Revelation of the same Spirit he hath Manifested himself all along unto the Sons of Men both Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles Which Revelations of God by the Spirit whether by outward Voices and Appearances Dreams or inward Objective Manifestations in the Heart were of old the formal Object of their Faith and remaineth yet so to be since the Object of the Saints Faith is the same in all Ages though set forth under divers Administrations Moreover these Divine Inward Revelations which we make absolutely Necessary for the building up of true Faith neither do nor can ever Contradict the outward Testimony of the Scriptures or right and sound Reason Yet from hence it will not follow that these Divine Revelations are to be subjected to the Examination either of the outward Testimony of the Scriptures or of the Natural Reason of Man as to a more noble or certain Rule and Touch-stone For this Divine Revelation and inward Illumination is that which is evident and clear of it self forcing by its own Evidence and Clearness the well-disposed Understanding to Assent irresistibly moving the same thereunto even as the Common Principles of Natural Truths move and incline the mind to a Natural Assent such as are these That the Whole is greater than the Part That two Contradictory Sayings cannot be both true or false Which is also manifest according to our Adversaries Principle who supposing the possibility of inward Divine Revelations will nevertheless Confess with us that neither Scripture nor sound Reason will Contradict it and yet it will not follow according to them that the Scripture or sound Reason should be subjected to the Examination of the Divine Revelations in the heart The Third Proposition Concerning the Scriptures From these Revelations of the Spirit of God to the Saints have proceeded the Scriptures of Truth which contain 1. A faithful Historical Account of the Actings of God's People in divers Ages with many singular and remarkable Providences attending them 2. A Prophetical Account of several things whereof some are already past and some yet to come 3. A full and ample Account of all the chief Principles of the Doctrine of Christ held forth in divers pretious Declarations Exhortations and Sentences which by the moving of God's Spirit were at several times and upon sundry occasions spoken and written unto some Churches and their Pastors Nevertheless because they are only a Declaration of the Fountain and not the Fountain it self therefore they are not to be esteemed the principal Ground of all Truth and Knowledge nor yet the Adequate Primary Rule of Faith and Manners Nevertheless as that which giveth a true and faithful Testimony of the first Foundation they are and may be esteemed a secondary Rule subordinate to the Spirit from which they have all their Excellency and Certainty For as by the Inward Testimony of the Spirit we do alone truly know them so they testify that the Spirit is that Guide John 16.13 Rom. 8.14 by which the Saints are led into all Truth Therefore according to the Scriptures the Spirit is the first and principal Leader And seeing we do therefore receive and believe the Scriptures because they proceeded from the Spirit therefore also the Spirit is more originally and principally the Rule according to that received Maxim in the Schools Propter quod unumquodque est tale illud ipsum est magis tale Englished thus That for which a thing is such that thing it self is more such The Fourth Proposition Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall All Adam's Posterity or Mankind both Jews and Gentiles Rom. 5.12 15. as to the first Adam or Earthly Man is fallen degenerated and dead deprived of the sensation or feeling of this inward Testimony or Seed of God and is subject unto the Power Nature and Seed of the Serpent which he sows in mens hearts while they abide in this Natural and Corrupted State from whence it comes that not their words and deeds only but all their
Imaginations are evil perpetually in the sight of God as proceeding from this depraved and wicked Seed Man therefore as he is in this State can know nothing aright yea his Thoughts and Conceptions concerning God and things spiritual until he be dis-joined from this Evil Seed and united to the Divine Light are unprofitable both to himself and others Hence are rejected the Socinian and Pelagian Errors in exalting a Natural Light as also the Papists and most of Protestants who affirm Eph 2.1 That Man without the true Grace of God may be a true Minister of the Gospel Nevertheless this Seed is not imputed to Infants until by Transgression they actually join themselves therewith for they are by Nature the Children of Wrath who walk according to the Power of the Prince of the Air. The Fifth and Sixth Propositions Concerning the Universal Redemption by Christ and also the Saving and Spiritual Light wherewith every Man is enlightened The Fifth Proposition Ezek. 18.23 Isai 49.6 John 3.16 and 1 9. T it 2.11 Eph. 5 13. Hebr. 2 9. God out of his Infinite Love who delighteth not in the death of a Sinner but that all should live and be saved hath so loved the World that he hath given his Only Son a Light that whosoever believeth in him should be saved Who enlighteneth every Man that cometh into the World and maketh manifest all things that are reproveable and teacheth all Temperance Righteousness and Godliness And this Light enlighteneth the Hearts of all in a Day in order to Salvation if not Resisted Nor is it lessVniversal than the Seed of Sin being the purchase of his Death 1 Cor. 15.22 who tasted death for every Man For as in Adam all die even so in Christ all shall be made alive The Sixth Proposition According to which Principle or Hypothesis all the Objections against the Vniversality of Christ's Death are easily solved Neither is it needful to recur to the Ministry of Angels and those other Miraculous Means which they say God makes use of to manifest the Doctrine and History of Christ's Passion unto such who living in those places of the World where the outward preaching of the Gospel is unknown have well improved the first and Common Grace For hence it well follows that as some of the Old Philosophers might have been Saved so also may now some who by Providence are cast into those Remote parts of the World where the Knowledge of the History is wanting be made partakers of the Divine Mystery if they receive and resist not that Grace 1 Cor. 12.7 A manifestation whereof is given to every Man to profit withal This certain Doctrine then being received to wit that there is an Evangelical and Saving Light and Grace in all the Vniversality of the Love and Mercy of God towards Mankind both in the Death of his beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ and in the manifestation of the Light in the heart is established and confirmed against all the Objections of such as deny it Therefore Christ hath tasted death for every Man Hebr. 2 9. not only for all kinds of Men as some vainly talk but for every one of all kinds the Benefit of whose Offering is not only extended to such who have the distinct outward Knowledge of his Death and Suffering as the same is declared in the Scriptures but even unto those who are necessarily excluded from the Benefit of this Knowledge by some inevitable accident Which Knowledge we willingly Confess to be very Profitable and Comfortable but not absolutely Needful unto such from whom God himself hath with-held it yet they may be made partakers of the Mystery of his Death though ignorant of the History if they suffer his Seed and Light enlightning their hearts to take place in which Light Communion with the Father and the Son is enjoied so as of wicked men to become holy and lovers of that Power by whose inward and secret Touches they feel themselves turned from the Evil to the Good and learn To do to others as they would be done by in which Christ himself affirms all to be included As they have then falsly and erroneously taught who have denied Christ to have died for all men so neither have they sufficiently taught the Truth who affirming him to have died for all have added the absolute necessity of the outward Knowledge thereof in order to the obtaining its saving Effect Among whom the Remonstrants of Holland have been chiefly wanting and many other Asserters of Vniversal Redemption in that they have not placed the Extent of this Salvation in that Divine and Evangelical Principle of Light and Life wherewith Christ hath enlightned every one that comes into the World which is excellently and evidently held forth in these Scriptures Gen. 6.3 Deut. 30.14 John 1.7 8 9. Rom. 10.8 Tit. 2.11 The Seventh Proposition Concerning Justification As many as resist not this Light but receive the same in them is produced a holy pure and spiritual Birth bringing forth Holiness Righteousness Purity and all these other blessed Fruits which are acceptable to God by which holy Birth to wit Jesus Christ formed within us and working his work in us as we are Sanctified so are we Justified in the Sight of God according to the Apostle's words But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God Therefore it is not by our Works wrought in our Will nor yet by good Works considered as of themselves but by Christ who is both the Gift and the Giver and the Cause producing the Effects in us who as he hath Reconciled us while we were Enemies doth also in his Wisdom save us and justify us after this manner as saith the same Apostle elsewhere According to his Mercy he hath saved us by the washing of Regeneration Titus 3.5 and the renewing of the Holy Ghost The Eighth Proposition Concerning Perfection In whom this holy and pure Birth is fully brought forth Rom. 6.14 Id. 8.13 Id. 6.2 18. 1 John 3.6 the body of Death and Sin comes to be Crucified and removed and their hearts united and subjected unto the Truth so as not to obey any Suggestion or Temptation of the Evil one but to be Free from actual Sinning and Transgressing of the Law of God and in that respect Perfect Yet doth this Perfection still admit of a Growth there remaineth a possibility of sinning where the Mind doth not most diligently and watchfully attend unto the Lord. The Ninth Proposition Concerning Perseverance and the possibility of Falling from Grace Although this Gift and inward Grace of God be sufficient to work out Salvation yet in those in whom it is Resisted it both may and doth become their Condemnation Moreover in whom it hath wrought in part to purify and sanctify them in order to their further Perfection 1 Tim. 1.6 Hebr. 6.4 5 6. by disobedience such may fall
Inspires power against Death and shews himself unto every one 6. Gregory the Great upon these words He shall teach you all things saith That unless the same Spirit sit upon the heart of the Hearer Greg. Mag. Hom. 30. upon the Gospel in vain is the Discourse of the Doctor Let no man then ascribe unto the man that teacheth what he understands from the mouth of him that speaketh for unless he that teacheth be within the Tongue of the Doctor that 's without laboureth in vain 7. Cyrillus Alexandrinus plainly Affirmeth That men know Cyril Alex. In Thesauro Lib. 13. Cap. 3 that Jesus is the Lord by the Holy Ghost no otherwise than they who taste Honey know that it is sweet even by its proper Quality 8. Therefore saith Bernard we daily exhort you Brethren by speech Bernard in Psal. 84. that ye walk the ways of the heart and that your Soul be always in your hands that ye may hear what the Lord saith in you And again upon these words of the Apostle Let him that glorieth glory in the Lord with which Threefold Vice saith he all sorts of Religious men are less or more dangerously affected because they do not so diligently Attend with the Ears of the Heart to what the Spirit of Truth which flatters none inwardly speaks This was the very Basis and main Foundation upon which the Primitive Reformers walked Luther in his Book to the Nobility of Germany saith This is certain Lutherus that no man can make himself a Doctor of the holy Scripture but the holy Spirit alone And upon the Magnificat he saith No man can rightly understand God or the Word of God unless he immediately receive it from the Holy Spirit neither can any one Receive it from the Holy Spirit except he find it by Experience in himself and in this Experience the Holy Ghost teacheth as in his proper School out of which School nothing is taught but meer Talk Philip Melanchthon in his Annotations upon John 6. Who hear only an outward and bodily Voice Phil. Melanchthon hear the Creature but God is a Spirit and is neither discerned By the Spirit alone God is known nor known nor heard but by the Spirit and therefore to hear the Voice of God to see God is to know and hear the Spirit By the Spirit alone God is known and perceived Which also the more Serious to this day do acknowledge even all such who satisfy themselves not with the Superfice of Religion and use it not as a Cover or Art Yea all those who apply themselves effectually to Christianity and are not satisfied until they have found its Effectual Work upon their hearts redeeming them from sin do feel that no knowledge effectually prevails to the producing of this but that which proceeds from the warm Influence of God's Spirit upon the heart and from the comfortable shinings of his Light upon their Vnderstanding And therefore to this purpose a late Modern Author saith well videlicet Dr. Smith of Cambridge concerning Book-Divinity Dr. Smith of Cambridge in his Select Discourses To seek our Divinity meerly in Books and Writings is to seek the Living among the Dead We do but in vain many times seek God in these where his Truth is too often not so much Enshrined as Entombed Intra te quaere Deum Seek God within thine own Soul he is best discerned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Plotinus phraseth it by an Intellectual Touch of him We must see with our Eyes and hear with our Eears and our hands must handle the Word of Life to express it in S. John 's words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The Soul it self hath its Sense as well as the Body And therefore David when he would teach us to know what the Divine Goodness is calls not for Speculation but Sensation Taste and see how good the Lord is That is not the best and truest Knowledge of God which is wrought out by the labour and sweat of the brain but that which is kindled within us by an heavenly Warmth in our hearts And again There is a knowing of the Truth as it is in Jesus as it is in a Christ-like nature as it is in that sweet mild humble and loving Spirit of Jesus which spreads it self like a Morning-star upon the Spirits of good men full of Light and Life It profits little to know Christ himself after the flesh but he gives his Spirit to good men that searcheth the deep things of God And again It is but thin airy Knowledge that is got by meer Speculation which is usher'd in by Syllogisms and Demonstrations but that which springs forth from true Goodness is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Origen speaketh It brings such a Divine Light to the Soul as is more clear and convincing than any Demonstration § III. That this certain and undoubted Method of the true Knowledge of God hath been brought out of Use hath been none of the least Devices of the Devil to secure Mankind to his Kingdom Apostacy and a false Knowledge Introduced For after the Light and Glory of the Christian Religion had prevailed over a good part of the World and dispelled the thick Mists of the Heathenish Doctrine of the plurality of Gods he that knew there was no probability of deluding the World any longer that way did then puff man up with a false Knowledge of the true God setting him on work to seek God the wrong Way and perswading him to be content with such a Knowledge as was of his own Acquiring and not of God's Teaching And this Device hath proved the more successful because accommodated to the Natural and Corrupt spirit and temper of man who above all things affects to Exalt himself In which Self-Exaltation as God is most greatly dishonoured so therein the Devil hath his end who is not anxious how much God be acknowledged in Words provided himself be but always served he matters not how great and high Speculations the Natural man Entertains of God so long as he serves his Lusts and Passions and is obedient to his Evil Suggestions and Temptations â—â—ristianity is become an Art acquired by human Science and Industry Thus Christianity is become an Art Acquired by Human Science and Industry as any other Art or Science is and men have not only assumed unto themselves the Name of Christians but even have procured to be esteemed as Masters of Christianity by certain Artificial Tricks though altogether Strangers to the Spirit and Life of Jesus But if we shall make a right Definition of a Christian according to the Scripture videlicet That he is one that hath the Spirit of Christ and is led by it How many Christians yea and of these great Masters and Doctors of Christianity so accounted shall we justly Divest of that Noble Title If then such as have all the other Means of Knowledge and are sufficiently Learned therein whether it be
the Letter of the Scripture the Traditions of Churches the Works of Creation and Providence whence they are able to Deduce strong and undeniable Arguments which may be true in themselves are yet not to be Esteemed Christians according to the certain and infallible Definition above-mentioned And if the Inward and Immediate Revelation of God's Spirit in the heart in such as have been altogether Ignorant of some and but very little skill'd in others of these Means of attaining Knowledge hath brought them to Salvation Then it will necessarily and evidently follow By Revelation is the true Knowledge of God that Inward and Immediate Revelation is the only sure and certain Way to attain the true and saving Knowledge of God But the First is true Therefore the Last Now as this Argument doth very strongly Conclude for this way of Knowledge and against such as deny it so herein it is the more considerable because the Propositions from which it is Deduced are so Clear that our very Adversaries cannot deny them For as to the first it is acknowledged that many Learned men may be and have been damned And as to the second who will deny but many Illiterate men may be and are saved Nor dare any Affirm that none come to the Knowledge of God and Salvation by the Inward Revelation of the Spirit without these other outward Means unless they be also so bold as to exclude Abel Seth Noah Abraham Job Abel Seth Noah c. Instanced and all the holy Patriarchs from true Knowledge and Salvation § IV. I would however not be understood as if hereby I excluded those other means of Knowledge from any use or service to man it is far from me so to Judge as in the Next Proposition concerning the Scriptures shall more plainly appear The Question is not What may be profitable or helpful but What is absolute Necessary Many things may contribute to further a Work which yet are not that main thing that makes the Work go on The sum then of what is said amounts to this that where the true inward Knowledge of God is through the Revelation of his Spirit there is all neither is there any absolute necessity of any other But where the best highest and most profound Knowledge is without this there is nothing as to the obtaining of the great End of Salvation This Truth is very effectually Confirmed by the first part of the Proposition it self which in few words comprehendeth divers unquestionable Arguments which I shall in brief Subsume First That there is no Knowledge of the Father but by the Son Secondly That there is no Knowledge of the Son but by the Spirit Thirdly That by the Spirit God hath always Revealed himself to his Children Fourthly That these Revelations were the formal Object of the Saints Faith And lastly That the same continueth to be the Object of the Saints Faith to this day Of each of these I shall speak a little particularly and then proceed to the latter part § V. As to the first viz. That there is no knowledg of the Father but Assert I by the Son It will not need much probation being founded upon the plain words of Scripture Proved and is therefore a fit Medium to draw the rest of our Assertions from For the Infinite and most Wise God who is the Foundation Root and Spring of all Operation hath wrought all things by his Eternal Word and Son This is that WORD that was in the beginning with God and was God John 1.1 2 3. by whom all things were made and without whom was not any thing made that was made Eph. 3.9 This is that Jesus Christ by whom God created all things by whom and for whom all things were created that are in heaven and in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalitys or powers Col. 1.16 Who therefore is called The First-born of every Creature Col. 1.15 As then that Infinite and Incomprehensible Fountain of Life and Motion operateth in the Creatures by his own Eternal Word and Power so no Creature has Access again unto him but in and by the Son according to his own express words No man knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will Reveal him Matth. 11.27 Luk. 10.22 And again he himself saith I am the Way the Truth and the Life no man cometh unto the Father but by me Joh. 14.6 Hence he is fitly called The Mediator betwixt God and Man For having been with God from all Eternity being himself God and also in Time partaking of the Nature of man through him is the goodness and love of God conveyed to mankind and by him again man receiveth and partaketh of these Mercies Hence is easily deduced the Probation of this first Assertion thus If no man knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will Reveal him then there is no Knowledge of the Father but by the Son But No man knoweth the Father but the Son Therefore There is no knowledge of the Father but by the Son The first part of the Antecedent are the plain words of Scripture The Consequence thereof is undeniable except one would say that he hath the knowledge of the Father while yet he knows him not which were an Absurd Repugnance Again If the Son be the Way the Truth and the Life and that no man cometh unto the Father but by him then there is no Knowledge of the Father but by the Son But the First is true Therefore the Last The Antecedent are the very Scripture-words The Consequence is very Evident For how can any know a thing who useth not the Way without which it is not Knowable But it is already proved that there is no other Way but by the Son so that whoso uses not that Way cannot Know him neither Come unto him § VI. Having then laid down this First Principle I come to the Second viz. That there is no Knowledge of the Son but by the Spirit or Assert II that the Revelation of the Son of God is by the Spirit Where it is to be noted that I always speak of the saving Proved certain and necessary Knowledge of God which that it cannot be acquired otherways than by the Spirit doth also appear from many clear Scriptures For Jesus Christ in and by whom the Father is Revealed doth also Reveal himself to his Disciples and Friends in and by his Spirit as his Manifestation was sometimes outward when he testified and witnessed for the Truth in this World and approved himself Faithful throughout So being now withdrawn as to the outward man he doth teach and instruct mankind inwardly by his own Spirit He standeth at the door and knocketh and whoso heareth his Voice and openeth he comes in to such Rev. 3.20 Of this Revelation of Christ in him Paul speaketh Gal. 1.16 in which he placeth the Excellency of his Ministry and the Certainty of his Calling And
Seditious Multitude of the Lutheran Citizens being stirred up by the daily Clamours of their Preachers did not only violently take up the Houses of the Reformed Teachers overturn their Libraries and spoil their Furniture but also with reproachful words yea and with stones Assaulted the Marquess of Brandenburgh the Elector's Brother while he sought by smooth words to quiet the Fury of the Multitude they killed ten of his Guards scarcely sparing himself who at last by Flight Escaped out of their hands All which sufficiently declares that the Concurrence of the Magistrate doth not alter their Principles but only their Method of Procedure So that for my own part I see no Difference betwixt the Actings of those of Munster and these others whereof the one pretended to be led by the Spirit the other by Tradition Scripture and Reason save this that the former were rash heady and foolish in their proceedings and therefore were the sooner brought to nothing and so into Contempt and Derision but the other being more politick and wise in their generation held it out longer and so have Authorized their Wickedness more with seeming Authority of Law and Reason But both their Actings being equally Evil the Difference appears to me to be only like that which is betwixt a simple silly Thief that is easily Catched and hanged without any more ado and a Company of Resolute bold Robbers who being better guarded though their Offence be nothing less yet by violence do to evite the danger force their Masters to give them good Terms From all which then it evidently follows that they Argue very ill that despise and reject any Principle because men pretending to be led by it do evil in case it be not the natural and consequential Tendency of that Principle to lead unto those things that are evil Again It doth follow from what is above asserted that if the Spirit be to be Rejected upon this account all those other Principles ought on the same account to be Rejected And for my part as I have never a whit the lower Esteem of the blessed Testimony of the Holy Scriptures nor do the less respect any solid Tradition that is answerable and according to Truth neither at all despise Reason that noble and excellent Faculty of the mind Let none reject the Certainty of the Vnerring Spirit because of false Pretenders to it because wicked men have abused the name of them to cover their wickedness and deceive the simple so would I not have any reject or diffide the Certainty of that Vnerring Spirit which God hath given his Children as that which can alone guide them into all Truth because some have falsly pretended to it § XV. And because the Spirit of God is the Fountain of all Truth and sound Reason therefore we have well said That it cannot Contradict neither the Testimony of the Scripture nor right Reason yet as the Proposition it self Concludeth to whose last part I now come it will not from thence follow that these Divine Revelations are to be subjected to the Examination either of the outward Testimony of Scripture or of the humane or natural Reason of man as to a more noble and certain Rule and Touch-stone for the Divine Revelation and inward Illumination is that which is evident by it self forcing the well-disposed understanding and irresistibly moving it to Assent by its own Evidence and Clearness even as the Common Principles of Natural Truths do bow the mind to a Natural Assent He that denies this part of the Proposition must needs Affirm That the Spirit of God neither can nor ever hath manifested it self to man without the Scripture or a distinct discussion of Reason or That the Efficacy of this Supernatural Principle working upon the Souls of men is less Evident than natural Principles in their common Operations Both which are false For First through all the Scriptures we may observe that the Manifestation and Revelation of God by his Spirit to the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles was Immediate and Objective as is above proved which they did not examin by any other Principle but their own Evidence and Clearness Secondly To say The Self Evidence of the Spirit that the Spirit of God has less Evidence upon the mind of man than natural Principles have is to have too mean and low thoughts of it How comes David to invite us to Taste and see that God is good if this cannot be felt and tasted This were enough to overturn the Faith and Assurance of all the Saints both now and of old How came Paul to be perswaded That nothing could separate him from the love of God but by that Evidence and Clearness which the Spirit of God gave him The Apostle John who knew well wherein the Certainty of Faith Consisted judged it no ways Absurd without further Argument to Ascribe his Knowledge and Assurance and that of all the Saints hereunto in these words Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit 1 Joh. 4.13 and again John 5.6 It 's the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is Truth Observe the Reason brought by him Because the Spirit is Truth Of whose Certainty and Infallibility I have heretofore spoken We then Trust to and Confide in this Spirit because we know and certainly believe that it can only Lead us a-right and never Mis-lead us and from this Certain Confidence it is that we Affirm The Spirit contradicts not Scripture nor Right Reason That no Revelation coming from it can ever Contradict the Scriptures-Testimony nor right Reason not as making this a more Certain Rule to our selves but as Condescending to such who not discerning the Revelations of the Spirit as they proceed purely from God will Try them by these Mediums yet those that have the Spiritual Senses and can savour the things of the Spirit as it were in primâ Instantiâ i. e. at the first blush can discern them without Natural Demonstrations from Astronomy and Geometry or before they Apply them either to Scripture or Reason Just as a good Astronomer can Calculate an Eclipse Infallibly by which he can Conclude if the Order of Nature Continue and some strange and Vnnatural Revolution Intervene not there will be an Eclipse of the Sun or Moon such a day and such an hour yet can he not perswade an Ignorant Rustick of this until he Visibly see it So also a Mathematician can Infallibly know by the Rules of Art that the Three Angles of a Right-angled Triangle are Equal to Two Right-Angles yea can know them more certainly than any man by measure And some Geometrical Demonstrations are by all acknowledged to be Infallible which can be scarcely discerned or proved by the Senses Yet if a Geometer be at the pains to Certify some Ignorant Man concerning the Certainty of this Art by condescending to measure it and make it obvious to his Senses it will not thence
follow that that Measuring is so Certain as the Demonstration it self or that the Demonstration would be Vncertain without it § XVI But to make an end I shall add one Argument to prove That this Inward Immediate Objective Revelation which we have pleaded for all along is the only sure certain and unmoveable Foundation of all Christian Faith which Argument when well weighed I hope will have weight with all sorts of Christians and it is this That which all Professors of Christianity of whatsoever kind are forced ultimately to recur unto Immediate Revelation of all Christian Faith the Immoveable Foundation when pressed to the last That for and because of which all other Foundations are Recommended and Accounted worthy to be believed and without which they are granted to be of no weight at all must needs be the only most true certain and unmoveable Foundation of all Christian Faith But Inward Immediate Objective Revelation by the Spirit is that which all Professors of Christianity of whatsoever kind are forced ultimately to recur unto c. Therefore c. The Proposition is so Evident that it will not be denied The Assumption shall be proved by parts Papists Foundation their Church and Tradition Why And first As to the Papists They place their Foundation in the Judgment of the Church and Tradition If we press them to say Why they believe as the Church doth Their Answer is Because the Church is always led by the Infallible Spirit So here the Leading of the Spirit is the utmost Foundation Again If we ask them Why we ought to trust Tradition They Answer Because those Traditions were delivered us by the Doctors and Fathers of the Church which Doctors and Fathers by the Revelation of the Holy Ghost Commanded the Church to observe them Here again all lands in the Revelation of the Spirit And for the Protestants and Socinians both which acknowledge the Scriptures to be the Foundation and Rule of their Faith Protestants and Socinians make the Scriptures their Ground and Foundation Why the one as subjectively influenced by the Spirit of God to use them the other as managing them with and by their own Reason Ask both or either of them Why they trust the Scriptures and take them to be their Rule Their Answer is Because we have in them the Mind of God delivered unto us by those to whom these things were inwardly immediately and objectively Revealed by the Spirit of God And not because this or that man wrote them but because the Spirit of God dictated them Christians by Name and not by Nature hold Revelations ceased contrary to Scripture It is strange then that men should render that so Vncertain and Dangerous to follow upon which alone the Certain Ground and Foundation of their own Faith is built Or that they should shut themselves out from that holy fellowship with God which only is enjoyed in the Spirit in which we are commanded both to walk and live If any reading these things find themselves moved by the strength of these Scripture-Arguments to Assent and Believe such Revelations necessary and yet find themselves Strangers to them which as I observed in the beginning is the Cause that this is so much gainsaid and contradicted Let them know that it is not because it is Ceased to become the Priviledge of every Christian that they do not feel it but rather because they are not so much Christians by Nature as by Name And let such know that the Secret Light which shines in the heart and reproves Vnrighteousness is the small beginnings of the Revelations of God's Spirit which was first sent into the World to Reprove it of sin Joh 16.8 And as by forsaking Iniquity thou com'st to be acquainted with that Heavenly Voice in thy heart thou shalt feel as the Old Man the Natural Man that savoureth not the things of God's Kingdom is put off with his evil and corrupt Affections and Lusts I say thou shalt feel the New Man the Spiritual Birth and Babe Raised which hath its Spiritual Senses and can Prop. 3 see feel taste handle and smell the things of the Spirit but till then the Knowledge of things Spiritual is but as an Historical Faith Who wants his Sight sees not the Light But as the Description of the Light of the Sun or of curious Colours to a blind Man who though of the largest Capacity cannot so well understand it by the most acute and lively Description as a Child can by Seeing them So neither can the Natural man of the largest Capacity by the best words even Scripture words so well understand the Mysteries of God's Kingdom as the least and weakest Child who tasteth them by having them Revealed inwardly and objectively by the Spirit Wait then for this in the small Revelation of that pure Light which first Reveals things more known and as thou becom'st fitted for it thou shalt Receive more and more and by a living Experience easily Refute their Ignorance who ask How dost thou know that thou art acted by the Spirit of God which will appear to thee a Question no less Riculous than to ask one whose Eyes are open How he knows the Sun shines at Noon-day And though this be the surest and certainest way to answer all Objections yet by what is above-written it may appear that the mouths of all such Opposers as deny this Doctrine may be shut by Vnquestionable and Vnanswerable Reasons PROPOSITION III. Concerning the Scriptures From these Revelations of the Spirit of God to the Saints have proceeded the SCRIPTURES of TRUTH which contain I. A faithful Historical Account of the Actings of God's People in divers Ages with many singular and remarkable Providences attending them II. A Prophetical Account of several things whereof some are already past and some yet to come III. A full and Ample Account of all the Chief Principles of the Doctrine of Christ held forth in divers pretious Declarations Exhortations and Sentences which by the Moving of God's Spirit were at several Times and upon sundry Occasions spoken and written unto some Churches and their Pastors Nevertheless because they are only a Declaration of the Fountain and not the Fountain it self therefore they are not to be Esteemed the Principal Ground of all Truth and Knowledge nor yet the Adequate Primary Rule of Faith and Manners Yet because they give a true and faithful Testimony of the first Foundation they are and may be esteemed a Secondary Rule Subordinate to the Spirit from which they have all their Excellency and Certainty For as by the Inward Testimony of the Spirit we do alone truly know them so they Testify that the Spirit is that Guide John 16.13 Rom. 8.14 by which the Saints are led into all Truth Therefore according to the Scriptures the Spirit is the First and Principal Leader Seeing then that we do therefore receive and believe the Scriptures because they proceeded from the Spirit for the very
Authentick that it ought to be Received First If he should say Because it Contradicts not the Rest besides that there is no mention made of it in any of the Rest perhaps these men think it doth Contradict Paul in relation to Faith and Works Whether the Epistle of James be Authentick and how to know it But if that should be granted it would as well follow that Every Writer that Contradicts not the Scripture should be put into the Canon and by this means these men fall into a greater Absurdity than they fix upon us For thus they would Equal every one the Writings of their own Sect with the Scriptures for I suppose they judge their own Confession of Faith doth not Contradict the Scriptures Will it therefore follow that it should be bound up with the Bible And yet it seems impossible according to their Principles to bring any better Aagument to prove the Epistle of James to be Authentick There is then this Vnavoidable Necessity to say We know it by the same Spirit from which it was written or otherwise to step back to Rome and say We know by Tradition that the Church hath declared it to be Canonical and the Church is Infallible Let them find a Mids if they can So that out of this Objection we shall draw an Vnanswerable Argument ad hominem to our purpose That which cannot Assure me concerning an Article of Faith necessary to be believed is not the Primary Adequate Only Rule of Faith But The Scripture cannot thus Assure me Therefore c. I prove the Assumption thus That which cannot Assure me concerning the Canon of the Scripture to wit that such Books are only to be Admitted and the Apocrypha to be Excluded Cannot Assure me of this Therefore c And lastly As to these words Rev. 22.18 that If any man shall add Object 3 unto these things God shall add unto him the Plagues that are written in this Book I desire they will shew me Answ. how it relates to any thing else than to that Particular Prophecy It saith not Now the Canon of the Scripture is filled up no man is to write more from that Spirit Yea do not all Confess What it means to Add to the Scriptures that there have been Prophecies and true Prophets since The Papists deny it not And do not the Protestants affirm that John Huss prophesied of the Reformation Was he therefore Cursed or did he therein Evil I could give many other Examples Confessed by themselves But moreover the same was in Effect Commanded long before Prov. 30.6 Add thou not unto his words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a liar Yet how many Books of the Prophets were written after And the same was said by Moses Deut. 4.2 Ye shall not Add unto the Word which I command you neither shall ye Diminish ought from it So that though we should extend that of the Revelations beyond the particular Prophecy of that Book it cannot be understood but of a New Gospel or New Doctrines or of Restraining Prop. 4 man's Spirit that he mix not his Humane Words with the Divine and not of a New Revelation of the Old as we have said before PROPOSITION IV. Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall All Adam's Posterity or Mankind both Jews and Gentiles as to the first Adam or Earthly Man is fallen degenerated and dead deprived of the sensation or feeling of this Inward Testimony Rom. 5.12 15. or Seed of God and is subject unto the Power Nature and Seed of the Serpent which he soweth in mens hearts while they abide in this Natural and Corrupted Estate from whence it comes that not only their Words and Deeds but all their Imaginations are Evil perpetually in the sight of God as proceeding from this depraved and wicked Seed Man therefore as he is in this State can know nothing aright yea his Thoughts and Conceptions concerning God and things Spiritual until he be dis-joined from this Evil Seed and united to the Divine Light are Unprofitable both to himself and others Hence are Rejected the Socinian and Pelagian Errors in the Exalting a Natural Light as also the Papists and most of Protestants who Affirm That man without the true Grace of God may be a True Minister of the Gospel Nevertheless this Seed is not imputed to Infants until by Transgression they actually join themselves therewith for they are by Nature the Children of Wrath who walk according to the Power of the Prince of the Air Ephes. 2. and the Spirit that now worketh in the Children of Disobedience having their Conversation in the Lusts of the Flesh fulfilling the desires of the Flesh and of the Mind § I. HItherto we have Discoursed how the True Knowledge of God is Attained and Preserved also of what Vse and Service the Holy Scripture is to the Saints We come now to Examine The State and Condition of Man as he stands in the Fall what his Capacity and Power is and how far he is able as of himself to Advance in relation to the things of God Of this we touch'd a little in the beginning of the Second Proposition but the full right and through Understanding of it is of great Vse and Service because from the Ignorance and Altercations that have been about it there have arisen great and dangerous Errors both on the one hand and the other While some do so far Exalt the Light of Nature or the Faculty of the Natural man as Capable of himself by vertue of the Inward Will Faculty Light or Power that pertains to his Nature to follow that which is good and make real progress towards Heaven And of these are the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians of old and of late the Socinians and divers others among the Papists Others again will needs run into another Extream to whom Augustine among the Ancients first made way in his Declining Age Augustine 's Zeal against Pelagius through the heat of his zeal against Pelagius not only Confessing men Vncapable of themselves to do good and prone to evil but that in his very Mother's Womb and before he Commits any Actual Transgression he is Contaminate with a Real Guilt whereby he deserves Eternal Death in which respect they are not afraid to Affirm That many poor Infants are Eternally Damned and for ever endure the Torments of Hell Therefore the God of Truth having now again Revealed his Truth that good and even Way by his own Spirit hath taught us to avoid both these Extreams That then which our Proposition leads to Treat of is Part I First What the Condition of Man is in the Fall and how far Vncapable to meddle in the Things of God And Secondly That God doth not impute this Evil to Infants until Part II they Actually join with it That so by Establishing the Truth we may overturn the Errors on both parts And as for that Third thing Included in the Proposition it self concerning Part III
not neither can be understood of Man's Answ. 1 own Nature which is Corrupt and Fall'n but of that Spiritual Nature which proceedeth from the Seed of God in man as it receiveth a new Visitation of God's Love and is quickened by it By what Nature the Gentiles did do the things of the Law which clearly appears by the following words where he saith These not having a Law i. e. outwardly are a Law unto themselves which shews the Work of the Law written in their hearts These Acts of theirs then are an Effect of the Law written in their hearts but the Scripture declareth that the Writing of the Law in the heart is a part yea and a great part too of the New Covenant-Dispensation and so no Consequence nor part of man's Nature Secondly If this Nature here spoken of could be understood of man's own Nature which he hath as he is a Man then would the Apostle Answ. 2 unavoidably Contradict himself since he elsewhere positively declares That the Natural Man discerneth not the things of God nor can Now I hope the Law of God is among the Things of God especially The Natural Man discerneth not c. as it 's written in the heart The Apostle in Chap. 7. of the same Epistle saith vers 12. That the Law is holy just and good and vers 14. That the Law is Spiritual but he is Carnal Now in what respect is he Carnal be as he stands in the Fall Vnregenerate Now what Inconsistency would here be to say that he is Carnal and yet not so of his own Nature seeing it is from his Nature that he is so denominated We see the Apostle Contra-distinguisheth the Law as Spiritual from Man's Nature as Carnal and Sinful Wherefore as Christ saith There can no Grapes be expected from Thistles nor Figs of Thorns Matth. 7 16. so neither can the fulfilling of the Law which is spiritual holy and just be expected from that Nature which is Corrupt Fall'n and Vnregenerate Whence we Conclude with good Reason that the Nature here spoken of by which the Gentiles are said to have done the Things contained in the Law is not the Common Nature of men but that Spiritual Nature The Gentiles Spiritual Nature in doing the Law that ariseth from the Works of the Righteous and Spiritual Law that 's written in the heart I confess they of the other Extream when they are pressed with this Testimony by the Socinians and Pelagians as well as by us when we use this Scripture to shew them how some of the Heathens by the Light of Christ in their heart come to be saved are very far to seek giving this Answer That there were some Relicks of the Heavenly Image left in Adam by which the Heathens could do some good things Which as it is in it self without proof so it Contradicts their own Assertions elsewhere and gives away their Cause For if these Relicks were of force to enable them to fulfil the righteous Law of God it takes away the necessity of Christ's Coming or at least leaves them a Way to be saved without him unless they will say which is worst of all That thô they really fulfilled the righteous Law of God yet God damned them because of the want of that particular Knowledge while he himself withheld all Means of their Coming to him from them But of this hereafter § III. I might also here use another Argument from these words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 2. where he so positively Excludes the Natural Man from an Vnderstanding in the things of God but because I have spoken of that Scripture in the beginning of the Second Proposition I will here avoid to Repeat what is there mentioned Referring thereunto Yet because the * Socinians exalting the Light of the Natural Man Socinians and others who exalt the Light of the Natural Man or a Natural Light in man do Object against this Scripture I shall Remove it e're I make an end Object They say The Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought to be translated Animal and not Natural else say they it would have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From which they seek to infer That it is only the Animal man and not the Rational that is excluded here from the discerning the things of God Which shift without disputing about the Word is easily Refuted neither is it any wise consistent with the Scope of the place For Answ. 1 First The Animal Life is no other than that which man hath Common with other living Creatures for as he is a meer man he differs no otherwise from beasts than by the Rational Property Now the Apostle deduceth his Argument in the foregoing Verses from this Simile The Animal Man is the same with Natural That as the things of a man cannot be known but by the spirit of a man so the things of God no man knoweth but by the Spirit of God But I hope these men will Confess unto me that the Things of a man are not known by the Animal Spirit only i. e. by that which he hath Common with the Beasts but by the Rational so that it must be the Rational that is here understood Again the Subsumption shews clearly that the Apostle had no such Intent as these mens gloss would make him to have viz. So the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God according to their Judgment he should have said The things of God knoweth no man by his Animal spirit but by his Rational spirit for to say The Spirit of God here spoken of is no other than the Rational Spirit of man would border upon Blasphemy since they are so often contra-distinguished Again going on he saith not that they are rationally but spiritually discerned Answ. 2 Secondly The Apostle throughout this Chapter shews how the Wisdom of man is unfit to Judge of the things of God and Ignorant of them Now I ask these men whether a man be called a Wise man from his Animal Property or from his Rational If from his Rational then it is not only the Animal The Rational Man in the Natural State excluded from discerning the things of God but even the Rational as he is yet in the Natural State which the Apostle Excludes here and whom he Contra-distinguisheth from the Spiritual vers 15. But the spiritual man judgeth all things this cannot be said of any man meerly because Rational or as he is a Man seeing the men of greatest Reason if we may so Esteem men whom the Scripture calls Wise as were the Greeks of old not only may be but often are Enemies to the Kingdom of God while both the Preaching of Christ is said to be Foolishness with the Wise men of this World and the Wisdom of this World is said to be Foolishness with God Now whether it be any ways probable that either these Wise men that are said to account the Gospel Foolishness are only so
called with respect to their Animal property and not their Rational or that that Wisdom that is Foolishness with God is not meant of the Rational but only the Animal Property any Rational Man laying aside Interest may easily Judge § IV. I come now to the other part to wit That this Evil and Corrupt Seed is not imputed to Infants until they actually join with it Infants no Sin imputed to them For this there is a Reason given in the End of the Proposition it self drawn from Eph. 2. for these are by nature Children of Wrath who walk according to the Prince of the power of the Air the Spirit that now worketh in the Children of Disobedience Here the Apostle gives Their evil walking and not any thing that is not reduced to Act as a Reason of their being Children of Wrath. And this is sutable to the whole strain of the Gospel where no man is ever threatned or judged for what Iniquity he hath not Actually wrought Such indeed as continue in Iniquity and so do homologate the sins of their Fathers God will visit the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children Is it not strange then that men should entertain an Opinion so Absurd in it self and so cruel and contrary to the Nature as well of God's Mercy as Justice concerning the which the Scripture is altogether silent But it is manifest that man hath Invented this Opinion out of Self-love The Absolute Decree of Election springs from Self-love and from that bitter Root from which all Errors spring for the most part of Protestants that hold this having as they fancy the Absolute Decree of Election to secure them and their Children so as they cannot miss of Salvation they make no great difficulty to send all others both old and young to Hell For whereas Self-love which always is apt to believe that which it desires possesseth them with a Hope that their part is secure they are not solicitous how they leave their Neighbours which are the far greater part of mankind in these Inextricable Difficulties The Papists again use this Opinion as an Art to Augment the Esteem of their Church and Reverence of its Sacraments seeing they pretend it is Washed away by Baptism only in this they appear to be a little more Merciful in that they send not these Vnbaptized Infants to Hell but to a certain Limbus concerning which the Scriptures are as silent as of the other This then is not only not Authorized in the Scriptures but Contrary to the express Tenor of it The Apostle saith plainly Rom. 4.15 Where no Law is there is no Transgression And again 5.13 But sin is not imputed where there is no Law To Infants there is no Law so no Transgression Than which Testimonies there is nothing more positive since to Infants there is no Law seeing as such they are utterly Vncapable of it the Law cannot reach but such as have in some measure less or more the Exercise of their Vnderstanding which Infants have not So that from thence I thus argue Sin is Imputed to none where there is no Law But To Infants there is no Law Therefore Sin is not Imputed to them The Proposition is the Apostle's own words the Assumption is thus proved Those who are under a Physical Impossibility of either hearing knowing or understanding any Law where the Impossibility is not brought upon them by any Act of their own but is according to the very Order of Nature appointed by God to such there is no Law But Infants are under this Physical Impossibility Therefore c. Secondly What can be more positive than that of Ezech. 18.20 The Soul that sinneth it shall die the Son shall not bear the Father's Iniquity For the Prophet here first sheweth what is the Cause of man's Eternal Death which he saith is in his Sinning and then as if he purposed Expresly to shut out such an Opinion he assures us The Son shall not bear the Father's Iniquity From which I thus argue Infants bear not Adam's Transgression If the Son bear not the Iniquity of his Father or of his Immediate Parents far less shall he bear the Iniquity of Adam But the Son shall not bear the Iniquity of his Father Therefore c. § V. Having thus far shewn how Absurd this Opinion is I shall briefly Examine the Reasons its Authors bring for it Object 1 First They say Adam was a publick person and therefore all men sinned in him as being in his Loins And for this they Alledge that of Rom. 5.12 Wherefore as by one man Sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned c. These last words say they may be translated in whom all have sinned Answ. To this I answer That Adam is a publick person is not denied and that through him there is a Seed of Sin propagated to all men which in its own Nature is sinful and Inclines men to Iniquity yet will it not follow from thence that Infants who Join not with this Seed are guilty As for these words in the Romans the Reason of the Guilt there alledged is For that all have sinned Now no man is said to Sin unless he actually Sin in his own person for the Greek words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may very well relate to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the nearest Antecedent so that they hold forth how that Adam by his Sin gave an Entrance to sin in the World And so death entred by sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. upon which viz. Occasion or in which viz. Death all others have sinned that is actually in their own persons to wit all that were Capable of sinning of which number that Infants could not be the Apostle clearly shews by the following Verse Sin is not imputed where there is no Law and since as is above proved there is no Law to Infants they cannot be here Included Object 2 Their Second Objection is from Psal 51.5 Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me Hence they say it appears that Infants from their Conception are guilty How they infer this Consequence for my part I see not The Iniquity and Sin here appears to be far more Ascribable to the Parents Answ. than to the Child It is said indeed In sin did my Mother Conceive me not My Mother did Conceive me a sinner Conceived in Sin Answer'd Besides that so Interpreted Contradicts expresly the Scripture before-mentioned in making Children guilty of the Sins of their Immediate Parents for of Adam there is not here any mention Contrary to the plain words The Son shall not bear the Father's Iniquity Object 3 Thirdly They Object That the Wages of Sin is death and that seeing Children are subject to diseases and death therefore they must be guilty of sin Answ. I answer That these things are a Consequence of the Fall and of
observation is reserved for the Arising of the Sun and its shining in full brightness And we can from a certain Experience boldly affirm that the not waiting for this but building among yea and with the Old Popish Rubbish and setting up before a full purgation hath been to most Protestants the foundation of many a Mistake and an occasion of unspeakable Hurt Therefore the Lord God who as he seeth meet doth communicate and make known to man the more full The more full Discovery of the Gospel reserved to this our Age. evident and perfect Knowledge of his Everlasting Truth hath been pleased to Reserve the more full Discovery of this Glorious and Evangelical Disensation to this our Age albeit divers Testimonies have thereunto been born by some noted Men in several Ages as shall hereafter appear And for the greater augmentation of the Glory of his Grace that no man might have whereof to boast he hath raised up a few Despicable and Illiterate Men and for the most part Mechanicks to be the Dispensators of it by which Gospel all the Scruples Doubts Hesitations and Objections above-mentioned are easily and evidently answered and the Justice as well as Mercy of God according to their Divine and heavenly Harmony Exhibited Established and Confirmed According to which certain Light and Gospel as the knowledge thereof hath been manifested to us by the Revelation of Jesus Christ in us fortified by our own sensible Experience and sealed by the Testimony of the Spirit in our hearts we can confidently Affirm and clearly Evince according to the Testimony of the Holy Scriptures the following Points § XI First That GOD who out of his Infinite Love sent his Son the Prop. I Lord Jesus Christ into the World who tasted Death for every man hath given to every man whether Jew or Gentile Turk or Scythian Indian or Barbarian A Day of Visitation to all of whatsoever Nation Country or Place a Certain Day or Time of Visitation during which Day or Time it is possible for them to be Saved and to partake of the Fruit of Christ's Death Prop. II Secondly That for this end God hath Communicated and given unto every man a Measure of the Light of his own Son a Measure of Grace or a Measure of the Spirit A Measure of Light in all which the Scripture expresseth by several names as sometimes of the Seed of the Kingdom Matth. 13.18 19. The Light that makes all things manifest Eph. 5.13 The Word of God Rom. 10.18 or Manifestation of the Spirit given to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 A Talent Matth. 25.15 A little Leaven The Gospel preached in every Creature Col. 1.23 Thirdly That God in and by this Light and Seed invites calls exhorts and strives with every man in order to save them which as it is received and not resisted works the Salvation of all even of those who Prop. III are ignorant of the Death and Sufferings of Christ and of Adam's Fall God's Sâ—lvatation wrought by the Light in all both by bringing them to a sense of their own Misery and to be sharers in the Sufferings of Christ inwardly and by making them partakers of his Resurrection in becoming holy pure and righteous and recovered out of their sins By which also are saved they that have the Knowledge of Christ outwardly in that it opens their Understanding rightly to use and apply the things delivered in the Scriptures and to receive the Saving Vse of them But that this may be Resisted and Rejected in both in which then God is said to be Resisted and Pressed down and Christ to be again Crucified and put to open shame in and among men And to those as thus Resist and Refuse him he becomes their Condemnation First then According to this Doctrine the Mercy of God is excellently Consequences 1 well exhibited in that none are necessarily shut out from Salvation and his Justice is demonstrated in that he Condemns none but such to whom he really made Offer of Salvation affording them the Means sufficient thereunto Secondly This Doctrine if well weighed will be found to be the Cons. 2 Foundation of Christianity Salvation and Assurance Thirdly It agrees and answers with the Whole Tenor of the Gospel-Promises Cons. 3 and Threats and with the nature of the Ministry of Christ according to which the Gospel Salvation Repentance is commanded to be preached to Every Creature without respect of Nations Kindreds Families or Tongues Fourthly It magnifies and commends the Merits and Death of Christ in Cons. 4 that it not only accounts them sufficient to save all but declares them to be brought so nigh unto all as thereby to be put into the nearest Capacity of Salvation Fifthly It Exalts above all the Grace of God to which it attributeth Cons. 5 all good even the least and smallest Actions that are so ascribing thereunto not only the first beginnings and motions of good but also the whole Conversion and Salvation of the Soul Sixthly It Contradicts Overturns and Enervates the false Doctrine Cons. 6 of the Pelagians Semi-Pelagians Socinians and others who exalt the Light of Nature the Liberty of Man's Will in that it wholly excludes the natural man from having any place or portion in his own Salvation by any acting moving or working of his own until he be first quickned raised up and acted by God's Spirit Seventhly As it Makes the whole Salvation of Man solely and alone to Cons. 7 depend upon God so it makes his Condemnation wholly and in every respect to be of himself in that he refused and resisted somewhat that from God wrestled and strove in his heart and forces him to acknowledge God's just Judgment in rejecting him and forsaking of him Eighthly It takes away all ground of Despair in that it gives every Cons. 8 one ground of Hope and certain Assurance that they may be saved neither doth feed any in Security in that none are certain how soon their Day may Expire and therefore it is a constant Incitement and Provocation and lively Incouragement to every man to forsake evil and close with that which is good Ninthly It wonderfully commends as well the Certainty of the Christian Religion among Infidels as it manifests its own Verity to all in that it 's confirmed and established by the Experiences of all men seeing there was never yet a man found in any place of the Earth however barbarous Cons. 9 and wild but hath acknowledged that at some time or other less or more he hath found somewhat in his heart reproving him for some things Evil which he hath done threatning a certain horror if he continued in them as also promising and communicating a certain peace and sweetness as he hath given way to it and not resisted it Cons. 10 Tenthly It wonderfully sheweth the excellent Wisdom of God by which he hath made the means of Salvation so Vniversal and Comprehensive that it is not needful to recur to those miraculous and
Principle in and by which this Salvation * Jew and Gentile Scythian and Barbarian partakers of the Salvation of Christ. of Christ is exhibited to all men both Jew and Gentile Scythian and Barbarian of whatsoever Country or Kindred he be And therefore God hath raised up unto himself in this our Age faithful Witnesses and Evangelists to preach again his Everlasting Gospel and to direct Prop. 7 all as well the high Professors who boast of the Law and the Scripture and the outward Knowledge of Christ as the Infidels and Heathens that know not him that way that they may all come to mind the Light in them and know Christ in them the Just One 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whom they have so long killed and made merry over and he hath not Resisted James 5.6 and give up their sins iniquities false faith professions and out-side righteousness to be Crucified by the Power of his Cross in them so as they may know Christ within to be the Hope of Glory and may come to walk in his Light and be saved who is that True Light that inlightneth Every man that cometh into the world PROPOSITION VII Concerning Justification As many as Resist not this Light but Receive the same it becomes in them a Holy Pure and Spiritual Birth bringing forth Holiness Righteousness Purity and all those other blessed Fruits which are acceptable to God by which holy Birth to wit Jesus Christ formed within us and working his Works in us as we are sanctified so are we justified in the sight of God according to the Apostle's words But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God 1 Cor. 6.11 Therefore it is not by our Works wrought in our Will nor yet by good Works considered as of themselves but by Christ who is both the Gift and the Giver and the Cause producing the Effects in us who as he hath Reconciled us while we were Enemies doth also in his Wisdom save us and justify us after this manner as saith the same Apostle elsewhere According to his Mercy he hath saved us by the washing of Regeneration and the Renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3.5 § I. THE Doctrine of Justification comes well in order after the Discussing of the Extent of Christ's Death and of the Grace thereby Communicated some of the sharpest Contests concerning this having from thence their Rise Many are the Disputes among those called Christians concerning this point and indeed if all were truly minding that which justifieth there would be less noise about the Notions of Justification I shall briefly review this Controversy as it stands among others and as I have often seriously observed it then in short State the Controversy as to us and open our Sense and Judgment of it and Lastly prove it if the Lord will by some Scripture-Testimonies and the certain Experience of all that ever were truly Justified Observ. I § II. That this Doctrine of Justification hath been and is greatly vitiated in the Church of Rome is not by us questioned though our Adversaries who for want of better Arguments do often make Lies their Refuge have not spared in this respect to stigmatize us with Popery The Method of Justification taken by the Church of Rome but how untruly will hereafter appear For to speak little of their Meritum ex Condigno which was no doubt a very common Doctrine of the Romish Church especially before Luther though most of their modern Writers especially in their Controversies with Protestants do partly deny it partly qualify it and seem to state the matter only as if they were Propagators and Pleaders for Good Works by the others denied Yet if we look to the Effects of this Doctrine among them as they appear in the generality of their Church-members not in things disapproved but highly approved and commended by their Father the Pope The Pope's Doctrine of Merits the most beneficial of all his Revenues and all his Clients as the most beneficial Casuality of all his Revenue we shall find that Luther did not without great ground oppose himself to them in this matter and if he had not himself run into another Extream of which hereafter his Work would have stood the better For in this as in most other things he is more to be Commended for what he pulled down of Babylon than for what he built of his own Whatever then the Papists may pretend or even some good men among them may have thought Experience sheweth and it is more than manifest by the universal and approved Practice of their people that they place not their Justification so much in Works that are truly and morally good and in the being truly renewed and sanctified in the mind as in such things as are either nor good nor evil or may truly be called Evil and can no otherways be reckoned Good Papists Justification depends upon the Pope's Bulls than because the Pope pleases to call them so So that if the matter be well sifted it will be found that the greatest part of their Justification depends upon the Authority of his Bulls and not upon the Power Virtue and Grace of Christ Revealed in the heart and Renewing of it As will appear First from their Principle concerning Proof I their Sacraments which they say Confer Grace ex opere operatô Their Sacraments So that if a man partake but of them he thereby obtains Remission of sin though he remain as he was the Vertue of the Sacraments making up the want that is in the man So that this Act of Submission and Faith to the Laws of the Church and not any Real Inward Change is that which justifieth him As for Example If a man make use of the Sacrament as they call it of Penance so as to Tell over his Sins to a Priest Papists Penance though he have not true Contrition which the Lord hath made absolutely necessary for penitent sinners but only Attrition a figment of their own that is If he be sorry he hath sinned not out of any love to God or his Law which he hath Transgressed but for fear of punishment yet doth the Virtue of the Sacrament as they affirm procure to him Remission of Sins so that being Absolved by the Priest he stands accepted and Justified in the sight of God This man's Justification then proceedeth not from his being truly Penitent and in any measure inwardly Changed and Renewed by the working of God's Grace in his heart but meerly from the Authority of the Priest and Virtue of the Sacrament who hath pronounced him Absolved so that his Justification is from somewhat without him and not within him Secondly This will yet more appear in the matter of Indulgences Proof II where Remission of all Sins not only past Papist-Indulgences but for Years to come is annexed to the Visiting such and such Churches and Reliques saying
and times and that in the beginning of Chap. 5. he sheweth them their Folly and the Evil Consequence of adhering to the Ceremonies of Circumcision then he adds v. 6. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision nor Vncircumcision availeth but Faith which worketh by love and thus he concludes again ch 6. v. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth nor Vncircumcision but a New Creature From which places appeareth that distinction of Works afore-mentioned whereof the one is excluded the other necessary to Justification For the Apostle sheweth here that Circumcision which word is often used to comprehend the whole Ceremonies and legal Performances of the Jews is not Necessary nor doth avail Here are then the Works which are excluded by which no man is Justified but Faith which worketh by love but the New Creature this is that which availeth which is Absolutely necessary for Faith that worketh by love cannot be without Works for as is said in the same 5 Chap. v. 22. Love is a Work of the Spirit Also the New Creature if it avail and be necessary cannot be without Works seeing it is natural for it to bring forth Works of Righteousness Again that the Apostle no ways intends to exclude such good Works appears in that in the same Epistle he Exhorts the Galatians to them The Usefulness and Necessity of good Works and holds forth the Vsefulness and Necessity of them and that very plainly c. 6. v. 7 8 9. Be not deceived saith he God is not mocked for whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap for he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth in the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting And let us not be weary of well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not Doth it not hereby appear how necessary the Apostle would have the Galatians know that he esteemed good Works to be to wit not the outward Ceremonies and Traditions of the Law but the fruits of the Spirit mentioned a little before by which Spirit he would have them to be led and walk in those good Works As also how much he ascribeth to these good Works by which he affirms Life Everlasting is Reaped Now that cannot be useless to man's Justification which Capacitates him to Reap so rich a Harvest But lastly for a full Answer to this Objection and for the Establishing of Answ. 2 this Doctrine of good Works I shall instance another saying of the same Apostle Paul which our Adversaries also in the blindness of their Minds make use of against us to wit Tit. 3.5 Not by Works of Righteousness Justified not by our legal performances but the fruits of the Spirit which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Ghost It is generally granted by all that Saved is here all one as if it had been said Justified Now there are two kinds of Works here mentioned one by which we are not saved that is not Justified and another by which we are saved or justified The first the Works of Righteousness which we have wrought that is which we in our first fall'n Nature by our own strength have wrought our own legal performances and therefore may be truly and properly called ours whatever specious Appearances they may seem to have And that it must needs and ought so to be understood doth appear from the other part But by the washing of Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Ghost seeing Regeneration is a Work comprehensive of many good Works even of all those which are called the Fruits of the Spirit Object Now in case it should be objected That these may also be called Ours because wrought in us and also by us many times as Instruments Answ. I Answer It is far otherwise than the former For in the first we are yet alive in our own natural State unrenewed working of our selves seeking to save our selves by imitating and endeavouring a Conformity to the outward Letter of the Law and so wrestling and striving in the Carnal Mind that is Enmity to God and in the Cursed Will not yet subdued But in this second we are Crucified with Christ we are become dead with him have partaken of the fellowship of his sufferings are made Conformable to his death and our first man our old man with all his deeds as well the openly wicked as the seeming righteous our Legal Endeavours and foolish Wrestlings are all buried and nailed to the Cross of Christ and so it is no more We Not We but Christ in us is the worker of Righteousness but Christ alive in us the Worker in us So that though it be We in a sense yet it is according to that of the Apostle to the same Gal. c. 2. v. 2O I am crucified yet nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me not I but the Grace of Christ in me These Works are especially to be ascribed to the Spirit of Christ and Grace of God in us as being immediately thereby acted and led in them and enabled to perform them And this manner of Speech is not strained but familiar to the Apostles as appears Gal. 2.8 For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of the Circumcision the same was mighty in me c. Phil. 2.13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do c. So that it appears by this place that since the Washing of Regeneration is necessary to Justification and that Regeneration comprehends Works Works are necessary and that these Works of the Law that are excluded are different from these that are necessary and admitted § XI Thirdly they Object That no Works yea not the Works of Christ in us can have place in Justification Object 3 because nothing that is impure can be useful in it and all the Works wrought in us are Impure For this they alledge that saying of the Prophet Isaiah c. 64. v. 6. All our righteousness are as filthy Rags adding this reason That seeing we are Impure so must our Works be which though good in themselves yet as performed by us they receive a tincture of Impurity even as a clean Water passing through an unclean Pipe is defiled Answ. 1 That no Impure Works are useful to Justification is Confessed but that all the Works wrought in the Saints are such is Denied And for answer to this the former Distinction will serve We Confess that the first sort of Works above-mentioned are Impure but not the second because the first are wrought in the unrenewed State but not the other And as for that of Isaiah it must relate to the first kind for though he saith What sort of Righteousness is as filthy Rags All our Righteousness are as filthy Rags yet that will not Comprehend the Righteousness of Christ in us but only that which we work of and
from which there is no falling away Condition is Attainable because we are Exhorted to it and as hath been proved before the Scripture never proposeth to us things Impossible Such an Exhortation we have from the Apostle 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure And though there be a Condition here proposed yet since we have already proved that it is possible to fulfil this Condition then also the Promise annexed thereunto may be attained And since where Assurance is wanting there is still a place left for Doubtings and Despairs if we should affirm it never attainable then should there never be a place known by the Saints in this World wherein they might be free of Doubting and Despair Which as it is most Absurd in it self so it 's Contrary to the manifest Experience of Thousands Thirdly God hath given to many of his Saints and Children and is ready to give unto all a full and certain Assurance A Certain Assurance and Establishment given of God to many of his Saints and Children that they are his and that no power shall be able to pluck them out of his hand But this Assurance would be no Assurance if those who are so Assured were not Established and Confirmed beyond all Doubt and Hesitation If so then surely there is no possibility for such to miss of that which God hath Assured them of And that there is such Assurance attainable in this life the Scripture abundantly declareth both in general and as to particular persons As first Rev. 3.12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out c. which containeth a general Promise unto all Hence the Apostle speaks of some that are sealed 2 Cor. 1.22 Who hath also sealed us and given the Earnest of his Spirit in our hearts wherefore the Spirit so sealing is called the Earnest or Pledge of our Inheritance Eph. 1.13 In whom ye were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise And therefore the Apostle Paul not only in that of the Romans above-noted declareth himself to have Attained that Condition but 2 Tim. 4.7 he affirmeth in these words I have fought a good fight c. which also many good men have and do witness And therefore as there can be nothing more manifest than that which the manifest Experience of this time sheweth and therein is found agreeable to the Experience of former times so we see there have been both of old and of late that have turned the Grace of God into Wantonness and have fall'n from their Faith and Integrity thence we may safely conclude such a falling away possible We also see that some of old and of late have Attained a certain Assurance some time before they departed that they should Inherit Eternal Life and have accordingly died in that good hope Of and concerning whom the Spirit of God Testified that they are saved Wherefore we also see that such a State is Attainable in this life from which there is not a Falling away For seeing the Spirit of God did so Testify it was not possible that they should perish concerning whom he who cannot lie thus bare Witness PROPOSITION X. Concerning the Ministry Prop. 10 As by this Light or Gift of God all true Knowledge in things Spiritual is received and revealed so by the same as it is manifested and received in the heart by the strength and power thereof every true Minister of the Gospel is ordained prepared and supplied in the Work of the Ministry and by the leading moving and drawing hereof ought every Evangelist and Christian Pastor to be led and ordered in his labour and work of the Gospel both as to the place Where as to the persons to whom and as to the time wherein he is to Minister Moreover who have this Authority may and ought to preach the Gospel though without Humane Commission or Literature as on the other hand who want the Authority of this Divine Gift however Learned or Athorized by the Commission of Men and Churches are to be esteemed but as Deceivers and not true Ministers of the Gospel The Gospel to be preach'd freely Matth. 10.8 Also who have received this holy and unspotted Gift as they have freely received it so are they freely to give it without hire or bargaining far less to use it as a Trade to get money by yet if God hath called any one from their Emploiments or Trades by which they acquire their Livelihood it may be lawful for such according to the liberty which they feel given them in the Lord to receive such Temporals to wit what may be needful for them for Meat and Cloathing as are given them freely and cordially by those to whom they have Communicated Spirituals § I. HItherto I have treated of those things which relate to the Christian Faith and Christians as they stand each in his private and particular Condition and how and what way every man may be a Christian indeed and so abide Now I come in order to speak of those things that relate to Christians as they are stated in a Joint-Fellowship and Communion and come under a Visible and Outward Society which Society is called the Church of God The Church of God is the Spiritual Body of Christ. and in Scripture compared to a Body and therefore named the Body of Christ. As then in the Natural Body there be divers Members all concurring to the common end of preserving and confirming the whole Body so in this Spiritual and Mystical Body there are also divers Members according to the different measures of Grace and of the Spirit diversly administred unto each Member and from this Diversity ariseth that distinction of persons in the visible Society of Christians as of Apostles Pastors Evangelists Ministers c. That which in this Proposition is proposed is What makes or constitutes any a Minister of the Church what his Qualifications ought to be and how he ought to behave himself But because it may seem somewhat preposterous to speak of the distinct Offices of the Church until something be said concerning the Church in general though nothing positively be said of it in the Proposition yet as here implied I shall briefly premise something thereof and then proceed to the particular Members of it § II. It is not in the least my design to meddle with those tedious and many Controversies wherewith the Papists and Protestants do Tear one another concerning this thing but only according to the Truth manifested to me and Revealed in me by the Testimony of the Spirit according to that proportion of Wisdom given me briefly to hold forth as a necessary Introduction both to this matter of the Ministry and of Worship which followeth those things which I together with my Brethren do believe concerning the Church The Church then according to the Grammatical signification of the word as it is used in
have caused them to Err. The whole writings of the Prophets are full of such Complaints and for this Cause under the New Testament we are so often warned and guarded to Beware of false Prophets and false Teachers c. What may be thought then where all as to this is out of order where both the Foundation Call Qualifications Maintainance and whole Discipline is different from and opposite to the Ministry of the primitive Church yea and necessarily tends to the shutting out a Spiritual Ministry and the in-bringing and establishing a Carnal This shall appear by parts § VII That then which comes first to be questioned in this matter is Quest. I concerning the Call of a Minister to wit What maketh or how cometh a man to be a Minister Pastor or Teacher in the Church of Christ We Answer By the inward power and virtue of the Spirit of God Answ. For as saith our Proposition Having received the true knowledge of things Spiritual by the Spirit of God The Call of a Minister and wherein it consisteth without which they cannot be known and being by the same in measure purified and sanctified he comes thereby to be called and moved to Minister to others being able to speak from a living Experience of what he himself is a Witness and therefore knowing the Terror of the Lord he is fit to perswade men c. 2 Cor. 5.11 and his Words and Ministry proceeding from the inward power and virtue reaches to the heart of his Hearers and makes them approve of him and be subject unto him Our Adversaries are forced to confess that this were indeed desirable and best but this they will not have to be absolutely necessary Object I shall first prove the Necessity of it and then shew how much they Err in that which they make more necessary than this Divine and Heavenly Call First That which is necessary to make a man a Christian so as without it he cannot be truly one must be much more necessary to make a man a Minister of Christianity seeing the one is a degree above the other and has it included in it nothing less than he that supposeth a Master Arg. supposeth him first to have attained the knowledge and capacity of a Scholar 1. The necessity of an Inward Call to make a man a Christian They that are not Christians cannot be Teachers or Ministers among Christians But this Inward Call Power and Vertue of the Spirit of God is necessary to make a man a Christian as we have abundantly proved before in the second Proposition according to these Scriptures He that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God Therefore this Call Moving and Drawing of the Spirit must be much more Necessary to make a Minister 2. The Ministry of the Spirit requires the Operation and Testimony of the Spirit Secondly All Ministers of the New Testament ought to be Ministers of the Spirit and not of the Letter according to that 2 Cor. 3.6 and as the old Latine hath it not by the Letter but by the Spirit But how can a man be a Minister of the Spirit who is not inwardly Called by it and who looks not upon the Operation and Testimony of the Spirit as Essential to his Call As he could not be a Minister of the Letter who had thence no ground for his Call yea that were altogether a Stranger to and unacquainted with it so neither can he be a Minister of the Spirit who is a Stranger to it and unacquainted with the Motions thereof and knows it not to draw act and move him and go before him in the Work of the Ministry I would willingly know how those that take upon them to be Ministers as they suppose of the Gospel meerly from an outward Vocation without so much as being any ways sensible of the Work of the Spirit or any Inward Call there-from can either satisfy themselves or others that they are Ministers of the Spirit or wherein they differ from the Ministers of the Letter For 3. Under the Law the People needed not to doubt who should be Priests and Ministers Thirdly If this Inward Call or Testimony of the Spirit were not Essential and Necessary to a Minister then the Ministry of the New Testament should not only be no ways preferrable to but in divers respects far Worse than that of the Law For under the Law there was a certain Tribe allotted for the Ministry and of that Tribe certain Families set apart for the Priesthood and other Offices by the Immediate Command of God to Moses so that the people needed not be in any doubt who should be Priests and Ministers of the holy things yea and besides this God called forth by the Immediate Testimony of his Spirit several at divers times to Teach Instruct and Reprove his people as Samuel Nathan Elias Elisa Jeremiah Amos and many more of the Prophets But now under the New Covenant where the Ministry ought to be more Spiritual the Way more Certain and the Access more Easie unto the Lord our Adversaries by denying the Necessity of this Inward and Spiritual Vocation make it quite other ways For there being now no certain Family or Tribe to which the Ministry is limited we are left in Vncertainty to chuse and have Pastors at a venture without all Certain Assent of the Will of God having neither an outward Rule nor Certainty in this affair to walk by for that the Scripture cannot give any Certain Rule in this matter hath in the Third Proposition concerning it been already shewn 4. Christ the Door Fourthly Christ proclaims them all Thieves and Robbers that enter not by him the Door into the Sheep-fold but climb up some other way whom the sheep ought not to hear John 10.1 but such as come in without the Call Movings and Leadings of the Spirit of Christ wherewith he leads his Children into all Truth come in certainly not by Christ who is the Door but some other way and therefore are not True Shepherds § VIII To all this they Object The Succession of the Church alledging Object That since Christ gave a Call to his Apostles and Disciples they have conveyed that Call to their Successors Succession pleaded by the false Church from Christ and his Apostles having power to Ordain Pastors and Teachers by which power the Authority of Ordaining and making Ministers and Pastors is successively conveyed to us so that such who are Ordained and Called by the Pastors of the Church are therefore true and lawful Ministers and others who are not so Called are to be accounted but Intruders Hereunto also some Protestants add a Necessity though they make it not as a thing Essential that besides this Calling of the Church every one being Called ought to have the Inward Call of the Spirit inclining him so chosen to his Work
make a Gospel-Ministry that he be not a fool 2. Acquired Parts that he be Learned in the Languages in Philosophy and School-Divinity 3. The Grace of God The Two first They reckon Necessary to the being of a Minister so as a man cannot be one without them the Third they say goeth to the well-being of one but not to the being so that a man may truly be a lawful Minister without it and ought to be heard and received as such But we supposing a natural Capacity that one be not an Idiot judge the Grace of God indispensibly Necessary to the very being of a Minister as that without which any can neither be a true nor lawful nor good Minister As for Letter-Learning we judge it not so much necessary to the well-being of one though accidentally sometimes in certain respects it may Concur but more frequently it is hurtful then helpful as appeared in the Example of Taulerus who being a Learned man A poor Laick Instructed the Learned Taulerus and who could make an Eloquent preaching needed nevertheless to be Instructed in the way of the Lord by a poor Laick I shall first speak of the Necessity of Grace and then proceed to say something of that Literature which they judge so needful First then as we said in the Call so may we much more here If the Proof I Grace of God be a necessary Qualification to make one a true Christian it must be a Qualification much more necessary to Constitute a true Minister of Christianity That Grace is necessary to make up a true Christian I think will not be questioned since it is By Grace we are saved Eph. 2.8 it is the Grace of God God's Grace alone doth constitute a true and lawful Teacher that teacheth us to deny ungodliness and the lusts of this World and to live godly and righteously Tit. 2.11 yea Christ saith expresly that Without him we can do nothing John 15.5 and the Way whereby Christ helpeth assisteth and worketh with us is by his Grace Hence saith he to Paul My Grace is sufficient for thee A Christian without Grace is indeed no Christian but an Hypocrite and a false pretender Then I say If Grace be necessary to a private Christian far more to a Teacher among Christians who must be as a Father and Instructer of others seeing this dignity is bestowed upon such as have attained a greater measure than their Brethren Even Nature it self may teach us that there is more required in a Teacher than in those that are Taught and that the Master must be above and before the Scholar in that Art or Science which he Teacheth others Since then Christianity cannot be truly enjoyed neither any man denominated a Christian without the true Grace of God Therefore neither can any man be a true nor lawful Teacher of Christianity without it Proof II Secondly No man can be a Minister of the Church of Christ which is his Body unless he be a Member of the Body and receive of the Virtue and Life of the Head Arg Who first must be a Member of the Body and then Life is receiv'd and Virtue from the Head But he that hath not true Grace can neither be a Member of the Body neither receive of that Life and Nourishment which comes from the Head Therefore far less can he be a Minister to Edify the Body That he cannot be a Minister who is not a Member is Evident because who is not a Member is shut out and cut-off and hath no place in the Body whereas the Ministers are counted among the most-Eminent Members of the Body But no man can be a Member unless he receive of the Virtue Life and Nourishment of the Head for the Members that receive not this life and nourishment decay and wither and then are Cut-off And that every true Member doth thus receive Nourishment and Life from the Head the Apostle Expresly affirmeth Eph. 4.16 From whom the whole body being fitly joined together and compacted by that which every Joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part makes Increase of the Body unto the edifying of it self in Love Now this that thus is Communicated and which thus uniteth the whole is no other than the Grace of God and therefore the Apostle in the same Chapter v. 7. affirms But unto every one of us is given Grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ and vers 11. he sheweth how that by this Grace and Gift both Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors and Teachers are given for the work of the Ministry and edifying of the Body of Christ. And certainly no man destitute of this Grace is fit for this Work seeing that all that Christ gives are so qualified and those that are not so qualified are not given The Sheep of Christ nor ought nor will not hear the Stranger 's Voice nor sent of Christ and who are not given and sent of Christ are not to be heard nor received nor acknowledged as Ministers of the Gospel because his sheep neither ought nor will hear the voice of a Stranger This is also clear from 1 Cor. 12. throughout For the Apostle in that Chapter treating of the diversity of Gifts and Members of the Body sheweth how by the working of the same Spirit in different Manifestations or Measures in the several Members the whole Body is edified saying vers 13. That we are all baptized by the One Spirit into one Body and then vers 28. he numbers out the several Dispensations thereof which by God are set in the Church through the various Working of his Spirit for the Edification of the whole Then if there be no true Member of the Body which is not thus Baptized by this Spirit neither any thing that worketh to the Edifying of it but according to a measure of Grace received from the Spirit surely without Grace none ought to be admitted to work or labour in the Body because their labour and work without this Grace and Spirit would be but Ineffectual § XVI Thirdly That this Grace and Gift is a necessary Qualification to a Minister is clear from that of the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 4.10 11. As every man hath received the Gift even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold Grace of God If any man speak let him speak as the Oracles of God if any man minister let him do it as of the Ability which God giveth that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever Amen From which it appears that those that Minister must Minister according to the Gift and Grace received but they that have not such a Gift The Ministring must be by Gift and Grace received cannot Minister according thereunto Secondly As good stewards of the manifold Grace of God But how can a man be a good steward of that which
he hath not Can ungodly men that are not gracious themselves be good stewards of the manifold Grace of God Good stewardship of what of God's abounding Grace which is the Ability and Stewardship received And therefore in the following verses he makes an Exclusive limitation of such as are not thus furnished saying If any man speak let him speak as the Oracles of God and if any man Minister let him do it as of the Ability that God giveth which is as much as if he had said They that cannot thus speak and thus Minister ought not to do it for this If denotes a necessary Condition Now what this Ability is is manifest by the former words to wit the Gift received and the Grace whereof they are Stewards as by the immediate Context and dependency of the words doth appear neither can it be understood of a meer Natural Ability because man in this condition is said not to know the things of God and so he cannot Minister them to others And the following words shew this also in that he immediately subjoineth That God in all things may be glorified but surely God is not glorified but greatly dishonoured when Natural Men from their meer natural Ability meddle in Spiritual things which they neither know nor understand Fourthly That Grace is a most Necessary Qualification for a Minister Proof IV appears by these Qualifications which the Apostle expresly requires 1 Tim 3.2 Tit. 1. c. where he saith A Bishop must be blameless vigilant sober of good behaviour apt to teach patient a lover of good men just holy temperate as the steward of God holding fast the faithful Word as he hath been taught Upon the other hand He must neither be given to wine nor a striker nor covetous nor proud nor self-willed nor soon angry Now I ask If it be not Impossible that a man can have all these above-named Vertues How can a Bishop have these Vertues without the Grace of God and be free of all these Evils without the Grace of God If then these Vertues for the producing of which in a man Grace is absolutely necessary be necessary to make a true Minister of the Church of Christ according to the Apostles judgment surely Grace must be necessary also Concerning this thing a Learned Man and well-skilled in Antiquity about the time of the Reformation writeth thus * Whatsoever is done in the Church without the Ministry of God's Spirit is vain and wicked Whatsoever is done in the Church either for Ornament or Edification of Religion whether in chusing Magistrates or instituting Ministers of the Church except it be done by the Ministry of God's Spirit which is as it were the Soul of the Church it is vain and wicked For whoever hath not been called by the Spirit of God to the great Office of God and Dignity of Apostleship as Aaron was and hath not entred in by the door which is Christ but hath otherways risen in the Church by the Window by the favours of men c. truly such a one is not the Vicar of Christ and the Apostles but a Thief and a Robber and the Vicar of Judas Iscariot †Who is Judas Iscariot's Vicar and Simon the Samaritan Hence it was so strictly appointed concerning the Election of Prelates which holy Dionysius calls the Sacrament of Nomination that the Bishops and Apostles who should Oversee the service of the Church should be men of most intire manners and life powerful in sound doctrine to give a reason for all things So also * Franciscus Lambertus Avenionensis in his Book concerning Prophecy Learning Tongues and the Spirit of Prophecy Argentorat excus anno 1516 de prov cap 24. another about the same time writeth thus Therefore it can never be that by the Tongues or Learning any can give a sound Judgment concerning the Holy Scriptures and the Truth of God Lastly saith he the sheep of Christ seek nothing but the voice of Christ which he knoweth by the holy Spirit wherewith he is filled he regards not Learning Tongues or any outward thing so as therefore to believe this or that to be the Voice of Christ his true shepherd he knoweth that there is need of no other thing but the Testimony of the Spirit of God Object 1 § XVII Against this Absolute Necessity of Grace they Object That if all Ministers had the Saving Grace of God then all Ministers should be Saved seeing none can fall away from or lose Saving Grace Answ. But this Objection is built upon a false Hypothesis purely denied by us and we have in the former Proposition concerning Perseverance already Refuted it Object 2 Secondly It may be objected to us That since we affirm that every man hath a measure of True and Saving Grace there needs no singular Qualification neither to a Christian nor Minister for seeing every man hath this Grace then no man needs forbear to be a Minister for want of Grace Answ. I answer We have above shewn that there is Necessary to the making a Minister a special and particular Call from the Spirit of God which is something besides the Vniversal Dispensation of Grace to all according to that of the Apostle Hebr. 5.4 No man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is Called of God as was Aaron Moreover we understand by Grace as a Qualification to a Minister All have God's Grace which calls to Righteousness but all are not so leaven'd in its Nature to bring forth fruits a blameless holy life not the meer measure of Light as it is given to Reprove and Call him to Righteousness but we understand Grace as it hath Converted the Soul and Operateth powerfully in it as hereafter concerning the Work of Ministers will further appear So we understand not men simply as having Grace in them as a Seed which we indeed affirm all have in a measure but we understand men that are gracious leavened by it into the Nature thereof so as thereby to bring forth these good fruits of a blameless Conversation and of Justice holiness patience and temperance which the Apostle requires as Necessary in a true Christian Bishop and Minister Object 3 Secondly They ‖ So Nic. Arnoldus sect 32. upon These 4. object the Example of the false Prophets of the Pharisees and of Judas But first As to the false Prophets there can nothing be more foolish and ridiculous as if because there were false Prophets truly false without the Grace of God therefore Grace is not necessary to a true Christian Minister Answ. Indeed if they had proved that true Prophets wanted this Grace The false not the true Prophets want the Grace of God they had said something but what have false Prophets common with true Ministers but that they pretend falsly that which they have not And because false Prophets want true Grace will it therefore follow that true Prophets ought not to have it that they may be true
and not false The Example of the Pharisees and Priests under the Law will not answer to the Gospel-times because God set apart a particular Tribe for that Service and particular Families to whom it belonged by a Lineal Succession and also their Service and Work was not purely Spiritual but only the performance of some outward and carnal Observations and Ceremonies which were but a shadow of the Substance that was to come The Service under the Law was not purely Spiritual but Figurative for the performance of which as they behoved to be purified from their outward Pollutions so the Ministers of the Gospel must be inwardly without blemish and therefore their Work made not the Comers thereunto perfect as pertaining to the Conscience seeing they were appointed only according to the Law of a carnal Commandment and not according to the Power of an endless Life Notwithstanding as in the Figure they behoved to be without blemish as to their outward man and in the performance of their Work they behoved to be Washed and Purified from their outward pollutions so now under the Gospel-times the Ministers in the Anti-type must be inwardly without blemish in their Souls and Spirits being as the Apostle requires blameless and in their work and service must be pure and undefiled from their inward pollutions and so clean and holy that they may offer up Spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 2.5 As to Judas the Season of his Ministry was not wholly Evangelical as being before the Work was finished and while Christ himself The Ministry of the Disciples of Christ before the Work was finished was more Legal than Evangelical and his Disciples were yet subject to the Jewish Observances and Constitutions and therefore his Commission as well as that which the Rest received with him at that time was only to the house of Israel Matth. 10.5 6. which made that by virtue of that Commission the Rest of the Apostles were not Impowered to go forth and preach after the Resurrection until they had waited at Jerusalem for the pouring-forth of the Spirit So that it appears Judas's Ministry was more Legal than Evangelical Secondly Judas's Case as all will acknowledge was singular and extraordinary Judas was Immediately Called of Christ and preached freely which our Adversaries will not do although they make of him a Pattern of their Graceless Ministry saying he had not the least Measure of God's Grace at that time he being Immediately Called by Christ himself and accordingly furnished and impowered by him to Preach and do Miracles which Immediate Commission our Adversaries do not so much as pretend to and so fall short of Judas who trusted in Christ's Words and therefore went forth and preached without Gold or Silver or Scrip for his Journey Giving freely as he had freely received which our Adversaries will not do as hereafter shall be observed Also that Judas at that time had not the least measure of God's Grace I have not as yet heard proved But is it not sad that even Protestants should lay aside the Eleven good and faithful Apostles and all the Rest of the holy Disciples and Ministers of Christ and betake them to that one of whom it was testified that he was a Devil for a Pattern and Example to their Ministry Alas it is to be Regretted that too many of them resemble this Pattern over much Another Objection is usually made against the Necessity of Grace Object * Ibid. Nic. Arnoldus That in case it were necessary then such as wanted it could not truly administer the Sacrament and consequently the people would be left in doubts and infinite scruples as not knowing certainly whether they had truly received them because not knowing infallibly whether the Administrators were truly gracious men But this Objection hitteth us not at all Answ. because the Nature of that Spiritual and Christian Worship which we according to the Truth plead for is such as is not necessarily attended with these carnal and outward Institutions from the administring of which the Objection ariseth and so hath not any such Absurdity following upon it as will afterwards more Clearly appear § XVIII Though then we make not Humane Learning necessary § II. What True Learning is yet we are far from Excluding true Learning to wit that Learning which proceedeth from the Inward Teachings and Instructions of the Spirit whereby the Soul learneth the secret Ways of the Lord becomes acquainted with many inward Travels and Exercises of the Mind and learneth by a living Experience how to overcome Evil and the Temptations of it by following the Lord and walking in his Light and waiting daily for Wisdom and Knowledge immediately from the Revelation thereof and so layeth up these Heavenly and Divine Lessons in the good Treasure of the heart as honest Mary did the sayings which she heard and things which she observed and also out of this Treasure of the Soul as the good Scribe brings forth things new and old according as the same Spirit moves and gives a true Liberty and as need is for the Lord's Glory whose the Soul is and for whom and with an Eye to whose Glory she which is the Temple of God The good Learning which is necessary to a true Minister learneth to do all things This is that Good Learning which we think necessary to a true Minister by and through which Learning a man can well Instruct Teach and Admonish in due season and Testify for God from a certain Experience as did David Solomon and the holy Prophets of old and the blessed Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ who testified of what they had seen heard felt and handled of the Word of Life 1 Joh. 1.1 ministring the Gift according as they had received the same as good stewards of the manifold Grace of God and preached not the uncertain Rumors of others by hear-say which they had gathered meerly in the Comprehension while they were strangers to the thing in their own Experience in themselves as to Teach people how to believe while themselves were unbelieving or how to overcome sin while themselves are slaves to it as all Vngracious men are or to believe and hope for an Eternal Reward which themselves have not as yet Arrived at c. Literature is first the Knowledge of Latine Greek and Hebrew to the Scriptures § XIX But let us Examin this Literature which they make so necessary to the being of a Minister as in the first place the Knowledge of the Tongues at least of the Latine Greek and Hebrew The reason for this is that they may Read the Scriptures which is their Only Rule in the Original Languages and thereby be the more capable to Comment upon it and Interpret it c. That also which made this Knowledge be the more prized by the primitive Protestants was indeed that dark Barbarity that was over the World in the Centuries immediately
he that is to be a Minister Merchandizing with the Scriptures What it is must learn this Art or Trade of Merchandizing with the Scriptures and be that which the Apostle would not be to wit a Trader with them 2 Cor. 2.17 * See also 2 Pet. 2.3 That he may acquire a Trick from a Verse of Scripture by adding his own barren Notions and Conceptions to it and his uncertain Conjectures and what he hath stoll'n out of Books for which end he must have of necessity a good many by him and may each Sabbath-day as they call it or oftner make a Discourse for an Hour long And this is called the Preaching of the Word whereas the Gift Grace and Spirit of God to teach And this they call the Preaching of the Word open and instruct and to preach a word in season is neglected and so man's Arts and Parts and Knowledge and Wisdom which is from below set up * Thus Anti-Christ is Established above the Seed of the Kingdom and established in the Temple of God yea and above the little Seed which in effect is Anti-Christ working in the Mystery And so the Devil †How the Devil may be a Minister of the Priest's Gospel may be as good and able a Minister as the best of them for he has better skill of Languages and more Logick Philosophy and School-Divinity than any of them and knows the Truth in the Notion better than they all and can talk more Eloquently than all those Preachers But what availeth all this Is it not all but as Death as a Painted Sepulchre and dead Carcase without the Power Life and Spirit of Christianity which is the marrow and substance of a Christian Ministry And he that hath this and can speak from it though he be a poor Shepherd or a Fisher-man and Ignorant of all that Learning and of all those Questions and Notions yet speaking from the Spirit his Ministry will have more Influence towards the Converting of a Sinner unto God than all of them Learned after the flesh as in that Example of the Old Man at the Council of Nice did appear The Power of God by weak Instruments restoring the Simplicity of Truth § XXIII And if in any Age since the Apostles days God hath purposed to shew his Power by Weak Instruments for the battering down of that Carnal and Heathenish Wisdom and restoring again the Ancient Simplicity of Truth this is it For in our Day God hath raised up Witnesses for himself as he did Fisher-men of Old many yea most of whom are Labouring and Mechanick men who altogether without that Learning have by the Power and Spirit of God struck at the very Root and Ground of Babylon and in the Strength and Might of this Power have gathered Thousands by reaching their Consciences into the same Power and Life who as to the outward part have been far more knowing than they yet not able to Resist the Vertue that proceeded from them Of which I my self am a true Witness and can declare from a certain Experience because my heart hath been often greatly broken and tendered by that vertuous Life that hath proceeded from the powerful Ministry of those Illiterate men The Powerful Ministry of Illiterate Men. so that by their very Countenance as well as Words I have felt the Evil in me often Chained down and the good Reached to and Raised What shall I then say to you who are Lovers of Learning and Admirers of Knowledge Was not I also a Lover and Admirer of it who also sought after it according to my Age and Capacity But it pleased God in his unutterable Love early to withstand my vain Endeavours while I was yet but Eighteen years of Age The Time of the Author's first Convincement and made me seriously to consider which I wish also may befall others That without Holiness * Job 28.28 and Regeneration no man can see God and that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom and to depart from Iniquity a good Vnderstanding and how much Knowledge puffeth up and leadeth away from that Inward Quietness Stilness and Humility of Mind where the Lord appears and his heavenly Wisdom is Revealed If ye consider these things then will ye say with me that all this Learning Wisdom and Knowledge gathered in this fall'n Nature is but as Dross and Dung in comparison of the Cross of Christ especially being destitute of that Power Life and Vertue which I perceived these Excellent though despised because Illiterate Witnesses of God to be filled with and therefore seeing that in and among them I with many others have found the heavenly Food that gives Contentment let my Soul seek after this Learning and Wait for it for ever § XXIV Having thus spoken of the Call and Qualifications of a Gospel Minister that which comes next to be considered is What his proper Work is How and by what Rule he is to be Ordered Our Adversaries Quest. III do all along go upon Outwards The Work of a Minister and therefore have Certain prescribed Rules and Methods contrived according to their humane and earthly Wisdom We on the contrary walk still upon the same Foundation and lean always upon the Immediate Assistance and Influence of that * The Holy Spirit a Spirit of Order and not of Confusion Holy Spirit which God hath given his Children to teach them all things and lead them in all things which Spirit being the Spirit of Order and not of Confusion leads us and as many as follow it into such a Comely and Decent Order as becometh the Church of God But our Adversaries having shut themselves out from this Immediate Counsel and Influence of the Spirit have run themselves into many Confusions and Disorders seeking to establish an Order in this matter For some will have first a Chief Bishop or Pope to Rule and be Prince over all and under him by degrees Cardinals Patriarchs Arch-Bishops Priests Deacons Sub-deacons Popish Orders and Offices c. and besides these Acoluthi Tonsorati Ostiarii c. And in their Theology as they call it Professors Batchelors Doctors c. And others are to have every Nation Independent of another having its own Metropolitan or Patriarch and the rest in order Subject to him as before Others again are against all Precedency among Pastors and constitute their Subordination not of persons but of powers as first the Consistory or Session then the Class or Presbytery then the Provincial and then the National Synod or Assembly Thus do they Tear one another and Contend among themselves concerning the Ordering Distinguishing and making their several Orders and Offices concerning which there hath been no less Contest not only by way of Verbal Dispute but even by Fighting Tumults Wars Wars and Bloodshed about Church Government Vastations and Blood-shed than about the Conquering Overturning and Establishing of Kingdoms And the Histories of late
times are as full of the various Tragedies acted upon the account of this Spiritual and Ecclesiastick Monarchy and Common-wealth as the Histories of Old times that gave account of the Wars and Contests that fell out both in the Assyrian Persian Greek and Roman Empires These last upon this account though among those that are called Christians have been no less Bloody and Monstrous than the former among Heathens concerning their outward Empires and Governments The Ground and Cause thereof Now all this both among Rapists and Protestants proceedeth in that they seek in Imitation to uphold a Form and Shadow of things though they want the Power Vertue and Substance though for many of their Orders and Forms they have not so much as the Name in the Scripture But in Opposition to all this Mass of Formality and heap of Orders Rules and Governments we say the Substance is chiefly to be sought after and the Power Virtue and Spirit is to be known and waited for which is One in all the different Names and Offices the Scripture makes use of as appears by 1 Cor. 12.4 often before-mentioned There are diversities of Gifts but the same Spirit And after the Apostle throughout the whole Chapt. hath shewn how one and the self same Spirit worketh in and quickneth each Member then in vers 28. he sheweth how thereby God hath set in the Church first Apostles secondly Prophets Teachers c. And likewise to the same purpose Eph. 4.11 he sheweth how by these Gifts he hath given some Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists some Pastors some Teachers c. Now it was never Christ's purpose nor the Apostles that Christians should without this Spirit and Heavenly Gift set up a shadow and form of these Orders and so make several Ranks and Degrees to establish a Carnal Ministry of mens making without the Life Power and Spirit of Christ this is that Work of Anti-Christ and Mystery of Iniquity The Work of Antichrist and Mystery of Iniquity that hath got up in the dark night of Apostasy But in a true Church of Christ gathered together by God not only unto the belief of the Principles of Truth but also into the Power Life and Spirit of Christ the Spirit of God is the Orderer Ruler and Governour as in each particular so in the general And when they Assemble together to wait upon God and Worship and Adore him then such as the Spirit sets apart to the Ministry Such as the Spirit sets apart to the Ministry their brethren hear them by its Divine Power and Influence opening their mouths and giving them to Exhort Reprove and Instruct with virtue and power these are thus of God Ordained and Admitted into the Ministry and their Brethren cannot but hear them receive them and also honour them for their works sake And so this is not Monopolized to a certain kind of men as the Clergy who are to that purpose Educated and brought up The Clergy and Laicks as other Carnal Artists and the rest to be despised as Laicks but it is left to the free Gift of God to chuse any whom he seeth meet thereunto whether Rich or Poor Servant or Master Young or Old yea Male or * Women may preach Female And such as have this Call verifie the Gospel by preaching not in speech only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much fulness 1 Thess. 1.5 and cannot but be received and heard by the sheep of Christ. Object § XXV But if it be objected here That I seem hereby to make no distinction at all betwixt Ministers and others which is contrary to the Apostle saying 1 Cor. 12.29 Are all Apostles are all Prophets are all Teachers c. from thence they insinuate That I also Contradict his Comparison in that Chapter of the Church of Christ with a Humane Body as where he saith vers 17. If the whole Body were an Eye where were the Hearing If the whole were Hearing where were the Smelling c. Also the Apostle not only thus distinguisheth the Ministers of the Church in general from the rest of the Members but also among themselves as naming them distinctly and separately Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors and Teachers c. Answ. 1 As to the last part of this Objection to which I shall first Answer it is apparent that this Diversity of Names is not for to distinguish separate Offices Diversity of Names makes no distinct Offices but which may Coincide or be together in one person but to denote the different and various Operations of the Spirit a manner of speech frequent with the Apostle Paul wherein he sometimes exspatiates to the illustrating of the glory and praise of God's Grace as in particular Rom. 12.6 Having then Gifts differing according to the Grace that is given to us whether Prophecy let us prophesie according to the proportion of faith Or Ministry let us wait on our Ministring or he that Teacheth on Teaching Or he that exhorteth on Exhortation Now none will say from all this that these are distinct Offices or do not or may not coincide in one person as may all these other things mentioned by him in the subsequent verses viz. of loving being kindly affectioned fervency of spirit hospitality diligence blessing rejoycing c. Which yet he numbers forth as different Gifts of the Spirit and according to this Objection might be placed as distinct and separate Offices which were most Absurd Secondly In these very places mentioned it is clear that it is no Real Distinction of separate Offices because all acknowledge that Pastors and Teachers which the Apostle there no less separateth and distinguisheth than Pastors and Prophets or Apostles are one and the same and Coincide in the same office and person and therefore so may be said of the rest For Prophecy as it signifieth the foretelling of things to come is indeed a distinct Gift but no distinct Office and therefore our Adversaries do not place it among their several Orders neither will they deny but that both may be and have been given of God to some Prophecy and Prophesying its twofold signification that not only have been Pastors and Teachers and that there it hath Coincided in one person with these other Offices but also to some of the Laicks and so it hath been found according to their own Concession without the Limits of their Clergy Prophecy in the other sense to wit as it signifieth a Speaking from the Spirit of Truth is not only peculiar to Pastors and Teachers To Prophesy a Priviledge of Teachers and of all the Saints who ought so to Prophesy but even a Common Priviledge to the Saints For though to Instruct Teach and Exhort be proper to such as are more particularly called to the Work of the Ministry yet it is not so Proper to them as not to be when the Saints are met together as any of them are moved by the Spirit Common to
others for some Acts belong to all in such a Relation but not only to those within that Relation Competunt omni sed non soli Thus to see and hear are proper acts of a man seeing it may be properly predicated of him that he heareth and seeth yet are they Common to other Creatures also So to Prophesy in this sense is indeed proper to Ministers and Teachers yet not so but that it is also Common and Lawful to other Saints when moved thereunto though it be not proper to them by way of Relation because notwithstanding that Motion they are not particularly called to the Work of the Ministry as appears by 1 Cor. 14. where the Apostle at large declaring the Order and ordinary Method of the Church saith vers 30 31. But if any thing be Revealed to another that sitteth by let the first hold his peace for we may all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be comforted which sheweth that none is here Excluded But yet that there is a Subordination according to the various measures of the Gift received the next verse sheweth And the spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets For God is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace Now that Prophesying in this sense may be Common to all Saints appears by verse 39. of the same Chapter where speaking to all in general he saith Therefore Brethren Covet to Prophesy and verse 1. he exhorts them saying Covet Spiritual Gifts but rather that ye may Prophesy Secondly As to Evangelists the same may be said Who are Evangelists and whether any may term themselves so now a-days For whoever preacheth the Gospel is really an Evangelist and so consequently every true Minister of the Gospel is one else what proper Office can they assign to it unless they should be so foolish as to affirm that None were Evangelists but Matthew Mark Luke and John who wrote the Account of Christ's Life and Sufferings And then it were neither a particular Office seeing John and Matthew were Apostles Mark and Luke Pastors and Teachers so that there they Coincided in one And indeed it is Absurd to think that upon that particular Account the Apostle used the word Evangelist Calvin acknowledgeth that such as preach the Gospel in purity after some time of Apostasy may be truly called Evangelists and therefore saith That there were Apostles in his time and hence the Protestants at their first Coming forth termed themselves Evangelici or Evangeliks Lastly An Apostle if we look to the Etymology of the word Who is an Apostle signifies One that is sent and in respect Every true Minister is sent of God in so far is he an Apostle though these Twelve because of their being specially Sent of Christ were therefore called Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They were not Limited to such a Numbeâ— or per Eminentiam i. e. by way of Excellency And yet that there was no Limitation to such a Number as some foolishly imagine it appears because after that Number was filled up the Apostle Paul was afterwards so Called therefore we judge that these are no distinct separate Offices but only Names used upon occasions to express the more eminent Arising and Shining forth of God's Grace Whether any man be Called an Apostle this day As if any Minister of Christ should now proselyte or turn a whole Nation to the Christian Faith though he had no distinct Office yet I doubt not but both Papists and Protestants would judge it tolerable to call such an one an Apostle or an Evangelist For some of the Jesuites call of their Sect Apostles of India and of Japan upon this alledged account and Calvin testifies that there were Apostles and Evangelists in his time upon the account of the Reformation upon which account we have known John Knox often called the Apostle of Scotland Upon what Account John Knox was called the Apâ—stle of Scotland So that we conclude that Ministers Pastors or Teachers do Comprehend all and that the Office is but one And therefore in that respect we judge there ought to be no Precedency among them to prove which I shall not insist seeing it is shewn largely and treated of by such as have denied the Diocesian Episcopacy as they call it Answ. 2 § XXVI As to the first part of the Objection viz. That I seem to make no distinction betwixt the Minister and People I Answer If it be understood of a Liberty to speak or prophesy by the Spirit Liberty to Prophesy all have by the Spirit I say all may do that when moved thereunto as above is shewn But we do believe and affirm that some are more particularly called to the Work of the Ministry and therefore are fitted of the Lord for that purpose whose Work is more constantly and particularly to Instruct Exhort Admonish Oversee and Watch over their Brethren and that as there is something more incumbent upon them in that respect than upon every Common Believer so also as in that relation there is due to them from the Flock such Obedience and Subjection as is mentioned in these Testimonies of the Scripture Hebr. 13.17 1 Thess. 5.12 13. 1 Tim. 5.17 1 Pet. 5.5 Also besides these who are thus particularly Called to the Ministry and constant Labour in the Word and Doctrine The Elders take Care for the Widows the Poor and Fatherless there are also the Elders who though they be not moved to a frequent Testimony by way of Declaration in words yet as such as are grown up in the Experience of the blessed work of Truth in their hearts Watch over and privately Admonish the young Care for the Widows the Poor and Fatherless and care and look that nothing be wanting but that Peace Love Vnity Concord and Soundness be preserved in the Church of Christ and this answers to the Deacons mentioned Acts 6. The distinction of Clergy and Laity not to be found in Scripture That which we Oppose is the distinction of Laity and Clergy which in the Scripture is not to be found whereby none are admitted unto the work of the Ministry but such as are Educated at Schools on purpose and Instructed in Logick and Philosophy c. and so are at their Apprentiship to learn the Art and Trade of Preaching even as a man learns any other Art whereby all other honest Mechanick men who have not got this Heathenish Art are Excluded from having this priviledge And so he that is a Scholar thus bred up must not have any honest Trade whereby to get him a Livelihood if he once intend for the Ministry but he must see to get him a Place and then he hath his set Hire for a Livelihood to him He must also be distinguished from the rest by the Colour of his Cloaths Their Garb. for he must only wear Black and must be a Master of Arts but more of this hereafter § XXVII
purpose to make a long digression concerning the Debates among Protestants concerning the first day of the Week commonly called the Lord's day yet forasmuch as it comes fitly in here I shall briefly signifie our sense thereof § IV. We not seeing any ground in Scripture for it Of the first day of the Week commonly called the Lord's Day cannot be so superstitious as to believe that either the Jewish Sabbath now continues or that the First Day of the Week is the Anti-Type thereof or the true Christian Sabbath which with Calvin we believe to have a more Spiritual sense and therefore we know no moral Obligation by the fourth Command or elsewhere to keep the first day of the Week more as any other or any Holiness Inherent in it But first forasmuch as it is most necessary that there be some Time set apart for the Saints to Meet together to Wait upon God and that secondly it is fit at some times they be freed from their other outward Affairs and that Thirdly Reason and Equity doth allow that servants and beasts have some time allowed them to be eased from their continual labour and that fourthly it appears that the Apostles and primitive Christians did use the First Day of the Week for these purposes We find our selves sufficiently moved for these Causes to do so also without superstitiously straining the Scriptures for another Reason which that it is not to be there found many Protestants yea Calvin himself upon the fourth Command hath abundantly evinced And though we therefore Meet and abstain from Working upon this day yet doth not that hinder us from having Meetings also for Worship at other Times § V. Thirdly Though according to the Knowledge of God revealed unto us by the Spirit through that more full Dispensation of Light which we believe the Lord hath brought about in this day we judge it our duty to hold forth that Pure and Spiritual Worship which is acceptable to God and answerable to the Testimony of Christ and his Apostles and likewise to Testify against and deny not only manifest Superstition and Idolatry but also all formal Will-worship which stands not in the Power of God yet I say we do not deny the whole Worship of all those The Worship in th' Apostasy that have born the Name of Christians even in the Apostasy as if God had never heard their prayers nor accepted any of them God forbid we should be so void of Charity The latter part of the Proposition sheweth the Contrary And as we would not be so Absurd on the one hand to conclude because of the Errors and Darkness that many were covered and surrounded with in Babylon that none of their Prayers were heard or accepted of God so will we not be so unwary on the other as to conclude that because God heard and pityed them so we ought to continue in these Errors and Darkness and not come out of Babylon when it is by God discovered unto us The Popish Mass and Vespers I do believe to be The Popish Mass and Vespers Bernard and Bonavent Taulerus Thomas à Kempis have tasted of the Love of God as to the matter of them Abominable Idolatry and Superstition and so also believe the Protestants yet will either I or they affirm that in the darkness of Popery no upright-hearted men though zealous in these Abominations have been heard of God or accepted of him Who can deny but that both Bernard and Bonaventur Taulerus Thomas à Kempis and divers others have both known and tasted of the love of God and felt the Power and Vertue of God's Spirit working with them for their Salvation And yet ought we not to forsake and deny those Superstitions which they were found in The Calvinistical Presbyterians do much upbraid and I say not without Reason the formality and deadness of the Episcopalian and Lutheran Liturgies The Bishops Liturgy and yet as they will not deny but there have been some good men among them so neither dare they refuse but that when that good step was brought in by them of turning the publick prayers into the vulgar Tongues though continued in a Liturgy it was acceptable to God and sometimes accompanied with his Power and Presence yet will not the Presbyterians have it from thence concluded that the Common-Prayers should still continue so likewise though we should confess that through the mercy and wonderful Condescension of God there have been Vpright in heart both among Papists and Protestants yet can we not therefore Approve of their Way in the general or not go on to the upholding of that Spiritual Worship which the Lord is calling all to and so to the testifying against whatsoever stands in the way of it § VI. Fourthly To come then to the State of the Controversy as to the Publick Worship Assemblies of Worship in publick described we judge it the Duty of all to be diligent in the Assembling of themselves together and what we have been and are in this matter our Enemies in Great Britain who have used all means to hinder our Assembling together to worship God may bear witness And when Assembled the great Work of one and all ought to be to Wait upon God and returning out of their own Thoughts and Imaginations to feel the Lord's Presence and know a gathering into his Name indeed where he is in the midst according to his Promise And as every one is thus gathered and so Met together inwardly in their spirits as well as outwardly in their persons there the secret Power and Vertue of Life is known to refresh the Soul and the pure motions and breathings of God's Spirit are felt to arise from which as words of Declaration prayers or praises arise the acceptable Worship is known which edifies the Church and is well-pleasing to God And no man here limits the Spirit of God nor bringeth forth his own cunned and gathered Stuff but every one puts that forth It s Glorious Dispensation which the Lord puts into their hearts and it 's uttered forth not in man's Will and Wisdom but in the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power Yea though there be not a word spoken yet is the true Spiritual Worship performed and the Body of Christ edified yea it may and hath often fall'n out among us that divers Meetings have past without one word and yet our Souls have been greatly edified and refreshed and our hearts wonderfully overcome with the secret sense of God's Power and Spirit which without words hath been ministred from one Vessel to another This is indeed strange and incredible to the meer natural and carnally-minded men who will be apt to judge all time lost where there is not something spoken that 's obvious to the outward senses and therefore I shall insist a little upon this subject as one that can speak from a Certain Experience and not by meer hear-say of this wonderful and glorious
God's Spirit go about either in his understanding to imagine conceive or think of the things of God or actually to perform them by preaching or praying The first is a missing both in Matter and Form The second is a retaining of the Form without the Life and Substance of Christianity True Christianity wherein it not consists because Christian Religion consisteth not in a meer belief of true Doctrines or a meer performance of Acts good in themselves or else the bare letter of the Scripture though spoken by a Drunkard or a Devil might be said to be Spirit and Life which I judge none will be so absurd as to affirm and also it would follow that where the Form of Godliness is there the Power is also which is contrary to the express words of the Apostle For the Form of Godliness cannot be said to be where either the Notions and Opinions believed are erroneous and ungodly or the Acts performed evil and wicked for then it would be the Form of Vngodliness and not of Godliness But of this further hereafter when we shall speak particularly of preaching and praying Now though this last be not so bad as the former yet hath it made way for it for men having first departed from the Life and Substance of true Religion and Worship to wit from the inward Power and Vertue of the Spirit so as therein to act and thereby to have all their actions enlivened have only retained the Form and Shew to wit the true words and appearance and so acting in their own natural and unrenewed Wills in this Form the Form could not but quickly decay and be vitiated For the working and active Spirit of man could not contain it self within the simplicity and plainness of Truth but giving way to his own numerous Inventions and Imaginations began to vary in the Form and adapt it to his own Inventions until by degrees the Form of Godliness for the most part came to be lost Idolatry does hug his own Conceivings as well as the Power For this kind of Idolatry whereby man loveth idolizeth and huggeth his own Conceptions Inventions and Product of his own Brain is so incident unto him and seated in his fall'n Nature that so long as his natural Spirit is the first Author and Actor of him and is that by which he only is guided and moved in his Worship towards God so as not first to Wait for another Guide to direct him he can never perform the pure Spiritual Worship nor bring forth any thing but the fruit of the first fall'n natural and corrupt Root Wherefore the time appointed of God being come wherein by Jesus Christ he hath been pleased to restore the true Spiritual Worship and the outward Form of Worship No Form of Worship but the Spirit is prescrib'd by Christ. which was appointed by God to the Jews and whereof the manner and time of its performance was particularly determined by God himself being come to an end we find that Jesus Christ the Author of the Christian Religion prescribes no set Form of Worship to his Children under the more pure administration of the New Covenant * If any object here That the Lord's Prayer is a prescribed Form of Prayer and therefore of Worship given by Christ to his Children I answer First This cannot be objected by any sort of Christians that I know because there are none who use not other Prayers or that limit their Worship to this Secondly This was commanded to the Disciples while yet Weak before they had received the dispensation of the Gospel not that they should only use it in praying but that he might shew them by one Example how that their Prayers ought to be short and not like the long Prayers of the Pharisees And that this was the Vse of it appears by all the Prayers which divers Saints afterwards made use of whereof the Scripture makes mention for none made use of this neither repeated it but used other words according as the thing required and as the Spirit gave utterance Thirdly That this ought so to be understood appears from Rom 8.26 of which afterwards mention shall be made at greater length where the Apostle saith We know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us c. But if this Prayer had been such a prescribed Form of Prayer to the Church that had not been true neither had they been Ignorant what to pray nor should they have needed the help of the Spirit to teach them save that he only tells them that the Worship now to be performed is Spiritual and in the Spirit And it 's especially to be observed that in the whole New Testament there is no Order nor Command given in this thing but to follow the Revelations of the Spirit save only that general of Meeting together a thing dearly owned and diligently practised by us as shall hereafter more appear True it is mention is made of the Duties of Praying Preaching and Singing Pray Preach and Sing in Spirit but what Order or Method should be kept in so doing or that presently they should be set about so soon as the Saints are gathered there is not one word to be found yea these Duties as shall afterwards be made appear are always annexed to the assistance leadings and motions of God's Spirit Since then man in his natural state is thus excluded from acting or moving in things Spiritual To Wait on God by what it is performed how or what way shall he exercise this first and previous duty of Waiting upon God but by Silence and by bringing that natural part to silence Which is no other ways but by abstaining from his own Thoughts and Imaginations and from all the self-workings and motions of his own Mind as well in things materially good as evil that he being silent God may speak in him and the Good Seed may arise This tho' hard to the natural man is so answerable to Reason and even natural Experience in other things that it cannot be denied He that cometh to learn of a Master if he expect to hear his Master A Simile of a Master and his Scholar and be instructed by him must not continually be speaking of the matter to be taught and never be quiet otherwise how shall his Master have time to instruct him Yea though the Scholar were never so earnest to learn the Science yet would the Master have Reason to Reprove him as untoward and indocile if he would always be meddling of himself and still speaking and not Wait in silence patiently to hear his Master instructing and teaching him who ought not to open a mouth until by his Master he were commanded and allowed so to do So also if one were about to Attend a great Prince Of a Prince and his Servant he would be thought an impertinent and imprudent Servant who while he ought patiently and
no such thing nor yet are often-times sensible of it must needs stand in the Enticing Words of man's Wisdom since it is by the meer Wisdom of man it is sought after and the meer Strength of man's Eloquence and Enticing words it is uttered and therefore no wonder if the Faith of such as hear and depend upon such preachers and preachings stand in the Wisdom of Men and not in the Power of God The Apostles declared that they spake not in the words which man's Wisdom teacheth but which the Holy Ghost teacheth 1 Cor. 2.13 But these Preachers confess that they are Strangers to the Holy Ghost his Motions and Operations neither do they Wait to feel them and therefore they speak in the words which their own natural Wisdom and Learning teacheth them mixing them in and adding them to such words as they steal of the Scripture and other Books and therefore speak not what the Holy Ghost teacheth Thirdly This is contrary to the Method and Order of the primitive Church mentioned by the Apostle 3. True Church's method was to speak by Revelation 1 Cor. 14.30 c. where in Preaching every one is to Wait for his Revelation and to give place one unto another according as things are Revealed But here there is no waiting for a Revelation but the Preacher must speak and not that which is Reveald unto him but what he hath prepared and premeditated before-hand Lastly By this kind of Preaching the Spirit of God which should be the Chief Instructor and Teacher of God's People 4. The Spirit is shut out by Priests to be the Teacher and whose influence is that only which makes all Preaching effectual and beneficial for the edifying of Souls is Shut out and man's natural Wisdom Learning and Parts set up and Exalted which no doubt is a great and chief reason why the Preaching among the generality of Christians is so Vnfruitful and Vnsuccessful yea according to this doctrine the Devil may preach and ought to be Heard also seeing he both knoweth the Truth and hath as much Eloquence as any But what availes Excellency of speech if the Demonstration and Power of the Spirit be wanting which toucheth the Conscience We see that when the Devil confessed to the Truth yet Christ would have none of his Testimony And as these pregnant Testimonies of the Scripture to prove this part of Preaching to be contrary to the Doctrine of Christ so do they also prove that of ours before affirmed to be Conform thereunto Object § XX. But if any Object after this manner Have not many been Benefitted yea and both Converted and Edified by the Ministry of such as have Premeditated their Preachings yea and hath not the Spirit often concurred by its Divine Influence with preachings thus premeditated so as they have been powerfully born in upon the Souls of the Hearers to their Advantage I answer Though that be granted which I shall not deny it will not infer that the thing was good in it self more than because Paul was met with by Christ to the Converting of his Soul riding to Damascus to persecute the Saints that he did well in so doing Neither particular Actions Answ. nor yet whole Congregations as we above observed are to be measured by the Acts of God's Condescension in times of Ignorance But besides Paul Persecuting was Converted is therefore Persecuting good it hath often-times fall'n out that God having a regard to the Simplicity and Integrity either of the Preacher or Hearers hath faln in upon the heart of a Preacher by his Power and holy Influence and thereby hath led them to speak things which were not in his premeditated Discourse and which perhaps he never thought of before and those passing Ejaculations and unpremeditated but living Exhortations have proved more beneficial and refreshful both to Preacher and Hearers than all their premeditated Sermons But all that will not allow them to Continue in these things which in themselves are not approved but contrary to the practice of the Apostles when God is raising up a people to serve him according to the primitive purity and spirituality yea such acts of God's Condescension in times of Darkness and Ignorance should ingage all more and more to follow him according as he Reveals his most perfect and Spiritual Way § XXI Having hitherto spoken of Preaching II. Of Prayer how the Outward is distinguisht from the Inward now it is fit to speak of Praying concerning which the like Controversy ariseth Our Adversaries whose Religion is all for the most part Outside and such whose Acts are the meer products of man's natural Will and Abilities as they can Preach so can they Pray when they please and therefore have their set particular Prayers I meddle not with the Controversies among themselves concerning this some of them being for set Prayers as a Liturgy others for such as are ex tempore Conceived it suffices me that all of them agree in this that the Motions and Influence of the Spirit of God are not Necessary to be previous thereunto and therefore they have Set Times in their publick Worship as before and after preaching The Priests set times to Preach and Pray deny's the Spirit and in their private Devotion as Morning and Evening and before and after meat and other such occasions at which they precisely set about the performing of their Prayers by speaking words to God whether they feel any Motions or Influence of the Spirit or not so that some of the Chiefest have confessed that they have thus Prayed without the Motions or Assistance of the Spirit acknowledging that they sinned in so doing yet they said they look upon it as their Duty to do so though to Pray without the Spirit be Sin We freely Confess that Prayer is both very profitable and a necessary Duty commanded and fit to be practised frequently by all Christians but as we can Do nothing without Christ so neither can we Pray without the concurrence and assistance of his Spirit But that the State of the Controversy may be the better understood let it be considered First That Prayer is twofold Inward and Outward Inward Prayer is that Secret turning of the mind towards God whereby What Inward Prayer is being secretly touched and awakened by the Light of Christ in the Conscience and so bowed down under the sense of its Iniquities Vnworthiness and Misery it looks up to God and joining issue with the secret Shinings of the Seed of God it breaths towards him and is constantly breathing forth some secret Desires and Aspirations towards him It is in this sense that we are so frequently in Scripture commanded to Pray continually Luke 18.1 1 Thess. 5.17 Eph. 6.18 Luke 21.36 which cannot be understood of Outward Prayer because it were impossible that men should be always upon their Knees expressing words of Prayer and this would hinder them from the Exercise of those Duties no less positively Commanded
draw unto Prayer that so it may be done acceptably Eph. 6 1â— For since we are to Pray always in the Spirit and cannot Pray of our selves without it Acceptably This Watching must be for this end recommended to us as preceeding Prayer that we may Watch and Wait for the seasonable time to Pray which is when the Spirit moves thereunto Secondly II. We know not how to Pray but as the Spirit helps This Necessity of the Spirit 's Moving and Concurrence appears abundantly from that of the Apostle Paul Rom. 8.26 27. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the Mind of the Spirit because he maketh Intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God Which first holds forth the Incapacity of Men as of themselves to Pray or Call upon God in their own Wills even such as have received the Faith of Christ and are in measure sanctified by it as was the Churcb of Rome to whom the Apostle then wrote Secondly It holds forth that which can only help and assist Men to Pray to wit the Spirit as that without which they cannot do it acceptably to God nor beneficially to their own Souls Thirdly The Manner and Way of the Spirit 's Intercession With sighs and groans which are unutterable And Fourthly That God receiveth graciously the Prayers of such as are presented and offered unto himself by the Spirit knowing it to be according to his Will Now it cannot be conceived but this Order of Prayer thus asserted by the Apostle is most consistent with those other Testimonies of Scripture commending and recommending to us the Vse of Prayer From which I thus argue Arg. If Man know not how to pray neither can do it without the help of the Spirit then it is to no purpose for him but altogether unprofitable to pray without it But the first is true Therefore also the last III. Pray always â—n the Spirit and Watching thereunto Thirdly This Necessity of the Spirit to true Prayer appears from Eph. 6. verse 18. and Jude ver 20. where the Apostle commands to Pray always in the Spirit and Watching thereunto which is as much as if he had said that we were never to Pray without the Spirit or Watching thereunto And Jude sheweth us that such Prayers as are in the Holy Ghost only tend to the Building up of our selves in our most holy Faith Fourthly The Apostle Paul saith expresly 1 Cor. 12.3 That no man can say IV. Man cannot call Christ Lord but by the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost If then Jesus cannot be thus rightly Named but by the Holy Ghost far less can he be acceptably Called upon Hence the same Apostle declares 1 Cor. 14.15 That he will Pray with the Spirit c. A clear Evidence that it was none of his Method to Pray without it V. God will not hear the Prayer of the Wicked But Fifthly All Prayer without the Spirit is Abomination such as are the Prayers of the Wicked Prov. 28.9 And the Confidence that the Saints have that God will hear them is if they Ask any thing according to his Will 1 John 5. verse 14 So if the Prayer be not according to his Will there is no ground of Confidence that he will hear Now our Adversaries will acknowledge that Prayers without the Spirit are not according to the Will of God and therefore such as Pray without it have no ground to expect an Answer For indeed to bid a Man Pray without the Spirit is all one as to bid one See without Eyes Work without Hands or Go without Feet And to desire a Man to fall to Prayer ere the Spirit in some measure less or more Move him thereunto is to desire a Man to See before he Open his Eyes or to Walk before he Rise up or to Work with his Hands before he Move them VI. All Sacrifice is Sin not offer'd by the Spirit § XXIII But lastly From this false Opinion of Praying without the Spirit and not judging it Necessary to be Waited for as that which may be felt to Move us thereunto hath proceeded all the Superstition and Idolatry that is among those called Christians and those many Abominations wherewith the Lord is provoked and his Spirit grieved so that many deceive themselves now as the Jews did of old thinking it sufficient if they pay their daily Sacrifices and offer their customary Oblations from thence thinking all is well and creating a false peace to themselves as the Whore in the Proverbs because they have Offered up their Sacrifices of Morning and Evening-Prayers And therefore it 's manifest that their constant Vse of things doth not a whit influence their Lives and Conversations Prov. 7.14 but they remain for the most part as bad as ever Yea it is frequent both among Papists and Protestants for them first to Leap as it were out of their vain light and profane Conversations at their set Hours and Seasons and fall to their Customory Devotion and then when it is scarce finished and the Words to God scarce out the former profane Talk comes after it so that the same Wicked Profane Spirit of this World acts them in both If there be any such thing as Vain Oblations or Prayers that are Abomination which God heareth not as is certain there are and the Scripture testifies Isa. 66.3 Jer. 14.12 certainly such Prayers as are acted in Man's Will and by his own Strength without God's Spirit must be of that number § XXIV Let this suffice for Probation Now I shall proceed to Answer their Objections when I have said something concerning Joining in Prayer with others Those that Pray together with one accord Concerning Joining in Prayer with others use not only to Concur in their Spirits but also in the Gesture of their Body which we also willingly approve of It becometh those who approach before God to Pray that they do it with bowed Knees and with their Heads uncovered which is our practice But here ariseth a Controversy Whether it be lawful to Join with Object I others by those External Signs of Reverence albeit not in Heart who Pray formally neither Waiting for the Motion of the Spirit nor judging it necessary We Answer Not at all Answ. And for our Testimony in this thing we have suffered not a little For when it hath fall'n out that either Accidentally or to witness against their Worship How with Idolaters we cannot Join in Prayer we have been present during the same and have not found it lawful for us to Bow with them thereunto they have often persecuted us not only with Reproaches but also with Strokes and cruel Beatings For this Cause they use to accuse us of Pride Profanity and Madness
Observations and Ceremonies of their own To which they were so devoted that they were still apt to prefer them before the Command of God and that under the Notion of Zeal and Piety This we see abundantly in the Example of the Pharisees The Pharisees the Chiefest Sect among the Jews the Chiefest Sect among the Jews whom Christ so frequently reproves for making void the Commandments of God by their Traditions Matth. 15.6 9 c. This Complaint may at this day be no less justly made as to many bearing the Name of Christians who have introduced many things of this kind partly borrowed from the Jews Many things in Christendom are borrow'd from the Jews and Gentiles which they more tenaciously stick to and more earnestly contend for than for the weightier Points of Christianity because that Self yet alive and ruling in them loves their own Inventions better than God's Commands But if they can by any means stretch any Scripture-practice or Conditional precept or permission fitted to the Weakness or Capacity of some or appropriate to some particular Dispensation to give some Colour for any of these their Inventions they do then so tenaciously stick to them and so obstinately and obstreperously plead for them that they will not patiently hear the most-solid Christian Reasons against them Which Zeal if they would but seriously Examine it they would find to be but the prejudice of Education and the Love of Self more than of God or his Pure Worship Of Sacraments so many Controversies This is verified concerning those things which are called Sacraments about which they are very ignorant in Religious Controversies who understand not how much Debate Contention Jangling and Quarrelling there has been among those called Christians So that I may safely say the Controversy about them to wit about their Number Nature Vertue Efficacy Administration and other things hath been more than about any other Doctrine of Christ whether as betwixt Papists and Protestants or among Protestants betwixt themselves And how great prejudice these Controversies have brought to Christians is very obvious whereas the things contended for among them are for the most part but Empty Shadows and meer Out-side things as I hope hereafter to make appear to the patient and unprejudicate Reader § II. That which comes first under Observation is the Name Sacrament which is strange that Christians should stick to and Contend so much for since it is not to be found in all the Scripture but was borrowed from the Military Oaths among the Heathens from whom the Christians The Name of Sacrament not found in Scripture is borrow'd from the Heathens when they began to Apostatize did borrow many superstitious Terms and Observations that they might thereby Ingratiate themselves and the more easily gain the Heathens to their Religion which practice though perhaps intended by them for good yet as being the fruit of Humane Policy and not according to God's Wisdom has had very pernicious Consequences I see not how any whether Papists or Protestants especially the latter can in reason quarrel with us for denying this Term which it seems the Spirit of God saw not meet to inspire the Pen-men of the Scriptures to leave unto us But if it be said That it is not the Name but the Thing they Contend Object 1 for I Answer Let the Name then as not being Scriptural be laid aside and we shall see at first Entrance Answ. how much Benefit will redound by laying aside this Traditional Term and betaking us to plainness of Scripture-Language For presently the great Contest about the Number of them will evanish seeing there is no Term used in Scripture that can be made use of whether we call them Institutions Ordinances Precepts Commandments Appointments or Laws c. that would afford ground for such a Debate since neither Papists will affirm that there are only Seven or Protestants only Two of any of these forementioned If it be said That this Controversy arises from the Definition of the Thing Object 2 as well as from the Name Answ. It will be found otherwise For whatever way we take their Definition of a Sacrament whether as an outward visible Sign whereby inward Grace is conferred The Definition of Sacraments agrees to many other things or only signified This Definition will agree to many things which neither Papists nor Protestants will acknowledge to be Sacraments If they be expressed under the Name of Sealing Ordinances as some do I could never see neither by Reason nor Scripture how this Title could be appropriate to them more than to any other Christian Religious Performance for that must needs properly be a Sealing Ordinance which makes the persons receiving it infallibly certain of the Promise What Sealing Ordinance doth mean or Thing sealed to them Object 3 If it be said It is so to them that are faithful I Answer So is praying and preaching and doing of every good work Seeing the partaking or performing of the one gives not to any a more certain Title to Heaven Answ. yea in some respect not so much there is no Reason to call them so more than the other Besides we find not any thing called the Seal and Pledge of our Inheritance but the Spirit of God it is by that we are said to be sealed Eph. 1.14 4.30 which is also termed the Earnest of our Inheritance 2 Cor. 1.22 and not by outward Water or Eating and Drinking which as the Wickedest of Men may partake of so many that do do notwithstanding it go to Perdition The outward Washing doth not cleanse the Heart For it is not outward Washing with Water that maketh the Heart clean by which Men are fitted for Heaven And as that which goeth into the mouth doth not defile a man because it is put forth again and so goeth to the Dung-hill neither doth any thing which Man eateth purify him or fit him for Heaven What is said here in general may serve for an Introduction not only to this Proposition but also to the other concerning the Supper Of these Sacraments so called Baptism is always first numbered which is the Subject of the present Proposition in whose Explanation I shall first demonstrate and prove Our Judgment and then Answer the Objections and Refute the Sentiments of our Opposers As to the first part these things following which are briefly comprehended Part I in the Proposition come to be proposed and proved § III. First That there is but one Baptism as well as but One Lord Prop. I One Faith c. Secondly That this one Baptism which is the Baptism of Christ is Prop. II not a washing with or dipping in Water but a being baptized by the Spirit Thirdly That the Baptism of John was but a Figure of this and therefore Prop. III as the Figure to give place to the Substance which though it be to continue yet the other is Ceased As for the first viz. That there is
Christ's own Practice or Command as to obey all the Commandments which comprehend both our Duty towards God and Man c. and where the Gospel requires more than the Law which is abundantly signified in the 5 th and 6 th Chapters of Matthew and elsewhere Besides as to the Duties of Worship he exhorts us to Meet promising his Presence commands to Pray Preach Watch c. and gives Precepts concerning some Temporary things as the Washing of one anothers Feet the breaking of Bread hereafter to be discussed only for this one thing of baptising with Water though so earnestly contended for we find not any Precept of Christ. § VI. But to make Water-baptism a necessary Institution of the Christian Religion which is pure and Spiritual and not carnal and ceremonial is to derogate from the New Covenant-Dispensation and set up the Legal Rites and Ceremonies of which this of Baptism or Washing with Water was one III. The Gospel puts an end to Carnal Ordinances as appears from Heb. 9.10 where the Apostle speaking thereof saith that it stood only in meats and drinks and divers Baptisms and Carnal Ordinances imposed until the time of Reformation If then the Time of Reformation or the Dispensation of the Gospel which puts an end to the Shadows be come then such Baptisms and Carnal Ordinances are no more to be imposed For how Baptism with Water comes now to be a Spiritual Ordinance more than before in the time of the Law doth not appear seeing it is but Water still and a Washing of the Outward Man and a putting away of the filth of the flesh still and as before those that are so Washed were not thereby made perfect as pertaining to the Conscience neither are they at this day as our Adversaries must needs acknowledge and Experience abundantly sheweth So that the matter of it which is a Washing with Water and the Effects of it which is only an Outward Cleansing being still the same how comes Water-baptism to be less a Carnal Ordinance now than before If it be said That God confers inward Grace upon some that are now Object 1 baptized So no doubt he did also upon some Answ. that used those Baptisms among the Jews Or if it be said Because 't is commanded by Christ now under the New Object 2 Covenant I Answer First That 's to beg the Question of which hereafter Answ. But Secondly We find That where the Matter of Ordinances is the same and the End the same they are never accounted more or less Spiritual because of their different times Now was not God the Author of the Purifications and Baptisms under the Law Was not Water the Matter of them which is so now Was not the End of them to signify an Inward Purifying by an Outward Washing And is not that alledged to be the End still And are the necessary Effects or Consequences of it any better now Men are no more now than before by Water-baptism inwardly cleansed than before since men are now by vertue of Water-baptism as a necessary Consequence of it no more than before made Inwardly Clean And if some by God's Grace that are baptized with Water are inwardly purified so were some also under the Law so that this is not any Necessary Consequence nor Effect neither of this nor that Baptism It is then plainly Repugnant to Right Reason as well as to the Scripture-Testimony to affirm that to be a Spiritual Ordinance now which was a Carnal Ordinance before if it be still the same both as to its Author Matter and End however made to vary in some small Circumstances The Spirituality of the New Covenant and of its Worship established by Christ consisted not in such superficial Alterations of Circumstances but after another manner Therefore let our Adversaries shew us if they can without begging the Question and building upon some one or other of their own Principles denied by us wherever Christ appointed or ordained any Institution or Observation under the New Covenant as belonging to the Nature of it or such a necessary part of its Worship as is perpetually to Continue which being one in Substance and Effects I speak of necessary not accidental Effects yet because of some small difference in Form or Circumstance was before Carnal notwithstanding it was commanded by God under the Law but now is become Spiritual became commanded by Christ under the Gospel And if they cannot do this then if Water-baptism was once a Carnal Ordinance as the Apostle positively affirms it to have been it remains a Carnal Ordinance still and if a Carnal Ordinance then no necessary part of the Gospel or New Covenant-Dispensation and if no necessary part of it then not needful to Continue nor to be Practised by such as live and walk under this Dispensation But in this as in most other things according as we have often observed our Adversaries Judaize and renouncing the Glorious and Spiritual Priviledges of the New Covenant are sticking in and cleaving to the Rudiments of the Old both in Doctrine and Worship as being more suited and agreeable to their Carnal Apprehensions and Natural Senses But we on the contrary travel above all to lay hold upon and cleave unto the Light of the Glorious Gospel Revealed unto us And the Harmony of the Truth we profess in this The Law distinguisht from the Gospel may appear by briefly observing how in all things we follow the Spiritual Gospel of Christ as contradistinguished from the Carnality of the Legal Dispensation while our Adversaries through rejecting this Gospel are still labouring under the burthen of the Law which neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear For the Law and Rule of the Old Covenant and Jews was Outward written in Tables of Stone and Parchments The Outward Baptism Worship Law distinguisht from the Inward So also is that of our Adversaries But the Law of the New Covenant is Inward and Perpetual written in the heart So is ours The Worship of the Jews was Outward and Carnal limited to set Times Places and Persons and Performed according to Set Prescribed Forms and Observations so is that of our Adversaries But the Worship of the New Covenant is neither limited to Time Place nor Person but is performed in the Spirit and in Truth and is not acted according to set Forms and Prescriptions but as the Spirit of God immediately acts moves and leads whether it be to Preach Pray or Sing and such is also our Worship So likewise the Baptism among the Jews under the Law was an outward Washing with outward Water only to Typifie an inward Purification of the Soul which did not necessarily follow upon those that were thus baptized But the Baptism of Christ under the Gospel is the Baptism of the Spirit and of Fire not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the Answer of a good Conscience towards God and such is the Baptism that we labour to be baptized
necessary which as Protestants we affirm and have proved is false else we must confess that Water is not here understood of outward Water For to say that when Water and the Spirit are placed here just together and in the same manner thô there be not any difference or ground for it visible in the Text or deduceable from it That the necessity of Water is here Praecepti but not Medii but the necessity of the Spirit is both Medii and Praecepti is indeed confidently to affirm but not to prove * Obj. VI. Sixthly and lastly they Object That the Baptism of Water is a visible Sign or Badge to distinguish Christians from Infidels even as Circumcision did the Jews †Answ. I Answer This saith nothing at all unless it be proved to be a necessary Precept or part of the New Covenant-Dispensation it not being lawful to us to impose outward Ceremonies and Rites and say they will distinguish us from Infidels Circumcision was positively commanded and said to be a Seal of the first Covenant Circumcision a Seal of the first Covenant Water-baptism falsly called a Badge of Christianity Which is the Badge of Christianity but as we have already proved that there is no such Command for Baptism so there is not any Word in all the New Testament calling it a Badge of Christianity or Seal of the New Covenant and therefore to conclude it is so because Circumcision was so unless some better Proof be alledged for it is miserably to beg the Question The professing of Faith in Christ and a holy Life answering thereunto is a far better Badge of Christianity than any outward Washing which yet answers not to that of Circumcision since that affixed a Character in the flesh which this doth not so that a Christian is not known to be a Christian by his being baptized especially when he was a Child unless he tell them so much And may not the Professing Faith in Christ signify that as well I know there are divers of those called Fathers that speak much of Water-baptism What the Fathers say of Water-baptism and of the Sign of the Cross. calling it Character Christianitatis But so did they also of the Sign of the Cross and other such things justly rejected by Protestants For the Mystery of Iniquity which began to work even in the Apostles days soon spoiled the Simplicity and Purity of the Christian Worship so that not only many Jewish Rites were retained but many Heathenish Customs and Ceremonies introduced into the Christian Worship Heathenish Ceremonies introduc'd into the Christian Worship as particularly that word Sacrament So that it is great folly especially for Protestants to plead any thing of this from Tradition or Antiquity for we find that neither Papists nor Protestants use these Rites exactly as the Ancients did who in such things not walking by the most certain Rule of God's Spirit but doting too much upon Outwards were very Vncertain For most of them all in the Primitive Time did wholly plunge and dip those they Baptized which neither Papists nor Protestants do yea several of the Fathers accused some as Hereticks in their Days for holding some Principles common with Protestants concerning it as particularly Augustin doth the Pelagians for saying That Infants dying Vnbaptized may be saved And the Manichees were Condemned for denying that Grace is universally given by Baptism and Julian the Pelagian by Augustin for denying Exorcism and Insufflation in the use of Baptism All which things Protestants deny also Exorcism or Adjuration So that Protestants do but foolishly to upbraid us as if we could not shew any among the Ancients that denied Water-baptism seeing they cannot shew any whom they acknowledge not to have been Heretical in several things to have used it nor yet who using it did not use also the Sign of the Cross and other things with it which they deny There were some nevertheless in the darkest Times of Popery The Sign of the Cross. who testified against Water-baptism For one Alanus pag. 103 104 107. speaks of some in his Time Many in former Ages testified against Water-baptism that were burnt for the denying of it for they said that Baptism had no Efficacy either in Children or Adult Persons and therefore Men were not obliged to take Baptism Particularly Ten Canonicks so called were burnt for that Crime by the Order of King Robert of France as P. Pithaeus tells in his Fragments of the History of Guienne Which is also confirmed by one Johannes Floracensis a Monk who was famous at that Time in his Epistle to Oliva Abbot of the Ausonian Church I will saith he give you to understand concerning the Heresy that was in the City of Orleans on Childer-mass-day for it was true if ye have heard any thing that King Robert caused to be burnt alive nigh Fourteen of that City of the Chief of their Clergy and the more Noble of their Laicks who were hateful to God and abominable to Heaven and Earth Ten Canonicks burnt at Orleans and why for they did stiffly deny the Grace of Holy Baptism and also the Consecration of our Lord's Body and Blood The time of this Deed is noted in these words by Papir Masson in his Annals of France lib. 3. in Hugh and Robert Actum Aureliae public◠Anno Incarnationis Domini 1022. Regni Roberti Regis 28. Indictione 5. quando Stephanus Haeresiarcha Complices ejus damnati sunt exusti Aureliae Now for their calling them Hereticks and Manichees we have nothing but the Testimony of their Accusers which will no more invalidate their Testimony for this Truth against the use of Water-baptism or give more ground to charge us as being one with Manichees than because some called by them Manichees do agree with Protestants in some things that therefore Protestants are Manichees or Hereticks which Protestants can no ways shun For the Question is Whether in what they did they walked according to the Truth testified of by the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures So that the Controversy is brought back again to the Scriptures according to which I suppose I have formerly discussed it As for the latter part of the Thesis The Baptism of Infants an Humane Tradition denying the Vse of Infant-Baptism it necessarily follows from what is above-said For if Water-Baptism be Ceased then surely Baptising of Infants is not warrantable But those that take upon them to Oppose us in this matter will have more to do as to this latter part for after they have done what they can to prove Water-Baptism it remains for them to prove that Infants ought to be Baptized For he that proves Water-Baptism Ceased proves that Infant-Baptism is vain But he that should prove that Water-Baptism continues has not thence proved that Infant-Baptism is necessary That needs something further And therefore it was a pitiful Subterfuge of Nic. Arnoldus against this to say That the denying of
Primitive Church justly sought under the Heathen-Emperors to wit for Men of Sobriety Honesty and a peaceable Conversation to enjoy the Liberty and Exercise of their Conscience towards God and among themselves and to admit among them such as by their Persuasion and Influence come to be convinced of the same Truth with them without being therefore molested by the Civil Magistrate Thirdly though we would not have Men hurt in their Temporals nor robbed of their Priviledges as Men and Members of the Common-Wealth because of their Inward Persuasion yet we are far from judging that in the Church of God there should not be Censures exercised against such as fall into Error as well as such as commit open Evils And therefore we believe it may be very lawful for a Christian Church if she find any of her Members fall into any Errour after due Admonitions and Instructions according to Gospel Order if she find them pertinacious to cut them off from her Fellowship by the Sword of the Spirit and denude them of these Priviledges which they had as Fellow-Members but not to cut them off from the World by the Temporal Sword or rob them of their common Priviledges as Men seeing they enjoy not these as Christians or under such a Fellowship but as Men and Members of the Creation Hence Chrysostom saith well de Anath We must condemn and reprove the evil Doctrines that proceed from Hereticks but spare the Men and pray for their Salvation § II. But that no Man by vertue of any Power or Principality he hath in the Government of this World hath Power over the Consciences of Men is apparent Conscience the Throne of God because The Conscience of Man is the Seat and Throne of God in him Of which God is the alone proper and Infallible Judge who by his Power and Spirit can alone rectifie the Mistakes of Conscience and therefore hath reserved to himself the Power of punishing the Errors thereof as he seeth meet Now for the Magistrate to assume this is to take upon him to meddle with things not within the Compass of his Jurisdiction for if this were within the Compass of his Jurisdiction he should be the proper Judge in these things and also it were needful to him as an Essential Qualification of his being a Magistrate to be capable to judge in them But that the Magistrate as a Magistrate is neither proper Judge in these Cases nor yet that the Capacity so to be is requisite in him as a Magistrate our Adversaries cannot deny or else they must say That all the Heathen-Magistrates were either no lawful Magistrates as wanting something Essential to Magistracy and this were contrary to the express Doctrine of the Apostles Rom. 13. or else which is more absurd that those Heathen-Magistrates were proper Judges in Matters of Conscience amongst Christians As for that Evasion That the Magistrate ought to punish according to the Church Censure and Determination which is indeed no less than to make the Magistrate the Church's Hang-Man we shall have occasion to speak of it hereafter But if the Chief Members of the Church though ordained to inform instruct and reprove are not to have Dominion over the Faith nor Consciences of the Faithful as the Apostle expresly affirms 2 Cor. 1.24 then far less ought they to usurp this Dominion or stir up the Magistrate to persecute and murder those who cannot yield to them therein Secondly This pretended Power of the Magistrate is both contrary unto and inconsistent with the Nature of the Gospel which is a thing altogether extrinsick from the Rule and Government of Political States as Christ expresly signified saying His Kingdom was not of this World And if the propagating of the Gospel had had any necessary Relation thereunto then Christ had not said so But he abundantly hath shewn by his Example whom we are chiefly to imitate in Matters of that nature that its by Perswasion and the Power of God not by Whips Imprisonments Banishments and Murderings that the Gospel is to be propagated and that those that are the Propagators of it are often to suffer by the Wicked but never to cause the Wicked to suffer When he sends forth his Disciples he tells them he sends them forth as Lambs among Wolves to be willing to be devoured not to devour he tells them of their being whipped Matt. 10.16 imprisoned and killed for their Conscience but never that they shall either whip imprison or kill and indeed if Christians must be as Lambs it is not the Nature of Lambs to destroy or devour any It serves nothing to alledge That in Christ and his Apostles Times the Magistrates were Heathens and therefore Christ and his Apostles nor yet any of the Believers being no Magistrate they could not exercise the Power Because it cannot be denied but Christ being the Son of God had a true Right to all Kingdoms Matt. 28.18 and was Righteous Heir of the Earth Next as to his Power it cannot be denied but he could if he had seen meet have called for Legions of Angels to defend him and have forced the Princes and Potentates of the Earth to be subject unto him Matth. 26.53 so that it was only because it was contrary to the Nature of Christ's Gospel and Ministry to use any Force or Violence in the gathering of Souls to him This he abundantly expressed in his Reproof to the Sons of Zebedee who would have been calling for Fire from Heaven to burn those that refused to receive Christ It is not to be doubted but this was as great a Crime as now to be in an Errour concerning the Faith and Doctrine of Christ. That there was not Power wanting to have punished those Refusers of Christ cannot be doubted for they that could do other Miracles might have done this also and moreover they wanted not the Precedent of a Holy Man under the Law to wit Elias Yet we see what Christ saith to them Ye know not what spirit ye are of Luk. 9.55 for the Son of Man is not come to destroy mens lives but to save them Here Christ shews That such kind of Zeal was no ways approved of him and such as think to make way for Christ or his Gospel by this means do not understand what Spirit they are of But if it was not lawful to call for Fire from Heaven to destroy such as refused to receive Christ it is far less lawful to kindle Fire upon Earth to destroy those that believe in Christ because they will not believe nor can believe as the Magistrates do for Conscience-sake And if it was not lawful for the Apostles who had so large a Measure of the Spirit and were so little liable to mistake to force others to their Judgment it can be far less lawful now for Men that as Experience declareth and many of themselves confess are fallible and often mistaken to kill and destroy all such as cannot because otherwise perswaded in
the Persecutors and make their Chariot wheels go on heavily Thus after much and many kind of Sufferings thus patiently born which to rehearse would make a Volumn of it self which may in due time be published to the Nations for we have them upon Record a kind of Negative Liberty has been obtained so that at present for the most part we Meet together without Disturbance from the Magistrate But on the contrary most Protestants when they have not the Allowance and Tolerance of the Magistrate meet only in secret and hide their Testimony and if they be discovered if there be any probability of making their Escape by Force though it were by cutting off those that seek them out they will do it Whereby they lose the Glory of their Sufferings by not appearing as the Innocent Followers of Christ nor having a Testimony of their harmlessness in the Hearts of their Pursuers their Fury by such Resistance is the more kindled against them As to this last part of Resisting such as persecute them they can lay claim to no Precept from Christ nor any Example of him or his Apostles approved But as to the first Part for fleeing and meeting secretly Object and not openly testifying for the Truth they usually object that Saying of Christ Matth. 10.23 When they persecute you in this city flee ye into another And Act. 9.4 That the Disciples met secretly for fear of the Jews And Act 9 25. That Paul was let out of Damascus in a basket down by the Wâ—ll To all which I answer First as to that Saying of Christ it is a Question Answ. if it had any further Relation than to that particular Message with which he sent them to the Jews yea the latter end of the Words seem expresly to hold forth so much for ye shall not have gone over the cities of Judah till the Son of Man be come Now a particular Practice or Command for a particular Time will not serve for a Precedent to any at this Day to shun the Cross of Christ. But supposing this Precept to reach further it must be so understood to be made use of only according as the Spirit giveth Liberty else no Man that could flee might suffer Persecution How then did not the Apostles John and Peter flee Fleeing in Time of Persecution not allowed when they were the first time persecuted at Jerusalem But on the contrary went the next Day after they were discharged by the Council and preached boldly to the People But indeed many are but too capable to stretch such Sayings as these for selfâ—preservation and therefore have great ground to fear when they interpret them that they shun to witness for Christ for fear of Hurt to themselves lest they mistake them As for that private Meeting of the Disciples we have only an Account of the Matter of Fact but that suffices not to make of it a Precedent for us and Mens aptness to imitate them in that which for ought we know might have been an Act of Weakness and not in other things of the contrary Nature shews that it is not a true Zeal to be like those Disciples but indeed a Desire to preserve themselves which moves them so to do Lastly As to that of Paul's being conveyed out of Damascus The Case was singular and is not to be doubted but it was done by a special Allowance from God who having designed him to be a principal Minister of his Gospel saw meet in his Wisdom to disappoint the Wicked Counsel of the Jews But our Adversaries have no such pretext for fleeing whose fleeing proceeds from self-preservation not from immediate Revelation And that Paul made not this the Method of his Procedure appears in that at another time notwithstanding the Perswasion of his Friends and certain Prophecies of his Sufferings to come he would not be disswaded to go up to Jerusalem which according to the fore-mentioned Rule he should have done But lastly to conclude this Matter Glory to God and our Lord Jesus Christ that now these twenty five Years since we were known to be a distinct and separate People hath given us faithfully to suffer for his Name without shrinking or fleeing the Cross and what Liberty we now enjoy it is by his Mercy and not by any outward Working or Procuring of our own but 't is he has wrought upon the Hearts of our Opposers Nor was it any Outward Interest hath procured it unto us but the Testimony of our harmlessness in the Hearts of our Superiors For God hath preserved us hitherto in the patient Suffering of Jesus that we have not given away our Cause by persecuting any which few if any Christians that I know can say Now against our unparalleld yet Innocent and Christian Cause our malicious Enemies have nothing to say but that if we had Power we would do so likewise This is a Piece of meer Unreasonabe Malice and a Priviledge they take to judge of things to come which they have not by immediate Revelation and surely it is the greatest highth of harsh Judgment to say Men would do contrary to their professed Principle if they could who have from their Practice hitherto given no ground for it and wherein they only judge others by themselves Such Conjectures cannot militate against us so long as we are Innocent And if ever we prove guilty of Persecution by forcing other Men by Corporal Punishment to our Way then let us be judged the greatest of Hypocrites and let not any spare to persecute us Amen saith my Soul PROPOSITION XV. Concerning Salutations and Recreations c. Seeing the Chief End of all Religion is to redeem Men from the Spirit and vain Conversation of this World and to lead into inward Communion with God before whom if we fear always we are accounted happy Eph. 5.11 1 Pet. 1.14 Joh. 5.44 Jer. 10.3 Acts 10.26 Matt. 15.13 Col. 2.8 therefore all the vain Customes and Habits thereof both in Word and Deed are to be rejected and forsaken by those who come to this Fear such as the taking off the HAT to a Man the Bowings and Cringings of the Body and such other Salutations of that kind with all the Foolish and Superstitious Formalities attending them all which Man has invented in his Degenerate State to feed his Pride in the vain Pomp and Glory of this World As also the unprofitable Plays frivolous Recreations Sportings and Gaming 's which are invented to pass away the pretious Time and divert the Mind from the Witness of God in the Heart and from the living Sense of his Fear and from that Evangelical Spirit wherewith Christians ought to be levened and which leads into Sobriety Gravity and Godly Fear in which as we abide the Blessing of the Lord is felt to attend us in those Actions which we are necessarily engaged in order to the taking Care for the Sustenance of the outward Man § I. HAving hitherto treated of the Principles of Religion both
are not yet fitted for this form of Christianity and therefore cannot be undefending themselves until they attain that Perfection But for such whom Christ has brought hither it is not lawful to defend themselves by Arms but they ought over all to trust to the Lord. The Conclusion § XVI But lastly to Conclude If to give and receive flattering Titles which are not used because of the Vertues inherent in the Persons but are for most part bestowed by wicked men upon such as themselves If to Bow Scrape and Cringe to one another If at every time to call one another Humble Servant and that most frequently without any design of Real Service if this be the Honour that comes from God and not the Honour that is from below then indeed our Adversaries may be said to be Believers and we condemned as proud and stubborn in denying all these things But if with Mordecai to refuse to bow to proud Haman and with Elihu not to give flattering Titles to men lest we should be reproved of our Maker and if according to Peter's Example and the Angel's Advice to bow only to God and not to our Fellow Servants and if to call no man Lord nor Master except under particular Relations according to Christ's Command I say Eph. 3.5 Job 32.21 22. if these things be not to be Reproved then are we not blame-worthy in so doing If to be Vain and Gaudy in Apparel if to paint the Face and plait the Hair if to be cloathed with Gold and Silver and pretious Stones and if to be filled with Ribbands and Lace be to be cloathed in modest Apparel and if these be the Ornaments of Christians and if that be to be Humble Meek and Mortified Then are our Adversaries good Christians indeed and we proud singular and conceited in contenting our selves with what need and conveniency calls for and condemning what is more as superfluous but not otherwise If to use Games Sports Plays if to Card Dice and Dance if to Sing Fidle and Pipe if to use Stage-plays and Comedies and to Lie Counterfeit and Dissemble be to Fear always and if that be to do all things to the Glory of God and if that be to pass our sojourning here in Fear and if that be to use this World as if we did not use it and if that be not to fashion our selves according to our former Lusts to be not conformable to the Spirit and vain Conversation of this World Then are our Adversaries notwithstanding they use these things and plead for them very Good Sober Mortified and Self-denied Christians and we justly to be blamed for judging them but not otherwise If the Profanation of the Holy Name of God if to exact Oaths one from another upon every light occasion if to call God to Witness in things of such a nature in which no earthly King would think himself lawfully and honourably to be a Witness be the duties of a Christian man I shall confess that our Adversaries are excellent good Christians and we wanting in our duty But if the contrary be true of necessity our Obedience to God in this thing must be acceptable If to Revenge our selves or to render Injury Evil for Evil Wound for Wound to take Eye for Eye Tooth for Tooth If to fight for outward and perishing things to go a Warring one against another whom we never saw nor with whom we never had any contest nor any thing to do being more-over altogether ignorant of the Cause of the War but only that the Magistrates of the Nations foment quarrels one against another the Causes whereof are for the most part unknown to the Soldiers that fight as well as upon whose side the right or wrong is and yet to be so furious and rage one against another to destroy and spoil all that this or the other Worship may be received or abolished If to do this and much more of this kind be to fulfil the Law of Christ Then are our Adversaries indeed true Christians and we miserable Hereticks that suffer our selves to be Spoiled Taken Imprisoned Banished Beaten and evilly entreated without any resistance placing our trust only in GOD that he may defend us and lead us by this way of the Cross unto his Kingdom But if it be other ways we shall certainly receive the Reward which the Lord hath promised to those that cleave to him and in denying themselves Confide in him And to sum up all If to use all these things and many more that might be instanced be to walk in the strait Way that leads to Life be to take up the Cross of Christ be to die with him to the Lusts and perishing Vanities of this World and to arise with him in newness of Life and sit down with him in the heavenly places Then our Adversaries may be accounted such and they need not fear they are in the broad way that leads to destruction And we are greatly mistaken that have laid aside all these things for Christ's sake to the crucifying of our own Lusts and to the procuring to our selves Shame Reproach Hatred and Illwill from the men of this world Not as if by so doing we judged to merit Heaven but as knowing they are contrary to the Will of him who redeems his Children from the love of this World and its Lusts and leads them in the ways of Truth and Holiness in which they take delight to walk THE CONCLUSION IF in God's Fear Candid Reader thou applyest thy self to Consider this Systeme of Religion here delivered with its Consistency and Harmony as well in it self as with the Scriptures of Truth I doubt not but thou wilt say with me and many more That this is the Spiritual Day of Christ's Appearance wherein he is again revealing the antient Paths of Truth and Righteousness For thou mayst observe here the Christian Religion in all its parts truly established and vindicated as it is a living inward spiritual pure and substantial thing and not a meer form shew shadow notion and opinion as too many have hitherto held it whose Fruits declare they wanted that which they bear the name of and yet many of those are so in love with their Empty Forms and Shadows that they cease not to calumniate us for commending and calling them to the Substance as if we therefore denied or neglected the true Form and outward Part of Christianity which indeed is as God the Searcher of Hearts knows a very great Slander Thus because we have desired people earnestly to feel after God near and in themselves telling them That their Notions of God as he is beyond the Clouds will little avail them if they do not feel him near Hence they have sought malitiously to infer that we deny any God except that which is within us because we tell People That it is the Light and the Law within and not the Letter without that can truly tell them their Condition and lead them out of
Man as to a more noble or certain Rule and Touchstone For this Divine Revelation and inward Illumination is that which is evident and clear of it self forcing by its own Evidence and Clearness the well-disposed Vnderstanding to Assent irresistibly moving the same thereunto even as the Common Principles of Natural Truths move and incline the Mind to a Natural Assent R. B People this is that which we Affirm and which these Young-Men are about to Dispute against as false Notwithstanding that A. Shir. had thus offered himself first to dispute yet I. L. Intruding himself put him to Silence beginning as followeth I. L. That which is not to be believed as the Rule of Faith is not to be the Rule of Faith But The Spirit is not to be believed as the Rule of Faith Therefore The Spirit is not to be the Rule of Faith R. B. Having Repeated the Argument I deny the Minor or second Proposition I. L. I prove it That which hath not a sufficient Evidence to evidence it self to be a Rule is not to be a Rule But The Spirit in the Quakers hath not a sufficient Evidence whereby to evidence it self to be a Rule Therefore The Spirit in the Quakers is not to be our Rule R. B. Having Repeated the Argument I distinguish that Second Proposition If thou meanest any Spirit in the Quakers which they peculiarly assume to themselves as Quakers or say they have as aâ—part of themselves or of Man's Nature we Concede that such have no Evidence neither do we say that any such Spirit is to be our Rule But if thou meanest that Vniversal Spirit of God a Manifestation whereof is given to every one to profit withal we affirm it hath a sufficient Evidence in us and in all Men. I. L. I urge that Distinction If the Spirit hath a sufficient Evidence either this Evidence is from your own Declaration or some other But It is neither from your own Declaration nor from some other Therefore It hath not a sufficient Evidence R. B. It is from both J. L. What is it then R. B. That it teacheth us to deny Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World This is an Evidence to all Men. J. L. I prove that is not a sufficient Evidence thus That is not a sufficient Evidence which Hereticks may pretend unto as a sufficient ground for their Heresie But Hereticks may pretend this as a sufficient ground for their Heresie Therefore It is not a sufficient Evidence R. B. I Answer this first by a Retortion this is the same Argument upon the matter which the Jesuit Dempster used against your Master viz. John Menzies For the Jesuit pressing him to assign a ground for the Protestant Religion which Hereticks could not pretend unto J. M. named the Scripture and the Jesuit further urged that Hereticks could and did pretend unto the Scriptures Now what Evidence can ye give from the Scriptures which we cannot give Yea and greater from the Spirit that Hereticks cannot justly lay claim to Stud. With one voice We will not have Retortions R. B. Praeses Read the Articles which contain a particular provision for Retortions as being lawful if not insisted too much on So the fifth Article above-mentioned was read G. K. I offer to Answer directly to his Argument without Retortion though I pass not from the Retortion for it stands over your heads which ye will never get over Then I say we have a two-fold Evidence which no Heretick can justly lay claim to The one is the inward Evidence of the Spirit of God by its own immediate Testimony in our hearts The other is the Testimony of the Scriptures which I affirm in the Name of the People called Quakers is the best external and outward Evidence and Rule that can be given And my Reason why we have the Testimony of the Scriptures as an Evidence that we have the Inspiration of the Spirit is this All Men have a measure of the Inspiration of the Spirit of God according to the Scriptures Testimony That Christ the true Light inlightneth every Man that cometh into the World and that a Manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Man to profit withal But this universal Illumination or Manifestation is Inspired and if all Men be in measure Inspired then consequently we who are Men are Inspired J. L. I prove ye have not the Testimony of the Scriptures for a sufficient Evidence That which is fallacious is not a sufficient Evidence But The Scriptures Testimony according to the Quakers without the indwelling of the Spirit is fallacious Therefore The Scriptures Testimony is not a sufficient Evidence R. B. Having Repeated the Argument I deny the 2 d Proposition G. K. The Argument is wrong in its Structure and vitious as consisting of four Terms which no right Syllogism should have Stud. I appeal to all Loâ—icians if when any thing is Subsumed in a Syllogism which is neither in the first Proposition nor in the Conclusion whether that Syllogism hath not four Terms Is it not in Forma For it hath not four Terms G. K. It hath four Terms and this I offer to prove before either your Masters or any other judicious Logicians in any Vniversity of this Nation I say it hath four Terms because it subsumes that in the second Proposition which was not in the first Proposition At this the Students fell a laughing and so provoked the People to lightness Al. Skein one of the Praeses's I am sorry to see those who profess to study Divinity behave themselves so lightly and so far from Seriousness in such weighty matters as concern the Truths of God G. K. I am ready still to prove that the Syllogism hath four Terms But this being not so proper here for this Auditory proceed ye to prove the second Proposition which R. B. hath denied J. L. I prove the Second Proposition That which may beguile a Man is fallacious But According to the Quakers the Scriptures may beguile a Man without the indwelling of the Spirit Therefore According to the Quakers the Scriptures are fallacious G. K. This Argument is also wrong in the Structure having four Terms R. B. But waving that I deny thy second Proposition For the Scripture cannot beguile any Man although Men may or have beguiled themselves by a wrong use of it A. Shir. Take notice People The Quakers say The Scriptures cannot beguile you R. B. Speak lowder yet for we do and have constantly Affirmed it And we hope it will help to clear us of those Mis-representations as if we despised or spake evil of the Scriptures G. K. I would my words could reach from the one end of the World to the other when I say The Scriptures cannot beguile any Man for the Scripture is innocent and a true Testimony in it self but Men do beguile themselves oft by making perverse Glosses upon the Scriptures The Scripture cannot be fallacious because
B. His Offer to Jo. Menzies Professor of Divinity so called George Meldrum Minister at Aberdeen and William Mitchel Catechist at Foot of Dee AS in this late Rencountre it was specially provided Challenge that it shall be Abstract from the Challenge made to you and so no fulfilling of it so now this being past of which you have here presented to you a good and Faithful Account which we hope being seriously weighed by your more Mature Judgments may allay any hasty Joy that might have proceeded from the Windy Triumphs the Students might have possessed you with a Belief they had obtained who at every turn to the nauseating of the more Serious and Impartial Auditors were proclaiming themselves Victors We think you more concerned And indeed we are the more desirous to Meet and Debate it with your selves For either this is All ye have to say which ye have put in their Mouths or ye have more to say If this be all then indeed it may be your Wisdom not to accept this Offer but if ye have more we shall be willing to hear it and endeavour to Answer it And as your Appearing yourselves would be more Satisfactory to the People and is most desired by them as well as us so divers Inconveniences that have in this or may fall in the like would be avoided For First It being in your Publick Houses Reasons there would be less Occasion of Tumult because the House is capable to hold divers Thousands Secondly as it is probable ye would not so readily be put to a Stand as they If it should happen ye were we are hopeful ye would not by raising a Laughter and Clamour amongst the People and crying out three or four at once seek to cover it or boast of Victory and cry out Your Argument is pungent before we have Time allowed us to Answer it Thirdly You engaging we are hopeful to procure Discreet Learned and Persons every way Considerable to be Judges Consultative upon our part though not professing our Way to help to Moderate and keep Good Order Fourthly It is probable That by the Solemnity of of such an Action and the Influence of your Presence as well as other Persons of Condition being there might secure us from the Hazzard of Clods and Stones for I do truly assure you I conceive my self more able to Answer the most pungent of your Arguments than defending my self from the Stones and Blows of your Vnreasonable and Brutish Church-Members Objections It is by some of your People Objected to us whether it come from you or not I will not Affirm That it is below you to engage with us But as this is altogether unsuitable to Christian Ministers whose Master disdained not daily to Debate and Answer the Questions of such as Opposed themselves unto him and taught his Disciples to leave the ninety and nine and go seek after the Odd one Next It is most Vnreasonable for since ye take Liberty to speak against us in your Pulpits and particularly to design us yea and sometimes to speak Vntruths of us I desire then to know Whether it be agreeable to the Rules of Christianity or even of Common Honesty to take Liberty to speak ill of Men behind their Backs abuse their Principles and Reputations and yet say It is below them to prove these Charges to the Mens own Faces Secondly It is Objected That it is against the Laws to call the Faith established by Law into Question But may not the same be said against Protestants in those Nations where Popery and Mahometism are Established by Law Yea is not this the very Pretence and put-off which the Papists both in Germany and France gave the Primitive Protestants when they desired Publick Conferences with them And was not both the Emperour Charles the Fifth and his Brother Ferdinando sorely checkt by divers Bishops of Rome for granting these Conferences and the Queen Mother of France openly reproved and cried out against by Cardinal Turnon and other Clergy-Men for giving way to that of Poysy as suffering the Vniversal Faith of the Church to be called in Question which had been established by many Laws and for a far longer Time than the Profession we oppose It seems ye Defend your selves chiefly by Popish Weapons as will anon further appear In order whereunto I shall speak a Word or two to John Menzies and so make an end The greatest and frequentest Argument that both thy Scholars and others make against us Scholars chief Argument against us is That we have no certain Evidence by which we can make known That we are led by the Spirit that Hereticks and others cannot pretend to Now if this may be admitted as Relevant or Strong against us I desire thou wouldst be pleased to shew me How thou canst extricate thy self out of the same Difficulty when urged by the Jesuit Dempster That the Scripture which thou assignedst as the Ground of the Protestant Religion is an Evidence for you seeing all Hereticks also pretend to it Let me see what Difficulties occur in our Case as to the Spirit which likewise occur not in the same very Way in Yours as to the Scripture For besides that we have as good Ground to lay Claim to the Scriptures as your selves and are ready and I hope able to prove our Principles from them as well as your selves If ye say Men may be deceived by a Seducing Spirit What then will it therefore follow That the Spirit of God will deceive any Or that Men ought not to be guided by it more than because many Men have been and are deceived by a Mis-understanding and wrong Use of the Scripture that therefore the Scripture doth deceive People or ought not to be the Rule If it be said Divers Men pretending to the Spirit Contradict one another Doth not the same recur as to the Scriptures What greater Contradictions can there be than there is betwixt certain Churches both acknowledging the Scriptures to be the Rule Hast thou forgotten John how thou and thy Elder Brother Andr. Cant who both Affirmed the Scripture to be the only Certain Rule and yet oftentimes before the same Auditory in the same Pulpit did from the very same Verse of Scripture Psal. 93 5. Holiness becometh thy house O Lord for ever draw different and Contradictory Doctrines Vses and Applications If that then will not infer according to you the Scriptures to be an Vncertain Rule neither will the other as to the Spirit If it be said That the fame Man pretending to be guided by the Spirit hath been of different Judgments doth not the same also recur as to the Scriptures Or need we go further John than thy self to prove this who hast all-along acknowledged the Scripture to be the Rule and yet sometime judged the Congregational Way to be preferrable to the Presbyterian And then the Presbyterian better than the Independent And now the Episcopal preferrable to both Or tell me John honestly
Testimony of Moses and the Prophets even than John who was the greatest But when we produce the Testimony of Moses and the Prophets and Apostles as an Evidence to the Truth of what we affirm I say it should be received by our Adversaries who own the Scriptures as their Chief and Only Rule For either they should Receive it or not Receive it if they should Receive it then they are faulty who in the late Dispute at Aberdeen did refuse to Receive the Evidence of the Scriptures as from us only because we say We have a greater to wit that of the Spirit within us although we own the Scripture as the greatest Visible and outward Evidence that we can give to our Adversaries If they should not Receive the Scripture-Evidence and Testimony as from us because we say we have a Greater to wit that of Christ himself immediately in us by his Spirit then they must needs also say for the same Reason That the Jews ought not to receive the Testimony of the Scriptures as an Evidence for Christ because he said He had a Greater And certainly he had a greater though they would not receive it nor could not as they stood in their Prejudice and Malice wherewith they were filled against him who did not receive him Now this I say with Freedom and Boldness of Spirit to all those whether Papists Anabaptists Prelatical or Presbyterian Professors who with one Mouth require of us an Evidence that we are Inspired or have a Measure of the Inspiration of the Spirit of God and Christ in us I offer unto all of you the Scriptures for an Evidence of this Truth viz. That the Quakers so called have a Measure of the Inspiration of the Spirit of God and Christ in them For according to the Scriptures-Testimony Christ the true Light enlighteneth every Man that cometh into the World and his Illumination is his Inspiration I profess sincerely in God's Fear That the Scriptures-Testimony is to me as full and plain and Convincing to prove this Truth viz. That an Illumination Manifestation and Inspiration of the Spirit of God is given to every Man is in every Man as to prove this Truth That Christ who according to the Flesh was born of the Virgin Mary was the promised Messiah Now if we can prove from Scripture That all Men have in them a Measure of this Divine Illumination and Inspiration by the Spirit of Christ we have gained our Point which is That we have also a Measure of the same in us for ALL MEN doth comprehend Vs called Quakers as well as other Men I see not what our Adversaries can with any Colour Object against this Evidence from Scripture but this That they will deny that the Scripture bears Testimony to this Vniversal Illumination or Inspiration of the Spirit of God in Men. But this brings the Matter of the Debate from being Personal to be Doctrinal and so puts us upon equal Terms at least with all our Adversaries especially Prelatical Anabaptist and Presbyterian and Independent Opposers whatsoever who say The Scriptures are their chief and only Rule And though our Adversaries say The Scripture doth not testifie to that Universal Inspiration of the Spirit of Christ in Men that moveth us not more than when the Jews denied That the Scriptures bore Testimony to him that was born of the Virgin Mary to be the Christ. We are able by the help of God to prove from Scripture the Truth of this Doctrine of Divine Illumination and Inspiration in all Men and consequently in the Quakers as much as they or any professing Christianity upon Earth can prove any Principle or Doctrine of their Faith Secondly We are able and do offer by the Grace of God against all our Opposers whatsoever to prove from the Scriptures-Testimony That this Universal Inspiration and Illumination of Christ by his Spirit in Men is a sufficient Evidence of Truth and Rule of Faith and Life in all Men and consequently in us called Quakers Thirdly that this Divine Inspiration and Illumination where it is not wilfully resisted and rejected but regarded and attended is a Greater Evidence than the Scripture is and witnessed by the Scriptures Fourthly and yet the Scripture is the Greatest Visible and Outward Evidence that either we or they can give of their Rule I shall conclude with a reasonable Demand to these Young-Men Masters of Arts their Masters and Teachers which is this Whether they own these Assertions Affirmations and Arguments of their Scholars in the late Dispute as followeth viz. That whatever is of God is God That the Scriptures according to the Quakers are Fallacious and can beguile us That the Baptism with the Holy Ghost is ceased And the rest of their Discourse inserted in this foregoing Treatise If Yea Let them declare so much to the People who are greatly stumbled at these their Expressions even divers of their own Church If Nay then let them publickly Reprove and Disown those Words otherwise not only we but many others will say Ye have both taught and allowed them so to Affirm G. K. Quakerism Confirmed OR A VINDICATION Of the Chief DOCTRINES and PRINCIPLES Of the PEOPLE called QUAKERS FROM THE Arguments and Objections of the Students of Divinity so called of Aberdeen in their Book entituled QVAKERISM CANVASED BY ROBERT BARCLAY AND GEORGE KEITH 2 Tim. 3.9 But they shall proceed no further for their Folly shall be manifest to all Men c. London Printed for Tho. Northcott 1691. Friendly Reader 1676. HAD we not more Regarded the Interest of the Truth for whose sake we can shun no Abasement than the Significancy of those with whom we have this Rencountre we should have rather chused to be silent than Answer them they being of so small Reputation among their own that neither Teachers nor People will hold themselves Accomptable for any of their Positions and seem zealous to have it believed they would not bestow Time to Read it nor yet hold themselves obliged to Approve it However since we certainly know That in the Second Part of their Book to which this Reply is they have scraped together most of the Chief Arguments used against us and borrowed not a little from G. M's Manuscripts with whose Work that yet appears not we have been these seven Years menaced Which like the Materials of a Building managed by Unskilful Workmen though they be by them very confusedly put together yet being the chief Things can be said against us we have throughly handled for the Reader 's Satisfaction which may be Serviceable to the Truth without Respect to the Insignificancy of those against whom it is written As for the first Part of their Book we have also Answered it but distinct from this it consisting of many Particularities of Matters of Fact which perhaps might have proved tedious to many Readers that may by This be Edified and think it of no great Consequence that the Students are proved Liars which even many
so as with open Face to behold the Glory of God The first sort of Revelation is given universally unto all both Jews and Gentiles but the second is only given to the Saints in whom the Seed is compleatly formed and brought forth As to their Queries we answer That Conscience and Reason are distinguished from the Saving Light of Christ in all Men and the Revelation thereof as a Natural and Supernatural Principle are distinguished and it was the Natural which Pelagius did exalt too much as our Adversaries also do who affirm That Men may be Lawful Preachers without being renewed by the Super-natural Principle of God's saving Light and Grace In the Prosecution of their Second Argument 1. They deny the Inward Blood and Sufferings of Christ referring us to their Proof afterwards which we shall in its Place examine 2. They alledge That we hold an Heavenly and Spiritual Nature in Christ which is distinct from the Godhead on the one hand and from the Manhood on the other which they call a Third Nature in Christ. But this their Alledgance is false The Inward Hearing of the Word Asserted for that Heavenly and Spiritual Nature is not a Third Thing distinct from both the Godhead and Manhood of Christ as shall be afterwards shewn 3. They alledge That the Apostle doth not speak of any inward Hearing or Word but of the outward The Contrary is manifest from the Apostles own Words in the same Chapter The Word is nigh thee in thy Mouth and in thy Heart Nor is their Reason valid to prove it for the Words verse 14 15. are not Arguments made by Paul but Objections adduced by him which he afterwards answereth And this is usual with Paul in this Epistle As to their Question Wherein consists the Nature and Essence of Faith We say It is a Receiving of Christ laying hold upon him according to whatsoever Revelation he makes of himself in Mens Hearts which is in some greater in others less but in all is in some degree In their Third Argument they undertake to prove That according to us the Scriptures are not necessary secundum quid or profitable But all in vain As for their Example as they know Examples prove not so is it vain and impertinent for we never Compared the Scriptures to a mutilated and dim Copy they are a clear and perfect Copy The Scriptures a perfect Copy but not the Original as to all Essentials and Necessaries of Christian Religion But they are not the Original And seeing we have answered them so many Questions let them Answer us this one Are not all these Divinity-Books and Commentaries on the Scripture made by Men not divinely Inspired as a mutilated and dim Copy in comparison of the Scripture and whether is the Scripture or these Books more perfect If they say the Scripture is more perfect then what need they the mutilated and dim Copy of these Divinity-Books Or what Profit can they have by them which they cannot have rather by the Scripture Again here they confound the Material and Formal Object of Faith as if we did hold That Inward Revelation without Scripture did propound unto us the Material Objects of Faith which is False For there are many of the Material Objects which are only propounded by the Scripture to wit such as the Historical Part of the Scripture and in this Respect we do not plead That Inward Revelation is the Material Object but the Formal In their Fourth Argument they are so blind as not to take notice how we can give the same Answer that they give concerning the Law That we who are under Grace and Obedience to the inward Law are dead as to the Condemning Power but not as to the Commanding Power thereof But that it is not the Letter or any outward Testimony of the Law Not the Letter nor the outward Law but the Spirit convinces the Conscience that doth so powerfully Convince a Man's Conscience as of other Sins so of Covetousness as the Spirit of God doth in his inward Convictions and Smitings upon the Conscience is clear from the Experience of all those who have known and passed through the State which the Apostle spake of when he said I was alive without the Law but when the Commandment came sin revived and I died Yea what Law is that of the Mind whereof he makes mention Rom. 8. but an Inward Law by which the Knowledge of Sin comes and through which both the Knowledge and Remembrance of Sin sticks more closely to the Soul than through any Outward Law it can And did not Christ say That the Spirit should Convince the World of Sin Yea how many of those called Heathens The Heathens instanced who had not any Outward Law have declared That Inward Concupiscence was a Sin As for their malicious Accusation against us of our Lust and Covetousness we reject as not worth the noticing seeing they assert it without any colour of Proof but it seems they have learned that Wicked and Devilish Maxime Calumniare audacter aliquid adhaerebit i. e. Calumniate boldly that something may stick Their Fifth Argument is Answered in the First as being a Branch thereof Their Sixth Argument is built upon a false Supposition that according to our Principle All would be Prophets and that no Difference could be assigned betwixt Prophets and Pastors and Teachers seeing Prophets and Teachers teach both from the Spirit Prophets and Teachers distinguish'd The First is Answered at large in the End of G. K's Book of Immediate Revelation To the Second we Answer that by Prophets in the strictest Sense are meant those who Prophesy of things to come as Agabus was by Teachers they who Instruct the People in Doctrine And this is a manifest Difference although in the large and common Sense Prophesying and Preaching are one thing Their Seventh Argument they pretend to build on that Scripture Jud. 19. but it is easily Answered That Men in one Sense may be said not to have the Spirit and in another to have it Even as a Rich Man who improveth not his Money both Hath and Hath it Not in divers Senses According to which Christ said From him that hath not shall be taken away that which he hath And whereas R. B. doth grant That they whose Day of Visitation is come to an End The Reproofs of the Spirit internal have not the Spirit so much as to invite and call them unto God Here they insult as if all were granted they seek But they are greatly deceived For though he grant That some have not the Spirit to call and invite them yet he granteth not That they have not the Spirit to reprove them For even the Devils and Damned Souls of Men and Women sin against the Spirit of God witnessing against them in their Hearts which is in them a Law of Condemnation as David said If I go down into hell thou art there Yea do we not read nor
bring them down to it also For seeing it is a Truth acknowledged both by them and us The Spiriâ— 's working in us as an efficient Cause That all true Christians and Children of God have the Spirit of God working in them at least as an Efficient Cause from this we urge them thus Either they have the Spirit of God working in them as an Efficient Cause or they have not If they say they have not they confess They are not true Christians or Children of God which we suppose they will be loth to say If they say They have the Spirit of God as an Efficient Cause of Faith working in them and subjectively inlightening them let them prove it or give us an Evidence of it Who doth not see that Poor Men they are taken in their own Snare We know all Rational and Sober Men will acknowledge that we are not bound tb receive their Affirmations without Proof more than they are bound to receive ours nor indeed so much we being as the Case stands but Defendents As touching their Answer to R. B. his Retortions about an Evidence it shall be examined in the Next Section In pag. 60. they tell That we assign them at last some Shadows of Evidence namely 1. our own Declaration 2. The Scriptures 3. The immediate Testimony of the Spirit But that these are not Shadows will appear to the Judicious and well-disposed if they consider these two things 1. That by our Declaration we mean not a bare verbal Declaration having no Vertue or Manifestation of Life in it for we confess such might be as good a Ground for an Heretick in way of Evidence A Declaration proceeding from the Spirit no Heretick has it but by our Declaration we mean such a Declaration as doth really proceed from the Spirit of God in us and is therefore a living Declaration having a Manifestation of Life in it and with it and which is not only in Words of Life or Living Words uttered through us from the Spirit of Life but also in Works of Life or Living Works which are the Fruits of the Spirit as said Christ By their fruits shall ye know them Now such a Declaration can no Heretick have however he may pretend to it If our Adversaries say That we only pretend to such a thing We answer them with their own Rule Affirmanti incumbit probatio i. e. The Affirmer ought to prove Let them prove us only to be Pretenders which yet they have not done nor can do And indeed such a Declaration from the Spirit of God in the Apostles as when John said We are of God c. was an Evidence That no Heretick could justly pretend to 2. It is a most Unjust and Unreasonable thing to require of us any other Evidence of our having the Spirit than that which every true Christian may and ought to give seeing we pretend to no other Spirit but that which every true Christian hath nor to any Revelations but these which are the Priviledges of all true Christians nor to any Doctrines which are not conform to the Scriptures of Truth As we are ready to prove and as G. K. hath already shewed in his Book of Immediate Revelation which neither the Students nor their Masters have given us any Refutation of Now have not all Good Christians these three Evidences for them year 1675 And we can prove by the help of the Lord that they are as applicable to us as to any upon Earth And here note that when we say The Scripture is the best outward Evidence that can be given We mean it not as a particular Evidence but as a general Common to all good Christians The Scripture an Evidence For we grant That the Scripture cannot prove that any particular Man hath the Spirit of God in such a way as true Christians have it but it proves in general that all true Christians have it yea and all Men to Convince them at least In pag. 61 62. They reject the Scriptures-Testimony as an Evidence to us Because according to us the Scriptures Testimony hath no Evidence without the Spirit In answer to which we say But it hath an Evidence with the Spirit his Inward Evidence going along with it which Inward Evidence we say doth go along with it sufficiently to Convince every well-disposed Intellect And this we can prove from the Scriptures-Testimony Nor is this to commit an Unlawful Circle as they foolishly alledge which is but an old thread-bare alledgance of Papists against the Protestants as Turnbull alledged on Paraeus That he proved the Spirit by the Scripture and the Scripture by the Spirit Some Protestants in our Days do miserably seek to extricate themselves of that Circle that they know the Spirit by the Scriptures Objectively and they know the Scriptures by the Spirit Effectively and so indeed they get free of the Circle as not being in eodem genere i. e. in the same kind But they affirm a gross Untruth That the Spirit 's Influence is only Effective and ex parte subjecti whereas we know it is Objective and can prove both from Scripture and Primitive Protestants see G. K. his Book of Immediate Revelation and Quakerism no Popery where the same is at length proved But we have a most clear way to extricate our selves of that Circle imposed on us by Papists and these Students The Scriptures Testimony known by the Spirit c. to wit That we know the Scriptures Testimony by the Spirit tanquam a priori as we know the Effect by the Cause and we know the Spirit 's Testimony by the Scriptures tanquam a posteriori as we know the Cause by the Effect and so both are Objective and yet in a divers kind because the Objective Evidence of the Spirit is a self-Evidence and primary the Objective Evidence of the Scripture is but derived and secondary In their answer to G. K. his Retortion from the Practice of Christ who though his own immediate Testimony was to be received referred them unto the Testimony of the Scriptures They most miserably betake themselves to their Old Trade of Affirming Things without any Proof and yet on the Proof of these Things the whole Stress of their Answer lieth As 1. they say The Jews rejected only the outward immediate Testimony of Christ However dare they say but that the Outward Immediate Testimony of Christ was to be believed and yet he referred them unto the Testimony of the Scriptures 2. They say They have no such Testimony themselves as the Inward Objective Testimony of the Spirit 3. They say According to Christ the Scriptures were the Rule meaning the Primary Rule and so they set the Scripture above Christ his own immediate outward Testimony a most gross Disorder year 1676 All which we reject as meer Affirmations without any Proof Their Insinuation That G. K. acted the Part of a cunning Sophist when he spake these Words repeated by them pag. 4. Is no less
without any real Proof For it is a Truth That no Scripture-Truth can be savingly believed but by the Illumination of the Spirit which is Objective In Paragraph 28. they think to evade G. K. his Argument That we have Inspiration because all Men have it that then Papists Mahumetans Pagans and Men bodily possessed have Inspiration which we do affirm viz. That these have it so far as to Convince them and is sufficient to be a Law of Condemnation and render them without Excuse for their Sin and this all Men have not only within their Day but after their Day of Visitation is expired But as to their imposed Glosses and Senses which they say their Divines have already vindicated on these Scriptures cited by G. K. for Vniversal Grace and Inspiration as they refer us to their Divines so we refer them to our Friends and our Books where their silly and weak Reasons are answered against this Gospel-Truth As for the Word EVERY we acknowledge it is not taken always Vniversally but seeing it is taken so most frequently it lieth on them to prove that it is otherwise taken in the Places cited Before we close the Answer to this Subsection Revelations self-evident we propose further unto the Reader these Two Considerations 1. That when we say Inward Divine Revelations in the Seed are self-evident we do not mean it always in respect of the Material Objects of things Revealed but in respect of the Formal Object or Revelation it self 2. Although we affirm That the Illumination and Influence of the Spirit in Men's Hearts is both Effective and Objective yet we do not affirm That they are two distinct Things but one and the same thing under different Respects so that we do not plead for another Influence than that which in Words they seem to grant But we say it is a more Excellent Thing than they acknowledge it to be as being in it self perceptible and having a self-Evidence whereas they will have it only a Medium incognitum a thing altogether undiscernible and in-evident of it self so as to convince or satisfy the Understanding that it is of God And thus according to our Adversaries Sense and upon their Principle this Inward Illumination of the Spirit may be said to be Fallacious for want of Evidence seeing according to their own Argument That which hath not a sufficient Evidence is fallacious But whereas the Students in their Account grant in Words That the Soul hath Spiritual Sensations and that the Work of Grace may be felt This Confession destroyeth their whole Superstructure For if the Work of Grace can be felt or is perceptible then it is Objective for whatever is perceptible is objective And seeing they grant That the Soul hath Spiritual Sensations we ask them What are the Objects of the Sensations Are they only Words and Letters or Things such as God himself in his heavenly Refreshings Waterings and Bedewings If the first it is most unreasonable for it would make the Spiritual Senses to fall short of the Natural seeing the Natural Senses reach beyond Words to Natural Things themselves If the Second they must needs with us acknowledge inward objective Revelations for by them we understand no other thing but as God and the things of His Kingdom are felt in us by way of Object SECTION II. Where the Students Chief Argument against the Spirit 's being the Rule is proved to be one upon the Matter with that the Jesuit Dempster used against their Master J. M. and the same way answered and their Weak Endeavours to evite it Examined and Refuted THere hath enough been said heretofore to demonstrate the Fallacies in the Form of their Arguments in which also it resembled the Jesuits which to avoid Repetition we shall now omit Their Medium against us is That we cannot give an Evidence of our being led by the Spirit but that which may be as good an Evidence for Hereticks Hereticks Pretences to the Spirit For thus they word it in their Account alledging We wronged them in saying They used the Words which Hereticks may pretend to yet abstracting from this false Charge we shall take it as they now express it being indeed Equivalent To prove that it may be as good an Evidence for Hereticks they make J. L. argue thus Other Hereticks declare and say they have the Spirit of God teaching them as well as you Therefore if your saying you were so taught were a sufficient Evidence c. Then their declaring c. Now let the Reader judge whether this Argument amounts to any thing more then that That is not a sufficient Evidence to the Quakers which other Hereticks may pretend to Thus the Students dispute against the Quakers let us hear how the Jesuit disputes against J. M. their Master Pap. Lucifug pag. 3. after the Jesuit hath repeated his Argument he adds May it please the Answerer of this Syllogism to remember That the Ground or Principle which he shall produce to prove the Truth of his Religion must have this Property that it cannot serve nor be assumed to prove a false Religion as the Grounds and Principles that one produceth to prove that he is an Honest Man must have this Property that it cannot serve nor be assumed to prove a Knave to be an honest Man c. Let the judicious Reader consider whether there be any material difference betwixt these two Argumentations But to proceed and shew that their Arguments are no better than the Jesuits against their Master and our Answers no worse than their Master 's against the Jesuit we shall place them together J. M. Answereth the Jesuit thus pag. 5. of his Pap. Lucifugus The true Religion hath sufficient grounds in it self to manifest it self to be the true Religion if it meet with a well disposed Intellect For to use your own Similitude an honest Man may have ground enough to shew a distinction betwixt him and a Knave albeit a Fool cannot discern it so the true Religion may have ground enough to prove it self True which the false Religion hath not though an Infidel or Heretick whose foolish mind is darkned Rom. 1.21 cannot take it up Our Answer to the Students as themselves acknowledge it pag. 59. is J. M 's Answer to the Jesuit compared with ours That the Evidence of the Spirit cannot be assigned but to the well-disposed Vnderstanding this they call a pitiful Subterfuge alledging that then this Evidence can only be assigned to such as are of the Quaker's mind but not to others and that any Heretick in the World may deny Evidences upon the same account Now let the judicious Reader determine whether if this Answer be a pitiful Subterfuge the Students with the same Breath do not declare their Master 's to the Jesuit to be the same And when they write next let them shew the difference which they have not yet done In answer to this Retortion they alledge pag. 67. That R. B. said their
are Men that solemnly profess they have abstained from Personal Criminations but seeing they have belied the Apostle Paul as is above observed G. K. may take it patiently to be treated at this Rate by Men of such Circumstances But if they think to infer it because G. K. doth plead for the Liberty and Priviledge of Women they might as well plead That G. K. is too much addicted to a Perfect Holiness because he doth plead for it or that the Students are too much addicted to sin since they plead for the Continuance of it for Term of Life They are little less than inraged that G. K. should have alledged the Testimony of Augustine and Bernard interpreting this Place of the Flesh and therefore they labour like Men in a Sweat for a whole Page against this to no purpose the only Reason of G. K's citing them being because some of their Preachers cried out against this Allegory as a horrid abusive thing in some Quakers to shew them it is none of the Quakers Coining but already used by Men by themselves applauded and commended Upon this they ask Have not some of our Antagonists been observed to make a Welchman's hose of the first Chapter of Genesis If they mean us let them prove we have so done as we have already proved they have again they ask Have not some Quakers been bold to aver that there was never any such real Tree as the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil If they have let them instance and prove by whom it was spoken and writ and then they shall have an Answer As they proceed they give an egregious Specimen of their Folly alledging That if it did hold Womens Speaking in the Church Lawful as G. K. affirms that Women are not allowed to speak by Permission then a fortiori it is unlawful for them to speak by Commandment Who but the Students would talk at this rate As if a Commandment might not authorise a Man to do that which a bare Permission will not G. K's Arguments drawn from their own allowing Whores to speak and Women to sing they call Quibbles because they cannot answer which they Reply to only by Questions Do they allow Whores Authoritative Preaching affirming Women may sing Very well whether it be Authoritative or not whatsoever way they speak they keep not Silence and so the Apostle's Words are not taken strictly and literally which gains us the Cause and shews our Doctrine is no more directly against the Apostle's Words than their own Besides from this it followeth by the Students Confession that Women may as lawfully speak in the Church as the Licentiate Students whom the Presbytery permits to speak in the Church before they are Ordained They pass our chief Objection very overly drawn from 1 Cor. 11.5 where the Apostle gives direct Rules how Women should behave themselves in their publick Praying and Preaching alledging There are Rules given in Scripture concerning things that were never lawful but only permitted c. as of Polygamy under the Law But they should have remembred that these are Rules given by the Apostle to the Christian Church of Corinth And seeing the Students suppose That the Apostle gave directions to the Church of Corinth not only of things that belong not to them now but which are not lawful for them a Doctrine we question if their Masters will approve of or of the Consequence of which themselves are aware it remains for them to prove That these Two Rules forbidding Womens Speaking belong to us or is not of the number of these useless Rules more than that other concerning the manner of their Preaching So we hope this Solution it Impugned and desire they may be sure not to forget to bring us this Reason when they write next SECTION IV. Concerning the Necessity of Immediate Revelations to the Building up of True Faith containing an Answer to the Students second Section from pag. 78. to pag. 92. IN their stating the Controversy they say These Inward Revelations are not subjective Revelations or Divine Illuminations This is false for as we have above shewed one and the same Illumination that is Effective or Subjective is also Objective and the Objective is Effective Again they say The Question is not if Immediate Objective Revelations be possible or be sometimes made to some de facto This Concession will overthrow much of all their own Work For if they admit that any Person in our Time hath Immediate Objective Revelations admit Peter or John their former Argument will as much militate against this Real Immediate Immediate Objective Revelation asserted Objective Revelation granted by them as against those which they do not grant Seeing pag. 7. at the Letter A they say Suppose that the Spirit Reveal the Objects of Faith immediately none will deny that he is a Rule or rather Ruler to them who have him so A good Concession but which quite undoes their own Cause For now let us apply their former Argument against this Real Objective Revelation granted by them as thus We ought to believe That as the Rule of Faith of which there can be no Evidence given But There can be no Evidence in the World given of the Spirit that is in Peter and John Therefore c. Again if Peter and John say they can give an Evidence of the Spirit of God in them to wit their own Declaration in Life and Power as also the Immediate Testimony of the Spirit or the Scriptures-Testimony let us Apply in the last place their Argument used against us and see if it will not be as good against Peter and John whom they grant de facto according to their Hypothesis to have Immediate Objective Revelation The Argument is this That which as really agrees to Enthusiast Hereticks as to them can be no Evidence But That Evidence to wit their own Declaration and Saying that both they and their Adversaries have the Immediate Testimony of the Spirit witnessing to the Truth of it would as really agree to Enthusiast Hereticks Therefore c. Yea not only might they thus Argue against any Mens having Immediate Objective Revelation in our days but against the Prophets and Apostles having it seeing the Argument might every way be as strong against their having it as against our having it especially at such times as they wrought no outward Miracles in the sight of the People to whom they were sent as oft they did not When the Lord sent Jonas to preach to the Ninivites he wrought no Miracle in their sight Now let us put the Students in the Ninivites place and we shall find they could Argue as stoutly and hardily against Jonas as now they do against any Quaker They could tell him He could give no Evidence of the Spirit of God in him giving any such Message as for his Declaration it would not suffice because his saying he had the Spirit would be as good a ground for any other Enthusiast Heretick
exercising their Reason and Vnderstanding naturally they may know many things Which we do not deny and so they might have spared that Labour But whereas they Alledge That there is nothing needful to be known and believed by the Heathens but what the Book of Nature and their Natural Understanding and Reason as Men can teach them according to the Quakers Principle and consequently the Heathens need not these Supernatural Revelations This they affirm without any Proof We shall give manifest Instances to the Contrary For the Quakers say All Men need both to have and to know a Supernatural Influence and Work of the Spirit of God in order to their Salvation And this also our Adversaries grant Heathens need a Divine Revelation Now the Heathens need a Divine Revelation to make this known to them For the Book of Nature or the meer Natures of things being considered cannot teach Men what is Supernatural and so it cannot teach Men that in all their Actings they are to have a Supernatural End Nor can it teach them that they are to Love Fear Serve and Worship God from a Supernatural Principle of God's Grace which are the greatest Duties required of Man and if it cannot teach Men and convince them of their greatest Duties it followeth that it cannot convince them of the great sins that are contrary unto those Duties Also Nature cannot teach Men the Mystery of Regeneration which yet is needful to be known For Men who are but too much addicted to Natural Reason and Searchings into the Book of Nature and despise the Divine and Supernatural Illumination of Christ in them think Regeneration a Fiction or unnecessary thing Other Instances could be given but lest they should call them the Quakers Errors we shall forbear contenting our selves with such as our Adversaries acknowledge to be true But 2. if it were granted that the Book of Nature could in some sort discover all things necessary to Salvation without Supernatural Light which yet we deny it doth not follow That therefore Divine Supernatural The Book of Nature is short of Divine things Objective Revelation is not necessary Because the Discovery that the Book of Nature and Natural Reason gives to Men of Divine Things as of the Power Wisdom Justice Goodness Love and Mercy of God is but Dim Weak Faint and Barren and is no more a proportionate Object to the Spiritual Sensations of the Soul than a Report of Meat and Drink and Cloathing are a suitable or proportionate Object to the Tast and Feeling of the outward Man The Souls of men need not only to be Convinced That there is a God who is Good Loving Merciful Powerful and Just but they need also in order to their Salvation to have a Feeling of his Divine Power to see and tast that he is Good to handle that Word of Life to know Christ in themselves to have the Love of God shed abroad in them by the Holy Spirit Which Love is a sensible and perceptible Object and so is Objective For if the Scriptures be not a sufficient Objective Revelation of God and the things of his Kingdom much less the Book of Nature c. But the first is true therefore the Second is true also Now that the Scriptures are not a sufficient Objective Revelation of God c. G. K. hath proved at large in his Book of Immediat Revelat. and we need not produce any new Arguments here until the Students or their Masters Refute those already set down in that Book Only this we say in short Nature and Scripture tell us That there is a God but they can neither give us a Sense Sight or Tasting of him or of his Love or of his Spiritual Judgments as these things are inwardly experienced where God Reveals them Nature cannot Refresh or Comfort the Soul nor pour in Wine and Oil into it when it is wounded with Sin and although it could tell that God can do this what Comfort could that be to the Soul unless God himself do it and make the Soul sensible of his Hand reaching unto it the Spiritual Things themselves that Nature cannot afford Also Nature cannot discover the Spiritual Judgments of God in the Soul whereby he cleanseth it from Sin as by Water and Fire Now as to the Second Branch of their Argument That the Scriptures are a sufficient objective Revelation of all things necessary to Salvation this we altogether deny as is said For although the Scripture is a full-enough Declaration of all Doctrines and Principles both essential and integral of Christian Religion yet the Scripture doth propose Divine Things and Objects but as a Card or Map doth a Land The Scripture a Map and the Fruits of it to the outward Eye Now as this is not a sufficient Objective Proposal because we need to see the Land it self and to tast and eat and drink of the Fruit of it so our Souls need a more near and Immediate Discovery of God than the Scripture which is but a Report of him that he may Feed and Nourish us by his Divine Manifestations And here in the Prosecution of this Argument they are at great Pains to prove That the Scriptures are given from God which we deny not although same of their Proofs be weak But whatever Reasons can be brought to prove That the Scriptures are given from God if the Inward Testimony of the Spirit of God be not believed and received these Reasons cannot beget any Divine Saving Faith whereof only we speak but a meer Human and Natural Faith or Conviction As to that Place of Scripture 2 Cor. 4.3 4. If our Gospel c. that is If our Gospel be hid c. say they the Outward Gospel But doth Paul say so Nay Look the Greek Text and you will find the contrary that the Gospel he spake of was hid in them that are lost so the Greek * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore it was Inward And this Scripture they bring to prove That the Scriptures have Objective Evident and Perspicuity in themselves whereas Paul doth not say of the Scripture but of the Gospel which is the Power of God And whereas they query If a person may have Immediate Objective Revelations who hath not his Mind well disposed and if so what Advantage would he have by them which he might not have without them by the Scriptures We answer Much every way Because the Scripture is not able to Dispose his Mind as our Adversaries grant but these Immediate Objective Revelations are also really Effective and have sufficient Power and Ability in them to Dispose his Mind if he do not resist them Again whereas they query May a Person be well disposed who hath not such Revelations We answer No Yet he may want some and have other some but if he may yet there is need of such Revelations Even as if a Man's Eye or Tast were never so well disposed he needeth the Objects themselves And as
to that Scripture cited by them The Plowing of the Wicked is Sin The plowing of the wicked is sin Prov. 21.4 they do not prove that it is meant of outward Plowing The Margin of our English hath it The light of the wicked and Arius Montanus rendereth it on the Margin Cogitatio the Thought That the Plowing of the Wicked is Sin in respect of the Manner and last End we grant but that the Action materially considered is Sin we altogether deny even in a Wicked Man For the outward Mechanick and Bodily Act is good in its Nature and profitable as also in so far as it may be for the Maintenance of his Family it is good So that in respect of the Matter and subordinate End there is no Difference betwixt the Plowing of a Good Man and a Wicked whereas the Prayer of a Good Man by the Spirit and the Prayer of a Wicked Man without the Spirit differ materially in their very Nature and Substance The Good Man's Prayer by the Spirit is true and real Prayer but the Wicked Man's Prayer The true Worshipper distinguished from the False is no true Prayer at all but a dead Image of it Nor is the Wicked Man a true Worshipper for he only is True Worshipper according unto the express Doctrine of Christ Who worships the Father in Spirit and in Truth whereas a Wicked Man's Plowing is as Real and true and good as to the Matter and Nature of the Outward Action as that of the Good It doth not therefore follow That according to the Quakers Principle because a Man is not to pray without the Spirit that therefore he is not to Plow without the Spirit in respect of the Matter although in respect of the Defect in the Manner and last End which should be the Glory of God he sins when he Plows as when he Prays but yet not so much in the one as in the other for in the one both Matter and Manner are wrong in the other not the Matter but Manner But if a Man be faithful to God he may as certainly expect the Divine Assistance of the Spirit to help him to Plow as to Pray although that Assistance to pray is greater and of another manner than that to Plow As is obvious to any that hath Spiritual Experience And whereas A. Sk. inferreth upon them Their going about the Spiritual Duties in a Carnal Manner c. This they call an Impudent Calumny But in this the Impudent Calumny is their own not his For dare they deny but they are for going about Prayer and Praise which are Spiritual Duties without the Motion of the Spirit which is as much as to say in a Carnal manner for what is not done by the Spirit is done but in a Carnal manner And whereas they call his Second Answer A Clear Confession c. yet they tell us nothing of it pag. 96. They are no less disingenuous in alledging That G. K. dissenteth from R. B. and A. Sk. whom in their airy and frothy Minds they call his pretended Infallible Brethren for as G. K. requireth Inspirations to the Acceptable Performance of other Actions so doth A. Sk. and R. B. Yet we all say Wicked Men may very lawfully go about Natural and Civil Performances as to Plow to Eat to pay Debts as they are materially considered without Inspiration and in so doing although they fall short of Acceptable Performance for Defect of the right manner and the End they sin less than to omit those Actions and indeed sin not at all as to the Nature and Substance of them as they do who pray without Inspiration As for G. K. his Distinction of Mandatory and Permissory Inspirations it holds good notwithstanding all their Idle Inspirations mandatory and permissory Foolish and Impertinent Cavilling at it From the Words of Paul that he essayed to go to Bithynia but the Spirit permitted him not G. K. inferred by the Rule of Contraries That the Spirit sometimes permitted him To evade this they are sorely pinched In their Account of the Dispute pag. 30. they grant his Consequence That Paul at sometimes had a Permission but they deny it to be an Inspiration But here in this new Assault they deny That any Permission followeth by the Rule of Contraries from Paul 's Words alledging That he permitted him and he permitted him not are not Contraries But G. K. did not alledge these to be Contraries for they are flat Contradictory Propositions Contrary and Contradictory distinguished But these we say are Contraries The Spirit permitted not Paul to go to Bithynia therefore he permitted him to go sometimes to some Places This is a plain Inference from the Rule of Contraries by Contraries We mean not Contraries in the strict Logical Sense as when the Contrariety is betwixt two Vniversals but Opposites which in the common way of Speech are called Contraries and in the Logical Sense may be called Sub-Contraries Which do infer one another not to be true always simul semel at one Time and Place but at divers Times and Places c. As for Example If there be a South there must be a North if a Time to come there is a Time to be past If some things be Hot and not Cold other things must be Cold and not Hot. And to use a more near Example to the Matter in Hand If when a River is not permitted to Run by reason of an excessive Freezing that bindeth it up at one Time it followeth That it is permitted to Run at another Time when there cometh a Thaw Or yet to come nearer If the Wind do not permit a Ship to sail Southward at one Time it doth permit her at another Time to sail Southward We would not have insisted on such Rudiments had not the great Ignorance of the Students occasioned it Pag. 97. They close their § 9. most pitifully After having failed to refute G. K's Distinction of Permissory and Mandatory Inspirations they say They leave it to be proved by G. K. That the simple permitting of him meaning Permission not joined with a Command hath been by Inspiration The Students Evasions and preposterous Demands Here they shamefully desert their Undertaking which was to Refute permissive Inspirations but when they fail to do this they put G. K. to prove them Whereas they ought to remember that G. K. is not bound by the Law of Dispute to prove any thing being a meer Defendent yea when he offered ex abundanti to prove something in the Dispute they blamed him for so doing being but a Defendent And now they would have him leave Defendent and become Opponent This is a pitiful Confutation of the Quakers Principles that when they fall short in their Proofs against us put us to prove our own Principles But seeing they are so beggarly as to beg from G. K. a Proof of this he shall give it unto them and it is this Admit then that according to the
Students Supposition Paul was permitted to go unto a certain Place without any Command of God and that Paul did this acceptably or without sin as to the thing it self which they must needs acknowledge he might it follows then by their own Argument that he walked this Journey in the Spirit Seeing they themselves plead That Men ought to walk in the Spirit meaning outward Walking And seeing they grant That what-ever Act a man doth acceptably he must do it to the Glory of God and that a Man can do nothing to the Glory of God but as he doth it from a Good Principle yea the Glory of God being a supernatural End must have a supernatural Principle which is the Spirit of God it manifestly followeth that Paul his Journeying by a Permission was by Inspiration For whatever is done in the Spirit is done by Inspiration Inspiration both in the common Sense and here particularly signifying any gracious Motion Influence and Assistance of the Spirit In their Answer to that other Scripture 1 Cor. 7.6 compared with ver 40. they fall into their old way of Asserting barely without any Proof They tell us That the Permission falls upon the thing spoken and not upon the speaking it self But how prove they it Here they are quite dumb and say nothing for Proof And indeed it is as manifest as a thing can be that the Permission doth no less fall upon the speaking than upon the thing spoken and they do most presumptuously Contradict the Apostle when they say Paul was commanded to speak this Whereas Paul said expresly he spake by Permission and not of Commandment In the Prosecution of their second Argument they bring in G. K. distinguishing betwixt Privative and Positive Permission Permission Positive and Negative where they give the Lie to their own Accompt which saith pag. 30. That G. K. distinguished Permission into Positive and Negative as indeed he did Now Privative and Negative differ widely For the want of sight in a Stone is not Privative as in a Man but Negative And surely there is so little Wit or acumen in this Argument of the Students and their Prosecution of it that it proves them to be liker Stones than Men of Reason and Solidity And here they tell us that G. K. whom in their vain Minds they call this Great Inspired Rabbi was very unfortunate in explaining this Distinction and assigning its Ground as may be seen in their Accompt But Alas for them Poor Men they have egregiously baffled themselves in that very Matter in their Accompt as is shewed in our Answer thereunto But behold what dull and heavy Disputers these Men are If Positive Permission were Inspiration say they then a man might Inspire us for he might positively Permit us This Consequence is as dull and heavy as a Stone although the weight of it falls not upon us but upon themselves to prove them altogether Impertinent For their Argument proceeds upon a wrong Supposition that according to G. K. all positive Permissions are Inspirations a thing G. K. never dreamed of But only that some positive Permissions to wit those of God are Inspirations as he by his Spirit doth permit Men or allow them to do or use some things As when God said to Adam in the Garden Of every tree in the garden thou may'st freely eat save one This was a positive Permission and also if God spake this to him inwardly as is most probable and as Augustin supposeth an Inspiration Also when the Lord said unto Ezekiel cap. 4.15 Lo I have given thee Cows dung for man's dung This was a Condescendence and positive Permission and also an Inspiration But the Students proceed still more and more to baffle themselves in stead of baffling the Quakers and shew their Ignorance and Sottishness For thus they argue pag. 99. in prosecuting their Third Argument Every Inspiration say they puts us out necessarily to the doing of the thing Inspired and so Commands us virtually And upon this bare Alledgance the whole superstructure of this Argument stands which yet is a manifest Vntruth and suffereth many undeniable Exceptions For many times things Inspired are not at all of the Nature of Things to be done but are simply things to be believed Things inspired are either to be done or simply to be believed As when God Inspired the Prophets with the Knowledge of things to come which neither could nor ought to be done by them And as when Daniel was Inspired to know Things which he was so far from being commanded to Write that he was forbidden Dan. 12.4 Again some Inspirations are meer inward Consolations and Spiritual Refreshments and Renewings of Strength only to enable us in general to serve God as Meat and Drink is unto the Body and that sometimes without Words and sometimes with Words by way of Promise As when he spake to Noah Gen. cap. 9. from ver 8. to ver 18. where theâ—e is not any Command given to Noah but only Promises and yet Noah was Inspired by the Lord Which are either of Command or of Promise as all the true Prophets were And whereas they alledge That Inspiration includes in its Notion an Insuperable putting and prompting out to the things Inspired in all Authors both Sacred and Profane is meerly precarious For sometimes indeed it signifieth to Command as where the Inspiration is Mandatory But at other Times it signifieth to Comfort Refresh Quicken Influence and Assist us without any particular Command to any particular Action Yet we acknowledge the Nature of all Divine Inspirations in the Children of God is to Incline Lead Move Draw and Guide them up more and more into Vnity with God and so unto a further Degree of Holiness but not to determine them unto all particular Actions And thus also their fourth Instance is disproved where they alledge That all Inspirations of God determine us to one Extream Which is false if they mean an Extream in the particular Act If they mean an Extream in the general as to do all in Charity and to the Glory of God we grant it But this doth not militate against what we affirm Their other two Instances are but the former upon the Matter repeated in a Tautological way for want of new Matter and are sufficiently Answered above And thus their Silly and Faint Reasonings in this Argument are answered without any necessity of G. K. his returning to his Bag for new Distinctions as they scornfully but foolishly insinuate Pag. 99. § 15. The Students tell us That G. K. finding himself beset with these inextricable Difficulties as it seems misplaces this distinction in their Account and gives in another distinction of Particular and General Inspirations This is but their meer Alledgance The Distinction was right enough placed as any may see by the Nature and Coherence of the Account Nor did G. K. see any Difficulty in their Argument at all as indeed there is none in it But let us see
another But 2. That all Influences and Inspirations or Motions of the Spirit to enable Ministers to Preach and Pray Vocally are not Ceased since the Apostles Days is clear from Rev. 11.3 And I will give Power unto my two Witnesses and they shall Prophesy And it is said That if any Man will hurt them fire proceedeth out of their mouth which must needs signifie a Special Influence of the Spirit given them to prophesy or preach which is not common to all Christians Also what are these Gifts given unto Ministers for the perfecting of the Saints but such special Influences to enable them to Preach which are not given to all Yea do not the National Preachers desire in their publick Prayers some special Assistance and Help of the Spirit to carry them forth in their Ministry which they have not before For if they had it before why do they seek it From all which it is manifest that as there are general Influences given to all and at all times so there are particular and special given only to some and but at some times Moreover that there is a greater Influence of Life required to Vocal Prayer when it is acceptable Mental Prayer the Cause and Spring of Vocal Prayer than unto some meer Mental Prayer a thing expresly denied by the Students pag. 100. § 16. is clear because all true and acceptable Vocal Prayer hath Mental Prayer going along with it as its Cause and Spring And so when any Man prays Vocally if his Prayer be True and Acceptable he prayeth also mentally and so he doth two things together Whereas when he prayeth but mentally he doth but one thing Now common Reason teacheth us that more Strength is required to do two things together than to do but one of them And seeing the Vocal Prayer hath not any Life or Vertue in it to reach unto God's Throne or yet unto the Hearts of his People to quicken and refresh them but as it receiveth that Life from the Life that is in the Mental Prayer it is clear that a greater Measure is required to both than simply to the one Now although Mental Prayer as to the Disposition and Frame of the Soul at least be always in and with Good Christians and hath always some Measure of Life in it yet that Measure is sometimes so Weak and Low that it cannot go forth into the Words without Hurt or Prejudice And at other times although it be able and strong yet it will not answer the Motion of Man's Will so as to be drawn forth thereby but it only abideth or goeth forth into the Vocal Prayer according to the Will of God as he pleaseth to move it Therefore the Free Motion of the Life it self as it pleaseth God to bring it forth is to be attended in all Outward Spiritual Performances But here let the Reader note That we have said Vocal Prayer requires more Life than some Mental Prayer we do not say than all For some Mental Prayer may be stronger than that which is a Complex of Mental and Vocal as gathering the whole Strength of the Complex into that which is solely and intirely Mental According unto that common saying abundantly confirmed by Experience Vis unita fortior united Strength is the stronger As when the Beams of the Sun are united into a small Point they have more Force than when they are diffused and for this Cause it is that we are so much for Mental Prayer as knowing the great Good of it in our Experience And from what is above said it is clear that we need another Influence wherewith to pray vocally than to Eat Plow Walk c. because these natural Actions may be done sufficiently in a Spiritual Manner by the help of that General Influence which doth always attend Good Men to Fear and Love God For the Principle of Divine Life which is the Living and Powerful Word of God in Men's Hearts is never idle The Principle of Divine Life is never Idle but is always Operative and at Work especially more abundantly in them who joyn with it being as a most Rich and Living Spring that is continually flowing and sending forth its Streams according to Joh. 4.14 But to pray Vocally requireth an Influence of Life to flow forth into the Words that it may in a Living and Powerful way reach the Hearers but that Plowing Eating Walking c. need no such Emanating Influence is certain and will be acknowledged by our Adversaries But perhaps also they will deny that any Life or Vertue doth flow forth into Mental Praying and Preaching even when these Duties are acceptably performed but this is contrary both to the certain Experience of many Thousands and also to the Scriptures-Testimony in many Places I. It is Contrary to the Experience of many Thousands who can declare whereof we are some that the Declarations Testimonies and Words of the Servants of God in Preaching and Praying have a real Life and Living Vertue in them The Life in the Words of the Servants of God witnessed by Experience whereby their Souls are exceedingly Refreshed Quickened and Stengthened which Life and Living Vertue is a thing as distinct from the bare outward Words which the natural Ear can hear as Wine is distinct from the Vessel that carrieth it Therefore if another Man that hath not this Spiritual Ability should pronounce the same Words they have not any Life or Vertue at all And that God had given this Spiritual Discerning to many before the People called Quakers were raised up is manifest from divers in our own Nation who cared not to hear Men who could speak never so good Words if they wanted Life and in that day they could and did distinguish betwixt dead and living Preachers as also betwixt a Living Testimony and Preaching and a Dry Discourse See for this the Book called The fulfilling of the Scriptures And this was the express Testimony of that Philosopher who was Converted by the means of a few Words spoke by a certain Old Man who was a Christian at the Council of Nice Out of the Mouth of that old Man said he there went forth a Vertue which I could not Resist These were his very Words as Lucas Osiander relates them in his Epitome of the Church-History Cent. 4. lin 2. cap. 5. II. It is Contrary to the Scriptures-Testimony in many Places The Mouth of the Righteous is a Well of Life Prov. 10.11 This must be understood in respect of the Influence of Life that cometh out of his Mouth And testified unto by Scripture as Water doth out of a Well and not barely in respect of the good Words which a Wicked Man may speak According to this Christ said to his Disciples The Words that I speak unto you are Spirit and Life and as it was then so it is now for at this day he speaketh in his Servants and will to the end of the World and it is He only who hath
Arnoldus pag. 18 19. to which I refer For I believe All Men in a Day have by the gracious Visitation of God's Love an Vnderstanding well disposed to some Divine Revelations which becomes Disposed for others as these are Received which will after in its place be discussed And some Divine Revelations which are Prophetick of things to come may so far manifest themselves by their Self-Evidence even to Men not Regenerate as to force an Assent as in the Case of Balaam mentioned by him did apper What he saith further pag. 36 and 37. inquiring How and after what manner these Revelations were the Object of the Saints Faith of Old is easily answered by applying it to what is before mentioned in Answer to his Queries and Conjectures of the Formal Object For those of Old that had these Revelations Immediately the Formal Object of their Faith was God manifesting himself and his Will in them to them by such Revelations And those who received and obeyed the things delivered by the Patriarchs and Prophets those things so delivered as he confesseth were not the Formal The Material and Formal Object of FAITH but Material Object of their Faith but the Formal Object was GOD by the secret and inward Testimony of his Spirit perswading them in their Hearts that these things declared to them were really his Command and thence inclining and bowing their Minds to an Assent and Obedience to them And albeit pag. 38. he terms this a Wild Assertion yet he hath but said and not proved it to be so and till he prove he needs no further Refutation Neither is it Non-sense nor yet a destroying of the Cause as with the like proofless Confidence he affirms p. 37. That where Revelations are made by outward Voices or in a manner objected to the outward Senses the Cause or Motive of Credibility is not so much because of what the outward Senses perceive as because of the Inward Testimony of the Spirit assuring the Soul that it is GOD so manifesting himself Which Testimony to answer his Question is distinguishable from what is objected to the outward Senses albeit it go always along with it simul semel as they use to say since he with me accounts it a Serious Truth to say The Devil may delude the External Senses and he can far more easily deceive them than the True Inward and Spiritual Senses of the Soul by Counterfeiting the Inward Testimony of the Spirit Since by that the Apostle saith We know and partake of that which neither Eye hath seen nor Ear heard ¶ 9. Pag. 39. He confesseth with me That the Formal Object of the Saints Faith is always the same But yet that he may say something he spendeth the Paragraph in Railing accusing me As writing Non-sense and being an Ignoramus because I bring Instances which relate to the Material Object which himself Confesseth also to be the same in Substance But by his good Leave for all he is so positive in his Judgment I must shew the Reader his Mistake The Formal Object of Abraham's Faith For those Examples of Abraham and others are adduced by me to shew the one-ness of the Formal Object neither has he shewn that they are Impertinent for that End Since as the Formal Object of Abraham's Faith was God's speaking to him by Divine Revelations so is the same the Formal Object of the Saints now and therein stands the Vnity or Oneness of our Faith with him and not in the Material Object which often differs For to offer up his Son was a part of the Material Object of his Faith which is none of ours now And so for as much as he desires to know of me What was the Material Object of Adam 's Faith before the Fall a Question not to the purpose he must first tell me why he so Magisterially and positively denies Christ to have been the Object of his Faith And then he may have an Answer And whereas he flouts at that Reason That Actions are specified from their objects as Non-sensical he should have proved and shewn Wherein And then I might have Answer'd him He might have Wit enough to know that no man of Reason will be moved by his bare Railing Assertions pag. 40. besides a deal of Railing wherein he accuseth me of Confusion and Darkness He accounts my Arguing for Immediate Revelation from the Revelations the Patriarchs and Prophets had Impertinent to which I Answered before The sum of which is that since these Immediate Revelations were so frequent under the Law Revelations frequent under the Law it must be very absurd to say They are Ceased under the Gospel He himself proveth pag. 41. that under the New there is a more clear Discovery according to that of Paul 2 Cor. 3.18 But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord c. which being brought by him albeit against himself I leave him to Answer In this page and the next 42 he alledgeth the sayings of Christ and his Apostles brought by me and my Arguments thence do prove no more than he Confesseth But whether they prove not all I plead for from thence is left to the Reader 's Judgment Here according to his Custom tho I Condemn the Socinians he will be insinuating that I Agree with them to whose Notions of the Spirit albeit I Assent not yet I desire to know of him That the Spirit is a distinct Person of the Trinity no Proof in Scripture for it in what Scripture he finds these words That the Spirit is a distinct Person of the Trinity For I freely acknowledge according to the Scripture That the Spirit of God proceedeth from the Father and the Son and is God And by what Authority he seeks to obtrude upon others Expressions of the Chief Articles of Faith not to be found in Scripture or to accuse such as will not Accept of them and Assent to them or whether any has reason to think he truly makes the Scripture the Rule of his Faith notwithstanding his pretence when he either will not or can not find words in it to Express the Chief Articles of his Creed ¶ 10. Pag. 43. By a strange Mistake he would have me prove since I make use of these promises of Christ relating to the Spirit I would prove that all have Warrant to write Scripture As if no man could have Immediate Revelation without he write Scripture Whereas himself Confesseth that many of the Patriarchr had it before Moses who yet wrote no Scripture yea and Cain whom I suppose he judgeth to have been no Writer of Scripturs And by the like Mistake pag. 55. He Confesseth all I plead for J. B's Self-Contradiction in granting Revelation and Contradicts all he has been fighting for in affirming That Believers now have free Access to Christ the great Teacher of his People always to get his mind known and Written in their Hearts but not to get Prophetick Revelations
Sense And before he has answered this Challenge and free'd himself from the just Censure of a Calumniator albeit he take the help of his Author Hicks he will find his Folly in accusing Men at second-hand-Proofs and upon the Testimony of their Adversaries What follows in this Paragraph and p. 60. is meer Railing and Perversions Comparing us with Papists as is before observed and indeed all of it is overturned by that one Assertion of mine that What Revelations are contrary to the Scripture are to be Rejected ¶ 5. Pag. 57. n. 10. He saith I come nearer to the Core of my Design which is to set up Enthusiasmes in affirming That the Scriptures are not the Fountain but a Declaration of the Fountain And yet the Man within three or four Lines Confesseth it himself ascribing it to my Folly to Dream any Man thinks so thus he goes backward and forward Which he illustrates by the Example of Laws But if it be so are not they to be blam'd that account them the Principal Original of all Truth and Knowledge Whether the other branch of my Deduction follow from this That they are not to be accounted the primary Rule of Faith and Manners will appear when the Arguments and Objections relating to that come particularly to be mentioned And whereas he thinks this is Absurd and not making for my Design because God himself is the Fountain and yet not the Rule he mistakes the matter as urged by me For I Argue That the Scriptures are not the Original Ground of Knowledge The Scriptures are not the Original Ground of Truth but God but GOD not simply Considered but as manifesting himself in Divine Immediate Revelations in the hearts of his Children which being the New Covenant's Dispensation as in the last Section is proved is the Primary and Adequate Rule of Christians For I was never so Absurd as to call God simply considered or the Spirit of God in Abstracto not as Imprinting Truths to be believed and obeyed in Mens hearts not contrary but according to Scripture for he cannot Contradict himself the Rule of Christians And this may serve to Answer all his Cavils upon this Theam And whereas he wondereth in the following page 58. Why any Revelations even from the Spirit should be more Primary than the Scriptures since they are Confessed to come from the Inspiration of the Spirit for why he useth the Latine word Afflatus and doth not Interpret it I know not unless to fright Ignorant Folk that they may think it 's a piece of the Witch-craft of the Quakers whom he accuseth it is strange he should have so little sense as to make it a matter of Admiration as if that were not more Primary to a Man which cometh Immediately from the Spirit of God in his heart than that which albeit it come from the Spirit yet is thro' another and so must needs be but Secondary albeit it be confessed they writ them not for themselves but for others which I deny not Of the same Nature is and the same way is answered what he saith p. 65. n. 19. to wit That I Confound the Principal Leader with the Original Rule because I say The Spirit is the Prime and Principal Leader But I deny his Consequence neither doth his Example of the Wind and Compass prove it The Spirit is the Principal Leader as Imprinting upon Man's Soul the Rules he should walk by But indeed he would prove a very Vncertain Pilot that had no Compass but only a Description of it and a Journal how other Men had steered that Course and such Pilots is he and his Brethren according to their own Confession But he thinks I drive at something more Intolerable to wit That the Revelations the Quakers pretend to or the Light within is to be preferred as the more primary and principal Rule to the Scriptures If the Quakers did affirm any Revelations they speak of as coming from that Light either were or could be Contrary to the Scriptures he would say something otherwise it will amount to no more but that Commands as they are Imprinted upon the Soul that is The Law written in the Heart by the Spirit is more primarily and principally the Rule than the same things written and received only from another As to which I will only ask him Whether those things which the Apostles received immediately from the Spirit commanding them to go here or there to preach the Gospel or the like were as to these Ends more primarily and principally the Rule to them than any thing that was Recorded in the Scripture where they could not learn their Duty as to those particulars And that I make not the Scriptures and the Spirit all one I have above shewen and therefore his Malicious Insinuations of Socinianism falls to the Ground But he thinks he has found out a mighty Dilemma in the End of this Paragraph p. 66. Or will I say The Light within the Increated Spirit that the Light within me is really the Increated Spirit This saith he must be Blasphemy with a Witness to be heard with Horror and therefore needing no other Confutation Poor Man how apt is he to make a Noise about nothing If there be any Blasphemy it is his own For what if I Should say Is not GOD a LIGHT and is not he in every Man and is not this Light within the Increated Spirit The Reader may judge how easily these windy Boasts of his are blown away How the Spirit Ruleth us and yet is not confounded with the Rule I have above shewn so that what he saith to that in the rest of this Page where he Vapours and Rails is but superfluous Next after he has a little plaid the Pedant upon the Words magis Originaliter he concludes his 22. Paragraph with asking me Why the Revelations I pretend to should be accounted more One with the Spirit himself than these Revelations by which the Scriptures were dictated But this is his Allegiance none of my Affirmation Next I never said that the Revelations by which the Scriptures were dictated were less Primary than any other whatsoever albeit no Revelation which is written and transmitted to a Man only by the Report of another can be so Primary and Immediate to him as that which he Receives in himself He Confesseth here with me p. 67. That the Spirit is the Prime and Principal Leader whether that makes for my Cause as also what follows will after in its Place be Examined ¶ 6. But because he foundeth his Assertion of my detracting from the Perfection of the Scriptures J. B's Proofs for the Scriptures to be the Primary Rule because I deny them to be the primary and original Rule for he acknowledgeth that I Confess them to be a secondary one I will Examin the Ground by which he goes about to prove it as also his Answers to my Arguments proving the Contrary I. Moses and the Prophets to be heard
principally than to us to be a Railing and Roving and a Contradicting what I said in the former These But this Cavil often repeated before I did Answer above The like he Judgeth my Arguing there-from That as they were to Try all things by the outward Law so we are to Try all in the First Place by the Word within But here his base Disingenuity appears For he has leftâ—out these Words In the first Place that he might introduce the better the difficulty he fancieth to himself to have brought me to afterwards for by this Argument saith he I prove more than I ought to wit that the Scriptures shall not be so much as a less principal Rule Who will be so foolish as to Conclude that the saying Things ought in the first Place to be tried by the Word within The Scriptures a secondary and subordinate Rule excludes things in the second Place to be Tried by the Scriptures and is not that still to own it as a Secondary and subordinate Rule And so he may see my Feet here are easily Rid and that he held them not so fast as he fancied And as for the other part of his Alternative the Consequence is of the like Nature That what was a Principal Rule then is now only subordinate For albeit I said it was more Principal to them than now to us yet I said not it was the most Principal to them or then more Principal than what came immediately from the Spirit which he Confesseth to have been frequent under the Law yea more frequent than now according to his Principle and my saying so could only Infer that Consequence He Rejects what I urge from the Version of the Septuagint as spurious but for that we must take his Word else want a Proof And then because he cannot come off better according to his Custom he Concludes with a gross Perversion and Falshood saying It is my Opinion that the Law idâ—est the outward Law was given the Jews for a Rule even above the Spirit 's Revelations Which if it be mine as I utterly Renounce it I desire to know where I have Asserted it he might have been at the Pains to mark it but he knew it's like it was not Convenient Scriptures to be searched makes them not the Primary Rule Next he comes to prove that these Words Search the Scriptures c. Joh. 5.39 do Evince The Scriptures to be the Primary and Adequate Rule because if Christ's Doctrines should be Tried by them much more private Enthusiasms But who denies that Yet he doth not thence prove that the Scriptures are the Primary Rule by which all things must be Tried in the first Place which is the thing in Question Secondly I would ask him Whether the Words Christ spake to the Jews which are Recorded in Scripture were less a Rule to them or less binding and obliging upon them than the Sayings of Moses and the Prophets If he say They were less then he overturns all his own tedious Reasonings by which he labours to prove the Obligation of what Christ and the Apostles delivered p. 84. at the end as well as what Moses and the Prophets without the need of a New Obligation And likewise he must shew us how these Sayings come to be as binding upon us now as Moses and the Prophets or how they acquired greater Authority after Christ spake them than they had then Or why they wanted then that Authority If he say They were binding and obliging to the Jews because spoken by Christ then his Proof falleth to the Ground He is Angry that I say The Words may be interpreted Ye search the Scriptures as well as Search the Scriptures albeit the Greek Word signify the one as well as the other and for Answer very Magisterially tells 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye Search and search ye It is quite Contrary to the very Words of Command Search the Scriptures But the Question is Whether that be the Words and that was what he should have proved But he makes no Bounds of begging the Question telling Tolet and Maldonat say It is so taken by all the Fathers except Cyrill And what then Did I undertake to subscribe to all these Authors Writings He must give me a Reason Why ere I do it And let him deny it if he dare that the Greek Word signifies Ye search the Scriptures as well as Search the Scriptures and if it do before I conclude the one more than the other I must have some better Argument than his bare Affirmation But to finish this he will conclude all by the Words of the Apostle James c. 1. v. 25. where he saith The Apostle calleth the Scriptures the perfect Law of Liberty The Perfect Law of Liberty the Royal Law in the Heart But that doth not prove them to be the Primary Rule Suppose it were granted the Apostle meant the Scriptures which remains yet by him to be proved and is not done by what he citeth Chap. 2.8 by his desiring them to Fulfil the Royal Law according to Scripture Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self which proves it not at all Yea to understand it of the Scriptures were to make the Apostle's Words scarce good Sense as if he had said Fulfil the Scriptures according to the Scriptures whereas it sutes the Place much better that the Apostle meaned They should fulfil the Royal Law in their Hearts which was one with the Scriptures that also command the same thing That the Apostle means the outward Law and not that Written in the Heart Chap. 4. 12. he hath Affirmed but not Proved Next Beroeans commended for searching the Scriptures he comes to the Beroeans being commended for Searching the Scriptures Acts 17.11 But this is the same way answered as the former For if the Beroeans were obliged to believe and receive Paul's Testimony because he preached the Truth to them by Authority from God then their Vsing or his Commending them for using the Scripture will not prove the Scripture to be the Primary Rule yea more a Rule than the Doctrine they Tried by it In the the rest of what he saith in this n. 28. he but fights with his Shadow for I never said They excluded the Law of Nature in affirming the Scripture to be the Rule or did I ever deny but that the Scripture Reveals things which Nature could never have Discovered But the Question is Whether that Truth that Man is the Off-spring of God from which the Apostle argues with the Athenians was discovered to any by meer Nature or by a Divine Principle And this is that he should have proved and therefore yet remains for him to do But to be like himself he concludes this also withh a gross Lie saying I affirm the Scripture to be no more our Rule than the Heathen-Poets which no ways follows from my Words neither hath or can he ever prove it ¶ 9. He thinks The Scriptures not determining of many
luck was himself was Judge What he would Infer hence I see not unless that their Version is free of Errors which if he will adventure to Affirm his Mistake may be shewn by the Testimony of Learned Men among themselves and his own Correcting it divers times which will after be Observed He saith My speaking soberly of the Scriptures is only out of Policy because the Quakers could not effectuate their point which was to have the Scriptures quite laid by as an Old Almanack But such malitious Lies and Railings need no Answer J. B.'s gross Calumnies denying our using Scripture-Testimonies To this he adds two other gross Calumnies to Conclude his Paragraph That it is the Quakers fixed Opinion that the Scriptures are not to be made use of in their Assemblies it being below them to Expound any Portion of it there or to Adduce any Testimony there-from for Confirmation of their Assertions This can be proved to be a Manifest Vntruth by the Testimony of many that are not Quakers who have been Witnesses of the Contrary The other which he calleth Their Constant Opinion is That when one cometh to hearken to the Light within he hath obtained the whole End of the Scriptures so that they become wholly useless to him This is also a horrid Calumny ¶ 10. In his Examining of what I Assert to be the End and Vsefulness of the Scriptures p. 83.84 he cannot find fault with what I Ascribe to them but that I give them not all and whether I do wrong denying that to them which he would seem to give the former Debate will shew But that he may be here like himself he seeks to Infer from my words most gross and malitious Consequences which are utterly false and till he prove them they need no other Answer but to observe them and deny them which I utterly do Such as That albeit Christ has ordained Pastors J. B's false Insinuations against our Asserting the Vsefulness and Truth of the Scriptures and the Scriptures under the Gospel to make the Man of God perfect yet the Quakers think they may be both laid aside as useless That according to me the Scriptures are not so much as a Subordinare Rule That the Quakers would have all others save themselves to look upon themselves as not concerned in the Scriptures that so they might be the sole Keepers of these Oracles and then he saith they shall quickly know what shall become of them And that the Quakers always suppose that what the Spirit within them saith cannot contradict the Scripture and therefore what they say contrary to the Scripture from the Spirit within must be supposed to be seeming and not real This he Repeats again according to his Custom in the next page If he mean the Spirit of God I hope he will not deny it and if he mean any other Spirit we deny it But he would be fastening that upon us here which may be justly said to them of their Exalting their Confession of Faith above the Scriptures as in the first Section upon his Preface I observed But he hath an Objection which he urgeth p. 67. and by which he thinks to overturn all asking If I believe the Testimony of the Scriptures to be True Yes I do believe them because the Testimony of the Spirit in my heart obligeth me so to do and therefore being perswaded they are True I make use of them though in respect to my self not in the first and primary place but in a secondary next to the Spirit yet as to him I may urge them every way because he accounts them so And as to their Testimony for the Spirit 's being the Principal Leader upon my using of which he founds his Objection albeit since he acknowledgeth it he has the less Reason to Carp at it I believe it from the Scripture-Testimony but not as the primary Ground of my Faith which I derive from the Spirit it self yet as a Ground and that a Very weighty One. As for his other Question Whether I be of the fame mind with other Quakers of whom Mr. Hicks Reporteth I answer That what is there Reported by Hicks is false and I here dare J. B. and his Author Hicks to prove it to have been said by any Quaker which till they can do by good and sufficient Proof they are both to be held as Lying Calumniators SECT V. Wherein his Fifth and Sixth Chapters Intituled by him Of Man's Natural State and Of Original Sin are Considered 1. AFter he has Repeated some of my words he Complains I speak darkly and having given his usual malitious Insinuations that I do it of Design and have some Mysteries under it He takes upon him to endeavour to guess at my Meaning and bestows many Pages to frame one Conjecture after another and then spends many words to Refute these Shadows and Men of Straw of his own making And yet at the end of all he Confesses He doubts whether he has got or hit my Meaning J. B. Confesses himself in the Dark with Trying his uncertain Conjectures And to be sure then he must be as Vncertain that he has Refuted it and therefore knoweth not but all his Reasonings against his own Conjectures are Impertinent For after he hath written one Conjecture and bestows much labour in Refuting it his own words are p. 91. n 5. If this be not his true meaning let us try another Conjecture which shews he knows not whether what he said before was to the purpose Thus he spendeth pag. 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98. in which last Page he is very Angry that I should Condemn the Socinians and Pelagians but the Reason is manifest because he would so willingly have it believed that I am one with them And albeit I could not in Reason be Obliged to say any thing more to these Pages yet that none of these fictitious and false Conjectures may catch any unwary Reader I do freely Affirm that I believe Man fell and was degenerated both as to Soul and Body and I understand the first Adam or Earthly Man to Comprehend both But that there was something in Adam which was no part of his Soul and Body nor yet Constitutive of his being a Man in my Judgment which could not degenerate The Fall of Man and the Breath of lives Spiraculum Vitarum remaining in Adam and which was in Adam by the Fall Reduced to a Seed and could never have been Raised in him again to his Comfort but by a New Visitation of Life which from Christ by the Promise was Administred unto him and is to all Men in a Day for to say the affirming such a Seed remained in Adam when he fell doth Infer his Vnderstanding was not hurt and as he doth p. 94. is a Consequence I deny and remains for him to prove That to believe there was such a thing in Adam which the Scripture calleth Spiraculum vitarum the Breath of
they urge from Rom. 3.20 by the Deeds of the Law there shall no Flesh be justified Works of the Moral Law Justify not which I shew is to be understood of Works done and not by the Grace of God he answers That such are no good Works at all But may not a Man do some of the Works which even the Moral Law commands such as not to commit Murder Theft or Adultery without the Grace of God Hath not he confessed as much of some Heathens whom he judgeth not to have had the Grace of God and will he say these Works are not materially good albeit not formally with a respect to any advantage as to Salvation they receive by them And though it should be confessed That all is not always Requisite to be Antecedent to Justification which falls out to be Antecedent to Salvation yet the Question is Whether there be anything absolutely Requisite to be Antecedent to Salvation which is not also absolutely Requisite to be Antecedent to Justification If not then if Works be absolutely necessary or so far as they are absolutely necessary to Salvation they must also be so to Justification If he say other ways then as I observed before full and perfect Justification according to him must not be esteemed sufficient to Salvation J. B. pleads the Works of the Spirit to be Impure Pag. 322. N. 42. He comes to prove the Best Works even those wrought by the Spirit in the Saints to be Impure which before also he had affirmed pag. 307. there he would Infer we say the same of good Works because I affirm That Works done by Man's own Strength are polluted But it will not thence follow we believe Works done by the Grace of God to be such But for this Impurity of good Works he marks Psal. 143.2.130 3. Job 9.16 none of which speak one Word of good Works thus understood Then he mentions Esai 64.6 All our Righteousness is as filthy Rags but silently passeth over how I shew their own Authors as Calvin and Musculus c. affirm this not to be understood of Evangelical Righteousness and himself overturns what he urges from this Works of the Spirit to be pure and undefiled confessed by J. B. affirming That we ought not to call the Work of the Spirit of God in his People Filthy Rags But if they were so they might be so called and yet he overturns it further by confessing Some Works wrought by the Apostles were undefiled then all the Works wrought by the Spirit in the Saints cannot be said to be Impure which is their Assertion And the Instance of Clean Water passing through an Vnclean Pipe doth not hold which is their great probation He will not Contend with what I say about the word Merit neither hath he much against my Conclusion in this matter yet that he may end this Chapter like himself he concludeth it with a gross Lie and Railing saying I affirm A Man may be Regenerated without the least help of the Grace of God J. B's gross Lie which as I wholly abhor so there cannot be a greater Falshood alledged upon me SECT IX Wherein his Fourteenth Chapter Of Perfection is Considered ¶ 1. I Come now to his Fourteenth Chapter Of Perfection where after he has repeated my Eighth Proposition he reckons it Confidence in me to Accuse their Answer in their Larger Catechism of speaking against the Power of Divine Grace which saith That Man is not able by any Grace of God received in this Life to keep the Commands of God But in stead of justifying this Assertion he saith They are not ashamed of it Then he recurreth a little to his Author Hicks according to his Custom and falls a Railing where among other great Charges he accuseth the Quakers of Reproaching Reviling Calumnies Scolding and the like J. B. a Railer exceeding others confessed by his own Party Also pag. 329. speaking of bridling the Tongue But he of all Men should have been silent in this who is such a Railer in the Superlative Degree that some of his own Faith who have Bad enough Thoughts of the Quakers have said that he not only Equals them but Exceeds them in Railing Of his Railing in this Chapter the Reader may further observe pag. 332 345-349 Here as in his former Chapter to enervate the Perfection asserted by me he brings forth his old and often-repeated Calumny as if I asserted This Perfection to proceed meerly from the Light of Nature affirming The Light pleaded for by me p. 227. to be such His false Charges as never came from the Grace of God to be Flesh Blindness Enmity to God Natural Sensual c. affirming that I say Man is Regenerated Sanctified Justified though not one Ray of Divine Illumination hath shined into his Soul nor one Act of Grace has reached either his Intellect Will or Affection to cause this Change The like p. 331. All which is most abominable false and never either believed or asserted by me and therefore all he concludes upon this malitious Assertion falls to the Ground and needs no further Answer Next he bestows much Pains p. 328 329. to shew from the Hebrew and Greek Word that Perfection is sometimes understood of Sincerity and Integrity and Perfection in these Respects he thus Defines In Regeneration the whole Man is changed Perfection defined so that he is now born a New Creature sanctified wholly in Mind Heart Spirit Affections Consciences Memory and Body though but in a small Measure or degree and again Yielding impartial Obedience through the Grace of God unto all God's Precepts waving none But if he will stand by what he here Asserts I will desire no more albeit he falsly say in the following page That all this will not satisfy us For I would desire the next time Breaking the Commands daily c. is not Perfection nor a growing in Grace he would Reconcile this with Breaking the Commands daily in Thought Word and Deed. To prove this he insists in Contradiction to what he said before p. 330. N. 7. and his Proofs are 1 Because in Christ's House there are diverse Sizes and Degrees of Persons as Babes or little Children young Men old Men And this is not denied but the thing he should have proved is that none of those Degrees can be without daily breaking God's Commands His Second Proof is yet more rare Christians are exhorted to grow in Grace to put off the Old Man which is corrupt to put on the New Man to mortify their Members Very good But is To break the Commands daily in Thought Word and Deed the way to grow in Grace to put off the old Man and on the New If this be not to pervert Christianity what can be said to be so If Men can dream waking as he sometimes supposes he has sure been in this Posture when he brought this Proof But he adds That this Perfection rendreth Gospel-Commands useless But
are the Laws useless if Men obey them This saith he takes away the Exercise of Repentance the Exercise of Prayer and maketh the Petitions of the Lord's Prayer useless forgive us our Sins On this he also insisteth pag. 345 346.349 That because all have sinned they have need to Repent and pray for Forgiveness and the Continuance of it I have shewen in my Apology But if this his Argument hold true to prove That Men must sin all their Life time and break the Commands every day in Thought Word and Deed then the greatest Sinners and most Wicked profligate Villains do less make useless Gospel-Commands than others because they afford more Matter to Exercise Repentance and Prayer for Forgiveness of Sins J. B. believes Perfection foments Pride ◠and taketh away the Vsefulness of Ordinances But he proceedeth That this tendeth to foment Pride and Security and taketh away diligent Watchfulness and holy Fear Humility and the Vsefulness of the Ordinances of Christ But where dom from Sin is where can Pride and Security have place or Diligence and Humility be wanting But with him to sin is the way not to be proud and secure but to be watchful and humble Let the Judicious Reader judge whether they that break the Commands daily in Thought Word and Deed and affirm they must do so all their Life-time be more diligent and humble and less proud and secure than such as keep and obey them for such Ordinances as must be made useful by daily breaking God's Commands in Thought Word and Deed I resolve never to Cry up but always Cry down by the Grace of God however J. B. may Rail at me for it Some Scriptures here added by him will come herereafter to be Examined ¶ 2. Pag. 332. N. 9. When he comes to take notice of my stating this Matter as not being such a Perfection as cannot admit of a daily Increase but only a being kept from Sin and receiving Strength to fulfil the Will of God for these are my words he would upon this both in this Place and elsewhere pag. 333 341. c. urge this Absurdity That since the least Sin is a Transgression of the Law it follows that no Regenerated Man can sin and that no Man that sinneth is Regenerated But we will not wonder at his Inference here considering his many other Perversions But to shew he has no ground to urge this Absurdity let it be Considered Regeneration begun carrying on and perfected that we are to consider Regeneration as begun and carrying on and as perfected and accomplished he which hath begun a good Work in you saith the Apostle Paul Phil. 1.6 And again Ye did run well Gal. 5.7 with many other Places which might be mentioned Whereby it is clear That Regeneration is not wrought in an Instant and if he think so he must prove it ere he conclude any thing from it and those were already Converted and Regeneration begun in them Now albeit such may Sin and that every Sin doth Hinder and Impe the Work of Regeneration yet it doth not Destroy it nor wholly Annihilate it Physick given to a Man Physick doth not Cure in an instant in whom there is an Inward and Inveterate Disease doth not Cure Instantly and albeit by some heedless Actions he may hinder the Cure from being perefected so soon yet every one of these Actions do not render it altogether Vnsuccessful Also as to the Comparison of a Child which he accepts of A Child has not the Strength of a Man So those that are born of God albeit he have all the Integral Parts of a Man yet he has not that Vigour and Strength of Body nor yet that Vnderstanding nor Exercise of Mind that a Man hath and thence can neither defend himself nor do either in Body or Mind that a Man can do Now what I speak of such as are born of God saying That I dare not affirm but there may be some that cannot sin I understand this of Absolute Compleat and Full Regeneration Not that I deny but such as are Entred and in part Regenerated may be also said to be born of God though not in that absolute Sense and therefore still under the possibility of sinning and Capacity thereunto And thus his great Absurdity upon which he Insists so much is removed Next he proceeds p. 334. to shew my Agreement with the Pelagians but the very Citation he brings to prove it out of Vossius History bewrays his Weakness and shews the Contrary where it is manifest that the thing Condemned in Pelagius was his affirming Men might keep the Commands by the Power of Nature which I never said but always denied The Fathers believed a Freedom from Sin And whereas he cites the Fathers Saying That none by the Strength of Grace did live all their Days without sin That the perfection ascribed to some in Scripture was not from Nature but from Grace c. This clearly shews they believed Men might be free from Sin by Grace sometime though none had been so far all their Life-time Which shews they were far from believing Man must break the Commands daily in Thought Word and Deed Which is his Affirmation What he adds of the Fathers Arguments against the Pelagians and of the Opinions of the Socinians and others in this Matter I judge it not my Work to meddle with it I heed not in this what these Sects say but believe the Truth without respect to them as it is clearly proposed in Scripture I could easily Recriminate by shewing things wherein he Agrees with Papists Socinians Arminians Antinomians Pelagians Anabaptists and others against us if I judged it pertinent to be filling up Paper with such Stuff to make a Noise as he doth hundreds of Times to nauseating but I love to abstain from such Superfluities and come to the purpose And will now Consider What he saith in Answer to my Arguments ¶ 3. He begins pag. 337. n. 18. and to my saying Their Doctrine is against the Wisdom of God who is of purer Eyes than he can behold Iniquity he asketh Is it against these Attributes of God that Sin should be in the World But my following words shew I spake of the Godly neither will it follow what he adds after That then they must be as free of Sin here as in Heaven and that at first for I urge it to be Contrary to God's Wisdom to make this Freedom Impossible unto them only Means for their being free being given them and not his permitting Sin And whereas he proceeds in Answer to my saying That if Man be always joined to Sin he should be always disjoined from God according to Isaiah 59.2 whereas on the contrary they to wit the Saints are said to be Partakers of the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 and one Spirit with him 1 Cor. 6.17 he answers All this would plead for a Sinlesness from the very first Instant of Regeneration In the absolute
understood of true and saving Grace but let him Inform according to Scripture How any Man can come to tast of the Heavenly Gift and of the Powers of the Life to come and be made partaker of the Holy Ghost without true and saving Grace For what he adds to this being built upon the Supposition of Election I refer it to what is abovesaid upon this Subject He Concludes Vossius's Testimony to be false in saying That this was the Common Opinion of the Ancients But if so little Credit be to be given him he did not well that made so much use of him to prove what was Pelagius's Doctrine as he has done throughout this Treatise For John Owen's Citations I have neither Accommodation nor Time at present to Examine them it is enough to me that this is Contrary to Scripture though all these he mentions had said so To prove That Men may have a good Conscience and yet want true Faith he bringeth Paul's Words Acts 23. v. 1. where speaking of himself while a Pharisee he saith He lived in all good Conscience before God c. but that will not meet this Case Those 1 Tim. 1.19 who are said to Make shipwrack of a good Conscience are such who believed the true Doctrine of Faith in Christ A Man may live in good Conscience to other Principles while Ignorant of the true Faith in Christ. as himself before acknowledgeth Now albeit a Man may be said to live in good Conscience to other Principles while Ignorant of this yet he should prove How a Man can be said to have a good Conscience with respect to the true Faith of Christ held by him and yet without saving or true Grace With Railing he tells me pag. 358. N. 18. that Phil. 1.6 and 1 Pet. 1.5 speak of God's beginning and perfecting the Condition And what then yet God doth not this against our Wills it is with a respect to our performing the Conditions on our part which yet we cannot do without him Then he goes about to prove That Paul could not fall in answer to my saying from 1 Cor. 9.27 That Paul supposeth a possibility that he might become a Reprobate But if the Reader Consider how I bring that in my Apology he will find he had no reason for this Cavil for I alledged it only to Reprove those that are too too secure shewing where Sin was there was always a Ground of Jealousy Since the Apostle did reckon it needful to keep under his Body to subdue Sin that he might not become a Reprobate Which since the Apostle did but upon this Supposition if he did not keep under his Body suppose possible others had no Reason to presume SECT XI Wherein his Sixteenth Chapter Of the Church his Seventeenth Of the Ministerial Call his Eighteen Nineteen and Twenty First Of their Qualifications Office and Maintenance and his Twentieth Of Womens Preaching is considered ¶ 1. HIs Chapter of the Church is soon dispatched for it contains scarce any thing but Perversions and Railing For after he has given a large Citation out of their Confession of Faith and then added some Enlargements of his own and some little nibbling Cavils to what I say of No Salvation being without the Church pag 361. he goes on with his old reiterated Calumny That I suppose Men may be made Members of the Catholick Church by the Light of Nature which is utterly false And upon this false Supposition is built his N. 5. pag. 362. as also what he saith pag. 364. But N. 4. he screws this to a greater Pitch of Falshood affirming J. B.'s gross Calumny That our Faith and Principles are only taught by the Light of Nature That what I say of a Particular Church gathered together in the Faith of the true Principles and Doctrines of Christ by the Spirit of God and Testimony of some of his Ministers is that these are Persons only taught by the Light of Nature and by such Ministers as preach nothing of the Gospel Against a Man thus desperately resolved and determined to Lie and Calumniate there can be no Guard bu sure all sober Readers will abhor such Dealing What I speak of a Church in this Respect is only of such as have the Advantage of the outward Knowledge of Christ as my Words afterwards shew where I say Such were the Churches gathered by the Apostles of which the Scripture makes mention And therefore what he Objects That cannot be done by Pagans is wholly Impertinent and doth but verify the grosness of his Calumny which he endeavours to inculcate as a Truth to his Reader pag. 363. as if what I say further of the things requisite to be a Member of this Particular Church were a third Sort and not a more particular Description of the former Which the Reader may easily observe by looking to the Place to be a meer Fetch of his to afford himself some matter of Cavil Which imagining he has got he fills up the Paragraph with gross Lies and Railing saying That the Quakers believe not the Holy Truths set down in the Scriptures because they oppose and contradict them J. B.'s further Lies against us of the Scriptures of Christ and our Faith That they believe not in nor make Profâ—ssion of Jesus Christ Revealed in the New Testament because they oppose him and all his Institutions That Faith according to them is not wrought by the Spirit of God but that Nature can sweetly and naturally Incline yea Compel thereunto All which are Gross Calumnies And then he concludeth saying And thus we have Run round and are again where we began which is very true for he began with Calumnies and having run round the same way his Work Resolves in them Pag. 364. He affirmeth Men may be Members of the visible Church and consequently ought to be reputed such who are ungodly and without holiness and offereth to make it good if I will form a Dispute upon it but I leave him as to this to Dispute with his Learned Dr. Owen whose Works he has Applauded in this Treatise and whom his Postscript-Brother R. M. has in his Preface to this J. B.'s Book highly Commended as a Gracious Man As for his Silly Argument that from the Apostle's saying Act. 2.39 The Promise is unto you and to your Children and 1 Cor. 7.14 it follows Men become Members of the Church by Birth I leave him to debate it with his great Author Thomas Hicks who will tell him if he be Consonant to his own Principles it is a Babylonish Invention But J. B. hath here unawares Contradicted himself for if these Scriptures prove Men become Members of the Church by Birth then the Sprinkling them with Water sometime after they are born or their Baby-Baptism J. B. shuts out their Baby-Baptism from making them Church-Members is not necessary to make them Members of the Church and they are to be accounted such without it He saith I am mistaken when I say
Called he Refers to what is written of the Possibility of falling from Grace To which also I Refer it And in this also resolveth what he saith pag. 380. N. 4. In his very first Paragraph he has his Old Calumny That all the Power Vertue and Life of the Spirit according to me is not to be understood of what is imported by these Words in Scripture And this he insinuateth again pag. 379 380 384. But as this is false so what is built upon it falls to the Ground Because I deny the absolute Necessity of Humane Learning to the Ministry therefore he insinuates as if I thought it utterly Vseless pag. 379. which is false And so what he saith p. 382 The Sciences may be of Vse but make no Gospel-Teacher 383 384. to prove the Vsefulness of Natural Sciences is to no purpose against me who deny not their Vsefulness among Men nor yet say when well Improved they are Vseless to a Minister or that such things may not be Improved by a Minister when acted by the Spirit so to do as Paul did the saying of the Heathen-Poet The thing then I only deny is That they are absolutely needful Qualifications to a Minister What he mentions to be said by Calvin of the Philosophy spoken of by Paul Col. 2.8 I can very well agree to without Prejudice to any thing said by me I do not say as he falsly affirms p. 383. That Learning and Grace are contradictory And whereas he saith He is far from saying that Learning is more necessary than Grace he doth but Cheat his Reader and Contradict himself and his Learned Mr. Durham who makes Grace only needful to the well-being but Learning to the being of a Minister And their Admitting of Ministers shews this for they will Admit none till they be sure he has Learning But many whom they are not sure have Grace yea upon the Supposition they want Grace yet they think they ought to be held and reputed by the People as true and lawful Ministers And whereas he insinuateth pag. 383. that I bring in a Fable which he saith I have ready at Hand if he dare Charge me in this with the Asserting of a Falshood in Matter of Fact I will give Evidence for Proof the Persons being yet alive But until he do that Without Grace none can be a Member of Christ's Body which is the Church my knowing the thing to be True gives me ground enough to Assert it To my Argument shewing That without Grace a Man cannot be a Member of Christ's Body which is the Church far less a Minister in stead of Answer after he has accused me as not understanding the Difference betwixt the Visible and Invisible Church he tells Christ is an Head to both Which I deny not That I apply Eph. 4.7.11.16 1 Cor. 12. solely to the Invisible Church so as to exclude the Visible is his Mistake not my Ignorance Then he goeth about to shew the Difference betwixt Gift and Grace but that any had the Gifts there mentioned who were altogether void of Grace remains for him to prove Besides what is mentioned he is not sparing of his Calumnies in this Chapter as where he saith pag. 382. That I deny that about the Time of Reformation there was a Christian World which is false in respect of Profession in which Sense I only here understood it And pag. 385. albeit he find me calling the Heresy of Arius horrid yet upon the Trust of his Author Mr. Clapham he affirmeth The Quakers to be in this Erroneous But sure I have better Reason to be acquainted with the Quakers Doctrines than any of his lying Authors Another of his Calumnies is pag. 386. That we lay aside all Means in coming to the Saving Knowledge of God's Name And albeit his Railing in this Chapter be thick enough that the Reader may easily observe it yet for his more particular Direction let him observe 380 381-385 386. And whereas pag. 386. N. 11. he enumerateth several Particulars wherein he affirmeth We agree with Papists he may find them Refuted and Answered in G. K.'s Book called Quakerism no Popery And in the last two Sections of that Book written by me he may find himself and his Brethren proved far more guilty of that Crime than we which because the Professor John Menzies If Number and Increase bespeak Delusion J. B.'s surpasseth Ours and leaves him in Confusion against whom it is written found not yet Time to Answer he as having more leisure may assume that Province If the Increase of our Number be as he saith a Clear Verification of 2 Thess. 2.9 10 11 12. That we are of the Deluded ones there spoken of then it must be a Clearer Verification of it as to them that they are of that Deluded Company since they are more Numerous than we and also Increased more suddenly As for his Exhortations and Wishes in the end because I will be so Charitable as to suppose they come from some Measure of Sincerity I do not wholly Reject them only I must tell him that nothing has more Conduced of an External Mean to Confirm me in the Belief of the Verity of the Principles I hold than his Treatise because of the many gross Calumnies manifest Perversions J. B's gross Calumnies Perversions and Railing Truth needed no such Way and Method of Defence and furious Railing in it since I know the Truth needed no such Method to defend it and I can not believe one in the Truth would use it since Lying is contrary to the Truth Therefore if he will lay aside all this Falshood and Passion he may have a more sure Ground of hope to see the Truth manifested to the dispelling of Error ¶ 4. He beginneth his Nineteenth Chapter of the Ministerial Office with supposing That their Order is according to Scripture and that what we plead for is quite contrary And so ushereth himself into a Rant of Railing with which he concludeth this Paragraph saying That the Evil Spirit that acteth us is such an Enemy to all Gospel Order that it cryeth up only Paganish and Devilish Confusion More of this kind the Reader may observe pag. 388 389 391 392-394 His Calumnies and Perversions are also very frequent in this Chapter as pag. 387. where he saith We cast away all Order and in stead thereof bring in the Confusion of Babel and pag. 388. because we are not for the Shadow without the Substance therefore he saith We make a Repugnancy betwixt them which is also false And again in the same page N. 4. because I say It was never the Mind of Christ to establish the Shadow of Officers without the Power and Efficacy of the Spirit therefore he concludes That the Quakers think that Men can establish the Spirit Which silly Perversion will easily be manifest to every intelligent Reader And after the like manner pag. 389. N. 5. because I say That upon setting up meer Shadows where the
Substance was wanting the Work of Antichrist was erected in the dark Night of Apostacy he concludes that then according to me Christ and his Apostles wrought the Work of Antichrist and Mystery of Iniquity accusing me thence of Blasphemy But who can be so blind as not to see this manifest Perversion And again pag. 390. he saith I will that every Man According as his own Spirit falsly called the Spirit of God moveth him setting to this Work meaning that of the Ministry Which is a false Calumny never said by me who deny all false Motions of Man's own Spirit however called False Motions are denyed And pag. 391. he saith That Malice prompteth me to Charge them with owning the distinction of Clergy and Laity though I know they do not Where the Man supposeth that what I write is only written against the Presbyterians while he cannot but know that I write against others since in his first Chapter he charges we with Writing against all the Christian World So it is his Malice to say I Charge them with it if any of those I write to be guilty of it it is enough albeit I doubt whether the Presbyterians can free themselves of it ¶ 5. Having thus far discovered his Perversions I come to the main Business Pag. 388. he saith They plead not for shadows but own the Ordinances as Christ hath appointed to remain and continue for the perfecting of the Saints c. Eph. 4. 11 12 13. And pag. 389. N. 6. he asketh Whether the Primitive Church was not Instituted by Christ and gathered by God in whose Assemblies he was Ruler and Governour asking Were there no distinct Officers particular individual Persons set apart for the Work of the Ministry in the Apostles Days And p. 391. N. 7. he argueth against my Saying That these mentioned 1 Cor. 12.28 29. and Rom. 12.6 were not distinct Officers but only different Operations of the same Spirit And against this also he pleadeth p. 393. N. 11. and p. 394. To all which I answer distinctly and particularly J. B. his Plea for a Defective Number of Officers from Scripture That they can plead nothing from Eph. 4. unless their Church had all the Officers there mentioned which it has not yea and which themselves affirm are Ceased Such as Prophets Apostles which are said to be given for the Work of the Ministry and perfecting of the Saints nothing less than the other And by what Authority do they then Turn these by and plead so tenaciously for the other Let him give a Reason for this next and by the same we shall Answer what he urges from this But he must remember it is not enough for him barely to say These were extraordinary and are ceased and the other ordinary and remain but he must prove it by plain Scripture or else be justly Rejected as but begging the Question As he doth pag. 394. where he supposeth there were only 13 Apostles or perhaps 14. if Barnabas be accounted one since he confesseth the Word signifies One Sent and therefore whoever is Sent is properly an Apostle Thus also will his other Argument return upon his own Head for since such as he saith were settled and ordained in the Church by Christ and his Apostles how come they to walk so contrary to Christ's Order as to want yea and to judge such unnecessary in their Church And as for all the Scriptures cited by him to shew the distinction of such Church-Officers from other Members they are not to the purpose against me who deny not but Members were to be distinguished but yet that proves not that any Member was barred from these Exercises when called by the Spirit thereto which is the thing in question As for his saying That the Apostle is speaking of the Church 1 Cor. 12. as an Organical Body if he means the Apostle is Comparing the Church to a Body to which it answers in many respects I deny not but if he say that it answers in all I leave him to prove it however then if we make Application of it as the Apostle illustrateth it their Church will prove a very lame one for in this Body as J. B. himself observes the Apostle names Apostles and Prophets J. B.'s defective Church if wanting Eyes and Ears must needs be Blind and Deaf and if we may suppose that these as being the most Eminent are the Chiefest Members as the Eyes and Ears of the Body their Church that wanteth these must be Blind and Deaf And whereas he would make my saying That the Apostle meaned here different Operations Ridiculous he but sheweth his own Folly for if the Apostle point at different Offices they will not only want Apostles Prophets and Evangelists but a great many more For the Apostle nameth also verse 28. Miracles Gifts of Healing Helps Governments Diversities of Tongues c. These then must all be distinct Offices also how come they to want them in their Church or how can they plead for these they have more than for such as are placed nothing less by way of distinct Officers than they Yea all the several Titles enumerated by him pag. 390. will prove the same way distinct Officers and how came they to Cashier all these and reduce them to so few a number By what Authority and Scripture-warrant do they this But I would Inquire at him what an Office is if it be not an Operation of the Spirit more particularly working in some Persons under such a designation And this is proved by the Coincidency of these Offices in one Person which he confesseth That some are thence more particularly called to the Work of the Ministry I acknowledge and he observes it That God will move none to violate the Order established in his House I deny not God violates not Order ye may all Prophesy not only Prophets but that to move some at times to speak is a violation of that Order I deny since the Apostle saith to the contrary 1 Cor. 14.31 We may all Prophesy In answer to which he supposeth this is Restricted to Prophets but the Text saith All not All Prophets albeit it were no absurdity to suppose All the Lord's People to be Prophets in this sense as well as they are said to be Kings and Priests and the words following shew it That all may Learn and all may be Comforted for it were Non-sense to understand this with a Restriction And therefore his bare asserting That this contradicts the plain Scope of the place is no Argument for Men of Reason who resolve not to build their Faith upon his meer say so Pag. 395. he thinketh My acknowledging That some are more particularly called to the Work of the Ministry than others is not enough because they are not to Exhort but when moved by the Spirit and others when moved may as well as they so there is no difference That Ministers ought not to Preach or Exhort without the Spirit 's
I profess I see none He desires also to know from Scripture the Necessity when Men are Met together of Turning their minds Inward A Turning of the Mind inward is an Abstracting from all Worldly Thoughts to mind God in the Soul which he still will express to make it the more frightful by the Latine word Introversio and this he thinks so hard that he often insists upon it as pag. 446 447 448. But is it not needful to Assemble in the Name of Jesus And can that truly be without Turning the mind Inward unless with superstitious Papists he thinks it is enough for meeting in the Name of Jesus to say when they begin In Nomine Domini however their minds be abroad Can there be any true sense of God's Majesty as him to whom we draw near which himself confest before to be needful without a serious Turning of the Mind Inward that is an Abstracting from all worldly and vain Thoughts to mind GOD and the Operations of his Spirit in the Soul Let him read Psalm 46.14 and 62. 1 Eccles. 5.2.3 Zach. 2.3 It were hard for him to forget his Old often-reiterated Calumny and therefore he hath it here oftner than once as pag. 441 442-447 alledging most falsly That all that by which the Quakers preach or require as needful to preach is but the dima and darkned and malignant Light of Nature Neither will he forget here his constant trade of Railing J. B.'s abusive Railing take one Instance pag. 447. where he says That before I want Revelations I will go the Devil to get them as Saul did to the Witch of Endor More of such Railing Stuff the Reader may find and that very plentifully pag. 440-442-448 He wants not here also his malitious Insinuations as pag. 439. That the Quakers use Legerdemaine to make People believe they speak all without a previous Thought in their Preaching and yet have all to a word well studied If he accuse the Quakers of this let him prove it if he can for we deny it as a gross Calumny Another is pag. 441. That we would have all Study all Meditation all Prayer and Wrestling with God in Prayer laid aside which is also false But to proceed he soundeth what he saith in this matter upon two great Mistakes which being removed the Superstructure will fall of it self J. B. pleads Study and Premeditation to Preach from Paul's citing Heathen-Poets c. The first is pag. 438. where to prove the Vsefulness of Study and Premeditation to Preaching he tells How Paul made use of what he had read out of a Heathen-Poet his recommending Reading to Timothy his desiring Titus to hold fast the faithful Word as he had been taught c. and Apollos being instructed by Aquila and Priscilla all which are nothing to his purpose For we never said it was Vnlawful for Men to read Books especially the Scripture or that by such Reading Men may not acquire knowledge which may prove Vseful in Preaching or Defending the Truth but the question is Whether Men may make use of these things in publick Worship otherwise than as led and acted and influenced by the Spirit so to do and Whether any of these places will allow Men to preach in the strength of their Natural or Acquired parts without being acted therein by the Spirit Let him prove this if he can for this is the matter in question and remember Robert Bruce his Censure of Robert Blair his Sermon recorded in The fulfilling of the Scriptures His second Mistake is pag. 443 where he supposeth That to be led by the Spirit To be led by the Spirit doth not exclude the Reading of the Scriptures excludeth or is inconsistent with Reading Scripture and with all the particular Instructions given by Paul to Timothy and Titus who might have said as this Man argues I cannot be stinted unto these Doctrines which you desire me to put the Brethren in remembrance of for I must speak as the Spirit speaketh in me and the like But will he say that Timothy was not to speak as the Spirit spake in him To suppose this as Inconsistent with such Instructions is to beg the question and that these are Consistent I have shewn above in my Third Section of Immediate Revelation or let him tell plainly if Timothy could do those things acceptably without the Spirit since all Worship is commanded by Christ to be done now in the Spirit And yet he seemeth to agree to the Nacessity of the Spirit else why quarreleth he me pag. 448. for insinuating as he saith That their Ministers preach not in the demonstration of the Spirit giving an Enumeration p. 439. of several ways which he saith I know not but their Ministers are led to preach by among which this is one What know I saith he but there may be some that never digest their Preachings so as not to lie open to the Influences of the Spirit and to welcome his seasonable and useful Suggestions and to speak many things which they had not once premeditated But I would ask him Whether it be lawful for any so to digest their Matter as not to lie thus open to the Spirit 's Influences He would seem to say It were since it is but some and a may be some too with him that do so And whereas he tells of some that are constrained to change their Text and what they had purposed to speak upon it This shews the Case is but rare and therefore I am not to be blamed for what I say in general of Preachers among Papists and Protestants whose general way is To prepare aforehand Both Protestants and Papists prepare a forehand what to Preach what they preach and then speak it to the People at a set hour without waiting for the leading of the Spirit or whether they have its Influence or not And for all the Weight that this Man would seem to lay sometimes upon the Spirit 's Influence and Concurrence yet he gives shrewd Presumptions that he doth it but pro forma Else how comes he to urge as an Absurdity pag. 445. That all that Ministers preach by the Spirit must be true And why not If it be from the Spirit it cannot be other ways Yet Men whose Principle it is to speak from the Spirit may through Weakness and Mistake preach false Doctrine yet the Spirit is not to be blamed for it but those who keep not purely to it I suppose he will not deny but all that which Men preach according to the Scripture is Infallibly True it will not thence follow that all that which Men whose Principle it is to preach according to Scripture preach is True because that through Weakness they may mistake the true Meaning of the Scripture Also what he adds If the Matter be thus It is not ye that speak but it is your Father's Spirit which speaketh in you it is all one whether the Preacher be young or old for
their fellow-servants the Hazzard of which State thou knowest and many will feel when the Lord riseth up to Prey for his Eyes are upon the Righteous and his Ears are open to their Cries Though now he be Trying the Children of Men and permitting some to Suffer and others to do hard things yet a hope lives in me the time approacheth wherein the Lord will more manifestly Appear to the Joy and Refreshment of the single in Heart who Suffer with him and patiently Wait for him and for the Shame and utter Overthrow of his malitious Opposers And so One of the Particulars I would lay before thee is a Desire Search thy own Heart in the Light of the Lord. thou would'st yet in the Lord's Light search thy own Heart more till thou findest out what secret Affinity hath remained with thee to any of the Lord's Enemies in thy own Heart for if all were brought under the Government of the Son of God inwardly I am fully perswaded thy Outward Opposition to the Lord's Work could not long stand The Outward is a true Figure of the Inward and I know by true Experience all that Despight and disdainful undervaluing Epithetes thou squeezest up thy Engine to Coin which one may feel answers not fully thy own Satisfaction for bespattering and loading that People and their Principles is but alas a Mirrour-glass set up to represent the low mean The Mean Appearance of Christ despised by the Learned Rabbies unworthy Esteem thou bearest to the Light of Christ in its Inward Appearance in thee as a Reprover for whosoever turneth universally at the Reproofs of God's Light in the Conscience shall witness the pouring forth of his Spirit in larger manifestations according to Prov. 1.23 But that Spirit speaketh in thee of which Isaiah prophesied Isa. 53.2 3 c. concerning the outward Appearance of the same Christ our Head and the Captain of our Salvation whose Sufferings Death Resurrection and Glory we dearly own and wait from Day to Day more to feel the pretious Vertue thereof although he then was and now is Rejected and Despised of Men who hide as it were their Faces from him because his Outward Appearance was as a Root out of a dry Ground in whom there was no Form nor Comeliness nor Beauty that he should be desired by that Mind which was looking after great things add expecting much outward Glory and Advantage And so Christ's Appearance was mistaken by the Learned Rabbies in that Day notwithstanding they had Moses and the Prophets Testimonies and were not wanting in Reading the Letter as others now For as it was then it is now he was and is mistaken by all who seek any thing to glory in save the Cross of Christ. For the Wisdom of the Flesh hath and doth lift fall'n Man above the innocent Seed in themselves only through which they can see the Invisible Glory of the Kingdom of God and find an abundant Entrance unto the Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost whereof it Consists Wherefore take heed of being lifted up above the Seed Light Life and Spirit of Christ in thee and so thou wilt see matter to Work out thy Salvation in Fear and Trembling and wilt not sit down upon former Attainments or Experiences when the Life is gone The great Danger of Sin at the Waters of Strife Another thing I would put thee in Remembrance of in these present times is The great danger of Sinning at the Waters of Strife whereof Moses his Example may be a standing Monument to all Generations of whom it was said He was the meekest Man upon the Earth yet at the Waters of Strife he spake unadvisedly with his Lips because of which he was debarred from entring into the promised Rest. And are there not some living at this Day who with sorrow of Heart have observed the Heat and Bitterness of Spirit that hath arisen because Differences and Controversy concerning Religion have eaten out the Life of that Love and Tenderness that was with many And having hurt the green thing in themselves and one another hath brought on Death Darkness Dryness and sensible Withering and cannot chuse but so to do seeing bitterness of Spirit and Prejudice and such like Frames in Man or Woman separates from God Dwell in Love while there any one abides For God is Love and he that dwells in God dwells in love and Christ hath said Vnless ye abide in me ye cannot bring forth much fruit so not abiding in that pure Love to God and his Image in his Children hath caused many fall short and hath letted their Progress and made many lose sight of their Way and the Guide of their Youth and so they have not followed the Lord fully nor followed him in the Regeneration Renewing according to the Increase of Light and the Measures of his Manifestation whereby they should know even in this Life a being Changed from Glory to Glory as by the Spirit of the Lord. Thou mentionest in thy Postscript to J. B. pag. 557. Many who may remember with Shame and Confusion of Face their Laughing at and making light of the Appearance of that Prodigy and that it may cause some go groaning to their Grave being an Evidence that ye knew not the Signs of the Time and what they called you to do To which I answer Lightness and Laughing among People that lay claim to Religion is none of the least Causes of Mourning but I also believe if the Appearance of Quakerism so called had in the beginning been looked on The Fore-runner of the Downfall of a Man-made Ministry as the Fore-runner of the down-fall of a meer Man-made Ministery in these Nations it 's like it would have moved those who laughed most to have mourned most even then and Babylon's Merchant's would have cried Alas Alas But since now thou acknowledgest in the space of a Score of Years at most Thou seest Cause to mourn for that which ye then laughed at I am very willing to admit of your own Acknowledgment for a Ground of Hope that the Single-hearted among the Non-conformists may out-live all the Clamour they are now making against us and in less than as many years more may work through the Foggs and Mists that now darken their Vnderstandings concerning the Signs of this Time and look back with Shame and Confusion on their great Darkness that would have mourned for that which was matter of Joy And this is no far-fetched Consequence for ye had then and now the same Acquaintance with the Letter of the Scriptures and as much Humane Learning and Sharpness and Natural Abilities for an Acute Examen and so it follows by the Rule of Contraries and may it not be without presumption concluded Ye needed then and do now the help of the Spirit 's immediate Teachings in your own Hearts without which ye will not yet understand the Signs of this Time aright which if ye did The Lord is Staining
he hath wholly omitted and mentioned another in the stead of it which makes nothing to the purpose I deny not but the Miracles were a greater witness than that of John but then will it therefore follow that the inward Testimony of the Father is not greater also This was the matter in question After the like manner he concludeth the Voice spoken of Joh. 5.37 Is not inward but outward citing for Proof Matth. 3.27 2 Pet. 1.17 18. the one is the Voice heard at Christ's being Baptized the other at his being Transfigured But what way he seeks to Infer from thence that the Voice of the Father here spoken of by Christ to the Jews was not inward but outward he hath left unmentioned Likewise the Exposition he adds unto this place as if Christ were only here reproving the Ignorance of the Jews whose Predecessors had heard so much of God It would be the better received that it had some other bottom than his own meer Assertion Page 14. He confesseth That where we are desired to try the Spirits there is no mention of trying them by the Scripture And to my Question asking If there be any surer way of trying of Spirits and by the Spirit of God he returneth no Reply but another Question Viz. Whether there be any surer way than that for which the Bereans were commended I Answer Yes by the Spirit Ananias and Sapphira were discerned by the Spirit Peter could never have discerned Ananias and Sapphira by the Scripture and yet did it by the Spirit To say as he does That this was a matter of Fact and not of Doctrine and that it was extraordinary is a meer silly shift for it was only by the Spirit of God which is so ordinary to Christians that none can be truly one without it Rom. 8.9 If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his And if this Spirit can discern the secret hypocrisy of the Heart in matters of Fact far more the Errors and Mistake of the Understanding in matters of Judgment which all grant to be more Obvious And though I never averr'd that John excluded all external Rules by pointing to the Anointing so his Assertion to say That the Anointing directeth us to the Law and to the Testimony as supposing it to be outward is but to beg the thing in question â—lready refuted Page 43. As he affirmeth That man 's being deluded proceeds not from the Scripture but their own blindness so he acknowledges That falling in Delusion proceeds not from the Spirit but from the tricks and deceits of Satan and thereby he hath clearly confessed what is asserted by me page 30. and not answered And whereas he adds That leaning to the Spirit and forsaking the Scripture provokes God to give men up to strong Delusions which he Illustrateth by the Example of one J. Gilpin once a Quaker who by harkening to a voice within was put upon Mischievous and Detestable Practices I Answer He hath not proved that we forsake the Scripture nor will one man's being deceived by harkening to a voice within prove the Spirit not to be a certain Rule more than as himself acknowledges The Pharisees having the Scripture in such high esteem and accounting them their Rule will prove their Delusion proceeded from them That Story of Gilpin's was largely answered about five years ago by E. B. and C. A. who have laid open his Deceit and Wickedness J. Gilpin's Story Answer'd neither can any of these Ridiculous Pranks granting the matter to be true which he pretended to do by a voice within while appearing to be among us prove the Insufficiency of that Light we Preach or the hazzard of following it more than his beastly Drunkenness and open Prophanity naturally known in the Garrison of Carlisle where he was a Souldier proves he was led by the Scripture which it is like he then pretended was his Rule unto these wicked practices which were the best fruits of that Repentance W.M. seems so much to congratulate in him Such filthy Dross whom God purgeth out from among us are fittest persons to be Proselited by him and his Brethren and truly we are well rid of them and can heartily spare such unto them They went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us 1 Joh. 2.16 Page 43. He says That though the Scripture be sufficient for discovering of Delusions and ending of Differences in genere Objecti yet the Spirit is necessary in genere Causae Effectivae Now this necessity of the Spirit he saith himself is That we may be right Discerners for removing our natural depravedness and now granting the Scripture were sufficient in this manner will it therefore follow that the Spirit within is not the Rule which was the thing to prove in this Section In so far as he acknowledges this necessity of the Spirit 's work he hath yielded to the Truth yet it is observable how in contradiction to the Truth he overturns it all again Pag. 47 48. Where he expresly pleads For preaching upon and using the Scriptures without the joint Concurrence of the Spirit alledging I have no ground to say they ought not so to do Then consider First he said The Spirit was necessary to remove the depravedness of our Nature that we might be discerners but now he says We ought to use the Scripture without the Spirit though our Nature be depraved yea though we be in no capacity to make a right discerning And here he hath notably manifested his Affinity with the Jesuits Jesuits c. Doctrine of the Scriptures Arminians Socinians Pelagians and Semipelagians in saying How many cold Hearts have been Rubbed and Chafed unto spiritual Heat by reading and talking of the Scripture For is not this to set Nature a work and to grant a Capacity in man to beget Spiritual heat without the joint Concurrence of the Spirit And this is altogether agreeable to that known Maxim of the Semipelagians Facienti quod in se est Deus non denegat gratiam i. e. God will not deny him Grace that doth what in him lies And hereby the Intelligent Reader may perceive how much nearer a kin our Adversaries are to these Errors than we notwithstanding they so falsly and frequently brand us with them in their Pulpits and elsewhere as also that it is meerly constraint when they are hardly put to it that they now and then and that in Contradiction to themselves let a word or two drop concerning a necessary Work of the Spirit Sect. 4. Page 45. He alledgeth There is no convincing People by this Rule of the Spirit within because each way may pretend to the guidance of his Spirit and so both remain obstinate adding That according to them the Scripture is the Rule which lieth patent to both
had the thing declared unto them retiring to the inward Testimony of the same Spirit in themselves did feel Vnion therewith and such as went along did not only find a true liberty which might have sufficed but some of them a necessity to Concur with it And as for the carrying of the Hat and Cloak it was altogether Extrinsick being neither Essential nor Circumstantial to the thing nor so looked upon by these who did it Yet the Carping thereat shews in the Proposer a Critical mind very void of seriousness which the Lord as of purpose to starve hath permitted him to build that part of the Query in relation to A. H's Wife upon a false Report the thing being a manifest Vntruth And in Answer to the second Proposition of the Premisses it 's the alone immediate Testimony of the Spirit of God that can truly discover all false Pretenders and Delusions which if any can let them deny without overturning the Basis of all Christian Religion and rendering the Faith of the Saints in all Ages Vncertain R. B. A CATECHISM AND Confession of Faith Approved of and Agreed unto by the GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PATRIARCHS PROPHETS and APOSTLES CHRIST himself CHIEF SPEAKER In and Among them Which containeth A True and Faithful Account of the Principles and Doctrines which are most surely believed by the Churches of Christ in Great Britain and Ireland who are reproachfully called by the Name of Quakers yet are found in the one Faith with the Primitive Church and Saints as is most clearly demonstrated by some plain Scripture-Testimonies without Consequences or Commentaries which are here Collected and Inserted by way of Answer to a Few Weighty yet Easie and Familiar Questions fitted as well for the Wisest and Largest as for the Weakest and Lowest Capacities To which is added An EXPOSTVLATION with and APPEAL to all other Professors By R B. a Servant of the Church of Christ. JOHN 5.39 40. Search the Scriptures or Ye search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life and they are they which testifie of me that ye might have Life LONDON Printed for Thomas Northcott in George-Yard in Lumbard-Street 1691. THE PREFACE TO THE READER READER SInce first that great Apostacy took place in the Hearts and Heads of those who began even in the Apostles days to depart from the Simplicity and Purity of the Gospel as it was then delivered in its Primitive Splendor and Integrity innumerable have been the manifold Inventions and Traditions the different and various Notions and Opinions wherewith Man by giving way to the vain and airy Imaginations of his own unstable Mind hath burdened the Christian Faith So that indeed first by adding these things and afterwards by equalling them if not exalting them above the Truth they have at last come to be substitute in the stead of it so that in process in time Truth came to be shut out of doors and another thing placed in the room thereof having a Shew and a Name but wanting the Substance and Thing it self Nevertheless it pleased God to raise up Witnesses for himself almost in every Age and Generation who according to the Discoveries they received bore some Testimony less or more against the Superstition and Apostacy of the time and in special manner through the appearing of that Light which first broke forth in Germany about One hundred and fifty years ago and afterwards reached divers other Nations the Beast received a deadly Wound and a very great Number did at one time Protest against and Rescind from the Church of Rome in divers of their most gross and sensual Doctrines and superstitious Traditions But alas It is for matter of lamentation that the Successors of these Protestants are Establishing and Building up in themselves that which their Fathers were pulling down instead of prosecuting and going on with so Good and Honourable a Work which will easily appear The generality of all Protestants though in many other things miserably Rent and Shattered among themselves do agree in dividing from the Church of Rome in these two particulars First That every Principle and Doctrine of the Christian Faith is and ought to be founded upon the Scripture and that whatsoever Principles or Doctrines are not only not contrary but even not according thereto ought to be denied as Antichristian Secondly That the Scriptures themselves are Plain and Easie to be understood and that every private Christian and Member of the Church ought to read and peruse them that they may know their Faith and Belief founded upon them and receive them for that Cause alone and not because any Church or Assembly has Compounded and Recommended them the Choicest and Most-pure of which they are obliged to look upon as Fallible Now contrary to this their known and acknowledged Principle they do most vigorously prosecute and persecute others with the like Severity the Papists did their Fathers for believing things that are plainly set down in the Scriptures and for not believing divers Principles for which themseves are forc'd to recur to Tradition and can by no means prove from Scripture To shew which I shall not here insist having alotted a Chapter for it in the Book it self because to put it here would swell beyond the bounds of a Preface Oh! How like do they shew themselves I mention it with Regret to the Scribes and Pharisees of Old who of all men most cried up and exalted Moses and the Prophets boasting greatly of being Abraham's Children And yet those were they that were the greatest Opposers and Vilifiers of Christ to whom Moses and all the Prophets gave Witness yea their chief Accusations and Exceptions against Christ was as being a Breaker of the Law and a Blasphemer Can there any Comparison run more parallel seeing there is now found a People who are greatly Persecuted and bitterly Reviled and Accused as Hereticks by a Generation that cry up and exalt the Scriptures And yet this Peoples Principles are found in Scripture Word by Word though the most grievous and indeed the greatest Calumny cast upon them is that they Vilifie and Deny the Scriptures and set up their own Imaginations instead of them To disprove which this Catechism and Confession of Faith is Compiled and presented to thy Serious and Impartial View If thou lovest the Scripture indeed and desirest to hold the plain Doctrines there delivered and not these Strained and Far-fetch'd Consequences which Men have invented thou shalt easily observe the whole Principles of the People called QUAKERS plainly couched in Scripture-Words without Addition or Commentary especially in those things their Adversaries Oppose them in where the Scripture plainly decideth the Controversie for them without Nicities and School-Distinctions which have been the Wisdom by which the World hath not known God and the Words which have been multiplied without knowledge by which Counsel hath been darkned In the Answers to the Questions there is not one Word that I know of placed but the
that which may be known of himself A. That which may be known of God is manifest in them Rom. 1.19 for God hath shewed it unto them Q. Is then this Light or Seed sown in the Hearts of Evil Men A. And he spake many things to them in Parables Behold a Sower went forth to sow and when he sowed Matth. 13.3 4 5 7. some Seeds fell by the way-side c. some fell among stony places c. and some fell among Thornes c. Q. Are these places where the Seed is said to have fallen understood of the Heart of Man A. Hear ye therefore the Parable of the Sower when any one heareth the Word of the Kingdom Matth. 13.18 19. and understandeth it not then cometh the Wicked One and catcheth away that which was sown in his Heart this is he which received the Seed by the way-side c. Q. Is this Seed small in its first Appearance A. The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a Grain of Mustard Seed which a Man took and sowed in his Field Matth. 13 31 32. which indeed is the least of all Seeds Q. Forasmuch as many understand not this under the Notion and Appellation of Light or Seed it being quite another Dialect than the common though I must needs confess it is the very Language of the Scriptures Is there a saving Manifestation of the Spirit given unto all A. The Manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Man to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 Q. Sure if it be to profit withal it must be in order to save for were it not useful nor yet sufficient to save what Profit could it be of But in regard some speak of a Grace that is Common and of a Grace that is Saving is there such a Grace Common unto all as brings Salvation A. The Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared to all Men. Tit. 2.11 Q. That which brings Salvation must needs be saving What doth that Grace teach us A. Teaching us that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Tit. 2.12 Righteously and Godly in this present World Q. Certainly that which teacheth both Righteousness and Godliness must be sufficient for therein consisteth the whole Duty of Man What saith the Apostle elsewhere of this Instructor A. And now Brethren I commend you to God and to the Word of his Grace Acts 20.32 which is able to build you up and to give you an Inheritance among all those that are Sanctified Q. What is the Word of God A. The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any Two-edged Sword Hebr. 4.12 13. piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the Joints and Marrow and is a Discerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart Neither is there any Creature that is not Manifest in his Sight but all things are naked and open to the Eyes of him with whom we have to do Q. Ought we not to take heed to this Word A. We have also a more Sure Word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed 2 Pet. 1.19 as unto a Light that shineth in a Dark Place until the Day dawn and the Day-Star arise in your Hearts Q. I perceive the Scriptures are very clear both concerning the Vniversality and Sufficiency of this Light Seed Grace and Word of God but is this Word nigh or afar off Inward or Outward A. Say not in thine Heart Who shall ascend into Heaven that is to bring Christ down from above Rom. 10.6 7 8. or who shall descend into the Deep that is to bring up Christ again from the Dead But what saith it The Word is nigh in thy Mouth and in thy Heart that is the Word of Faith which we preach Q. That is clear as to the Word Is there any Scripture speaks of the Light 's being Inward A. God who commanded the Light to shine out of Darkness has shin'd in our Hearts 2 Cor. 4.6 7 to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ. But we have this Treasure in Earthen Vessels that the Excellency of the Power may be of God and not of us Q. But seeing it is also called the Seed of the Kingdom is the Kingdom of God also within A. The Kingdom of God comes not with Observation neither shall they say Lo here or Lo there for behold Luke 17.20 21. the Kingdom of God is within you CHAP. VI. Concerning Faith Justification and Works Question WHat is Faith Answer Hebr. 11.1 Faith is the Substance of things hoped for and the Evidence of things not seen Q. Is Faith of absolute necessity A. Without Faith it is Impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a Rewarder of them Hebr. 11.6 that diligently seek him Q. Are we Justified by Faith A. Wherefore the Law was our School-Master to bring us unto Christ that we might be Justified by Faith Gal. 3.24 Q. What is the Nature of this Faith that availeth to Justification A. For in Jesus Christ neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but Faith which worketh by Love Gal. 5.6 Q. Are Works then necessary to Justification as well as Faith A. But wilt thou know O Vain Man that Faith without Works is Dead Was not Abraham our Father justified by Works Jam. 2.20 21 22 23 24. when he had offered Isaac his Son upon the Altar Seest thou how Faith wrought with his Works and by Works was Faith made perfect And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for Righteousness He was called the Friend of God Ye see then how that by Works a Man is justified and not by Faith only Q. If then both be equally required in Justification what are these Works which the Apostle excludes so much Rom. 3.20 A. By the Deeds of the Law there shall no Flesh be Justified in his sight Q. But though we be not Justified by the Deeds of the Law is not this to exclude Boastings that the Grace of God may be exalted Ephes. 2.8 9 10. A. For by Grace are ye saved through Faith and not of your selves it is the Gift of God not of the Works lest any Man should boast for we are his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good Works Q Are even the Works which are performed by Grace excluded Are we never said to be saved or justified by them Tit. 3 5 6.7 A. Not by Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour that being justified by his Grace we should be made Heirs according to the hope of Eternal Life Q. I perceive then that to be
Justified by Grace is to be Justified or Saved by Regeneration which cannot exclude the Works wrought by Grace and by the Spirit How doth the Apostle add in the next verse for the maintaining this against those that Cavil about the Law A. This is a Faithful Saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly Tit. 3.8 9. that they which believe in God might be Careful to maintain good Works these things are good and profitable unto Men But avoid foolish Questions and Genealogies and Contentions and Strivings about the Law for they are unprofitable and vain Q. Doth the Apostle Paul that is so much against Justification by the Works of the Law speak any where else of being justified by the Spirit A. But ye are Washed but ye are Sanctified but ye are Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. 6.11 and by the Spirit of our God Q. But since the Law gives not Power nor Ability to obey and so falls short of Justification Is there no Power under the Gospel by which the Righteousness of the Law comes to be fulfilled inwardly A. For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh Rom. 8.3 4. God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh and for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh That the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Q. Seeing then there is Power in the Spirit is not Works through it a Condition upon which Life is proposed under the New Covenant Rom. 8.13 A. For if ye live after the Flesh ye shall Dye but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the Deeds of the Body ye shall Live Q. Do not the Apostles then frequently propose Life to People upon Condition of Repentance and other Works Acts 3.19 A. Repent ye therefore and be Converted that your Sins may be blotted out And if Children then Heirs of God and joint-Heirs with Christ if so be Rom. 8.17 that we may suffer with him that we also may be glorified together * 2 Tim. 2.11 12 21. It is a faithful Saying For if we be dead with him we shall also live with him If we Suffer we shall also Reign with him If a Man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a Vessel unto Honour sanctified and meet for the Master's Use and prepared unto every good Work Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen Rev. 2.5 and Repent and do the first Works or else I will come unto thee quickly and remove thy Candlestick out of his place except thou Repent Q. It appears clearly by these Passages that the Apostle excludes only our Righteousness which he elsewhere explains Reward of Works as being the Righteousness of the Law from being necessary to Justification and not such Works as the Law of the Spirit of Life leads to and are not so much ours as Christ in us are not such good Works Rewarded though they require no absolute Merit as being the Fruits of free Grace yet doth not God judge according to them and may they not be said to have a Reward A. But if a Man be just and do that which is lawful and right Ezek. 18.5 6 7 8 9. and hath not eaten upon the Mountains neither hath lift up his Eyes to the Idols of the House of Israel neither has defiled his Neighbour's Wife neither hath come near to a Menstruous Woman and hath not oppressed any but hath restored to the Debtor his Pledge hath spoiled none by Violence hath given his Bread to the Hungry and hath covered the Naked with a Garment he that hath not given forth upon Usury neither hath taken any Increase that hath withdrawn his Hand from Iniquity hath executed true Judgment between Man and Man hath walked in my Statutes and hath kept my Judgments to deal Truth he is Just he shall surely Live saith the Lord God For the Son of Man shall come in the Glory of his Father with his Angels Matth. 16.27 and then he shall Reward every Man according to his Works Then Peter opened his Mouth and said Of a Truth I perceive that God is no Respecter of Persons Acts 10.34 35. but in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh Righteousness is accepted with him The Righteous Judgment of God Rom. 2.6 7 10 who will render to every Man according to his Deeds To them who by Patient Continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality Eternal Life But Glory Honour and Peace to every Man that worketh Good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile For we must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ 2 Cor. 5.10 that every one may receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad Which is a manifest Token of the Righteous Judgment of God that ye may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God 2 Thess. 1.5 for which ye also suffer But who so looketh into the Perfect Law of Liberty James 1.25 and continueth therein being not a forgetful Hearer but a Doer of the Work this Man shall be blessed in his Deed. * Hebr. 10.35 Cast not away therefore your Confidence which hath great Recompence of Reward †1 Pet. 1.17 And if ye call on the Father who without respect of Persons judgeth according to every Man's Work pass the time of your sojourning here in fear Rev. 22.12 14 And behold I come quickly and behold my Reward is with me to give every Man according as his Works shall be Blessed are they that do his Commandments that they may have a Right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the Gates into the City Christ saves from Sin Q. It should seem that the Purpose of God in sending his Son the Lord Jesus Christ was not simply to save Man by an Imputative Righteousness altogether without them but also by the washing of Regeneration or an inward Righteousness What saith the Scripture further of this Matth. 1.21 A. And thou shalt call his Name Jesus for he shall save his People from their Sins Tit. 2.13 14. Looking for that blessed Hope and the Glorious Appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might Redeem us from all Iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar People zealous of Good Works CHAP. VII Concerning Perfection or Freedom from SIN Question I Perceive then by all these Scriptures afore-mentioned that Christ as well as he hath purchased Pardon for our Sins hath also obtained Power by which we may even here be cleansed from the Filth of them may we expect then in this Life to be freed from the Dominion of Sin Rom. 6.14 A. For Sin shall not have Dominion over you Q. For what Reason Rom. 6.14 A. For ye are