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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	baptism_n	john_n	water_n	8,157	5	7.3530	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47167	A refutation of three opposers of truth by plain evidence of the holy Scripture, viz. I. Of Pardon Tillinghast, who pleadeth for water-baptism, its being a Gospel-precept, and opposeth Christ within, as a false Christ. To which is added, something concerning the Supper, &c. II. Of B. Keech, in his book called, A tutor for children, where he disputeth against the sufficiency of the light within, in order of salvation; and calleth Christ in the heart, a false Christ in the secret chamber. II. Of Cotton Mather, who in his appendix to his book, called, Memorable providences, relating to witchcrafts, &c. doth so weakly defend his father Increase Mather from being justly chargeable with abusing the honest people called Quakers, that he doth the more lay open his fathers nakedness; and beside the abuses and injuries that his father had cast upon that people, C. Mather, the son, addeth new abuses of his own. And a few words of a letter to John Cotton, called a minister, at Plymouth in New England. By George Keith.	Keith, George, 1639?-1716.	1690 (1690)	Wing K199; ESTC W21703	49,228	77

pretext or colour to use such a Comparison but what Resemblance Stone and Timber hath to Water Baptism I do not understand And if Water-Baptism be the Foundation of the Church then the Church hath had no Foundation for many Ages past for Infant Baptism by sprinkling ye Baptists do not acknowledge to be any true Baptism at all but a meer fiction or invention and yet for many Ages there hath been no other Water-Baptism used but that of sprinkling Infants for that party or society of People called Baptists or Anabaptists did but appear about Luther's time or since and therefore if Water Baptism be the Foundation of Gods Church the Church hath had no Foundation for many Ages and therefore hath quite ceased to be for she cannot be or subsist without a Foundation And as concerning the Allegorical and Spiritual signifycation of Solomon's Temple it is very well understood without your Water Baptism for Solomon's Temple as it was a figure of Christs Body which was crucified and rose again and ascended into Glory so also it was a figure of the Gospel Church under the pure Gospel Dispensation the Foundation whereof is Christ Jesus as he came in the likeness of sinful flesh and took upon himself the form of a Servant and humbled himself unto Death even the Death of the Cross made of a Woman made under the Law the Seed of Abraham and David I say Christ thus come in the flesh and crucified for our sins as the Mystery of him is inwardly revealed by the holy Spirit in the hearts of all true believers in respect of his thus humbling himself and taking hold of the seed of Abraham may well be compared to the Stone Wood of Solomons Temple which were but mean and not very costly Materials but the fullness of the Godhead that dwelt in Christ Bodily and his being anointed with the holy Spirit without measure being the only begotton Son of God full of Grace and Truth of whose fullness all true believers do plentifully receive and Grace for Grace and the many most rich and excellent divine Virtues wherewith both Christ and his Church are most richly endued and adorned are well signified by that great plenty of Gold and Silver and other precious Furniture wherewith the Temple of Solomon was beautified But it is much thou didst not make the Sea in Solomon's Temple to signifie Water-Baptism possibly some of thy Brethren may judge this a great omission or neglect in thee but hadst thou brought it it could have made nothing for thy Water Baptism for that Sea in Solomon's Temple was not a figure of outward Water which it self was but a figure but of these spiritual Waters of the Sanctuary mentioned by the Prophet Ezekiel chap. 47.1 7 8 9. and by Iohn c. 4. v. 6. and Rev. 22.1 But this most idle and ignorant gloss and comparison of thine is like to that other passage in thy book where thou sayst Repenting Believers baptized with Water being a sign and token from God to them of the remission of sins are the only true Heirs of the Promise of the holy ghost c. Which assertion thou dost falsly ground on Peter's words to the Iews Repent and be baptized every one of you mind it sayst thou every one that expects Salvation in the Name of Iesus Christ for the Remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost But whether Water Baptism is to be here understood or not thy arguing that it must be Water Baptism is most weak and idle as if to render it only Spirit is to charge the Spirit of God in Peter with gross Impertinencies and Tautologies as if he should say Repent and be baptized with the holy Spirit and you shall receive the holy Spirit To this I Answer This is no Impertinency nor Tautology in the least but very proper as it is very proper to say White Cloth being dip't into the Dyers Fat that hath a red dye receiveth the said red dye even so the Soul being dipt into that spiritual Water of Gods holy Spirit receiveth it as the Cloth receiveth the dye But this to thee is a Mystery and Parable and therefore it is not strange thou talkest such gross impertinencies And it is plain by these words of thine thou makest Water Baptism equally necessary to Salvation with Faith and Repentance and therefore all are eternally and finally Lost who have not been baptized or plunged into Water O Monster of uncharitableness This most Uncharitable Doctrine damneth all to the Pit of Hell for many Ages that never received Water Baptism this is like one of thy Brethren who printed a book with this Title Dip or Damn It is no wonder to find you Baptists generally so bitter and peevish for this your Uncharitable Doctrine of Condemning all to Hell who are not baptized into Water begetteth this evil nature in you even as the narrow Doctrine of the Presbyterians as touching the Grace of God maketh them of the like evil nature for evil Principles and Perswasions have a great influence upon mens Hearts and Lives And now I find thee in this thy work against us joyn'd with the Priests of New-England and particularly these of Boston tho' formerly some of thy Brethren suffered great persecution by the Priests of New-England where it seems thou hast got thy book printed and so like Herod and Pontius Pilate joyning together against Christ as he came in the flesh so ye joyn together against him as he is come and coming more abundantly in Spirit but this Stone which ye builders of Babylon have refused will God exalt and is exalting to be the head of the Corner Thou art as idle and impertinent to alledge That by Water and Blood mentioned 1 Iohn 5.6 This is he that came by Water and Blood is to be meant Water Baptism and that call'd the Supper in giving and receiving Bread Wine But this being thy bare alledgance without any shadow of proof it is altogether denyed and the Virtue of both the Water and Blood together with the Spirit are inwardly and spiritually felt which three agree in one and are inseperable but so are not your Water Baptism and Bread and Wine which ye your selves confess are oft seperated from the Spirit as the many vain persons among you and the many dry and barren Souls of your society too palpably demonstrate for who more gawdy and vain in their Attire and Cloathing both men and women than many call'd Baptists as I have seen and observed in part to my great grief Who greater Enemies to the Spirits inward Revelation and to Christ's inward presence and Appearance in Believers than thou and the Baptists generally perhaps some few excepted And therefore the Spirit and your Water Baptism and breaking of Bread agree not in one and are not in unity And whereas thou chargest it on me and my Friends the People called in scorn Quakers as if we did presume or boast of our

Water Baptism of yours is neither Iohn's nor the same that some of Christs Disciples and Apostles administred for some time seeing ye can show no Line of Succession either from Iohn or the Apostles of your call to administer Water Baptism that proves ye have no shadow of any mediate Call and to an immediate Call ye have no pretence nor can it be truly said that the Letter of the Scripture barely and alone considered calleth any to a Ministerial Office or Function for the Scripture saith No man taketh an Office unto him but he that is called of God as Aaron was And thus Iohn was sent of God by the Spirit of God in his heart and did not draw his Call from the Letter of the Scripture tho' he was of Aaron's Posterity and the Son of a Priest And therefore your Water Baptism is a meer Idol like the golden Calf that the Children of Israel set up when Moses was absent But suppose your Water baptism were as good as Iohn's which it is not go and learn what that meaneth Mark 9.5 how when Moses and Elias and ye know that Christ said of Iohn that he was Elias who came in the Spirit and Power of Elias did appear with Christ at his Transfiguration Peter said Let us build three Tabernacles one for Moses that signifieth the Law of Circumcision and Sacrifices another for Elias i. e. Iohn with his Water Baptism the Scriptures saith he knew not what he said and a Cloud came and took away Moses and Elias i. e. Iohn Baptist out of their sight and left only Christ present with them and well consider whether this doth not signifie that Believers in Christ under the pure and perfect Gospel Dispensation are not to build Tabernacles neither for Moses nor Iohn i. e. neither for the Levitical Law of Moses nor the Water Baptism of Iohn A brief Answer to the weak and impertinent Arguments of Benj. Keech against the Light within in his Book call'd The Childs Instructor in that Section of his Book concerning the Light within wherein he undertaketh to prove That the Light in every man hath not the least tendency or service to mans Salvation but only to condemn him And also an Answer to his gross Calumnies and false Accusations that in his ignorance he raiseth up against both the Principles and Persons of the People called in scorn Quakers FIrst he granteth That the Light in every man containeth in it the Law or substance of the first Covenant written or implanted in the hearts of the worst of men Next he doth acknowledge That it doth show or teach every man that there is a God which did create all things and that he is the Soveraign Lord of the whole Creation that he is to be worshiped also that it doth convince of sin but not of evey sin Also That it doth teach Righteousness towards men and to render due respect unto all and to do unto all men as they would be done unto and from this he concludeth saying Therefore take heed and walk according to this Light for it is a Candle lighted and set up by the Lord in thy Intellectuals Answ. This seemeth a fair acknowledgment and is more than many do acknowledge for if men are to take heed unto it and walk according to it as he saith they ought it is given of God for a Rule of Obedience unto men and therefore the Scripture is not the only Rule as many affirm But that he saith It doth convince of sin but not of every sin this he only affirmeth and doth not prove in the least and seeing it containeth in it the substance of the Law of the first Covenant it followeth most evidently that being duly improved and the mind duly applied unto it it convinceth of all sin against the first Covenant Next as to sins against the second Covenant called the Gospel or New Covenant if the Gentiles who have not heard the Gospel outwardly preached have nothing of the Law of the New Covenant revealed or made known unto them they cannot be said to sin against it for where no Law is there is no Transgression if then these Gentiles who never as yet heard the Gospel or Christ outwardly preach'd have only the Law of the first Covenant they are only sinners against that Covenant and consequently that Light in the Gentiles doth convince them of every sin that they are or can be guilty of in the Gentile state But seeing he hath granted That there are some sins that they are guilty of that the first Covenant in them doth not convince them of it followeth most necessarily that there is some Law or Light of the new Covenant in them And thus it doth plainly appear that the snare or net which this Benj. Keech hath been making for the People called Quakers he is entangled himself therein But we can most clearly prove from Scripture that the Light that is generally in men the Heathens not excepted hath in it some small degree of a discovery or revelation of the New Testament or New Covenant 1 st Because it revealeth to men generally the goodness of God that leadeth to Repentance according to Rom. 2.4 yea the Riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering and therefore it revealeth in men universally that God is merciful and gracious as well as just and pardoning sin and transgression to every one that truly repenteth and turns from sin And this may be proved also from B. Keech's own confession for he plainly confesseth That the Light in every man teacheth him that God is the best the highest and chiefest Beeing therefore it doth clearly follow that the Light in men teacheth them that God is a gracious God and one that pardons Iniquity otherwise he could not be understood to be the best beeing for seeing among the Children of men many men have that goodness that inclines them to forgive the greatest Trespasses upon their Repentance and asking forgiveness therefore God himself is infinitely more gracious and ready to forgive 2 dly The Gentiles or Heathens of the better sort who have not heard Christ outwardly preached unto them have offered up Sacrifices unto the only true God as well as the Iews and Aristotle tho' a Heathen did affirm That it was proper to Mankind universally to Sacrifice unto God and as the Sacrifices of the People of Israel as B. Keech confesseth was a spiritual and shadowing Ministration given in mercy unto men to discover and hold forth unto them the glorious and great Sacrifice and Attonement of the Lord Jesus Christ the same may be said of the Sacrifices of these Gentiles who sacrificed unto the only true God And if it be said The Gentiles who did so Sacrifice as Iob and others did it being taught by some outward means I answer allowing it so to be so did also the Iews and People of Israel but as among the Iews so among the Gentiles the Light of God in them did accord in

me as first That the outward Form and inward Power of Godliness may not be seperated This we affirm as well as thou and much better than thou for seeing thou denyest Christ within the heart to be the true Christ how canst thou really own the inward power of Godliness Can there be any inward power of Godliness without Christ living dwelling and ruling in the heart Again many of you Baptists affirm That men may be called of God both to preach and baptize and yet have no true Piety or Holyness Which a Baptist Teacher affirmed to me in the hearing of divers witnesses last summer in the shop of one of our Friends at Newport in Rhode-Island and whether this be not thy own perswasion thou art concerned to clear thy self But further how many Hypocrites and vain persons do ye baptize with Water that no real signs do in the least appear in them that the inward power of godliness was joyned with their being baptized with Water Now the thing that thou shouldst have proved was that your Water baptism taken up by you without any true command or so much as a true inward liberty by the spirit of God in your hearts is a Gospel-Precept But this the Apostles witnessed when Peter baptized or caused to be baptized Cornelius and others with him no doubt he both saw and felt his liberty and good allowance by the revelation of Gods holy spirit in his heart so to do and therefore he might well command it at that time to be done yet it doth not follow that it is a Gospel-Precept I say further the outward form of Godliness is intire without Water baptism as at this day administred though when it was practised by the command of God it was a part of the outvvard form And vvhereas thou sayst Iohns preaching and baptizing related to Christs Gospel disenspation citing for this Mark 1. cap. 1 2 3. v. ● Ansvver All this may be granted in a true sence yea I do readily grant it in the true sence so did all the Figures Types of Moses Law all which obscurely and darkly pointed at Christ the pure Gospel dispensation were as it were a symbolical way of preaching Christ his Gospel and therefore it was a good and worthy observation that many antient Christians have made That the Gospel and New Testament lay hid within the vail of the Law and old Testament All these Figures and Shadows of the Law shadowing and figuring Gospel Mysteries unto those whose Eyes are spiritually enlightned to see and understand them And whereas thou citest Mark 's words in the beginning of his book saying The beginning of the Gospel of Iesus Christ the Son of God If I grant thee that both Iohn's preaching and baptism in a true sence is a beginning of the Gospel what gainest thou by it doth it therefore follow that Water-baptism is a pure Gospel Precept and to be observed to the end of the world I deny the consequence And the vanity and falshood of it I shall by Gods assistance plainly demonstrate But first I shall lay down a few plain Positions which I hope scarce any professing themselves Christians that are in any degree intelligent can deny 1 st The Gospel did begin to be preached by the Lord to our first Parents immediately after the Fall when he gave the Promise That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the head of the Serpent And this was before any Law of Types of Figures was given and before Water baptism 2 dly This Gospel Promise was in a solmn way renewed by the Lord to Abraham That in his Seed all Nations of the Earth should be blessed and this was 430 years as Paul noticeth before the Law of Moses And the same Paul saint That the Gospel was preacht to Abraham which is the everlasting Gospel is one the same in all Ages of the world therefore to spake strictly did not take its beginning neither at the beginning of the book of Mark that beginneth with a Voice crying in the Wilderness Prepare the way of the Lord that as it related to Iohn's Ministration in part so it hath a further reach as pointing to an inward Ministration nor yet of Luke who goeth further backward to wit to Zacharias his burning Incence in the Temple and Matthew goeth yet farther backward to Abraham Isaac and Iacob and Iohn furthest of all to the Word that was in the beginning which Word is Christ by whom all things were made and are upheld 3 dly This one everlasting Gospel hath had it various and divers breakings forth and administrations in clearer discoveries and dispensations from age to age until the fullness of time before that fulness of time until Christ had suffered for the sins of the World rose again ascended and gave the holy Ghost to all true believers the Gospel dispensation remained among all the faithful in all Ages but as vai●ed or as the Kirnel within the Shell of the Figures and Types of the Law 4 thly The Law was never given alone by the Lord nor was ever intended by him that any should have eternal Life by the bare observation of the Figures and Shadows of the Law but by faith in Christ and true Gospel Obedience to him but it was as a Schoolmaster to lead unto Christ as Paul hath declared 5 tly These several more clear discoveries and dispensations of the Gospel may be branched forth or distinguished into several degrees and these several degrees may be reduced into three each of which dispensations had their peculiar and proper divine inward Illuminations and influences of Grace and Truth to wit First That discovery that God gave to men by Moses and the written Law and the Prophets until Iohn Secondly From Iohn until Christ dyed and rose again gave the holy Ghost Thirdly That last and most glorious discovery and revelation by the giving of the holy Ghost generally to all true believers in a peculiar influence and operation beyond what ever formerly was given in a general way to believers Again these three may be reduced into two viz. Law and Gospel called by Paul the Two Covenants which until the last greatest and most excellent discovery of the Gospel have been administred as with an excellent mixture as when Water and Wine are mixed together though the liquors be only two in kind yet they admit of many various Mixtures all which are serviceable according to the desire and ability of the drinkers And therefore whereas thou sayst Nor is there any third Dispensation that is neither Law nor Gospel of John's as is imagined In this as in many other things thou fightst against thy own shadow for though in my late book I writ of three Dispensations and prove them sufficiently out of the Scriptures yet I never imagined that there was any one of these three Dispensations that vvas neither Lavv nor Gospel but I thus distinguish them The first is both

being arrived to a state above or beyond the Apostles after they had receiv'd the holy Ghost for thou say'st Here we may note the pride that this Boaster is filled with counting even the Master Builders of God's House but Children in comparison of them c. And again thou sayst The Generation of Quakers it seems are got into an higher degree of stature and fullness thinking they are in an higher Dispensation than they had attained c. All this is a most injurious and gross Perversion of my words and of our Principle I never said writ or thought any such thing But take notice on what false foundation he grounds this his Perversion because I said in my last book If they who are so zealous for Water Baptism were cordially zealous for the inward and spiritual Baptism they might be the more born with as Men bear with Children c. and Charity might be allowed them in that case to be as Children or Babes in Christ. I intreat the Readers to take notice that I say nothing here of the Apostles or any living in that Age but of these now living in our Age who are generally too zealous for the Water Baptism but have little or no zeal most of them for the inward and spiritual plainly denying inward Divine Revelation as the priviledge given to the Saints in our Age and calling Christ in the hearts of the Saints a false Christ as this Pardon Tillinghast hath done and as many others do And though the Apostles after they received the holy Ghost used Water Baptism yet it was not for themselves who saw beyond it and were attained to that One Baptism Not the putting away the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience as Peter declared but in the Apostles days there were Babes in Christ and many scarce arrived at the true state of spiritual babes whom the Apostles saw meet to baptize into Water but yet that Water baptism was not the Milk where with they were fed but rather as stilts or Crutches that these babes or lame Persons used for some time And whereas thou further sayst That we called Quakers are born Monsters not Babes to be fed with Milk as the Saints heretofore Here thy scornful Spirit full of bitterness and prejudice doth plainly appear How many thousand babes in Christ have been before ever baptism with Water was in being and since it received its burial and whoever seek to raise it again or restore it in their own self-will and meer imaginations from what they falsly infer or draw from the Letter of the Scripture they but raise a dead thing that is not the sincere Milk for the Milk of Babes is the sincere Milk of the Word and that is not Water-baptism And whereas thou alledgest That to pretend to the Power and deny the Form of Godliness is as Hypocritical as the other is Formal This we agree unto but it remaineth as yet to be proved that Water baptism is any part of the Form of Godliness since the form and practice of it hath generally ceased since the Apostles for many Ages past and but again is raised up by the meer will of Man without any divine Call or Authority so far as ever I could yet learn for I never yet heard that any in this Age or since the Apostacy began did pretend to an inward divine Call for Water Baptism But whether when the Gospel shall have it free course to be yet preached to all Nations any shall be raised up to baptize with Water by a divine Authority belongs not to the present debate And thus I hope it will appear to the impartial Readers that I have sufficiently answered to thy Objections and pretended Reasons from plain Scripture which thou hast but grosly wrested and perverted In the close of thy book thou sayst I strike as well at the Lords Supper as at Water Baptism alledging further that I say our common eating that we use is the Lords Supper whether two or three more or less but both these are thy false alledgings and none of my words nor justly can be gathered from my words And first as to the Lords Supper I say where Christ is not inwardly and spiritually seen tasted and fed upon by his inward Revelation in mens hearts there is not the Lords Supper altho' they gather together with ever so great a Solemnity as outwardly to eat outward Bread and drink outward Wine in remembrance as they pretend of Christ. Secondly There is neither Number of Persons nor any set Times appointed by Christ in relation to the outward eating and drinking which ye call the Supper and therefore as the Church of England use it once Quarterly and some Baptists Monethly or perhaps some Weekly why may not others with as good reason use it daily and seeing the Number of Persons is no essential part as ye must confess then why may not two or three as well as some hundreds use it with equal Solemnity and religious Devotion viz. eating and drinking together both with a holy fear and chearfulness remembring the Lords Death even until his last coming as well as until his more abundant inward spiritual Coming into their hearts And whereas I queried in my last book Wherein we are behind you or wherein we fall short of you or what excellency worth or value hath your Supper above and beyond ours To this thou hast not answered one syllable nor hast thou shewed any one particular instance wherein your eating and drinking excelleth ours and therefore I return it again unto thee to be answered And I thus further query Is the difference about the bear Name that ye call it The Supper of the Lord and we have no freedom to call the bare outward eating and drinking unless Christ be inwardly enjoyed the Supper of the Lord but where Christ is inwardly enjoyed and fed upon together with the outward eating and drinking as most frequently is witnessed to God's praise that we can freely call the Lords Supper Or 2 dly Is the difference because ye have some Priest or Pastor or gifted Brother to consecrate the Bread and make it more holy than our Bread that we eat even when we use Prayer and Thanks-giving before eating either vocal or only mental and frequently both Or 3 dly Is it because we do not use that formality of repeating the words Take eat this is my Body which we find no where commanded to be used in the Saints eating Or 4 thly Is it because the eating and drinking that was among the Saints called by thee and others the Supper was never in ended for satisfying hunger as thou hintest And what if I should say the same thou gainest nothing for it is not the simple eating and drinking that I call a holy Remembrance of Christs Death but the holy and religious way and manner of performing it and yet thou canst not prove that the Saints when they did eat that commonly called the

A REFUTATION OF Three Opposers of Truth By plain Evidence of the holy Scripture VIZ. I. Of Pardon Tillinghast who pleadeth for Water-Baptism its being a Gospel-Precept and opposeth Christ within as a false Christ. To which is added something concerning the Supper c. II. Of B. Keech in his Book called A Tutor for Children where he disputeth against the Sufficiency of the Light within in order to Salvation and calleth Christ in the heart A false Christ in the secret Chamber III. Of Cotton Mather who in his Appendix to his Book called Memorable Providences relating to Witchcrafts c. doth so weakly defend his Father Increase Mather from being justly chargeable with abusing the honest People called Quakers that he doth the more lay open his Fathers Nakedness and beside the Abuses and Injuries that his Father had cast upon that People C. Mather the Son addeth new Abuses of his own And a few Words of a Letter to Iohn Cotton called a Minister at Plymouth in New-England By GEORGE KEITH Zephaniah 3.4 Her Prophets are Light and Treacherous Persons her Priests have polluted the Sanctuary they have done Violence to the Law Philadelphia Printed and Sold by William Bradford Anno 1690. Water-Baptism No Gospel-Precept c. Pardon Tillinghast AFter I had read thy small Treatise in print wherein thou undertakest to prove water-Water-Baptism to be a Gospel Precept by plain Scripture I was sorry on thy account to find thee with such confidence to publish thy Ignorance and Folly as well as thy great bitterness of Spirit and Prejudice against the Truth and the Witnesses of it so openly in the face of the World But when I call to mind how that God in his infinite Wisdom permits men to rise up to oppose the Truth that the Truth it self may be the more clearly discovered by the breakings forth of Gods Light still more and more the more that the Truth is opposed I am truly comforted and encouraged And for thy Reviling and Reproachful words against me I regard them not further than to pity thee and heartily to desire that God may open thy Eyes and give thee true Repentance Forgiveness for I have that Charity that what thou dost in this thy work of opposition it is through thy ignorance and therefore upon thy Repentance is pardonable But as for me and my Brethren it is a small thing for us to be reproached and falsly accused by thee seeing thou art so ignorantly bold and fool-hardy to reproach the Lord Iesus Christ in his inward appearance and Light in the hearts of men calling him a false Christ as if these who preach Christ in the hearts of Gods Saints were those of whom Christ foretold that should come in the latter days and preach a false Christ saying he is in the secret Chamber which thou understandest as if Christ had meant the secret Chamber of the heart following herein thy Brother in Iniquity Darkness Benjamin Keech who in his Book called The Childs Instructor hath these express words in that Section concerning the Light within Therefore believe not him that saith behold he is here in the secret Chamber viz. the heart The which expression thou seemest to have borrowed from the said Book But if thou hadst any true knowledg in the Mystery of Christ thou wouldst sooner have chosen that thy right hand that pen'd these words had been cut off than to have used them But by this and other the like expressions in thy Treatise thou plainly discovers thy self to be a man altogether ignorant of the true knowledge of Christ yea thou seemest ignorant of the very Letter of the Scripture which in plain and express words doth mention Christ dwelling in the heart and Christ within the hope of Glory the Mystery hid from Ages and Generations And said Paul to the Corinthians Know ye not that Iesus Christ is in you unless ye be Reprobates And said Christ in his Prayer unto his Father Thou in me and I in them And when he told the Pharisees who looked that the Kingdom of God should come with Observations as to say lo here or lo there he said for behold the Kingdom of God is within you Luke 17.21 and surely where the Kingdom of God is there are God and Christ● So that the plain letter of the Scripture is against thy most absurd and Anti-christian Doctrine That the Christ in the hearts of men yea even of the Saints as thou wouldst have it for thou makest no distinction is a false Christ for the plain tendency of this thy Work of Darkness is to make People believe that Christ is not a Light within the Saints because as thou alledgest the Light within was not crucified for us but Iesus Christ of Nazareth And in this absurd distinction and dividing of Christ thou acts the part of Socinus and his followers who are called Socinians that affirm most absurdly That Christ is only a meer man and that he had no being nor existance before Mary But if thou say thou believest that Christ is both God and Man and that he was from the beginning to wit that Word by whom all things were made then why dost thou deny that Christ as he is that Word is in the Saints for though Christ only suffered in the flesh and as Man upon the Tree of the Cross yet he who suffered was not meer Man but God and Man and yet still one Christ. And thus also Christ within spiritually and inwardly revealed in the Saints is not another Christ from him that came in the flesh and was crucified for us even Jesus of Nazareth And hadst thou taken a little pains to read my book and consider it impartially and fairly thou shouldst have seen what a plain and single account I give of mine and my Friends Faith concerning the Man Christ Iesus as he came in the flesh and dyed for our sins and rose again and ascended c. even Jesus of Nazareth and that true faith in Christ Jesus is not only a believing in him as he is the Word c. but as the same Word did take flesh and was God manifest in the flesh c. to wit Christ crucified and risen again made of a Woman made under the Law c. and that the true faith of a Christian doth not divide Christ c. as false Christians do who say they believe in Christ without them but do not believe and receive Christ within them as God the Father doth inwardly reveal him or as Ranters and other high Notionists who pretend to believe in Christ as the Word and Light in them but slight and blaspheme against Christ that was crucified without them as is plainly to be seen in my late book pag. 131 132 133 and pag. 103 104 108. and p. 229. and hereby it doth plainly appear how safely I guard against both extreams of false Teachers some preaching Christ without but denying him within as thou Pardon Tillinghast and most of thy

of God revealed in him and therefore he might vvell command it for that time tho' no Gospel Precept But vvhereas thou sayst That Peter and the Apostles did command in Christ Iesus the Lords Name Water Baptism is a thing utterly false the Scripture saith no such thing but That Peter commanded them to be baptized in the Name of the Lord so that the Name of the Lord is relative to their being baptized not to the command and their being baptized in the Name of the Lord doth plainly signifie that their being baptized vvith Water vvas som outward sign that they became the Lords and were true believers in him Next vvhereas thou sayst I affirm that Water Baptism was at that time an abolished Ceremony is false I said no such thing It was beginning to be abolishing and decaying and was decreasing as John said in respect of his Baptism I must decrease but Christ must encrease But that it vvas then totally abolished I say not for it could not be safely abolished all at once but by degrees and after some time as I have above demonstrated And novv that I call this third and last Dispensation that began to take place after the Death and Resurrection of Christ the pure and perfect Dispensation of the Gospel I understand it not as if the first and second Dispensations before and under Moses or before and under Christ as he vvas present in the flesh had any mixture or impurity of sin or evil nay far be it from me but I call it pure and perfect as having none of these Figures and Types of the Lavv mixed vvith it as formerly And though the Apostles after the giving of the holy Ghost did grovv up into the attainment of this most pure and perfect Gospel state and Dispensation yet many Christians vvho had a measure of sincere Faith in Christ vvere short of it and for the cause of such vvho vvere vveak and but as Babes in Christ they savv it meet in the Wisdom of God to use it for some time But after the days of the Apostles and their Successors about three or four hundred years there-after the true Gospel Spirit was generally lost a Remnant excepted of hidden ones who in some measure retained it and the inward Power of Godliness departed from and then Water Baptism and many other things belonging to the outward form became as a dead thing and was more fit to be buried than to be used And none ought to presume to raise it up again unless it could be said That the Power of God had raised it or renewed it in the users or practisers of it and that they could sincerely say and prove that God had sent them or given them Authority to use Water Baptism and other the like things but this I do not find that any called Baptists so much as pretend unto and if they did pretend to it their bare pretence without some real and effectual prooff were not to be believed And that Peter caused Water-baptism to be administred to Cornelius and other Gentiles doth not prove it to be a Gospel Precept for under the Law the Gentiles who became Proselites of the Covenant so called were generally baptized into Water as well as Circumcised long before Iohn's time as the Iews Books plainly declare and as may be gathered from Scripture and as divers Christian Writers relate from the Iews and particularly Thomas Godwin in his Book called Moses and Aaron lib. 1. cap. 3. And seeing it was so commonly practised by the Iews as well before Iohn's time as then and thereafter as both Iewish and Christian Writers affirm and as the Epistle to the Hebrews doth plainly declare Heb. 9.10 how that the Law had its divers Baptisms so the Greek translated into English Washings and carnal Ordinances until the time of Reformation it doth more plainly evince that Water Baptism was a legal thing tho' both it Circumcision with all the other Types and Figures of the Law pointed at Gospel Mysteries and in so far may be said to relate or belong to the Gospel in its more obscure Administration but that whole Dispensation both of Moses and the Prophets is in Scripture stile call'd The Law altho' Moses himself and all the Prophets saw beyond the Figures of the Law and were truly endowed in great part with a Gospel spirit That thou say'st if Water Baptism had not been comprehended in Paul 's Commission then he had done evil in baptizing so many I Answ. It doth not follow any more than that he did evil in circumcising Timothy for things may be done upon occasions without a Command from God and that not only by a bare or simple permission but in a sweet heavenly freedom of Gods holy Spirit inwardly revealed which is the only chief and principal Rule of every true Christians freedom as well as of their Obedience How many good Christians joyn in Marriage having no command so to do but knowing and enjoying an inward Liberty by the Spirit of the Lord so to do and therein receiving the blessing of the Lord and many other the like cases might be mention'd Thou givest a very strange and exceeding strained Gloss upon Paul's words That he was not sent to baptize but to preach the Gospel to wit that Water Baptism was not so bound to Paul or any other sent to preach the Gospel that they with their own hands must needs perform that Work of Baptizing and Paul and the other Apostles had such and such for their Ministers as John Timothy and others But what then what Paul commanded other Disciples to do is all one as if he had done it himself as thou arguest in another case but not to thy purpose and therefore it cannot be reasonably judged that if Paul had been sent to baptize either by himself or making use of others to assist him in that work he would have said He was not sent to baptize for that would imply a plain Contradiction to be sent and not to be sent But this thy strein'd gloss on Pauls words is grounded upon a meer supposition of thine That Paul was sent to baptize with Water which thou hast not in the least proved nor art ever like to do Matth. 28. saith nothing of Water Thy similitude betwixt Solomons Temple and the Gospel-Church as thou dost apply it is exceeding vain foolish and proceedeth from great Ignorance as if the Stones that were the Foundation of Solomon's Temple cut out of the Mountains and the Timber-work did signifie that the Foundation of God's Spiritual House should be Water-Baptism But this is plain contrary to Scripture that saith The Church is built on the Foundation of the Prophets Apostles Iesus Christ himself being the chief Corner Stone And thou that sets up Water-Baptism as the Foundation of the Gospel Church preachest another Foundation than Christ Jesus and another Gospel If Solomon's Temple had been built on the Waters thou mightst have had some slender

Supper did not really eat and drink sufficiently to refresh nourish the Natural Body as well as together with that their Souls were refreshed and nourished with spiritual food for it is most clear that in the Church of Corinth they did eat together to refresh the outward man and this the Apostle did not reprove but their disorderly manner of eating so that some were hungery and others were drunken and some eat at home in private and others did not but tarried to eat together with their Brethren and were at times disappointed This plainly proveth they used to make a real Meal of their eating together but your manner of eating about the quantity of a Nut in Bread and a spoonful one or two in Wine we find no where in all the New Testament and that ye give the cup but once and Christ gave it twice as I have showed in my late book this ye can give no account of and thou hast not taken the least notice of it although it is material to you who pretend to observe every thing as Christ did And why are ye not as zealous for washing one anothers feet and anointing the sick with Oyl I am sure more expresly commanded by Christ and Iames the Apostle than your Water baptism ye can give no just account It seems thou art zealous for laying on of hands which thou reckons also as belonging to the foundation of the Gospel falsly citing and perverting these words in Heb. 6.1 2. for though that place mention the foundation of Faith and Repentance and afterwards the Doctrine of Baptisms and of laying on of hands yet it saith not that either Water baptism or laying on of hands is any part of the foundation and the Doctrine of Baptisms and the laying on of hands is one thing the use of Water baptism is quite another The Doctrine of all the legal Rites Figures and Types remaineth in the Church at this day but the practice of them is abolished and so of Water baptism Before the close of this my Answer I shall further take notice of some other of thy gross impertinencies First Thou usest these idle words by way of reproach So that upon hearing Peter's Testimony not of killing the Light within as the Quakers preach c. Here thou makest it a matter of derision to say Christ who is the Light and the Life may be killed or crucified by mens sins whereby thou declarest thy great ignorance of the Letter of the Scripture that said of some that they crucified the Son of God afresh and surely that was within them and not without and said Iames Ye have killed the just and he hath not resisted you which cannot be understood as if all these to whom he had writ had been guilty of outward Murder But understand how these call'd Quakers mean that Christ is inwardly crucified or slain by mens great sins to wit not in himself for his Life is an Immortal Principle but unto them so that by their sins they wholly deprive themselves of the enjoyment of it 2 dly Thou sayst While Peter is speaking not mentioning ought of the Light within altho' we deny it not where God would have it spoken of Behold here another bitter and satyrical Scoff against the Light within and what altho' Peter mention not the Light within in that place Acts 10. in express words let the place be considered and it shall be found plainly enough implied in that very discourse of Peter see v. 42. said Peter that it is even Jesus of Nazareth who was ordained to be judge of quick and dead And can this be without the Light within that shall be as a thousand Witnesses against the wicked in that great day of Judgment when the books shall be opened not only the book of Conscience but the Lords Light in the Conseience that did see and reprove them and witness against them when they sinned And whereas thou sayst thou denyest not the Light within when God would have it spoken of I say thou denyest it in so far as thou denyest Christ in the heart who is the true Light callest him a false Christ and also that thou blamest the Quakers for pretending to inward Revelations which ye Baptists generally deny therein agreeing with the dark Priests and other dark Professors 3 dly Thou dost represent the Quakers as denying that Christ is come in the flesh and carrying it in a subtil notion that he is come in their flesh This is a most false and injurious Accusation we most faithfully believe and embrace it as a most faithful saying That Christ Iesus is come in the flesh to wit in that very Body of Flesh which was conceived by the holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary dyed and rose again c. and yet according to Scripture we also believe That the Life of Iesus is made manifest in mortal Flesh and that the Bodies of the Saints are the Temples of God and of Christ of the holy Spirit and that the Saints are his Members and He their Head and that they enjoy and possess a measure of the same holy Spirit that dwelt and dwelleth in him in all fullness and tho' some divine Illumination and manifestation of the Spirit of God be given to all men in a day or time according to plain Scripture yet we do not say tha● all men have the holy Spirit or are baptized with it as thou dost falsly represent us for many men are sensual not having the Spirit and the Spirit of God hath left many men and doth no more invite and call them to Repentance the day of their Visitation being over 4 thly Thou dost insinuate as if we did not believe any other Coming of Christ than his inward coming in his Saints which is false as also is that other gross alledgance of thine That our opposition to Water Baptism is raised against the Person of Iesus Christ and the remembrance of his last Coming This I altogether deny as False Wicked and Injurious we do believe and make it our care to remember that our Lord Jesus is in Heaven in his glorified Body Soul and Spirit of true Man that Seed of David and Abraham and that he shall come again and jud●e both quick and dead even the Man Christ Iesus And as for thy other many false Accusations and hard bitter and reproachful Speeches against us and me in particular I shall not waste paper nor time to repeat them but heartily wish thy Repentance and the opening of thy dark Understanding to the acknowledging and confessing to the Truth if it be the good will of God that so it may come to pass before thy dayes be expired And now ye Water Baptists who plead so earnestly for Water Baptism though in opposition to the living and glorious Appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ in the hearts of his Saints some of you calling Christ in the heart a false Christ in the secret Chamber the which