of God and of this spiritual Seed to have it remain in us 1 Joh. 3. 9. and have the Kingdom of God or life eternal in us Luk. 17. 21. The Seed it self which the Flesh is born and begotten of is a Spirit abstracted from the Soul and the Body of Parents which are but Men Much more then that of the Soul regenerated of God who is only a Spirit and the Father of Spirits Joh. 4. 24. Hebr. 12. 9. ought to be a Spiritual and not a Material Thing such as is the outward Word which Mr. Keith soweth about in Sermons and in Papers which Booksellers and Printers catch at so nimbly and put Impune upon the World 10. Now Christ himself is the word Joh. 1. 1 14. in the Heart and in the Mouth Rom. 10. 9. and being that same Power of God 1 Cor. 1. 24. by which God made all Joh. 1. 2 3. the World and all Things therein Hebr. 1. 2. and which upholdeth all things v. 3. and gives them their Light and Life Joh. 8. 12. 14. 6. it is he that begets Souls and he is the same also as the Spirit or Power which hath been shew'd to doe it Jesus being the same Word as Paul spake of v. 8. of Chap. 10. of Rom. and the same Power of God 1 Cor. 1. 24. as Paul saith the Gospel is Rom. 1. 16. And the Lord is that Spirit which Paul was Minister of 2 Cor. 3. 8 16. and when the Holy Ghost comes it is Christ that comes Himself Joh. 14. 16 18. And upon the whole Matter Christ being the Word of God that was from the Beginning Chap. 1. 2. and by whom all things were made and Emmanuel God in us Matth. 1. 23. dwelling in us for ever according to his Promise Joh. 14 17. except we be Reprobates 2 Cor. 13. 5. and the Holy Ghost himself he is the Word in the Heart that abideth for ever and of whom St. Peter meant the Faithful are born again Being upon this account called the second Adam that is the second Father or Begetter of Mankind and the Bridegroom infusing his spiritual Seed in Man and impregnating his Soul which becomes his Mother thereby and by the same means he becomes the Son of Man and is formed within Man Gal. 4. 19. And in short Christ and the Word and the Spirit are all one 11. And he is called the word in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Reason because he is Wisdom Light and Understanding in God in the World and in the Soul In God he is the Wisdom and the Power 1 Cor. 1. 24. Will and Act For God having no Organs as Mouth or Hands his word is the thing it self that is done by his Power and Wisdom and having no other Will than his Power and his Act because Voluntas saith one Consilio nascitur and there is nothing but Sight no thinking nor consulting at all in the most Wise God his Wisdom Power Will Act are all one that is his Word In the World he is the Light Joh. 8. 12. and the Spirit that moved in the deep to form the Light Gen. 1. 2. and which the Wise and Pulcher ordo Mundi proceeds from And in the Soul he is both the Light of Nature in all and the Light of Grace that is the Understanding in some being natural in all granted to all at their Birth by the prerogative of their Essence or nature above other Animals enlightning every Man that cometh into the World Joh. 1. 9 This is what they call Reason And supernatural in the regenerated granted them of Grace again by the gift of the Spirit upon their Birth of Water And this is properly that which they call Understanding I say he is called the word because he is Light Understanding and Wisdom in us as well as in God Quicquid in nobis videt audit verbum Dei That Light and that faculty whereby we see and perceive and hear and understand things is the Word of God in us that is Christ and his Spirit Understanding comes from Christ 1 Joh. 5. 20. and he is the Light of Men. Joh. 1. 4 9. and from the Spirit he sends Ch. 16. 17. to Guide Men into all Truth V. 13. to teach all things Ch. 14. 26. and to search even the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 10. understanding comes likewise Understanding is the word in the Heart The Light whereby the Mind conceiâ—â— in the Heart and sends forth the Spirit thence into the Mouth is the Woâ—â— not the combined Syllables nor the sound which the Air makes in the Thrâ—â—â— and in the Mouth The Heart conceives from the Light that riseth there the flash at every pullation and sends it into the Head whence returning to the Heart it is sent with the Spirit that issueth out of the Flash into the Tongue to move it the Tongue moving beats the Air in the Throat and in the Mouth according to those Organs which articulates its sound and forms the out spoken word and speaks forth the conception So that the Light the Spirit and the Conceit or notion is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the word That which the vulgar call Words being nothing but vo ces an articulated Noise and a combination of divers Sounds or Syllables by the Spirit from the Heart and neither the thing conceiv'd nor the Spirit expressing or speaking it forth themselves 12. To conclude Understanding Reason and Light in the Soul is from the Spirit of Christ the word of God Christ himself of whom we are born again and who worketh Faith in us From him and from his Spirit the hearing of Faith proceeds For Understanding as was said before proceeds from them and hearing in the Scriptures signifyeth Understanding as in that place where Christ saith he that hath Ears to hear let him hear c And Faith is one of the Gifts and Effects of the Spirit 1 Cor. 12. 9. No Faith without Conversion and no Conversion without Understanding Matth. 13. 15. By Hearing we Believe Turn or Convert and what we understand not we neither do nor believe Intelligere ipsum credere est by your leave Mr. Keith and Madam Rome No implicite Faith avails When God openeth our Hearts or gives us Understanding we believe as Lydia Act. 16. 14. and confess with our Mouth Rom. 10. 9. and come and shew our Deeds as Zacheus Luk. 19. 8 9. and those which burned their Learned Books did Act. 19. 18 19. and Faith is dead without Deeds Jam. 2. 26. So that to have Faith we must Understand in the first place and so have Understanding and the light of Christ's Spirit or Christ himself within us All which if we can obtain from the outward word Preached Mr. Keith is in the right but then Christ died in vain for he died to get us the effect of the Promise which is the Holy Spirit Luk. 24. 49. Act. 1. 4 5. from which Understanding comes 13. Therefore since we
must have Christ as a Spirit within us to Understand and Believe we must know him not only without us in that Body that died upon the Cross to fulfil all Righteousness and reconcile us to God Rom. 5. 10. that thereby having access V. 2. Hebr. 4. 16. we might obtain his good Gift to wit the Holy Spirit Matth. 7. 11. Luk. 11. 13. but within us in Spirit since he cannot enter in and dwell there in Flesh and Blood tho' he should work the Miracle of the Transubstantiation and Mr. Keith should plead for an outward Christ or a Christ without us as hard again as he doth in his Reasons about the 26th page Henceforth we know Christ no more saith St. Paul 2 Cor. 5. 16. after the Flesh And as a Spiritual Christ forming the Kingdom of God by his Spirit Rom. 14. 17. within us Luk. 17. 21. Especially seeing that he is glorified again with the Glory which he had before his Incarnation Joh. 17. 5. and sits in that Majesty which belongs to God alone Hebr. 1. 3. Rev. 3. 21. and into which Flesh and Blood cannot pretend to enter 1 Cor. 15. 50. Christ being to die but once Rom. 6. 9. Hebr. 9 28. took our Flesh and Blood once to bear our Sins in it and now having done with it he appears the second time without Sin to Salvation and therefore in the Spirit Salvation or God's Kingdom being in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14. 17. to them that look for him so and are no more concerned with his Flesh or his Body since he comes in the Spirit that is since his Ascension and Glorification Joh. 7. 39. Touch me not saith he himself Joh. 20. 17. that is be not concerned with me whilst in Flesh and Blood because I am not as yet ascended and Glorifyed and cannot yet give you Gifts Eph. 4. 8. viz. the Gifts of the Spirit of which see 1 Cor. 12. or come to you in Spirit the Holy Ghost being not given till after the time of his Ascension on High Joh. 7. 39. he being not till after ready to answer the end of his coming in the Flesh to wit to bring upon them the Promise of the Father or the Gift of the Spirit the shedding of which Spirit was the fulfilling of that same Promise as hath been said Luk. 24. 49. Act. 1. 4 5. 2. 17 23. Touch me not know me no more therefore in the Flesh saith he for when I come to you a second time to save you to answer expectation and the end of my coming it shall not be in the Flesh which I have died in but in quite another form to wit that of a Spirit capable to comfort you or to give you Strength and Life Joh. 14. 18 28. in a more Spiritual from than at my Resurrection and my Transfiguration when my gross Body of Flesh it self Shined like the Sun Matth. 17. 2. and passed through Doors and Walls Joh. 20. 19 26. 14. And mistake me not Reader I do not mean that Christ in puting off Flesh and Blood hath put off Humanity that is the Human Nature for then he were no more Christ that is to say God and Man a Concrete of both Natures or the Human nature Anointed with the Divine But he remains Christ or God and Man to Eternity For God's works are Eternal He being the most Wise God whose Purpose and Power stands Nothing but the Devils works the corruption and defects introduced in the World being to be destroyed And we must know Christ as Christ or as God and Man that is as a thing distinct from God or as a Person distinct from the Trinity it self to obtain Eternal Life or else he had never said that it is Life Eternal to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he sends John 3. 17. Distinguishing Christ from God as a Person subsisting besides and apart from God But this I say that Christ hath put off his Flesh and Blood as being Accidental and not at all Essential to Man or Humanity For the first Father Adam was not Created with it but fell in it by his Lust which by Attraction drew in the Elements that took hold of him and Transmuted him made of Isch a shining Man such as he was an Adam that is a Man over-cast with dark clouds from Ad a mist and so got this Monstrous Shape And if it were Essential to Man or Human Nature God would never destroy it as he will certainly do 1 Cor. 6 13. to deliver the Faithful from the Body of this Death and its restraint and bondage into the glorious liberty of God's Children Rom. 7. 24. 8. 21. 23. Man shall put it off himself to rise with a Spiritual 1 Cor. 15. 44. and Angelical Body Luke 20. 36. that shall Shine forth as the Sun Matth. 13. 43. as it did before the Fall when Adam was as yet Isch or shining from Esch fire So that Christ as King of Men possessing Eminently all the Perfections to which Human Nature can pretend hath put off that which makes Isch Adam a dark beastly man contemptible and miserable Isa 53. 3. Rom. 7. 24. And his State and Condition ought not to be supposed since his Glorification worse than that of Man himself 15. But to clear another Riddle that is how the Anointed or the Christ or Messiah is the same Quatenus God with the Anointing Spirit I must do a bold thing which Reverend Mr. Keith will doubtless Bless himself at that is Contradict his Church and Athanasius his Creed shew that Athanasius and his Church are mistaken one in rendring by Person the Greek word Hypostasis and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Substance and the other in Saying not confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance For the Substance of the Three in the Godhead is the same and is to be confounded and their Essence or Nature or their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 divers so ought to be divided And the word Hypostasis which they render by Person doth signifie a Substance and can bear no other Sense a Substance being that which Substat accidentibus which is the very meaning and signification of the word Hipostasis ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Substo Substituor the Hypostasis being the Subjectum or the Ground of the Three in the Godhead And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Essence as being the Participle of the Verb Esse in Greek 16. Then to make Persons in God is absurd and impious there being no such thing as Persons in the Godhead for a Person is a thing that Subsisteth of it self without any dependance even of that very thing it is a Relative to as a Son can well Subsist altho' his Father be dead But here in the Trinity the Father doth not Subsist without the Son and Spirit nay and is not before them Beginning but with the Son being but a Relative Property to God the Son there being in the Godhead that is
in the Unity and the still Eternity no such thing as Father and Son and Holy Ghost known all Three being as part of the Generation of God Included within the Bounds of this Denomination to wit of the Nasciture or Generation of God the Father being not known more than the Son or Spirit without Nature or before the Generation of God or his Manifestation tho' at him this Nasciture or Generation Beings Natura quasi dicas Nascitura La naissance the Nativity of God Respectu Creaturae or God bringing forth himself to a Generation or a Manifestation to Communicate himself or his good without himself to some things besides himself So that Nature is only God himself Manifested and his Motion to Nature is his Generation And as he moved himself as by three Steps or Degrees in this his Generation he Manifesteth himself under three Appearances Forms Natures or Essences of Fire Light and Spirit or Father Son and Spirit which tho' the Trinity be from Eternity in God or Coeternal to God that is to the Unity the Generation of God being from Eternity are not known as I said before God moved himself to Nature without himself but were hid in God himself and brought to pass in himself before his outward Nature or his manifestation the Godhead in Unity as it is without Nature being but a dark Abyss And these three appearances or distinct forms and degrees of Gods manifestation are called Father and Son and Spirit Father because the Godhead or Unity is the ground the stock the Womb that brings forth out of its deep the Light its first Born or Son and only begotten Son called Son by the Hebrews on the very same account as their Language calls a Spark the Son of the burning Coal Son because he doth come forth like a Spark out of the Coal by breaking and shining forth out of the dark lump or deep 2 Cor. 4. 6. And thirdly they are called by the name of the Spirit because the same Unity doth not only shew it self or make it self manifest in the Light or by the Son but makes it self to be felt and communicates its good in the form of a Spirit or Beams flowing from the Light nothing in Nature being so fit to diffuse convey and communicate the good as the Light and its efflux the Influences whereof are the Holy Ghost in God and in the World the Spirit which makes what we call the Air by vapourising Water or turning it to vapour 17. Quaere What is a Spirit Answer It is a Substance as imperceptible as God himself to natural Men whose knowledge goeth no higher than sense and intelligece 1 Cor. 2. 14. The thing that is and exists Exod. 3. 14. for it is the same as God who is but a pure Spirit Joh. 4. 24. the substance of substances that actuates all substance and gives it form and Essence In God alone and the Soul to wit regenerated it is simple immaterial but in this World where it was at first mixt with the Water its concrete and material and hath the three dimensions that all other concretes have and is that which raiseth up the Water into vapours Out of it and of Water comes all material Substance or Matter for out of both this material World was made Gen. 1. 2. 2 Pet. 3. 5. All things saith Lucretius are come from their spiritual and their invisible State to a visibility and a palpability By its joyning to Water which it inspissates to Oyl then concocts into a Salt Earth and Body comes to be Corporification and Terrification being one and the same thing And by its separation and freedom from its vehicle whilst it is clearing it self of the Vapour that holds it for it leaves it not wholly not a spark of pure Spirit being suffered in the World for then it would inflame it fire and the destruction of things compacted by it for ejus ope totum cum toto compactum est are still made and come to pass From the Spirit all encrease and decrease or corruption of material things proceed From the Spirit as Spirit their Multiplication Multiplication being but a flux or extension of the first central Spirit infused into the deep and a propagation made a traduce of the same and from it as a fire Quateuus become fire their decrease and corruption that is the separation of that which was compacted In fine the stock of all things of God and of the Creature being Spirit and all things coming from a spiritual invisible and unknown state into materiality Ken perceptibility all things agree in substance and as God is a Spirit and Spirit is the substance and stock of the Deity the three in the Deity which we call the Trinity agree into this one thing and are but one in substance not so in Form or Essence 18. And the Truth is the Scripture speaking of Persons no where there is no reason wherefore we should set up this Notion and make of Hypostasis which is the stock and substance the things dependent of it viz. the form or the Persons tho' I am not ignorant that the Schools make of the form what I make of substance to wit The most Essential and Principal part of things But Christians who learn of Christ being anointed by him with that which teacheth all things Joh. 14. 26. 1 Joh. 2. 27. or else they were not Christians for a Christian signifyeth one that is anointed ought not to take upon tick from the Schools and the Heathen their Theosophick Notions nor such as is or may be the occasion of Errours but from Nature and Scripture and the Etymology of words if they have any as here of Hypostasis ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is by no Greek Author made use of to signify an individual Person And the Scriptures speak only of Three or a Trinity which bear Record in the World or make known the Deity which three things agree in one and are One and the same Thing 1 Joh. 5. 7. in the stock or the substance but divers in the Essence The Nature or the Essence of the Light being divers from that of the dark fire which is the Father of it and from that of the Spirit or beams that flow out of both as is that of the Spirit different from that of both the Light and Fire likewise 19. And that it is so to wit that these three appearances being divers in Essence are the same in the substance or one and the same Spirit and so that the Holy Ghost and Christ as the Light of God and the second Appearance of the Three in the Godhead are but One and the same Thing St. John saith there be three things in Earth bear Record of it the Spirit Water and Blood which last is but a concrete of Water and of Spirit digested and concocted in the Animal Bodies and I say that all things in the whole World witness it the World it self Man and Beast
stings and shutes like the Worm that never dies and a sore Boil not yet ripe and makes one die Raving mad The Fire of Hell is cold and burning without shining as appears from that Christ saith it causeth gnashing of Teeth and is in outer Darkness Matth. 8. 12. 21. Next in the little World Man Respice saith Trismegiste when thou wilt conceive something of God as Father of all Quid tibi accidat generare volenti First when a Man is in Love he becomes pensive and dark from his Lust that obscures him for Lust being attractive and binding the astringent or attractive quality coming only from the Lust or the longing in nature as may be seen in Acids which coagulate because they are of an esurine or desirous quality whence Corporification or Terrification comes and whence the Earth as having most of this bodyfying or astringent quality draws the needle in the Compass and by attracting of it causeth its variation Eastward in the Northern Seas as being there on that side larger than towards the West and Westward beyond the Line upon the Coast of Brazil the Earth being larger there on that side than in Africk I say that Lust being astringent or attractive draws or attracts together and condenseth in the Mind the Spiritual Idea of the Thing lusted after and fills up the Mind with it which becomes adumbrated or darkned as the Sun-shine by the interposition of that which casts a shadow at the same time the Spirits moving in the darkned deep towards the Parts and Organs proper to Generation kindle and make in that party the Dark state of the Father of the Light and gathering in sufficient quantity break out by concentration when the Parts can hold no more and can hold out no longer into a Light Flash or Flame fit Lux The Son or the Seed comes forth with Delight and Joy a sign that the Son is Born The Pulchrum and the Bonum to be good and delightful being the Nature Essence and Property of the Light The Pleasure in begetting is a relick of the Light and the Good of Paradise Col. 1. 12. Then this same Son Flash or Seed turning to Spirit again becomes a thin Breath or Steam that steams from that place or part which the Flash did break out in into that Cell of the Womb where the Conception is made leaving behind it the Sperm or the gross part of the Seed for it comes out afterwards which is a demonstration it went not in with the steam for that Cell shuts close upon 't and doth not open again till the time of bringing forth In the Womb that same steam is by the binding quality of the Spirit of the Male coagulated like Cheese Job 10. 20. and becomes the Fruit or Son tho' it was the Son before as soon as the Flesh appear'd For it is the Son as soon as it becomes Prolifick not because 't is in the Womb the Womb receiving it not and yielding no Fruit or Son except it be such before it steams or comes into it And it becomes Prolifick in the Falsh when both the Male and Female Flash together and when the Spirits of both Joyn and Vnite in the Flash So that it becomes the Son from that very place in Man where the Flash or Light is made whilst it is yet in the Man Note that the Male and Female in that act make but one Man before it gets in the Womb. All the while this last Spirit which gives life unto the Son and is become his Spirit being the same as moved in the Deep of the Parents and brake out into a Flash and in the form of a steam got in the Cell of the Womb. The same whilst in the Father moving to Generation as whilst flashing steaming out and getting into the Womb and at whilst animating and vivifying the Son Thus remaining Father Son and Spirit at the same time and always the same Spirit in substance and the same thing tho' passing through three divers Steps Degrees and Forms or States Man being not wholly made and formed out of this World but partly from above it hath an Image of God more than all other worldly things to wit the Vnderstanding and the Will and the Courage or Power to act and do which three are actuated rectifyed and reformed by one and the same Spirit to wit by the Comforter or the Power from on High that giveth Vnderstanding and Strength to know and act by enlightning and directing those three Faculties in Man The Vnderstanding to Know the Will to Chuse or refuse and the Power to perform and reduce into Practice that thing the Vnderstanding knows and discerns to be good and the Will chuseth for such As the Faculties in Man so in God the Attributes not only the Trinity but his Omnipotency and All-sufficiency Eternity c. come from one Central Spirit and the same Might and Power exerting it self like Beams reflected several ways And lastly in Plants and Stones Minerals and Vegetables we may observe the same thing First a Potential Fire and Might mixed with Water whence their Body comes to be for both Stones and Minerals yield this fire by striking and Plants by fermentation which Might Fire or Spirit produceth in that Body a Sap a Marrow or Oyl which is their Light and vertue the Chymists call it Essence and those Oyls Essential Oyls And thirdly they yield a Smell and Taste which is the Spirit resulting from the two first and by which they Spring and grow and yield their Fruit or Vertue which last is not different from the first that gives them life and forms their Sap and Body It appears from rotten Apples which smell strongest when they are a rotting or corrupting and from Sweet smelling Flowers that yield no Essential Oyl when they have lost their Odour that this smell is their Virtue and the same as gave them life and made them to grow and Spring since they decay and perish as soon as they have lost it When you hold your hand over the Flame of a Stick or Candle you feel the Beams or Spirit coming from the Flame or Light which came first into the Flame from the dark lump of the stick or of the Fat or Tallow and gave the Stick or Tallow both its body and its life and so is the very same in the Stick and in the Flame as you feel warming your hand going from the light or flame into the Air whence it came into the Sap of the Tree and into the stick and Flame making a Flux and Reflux of one and the same Spirit from all things into the Air and the Sun and other Flames and from the Sun back again into the Air and all things upon Earth to give them life and so an Eternal Chain a perpetual Motion and Circulation of life for the Learned sort of People and go on with the main Point in Hand concluding from thence that as we see in the World and
in all other Beings the fire light and spirit to be the same in substance and one and the same spirit so it is in God likewise but eminently that is in a more sublime manner as for Illustration sake is felt in the Peace and Joy and burning of the Conscience when after a long conflict of grief horror and despair called the fiery Tryal 1 Pet. 4. 12. Light breaks out in the dark Soul and it hath Light and gladness Esth 8. 16. God being a pure Spirit free from Passion and all that the Spirit is subject to both in Man and in the World where being mixt with Water for there is not an Atome of it unmixt in the World or it would soon enflame it and reduce it to Ashes it becomes Corporeal and hath the three Dimensions except in the Soul of Man which is not all of this World and not only a spirit but the spirit of Spirits that actuates all Spirits and is their Form and their Soul doth act most transcendently and is not confined to the same Laws Order and Rules as created Spirits are in propagating themselves Neither do I suppose that the heat of the fire was manifested in God as it is now in the Sun for God as God is the Good meer Love Light Joy and Delight inwhom there is no darkness fierceness or austerity 1 Joh. 1. 5. 4. 16. and in him therefore is no fire and heat perceptible anger and austerity but in the Creature only when it departs from the Light and the Love of Paradise But the Scripture teaching us that God is an angry God and a consuming fire we may believe that in God is the root of the fire serving as the Gall in Man and Acids in sweet Liquors to exacuate the Light and Love of his blessed State Love and Light being the State in which God aquiesceth Matth. 13. 17. Being not properly God in the Father and Spirit but in the Light of the Son in whom he is well pleased And St. John saith that the World being the Image of God as well as Man and his Soul represents the Trinity or bears witness by three things which all Men may see therein in one and the same subject to wit in the first Spirit infused into the Deep of the Trinity in God for he saith they bear witness to the Father to the Word and to the Holy Spirit which is the whole Trinity and Paul saith that by the World and the Things which are therein we may not only find out but clearly see the God-head Rom. 1. 20. that is God in Unity in the still Eternity and all the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 10. such as is the Trinity And I believe we may for I see it my self 21. And I see through the World not only the Trinity but the Coeternity of the three Appearances that as no Light can exist and subsist without Fire and neither without the Air So in God there is no Son nor Father without Spirit nor no Spirit without Light but all three appear at once from the very beginning of God's Manifestation Joh. 1. 2. And I see there likewise the Generation of God God generating himself and being generated and introducing himself by his Beams and his Efflux at first into the Great World next into the little World and thirdly when both were fall'n deprav'd and corrupted into the Seed of a Maid there to supply the Office of the Spirit in Mans Seed and to beget the Man God Jesus Christ the Redeemer of all things from Corruption Rom. 8. 21 23. And fourthly and lastly by the Mediation or the Mean of that Man God into the Soul of all those that look for him in Spirit Hebr. 9. 28. and know him spiritually 1 Cor. 2. 24. 11. 29. Secundum modum tamen recipientis in each that is as every one doth evacuate himself or set himself in order or prepare himself for it Act. 13. 48. But most superlatively in his third introduction his Efflux the Holy Ghost which Christ was Conceived by bringing with him at that time all the might of the Father and the virtue of the Light the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in Christ bodily Col. 2. 9. he having not received the Holy Ghost by Measure Joh. 3. 34. And if thou hadst my Spectacles which I cannot lend thee Science is the Gift of God not of Man nor of the Schools thou wouldst see and believe it also as well as I without the help of Scripture for thou wouldst understand it and to understand is to believe Intelligere ipsum credere est 22. And thou wouldst see and believe therefore that the Son of Man as the Son and Light of God is the same as Gods Spirit and comes with the Holy Ghost bringing with him in his Wings or the Efflux of his Light Health and Life or Salvation Mal. 4. 2. being the same in substance and being not a Person or subject distinct from them But that as the Son of Man or Emmanuel God in Man or as the Human Nature anointed with the Divine he is as much a Person subsisting a part from God tho' in an undivided manner as the Church from him and as the Beams from the Sun as Man and the World it self And thou wouldst see how he is the First Born of the Creature or of the whole Creation Col. 1. 15. not of every Creature for that Translation is false the only begotten Son of God and dwelling in God the Father and God in him Joh. 1. 1. 14. 11. and how he is one with God Ch. 10. 30. and not only one with him but the most Bright Glorious and Excellent of the three Essences of the Godhead the Light or Oyl of gladness which he is anointed with Ch. 1. 9 14. Hebr. 1. 9. And yet less than the Father who Quatenus the Godhead is greater than the Person of Christ or of God and Man Joh. 14. 28. In fine how as God and Man he becomes the Son of Man not only of one Virgin but of all the Virgin Souls that will make themselves Virgins or dis-impregnate themselves of the Lusts and Affections they are fill'd with from their Youth Matth. 24. 19. till Christ is form'd in them Gal. 4. 19. that is before their new Birth of Water and of Spirit And the Head and the Spring Head and the Fountain of Mankind Eph. 1. 22. Col. 1. 18. instead of the first Adam where all the Sons of Adam must re-enter and die in become as dead as Water Rom. 6. 4. and as one Water with him that they may be born again of him and of his Spirit and as the Brooks of the Spring become partakers of his Nature and his Righteousness And as such that is as Head over all things to the Church Eph. 1. 22. he deserves tho' but a Man or however God and Man that every Knee of Things both in Heaven and in Earth should bow and fall at his Name Phil.
Dulcedo ex Acerbis Sound DOCTRINE from the ERRORS Contained in Mr. Keith's Sermons AND APOLOGIES The Second EDITION ZACH. 13. 4. And it shall come to pass in the days of true Christians that the Prophets shall be ashamed of their Visions Nor shall they wear any more a rough Garment a black Cloak a broad Hat a short Cravat and Fryar's Hoods to deceive By a Member of the Church of England ODMT 1. THS Paper having fully made out and demonstrated in its former Edition that Mr. Keith doth labour under several mistakes and understandeth neither Scripture nor Divinity nor the ground of Salvation to wit Regeneration by the Power from on High which is the Spiritual word in the Heart not the outward I was in hope he would since he is so apt to turn and forsake his old Errors have given Glory to God and shewed by some publick Act or Recantation Sermon that he is really asham'd of his Visions and his Zeal for a Doctrine exploded and proved just oppoute to that of the Apostles But Luscis Lux oculis nocuit it is Darkness which the World is in love with Joh. 3. 19. In vain I expected such Man as Mr. Keith who runs from the Light within should so soon stop his carreer and freely return to it He is too far gone from it and it is to be feared as shall be shewed more at large he is become one of those that rebel against the Light because they do not know it Joh. 24. 13. and seek for the praise of Men more than for that comes from God Joh. 5. 44. 12. 42 43. Therefore seeing no great hopes tho' he be always Learning of his coming to the Truth 2 Tim. 3. 7. and seeing that far from it he goes on unconcerned Preaching another Gospel than the Apostles Preached setting up the outward Word above the Light and guidance of God's Spirit within Man ascribing the second Birth or the Regeneration against the positive words of Christ Joh. 3. 5. to the outward word and like they that Christ speaks of Matth. 23. 15. and the Horse in the white Robe Revel 6. 2. Conquering and to Conquer and bragging of his Success the unjust Man knows no Shame Zeph. 3. 5. and is very confident Prov. 14. 16. I will tho' no Quaker nor admirer of Quakerism smite this scorner of the Light that the simple may beware and come to understanding Ch. 19. 25. and go on as well as he in Printing a second time and bear witness to the Light once more before great and small tho' the Great Men rage with him Jerem. 5. 5. that Truth may triumph at last and that neither Mr. Keith's nor the Quakers Opinions may have the better of it Devant les Rois Grands Siegneurs dis monde Ton temoignage O Dieu jannonceray Sans que jamais vergongne me confonde Psal 119. 46. 2. I thought that between both the Quakers and the Churchmen some Answer might have been fram'd and that the Spiritual Men or the Children of the Light would have appeared for Truth and had Discretion enough to put Mr. Keith to Shame Judg. 18 7. and so waited for their words as Elibu Job 32. 7 11. but in vain for when I had waited whilst they search'd out what to say and behold none answered nor convinced Mr. Keith V. 12. being as wise as he is because they think they are wise Joh. 9. 41. Jerem. 8. 8 9 I was forced at last to take the business in hand and to shew my Opinion in the behalf of the Truth There is a Spirit in Man and without being Quaker Enthusiast or Fanatick it is by Mr. Keith's leave the inspiration of God gives understanding for that Job 32. 8 17. 3. To make good my charge against Mr. Keith I have need of no more than what he saith pag. 6. of his Farewel or Abjuration Sermon That Faith is wrought in us by means of the written word That is to say by the Doctrine of Christ Crucified as it is Preached to us For as the Scriptures say Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word the Text saith the word of God Rom. 10. 17. which last Word he takes away Revel 22. 19. the better to put his blind Construction upon the Simple and to shew the wiser Sort what a faithful Minister of God's Word he is become And that Word continues he is the outward Word in the Mouth of the Preachers as it follows V. 14. whereas this same V. 14 going before the words which he cites from the 17th it should be as it preceeds but to say as it follows makes the consequence he draws look better and more plausible And how shall they hear without a Preacher And hence the Word even the Doctrinal Word is called the Incorruptible Seed of which true Believers are Regenerated and Born again according to 1 Pet. 1. 23. These are Mr. Keith's own words and what he and as it seems his Party call sound Doctrine 4. But that is not the Doctrine of the true Church of England for it is not that of Christ nor of St. Peter himself for his very Words themselves shew plainly that this is false His Words in the said place are being Born again not of Corruptible Seed but of Incorruptible by the Word of God which Lives and Abideth for Ever From which any man that reads may see that the Word meant here is the Word of God Himself and that it being God's Word and such Word as is Living and Abiding for Ever it is not the outward word in the Mouth of the Preachers for that is the Preacher's word and is not living but dead nay a Letter that killeth 2 Cor. 3. 6. or at least that leaves one dead in the state it finds one in Endureth but for a while in the hearts of some hearers Math. 13. 21. Was not from the beginning and therefore will have an end 1 Cor. 13. 8. Serving but till the Inward arise and shine in the heart 2 Pet. 1. 19. And in fine is not that which worketh true Faith in the Saints nor which they are Born again and Regenerated of seeing some have Believed as the Wise Men of the East and were Regenerated as Cornelius without it the Spirit which is the thing that Regenerates the Saints John 3. 5. falling upon him and those many Friends he had with him Act. 10. 24 27. as soon as ever Peter had begun to speak to them V. 44. that is before they had heard half of the Doctrine of Christ and of all the Mysteries Mr. Keith enumerates at the foot of pag. 10. and by which he saith Faith comes which they knew and beleived without doubt nevertheless the Spirit teaching all things without hearing them Preached Joh. 14 26. 5. And common Sense shews the same For it shews that since this Word which Mr. Keith argueth for can't give so much as one Sense viz. Hearing to the Body much less can it give it all
2. 10. 23. I thought fit to enlarge upon this Particular 1. Because it is the Subject of many Controversies easily reconcilable if Men made use of Reason or of the Light of Nature in studying Divinity and reading of the Scriptures and did not make the Scriptures to speak as their Opinion I mean did not rather endeavour to make Scripture say the same thing as they say than examine what they say by that which the Scriptures say yet no better composed than by procuring an Act of Parliament against those which they call the Socinians 2. Secondly because Mankind is grown so blind and supine in Matters of Religion that not only the Scripture and the Thing it containeth specified by Mr. Keith pag. 10. of his Sermon are to him a meer Parable which he neither understands Mark 4. 11. nor endeavours to do it having got this strange Notion that they are too high for him that St. Paul is mistaken and Mr. Keith in the right St. Paul in saying that the invisible things of God may be known and understood by the works of Creation and even without Scripture for he speaks of the Heathen who have it not to peruse and so clearly too adds he that they are without Excuse who do not know God thereby Rom. 1. 20. and Mr. Keith in saying that all those things cannot be understood but by Scripture and that they consider God as a great way from His works whereas he is their Virtue and Spirit of Life Himself and that same Word of Power within them that upholds them Heb. 1. 3. 3. Thirdly because many Books of Mr. Keith and others to which this is an Answer tend more than ever before towards the establishing of a sufficiency of Scripture Revelation and an implicite knowledge of God by the outward Word and a School Divinity and to null the Light within that is the inward Teachings of God's Spirit in the Soul and God's Knowledge by Nature Whereas Men are by St. Paul Rom. 1. 20. and the Prophet Isaiah 5. 12. blamed for not regarding the Works of God in Nature the Knowledge of God by it being more plain and easy Prov. 14. 6. than his knowledge by Scripture Nature being Properly God himself manifested Natural Philosophy is Divinity it self which hath ceased amongst Men since the Schools and the Schoolmen leaving Nature and Scripture have taught it by so many Distinctions Definitions and other Oppositions and vain Terms of their Science falsly so call'd saith Paul 1 Tim. 6. 20. that Men being confounded know not what to make of them nor how to learn by their Means Non est in intellectu quod non fuit in Sensu is one of their own Notions yet they will teach to know God by cramp Words and vain Bablings without the Light of Nature Since Printing Men leaving off the use of their own Reason think to steal from other Men the Word and Knowledge of God Jer. 23. 30. and their Study being now to set up vast Libraries to look upon and read in it is no wonder if they missing the Reasons of Things gather from Reading only Scraps of other Mens Notions and fill their Heads with a Heap of in-coherent Why msies from which they cannot deduce a Natural Consequence and so build on wild Conceits a new Christian Religion and a new Philosophy which hath no ground in Nature 4. And lastly because the End and Design of this Paper is not so much to refute or to destroy and pull down the Building of Mr. Keith as to build up in its room such work as may abide 1 Cor. 3. 14. all things being to be done for Edification and the good of the Neighbour Rom. 15. 2. 24. And to conclude my Answer and Remarks on the Mistakes of Mr. Keith in this Point to wit of the Means of Faith and of Regeneration by what means they are wrought and brought to pass in the Soul I say if Faith be one of the Operations Gifts and Effects of God's Spirit as St. Paul teacheth it is 1 Cor. 12. 9. it follows that it is not wrought by the outward Word but by the Spirit Himself and that the Word and Spirit being both Agents of it may be thought one and the same Faith comes by Understanding Rom. 10. 17. and Understanding comes from the Inspiration of God or his Spirit within us Job 32. 8. that guides us into all Truth Job 16. 13. Therefore Faith is effected by the Light of that Spirit opening the Heart and the Eyes as to Lydia Acts 16. 14. and Agar Gen. 21. 19. the three Wisemen of the East Matth. 2. 2. Cornelius and others Act. 10. 44. to understand and believe and not by the outward Word Before time in Israel the Prophets that is to say knew Him were called Seers 1 Sam. 9. 9. because they saw God that is to say knew Him by His works 1 Kings 17. 1. But now the Case is altered according to Mr. Keith and that for the worse besides against what he saith himself of a better Covenant to Believers pag. 9. and the many Promises of God's Spirit to Christians who are now but bare Hearers and that not of God Himself but of Men and of their Word If Faith be wrought in Man but by the Doctrine of Christ as it is preached to him the Faith of them that believe that which Mr. Keith preacheth is erroneous and false as by what I have shew'd it doth already appear 25. Mr. Keith having thus said that it is the outward Word which begets the Saints again and that worketh Faith in them concludes in the 9th Page that the written Word therefore is not only the compleat and the adequate Rule of our Faith and Practice but that the Precepts thereof are of far larger extent than those writ in Man's heart without or before man hath the Scripture Revelation proving it by a Passage which maketh nothing for him Psal 119. 96. David's meaning in that Place being not of the outward or written Word of God for the Law and the Prophets which make up the written Word were not extant in his time there being not yet extant more than the Books of Joshua Judges and the Pentateuch but of the Law written in his Heart and of that word which he kept hid in his Heart v 11. and which he desireth God by no means to hide from him v. 19. but to enlarge or open his heart wide V. 32. to contain it V. 18. 33 34. 26. To which my Answer is first that the Spirit which writes the Law and Precepts of God in the Heart of Believers teacheth and searcheth all things even the deep things of God not revealed in Scripture Joh. 14. 26. 1 Cor. 2. 10. And guideth into all Truth Joh. 16. 13. Therefore the Law written by it in the Heart of Men is of a larger extent than all that the Written or Preached Word can suggest Secondly that Peter saith 2 Epist 1. 19. that the Word of Prophecy
and God loves him and meets him and makes himself and his Will known or manifest to him Esa 64. 5. Joh. 14. 21 23. Whilst the Readers of the Word remain in their Ignorance and Sin are not justifyed by the Sufferings of Christ Rom. 2. 13. nor perconsequent by him made Wiser or enlightned as appears from all those Sects who keep their false Opinions tho' they have read and peruse and hear the Scriptures Preached The Will of God is saith Paul 1 Thess 4. 3. our Sanctification or that we should become good for God hath no other will but that good should take place of and overcome the Evil Rom 12. 21. which Will every Man knows by his Light without Scripture A better Rule than Scripture to know the Will of God by is to learn what our Will and Lust and desire is and to do nothing of it but to do or endeavour to do that which we would not Ch. 7. 20. and to War and Fight always against our fleshly Mind V. 23. Ch. 8. 7. and to carry if we can that Captivity Captive by the strength of Gods Spirit Gal. 5. 16. which he gives more willingly to them that ask him in Faith than a Father or Mother do good things to their Children Matth. 7. 11. Luk. 11. 13. 30. The Scripture is positive that the Holy Ghost teacheth all things guides into all Truth both Natural and Divine for the Word of Christ is all and Christ himself Excepts none searcheth the deep things of God and shews even things to come to such as are born of it becoming 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a discerning Faculty in the Soul that receives it 1 Joh. 5. 20. So that the Disciples of Christ have no need to go to learn of any other Master School or University than of Christ and his Spirit in their Heart the inward Word Matth. 23. 8. By him being taught of God Joh. 6. 45. Hebr. 8. 11. all Wisdom and all Knowledge Col. 1. 9. And it hath been fully proved in the Eternal Gospel of which a Messenger took near 1500 Copies that the Holy Ghost is still given to all the Faithful and that in the same manner and measure as formerly to the Primitive Christians when they believe equally that is go from faith to faith follow Christ under the Cross in the Regeneration or second Birth of Water in a true resignation of their own will to God's will as much as those Christians did For man must be born of it the Spirit to be saved Joh. 3. 5. and as Salvation it self consisteth in Righteousness thro the gift of that Spirit Rom. 14. 17. all they that will be saved must have it and receive it to work righteousness by it and become righteous and shine in Glory or be saved Matth. 13. 43. The gift and receit of it is the fulfilling of the Promise made to Man through Christ Luke 24. 49. Act. 1. 4 5. 2. 17. and this same Promise of it being made to all Mankind it belongs to all Mankind to us and our Children and to as many as God shall ever call and believe v. 39. and so all men may have it and not only what they now call its ordinary gift but also all the other called extraordinary of Healing Tongues Prophecy Wisdom casting out Devils and other Signs and Miracles if they will believe in Christ and take the right way and means fit to get and obtain it which are dying to their will and becoming like Water that they may be born of it for according to St. Mark 16. 17. Christ saith positively so And St. Peter confirms it Act. 10. 47. 11. 15. 15. 8. by saying that God gave it to the Gentiles that believed not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 secundum modum nostrum saith he in the same measure as it fell on us at first And the Scriptures say the same teaching that all the Churches of Samaria Act. 8. 12 16 17. Antioch Ch. 13 12. Galatia Gal. 3. 2 3 5. Corinthus 1 Cor 6. 11. 19. Rome 8. 11. and Thessalonica 2 Thess 2. 13. Not only the Apostles and the 120 who were all with one accord Act. 1. 14 15. filled with the Holy Ghost Ch. 2. 4. received the holy Ghost in the same way and measure as those first believers did Ch. 10. 46. 19. 6. Gal. 3. 5. 1 Cor. 1. 7. God putting no difference between them that purify their hearts by their Faith and Vs saith St. Peter of himself and the other Apostles Act. 15. 9. but giving them the Spirit even as to us at first in witness that their Faith was as strong and great as ours Thus giving it to all men and sealing all that believe with that Spirit of Promise Eph. 4. 30. and with a Portion equal to that of the Apostles when they believe equally and never permitting it to cease amongst Believers except they cease to believe Hence the reason why it hath ceased amongst us is plain 31. I must here by the by take notice of these two things first that Mr. Keith tending to debase the inward word and to extol the outward by ascribing it the Title and Property of the first calls this a Revelation which is a giving of Sight or taking off of a Vail to make one see and perceive the Things lay hid under it and herein he shews his End and Mistake at the same time for sight as it hath been shew'd Hearing and Understanding come not from the outward Word and the Scripture it self is but a Parable or Enigme to him that hath not the Key that lets into God's Kingdom Mark 4. 11. to wit the Holy Spirit Joh. 3. 5. like the Philosophers Books of the Philosophers Stone where none but the Sons of Art find out the hidden Secret and like the Revelation of St. John concerning Christ which tho' the Revelation of Christ and of many things are come to pass already Rev. 1. 1. since they were to be shortly after they were written yet is understood of none but such as the Lamb of God opens the Seals of it for Ch. 5. 5 6. all Revelation or Light belonging to the Spirits which be sends in all the Earth If Mr. Keith by turning Churchman had got the new Name and the Manna promised Rev. 2. 17. or were what he saith he is that is further enlightned he saith so pag. 14. he would understand better what a Revelation is 32. Secondly to the same end he makes of the Light within which I have declared in the 116. to be natural in all and supernatural in the Regenerated but one part of what it is that is the same and no more than the Light of Nature is saying in the 9th page That the utmost extent that this Light within goeth to without Illumination and the light of the Scripture is no more than the Righteousness of the Moral law and terms of the first Covenant do and live
and arguing against it as taking it for granted that the Quakers make of it the same as he doth himself and allow no distinction between it and the other This he saith pag. 11. whereas the first Covenant and the Righteousness of it could never be fulfilled by all the Wit and Power comes from the Light of Nature without that by Grace in Christ And the Quakers Practice shews that this is but a Cavil For they not only pretend to more Light than all men have before they are enlightned that is to say to more than any Man hath from Nature but think that they are the People Joh 12. 2. which hath engrossed Wisdom and God's Spirit to themselves and teach that all men must come to their Light to be saved Whereby it appears they make of their Light within much more than of the Light of Nature and than Mr. Keith would make us believe they take it for What their own Light really is I will not determine But it is a great Mistake to allow no more to that which they call the Light within than to the Light of Nature For the Point is not whether the Light they actually have be that they pretend to have but if that Light which they call by the Name of Light within be that which they say it is viz. above the outward Word And what is the falsity or the right or the wrong of their Pretences to Truth and to us more than is that of so many other Sects which we take no Notice of that we should be concerned against it for Mr. Keith But his End is not so much the detecting of Errors and Lyes as to make a Noise to be taken notice of so any thing serves his Turn to build a Quarrel upon a great Part of his Sermon being all upon himself having so little of his Text that except he and his Church be the Text he preach'd upon we may very well call it a Text without a Sermon a Sermon without a Text whereof the Application is to be made from Matth. 19. 27. Such is this worthy Divine's good Conversation in Christ 33. Should he not as a Divine have treated exprosesso of a good Conversation What St. Peter means by it and that it ought to be as in the presence of God like that of the old Seers or Believers Elijah 1 Kings 17. 1. Enoch Gen. 5. 24. Noah Ch. 6. 9. and others Heavenly or in Heaven Phil. 3. 20. and not upon Earthly things V. 19. as becometh the Gospel Ch. 1. 27. which forbids Preachers to go from one Sect to another or from a Poor Benefice or Parish to a better but to be contented with what such Sect can afford Luk. 10. 7. and bids them to bear the Cross Matth. 10. 38. or to put their Will and Mind in the Sufferings of Christ not into Honour and Praise Joh. 5. 44. and to Fight and help others to stand Fight and overcome the Nations Rev. 2. 26. that is those Lusts rise and War in their Members Jam. 4. 1. and carry the Soul Captive and to put off the old Man that they may put on the New and become a New Creature Eph. 4. 23 24. Nothing but the new Creature and the Regeneration which makes such avail in Christ Gal. 6. 15. and to Fight and overcome to Sanctify Purify and evacuate by Faith the Heart of all that fills it is saith Paul 1 Thess 4. 3. the Will of God what he requireth of us and would have Preachers to teach Avoiding foolish Questions which gender nothing but Strifes 2 Tim. 2. 23. yet of all this very little or nothing in Keith's Sermons but disputes and contention which Create a Confusion and every evil Work Jam. 3. 16. for outward Ceremonies and about the outward word Regenerating of Souls to wit of such an outward and superficial new Birth as is that which Mr. Keith is acquainted with of late What will avail his Hearers and others at the last day to know his Learned Reasons for a set form of Prayers and all the Formalities of the now Church of England 34. Surely a Man may serve God work Righteousness overcome and be regenerated without changing or turning or going from Sect to Sect and thereby be accepted with God as Cornelius Act. 10. 35. and so be of the true Church and of the true Religion in any Sect or Nation And I am full perswaded Mr. Keith had done as well in point of Conversation to stay amongst the Quakers or amongst those other Sects which he was a Member of before he turned Quaker And to let his Light so shine amongst them that they might see and imitate his good Works Matth. 5. 16. as to plead for Baalim that is for the Lords Bishops and the dead and outward word against the Living Spirit which they maintain hath ceased since the Primitive Christians as Dr. Hicks his Sermon at St. Marys in Oxford and the Vicar of Westham's before My Lord of London Printed with approbation of Superiors shew they do as to Print pag. 10 and 11. that the Word or Light within whatsoever worth or force they may ascribe unto it doth not teach the Mystery of the Incarnation for instance to the Wise men without the help of Scripture and as to curry favour with Men in hope of getting an equivalent to that which maketh the Priests Heart glad Judg. 18. 18. 20. for St. Paul did not do so when he Preached the Spirit 2 Cor. 3. 6. and hath left him a Warrant for Preaching quite otherwise Gal. 1. 8. Pray if it be not lawful for the Members of your Church to rejoyn themselves to Rome because it enjoyns many gross errors in its Worship as you alledge in your third Sermon pag. 25. is it not lawful for those who see the same in your Church to keep where and as they are 25. If an enlightned Conscience be the only good Conscience for he makes Light pag. 6. the best ingredient of it it seems he hath himself had no good Conscience hitherto before this last Turn of his for he was not enlightned till then as he confesseth pag. 14. where he saith but now with a good Conscience being farther I bless God enlightned I have declared for and joyned in Communion with her the Church of England And I see not which way he can pretend otherwise for in a Treatise of his called Help in time of need in the 54. pag. he saith the word of command from the Lord which filled me with Heavenly Joy and Comfort came to me the 30th day of the 10th Month called December saying shew to the People of Scotland several particulars seen there which he now unsaith And in 78 79. pages of the same he saith further and now whether ye will hear or whether ye will forbear I declare unto you in the Name in the Power and in the Authority of the Living God that the day that 's the coming of the Lord in the