moral Law onely are the Letter which God did write with his own finger in stone on Mount Sinai Thus strongly your confounding of â—e whole Letter of the New Testament or Gospel of which the Apostles were made able Ministers with the Letter of the Law written and engraven in stone which is called the ministration of death and the ministration of condemnation verse 9. of which killing condemning Letter the Apostles were not not made Ministers promiscuously and confusedly as if the Letter of them both are the Letter that is carnal death and killeth is by the force of your own Scripture-words by you used and abused totally confounded for ever and thereby sent back to the infernal den in which it was hatched for the New Testament is there said to be the ministration of the Spirit vers 8. and the holding forth the word of life Phil. 2.16 because the very Letter of the New Testament or Gospel containeth in it the mediate inspired teaching written Word of Christ the Word that was and is God and the Letter of the Law is in comparison to the Letter of the New Testament or Gospel affirmed to be the oldness of the letter Rom. 7.6 Do you quakers ransack thorow the whole Scripture see if you can find any Scripture that is called the letter that is carnal death killeth and it is not declared therewith That it is the letter of the Law onely And how having shewed how powerfully my Lord Jesus hath torn down this your refuge and with his written Word and Sword of his Spirit hath hewed in pieces your murthering Agag that would have murthered the holy mediate teaching use of the whole Scripture-letter I shall proceed FIFTHLY I do direct my pen to discourse with Thomas Biddal quaker who also with the four former audacious quakers doth deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God for he being with me I cited to him this place And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God Ephes 6.17 I then telling him That the written word of God is the sword of the Spirit but is not the Spirit it self and that the Scriptures are the Spirits word and spiritual sword also But he answered me saying That the Spirit and the sword of the Spirit are both one and the self-same thing As if he should have said A man is his sword and his sword is the man And these ridiculous shifts they are inforced to make for fear the holy Scriptures should be proved to be the Word of God but to their perpetual shame our Saviour Christ though he was furnished in himself with superabundant ability to have confuted and confounded the devil If he had but said I Jesus say unto thee Satan yet for our examples he would not conflict against the devil with his own all-sufficient spiritual power onely without his Scripture-sword but to confound the devil withal he takes up his Spirits never-failing sword his written Scriptures and therewith he enters the lists against his powerful spiritual inverate enemy the devil and overthrows him with that his Word and written sword by his saying to the devil in his perverting of Scriptuers against him Thus it is written Thus it is written Thus it is written Satan and by his confounding the devil therewith he gratiously teacheth us even by his own example by the spirit of Faith to take up his Spirits never-failing word and sword the holy Scriptures and to fight valiantly and undantedly therewith against the devil himself in his temptations and also against the deluding assaults of Thomas Biddal and all other brain-sick quakers Satans officious servants And accordingly the Apostles did lay aside all their glorious heavenly raptures and visions in case of teaching men and confirmed their sayings with our Saviours infallible word and sword the Scriptures frequently saying Thus saith the Scriptures But what saith the Scriptures It is written and such-like expressions And it is well known That the Apostles were better taught then any quaker whatsoever Again Thomas Biddal what infernal spirit taught thee to boast That thy large railing seducing letters directed to me and others were written from thee to us from the Spirit of the Lord as if thou hadst been a Messenger sent to us immediately from the Lord whereas to thy shame the same queries that thou therein makest appear in the same words and form in a printed book written by another man to thy hand before thou wrotest thy lying letters to us Thus thy Luciferian aspiring pride appeareth further even to publick view Again Thomas Biddal whither were thy giddy brains ranged when thou saidst in my hearing That Faith and Christ are one and the same thing as thou didst say That the Spirit and the sword of the Spirit are one and the same thing What now Thomas canst thou not creep out of the road-way to hell wouldst thou make people believe thy false spirit that when St. Paul said We preach Christ crucified 1 Cor. 1.23 that Paul and other Saints meant to have said if they had not forgot it We preach Faith and it crucified What Thomas was Faith crucified for thee If thou saist That Faith is crucified to death in thee I shall readily believe thee Thomas though those thy sayings are to be abhorred And now to sum up together thine own begotten titles without addition to them thou hast proved thy self to be a very ignorant person a notorious lyer a proud luciferian and an audacious perverter of holy Scriptures and thereby art an enemy to God and his Truths and thereby also art a Traytor to mens souls And because you quakers do refuse the Gospel-imputation thou art not onely fallen under the eternal condemnation of God's Law but also thy brother quaker James Nayler's condemning sentence aforesaid fastens upon thee Thomas proving thou art a lyer and abides not in the truth but art of the devil and not of Christ Doubtless Thomas God had formerly given thee and others by thee a fair forewarning to avoid these delusions of the devil for thou Thomas Biddal some yeers now past was as appears inforced by the devil openly to declare That thou wert one of the two witnesses of God mentioned in the Revelations and thou didst thereupon make use of another man's new sackin-cloth which lay by him so far as to carry it to a Taylor a neighbour of thine thou knowest to whom and thou Tho. Biddal didst then lay a heavy severe charge upon that Taylor to make thee a suit of aparrel of that sack-cloth by such a day being within a little while after that it might be ready at that day for thee to put on and to prophesie in as being one of the two witnesses aforesaid then sent from God But that neighbour of thine the Taylor prudently discerning that thou wert deluded though he took the sack-cloth of thee to satisfie thy present resolute humour yet he totally neglected to make thy sackcloth-suit and
measure to be discouraged at the quakers sufferings nor at their miracles 14 That the quakers have had at their Meeting persons that have skreeked yelled and howled which is the conditions of Night-Owls and infernal spirits and of dogs and devouring wolves 15 That fearful and hideous howling is ordinary with the quakers My first and second Discourse against the QUAKERS In which anatomizing of the Quakers or ripping their foul spiritual intrails open to publick view I shall first speak to James Nailer FIRST JAmes Nayler why hast thou garnished the beginning of thy book which as applied to thy Doctrine thou hast rightly named it Satan's Design discovered with cowardly dissembling hypocrisie to delude the hearts of the people which doth appear plainly where thou darest to say in thy Reply to Thomas Moor thy godly Opposer The Lord be Judge betwixt me and that lying murtherous Spirit whether I own any other Righteousness then that everlasting Righteousness of God wrought in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth his Sufferings Resurrection and Ascension according to the Scriptures These are thy words James and herewith if no notice be taken that James Nayler doth not say That he owneth no other works or righteousness then those which were wrought in the person of Christ without his or any other mens bodies for his or their justification before God then who would think but that James by that this own good confession against Quakery were a very honest man and be ready to stand up in his defence and say Doubtless people do much wrong James to think that he is of the Qâ—akers Opinion to be saved by legal works wrought in their bodies No no James appâ—ars to be none of those deluded Quakers doth not he his own self say That he owneth no other righteousness then that everlasting righteousness of God wrought in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and calls God to judge him if he means not the same things he speaks his words are to that effect in full you see Then what would you have a man to say can he speak plainlier against Quakery then he 〈◊〉 But yet notwithstanding those his hypocritical word all his Doctrine doth bâ—and him for an equivocating deluding Dissembler by his so saying but James hath hereby mentally kept open a back-door to come in with his Quakery again as Ralph Sherwine a notorious Jesuite-Papist did in Popery who was hanged at Tiburn in Anno 1581. notwithstanding his Confession of his Faith against Popery he saying That in me and of me there is nothing but sin and abomination and I trust only to be saved by the death blood-shedding of Jesus Christ And some Papists have made the same good Confession in my hearing and yet do remain as absolute Papists as ever they were as it appears that thou James Naylsr dost remain in thy Quakery still in full notwithstanding thy formerly-dissembled good Confession appearing in full opposition against Quakery And to bring in his own evidence against himself that he doth thereby dissemble to delude note That Tho. Moor his Opposer hath in his printed Epistle to his Antidote charged him That he James Nayler did say That as Christ bore sins in his own body that died at Jerusalem so he had borne sins in his body too and so that his first appearing to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself had been manifested and accomplished in him yea that death in which it was appointed men once to die was past in him and Christ's second appearing without sin unto Salvation manifested and accomplished in him And James Nayler doth not deny in his Reply to that Charge of Tho. Moor's but that those sayings are his Thus by J. N's own words appears clearly that he doth not own Christ's Righteousness wrought by him without men in Christ's own person for his justification but as it is wrought in James Nayler's own body which is in full directly contrary to his former seeming good Confession against Quâ—kery unto which he calleth God to witness But yet further to manifest his wicked dissimulation SECONDLY Richard Huberthorne his brother Quaker steps in and bears this testimony in print which shews that J. N. is a dissembling hypocrite he saying in Saul's Errand pag. 8. That Christ in Scripture Letter without men and in his flesh without men is their example or figure which are both one that the same things might be fulfilled in them that was fulfilled in Christ Jesus Now beloved what is there affirmed in this his saying less then this That men following Christ's example must have their hands and feet nailed to a Cross and have their bodies wounded and blood shed and suffer a personal death thereon as Christ did But this is but a taste of their ignorant nonsence Hah James couldst thou not finde some opportunity or other to step to Richard Huberthorne and whisper him in the ear and perswade him not thus to play the fool in print and advise him not to publish these profound secrets of Quakery that you might make more close use of them amongst your allured proselytes as they grew up able to bear them And had it not been more credit for thee James to have stood up to thy colours like a man though a deluded man and not to have so cowardly betrayed thy Profession and thy silly dependant Quakers by shrinking in thy quakish head and prostrating thy self under odious dissimulation and treacherous hypocrisie But James Nayler hath hereby proved himself to be a dangerous dissembling equivocating hypocrite And Richard Huberthorne though he hath without equivocation discovered his own and James Nayler's falshoods plainly yet for his so grossly affirming in full effect that Christ died without men for mens example only he shall lye also with his brother Quaker James Nayler in his own deluded and deluding habit And now to shew how substantially James Nayler hath proved himself to be a notorious lyer upon his own Record in print observe that he in his ninth page doth charge Thomas Moor that he would deny the infallible Spirit of God for giving the sense of the Scriptures whereas Thomas Moor having spoken of the Pope and others that took upon them to give the sense of the Scripâ—ures he then saith These â—o wit the Quakers that follow differ not much they say it must be some Spirit of or in them to wit the Quâ—kers which they suppose to be infallâ—ble Oh horrible insolency doth T. M. hereby deny the Spirit of God to give the sense of the Scrip ures doth be noâ— only deny the false Spirit that is in them the Quakers to gâ—ve the sense of the Scriptures And but for brevity sâ—ke I could and would set forth many more such horrible lyes of his And to shew how apparently James Neyler doth prove himself to be a soul-mouthed envious slâ—nderâ—â— â—â—ace Tâ—â—at James Nayler to blast Tho. Moor his Opposers true Dâ—â—â—â—â—◠〈◊〉 in his Title page affirm Tâ—at â—e T. M.
Fountain they will remain under the condemnation of God's Law because though they be sinners yet do desperately refuse the grace of Gospel-imputation and also the condemnation of James Nayler's Law fastneth on them that they abide not in the truth but are of the Devil and not of Christ And I shall prove That the Quakers do desperately refuse all Imputation when I come to discourse with the ten Quakers together But James Nayler a word or two more with thee and that is to shew thee how thy deluding Master to make sure work hath led thee to affirm That thy Quakers Christ is no Christ for thou being asked as in the 25 pag. of Saul's Errand Whether Christ as Man is in thee or no thou thereto didst answer saying Christ is not divided for if he be he is no more Christ but saidst thou I witness that Christ in me who is God and Man in measure These be thy words James and herein is much to be observed That by his affirming that Christ is not divided for if he be he is no more Christ and by his saying in full effect That Christ not onely as he is God but also as he is man is in him but in measure which is That Christ God and Man is but in part in him then the other part of Christ must needs be without him for he by his words denieth that whole Christ God and Man is in him and if he should not deny that then how would all the rest of the Quakers do to have their measure or parts of Christ God and Man also in them for if James Nayler had swallowed up whole Christ God and also Man then he would have left all the rest of his brethren and sister Quakers in a lamentable condition they having no measure or part of Christ God and also Man in them because Iames Nayler had devoured him all up But you see that Iames is more temperate then so for he doth acknowledge that there is but a measure or part of Christ God and Man in him and thereby he leaves out the other part or measure of Christ God and also Man to be without him for the other Quakers to divide amongst them Is not this a great kindeness of Iames â—hink you But thus Iames by thy affirming that Christ is not divided for sayest thou if he be he is no more Christ and by thy dividing of Christ by measure thou hereby affirmest in full effect That thy pretended Christ in thee is no Christ but a Satanical deluding Spirit in thee and truely in this sense I shall believe thee And thus your quaking imagined Christ whom you would fain have stand for a figure or example onely is by thee Iames turned into a naked cypher o signifying nothing or according to thy words no Christ or worse for wickedness is worse then nothing And now dost thou not see Iames how thy Spirit in thee doth over-rule thee to confute thy self in a few words speaking therefore remember this Iames for afterwards That he had need of a good memory that loves to tell lyes For know all ye Quakers That Christ's spiritualized and glorified Person of real flesh and bone cannot be a measure or part thereof in one man and the other parts of his real Person of flesh and bone in other men as you falsly imply though by his spiritual influences he is in all his Saints and you shall finde it so at last if you persist in your quakery THIRDLY Concerning Iames Milner I find upon record in a book written by Iohn Gilpin who was formerly for a time a Quaker during which time he declareth the extraordinary strange powerful and manifold delusions which the devil did act upon him in him but he being by Gods mercy delivered he giveth God thanks in that book for his deliverance from the Devil and the Quakers The book is intituled Quakers shaken printed in anno 1655. In which book he relateth That Iames Milner Quaker told the people that flocked to his house that he had fasted fourteen days and nights and that he must fast two dayes more for the saving of two souls to wit Dorothy Barwick and the Wise of Brian Fell of Ulverstone and he was so extreamly deluded by the Devil that he pretended himself to be a Christ and he said he must suffer as Christ did viz. to save the souls of the two women aforesaid And in a juggling inchanting manner with a knife and a bason he pretended his blood was shed and Milner said he gave up the Ghost as Christ did he said he was Abraham and Adam and his wife was Eve and that George Fox should be Iohn Baptist and he it was to wit Milner the false Christ that should come after whose shooe-latchet Fox was not worthy to unloose Milner also prophecied twelve strange Prophecies and set so short a time for the performance of them all that they were all proved to be false in a short time O monstrous what mad frantick fasting-fits were these But the Quakers fasting need not seem strange for it is evident the Devil did feed a great many of witches being the Quakers neighbors in Lancashire with inchanted dainty food not substantial in an old Barn not far from Bourule Now do not you Quakers perceive how the Devil rides you as Balaam rid his Ass when he would have done those things which God did not allow of Bear with me for I have the example of the great and holy Prophet Elijah which he used to Baal's Prophets in 1 Kings 18.27 And God in mercy hath enabled me to see that you are to be reckoned with them And Iames Milner by thy Luciferian pride to save souls as Christ did and by thy manifold great prophetical lyes thou must come under the lash of thy brother Quaker Iames Nayler's condemning Law aforesaid That thou art of the Devil and not of Christ FOURTHLY I do turn my pen to discourse a little with Christopher Atkinson Iames Lancaster George Whitehead and Thomas Simmonds four principal Quakers because I finde them in a junctual book by them called Ishmael and his Mother cast out more open-heartedly revealing their maliciousness against the Holy Trinity then some other Quakers have done But first Christopher Atkinson a word or two with thee alone Art thou straggled from Kendal in Westmoreland to Norwich in Norfolk I do verily believe that thou art the very same Christopher Atkinson which didst preach thy Quakery at Richard Collisons house at Kendal in May anno 1653. At whose preaching of Quakery the Devil himself did get such fast hold on Iohn Gilpin lately mentioned by his leaning to be instructed in thy deluding Quakery by thee then and there taught as appears in Iohn Gilpins book mentioned in my last or third Discourse But now joyning him to his other three Companions I shall proceed Their words are these directed in their 10th page to their Opposer Mr. Townsend then a Minister in Norwich And
here is say they to him the three Persons thou dreams of which thou wouldst divide out of one like a Conjurer What you foul-mouthed apostate Qâ—â—kers is the affirming that there is three Persons in the Unity of the sacred Godhead like the coâ—juration by the Devil Into what corner of Hell will you flie next for further directions do you not know that God the Father who is and ever was totally spiritual and never took upon him any Person of humanâ— nature as God the Son hath done that notwithstâ—nding God the Father is by his own Spirit in his holy Scripture set forth to be a spiritual Person where it is said in plain and full effect That God the Son is the express image of his Fathers person And if you Qâ—â—kers be not afraid that the holy Spirit doth inspire his holy servants to conjure like the Devil then you may venture upon it to read the 1 2 and 3 verses of Heb. 1. and there you may see that God the Father is affirmed to be a Person God is called Christ's Father often in Scripture And do you not know that the tide Father cannot possibly be rightly applied to a bare denomination or title onely without a Person must not any one be a Person first before he can be a Father methinks you might understand something aright And now concerning the holy Ghost Do not you know that out blessed Saviour doth often call the holy Ghost He where he saith But the Comforter which is the holy Ghost whom my Father will send in my Name He shall teach you all things John 14.26 He shall testifie of me John 15.26 And if you Quakers dare venture further then you may read John 16.13 14 15. Hah what 's that you Quakers say doth the Father send the bare name or title of the holy Ghost to teach men without a spiritual Person can the expression He be by our Saviour so often given to a bare name or title onely without a Person As for God the Son you do acknowledge that since his incarnation he is a Person but know you further That Christ is called God's Son long before he took upon him a Person of humane flesh which you may see in full effect in Psalm 2. So is proved That there was a Trinity of Spiritual Persons in the Unity of the sacred Godhead even from Eternity before Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and a bare name cannot be a Son though you Quakers blasphemously account the three Persons in blessed Unity of the sacred Godhead to be like the conjuration by the Devil And your hellâ—sh language breaketh out still more largely by your telling of Mr. Townsend in full effect therewith in the same page 10. That he is shut up with the three Persons in perpetual darkness for the lake and pit What is in this your language any less then if you said That the three Persons are shut up with Mr. Townsend in perpetual darkness for the lake and pit it can be no less Oh horrible to what blasphemous height of iniquity against the holy Trinity will you Quakers mount And yet further to avoid conjuration you do pervert the Scripture to uphold your dreamed delusions for whereas God saith Behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that steal my word every one from his neighbour Jer. 23.39 this place you produce as if all men that are not taught by enthusiasms without the Scriptures which with you are counted immediate Revelations from God and you cite this place as if all men that are not so taught as you are do steal their Doctrine which they teach from their neighbours onely whereas it is evident in that chap. Jer. 23. even against all contradiction that God therein reproveth the Prophets that say I have dreamed I have dreamed and then to plant in their dreamed delusions into their neighbours hearts they craftily did as you quakers do steal God's true Words from their neighbours but not to teach others therewith but to make room in their neighbours hearts to settle in their dreamed prophetical delusions and this proveth to be your diabolical conjuration And wereas you say in your first page That Moses wrote forth Scripture and not Letter but the Word Herein I have taken you in a notable lye also for could Moses write Scripture without Letters or Characters but Moses five Scripture-books written with Letters proves all your four quakers lyers Thus every way by James Naylers sentence you abide not in the truth but are of the Devil and not of Christ And as for your frequent maundring to exclude the Scriptures from being the Word of God Because say you they are not that Word which was God and because God spake to his Saints of old immediately or before Moses and the Letter was Are these good Arguments you quakers to prove that the Scriptures are not the Words or Word of God But see your wilful ignorant folly in this also for we are taught that the Scriptures are the Word of Christ who is God and that so they are the Word of God undeniably except you dare deny that Christ is God Construe this place you quakers Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs Col. 3.16 Can you not see that it is not here said Let Christ the Word God and Man dwell in you personally as you quakers falsly say in full effect that Christ doth so dwell in your bodies but contrarily the Scripture-exhortation even by the inspiration of God is this you quakers Let the word of Christ it is not Let Christ the Word dwell in you personally but Let the word of Christ dwell in you and it is in the same place of Scripture shewed what that Word of Christ is viz. psalms and hymns and spiritual songs And those spiritual songs or hymns are Scriptures and they are herein in full effect affirmed to be the Word of Christ and Christ is God therefore the Psalms or Scriptures are hereby proved to be the Word of God though the Spirit of Satan in you quakers will not say Amen to that truth because he feels that that Word of Christ the Psalms or Scriptures will and must destroy his Kingdom of deluding quakery and therefore you his servants in ordinary must though there be three sorts or several dispensation of God's minde to the sons of men in three several ages of the world that is to say First by his immediate words to his Servants until his Scriptures were written during which time his Servants declaring what God spake immediately to them was mediately their preaching of the Word of God Secondly by God's commanding Moses and his other holy Prophets to write what was his minde towards men which is the scope of Rom. 16.25 26. during all which time the Prophets declaring in writings what God spake immediately to them is the mediate Word of God Thirdly by Christ the Son
his inspiring his holy Servants his Apostles to write his minde to men during which time also even unto the worlds end those his holy Servants his Apostles declaring in writings what Christ spake immediately to them concerning men is the mediate Word of Christ the Son of God and God and so in truth are the Words or Word of God And fourthly God's book of his glorious creatures continuing even from the creation of the World to the end thereof being subservient unto all those three dispensations of God's minde to the sons of men to make up a sweet harmony in visibly declaring of God's incomprehensible Glory Majesty Power Providence Mercy and Goodness even throughout the whole World yet notwithstanding all this though the Spirit saith in Scripture Let the word of Christ dwell in you and do not say Let Christ the Word dwell in you personally and though the Psalms or Scriptures are set forth to be the Word of Christ and though it be not said as you quakers dream That Christ the Son in his established ordinary way doth now teach men by his immediate words without the Scriptures and though it be said God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son note it is not said God doth speak to us by his Son as your tenents falsly say he doth now speak to men immediately but it is said God hath spoken to us by his Son Heb. 1.1 2. intimating plainly thereby That the Sons immediate speaking his minde to men in his established ordinary way of teaching them is gone and past and though it be said therewith to confirm that truth That the great Salvation at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by them that heard him which can be no otherwise since the Apostles deaths but by their Scripture-writings and though our Saviour did not say Father I pray not for these alone but also for all them that shall believe on me through mine own immediate words spoken by me to them as your quakers fantastick brains imagine but not so though that false sense is the quakers killing livelihood but according to Heb. 1.1 2 3. so also Christ the Son saith in his prayer Neither pray I for these alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their words John 17.20 so not through the Sons immediate words but through theirs his Apostles or Disciples words who at first heard the Son speak immediately to them who are to confirm those the Son's words to us which did not hear the Son speak immediately to them And fifthly though it be so that if the Apostles confirming of the Son 's immediate words to us be not taken to be by their Scripture-writings left to us that then the whole world of men that have lived ever since the Apostles died are totally deprived of the Apostles confirmation of the Son's words to us who heard not the Son speak immediately to them and so those vast multitudes of people have not had nor have not any means to know the great Salvation which the Son at first began to speak or teach to them his Apostles immediately for them to confirm to us mediately by writings which considered sheweth the vanity of the quakers deluded fancies And sixthly though St. Paul who affirmeth That he did not receive his Doctrine from man but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ Gal. 1.12 and so being an Apostle that heard the Son speak immediately at first to him also and so was one of them that did confirm those the Son's words to us in writing I say Though even he that great Apostle saith to the Thessalonians For this cause thank we God without ceasing because when ye received the word of God ye heard of us then not immediately of the Son not so but the word of God ye heard of us to wit of those that heard the Son speak to them immediately ye received it not as the word of man or our words but as it is in truth the word of God 1 Thes 2.13 And seventhly though Moses that admired pen-man of God's Works for us and minde to us hath discovered in his Scripture-writings the particulars of God's wonderful Works which he wrought in his first five days-works of Creation which were all past before any man had any being or before man was and therefore could not possibly be taught to Moses by any man but onely by God's teaching of him and though all this of God's immediate teaching Moses appeareth in his recorded written Scriptures yet even yet I say notwithstanding all these and many more such-like infallible inspired Scripture-Testimonies of God which do firmly prove That the holy Scriptures are in truth the mediate Word of God to us yet say by experiences which God hath formerly for my humiliation and instruction permitted Satan to act in my body for a time even the same strong delusions in kinde which Satan acts in your quakers bodies though my heavenly Father in great mercy hath delivered me from them yet I know that your quakers diabolical spirit in you will not permit you to acknowledge that truth though he doth give you leave frequently to affirm That the Scriptures are true as the Devil of old spake some truths to usher in his manifold deceits even so he over-powers you quakers though you say the Scriptures are true yet to deny the Scriptures to be any help in saving teachings and are led to deny in that respect the second dispensation of God's minde to men declared in the writings of his holy Prophets and also God's third dispensation of his minde to men by his inspired writings manifested by his holy Apostles And as he thereby limits the supreme holy One so he over-rules you to acknowledge but one dispensation of God's minde unto the sons of men And that by this his first dispensation of his minde to men by his immediate words that so the devil the father of lyes by his servants quakers may make elbow-room for his enthusiasms to teach men crafty devices closely contrived both to deceive themselves and others also and that his freedom in this destructive way may not be disturbed by the contradiction or controle of holy Scriptures he hath taught you the â—eâ—diest way to please him and you as cheerfully imploy your selves in his business And thus you four principal quakers have made your spiritual pestilential infectious black spots appear upon you to publick view and your brother quaker James Nayler's condemning Law aforesaid looks very fiercely upon you I 'll warrant you to justifie that you all are of the devil and not of Christ And herewith know you quakers That we your Opposers do not trust to nor expect to be taught by the Letter of the Scriptures written with ink on paper as you shrawme out against your Opposites but by the Spirit of Christ
therewith and thereon attending even on his Scriptures to convey his minde therein recorded into the hearts of all tender-hearted contrite humble persons that do abidingly wait upon his teachings for Christ said to his Disciples Go ye and teach all nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost though you quakers account this Doctrine to be like conjuration by the devil but Christ did then promise them saying And lo I am with you alway even to the end of the world And it is well known That Christ was with them personally but a small time and their action of verbal ministration died with their bodies therefore Christ's promise is by his Spirit to be with their Scripture-written-Ministration always even to the end of the world which teaching of Christ's Spirit in and with those sacred Scriptures is our rejoycings though you quakers to advance your enthusiasms do turn that kinde of teaching into your own everlasting destruction And now considering it is your strongest refuge to lurk in to defend your satanical immediate enthusiasms without the Scripture frequently to cry down the teaching-use of the Letter of the Scriptures to which frantick end you in the 7 pag. of Saul's Errand do affirm That the Letter of the Scripture is carnal and the Letter is death and killeth and in this your saying you make no distinction in the Scripture-Letter but that all of it is carnal and death and killeth and yet you affirm constantly that the Scriptures are true and so hereby you do affirm That the truth is carnal and is death and killeth And now what other non-sence will you spatter out next in the tail of this And in the 21 p. of your Satan's Design you to defend your lye do say the truth That the Apostles was not Ministers of the Letter but of the Spirit But why so you brain-sick quakers but onely because you are falsly given to understand out of the Air by your high immediate enthusiasms that all your affirmed true Scripture-Letter is all of it carnal-letter and is death and killeth But now with amazement do all you quakers behold even to your everlasting shame and perdition That God's own inspired Word his holy Scriptures do as it were fiercely flie at your impudent faces rebuking you and telling you plainly That there is no Scripture-Letter that is called the Letter that is carnal and death and killeth but onely and alone the letter of the moral Law which was written and engraven in stone and that Law-letter onely and none other Scripture-Letter whatsoever is called the Letter that is carnal and death and killeth See this firmly proved against you quakers even by your own chosen place of Scripture which you have cited you endeavouring thereby to prove your great hellish lye aforesaid to be true and this your pick'd place is Heb. 7.16 and is written of Christ saying in the 15 vers That after the similitude of Melchisede◠there ariseth another priest and then in v. 16. which is the verse by them cited it is said Who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment And it is further written thus For the law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did by the which we draw nigh unto God vers 19. So herein we have set forth plainly to our view that the Law onely is there called the Commandment that is carnal and that other Scriptures is in plain and full effect said to be the bringing in of a better hope testified in the Scripture by and in the Letter of the New Testament or Gospel of which the Apostles were made able Ministers as is shewed in full effect in the 2 Cor. 3.6 and not of the Letter of the Law or carnal Commandment aforesaid For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof Heb. 7.18 which is the very next verse but one to the quakers cited verse So that hereby the devil your Tutor as it appeareth after he hath hoodwink'd you then according to his own habitual deceitful tricks he hath led you as it were by the nose to spie out that place Heb. 7.16 and to make use of it to shew against your selves to your perpetual shame that the Letter of the Law onely includes the Commandment which is in Scripture called carnal Thus far concerning your affirming That the Letter of the Scripture without distinction is a carnal Letter which by your own proof is proved to be a hellish lye And now again you quakers concerning your other false words affirming That the Scripture-Letter is death and killeth and to prove these to be as false also I shall further note what is written where it 's said Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament not of the letter of the law of a carnal commandment as before but of the spirit for the letter the law of the carnal commandment killeth but the Spirit giveth life 2 Cor. 3.6 And now here again that saying of yours you quakers is brought upon the tenter-hooks where though you say That the Apostles were not Ministers of the Letter but of the Spirit and that 's true But here 's your torment augmented by your tormenting the truth of that verse by your thereby signifying That the Apostles were Ministers to teach men onely to look for the immediate speakings of the Spirit to and in them and so you would repeat over again your old satanical superstitious Beads to destroy the third dispensation of God's minde by his inspired Scriptures written for mens mediate teachings by his Apostles which their writings do contain in them literally the Letter and Letters of the New Testament or Gospel of which the Apostles were able Ministers and upon which the Apostles written Testimonies Christ by his Spirit by his own promise is alwayes with them even to the end of the World to convey the benefit of that written New Testament unto all humble waiters upon him therein which is before lately proved and your old hellish long now repeated against God's third written dispensation is also in this my fourth Discourse by Scripture-truths totally confounded And now to prove even against all denial That the Devil your Tutor befools your understandings to make use of that saying Not of the letter for the letter killeth as if thereby were declared That the whole Letter of the Scriptures is carnal and death and killeth but to confound that also it is proved plainly and firmly that next after it is said God hath made us able ministers of the New Testament not of the letter for the letter killeth then to shew even to publick view distinctly and apparently what that letter is that is death it is written immediately thereto in the very next verse thus But if the ministration of death written and engraven in stone was gloriou◠〈◊〉 And it is well known you silly quakers That the Letter of the