thou livest and art dead And unto the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot but luke-warm The worst of all tempers in Religion Now minde that Christ doth commend what ever was good in any of these Churches and reproveth them for their evill but calleth them Churches and the Ministers Angels But you Quakers will take no notice of any good that is in any of our Churches or Ministers but are like the Crow or Raven that love to feed upon Carren so your only delight is to revile against our Ministers and Churches and to publish any fault you can finde in them but I never read in any of your books one word of commendation of any Minister or Church but your selves neither did I ever hear any of you Quakers speak in the praise or commendation of any Minister or any Church or people but your selves but railing and reviling I have heard more than enough of But surely you Quakers have no love to any but your selves for the Apostle saith That Love covereth a multitude of faults and that Charity or Love suffereth long and is kinde envieth not vanteth not it selfe is not puffed up thinketh not evill beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things But you Quakers vant your selves are puffed up with spiritual pride think speak evil of all persons that are not of your minde calling them Reprobates Heathens and Dogs and that you are the only Church of Christ being pure from sin and so do not only condemn all other Churches now in being but all that ever have been I the famous Churches of Asia Corinth Galatia and Thessalonica who were the first Churches and were as Brightman in his book called A Revelation of the Apocalips the best and the purest Churches for after the Apostles dayes greater corruptions sprang up in the Church Now if there were such corruptions in the Church in the first and purest times shall we think to have the Churches in our times free from all corruptions I do not write these things to plead for sin and corruption I rather desire to mourn and be humbled for them But I write these things to shew you your great mistake in that you say there can be no true Church nor Ministers where such fruits are but beware of condemning the generation of the Just because of miscarriage of some persons that live in the Church or because of the faults and infirmities of the godly men in the Church remember what a curse Ham brought upon himself for uncovering his Fathers nakednesse and what a blessing Shem and Japhet brought upon themselves for covering their Fathers nakednesse But above all take heed of slandering and belying our Ministers and Churches by accusing them falsely a sin that is too frequent among you it is better to erre in over much charity then in sensoriousnesse and rash judging But that I may the better rectifie your judgements and all other that separate from our Churches I shall endevour to shew you your mistake in and about the perfection of the Church of Christ which I conceive is because you do not distinguish between the outward visible Church of Christ and the invisible Church the mystical body of Christ Now I say that the invisible Church is perfect in Christ because all the members of that Church are members of the body of Christ being joyned in one Spirit and to such the Apostle Peter doth speak unto Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ Also the Apostle to the Hebrews saith But ye are come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God and unto the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the General Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in Heaven and to God the judge of all and to the sprinkling of just men made perfect and to Jesus the mediator of the new Covenant and to the blood of Sprinkling that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel Now minde the Apostle saith they are elected or chosen the Church of the first born which are written in Heaven but when Jesus Christ speaketh of the visible external Church he saith Many are called but few are chosen that is many called to the profession of the Gospel of Christ but few of those are elected and chosen to Life and Salvation Also Christ saith The Kingdome of Heaven is likned unto ten Virgins which took their Lamps and went forth to meet the Bridegroom and five of them were wise and five were foolish Minde They were all Virgins and they all had Lamps that is they all had the outward external profession of the Gospel but the wise Virgins only had the oyle of Grace Also Christ saith The Kingdome of Heaven is like unto a Net that was cast into the Sea and gathered of every kinde good and bad Now by the Kingdome of Heaven is not meant the Kingdome of Glory but the Chruch visible here on earth in which there are good and bad But you say that our Ministers are no true Teachers because they profit not the People to which I have answered in part before where I shewed that the Prophet Esai profited not the People of Israel and yet was a true Prophet But I do deny what you speak to be true and say that our Ministers do profit the People what ever you say to the contrary because a blind man cannot see the Sun therefore doth not the Sun shine because you Quakers who are blinded with error and cannot see that our Ministers doth profit the People do they not therefore profit the People I shall shew you what I see and know of a truth of their profiting the People I have known several Ministes who have come to Parishes to Preach where the People have been generally Ignorant Profane and Superstitious and God hath so blessed the labours of the Ministers among those People that they have been generally reformed from their Ignorance Profanenesse and Superstition and is it not profitable to People that were Ignorant to be instructed for those that were Profane to be morally civil for those that were Superstitious to be brought off from their Superstition and many that have been not only convinced of their sins but truly and really brought to believe and repent of their sins and many that have been in great horrour and trouble of conscience even ready to despair have been by their meanes as instruments raised up and have received true spiritual comfort and are not such profitable Ministers Also they do by their Preaching strengthen and confirm the Faith of Believers for it is the work of a Minister of Christ not only to convert
the Apostle In eating every one taketh before other his one Supper And one is hungry and another is drunken What have ye not houses to eat and to drink in or despise ye the Church of God By which it seemeth by the way that the place where the Corinthians met was not a house but some place set apart for them to meet in But what did the Apostle order and appoint in that case did he say you Corinthians have so abused this Supper that I command you not to use it any longer No the Apostle was no Quaker for he exorteth them and instructeth them how to reform these abuses and how to receive the Supper of the Lord aright and that he doth First by laying down Christs institution and command unto him for the use of that ordinance And secondly sheweth the great danger of unworthy receiving Thirdly directeth them how to receive the same aright But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that Cup. As if the Apostle had said though there be such danger in unworthy receiving yet would I not have you neglect the same But examine your selves and so come And in the end of the chapter tells them that The rest I will set in order when I come But you Quakers will have no order And as this was the practise of Christ and his Apostles so hath it been the practise of all reformed Churches since the Apostles days You Quakers are alone in this practise and woe be to him that is alone and a woe be to them who are so wise in their own conceipt as to think themselves wiser then Christ and his Apostles and all the Churches of Christ ever since the Apostles days which I leave to your serious consideration and be your own Judges whether you be perfect who walk so contrary to the command and example of Christ and his Apostles Seeing the Apostle exhorteth Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ And so I come to a third particular wherein your Practise is contrary to the example and Practise of Christ and his Apostles and all reformed Churches The third particular is your different practise from Christ and his Apostles in singing of Psalms Wherefore I shall lay down this for a truth That singging of Psalms with a Voyce is a part of Gods worship now in the days of the New Testament as well as in the days of the old For proof whereof take the example of Christ and his Apostles Who sang a Psalm or Hymme together after the administration of the Lords Supper which was a time of Sorrow and Heavinesse for Christ had newly told them before of his being betrayed and the time of his suffering was neer at hand and yet they sang a Psalm together which surely was for our example also the Apostle Paul and Silas being in prison Sang praises unto God also the Apostle Paul instructeth and exhorteth the Ephesians to speak one to another in Psalms and Hymnes and spiritual Songs and so to the Colossians Teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymnes and spiritual Songs Also the Apostle commandeth the Corinthians that such as sing in the Church should not only sing in the Spirit but with understanding Also those who sang when they had gotten Victory over the Beast are said to sing the Song of Moses and the Lamb by which it seemeth that the Song of Moses did suit with that deliverance But it is objected by you and others that these were not the Psalms of David but some other Hymnes or spiritual Songs immediately inspired which you like well and sometimes perswade your selves that you have such inspirations and fall a singing meer non-sense which edifies neither your selves nor others Wherefore I shall shew that all these three Titles are given to David's Psalms some are called Psalms some are called Hymnes some are called Songs that is spiritual Songs The Prophet David hath given these titles or names to them To the chief Musician a Psalm of David also a Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah a Song upon Alamoth Now what reason can be given why the Apostle should direct us in our singing to the very Titles of David's Psalms if it were not his meaning that we should sing them so that you must exclude the Psalms of David from the name of Psalms and Hymnes and spiritual Songs or else you must be forced to acknowledge that we are exhorted to sing them as well as any other Is it not better to sing those Psalms or Hymns of David which we know to be indited by an infallible Inspiration of the spirit then to sing such Songs or Hymns as men invent of their private spirits or pretend to be immediately inspired by the spirit which appears to be their own fancies by the distractions and contradictions that are in them Doe you not think that Christ was better able to indite and sing new Psalmes or Hymnes then you Quakers and yet we have not the least intimation in Scripture of any new Psalm or Hymne indited or sung by Christ and his Apostles after the Lords Supper which certainly would have been recorded by the Evangelist who records far less matters in things which pertain to Gods Worship And it is supposed that Christ did sing with his Apostles one of these Psalms appointed or used to be sung at the end of the Passover and some affirm that it was the 118 Psalm which Christ did sing I confess by the suitableness of the Psalm to the occasion there may be some probability but I think no certainty But our Psalmes are not the same in meeter nor the same tunes which the Jews had That seeing the singing of Psalmes is a dutie commanded and amongst others those of David and hath hid from us the Hebrew tunes wherewith the Psalms of David were wont to be sung it must needs follow that the Lord hath left it to the libertie of the Church to sing them in such plain grave tunes as may fit the solemnitie of Gods Worship and that because that tunes are but circumstantial and not the substance and the Church now in the dayes of the Gospel is not in her minoritie or young age but in her man-age or full grown age as the Apostle speaketh and therefore fitter to appoint circumstantial things in Gods Worship then the Jews being in their non-age But Davids Psalmes are to be sung with Davids Spirit or the same Spirit which David had but in your Churches wicked persons sing that have not the Spirit That the whole congregation of the Church of the Jews did sing the Psalms of David and do you think that all those among the Jews that sung Davids Psalms had the same Spirit which David had in composing of them Though
first lay down this proposition that all Ministers since the Apostles days are not called immediately by an extraordinary call as the Porphets and Apostles were but mediately in an ordinary way of calling Which calling is not the calling of men but the calling of the Holy Ghost because that calling which the Holy Ghost hath revealed in the Scripture and that I shall prove by Scripture for after that he was ascended into heaven Judas being faln from his Apostleship and another to be chosen in his room the Apostles being met together concluded from what was written in the Scripture that another should take his charge wherefore they presented two out of the number of those who was conversant among them from the Baptism of John and they prayed and gave forth their Lots and the Lot fell on Matthias and he was numbred with the eleven Apostles No man pretended that he had the Spirit and therefore that was a sufficient call neither did God call any by revelation or a Voyce from Heaven to that place of an Apostle in his room Also after the Apostles had gathered Churches they ordained Elders by election in every Church and the Apostle Paul saith that he left Titus in Creet that he should ordain Elders in every City and the Apostle writing to Timothy saith Despise not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by Prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery or Eldership And Paul directed him whom to make Bishops or Elders And also the Apostle doth not only direct him but also charge him among other things that he should lay hands suddenly on no man One of your Speakers or Praters at one of your meetings at VVilliam Bond 's house hearing some in the Street threaten to pull them out of the house cryed out lay hands suddenly on no man as if the Apostle had meant of striking men suddenly But the Apostle saith that a Bishop or Elder must be no striker By which you may see how you are mistaken in the meaning of Scripture who pretend to have the infallible Spirit by which the Scripture was written as I have heard some of your company say And Jona Dell in his Book called The Voyce from the Temple writeth But your Spirit of error in misapplying Scripture is plainly discerned by all that have the Spirit of discerning and now I pray mind these things to use your own phrase and consider of these Texts of Scripture here written and let the Light of the Scripture enlighten your dark minds to see that those who have an external call as well as an internal call are the lawful Ministers of the Gospel and such are our Ministers Can you believe that God hath appointed order and government in a Common-wealth and in a Family and hath appointed none in his Church Now is it a sufficient warrant for a man to execute the Office of a Justice of the Peace a Constable or any other office in the Common-wealth because he hath sufficient gifts and inward qualifications without an outward call by those who are in authority either by Commission or otherwise and it is lawful for any man to execute the the Office of a publick Minister without a lawful call from those who are in publick Authority But I know your opinions are against all order or offices in the Church and so much you write in your paper making it to be a great fault that our Teachers bear rule Now that I may show you your error mind these Scriptures that prove Ministers to be Officers and such officers as are to rule in the Church The Apostle Paul writing to Timothy saith If a man desire the Office of a Bishop or Elder he desireth a good work and shewing how he ought to be qualified saith he must be one that ruleth well his own house else how shall he take care of the Church And the Apostle writing to the Corinthians saith That God hath set some in the Church first Apostles Secondarily Prophets Thirdly Teachers helps to Government Also the Apostle writing to the Romans saith All Members have not the same Office Wherefore he that is a Minister let him wait on Ministering or he that Teacheth on Teaching he that ruleth with diligence Also the Apostle writing to the Hebrews saith Remember them that have the rule over you and who are they the Apostle saith such who have spoken unto you the Word of God and in the same Chapter Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your souls But though you are like Korah and his company who were many Two hundred and fifty Princes of the Assembly famous in the Congregation men of renown who gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron and said as you Quakers do to other Ministers and Magistrates you take too much upon you seeing all the Congregation are holy and the Lord is among them So you say Have not we the same Spirit the Apostles had Are not we all holy wherefore do you Priests take so much upon you But what became of those men God caused the Earth to open and swallow them up and take heed lest God show some special Judgement upon you by delivering you up to blindnesse of mind and hardnesse of heart Korah and his company had the same prâ—â—ences that you have but know it is not the inward gifts and qualifications only that makes a publick Teacher as I have proved but the lawful ordaining a man to that office and a man that is so called although he want the power of that which he teacheth as the Sons of Ely were lawfull Priests because lawfully called though they were wicked men and the Pharises and Scribes Christ saith sit in Moses Seat all therefore whatsoever they bid you observed that observe and do but do not ye after their Works for they say and do not Now by their sitting in Moses Seat was that it was their office or calling to teach the Law and therefore Christ spake both to the Multitude and to his Disciples to hear them and Judas was a true Apostle and one that preached as the rest of the Apostles for it is said he had part in this Ministery But all those who are authorized for that work ought to be careful that they ordain none but such who are inwardly fitted and called and to that end the Apostle chargeth Timothy that he lay hands suddenly on no man but to try and examine both himself and others of his fitnesse and ability lest he be partaker of other mens sins Consider what I have here written in answer to your first Ground And now I shall answer your second Ground which is because they go to Oxford or Cambridge and learn Latine Hebrew or Greek To which I answer I know many Ministers that never went to these places to learn these languages and yet think
they are not the abler Ministers but lesse able and yet I doe not deny but they are lawfull Ministers being lawfully called But I wonder that you make these things to be a ground of their unfitnesse which is rather a ground of their fitnesse for do you not read of the schools of the Prophets and Paul doth thank God that he spake with tongues more than they all which he would not have done if it had been a sin so to do and Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel a learned man in all tongues and if there had been no Scholars that had learned the Hebrew and Greek tongues I wonder how we in England should have understood the Scriptures seeing the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the other in Greek and they are not so perfectly translated but that there is need of the Hebrew and Greek tongues to explaine some texts of Scripture And for the Latine tongue how many learned godly men have written severall excellent books in the Latine tongue usefull in the Church which we had neither known nor understood if they had not been translated out of the Latine tongue into English And besides the Latine tongue is a help to Reading and Writing in the English tongue and by this we may see what friends Quakers are to Religion that would have no helps either for understanding or reading But the Apostle saith that a Bishop must not be a novice and the Apostle Peter saith that there are some things in Paul his Epistles hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures unto their own destruction and are not you Quakers such unlearned unstable persons who plead against Learning And that you are unstable doth appear because for the most part you have been of severall opinions in Religion running from one opinion to another and now grow obstinate for the most part in your opinions But I know your objection that Peter and the rest Apostles were not brought up at Schools nor had no humane Learning To which I answer that as they had an extraordinary Call so God did in an extraordinary manner endow them with the gift of Tongues as you may read in the Acts of the Apostles where it it said They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance Now when I see or hear you Quakers have the gift of Tongues to speak all manner of Languages without being taught in a miraculous extraordinary manner as the Apostles had then shall I believe you have such an extraordinary Call as the Apostles had and till then I shall believe you are a company of deluded bewitched people To say no more to this particular but beware the Geese when the Fox preacheth who hath more Subtily then Learning or Solidity And now I shall answer your third ground against our Ministers Because they study for what they teach To which I answer that the Apostle Paul writing to Timothy saith Give attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given by prophesie meditate upon these things give thy selfe wholly to them that thy profiting may appear to all Take heed unto thy self and unto thy doctrine continue in them and is not Meditation study if you say it is not then read what the Apostle saith in the second Epistle to Timothy Study to shew thy self approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth You Quakers are wiser than the Apostle you say your teachers need not study and Timothy was I believe more able to preach without study than any of your Quakers who take upon them to Teach without study and therefore I marvel not that your Teachers Men and Women speak so much nonsense and use so many vain repetitions of the same things But for dividing the Word or Doctrine which the Apostle exhorteth Timothy to use I never heard among any of the Quakers so oft as I heard them speak also the Apostle exhorteth him that is a Minister to wait on Ministering or he that Teacheth on Teaching the Apostle would that they should make it their businesse or whole work Give thy self wholly to them saith Paul to Timothy I know your objection is that the Apostles preached without study and Paul did work and we Quakers have the same spirit that the Apostles had To which I answer That as the Apostles had an extraordinary Call so they were indowed with extraordinary gifts above any man of an ordinary Calling and although all Ministers have the same Spirit the Apostles had yet have they not the same measure of the Spirit for as the Apostle saith there are diversities of Gifts but the same Spirit to one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdome to another the word of Knowledge to another the working of Miracles to another Prophesie but all these worketh that one and the self same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will Now if you Quakers have the same measure of the Spirit as the Apostles had why do you not work miracles as the Apostle did when I see that then shall I believe you can Preach without study and tâ—ll then I shall believe you Prate and not Preach And now I come to answer your fourth ground which is that our Ministers study old Authors the writings of the antient Fathers and Popish Writers For answer to which I do marvel how you Quakers know those antient Fathers to be Popish Authors seeing most of their writings are in Latine and you count it a sin for a Minister to learn Latine and surely if you Quakers had formerly learned the Latine tongue yet now you dare not read Latine books wherefore you have no ground to say they are Popish Authors from your own knowledge but from hear-say of others and so you are a false witnesse-bearer But it is no new thing for you to count all men Popish that are not of your wild opinions but if you had not plowed with the Papists heifer you had never known nor learned so many of their errors as I shall prove hereafter you have but I do believe it is lawfull for a Minister to read Popish Authors and to study what they read else how shall they know what they hold and how to confute their errors unlesse they do as you do take all by hear-say But the the Apostle saith Try all things and keep that which is good and the Apostle writing to Titus that he should oppose those that say against the truth for saith he There are many disobedient and vain talkers and deceivers of mindes chiefely they of Circumcision whose mouths must be stopped which subvert whole houses teaching things which they ought not And that their mouths might be stopped the Apostle alledgeth what one of
be the Lord they are all for ought I know or can hear cast forth as corrupt and unprofitable members and the Lord complaining by the Prophet Zephany maketh complaint against the Princes and Judges as well as the Prophets and Priests saying Her Princes are roaring Lyons her Judges are ravening Wolves and yet the Lord calleth them Princes and Judges for the wickednesse of the person doth not disanul his office being lawfully called thereunto neither in Magistrates nor Ministers untill they be degraded from that office You farther object in your paper That the Apostles did take only that which was freely given them I answer That our Ministers do take nothing but what was and is freely given either by their ancestors or otherwayes and who ever payeth the Ministers Tâ—thes payeth nothing of his own but that which was freely given for no man in buying any Land or leasing any Land doth buy the Tithes because by Law they cannot be sold You farther object That the Apostles did work with their hands to maintain themselves because they would not be chargeable to others I answer That the Apostle Paul and Barnabas did work but the rest did not as appeareth by the Apostles words Or I only and Barnabas have not we power to forbear working by which the Apostle plainly sheweth that the rest did forbear working and they had power to forbear working but that the Apostle did because of the poverty of the Church of Corinth and because he would give no offence to any He became as a Jew to the Jew to them that are without Law as without Law he became made all things to all men that he might by all means save some to that end he caused Timothy to be Circumcised that he might gain the Jews Now why do not you Quakers follow the Apostle in that as well as in your Teachers working which I think is very seldome Besides as I said before the Apostles had extraordinary Gifts as well as an extraordinary Call and were able to Preach without Study but the Apostle writing to Timothy commandeth him to meditate upon those things Give thy self wholly to them that thy profiting may appear to all and do you Quakers think that you are more able to preach without Study than Timothy was and that you can work on your ordinary Callings and preach too when Paul commandeth Timothy the contrary And now I answer your sixth Ground against the lawfulnesse of our Ministers and that is you say because they teach that none can be perfectly freed from sin while they live here For answer to which I say that you Quakers neither know nor understand what our Ministers preach wherefore that you may know and be better instructed I shall by the assistance of Almighty God shew you what our Ministers do preach and hold concerning this great point in controversie of being perfectly freed from sin and that according to what I do believe concerning the same according to that measure of light within me according to the Scriptures And I pray God to open your eyes that you may be able both to see and believe the same without which there is no salvation Wherefore know you that our Ministers do both Preach and Write that all and every one that doth by a true and lively Faith believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for Life and Salvation are perfectly freed from all sin here by Justification and that alone by the blood of Christ and are made perfectly righteous by the righteousnesse of Christ imputed and that all those who are so justified by the blood and righteousnesse of Christ are truly sanctified by the spirit of Christ Which Sanctification is perfecting all our life here and perfected at the end of our lives according to that of the Apostle Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us clense our selves from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit perfecting holinesse in the fear of God not perfected but is alwaies a doing Now that I may prove these two points and explain them I shall first shew you by the Scriptures that we are made perfectly free from sin and made perfectly righteous by the blood and righteousnesse of Christ for as Adam in the estate of innocency was not only without sin but made in an estate of righteousnesse being made in the Image of God which as the Apostle saith consisteth in knowledge and righteousnesse and holinesse so all that are saved are by Christ the second Adam made perfectly free from all sin by his death resurrection and intercession and made perperfectly righteous by his righteousnesse Wherefore I shall plainly prove both these to be by Justification in and by Christ alone according to that of the Apostle being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ And be it known unto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you the forgivenesse of sins and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses but to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted unto him for righteousnesse Even as David also describeth the blessednesse of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousnesse without works saying Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin All things are of God who hath reconciled us to himselfe by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministery of reconciliation To wit That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him and by one offering he hath made perfect or hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified You see the Apostle doth make our perfection to be by that which Christ alone hath suffered and done for us and not by what we work or do But I know this is a strange new doctrine unto you and hard for you to believe because you dote so much upon a Light within you and Righteousnesse within you wherefore I shall endevour to make this doctrine appear plain unto you if you will not shut your eyes against the Light or that the God of this world hath not blinded your mindes lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine unto you Werefore minde what I shall write from the Scriptures First I shall shew how this perfection by Christ was typed out in the time of the Law as in the scape-Goat the Lord commanded saying Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live Goat and confesse over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions in all their sins putting them upon the head of the
salvation he hath covered me with the robe of righteousnesse And as this righteousnesse was typified prophesied of and promised in the Old Testament so did Christ accomplish the same for saith Christ It becometh us to fulfill all righteousnesse wherefore the Apostle Paul saith But of him are ye in Christ Jesus not in your selves who of God is made unto us wisdome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption He is made wisdome for our folly he is made righteousnesse for our unrighteousnesse and sanctification for the corruption of our conception birth and conversation and redemption for our bondage the same Apostle also to the Romans saith But now the righteousnesse of God without the Law is manifested being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets even the righteousnesse of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ The Apostle calleth it the righteousnesse of God because wrought by him that is God to shew the worth virtue and excellency of the same also the Apostle saith For if by one mans offence death reigned by one much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousnesse shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ Therefore as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous Minde the Apostle saith as and so that is as by Adams sin or disobedience we were made sinners so by Christs obedience we are made rigteous this is the wedding garment without which we have no acceptance but are abominable and filthy in Gods sight as Christ saith to the Church of Laodicea Thou saist I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and do not you Quakers say the same in effect for they thought they were rich by doing good works and had need of nothing do not you Quakers say you are so perfect by what you do and suffer that you have no need of any teaching or exhortation reproof or admonition But what said Christ to them and take it home to your selves And knowest not that thou art poor and wretched and miserable blinde naked because they were destitute of the true wisdome righteousness of Christ hasted to a wisdome righteousness in themselves But Christ saith I councel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou maist be rich white raiment that thou maist be cloathed and that the shame of thy nakednesse do not appear which is the merits and obedience of Christ to put him on as the Apostle saith this is that righteousnesse that Christ said Except your righteousnesse shall exceed the rigteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdome of Heaven The Pharisees thought themselves the only righteous people in the world as you do for said the Pharisee I thank God I am not as other men nor as this poor Publican for I do many good works like those Hypocrites spoken of by the Prophet Esay Stand farther off for I am holier than thee But they were ignorant of the righteousnesse of Christ as the Jewes were who went about to establish a righteousnesse of their own works for saith the Apostle They being ignorant of Gods righteousnesse and going about to establish their own righteousnesse have not submitted themselves unto the righteousnesse of God Again What shall we say then that the Gentiles which followed not after righteousnesse have attained to righteousnesse even the righteousnesse which is of faith But Israel which followed after the law of rigteousnesse hath not attained to the law of righteousness Wherefore because they sought it not by faith and this the Apostle knew by himself as may appear by his own words Touching the righteousnesse of the Law blamelesse But he was an enemy to this righteousnesse of Christ because he was ignorant of the same and are not you Quakers ignorant of this rigteousnesse Faith for some of your Speakers have said to me when I have spoken the same things among you that here with Hold thy peace and speak no more thy dirty puddle thy stinking stuff and some of you in your printed Pamphlets have written against this Doctrine of Justification by faith But may I not justly return the same unto you hold your peace and speak no more nor write no more your dirty dungy righteousnesse For if the Apostle Paul counted all his righteousnesse to be but dung in comparison of the righteousnesse which is of God by Faith well may I count and call yours so for while you pretend to be the only friends of Christ you are his greatest enemies I Traitors to Christ and his Gospel Traitors to his Church and Children and Traitors to your Bodies and Soules seeming great friends to all these but betraying every one of these with a Judas his kisse because you are enemies to this perfect righteousnesse of Christ by faith by which alone we are justified and saved But you maintain a perfection within you by the Spirit saying that you are freed from all corruption of sin Wherefore having at large proved that all believers are perfect by Justification I shall now prove that all those who are perfectly Justified are not perfectly freed from all sin and corruption in themselves and then I shall answer your objections against both And to make this appear to be true according to the Scriptures I shall first lay down this proposition That all Believers are Justified by the blood and righteousnesse of Christ are sanctified by the Spirit of Christ which Spirit of Christ doth remain and abide in them together with the body of sin which I shall plainly prove to that end know that this body of sin is sometimes in Scripture called Flesh sometimes Concupisence Now you do deny that there is both Flesh and Spirit in one person which is the thing that I undertake to prove by the Scripture Wherefore minde what Christ saith to his Disciples The Spirit is willing but the Flesh is weak The Apostle Paul saith It is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me and after that When I would do good evill is present with me and yet in the next verse I delight in the Law of God after the inward man But saith he I see another Law in my members warring against the Law of my minde Now dare you say the Apostle had not the Spirit of Christ at that time seeing he saith he delighted in the Law of God which none can do that have not the Spirit of God Besides consider what a grosse error and absurdity will follow by denying the same which is this that if Paul had not the Spirit at that time then was not the Spirit the author
of that Scripture contrary to that of the Apostle Peter Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost Besides if Paul had not the Spirit at that time then he had lost it unlesse you say he had not the Spirit while after he had written the seventh Chapter to the Romans Also the Apostle Paul complaineth in his Epistle to the Corinthians saying That a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Sathan to buffer me which is taken to be some corruption Also the Apostle writing to the Galathians saith For the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary the one to the other So that ye cannot do the things that ye would according to what he said of himself before Also the Apostle Peter that Pillar of the Church which the Papists your Fathers do so much boast of that he could not erre as you Quakers say of your selves To passe by his sin in denying Christ before Christ suffered you may read in the Epistle to the Galathians that the Apostle Paul withstood the Apostle Peter to the face because he was to be blamed Why for what the Apostle saith That before the Jews he dissembled fearing them of the Circumcision and that Barnabas was also carried away with their dissimulation But saith the Apostle When I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel Now this sin of theirs was not a sin of Ignorance but of Knowledge dissembled and now I am writing of Barrabas I call to minde that great strife that was between Paul and him that although they were put apart together for the ministery of the Gentiles had travelled through many regions and preached unto them the Gospel that then they should so fall out one with the other that they should parâ— asunder there must needs be a fault either in Paul or Barnabas and surely they both had the Spirit of Christ at the same time and were Justified and Sanctified Also this passion of theirs bringeth to minde what the Apostle James writeth concerning the Prophet Elias That he was a man subject to like passions as we are that you may read of him in the Book of Kings Now if Elias that was taken up into Heaven was a mah subject to passion and Paul and Barnabas dare you Quakers say you are more holier then they I the Apostle saith That in many things we offend all and was not the Apostle a true teacher because he taught such doctrine as you say our Ministers are not Also the Apostle John saith If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Minde the Apostle doth not say if you but we putting himself within the nnmber Also he saith If we say that we have not sinned we make him a lyar and his word is not in us I marvel not that you Quakers do so often give Men the lye seeing you give God the lye for so saith the Apostle that knew better than you for you know not your own hearts if you did you durst not so speak you never yet knew the Spiritual meaning of the Law that the least evil thought or motion to sin though not acted is a breach of the pure Law of God if you did then would you say and pray as the Prophet David did Who can understand his errors cleanse thou me from secret faults or sins If the Prophet David who was a man after Gods own heart and a pen-man of holy Scripture confessed that who can which interrogation is a negation none can understand or know all the secret sins of his life prayed to God to pardon them Do you Quakers know more and are you more holy than he I know you are so in your own opinions But I shall have occasion hereafter to discover the falsenesse of your opinion in that particular Now to make this appear more plain consider that there is no need of Christ his mediatorship propitiation or intercession for if the Church and people of God do not sin why then doth the Apostle John say And if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous And he is the propitiation for our sins Minde the Apostle saith We have an advocate and he is the propitiation for our sins the Apostle includeth himself within the number Also the Apostle Paul saith to the Romans Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect why Minde the Apostle doth not say for they have no sin But it is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us he includeth himself Also the Apostle to the Hebrews Wherefore he is able also to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Now consider that this intercession of Christ is necessary for the Saints in regard of their best works For the Prophet Esay saith in the name of the whole Church But we are all as an unclean thing and all our Minde rigteousnesses are as filthy rags Also the Apostle Paul saith of himself Yea doubtlesse and I count all things but losse for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the losse all things and do count them but dung that that I may win Christ Now the Apostle counted his righteousnesse which is of the Law to be such that he might be found in Christ not having his own righteousnesse but that which is through the faith of Christ This intercession of Christ for the Saints for to take away the pollution of their best actions was typified by the High-priest Aaron was to have a plate of pure gold and engraven upon it holinesse to the Lord. And it shall be upon Aarons fore-head that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things that the Children of Israel may be accepted before the Lord. A Mans best works as they come from Man are unclean because there is corruption in the best men for all men are conceived and born in sin as David confesseth of himself Behold I was shaped in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me Now this original corruption is in the best Man what ever you say or think to the contrary Now as water that is pure and clean in the fountain if it run or come through a corrupt pipe or channel it will be foul and unclean even so the Spirit of God in Man being the fountain from whence all good cometh is pure and clean but passing through Mans corrupt nature becometh defiled And therefore you may read that the Angel stood at the Altar having a golden Censer and there was given unto him much Incense that he should offer it
Also those that were convinced at Peters Sermon said unto Peter â—nd the rest of the Apostles Men and brethren what shall we do that false light within them taught them nothing but to do but the Apostle Peter answereth them Repent and be Baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins for the promise is unto you and to you Children Also the Keeper of the Prison came to Paul and Silas and brought them out and said Sirs what must I do to be saved and they answered and said Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved The light in him could not direct him what to do without the Apostles teaching who taught them to do nothing but to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ but if the Apostles had been Quakers they would have said to him Hearken to the light within thee and obey the same and thou shalt be saved but the Apostles knew no such doctrine The false Apostles taught such doctrine for after the Apostle Paul had planted the Church of Galatia by the preaching of the Gospel there presently after came false Teachers who bewitched the Galatians with this doctrine That the works of the Law are to be joyned with Christs righteousnesse for our Justification and Salvation The Apostle saith I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called yon into the grace of Christ unto another Gospel which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the Gospel of Christ Minde The Apostle doth not marvel that they were so soon removed from him that called them to hearken to the light within them and obey that but that called you into the grace or favour of Christ and tells them that those which taught them to joyn Faith and Works together in the point of Justification were not Preachers of the Gospel but perverters of the Gospel for saith he We through the Spirit wait for the hope of the righteousnesse by Faith Minde the Apostle doth not say we wait for the revelation of a light within nor a shaking quaking fit by the Spirit that is from the spirit of the Devil and not from the Spirit of Christ And as these Galatians had a natural inclination after the doctrine of Justification and were soon drawn away by that and the false Teachers so is there the same in all men naturally because Man naturally would fain sacrifice to his own Net he would have something in himself he cannot indure to be robbed and spoiled of all his good works he would fain have some glory to himself like the Pharisee who thanked God he was not as other men but did many good works and like those proud hypocritical Jews who said stand farther off I am holier then thou But now this doctrine of free Justification in and by the righteousnesse of Christ alone without works taketh away all glory from a Man robbeth him of all and giveth all glory to God in Christ alone Now take this for a sure rule for tryal of doctrine that doctrine which giveth most glory to God and taketh away all glory from Man that is the true doctrine but this doctrine of being perfectly justified in and by the righteousnesse of Christ alone doth give most glory to God and take glory from Man therefore the true doctrine of Christ Having answered your objections against this doctrine of being justified in and by the righteousnesse of Christ alone I shall answer your grounds upon which you build your perfection in your selves by the hearkning to the light within you and obeying the same Christ saith be ye perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect To which I answer that a Christian is said to be perfect by Sanctification in regard of the parts of Sanctification because every part is Sanctified as a Man childe is said to be a perfect Man so soon as it is born in regard it hath all the parts of a Man but those parts are not grown to perfection so a Christian is perfect in regard of all parts of perfection but not in regard of the measures or degrees and that is Christs meaning be ye therefore which therefore doth imply a wherefore and doth relate to the words going before Ye have heard it hath been said thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy But I say unto you love your enemies blesse them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despightfully use you and persecute you that you may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven For he maketh his Sun to shine or rise on the evil and the good and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust Be ye therefore perfect as your Father is perfect Have you the same part or quality of perfection as your Father hath but who can say he loveth his enemies in that measure and degree as God our Heavenly Father loved his enemies that he sent his only begotten Son to dye for his enemies I am certain to Quaker hath that perfection for in stead of blessing and praying for their enemies they curse them as I shall shew more at large hereafter Also perfection is sometimes taken for the sincerity of Man or singlenesse of heart in opposition to a double-minded hypocritical man and so is it said of Job that he was perfect and upright that is he was a man of a single heart for if we mark what Job said of himself we shall finde that he was a man that confessed his own infirmities and weaknesse If I justifie my self mine own mouth shall condemn me if I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse Also he saith I have heard of thee by the hearing of the eare but now mine eye seeth thee wherefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes Surely Job was no Quaker for they say they are perfectly freed from sin and in stead of abhorring themselves they justifie themselves Again you object that the Apostle Paul saith that he preached Wisdome among them that are perfect and let as many as are perfect be thus minded To which I answer that the Apostle speaketh of the perfection of Justification in and through the righteousnesse of Christ and not of inherent perfection For the Apostle in that third Chapter to the Philippians saith of himself Not as though I had already attained either were already perfect but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus By which the Apostle declareth that he was imperfect in regard of his apprehending of Christ for as he saith in another place We all know but in part and believe but in part but we are perfectly apprehended of Christ and he hath already perfectly redeemed us and saved us Wherefore we that believe should be of the Apostles minde to
Minister because the People unto whom he Preacheth liveth in many sins then I say by the same ground you may as well prove that the Prophets and Apostles were no true Teachers for the Lord sometimes sendeth his Prophets among a people not for their conversion but to harden them in their sins and to leave them without excuse Noah was a Preacher of righteousnesse and Preached to the old world to have them repent and yet they repented not but God brought a Floud and drowned the whole World except Noah and his Family and will you say that Noah was not therefore a Preacher of righteousnesse or a true Preacher and afterward was not Noah overtaken with drinking the Wine that he made of the Grapes that he was drunk and yet that sin of his did not prove him to be no true Teacher Also Just Lot so called did labour by Teaching Reproving and Exhorting the Sodomites to repent and turn from their wickednesse but could not prevail and God destroyed them with Fire and Brimstone from Heaven And Lot after that great deliverance fell into grosse sins namely Drunkennesse and Incest was he not therefore a good Teacher Also the Prophet Samuel what pains did he take with the Children of Israel to reclaim them from their sins but could not prevail for the Lord said they have not rejected thee but me was he not therefore a true Prophet Also the Prophet Elias how little did he prevail with the Children of Israel to reclaim them insomuch that he saw none but himselfe that was not fallen to worship Ball saying They have slain thy Prophets and I am left alone Also the Lord said unto the Prophet Esai Go and tell this people Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not Make the heart of this people fat and make their eares heavy and shut their eyes least they see with their eyes and hear with their eares and understand with their heart and convert and be healed Then said I Lord how long and he answered Untill the Cities be wasted without Inhabitants and the Houses without Men and the Land be utterly desolate And the Prophet complaineth that all day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and a gain-saying people And was not the Prophet Isaiah therefore a true Prophet but you will say these were before Christ was come in the flesh Wherefore I shall shew you the same in effect after Christ his coming in the flesh to omit what Christ complaineth of concerning the obstinate Jews in which I might be large only take that one complaint of his O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy Children together even as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings and ye would not behold your houses are left unto you desolate Now if Christ who was God as well as Man complaineth that Jerusalem would not be gathered or converted unto him is it any strange thing that those that follow him do see such small fruit of their labours Wherefore take a view of what followed after Christ his Ascention and after the full accomplishing of Christs promise to send the Holy Ghost The Apostle Paul after he had with much labour by preaching gathered a people in Corinth what fruits did spring up and grow among them there was great divisions and contentions among them every one of you saith I am of Paul and I of Apollos and I of Cephas and I of Christ Also the Apostle saith that it is reported commonly that there is Fornication among you and such as is not so much as named amongst the Gentiles that one should love his Fathers Wife and ye are puffed up and have not rather mourned Also the Apostle complaineth that there were divisions among them about the Lords Supper For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper and one is hungry and another is drunken and was not the Apostle therefore a true Teacher of the Gospel of Christ and was not the Church of Corinth therefore a true Church of Christ according to you Quakers tenets or opinions they are no true Churches in which there are divisions and in which there are any sins and corruptions and so much is implyed and expressed in your Paper where by the way I shall now write something to confute that error of yours in which you are not alone for you have too many that erre with you for company besides Quakers Now I have read several of your Pamphlets in which you write that the Church is in God and is Spiritual and that there is no true Church where there is divisions and where there is sin this Richard Farnworth Burroughs and several other wrâ—teth wherefore I desire you to take notice that the Apostle Paul writeth to these Corinthians and calleth them the Church of God at Corinth notwithstanding those corrupt Members that were among them such as you can scarse finde in the worst of our Congregations Also the Apostle writing to the Galatians calleth them the Churches of Galatia and that the Apostle saith O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth and are ye so foolish having begun in the Spirit are ye now made perfect by the flesh that is by the works of the Law which the Apostle calleth Flesh Also the Apostle writing to the Thessalonians calleth them the Church of the Thessalonians which is in God and yet the Apostle saith there were some unruly persons among them and some disorderly persons which the Apostle calleth Brethren That the withdrawing your selves from every Brother that walketh disorderly for we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly working not at all but are busie bodies And if any man obey not our word by this Epistle note that man and have no company with him that he may be ashamed Minde Yet count him not as an Enemy but admonish him as a Brother Surely the Apostle wâ—s no Quaker for they deny to call any man or woman Brother or Sister though they walk never so orderly if not of their minde but say they are Heathen this I have heard several of your company speak Also Christ himself unto the Church of Ephesus saith That Thou hast left thy first love and unto the Angel of the Church in Pergamus That thou hast them that hold the doctrine of Balam so hast thou them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate And unto the Angel of the Church of Thiatira I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Jezabel which calleth her selfe a Prophetesse to teach and to seduce my servants like the women among you Quakers that take upon them to Teach And unto the Angel of the Church of Sardis I know thy works that thou hast a name that
but also to strengthen and confirm those that are converted that they may grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ though you Quakers say you are so perfect that you cannot grow in knowledge nor grace Also know that were it not for our publick Ministers people would in time grow Atheistical and become like Savage bruitish Heathens as for those sins which you say do abound among Teachers and People I say it is no new thing for you Quakers to accuse revile and slander all men that are contrary to your judgement But if such sins did abound among us that doth not prove our Ministers to be no true Ministers nor our Churches to be no true Churches for I have proved that there hath been as great sins in the first age of the Church as in Corinth Galatia Thessalonica and the Churches of Asia and yet they were all true Churches and the Ministers true Ministers but for your selves you are like the Pharisees that could finde faults in others but could see none in themselves And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy Brothers eye but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye which bringeth me to the tryal aud examination of the perfection among you Quakers that it may appear whether you be the innocent Lambes of Christ the holy Seed the Called the chosen of the Lord the Witnesses the Saints the children of the Light the perfect ones for so you write in your Paper but it had been better if it had been written or spoken by others than by your selfe but you follow your Fathers the Pharisees who praised themselves and your Fathers the Papists who say they are the only true Church which cannot erre as you Quakers say of your selves Wherefore I shall now endevour to examine your perfection whether you have that perfection which the Scripture doth hold forth and teach I have at large proved the perfection which our Ministers teach to be by Faith alone in believing what Christ hath suffered and done for us Also I have proved that there is no perfection in our selves that is to say no man is able perfectly to keep and fulfill the whole Law in thought word and deed but you Quakers say that Christ hath abolished the Law an old Antinomian error which hath been often confuted wherefore I shall not trouble my self about it but I shall exaamine whether you Quakers do perfectly keep and obey the commands of Christ and his Apostles and whether you walk according to the example of Christ and his Apostles Now Jesus Christ hath given forth several commands which you Quakers do not obey but teach men that they ought not to be obeyed now Christ saith that whosoever shall break one of these least Commandements and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdome of Heaven that is none at all Now if Christ threaten such as teach men to break one of the least of the commands of the Moral Law how do you think to escape that teach men to break his commands which he gave forth with his own mouth in the time of the Gospel and that neer the time of his Suffering and Ascension but you will say this is a false accusation wherefore it remaineth on my part to 〈◊〉 it And to that end I shall first begin with that 〈…〉 which Christ gave to his eleven Disciples And Jesus came and spake unto them saying all power is given unto me in Heaven and in earth Go ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you alway unto the end of the world Now I do affirm that this command of Christ was given by him not to the Disciples only but in them to all the Ministers of the Gospel that shall succeed them unto the end of the world and that this command of baptizing in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost is the baptizing with Water which ordinance is to continue unto the end of the world or Christ his second coming Now you Quakers do deny the observing of this command of Christ and teach men not to obey the same but say it was a command that was to continue only for a time untill the coming of the Holy Ghost this several of your Teachers have affirmed unto me at several times and Jona Dell in his book called A voice from the Temple saith that Baptism and the Lords Supper were but ceremonies that were to last but for a time Wherefore I shall prove that this command of Christ to his Disciples was to continue in the Church untill his second coming and was not to cease at the coming of the the Holy Ghost as you say it is Now Minde the words and they do plainly prove it for Christ saith I am with you alway even unto the end of the world Now the Apostles did not live alway unto the end of the world but some of your company say by the end of the world Christ doth not mean the time of dissolving of all things in the world or Christ his second coming but till the world was ended in them and that was when they were perfect but consider what an absurd interpretation this is for if that be the meaning then it must needs follow that Christ left the Apostles when the world was ended in them but I would know where you finde the end of the world in Scripture to be taken for the end of the world in a Man but while you go about to defend one error you run into many but I shall shew from the Scripture that this ordinance of Water-Baptisme was practised in the Church after the sending of the Holy Ghost and after the Holy Ghost was received by many In the Acts of the Apostles we read that the Apostles were all filled with the Holy Ghost Surely no Quaker ever had such a measure of the Spirit and yet the Apostles after that baptized with Water as we may read in several places in the Acts to instance one which may serve in stead of many the Apostle Peter being sent for by Cornelius by the Lords own appointment and coming into Cornelius's house preached the Gospel unto him and many other Gentiles And to him give all the Prophets witnesse that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins While Peter yet spake these words the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word Minde Peters Preaching is called the Word Then answered Peter Can any man forbid Minde Water that these should not be Baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Now can you tell how to deny this practice of the Apostle Peter if Christ his meaning
were that this Baptisme should last but while the coming of the Holy Ghost then did not Peter know Christs meaning for he obeyed that command of Christ baptizing them after they had received the Holy Ghost But as you are ignorant of the Covenant of Grace so are you ignorant of the Signes or Seals of the Covenant for when God made a Covenant with Abraham he gave Circumcision for a signe or seal of that Covenant And ye shall Circumcise the flesh of your fore-skin and it shall be a token of the Covenant between me and you Also the Apostle saith that He received the signe of Circumcision a seal of the righteousnesse of the Faith which he had yet being nncircumcised Now as Circumcision was a sign and seal in the time of the Law before Christ his coming in the flesh so hath Christ ordained Baptisme a sign and seal of the righteousnesse of Faith in the time of the New Testament to the end of the world according to that of the Apostle Peter in the dayes of Noah while the Ark was a preparing wherein few that is eight soules were saved by Water The like figure whereunto even Baptisme doth now save us that is it is a sign or seal of Salvation by the resurrection of Jesus Christ who is gone into Heaven and is on the right hand of God Minde he saith Baptisme doth now save us I never read of a Light within us that saveth us Also the Apostle John saith that as there are three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost so there are three that bear witnesse in Earth the Spirit and the Water and the Blood and these three agree in one Now by Water can be meant no other thing than the Water in Baptisme that as Water doth wash away the filth of the Body so doth the Water in Baptisme witnesse that Christ by his Blood hath washed away the filthinesse of sin but one of your Teachers asked me if I were so Ignorant to believe that the Water in the Thames or any other Water could do a mans Soul any good To which I answer that Water simply considered in it self it hath no such vertue but consider it in relation unto Gods Ordinance used according to his command and appointment it is profitable to the Soul But you speak and believe like Naaman the Assyrian who coming to the Prophet Elisha to be cleansed of his Leprosie when the Prophet sent him word to only go and wash himself in the waters of Jordan seven times he was in a great rage saying Are not the Waters of Damascus better then all the Waters of Israel he considered not that Gods command doth give vertue and efficacy to the thing for which it was appointed and this cleansing of Naamans Leprosie by the Water of Jordan was an emblem or type of our Baptisme we know God did make the Walls of Jericho fall by the blowing of Rams hornes because he had commanded and appointed so it is a great sin to disobey Gods command although the thing commanded seem never so smal and contrary to our sense and reason We know what the Lord did unto Moses because his Son was not Circumcised according to Gods command And it came to passe by the way in the Inne that the Lord met him and sought to kill him Now if the Lord would not bear with Moses his neglect of Circumcising his Son how do you Quakers think to escape Gods displeasure who not only neglect Gods Ordinance of Baptisme but also teach that it is abolished and uselesse and make a meer mock at Water-baptisme but the Apostles of Christ did highly esteem of that Ordinance of Baptisme I Christ himself did not only command it but honoured it in being Baptized himselfe who had no need of it for himself but that he might be an example unto us for saith he Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousnesse Minde Christ calleth it righteousnesse Also God the Father did highly honour Baptisme in that he opened Heaven at the Baptisme of Christ and sent the Spirit descending like Dove and lighting upon him and a voice from Heaven saying This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And as God the Father Christ his Son and the Apostles did honour this Ordinance of Baptisme so did the Ministers of the Gospel since the Apostles dayes highly esteem the same I shall alledge what Calvin writeth concerning Baptisme I hope you do 〈◊〉 count him a Popish Father in his 23. Sermon on Gal. 3. 17. his words are these And in good sooth all of us professe the Gospel and yet we shall finde a number of people that know not the true use of Baptisme nor whereto it availeth nor to what end it is ordained but such shall pay dearly for taking such a pledge at Gods hands he will shew them that it is too costly a thing to be abused for as much as it is said to be a Seal whereby we are assured of the benefits of Christ his Death and Resurrection that whereas many have lived some twenty some forty some fifty years in the world without knowledge to what end they were Baptized it were better for them that they had been born dead and to have been sunk a hundred times in the earth than so to have unhallowed so holy a thing And therefore let us bethink our selves the better and learn that although there be but a little water cast upon our heads yet notwithstanding it is not a vain figure for the Heavens are opened upon us and God speaks in it as it were from Heaven and Christ is there present with his blood as witnesses of the usage and operation of the Sacrament Let us think well upon these things and let them be well rooted in your hearts by which you and all others may see what an esteem Calvin had of Baptisme Also in his fourth book of Institutions chap. 11. concerning Baptism his words are these Baptisme is a token and proof of our cleansing or to expresse my minde better it is like a sealed Charter whereby God confirmeth unto us that all our sins are cancelled and abolished that they may never be rehearsed nor imputed Also Beza in his Annotations upon the fifth chapter to the Ephesians ver 26 27 Christ loved the Church and gave himselfe for it that he might sanctifie it and clense it by the washing of water through the word that he might make it unto himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing o Baptisme is a token that God hath consecrated the Church to himselfe and made it holy by his word that is his promise of free Justification and Sanctification in Christ p because it is covered and clad with Christ his justice and holinesse I have written what these two eminent Ministers did believe and maintain concerning Baptisme who lived in the Church of
before Christs coming in the flesh than we Christians in the dayes of the Gospel since his coming for to be out of the pale of the Church was counted an unholy unclean condition I they were counted Doggs by Christs own words It is not lawful to give Childrens bread unto Doggs and without are Doggs and if the children of the Church of the Jews were externally holy by being visible members of the Church and Christians children unholy because no visible members of the Church Are not our children in a worse condition than theirs and so we have lesse priviledge than they now the Scripture declareth that the Church and People of God in the dayes of the Gospel have far greater priviledges than the Church of the Jews and this Christ himself sheweth where he saith Verily I say unto you among them which are born of women arose there not a greater then John Baptist notwithstanding the least in the kingdome of Heaven is greater than he whereby Christ would teach us that John the Baptist was the greatest among all the Prophets that went before him because he had the presence of Christ pointing at him Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world and yet the least believer in the Kingdome of Grace is greater than he because Christ had not then actually suffered for sin nor was not risen from the dead but the least believer doth now by Faith see Christ hath actually taken away sin by his Death and Suffering and is risen again for our Justification Also Christ saith Blessed are your eyes for they see and your eares for they hear for verily I say unto you that many Prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them And are not these great priviledges Also the Apostle writing to the Hebrews in the eleventh Chapter writeth a Catalogue of the faithfull and in the end concludeth And all these having obtained a good report through Faith received not the Promise God having promised some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect The Apostle Peter also testifieth the same Teaching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signifie when it testified before hand the Sufferings of Christ Minde and the glory that should follow unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are nâ—w reported unto you of which Salvation the Prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you By which Texts of Scripture ye may plainly see that the Church and people of God in these times of the Gospel have greater priviledges then the Church of the Jews and therefore our Children as well as theirs have the priviledge of being outward visible Members of the Church which is only by Baptism But you Antibaptists and the Anabaptists say that although Believers have now greater priviledges then the Jews yet it doth not follow that our Children are to be admitted visible Members of the Church because there is no express command nor example for baptizing Children To which I answer that whatsoever may be proved from the Scripture by consequence to be the scope and meaning of the Scripture it is sufficient proof and that is already made good But seeing you do both stand to have express word of Command or express Example I shall desire you or either of you to shew me one command or example in Scripture for the baptizing of those that are grown up whose Parents one or both were Christians by professing the Gospel of Christ Now if you have no rule nor example in Scripture as I am sure you have not why do you condemn another when you Anabaptists are more guilty in that you baptise those that are of years whose Parents profess the Gospel of Christ and were formerly baptised in the name of Christ Unless you count all those that profess the Gospel of Christ to be Heathens that are not of your Churches which is a most uncharitable opinion But you farther object that the Apostles baptibaptized none but such as did beleive and make a profession of their Faith To which I answer that it is more then you can prove seeing the Apostle baptized Housholds and it is more then you can tell there were no Children in those Housholds unlesse you know it by revelation Secondly I say that those whom the Apostles baptized who were of years were such as were converted from Judaisme or Heathens and neither they nor their Parents ever professed the Gospel of Christ and did any of you or any other know any of our Ministers baptize any Jews Turks or Indians not professing the Gospel they have baptized some that have come from those parts after they have been converted and made a profession of their Faith according to the example of the Apostle Thirdly I answer that elect Infants may have the root or habit of Faith though not the act of Faith if you believe Christs words For Christ called a little Child unto him and set him in the midst of them and said who so shall receive one such little Child in my name receiveth me but whoso shall offend one of these little ones mind which believe in me By which words it doth appear that elect Infants may have the seeds of grace in their hearts we read that some have been sanctified from the womb and that must be by the Spirit for so the Text saith speaking of John Baptist And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost mind even from his Mothers womb It is the opinion of many ancient and modern Ministers that elect Infants do ordinarily recieve the Spirit in or at their Baptism as Christ at his Baptism had the Holy Ghost descending like a Dove and lightning upon him Now Christ was full of the Holy Ghost before for in him dwelleth all the fulnesse of the God-head bodily And therefore the descending of the Holy Ghost at that time was to teach us to have a high esteem of that ordinance as most of our protestant Ministers do hold and teach and as Dr. Burges doth at large prove in his Book called Baptismal Regeneration Where this point of elect Infants ordinarily receiving the Spirit or seal of the Spirit in their Baptism is fully handled with all objections against it answered and I do the more press this point because the Baptism of Infants is so much slighted neglected and contemned by many in our days For I suppose that elect Infants being meer patients in the work of Regeneration are as capable of the Spirits sealing or applying the blood of Christ for the remission of their sins as those that are of Age for if there were a power in Adam by hâ—s sin
opinions And face doth not more answer face in a Glasse then you do answer each other as I can shew you in several of their opinions and practises compared with yours as their hearkning to a light within them and revelations which they followed contrary to the Scripture some of them running about the streets naked as many of you have done some of them burning their clothes as some of you have done although at their first springing up they seemed to be such meek humble Saints that they would suffer any thing yet after they had gotten a sufficient number and strength then they shewed themselves in their Colours for then it was revealed that John of Leyden may be a King and that all the wicked must be destroyed and King John and his Disciples must govern all and have all the goods of the wicked because they had no right to them to which end they fortified Munster against the Emperor perswading the people that God would feed them by a miracle it being so revealed to them by which the poor people were many of them starved and at last King John and his company taken himself and two more of his chief companions hanged and put in three Iron Cages and set on the top of the three high Towers or Steeples the rest banished two ships laden with them the Author saith came into Great Brittain where they first sowed those seeds of Heresie from which have spang up all those errors of Anabaptism Familism Antinomianism Adamites Seekers and Quarkers I hope you will be convinced by all that I have written that your Practise in denying the ordinance of Baptism is contrary to the example of Christ and his Apostles and therefore in that you are not perfect And now I come to a second particular in which I shall prove that you walk contrary to Christ command and example and the example of the Apostles and that is in that you deny the partaking of the Lords Supper and teach that it is abolished and not to be used in the Church of Christ as Jona Dell in his Book called A Voyce from the Temple writeth and several others Wherefore I shall briefly prove that it was Christs command and Example and the practise of the Apostles and all the reformed Churches ever since the Apostle days Now Christ before his Death did institute and appoint this ordinance as you may read in Matthew Mark and Luke And he took bread and gave thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying this is my body which is given for you this do remembrance of me Likewise also the Cup after Supper saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you Where we are to take notice that Christ saith this do in Remembrance of me which is a command for them to do as he had done and that it was Christs meaning to have them do the same after his Ascension is plain because the Apostles did practise the same afterwards which they would not have done had it not been Christs command and the Apostle Paul doth plainly prove it to be Christ command For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you and what was that but the Supper of the Lord as the words following shew but you will say how long was the practise of that to continue The Apostle doth tell you For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lords death till he come But you say Christ is come by his Spirit to every believer and that is the meaning of it till he come To which I answer that I wonder you Quakers are not ashamed to give such a sense of the words and had I not heard it from several of your Mouths and read it in several of your Books I should not have believed it Wherefore to convince you of your error pray tell me Whether Christ was not come to his Apostles by his Spirit and to all others that believed the Gospel of Christ If Christ was not come to the Apostles by his Spirit how did they write the Scriptures Besides the Scripture saith That the Apostles were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues and yet the Apostles practise was to break bread after that and therefore the meaning of the Apostle to eat this bread and to drink this cup for so often as you eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lords death till he comes must needs be meant of Christs second coming namely his coming at the end of the world when he cometh to Judgement when the Saints bodies shall be raised out of their Graves and those that are then alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall we ever abide with the Lord where then we shall have no need nor use of Sacraments because faith then shall cease being swallowed up in vision But till then we have need of these outward ordinances to help strengthen our faith the Supper of the Lord being appointed by Christ himself to that end where we may see a representation of Christ crucified before our eyes to help strengthen our faith for the Apostles themselves had need of these ordinances the Apostle Paul saith VVe know in part For now we see through a glasse darkly But then face to face mind Now I know in part but then shall I know even as also I am known Now is it not a horrible pride in you to say you are more fuller of the Spirit than the Apostles that you have more knowledge and stronger faith than the Apostles for you see the Apostles made use of this ordinance to strengthen their saith and if you say you have no need of this partaking of ordinances do not you declare your selves to be more perfect than the Apostles But Jona Dell in his Voyce from the Temple doth affirm that you Quakers have such an infallible knowledge that you cannot erre but we can smell from whence you sucked in this poyson even from your Father the Pope the great Antichrist who only claimeth this infallible Spirit But this by the way Also Jona Dell in the said Book saith that this outward ordinance of the Lords Supper hath been much abused and therefore not to be used in the Church any longer as that Ceremony of the brasen Serpent after it was abused by the Israelites to Idolatry it was broken in pieces and not to be used any more and so he calleth it a Ceremony and shadow and all other ordinances which having been abused ought to be abolished For Answer to which I shall only mind you of the Example and practise of the Apostle Paul concerning the same in his Epistle to the Corinthians who had so abused the Supper of the Lord as I have not heard of greater nor the like for saith
absurdities that do follow upon your interpretation and for a full clearing of the text in the Corinths consider the words before The Apostle saith ye may all prophesie one by one that all may learn For God is not the Author of confusion Now lest the women from the word all should think themselves permitted to prophesie as well as the men the Apostle to prevent their mistake whom he knew loved to speak too much saith Let your women keep silence in the Churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak where take notice that the Apostle speaketh in the plural number women and not permitted unto them to speak The Apostle always when he speaketh of the flesh speaketh in the singular number flesh also the Apostle speaketh in the plural number Husbands and not in the singular Husband by which you may see what most barbarous conclusions will follow upon your interpretation For if by the women be meant the flesh and by asking their Husbands be meant Christ then is Christ the Husband of the flesh and that there are more Christs then one seeing the Apostle saith ask their Husbands at home by which word home it will follow that Christ and the flesh dwell together and that Christ is the fleshes home so that you may see by maintaining an error you run into many grosse errors But you will say the Apostle to Timothy saith woman in the singular number To which place I answer that there will several errors follow if by the woman be meant the flesh in that place Let the woman learn in silence if by the woman be meant the flesh then is the flesh to learn But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence If by the woman be meant the flesh then the flesh can teach and can usurp authority over the Spirit for Adam was first formed then Eve if by the woman be meant the flesh then is the flesh Eve and was of Gods forming Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in Faith and Charity and Holynesse with Sobriety if by the woman be meant the flesh then may the flesh be saved in child-bearing and may have Faith Charity and Holynesse with Sobriety Now let your selves and others judge whether you have an infallible Spirit the same Spirit that the Apostles had that writ the Scripture and that you know the true meaning of the Scripture And whether such are fit to be Teachers of others Whether men or women that give such interpretations of Scripture and maintain such grosse errors Also the example of all the Churches of Christ is a ground why women ought not to speak in the Church But if any man seem to be contentious we have no such custome neither the churches of God But you object that several women did prophesie as Deborah and that one man had four Daughters and Virgins and they did prophesie And your Sons and Daughters shall prophesie Answer that those women and virgins who prophesied were extraordinarily called by an extraordinary gift which is now ceased and they did not take upon them to be Teachers in the Church but did prophesie of such things as were extraordinarily revealed or done in the Church for the prophesie in the Prophet Joel the same was accomplished in the Acts for saith the Apostle Peter These are not drunken as ye suppose But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel I will poure out of my spirit upon all flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesie I would have any of you shew any one example where a woman took upon her to be a Teacher in the publick Church if any did take upon them so to do the Apostle teacheth that they did transgresse for it is to usurp authority over the man which is a sin and for a woman to take upon her to be a Teacher unto men is to exercise the authority of a man for we read of no women Teachers in the Church But you say that none are to exercise authority over others But are all in the Church equal and alike which bringeth me to a fifth particular wherein your practise is contrary to the command example and practise of Christ and his Apostles and therefore are not perfect The fifth is your not giving any reverence honor nor civil respect unto your Superiors and those that are in authority but are in your carriage tou Superiors more like Heathens then Christians Now it remaineth on my part to prove that Christ and his Apostles did both command and walk contrary to your practice herein Christ said Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are Gods Now the name Caesar was a word of Honour given unto all the Roman Emperours what ever their names were as we used to call our Supream Magistrate King Now Christ though a King himself did not say Give unto William or John the things that are his but give to Caesar He gave him the same title of Honour that the Romans gave him though a heathen Emperour Also Christ teaching his Disciples humilitie When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding sit not down in the highest room left a more honorable man then thee be bidden of him and he come and say Give this man place he being a more honourable person but when thou art bidden goe and sit down in the lowest room that when he that bad thee cometh he may say unto thee Friend goe up higher then thou shall have worship or honour in the presence of them that sit at meat by which Christ doth teach that some persons are more honourable then others and such are to be honoured of others But which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattel will say unto him by and by go and sit down to meat and will not rather say unto him Make ready wherewith I may sup and gird thy self and serve me till I have eaten and drunk and afterward thou shalt eat and drink now though this be to teach us that we are all Gods servants and that when we have done all we are commanded to say we are unprofitable servants We have done that which was our dutie yet Christ useth this similitude because of the equitableness and justness of the same And as it is contrary to what Christ taught so is it contrary to the practice and doctrine of the Apostles for when Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles was brought before Agrippa to speak for himself Paul said I think my self happy King Agrippa because I shall answer for my self this day before thee mind The Apostle doth not onely say Agrippa but King Agrippa though he were a Heathen King And when he spake for himself Festus said with a loud voice Paul Thou art beside thy self much learning hath made thee mad Paul said I am not mad mind most
that ye be not judged saith Christ and in the fifth Verse sheweth that this rash judging is a note or character of an Hypocrite Thou Hypocrite first cast the beam out of thine own eye Also the Apostle Paul to the Romans Thou art inexcusable O man whosoever thou art that judgeth Judge nothing before the time untill the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of Darknesse and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts But why dost thou judge thy Brother or why dost thou set at nought thy Brother for we shall all stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ Then every one of us shall give accompt for himself to God Let us not therefore judge one another Who art thou that judgest another mans servant he standeth or falleth to his own Master We are all the Lords servants and are all at his disposing and appointment and therefore what have we to do to judge any particular man or woman Much less to judge and condemn all the Churches that are not of your minds and judgements to be Antichristian and in the state of condemnation and that they know only the Letter and History of the Scripture and that you only know the mystery and meaning of the Scripture like the Pharisees that judged and condemned all that were not of their Sect. Thâ—â— people that know not the Law are cursed Now consider what a most horrid uncharitable thing it is to judge all the Protestant Churches before you sprang up to be false Heretical Churches for then Christ had no Church for sixteen hundred years for there were none of your opinions heard of while these late years and then Christ was a head without a body And is it not a most unchristian thing to judge and condemn all for Hereticks and the brood of Antichrist that are nâ—t of your wild opinions Surely you make the Church of Christ to be a very small remnant far lesse than Christ hath made them for though Christs flock be a little flock comparatively in regard of the great multitude of the world yet consider them apart in themselves they are a great multitude as you may read in the Revelation of St. John the Divine if the word Divine do not offend you And I heard the number of them which were sâ—aled and there were scaled an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the Children of Israel After this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues But if none but Quakers are of the number surely they might soon be numbered By all which you may see that your practise in judging and condemning all that are not of your opinions is contrary to the command and example of Christ and his Apostles and therefore you are not perfect and now I come to a seventh particular of your practise The seventh particular is your rayling and revyling against those that are against your opinions for proof whereof I need go no farther then your own Letter where you say my speaking was barking like a Dog that I vomited up my poysonous stuffe and you call all our Ministers Antichrists Ministers Hierlings such as recieve the wages of Balaam and are in the way of Cain and is it not the same Language you all use both in your writings and conferences Witnesse Naylors books and Fox his books and Burroughs and Tomlinson in which there is such rayling reviling Language as cannot be paralell'd from any differing from us in Religion calling our Ministers dumb dogs wolves sorcerers serpents wandering stars seducers deceivers false prophets Antichrist lyars and say all our preaching is an Idol with many other such like stuffe and for your words in reasoning with any that is contrary to your opinions I believe you can and do go beyond any Billingsgate Scolds I have had experience of your Language by what I have heard Thou Lyar thou great Whore of Babilon thou Serpent thou Divel thou Heathen with many other such like reviling speeches to my self and others Now I pray consider how contrary this is to the command and example of Christ and his Apostles Our Lord and Saviour when he was reviled reviled noe again See that none render evil for evil unto any man Speak not evil one of another He that speaketh evil of his brother and judgeth his brother speaketh evil of the Law Christ and his Apostles when they were brought before the Priests and Elders being falsly accused never used such reviling Language as you do use The Apostle Jude met with such spirits in his time these despise Dominion and speak evil of dignities Yet Michael the Arch-Angel when contending with the Devil about the body of Moses durst not bring against him a railing accusation But said The Lord rebuke thee But these speak evil of those things which they know not Michael the arch Angel durst not bring a railing accusation against the devil but you dare bring railing accusations against men I against good men against the Ministers of Christ and against Magistrates Christ commanded his Disciples to love their enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you but in stead of loving your enemies and praying for them you revile them and curse them with which I shall conclude this particular that you are not the perfect innocent Lambs of Christ as you call your sevles in your letter The eight particular practice used by you contrary to the command and example of Christ and his Apostles is your silent meetings which is a usual practice among you to come together and sit still hanging down your heads like so many dumb Idols liker then Christians Now when Christ did come with his Disciples he opened his mouth and taught them and when he was with his Disciples alone his practice was to teach and instruct them either by asking questions or instructing them but never read of his sitting still and being silent Also the Apostle exhorteth the Hebrewes Not forsaking the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another The Apostle never said assemble your selves together and be silent that ever I could read And the Apo. Jude saith these be they who separate themselves sensual having not the Spirit but ye beloved building up your selves on your most holy faith praying in the holy Ghost It seems that those who separated themselves as you do had not the Spirit and did probably when they met sit still and be silent and yet pretended to be the onely holy people but they did not build up themselves in the faith praying in the Holy Ghost but ye beloved building up your selves on your most holy faith in the Holy Ghost But if they sit still and be silent they doe
onely by detaining the Ministers dues from them but by disturbing them in the exercise of their Ministery and of this I have heard several Relations upon which the Ministers for their own quiet were forced to complain to the Magistrates and when they have been brought before them they have abused them upon which severall have been sent to prison and I think justly But that any Ministers committed any to prison for not paying Tithes that I deny and say it is a false lie for suppose that some Quakers in those Countries or other Countries would not pay the Ministers their dues and these Quakers have been sued and the Jewry according to Law hath given their verdiet for payment of so much mony and they refuse to pay but will rather go to prison then pay their dues they put themselves in prison to save their money for neither the Minister nor the Law could put them into prison if they would pay their dues and that Tithes are the Ministers due I have already proved and suppose they were not due of Divine Right yet being due by a Civil right in regard of the Laws and Customs of the Nations I say they have as good right to them as any man hath to any house or land or money and if you plead it is against your conscience to pay Tithes as you do say I say suppose you should say it is against your conscience to pay any money you borrow as I hear some of you have done being asked for money lent have answered what conscience have you to ask me money seeing Christ saith Give to him that asketh if you should be sued and would not pay might not you justly be cast into prison and no sin in him that seeketh his own and I say the case is the same and Christ by his example never taught you to deny payment of Tribute for when they demanded Tribute of Christ though saith he the children be free yet lest we should offend them go and take the money out of the mouth of the fish and give them for me and thee because it was a Law and a Custome Christ would not offend them And by this you see all your great clamours and accusations against our Ministers are proved to be meer lies and slanders with which I shall conclude that you Quakers are not perfect because you do publish so many lies I have proved ten several Particulars against you all of which shall be witnesse against you that you are not the perfect holy innocent Lambs of Christ as you call your selves But you may all confess as it is in our English Liturgy We have left undone those things that we ought to have done and we have done those things that we ought not to have done and there is no truth in us And pray as Christ in that perfect form of Prayer And forgive us our trespasses Though some have said they thank God they have forgotten that Prayer And may not we say so of you as Agur said There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet are not washed from their filthiness But I know your Objection by what I have heard from you in disputing with you and that is that what I speak is not from the Spirit but from flesh and from the Letter that I have read in other mens Books or lines with which you think to wipe off all that I have said or written For Answer to which I desire you to consider and examine what I have written by the rule of the Scripture and if it be not according to that rule or what ever part is not according to that rule I shall confesse it is from the flesh neither do I pretend to an infallible Spirit so as that I cannot erre as you do and I desire you to examine your own by that rule and let that be the Judge between us according to the Prophet Isaiah his exhortation To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Where mind that the Law and the Testimony is called this word and those that speak not according to this word there is no light in them if no light in them then no Christ in them Now you say all men have the light of Christ in them I say they have not because the Scriptures say if they speak not according to this word it is because their is no light in them So that all men have not the light in them But seeing you say all men have the light of Christ in them I may say then I have the light in me as well as you and why may not or why doth not the light inlighten me to speak or write the truth as well as it teacheth you This I do declare to you and all that shall read these lines that what I have here written is according to that light within me and I hope from Christ the true light For I beleive there are false lights with which many are decieved as there are false fires that leadeth people about in dark nights into bogs and water And I beleive that what you write and speak is according to the light within you But I fear it is a false light that hath led you into many dirty errors It is your own phrase wherefore let what you have written and what I have written be layed to the line the Law and the Testimony and let that be the Judge between us whether the light in me be the light of Christ or whether the light in you be the light of Christ Try the Spirits whether they be of God for many false Prophets or spirits are gone out into the World The Apostle sheweth how to know such Spirits as are of God and such as are of Antichrist Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God and this is that Spirit of Antichrist Now let us examine who they are that deny that Christ is come in the Flesh I say you are they and what I say I shall prove for whomsoever doth deny the end of Christs coming in the flesh doth deny his coming in the flesh But you do deny the end of Christs coming in the flesh Therefore you do deny his coming in the flesh For when the Apostle doth write of such as deny Christs coming in the flesh he doth not mean the Jews or other Heathens which denyed that Christ was come But of such as did confesse that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and yet did deny he was come in the flesh because they denyed the end of his coming in the flesh Now that the Apostle doth speak of such is plain For the Apostle saith Now are there many Antichrists They went out from us but they were not of us even as
abroad if the reading of other books beside the Scriptures be not necessary unless you believe what some of your fellow Quakers have said that James Naylors books are of as Divine authority as the Scriptures because he is inspired by the same Spirit the Prophets and Apostles were when they writ the Scripture in which you are like your Fathers the Familists for such like Titles and Stiles I have read in their books written by H. N. and have heard some Familists call them his Gospels and that they 〈◊〉 of equal authority with the Gospels of Jesus 〈…〉 such blasphemous Familists and Quakers errors good Lord deliver us And the Lord open your eyes that you may see your errors that you have patched up your new Religion with the old errors of the Papists Arminians Anabaptists Antinomians and Familists and the Lord give you hearts to repent and do your first works A POST-SCRIPT Courteous Reader SInce the writing the foregoing answer to the Quakers I had some conference with a woman Quaker one of my ancient friends whose name I forbear to mention about the said answer after which the said friend did write me a letter the Contents whereof were as followeth That my written paper is higher then Vanitie because as she saith I confessed that I was not led by the infallible Spirit therefore it must needs be flesh for the Spirit of God is infallible and cannot erre which she desireth I would consider by the light of Christ that convinceth me of sin and that lest I be found fighting against God wherefore she saith in love to thy soul I warn thee Wherefore lest the said woman or any other Quakers should say that I have not answered all their Objections I resolved to answer the said letter though the things objected in the said letter are in part answered before yet for a more full answer I desire the said friend and all other Quakers whether friends or enemies to mind and consider what I have written in answer to the said letter Having received thy letter I was moved to write an answer to shew thee thy error in misunderstanding and misreporting my words for I neither writ nor said that I was not led by the infallible Spirit but said that I doe not pretend to an infallible spirit so as that I cannot erre For I say that all the faithfull are led by the Spirit of Christ which Spirit is infallible but I say they are not so led by that Spirit that they cannot erre which is the thing you maintain but I deny And yet I say that all the Prophets and Apostles were led by the Spirit infallibly guiding them in writing the Scriptures so as that they could not erre and that all the faithful are led by the Spirit so as that they erre not in the foundation or fundamentals of Religion but in other things I say they are subject to erre and the best men that ever lived that that we read of in Scripture have erred Christ Jesus who was God and Man excepted and this I shall plainly prove by Scripture the Prophet David a man after Gods own heart and a Penman of holy Scripture said Lord who knoweth the errors of his life clense me from my secret sins Psal 19. 12. and he having a mind to build the Temple and spake his mind to the Prophet Nathan the Prophet said to the King Go do all that is in thine heart for the Lord is with thee they being both Prophets were both mistaken they were not infallible for that night the Word of the Lord came to Nathan to the contrary that David should not build the Lords House but his Son Solomon but you Quakers will say this was before Christ his coming in the flesh and before the fulness of the Spirit was sent wherefore mind what is written in Scripture after that time There arose a dissention and a disputation among the brethren about Circumcision and Paul and Barnabas with others were sent to Jerusalem to the Apostles and Elders to have their advice and there were great disputations between them about it no one pretending by an infallible Spirit to determine the same were not Paul and Barnabas led by an infallible Spirit what need they then to have gone to Jerusalem to the rest of the Apostles and Elders surely if they had been infallible they made a needless journey and the rest of the Apostles and Elders made a needless disputation Also there arose a doubt amongst the Corinthians about believing husbands having unbelieving wives and believing wives having unbelieving husbands and other things concerning which they wrote unto the Apostle Paul to determine the matter Was there never a man among them that had an infallible spirit so as that he could not erre surely then they were no Quakers for then they needed not to have sent to the Apostle to have the matter determined and the Apostle in his answer concerning some thing saith I speak this by permission and not by command and concerning Virgins I have no commandment from the Lord yet I give my judgement I suppose saith the Apostle but had he been a Quaker and of your opinion would he not have said why or what need you write unto me to know the lawfulness of these things are you not all led by an infallible spirit that cannot erre But the Apostle was so humble and modest that he said I suppose he would not say I am sure or I know certainly I having an infallible spirit I cannot erre No the Apostle confesseth of himself and others we know but in part But you Quakers say you have such an infallible spirit that you cannot erre But God resisteth the proud and hath promised to teach the humble also the Apostle saith If any man build upon this foundation gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble where the Apostle plainly proveth that Christians do sometimes build upon the foundation wood hay and stubble that is some things of their carnal spirits for there is some carnality in those that are in Christ for saith the Apostle I speak unto you as unto carnal even as unto babes in Christ now there being flesh as well as spirit and sence and reason as well as faith in every christian is it any wonder that they sometimes erre And therefore honest Luther saith That there being flesh as well as spirit and sence as well as faith in the best men that therefore sometimes that will fall from their tongues and their pens that savours of the flesh as well as of the spirit and of sence as well as of faith and therefore saith he All Christians should be like the clean beasts that chew the Cud and devide the Hoofe that is they should meditate and examine what they hear and read by the Scriptures and devide the truth from the error as those men of Barea did they searched the Scriptures to see whether those things which they heard were according to
the Scriptures They did not hearken to a light within them to see whether they were true But if you Quakers had such an infallible spirit that you cannot erre as you say you have then all that you speak and write musts need be truth and then we need not examine them by the Scriptures to see whether you write and speak the truth But I am not of that implicit faith to beleive what you write without examining the same by the Scriptures and by them I find you have a falable lying spirit that leadeth you into error but seeing you say you are so infallible that you cannot erre give me leave to examine some of your Books in Print Besides what I have already examined and proved many gross errors in them therefore not written by an infallible spirit so as that you cannot erre I shall examine some particulars in your new Primer made by George Fox the younger and some others in which there is as many errors as Pages I shall mention some few particulars by which we may discern what the rest are of the said Primer Children such are Deceivers who tell you that the way to come to know the truth is by the Scriptures Now if this be a true Doctrine then was Christ and his Apostles Deceivers for they taught the same Christ exhorteth to Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they that testifie of me Now if the Scriptures testifie of Christ then the reading of the Scriptures is a means to know the truth unless you deny that Christ is the truth if you do he affirmeth it saying I am the truth It was a true saying of a good man that The whole Scriptures are the swadling band that foulds the Child Jesus Also Christ saith to the Saduces ye erre not knowing the Scriptures Then by consequence the way to avoyd error and to know the truth is by the knowledge of the Scriptures and therefore Christ would have all to search the Scriptures And the Apostle Paul said that Timothy had known the Scriptures from a Child which are able to make thee wise unto salvation and that is by knowing the truth And the Apostle Peter saith We have a more sure word of prophesie whereunto you do well that ye take heed But you are enemies to the reading the Scriptures or expounding them Pag 15 Of the said Primer Children such are no Ministers of Gods word who tell you the Scriptures are the word of God Now if this be an infallible truth then I say the Prophets and Apostles were fallible and were no Ministers of Gods word for the Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel and most of the small Prophets said that The word of the Lord came unto them and they spake the word of the Lord. I beleive you may find what the Prophets preached called the word of the Lord or God above a hundred times and in the 20. of Exodus God spake all these words and what God spake is Gods word and what Christ spake and preached is the word of God unlesse you deny Christ to be God Also the Apostle James exhorteth Be ye doers of the Word and if any be hearers of the word and not doers c. And do you think the Apostle meaneth the word of man or the word of God Also the Apostle Peter saith We have a more sure word of prophesie whereunto ye do well that ye take heed And if the Apostles call the Scripture the word surely they are Gods word and by the word of Prophesie can be meant no other word I marvel that you Quakers who pretend to an infallible Spirit to know all things do not know that as Christ is called the eternal word of God so are the Scriptures written called the revealed will or word of God or his word revealed As when we write our mind or cause another to write our will or mind to another we are properly said to send word or what is so written to be our word Pag. 33. Of the said Primer That by the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing you from all sin is meant the life of Christ Now I would know where you ever read in Scripture that we are cleansed from all sin by the life of Christ or whether the blood of Christ were ever taken for the life of Christ in Scripture I would fain know your meaning of this dark mystical expression Whether you do believe that the blood which Christ shed upon the Crosse when he suffered without the Gates of Jerusalem be that blood that cleanseth from all sin I know partly your meaning by what I have heard from several of your company and read in several of your Books wherefore that I may shew you what I beleive concerning the same according to the Scriptures mind the Apostle saith Without shadding of blood is no remission And he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight And having made peace by the blood of his crosse But I fear you are strangers to this blood of Christ and it is a mystery hid from your eyes who pretend to know all mysteries but they are mysteries of iniquity while you count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing And as you are strangers to this blood of Christ that cleanseth from all sin so I fear you are Ignorant of the life of Christ For I would know whether by the life of Christ you mean the life that Christ lived in the dayes of his converse on earth from the time of his Birth to the time of his suffering death on the crosse or the life he now liveth in heaven or whether by the life of Christ you do not understand the life of a leigned Christ in you or a life imitating Christ his Life I know by what I have heard from the mouths of several and read in several of your books that you are strangers to the true life of Christ mentioned in Scripture and is a mystery hid from your eyes But mind what the Scriptures saith For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them By which texts of Scripture you may see that we are justified or saved by Christ his life living now in heaven to make intercession for us But I never did read in the Scripture that our sins are washed away and that we are saved by what Christ wrought in us nor by imitating the life of Christ and yet I say that all those who are saved by the blood and the life of Christ have faith wrought in their hearts by the Spirit of Christ
whereby they beleive this blood of Christ shed for them and that Christ now liveth in Heaven to make intercession for them and this faith is not a dead idle faith but a lively working faith working love to God and man Faith worketh by Love But this faith doth not save as it is an act or work in us but as it apprehendeth and layeth hold on Christ the Object And what ever infallible knowledge you pretend unto without the knowledge of this you are in Ignorance and know nothing as your ought But the Devil hath beguiled you as he did Adam and Eve when he made them beleive they should be as Gods knowing good and evil but they became like the Devil by sin And as the Devil hath deceived you so hath the Pope your Grandfather deceived you by sending his Iesuits and Friers here to seduce and delude you as Mr. William Prynne that Patron and Defender of his Countries Laws and Liberties hath plainly proved in his Book called The Quakers unmasked in which he proveth that several Friers of the Franciscan order have been chief Speakers in your metings as Coppinger and others And I know none but the Pope and his Church and you Quakers that do pretend to an unerring infallible Spirit and I know none that hold and maintain more errors then the Pope and you Quakers whom I conceive are made drunk with Popish errors for all your pretending to an infallible Spirit that cannot erre by an inward light What I have here written is by the light within me which you advise me to consider and hearken unto because it convinceth of sin Concerning which we had some discourse when I affirmed that the Law in the heart doth convince man of sin in the estate of Nature according to the Apostle Paul his words The Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law which shew the work of the Law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while else accusing or excusing one another Also those that accused the woman taken in Adultery Christ said He that is without sin cast the first stone and they that heard it being convicted in their own conscience went out one by one the Law in the Conscience convicted them of sin And as the Law in the heart convinceth men of gross sins though they never had the Law written So doth the Law written convince of lesser and smaller sins As the Apostle Paul saith I had not known sin but by the Law and that he meaneth the moral Law is plain for saith he I had not known Lust except the Law had said thou shalt not lust Also the Apostle writing to the Corinthians to reform the evil custome of men wearing long hair saith Doth not nature it self teach you that it is a shame for a man to wear long hair And if it had not been sin they had no cause to be ashamed and the Apostle saith That nature doth teach it to be a shame But I see some Quakers that are not ashamed to wear long hair for I have observed some of those men Quakers wear longer hair then ordinarily Ruffins or Roysters wear and in stead of shame do defend and maintain the same to be lawful But I shall not beleive them for all their pretended infallible Spirit but rather think they are such as Christ spake of whose light is darknesse If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darknesse like those Locusts that came out of the smoak of the bottomless pit who are said to have hair as the hair of women But this by the way But you objected then that Christ saith the Spirit will reprove the world of sin To which I Answer that Christ and the Apostle doth not contradict one another I shall shew how they agree The Law in the conscience convinceth them of sin by discovering what is sin as the Apostle expoundeth I had not known Lust except the Law had said thou shalt not Lust Rom. 7. 7. But the Spirit reproveth for sin by shewing or discovering sin to rest upon the conscience by reason of unbelief as Christ expoundeth the meaning of sin because they believe not in me that is the Spirit shall convict by their own conscience that because they believe not in him there is nothing but sin for because of unbeleif sin resteth on the conscience and by beleiving in Christ only sin is abolished and taken away Wherefore Luther saith If the whole world did believe in Christ God would see nothing but a meer cleansing according to that of the Prophet David Thou hast forgiven the iniquitie of thy people and covered all their sins Selah Psal 85. 2. This have written in love to thy soul and the rest of your profession to undeceive thee and others who are lead by a fallible erring spirit Ye erre not knowing the Scriptures I desire you to examine what I have written by the Scriptures and let them be the Judge between us Whether those that are lead by the Spirit are not subject to erre though the Spirit of God is infallible and cannot erre yet the man that hath the Spirit is fallible and doth erre and so I commit you and what I have written to the blessing of Almighty God and remain a friend and lover of thy Soul FINIS 1. Answ Acts 1. 20 21. 22. Act 1 23 24 25. Act. 14. 23. Titus 1. 5. 1 Tim. 4. 14. 1 Tim. 3. 1 Tim. 4. 22. 1 Tim. 1. 4. 1 Cor. 12. 28. Rom. 12. 7 8. Heb. 13. 7. 13. 17. Numb 16. 1 2 3. Numb 16 Matth. 23. 2 3. Acts 1. 17. 1 Tim. 5. 22. 1 Cor. 14. 18. Act. 22. 3. 1 Tim. 3. 6. â— Pet. 3. 15 16. Act 2. 3 4. Fox the Quaker 1 Tim. 4. 13 14 15 16. 2 Tim. 2. 15. Rom. 12. 7 8. 1 Cor. 12. 4 5 6 7 8. 1 Thes 5 21. Tit. 1. 9 10 11. Tit. 1. 12 13. 1 Cor. 9. 14. Math. 10 10. Act. 4. 37. Act. 5. 1 2 3. 1 Cor. 9. 4 5 7 8 9 10 11. 1 Cor. 9. 13 14. 2 Cor. 11 8. Gal. 6. 6. Luther on Gal. 6. ver 6. fol. 246. 1 Tim. 5. 17 18. 1 Tim. 3. 2. 〈◊〉 3. 8 9 10. Matth. 23 23. See Sir Henry Spelman Cancil Anno 855. 1 Object Answ Mal. 3. Ezek. 34. 3. Esa 56. â—0 11. Zeph. 1. 3 4. 2 Object Answ 3 Object Answ 1 Cor. 9. 4. 1 Cor. 9. 20 21 22 23. Acts 16. 3. Minde 1 Tim 4. 15. 2 Cor. 7. 1. Ephes 4. 24. Colos 3. 10. Act 13 38 39. Rom. 4. 5 6 7. 2 Cor. 8 18 19 20 21. Heb. 10. 14. 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. Levit. 16. 21. 22 23. Minde Esa 53. 4 5 6. Dan. 9. 24 25 26. Zach. 3. 8 9. Joh. 19. 30. Colos 2. 13 14. Colos 1. 21 22. Colos 1. 28. Heb. 10. Ephes 5. 25 26 27. Numb