in Chap. 3. Vers. 17. of this Epistle the Apostle gives Caution to whom he wrote saying Ye therefore beloved seeing ye know these Things beware lest ye also being led away with the Error of the Wicked fall from your own stedfastness For 't is threatned by the Lord That when the Righteous man turneth away from his Righteousness and commits Iniquities and dyeth in them Mark here is included a Total Fall for his Iniquity that he hath done he shall Dye Ezek. 18. 26. and 33. 13. Wherefore we are exhorted to continue in the Grace of God and to keep our selves in the Love of God because of the danger that there is of falling from this Grace for 't is those that endure to the End that shall be saved these are Christ's own words in Mat. 16. 26. Mark 13. 13. 'T is to those that are faithful unto Death to whom is promised a Crown of Life Rev. 2. 10. Such as are implanted into Christ and abide in him they shall inherit the Kingdom For if a man abide not in me saith Christ he is cast forth as a Branch and is withered John 15. 6. And in vers 10. he tells them If ye keep my Commandments ye shall abide in my Love even as I have kept my Father's Commandments and abide in his Love Thereby signifying that if we keep not his Commandments neither shall we abide in his Love so then if we abide not in that which keeps us in the Love of God we cannot abide in God for God is Love 1 John 4. 16. See Reader here is a whole Cloud of Witnesses bearing Testimony that'tis Possible if there be not a diligent watching for People to fail of or rather fall from that measure of the true Grace of God which was once given to them Therefore what the Quakers hold in this Point is no New Doctrine For if this could not possibly be how could any do Despight unto the Spirit of Grace or Resist the holy Ghost Yet do this People believe A Christian may come to such a growth and standing in the Grace that is in Christ Jesus from which he cannot fall away according to that Promise in Rev. 3. 12. Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the Name of my God and the Name of the City of my God which is New Jerusalem which cometh down from Heaven from my God and will write upon him my New Name And they also believe That such a one may come to be assured that he is in such a state even as the Apostle was who said for I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor Things present nor Things to come nor Heighth nor Depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord Rom. 8. 38 39. CHAP. IX Concerning Perfection VVHich Doctrine though it be firmly founded in Scripture yet is it rejected and set at naught because 't is believed by the Quakers notwithstanding which they freely confess that a perfect Principle they plead for and press the necessity and benefit of man's believing and conformity to it Therefore I ask their Adversaries Is it any Crime to be Perfect To which if they shall answer as in effect they have said This is to be accounted Vile To such my Reply is I hope that the Lord will inable his People to become and be contented to be counted more Vile For to this Abraham was commanded by God under the Old Testament as 't is written Gen. 17. 1. The Lord appeared unto Abraham saying I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect And to this we are commanded by Christ under the New whose words are thus Recorded Mat. 5. 48. Be ye therefore Perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is Perfect Nor is it only commanded but also promised see Rom. 6. 14. For Sin shall not have Dominion over you And in 22. 23. verses there we find it experienced for the Apostle speaks of such as were made free from Sin and become Servants to God and had their Fruit unto Holiness and the end Everlasting Life For the wages of Sin is Death but the gift of God is eternal Life through Iesus Christ our Lord And in Rom. 8. 2. there Paul speaks his own experience For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Iesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death saith he And therefore he exhorts the Corinthians Having these Promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7. 1. And in 1 Cor. 2. 6. 'T is said the Apostle spake Wisdom among them that were Perfect and in 2 Cor. 12. 9. the Apostle wishes their Perfection and thus he concludes his Epistle to them in the 11th verse of the same Chapter Finally Brethren farewell be perfect c. And this was it the Apostle Iames desired viz. that those to whom he wrote might be perfect and intire lacking nothing Iames 1. 5. For it was the end of the Apostles Ministry that they might present every man Perfect in Christ Jesus labouring servently in Prayer for them that they might stand perfect and compleat in all the will of God And in behalf of the Thessalonians Paul prayeth That the very God of Peace would sanctifie them wholly that their whole Spirit Soul and Body might be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Iesus Christ 1 Thessal 5. 23. And we find the Apostle Peter making the same Supplication even that the God of all Grace would make them perfect 1 Pet. 5.10 This being the very end for which God appointed Teachers in his Church as 't is written Ephes. 4. 11 12 13. He gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ till we all come in the Vnity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Yea this seems to be the end of Christs giving himself for his Church that he might sanctifie and cleanse it that he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be Holy and without Blame see Ephes. 5. 26 27. Therefore those that deny Perfection to be attainable by the Lords People do in effect deny Christ the one Offering For by one Offering he hath perfected forever them that are Sanctified as faith the Apostle Heb. 10. 14. Wherefore saith Iohn Whoso is Born of God doth not commit Sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot Sin because he is born of God 1 John
let them read Rom. 8. 11. and they will find the Apostle speaking expresly If the Spirit of him that raised up Iesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your Mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Therefore as I said before 't is no Arrogancy for the People of God to own that they have the Spirit of God dwelling in them for 't is not the Light of Nature nor the Dictates of a Natural Conscience but a Spiritual Divine Principle by which Men and Women are raised from the Death of Sin to serve God in Newness of Life and Obedience of Conversation No Reader let me tell thee Nothing Natural will or can reach so far Nature cannot change Nature it must be a higher Power that can cause to put off concerning the former Conversation the Old Man which is Corrupt according to Deceitful Lusts by renewing the Spirit of the Mind so as to cause us to put on the New Man Christ Jesus which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness and so Old Things are made to pass away behold all things are become New Lo here is a New Creature as there is a putting off the Old Man with his Deeds there is a passing away of the first Heavens and the first Earth and then behold New Heavens and a New Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness as there is a coming to this Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus which Law is inward written in the Heart and Engraven on the Inward Parts there is a setting Free from the Law of Sin and Death And so we come to know a Blotting out of the Law of Commandments contained in Ordinances which was against us and contrary to us our Lord having taken them and nailed them to his Cross. And thus He that believeth in the Cross of Christ which is the Power of God unto Salvation hath a Witness in himself the Spirit it self beareth them Witness that they are the Children of God according to that in 1 Iohn 5.10 Rom. 8.16 And as they continue in the Faith they come to be sealed with the holy Spirit of Promise and to set to their Seals that God is True For Faithful is he that hath promised who also will do it he hath promised to redeem us from all Iniquity wherefore let us hope in his Word and not grieve his holy Spirit whereby we are sealed unto the Day of our compleat Redemption according to the Apostle's Advice Ephes. 4. 30. O! let us take heed that we do not vex and quench the Spirit of Christ within us that so we be not of those complained of by Nehemiah To whom the Lord gave his good Spirit but they rebelled against it And what then so he became their Enemy and fought against them These were such of whom Iob speaks Chap. 24. 13. saying They are of those that rebel against the Light the Light and Spirit here spoken of being one in Being and not divided but distinguished only in degrees of Discoveries for this Spirit is a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledge of Jesus Christ which openeth and enlighteneth the Eye of the Vnderstanding and giveth to know what is the Hope of the Calling of Christ Iesus and what is the Riches of the Glory of his inheritance in the Saints according to the Apostle's Prayer to God for the Ephesians Chap. 1. 17 18. And this was it that Christ promised when he was about to leave his Disciples as to his Personal presence amongst them at which their Hearts began to be sorrowful he therefore tells them to comfort them he that dwelleth with you shall be in you John 14. 17. Thereby he meant himself who then was present with but passing from them in the Flesh would come again unto them and abide forever with them in the Spirit For the Lord is that Spirit saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 3. 17. Wherefore he bids them Examine themselves whether they be in the Faith Prove your own selves saith he know you not your own selves how that Christ is in you Except you be Reprobates 2 Cor. 13. 5. And hereby know we that we are not in a Reprobate state because we witness the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us For this Principle of which I write 't is the Unction which we have received from the holy One whereby we know all things that is this doth instruct us in all things that are necessary to be known by us For 't is that spiritual anointing that the Apostle Iohn speaks of which those who have received it and in whom it abides need not that any man teach them but as the same anointing teacheth them all things and is Truth and is no Lye even as it hath taught them they should abide in him 1 John 2. 14. that is in Christ Jesus from whom this anointing doth come Now whoso is taught by this Anointing the same is taught by God as it is written in the Prophets And they shall be all taught of God Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me saith Christ Iohn 6.45 For this was the Promise of the Father even the new Covenant which he made with the House of Israel After those Dayes saith the Lord I will put my Laws into their Minds and write them in their Hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People And they shall not teach every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest Ier. 31. 33 34. This being the Tennure of the New Covenant That all the Children of the Lord shall be taught of the Lord and in Righteousness shall they be established Isa. 54. 13 14. Which implies that God will teach them so effectually by his Free Spirit that they shall not stand in need of any other Prophet But here I must obviate an Objection before I can proceed Possibly some may ask me Why then do those People that thou art now gone amongst keep up their Publick Meetings to Preach and to Teach People the Way of Salvation What need is there of their Teaching if every one hath a Teacher in them able to Instruct them in the Way to the Kingdom To whom I Answer First Though I did say as much as that every one hath a Divine Teacher in them yet I did not say that every one knows this Teacher in them For this hath been the Misery of many Ages of the World People have gone out after the many Lo here 's and Lo there 's to find Christ without them in the mean time neglecting his Appearance within them even as was foretold by Christ himself when he was on Earth in the days of his Flesh In the Last Dayes saith he they shall say Lo here is Christ and Lo he is there but go ye not out after
Invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions Principalities or Powers all things were created by him and for him who is over all God blessed forever Amen Col. 1. 16. Rom. 9. 5. These together with the Testimonies Jesus gave of himself Iohn 8. 38. Verily verily I say unto you before Abraham was I am John 10. 30. I and my Father are one John 15. 5. there he Prayes And now Oh Father glorifie thou me with thine own self and with the Glory which I had with thee before the World was In like manner he speaks of his own Eternity Proverbs 8. chap. from the 23d to the end to which agrees that application given to him of wonderful Counsellor the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace Isa. 9. 6. These things I say the Quakers believing according as they are written and having an experience of in themselves by the effectual working of the mighty Power of Christ Jesus in their Hearts are sufficient proofs to them of his Divine substance and also to make them see what is the Fellowship of the Mystery which from the beginning of the World hath been hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ as 't is written Ephes. 3. 9. Wherefore they know the Son to be one and equal in Power with the Father Now if any shall object that Scripture where Christ saith My Father is greater then I. Answ. That must needs be understood only as he assumed the Nature of Man not at all relating to the fulness of the God-head that dwelleth Bodily in him as 't is written Col. 2. 9. So likewise the Author to the Hebrews describes him chap. 1. 2 3. verses To be the brightness of the Fathers Glory and the express Image or Character of his Substance for so the Word Person ought to be rendered by whom also he made the Worlds And therefore I believe and so do they in whose behalf I write that Jesus Christ is very God 3 dly I affirm they do believe that this Jesus or this God was manifest in the Flesh as saith the Apostle 1 Tim. 3. 16. And Iohn the Evangelist Chap. 1. 14. The Word was made Flesh and dwelt amongst us and we beheld his Glory the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth And Paul to the Hebrews chap. 2. 16. speaking of Christ saith For verily he took not on him the Nature of Angels but he took on him the Seed of Abraham 4 thly Therefore in the fourth place I affirm The Quakers do faithfully own this Jesus to be the Mediator according to the Testimony of the Apostle 1 Tim. 2. 5 6. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Iesus who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due time 5 thly I affirm they own his obedience also for I know they do believe that Christ Jesus in the dayes of his Flesh was obedient to God as becometh a Son unto a Father in all things For he came not to do his own Will but the Will of him that sent him wherefore we find him Praying to his Father Nor my Will but thine be done Yea moreover 't is written of him Hebrews 5.8 Though he were a Son yet learned he Obedience by the things which he suffered For he was a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief he was wounded for our Transgressions he was bruised for our Iniquities the Chastizments of our Peace was upon him and with his Stripes we are healed as saith the Prophet Isaiah chap. 53. 3 5. Therefore these do confess to his Sufferings according to the Scriptures for Christ also hath once suffered for Sin the Just for the Unjust that he might bring us to God being put to Death in the Flesh but quickned by the Spirit see 1 Pet. 3. 18. Likewise they own his Death as an acceptable and most satisfactory Sacrifice to God for the Sins of all and is of blessed advantage to all that shall receive Faith in his Blood which agrees to Rom. 3.25 Ephes. 5.2 Whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of Sins that are past through the forbearance of God And he hath given himself for us an offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Also they believe that as Christ dyed for our Sins so he was buried likewise and rose again according to the Scriptures 1 Cor. 15. 3 4. Again vers 20 21. 't is said But now is Christ risen from the Dead and become the first Fruits of them that Sleep For since by Man came Death by Man came also the Resurrection of the Dead So in Acts 17. 31. The Apostle mentions this as the assurance which God gave to men of his judging the World at the great Day by his Son Christ Jesus namely his having raised him from the Dead Now 6 thly and Lastly I affirm They do believe that from Christ Jesus these and such like Benefits extend to true Believers First Election in him according as God hath chosen us in him before the Foundation of the World that we should be holy and without blame before him in Love as 't is recorded in Ephes. 1. 4. Mark 'T is in him we are elected not in our selves as though personally some were chosen and others past by but in the Seed Christ the Elect of God the Object of the Father's Love all who are gathered into him are made a chosen Generation an Elect People by the Lord. 2. Vocation this also they own to be a Benefit bestowed on them by the Father in the Son for that they who were by nature Children of Wrath as well as others have been called of God in Christ with an High and Holy Calling to obtain Mercy from him even to become Saints that so they should shew forth the Vertues of him who hath called them out of Darkness into his marvellous Light 3. Reconciliation to God as saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 5. 18 19. All things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Iesus Christ and hath given to us the Ministry of Reconciliation to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself So Coll. 1.20,21,22 it s said And having made Peace through the Blood of his Cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I say whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven and you who were sometimes alienated and Enemies in your Minds by wicked Works yet now hath he reconciled in the Body of his Flesh through Death to present you holy unblameable unreprovable in his Sight 4. Sanctification and Iustification I put both these together because though I do grant they may be distinguished yet I cannot see how they can be divided being so near of kin that if one languish t'other cannot but greatly mourn besides the Apostle is my President in coupling of them
first Divine Nature and Seed in which he stood before Transgression here was his Fall and Degeneration and so he came by that unexpressible Loss of the Favour of God and Freedom of Will that now the Lord being angry with him he had no Power to do any thing to appease him the Garment of Innocency being lost their Fig-leaf Aprons could not hide their shameful Nakedness from the Lord which he seeing and taking notice of compassionately made them Coats of Skin for their clothing and then he drove them out of the Garden of Eden So here man was put out of the Paradise of God for eating of the forbidden Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and Cherubims placed at the East End of the Garden with a Flaming Sword which turned every way to keep the Way of the Tree of Life as may be read in the third Chapter of Genesis at large Thus man being drove from the Presence of the Lord Death came over his Soul though he lived outwardly yet did he dye as to that Inward Principle of Divine Life and Virtue which once he enjoyed and so the Threatning was fulfilled which the Lord had said In the Day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely Dye Here Man and Woman having transgressed the Royal Law of God by breaking of his holy Commandment in eating of the Tree whereof he commanded them saying Ye shall not eat thereof by this they came to be separated from him So it was Sin that made the Separation and it is Sin which makes the Separation For Man and Woman in their primitive state wherein they were created were good as the rest of the Creatures of God for 't is written God saw every thing which he had made and behold it was very good and God blessed Man and Woman and they were in Favour with him till they became subject to Vanity by reason of that false Hope which the Serpent suggested to them they hoped to have been a Gods to know Good and Evil but by going out of God's Counsel they became corrupted by the Evil one and being joyn'd to the Serpentine Seed they were alienated from God so that had not the Lord out of his unmeasurable Loving-kindness and Compassion opened a Way to restore them they must have perished in this Deplorable Condition And this Way of Restoration was by Christ the Light the Seed and Saviour for he of whom God said unto the Serpent I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel He it was who was to be the Saviour of the World So that now considering the Sons and Daughters of Adam as they are found in the Fall and Degeneration having all sinned and come short of the Glory of God herein I say hath his universal Love and free Grace appeared to wit in giving of his Son to be a Saviour unto them as saith the Apostle Iohn In this was manifest the Love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the World that we might live through him 1 Epist. 4. 9. And that he was sent to the whole World see what Iohn the Evangelist faith Chap. 4. 16. For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son Mark that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life To which the Apostle testifies 1 Iohn 2. 2. saying He is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the whole World This was the free Gift of the Father that the Son of his Bosome should take Flesh upon him come into the World and lay down his Life for poor Sinners for he came from God and went to God again So that though he laid down his Life of himself having Power and being willing so to suffer according as 't is written Iohn 10. 18. Yet himself also said That his Body was prepared of his Father Heb. 10. 15. In which Body he did the will of him that sent him Lo I come to do thy Will O God saith he for a Body hast thou prepared me Who now that rightly considers this Dispensation of favour but must needs cry out Oh the Height and Depth and Breadth and Length of the Love of God and of Jesus Christ our Saviour who took not on him the Nature of Angels but took on him the Seed of Abraham and was made in every thing like unto us only without Sin that he might restore Fallen Man Which thing I know will readily be granted but 't is the extent thereof that some would have limitted affirming That Christ dyed for a certain definite number and not for the whole Lump of Mankind one as well as another Nay they speak as if none had any benefit by no nor so much as the Revelation of Christ this Gift of God whom to know is Eternal Life but those who have the outward Letter of the Scripture Yet do I believe and so do Thousand more whom the Lord hath called viz. That the Father of Lights and God of the Spirits of all Flesh hath given a measure of his own Divine Light and Spirit unto all the Children of men to manifest and reveal the Appearance of his Son in them who is that same Saviour which shed his Blood for us that he might wash us and cleanse us from our Sins and was offered upon the Cross not only as a Propitiatory Sacrifice to make Reconciliation for the Transgressors but that by his once offering up of himself he might bring in everlasting Righteousness and Perfect forever them that are Sanctified and a measure I say of this his Power which is Light God hath placed in every persons Heart in order to their Sanctification as they shall be subject to this his appearance in them True indeed all are not Sanctified and made Perfect by him although this was the end of his coming that he might finish Transgression and make an end of Sin and this was the will of the Father in sending him to wit our thorow Sanctification but this is not because all have not a knowledge and manifestation of his Light or Spiritual appearance of him in themselves but because all do not believe in and obey this his Appearance Now that People may attain to what Knowledge may be had of God by the inward manifestation of the Light of his Son which is a measure of his Spirit in their Hearts this is clearly proved by the Apostle Rom. 1. 19. That which may be known of God saith he is manifest is men for God hath shewed it into them For the Lord of the whole Earth who is the Preserver of men he is impartial in his Love to all Mankind not only to them in Christendom so called who have the Scriptures amongst them but his Love is extended unto all People in one Land as well as in another for his Spirit is not
Truth 's Vindication OR A Gentle Stroke to wipe off the Foul Aspersions False Accusations and Misrepresentations cast upon the People of God called QUAKERS Both with respect to their Principle and their way of Proselyting People over to them Prov. 4. 18 19. The Path of the Iust is as the shining Light that shineth more and more unto the perfect Day The Way of the Wicked is as Darkness they know not at what they stumble Isa. 51.7 41. 14. Hearken unto me ye that know Righteousness the People in whose Heart is my Law Fear ye not the Reproach of Men neither be ye afraid of their Revilings Fear not thou Worm Jacob and ye Men of Israel I will help thee saith the Lord and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel Also An EPISTLE to such of the Friends of Christ that have lately been convinced of the TRUTH as it is in JESUS Hosea 6. 3. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord his going forth is prepared as the Morning and he will come unto us as the Rain as the latter and former Rain unto the Earth Job 8. 7. Though thy Beginning was small yet thy Latter-end shall greatly increase Printed in the Year 1679. AN EPISTLE TO You Five in particular viz. A.W. E.T. M.I. B.P. E.F. unto whom this is more especially intended to be delivered FRIENDS NOT in Affectation to be Popular for that I do not desire but in Obedience to Christ Iesus my Lord and Master have I pen'd this matter that so the Innocency of his Truth and People may more conspicuously appear Neither have I fondly desired to get my Name in Print for 't is not Inky Character can make a Saint such must be sanctified and cleansed in Body Soul and Spirit through which they come to be prepared God's Kingdom to inherit Wherefore I write unto you my Friends That you may not content your selves barely in an outward Separation whilst not wholely separated from that within which is the Cause of Transgression to wit that Adulterate Spirit of the Man of Sin that 's got not only into the Pontificial Chair at Rome whence so many corrupt Customs both in Worship and Practice are come abroad into the World but doth also sit upon the Throne in the Hearts of many People even in this our Native Land And this Spirit hath led Man into many False Wayes and Forms in his fallen Condition whereby he hath strayed from the Right Way of Restoration which Way being made known to a Remnant whose Minds are turned to Christ's Light within God's saving Power these cannot but call to their Friends and Acquaintance to turn in hither and therefore have I been made to send this Friendly Invitation abroad into the World That People may be invited to that Feast of Fat Things which the Lord hath prepared for them that turn in unto him But more especially doth it lie upon me for you Five to whom I write this Epistle Dedicatory to let you know his Oxen and his Fatlings are ready only come away do not tarry For I well know this is the time of the Lord's Love towards you because of the sounding of his Bowels which I have heard within me I know they are not restrained from you because of the constraint that he hath laid upon me which hath been so powerful that my Heart hath been pained in me and my Soul hath been distressed for you and often have I been bowed down in Spirit yea till I could hardly stand upon my Feet until the Lord who bowed me down raised me up and set before me a Door of Hope whereat his Prisoner in you may be brought forth which is that for which God's Seed in me hath travailed through many Tribulations and now having delivered me from that cruel Bondage of Corruption which once I groaned under this makes me restless in my Spirit that others may believe in that inward Power that 's able to rescue from the Eury of their Soul's Oppressor Yet I write not this by way of Complaint as though I thought it a Weariness to serve the Lord in answering his Requirings no that I cannot think for I must acknowledge so gracious is he in his Condescension that he hath made this my Exercise become also my Divertion yea though I was his Prisoner by Indisposition of Body occasion'd through the Pressure of my Mind whilst the Weight of this Matter lay upon me yet I wished for no Walks of Pleasure nor was I weary of my Pain the Reward given into my Bosome in returns of Peace and sweet Security that my Soul enjoys amidst the disturbing Fears and Perplexities that are abroad is sufficient Recompence for all these light Afflictions What the subject Matter hereof is read and you will find wherein I have first endeavoured to remove the Stumbling-blocks from before you and then to cast up the Way of Truth for you and that by Scripture Road as you may read in those cited Texts which here have been brought unto my Hands without the Help of Humane Concordance Read in Charity what I have written in Humility knowing you are my Elders in years I would address my self unto you in all Christian Manners but I dare not Flatter you nor can I complementally crave Excuses of you accept it therefore from me who can truly say For some time I have not been my own the Lord having made me your Servant in this thing but now the Truth hath in measure set me free which also made me willing to serve you as it gave me Ability that God might have the Glory and you the Profit of these my Spiritual Labours Who am Your Faithful Friend Elizabeth Bathurst AN INTRODUCTION By way of PREFACE TO THE Ensuing Treatise MY former Friends and Acquaintance for whose sakes this is written it is to rectifie your Mistakes about and to inform you in that which some stick not to call A New Religion But though the old Enemy of all Righteousness has found this new opprobrious Term to asperse and undermine the Truth with blessed be the Captain of our Salvation he hath defeated him of his Design and out of the Mouthes of Babes and Sucklings hath ordained Praise to his own Name For let me tell you my Friends True Religion is of great Antiquity 't is as old as Abel who by Faith offered up a more excellent Sacrifice than Cain by which he obtained Witness That he was Righteous God testifying of his Gift and by it he being dead yet speaketh as you may read Hebr. 11. 4. And now I appeal to you What Faith was this by which Abel pleased God Was it not a living Faith which God had wrought in him and not a dead Faith received by Tradition of Man's teaching yet such was the Nature and kind of it that he did not only believe in the true God his Creator but also in Jesus Christ his Redeemer although he was not come in the Flesh then yet
been an Ear Witness of and must needs confess through the Respect I had to the splendid Professions of those that did help forward at least the Report thereof I have given too much Credence to some of them so that though I can truly say I have no Guilt to charge my self with as to spreading these false Reports yet my keeping too much silent heretofore when I was convinced in my Conscience I ought to have spoke in answer to those whom I might have contradicted in many of these false Accusations obliges me now to put forth this Vindication And now my Friends if I can demonstrate to you how falsly this People have been accused which I doubt not to receive Power from on high to enable me in I hope to be believed when I come to speak according to the Measure of the Grace of God which I have received concerning that Principle of true Religion which through this People is promulgated Willing I am to give you Satisfaction in Matters whereon so great Concerns are depending and that the more because many of these things are Points wherein I my self lately doubted concerning which when I came to a Solution of in my own Mind I can truly say I then was made willing to answer the Lord's Requirings in taking up the Daily Cross which Jesus Christ hath said every one must take up that will be his Disciple and so I hope may some of you as the Lord shall make way for his Truth 's taking impression upon your Minds in this the Day of your Visitation So shall the Desire of her Soul be answered whose Spirit was exceedingly pressed to write this Matter The CONTENTS READER IT is some time since I set about this Treatise which makes me now think that the latter part hereof may seem to some to be unseasonable for as it swelled beyond my intention and took up more time in writing then I thought it would so also hath it occasionally been hindred from the Press since it hath been wrote in which time those former Discourses which were the occasion of the Subject may possibly be forgotten by those which spoke them but as they were afresh brought into my Memory by the Remembrancer the Holy Ghost by which I was pressed in Spirit to give Answer thereunto and vindicate Truth therein that so I might ease the PRESSURE of my OPPRESSED SPIRIT I have in some sort stated and I hope satisfactorily answered the same In which 't is like I may be thought prolix but I knew not how to comprize the Matter shorter for the truth is though I at first thought to have filled but one Sheet of Paper when I set about it I saw a Field before me which cost me some spiritual Travel before I got thorow And now lest any should think the Trace too long to follow I have taken pains to prefix and page Contents to every material Point that so they may readily turn to that which they are most desirous to be at The Book being divided into Three Parts the first is in answer to some Controverted Points ranked under Ten Heads The second treats of the PRINCIPLE OF TRUTH what it is from whom it comes and whereto it leads The third is a Confutation of people's False Opinions concerning the Manner how we have been convinced of the Principle of TRUE RELIGION PART I. CHAP. 1. Concerning the Scriptures page 1. Chap. 2. Concerning the Humanity of Christ c. p. 6. Chap. 3. Touching the Resurrection of the Body of Christ and of the Saints p. 15. Chap. 4. Concerning Original Sin p. 17. Chap. 5. Concerning the Sacraments p. 19. Chap. 6. Touching Free will p. 26. Chap. 7. Concerning Inherent Righteousness p. 28. Chap. 8. Concerning a Possibility of a Total Fall from True Grace p. 31. Chap. 9. Concerning Perfection p. 35. Chap. 10. Concerning Infallibility p. 38. PART II. A general Description of TRUTH 's PRINCIPLE § 1. It is a PRINCIPLE of DIVINE LIGHT and LIFE of Christ Iesus placed in the Conscience c. p. 42 A more particular Relation of what the PRINCIPLE of TRUTH is and what 't is called in SCRIPTURE § 2. 'T is the GRACE of GOD that bringeth SALVATION and hath appeared TO ALL MEN p. 43. 'T is the LIGHT of JESUS who is that True LIGHT that lighteth every man that cometh into the WORLD p. 44. 'T is a Measure of the DIVINE SPIRIT and a Manifestation of it is given to every man to profit withal p. 48. An Answer to an Objection p. 51,52 'T is that DIVINE PRINCIPLE of LIFE which brings the Clad Tidings of Salvation near unto ALL. 'T is the WORD of RECONCILIATION p. 53. 'T is the Law written in the HEART p. 54. 'T is the Word of FAITH ibid. 'T is that Incorruptible SEED by which we are begotten to GOD and born again by his Eternal Word p. 55. 'T is that Foundation which GOD hath laid in SION and hath also made become the Head and Corner STONE p. 59,60 § 3. An Account from whom this true and inward PRINCIPLE doth come It comes from GOD through Christ as saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 4 6 p. 62. Touching the FALL of MAN p. 63. And the Way of Restoration BY CHRIST the LIGHT c. who is the Free Gift of the Father for the Salvation of poor Sinners p. 64. And he hath manifested something of this GIFT unto ALL MEN by the Light of his Spirit WITHIN for the Lord of the whole Earth is universal and impartial in his Love to all MANKIND p. 66. Concerning the effectual Operation of the Spirit or Principle of God WITHIN from p. 66. to p. 78. The LIGHT of JESUS in the CONSCIENCE proved to be no Natural Insufficient Thing as some have sought to render it being something OF GOD placed in EVERY MAN to witness against ALL SIN c. p. 78. Christ God's Covenant of LIGHT called by divers Names in SCRIPTURE p. 79 80 81. A General Invitation to turn to the LIGHT WITHIN p. 82 83 84. PART III. A Confutation of Peoples False Opinions concerning the Manner how we have been Convinced of this Principle of true RELIGION p. 85 86. Wherein I have endeavoured to refute the Errors Ignorance and Mistakes that many yet lie under concerning the Practices of those who are led guided by the Light of Christ WITHIN relating to the Means whereby they CONVINCE and turn People to the same p. 87 c. Whereunto is added an Epistle to the late CONVINCED of TRUTH p. 97. Truths Vindication c. CHAPTER I. Concerning the SCRIPTURES IN the first place I shall begin with the holy Scriptures which hath been said by some this People called Quakers do not own Answer That this is a great Slander their many Writings and Declarations make manifestly appear in which their Testimonies are all so consonant and agreeable to the Records of Scripture that I never met with the like amongst any other And besides this I am well
assured of it not only from their own Witness of themselves but from the Witness of God in my own Breast They do believe all things that are written in the Law and the Prophets so that those which do so clamorously charge them cannot prove the things whereof they so much accuse them But then it hath been replyed viz. They own the Scriptures indeed but 't is in their own Way they believe them as they do a moral History just barely giving credit to them owning that they are Truth but they do not believe they are the Word of God and the Rule of Faith and Life As to this I Answer They do believe the Scriptures so far as Scripture itself requires Faith in it self that is that they are able to make wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus being given by Inspiration of God according to that of the Apostle 2 Tim. 3. 15 16. And they do also believe That this same Jesus here spoken of who is said to be the Messenger of the Covenant Mal. 3. 1. the same and not another did Inspire his Prophets and Apostles in writing of the Scriptures But still he is the Word as well as the Wisdom of the Father and I ask Where do the Scriptures themselves declare any other Where do they say that they are the Word of God or the Rule of Faith and Life Though I have heard it said that The Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel c. often call their Prophecys by the Name of the Word of the Lord which say some is all one if we say the Word of God Now such I would advise to take a second view of the Text and then they may find that the Prophets did not call their Prophecies and Writings The Word of the Lord for they were the Lord's Words he being The Word of the Lord who revealed their Prophecyes unto them as for instance Ezek. 29. 1. says the Prophet there In the tenth year in the tenth moneth in the twelfth day of the moneth came the Word of the Lord unto me saying c. So then it was the Word of the Lord that came and said unto him the Prophecy was that which he said So in Ieremiah Chap. 7. v. 1 c. old Translation 't is said The Words that came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying Stand in the Gate of the Lord's House and proclaim there this Word and say Hear the Word of the Lord all ye of Judah Mark The Prophet was to make Proclamation of the Word of the Lord that the Men of Iudah might hear what he said as it followeth Thus saith the Lord Amend your ways and your doings and I will cause you to dwell in this place c. And this was he as I said before who is the Messenger of the Covenant appointed by the Father to reveal his Secrets unto his Servants the Prophets who came to Ieremiah with this Prophecy so that it was not what he said but he himself whose Name is called The Word of God Revelat. 19. 13. And this is that Word which came unto Abraham in a Vision Gen. 15. 1. saying Fear not Abraham I am thy Shield and thy exceeding great Reward Unto whom in the very next verse Abraham gives the Titles of Lord and God which proves the Word to be Eternal and Divine but so are not the Scriptures Eternal for we know they had their Beginning in time and though they are Words and Declarations of divine Things yet must we distinguish between the Declaration and that which is Declared of so as not to call them both by one Name Those written words for Scripture signifies a Writing they are Publications in Testimony of that Creating Word of Power by which the Worlds were framed see Heb. 11. 3. yet they do not declare that the World was made by them but by that Eternal Word which was in the beginning as it s recorded Iohn 1. 1. the same is that which liveth and abideth forever 1 Pet. 1. 23. which Word is quick and powerful and sharper then any two edged Sword piercing even to the dividing assunder of Soul and Spirit and of the Joynts and Marrow and is a Discerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart neither is there any Creature that is not manifest in his Sight but all things are naked and opened unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do even as 't is written Hebr. 4.11 13. This is that Word to whom the Scriptures direct us as a Light unto our feet and a Lanthorn unto our Paths to guide our feet into the Way of Peace the very entrance of which giveth Light yea it giveth Vnderstanding to the Simple So that the Scriptures themselves say not of themselves that they are the Word of God but that they bear witness of him And this is he who said to those great Scripturians namely the Iews of old who so greatly exalted the Scriptures but had not the Living Word abiding in them Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life and they are they which testifie of me saith Christ but ye will not come to me that ye might have Life John 5. 38 39 40. So here it may be seen there is good Reason to distinguish between the Written Words the Writing or Letter and the Living Word which is a Quickening Spirit But now as to the other part of the Change which is That this People of whom I am now writing do not own the Scriptures to be the Rule of Faith and Life In their behalf I Answer They do own the Scriptures to be a Rule as they direct unto him to wit Christ who is the Object of our Faith and Lord of Light and Life They do also believe that the Scriptures are profitable for Doctrine for Reproof for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be throughly furnished unto every good Work as saith the Apostle 2 Tim. 3. 16 17. But yet still it is in Christ Jesus whom his People do believe and he is the Rule by which they live according to the Example of the Apostle who saith The Life that I now live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God Gal. 2 20. He must needs be his Peoples Rule for he is the Way the Truth and the Life no man cometh to the Father but by him John 14.6 And 't is his Spirit that leads into all Truth Joh. 16. 13. even that Spirit which searcheth all things yea the deep things of God as saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 2. 10. which Spirit teacheth them of all things and bringeth all things to their Remembrance according to Christ's Promise Iohn 4. 26. Therefore the Spirit of Christ is the Rule of his Peoples Faith and the Guide of their Life yet doth not this detract from the Scriptures nor the Estemation of this People called Quakers concerning them for I know they do believe that whatsoever
Latitude of that Sin-pleasing Principle to which it is stretched as if men might be imputatively Holy though not inwardly Holy and imputatively Righteous though not really Righteous therefore they are clamoured upon as if they denyed the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness when it is only to those who are not made Righteous by it to walk as he walked For the Scripture doth not say that he that saith he is Righteous by the imputation of Christ's Righteousness but he that doth Righteousness is Righteous even as he is Righteous 1 John 3. 7. What then shall we Sin and yet think to be saved by the imputed Righteousness of Christ because we are not under the Law but under Grace God forbid that we should Sin in this state of Grace saith the Apostle Rom. 6. 15. Indeed the whole Chapter speaks the same sence viz. that it is not our Imputation or reckoning of Christ's Righteousness to our selves will justifie us but he imparting and imputing it to us and this shall suffice in Answer to the second general Charge against this People in every particular of which may be seen what gross abuses have been cast upon them whereby the envious and ill-affected have sought to cover their Principles with their own perversions and so to make Truth it self become rejected But I shall in the next place speak to those I take to be more moderate and such whom I have sometime found my self much swayed by But since I find it was more by Education and Tradition then any certain evidence I could have of the Truth of that Religion I find my self oblieged to detect those Errors in publick which I have heard divers of them cast upon the People called Quakers in private charitably judging they speak not so much against them out of ill will as ignorance of and unacquaintance with their blameless Principle though this is bad enough for People to speak Evil of things they know not and for such as are divided amongst themselves to joyn together against others as some have confessed to me that though they differ in many particulars yet they all agree in this to set their Seal against the Quakers but who they were I have and shall at present conceal desiring not to expose them but to inform them that so setting before them their Errors and Mistakes some of them at least may see and Repent them wherein they have spoken and done amiss CHAP. III. Touching the Resurrection of the Body of Christ and of the Saints AS concerning the Resurrection of the Body of our blessed Lord Jesus and also the Bodies of Believers this I have been born down in that the Quakers do not own In answer to which though I had something to Reply in their behalf at that season yet I must confess the respect I had to my Friend who affirmed the same made me a little incline to that Perswasion of them But now being better acquainted with their Principle I must needs add that this report is an utter Falshood for they do believe as 't is recorded in the Scriptures that Christ Jesus who descended into the lower parts of the Earth the same ascended up far above all Heavens that he might fill all things and sits now at the Right-Hand of God in his glorious Body and therefore shall the low estates and humbled Body of Believers be made like unto his glorious Body through the working of his mighty Power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself and then shall this Corruptible put on Incorruption and this Mortallity put on Immortallity and Death it self shall be swallowed up of Victory So here likewise it may be noted how their Adversaries have been disappointed For first it was the design of some to have made Saduces of them by giving out that they deny the Resurrection as it was said of them Acts 23.8 For the Saduces say There is no Resurrection neither Angel nor Spirit Thus some have sought to render these as if at Death they believed Soul and Body were both to be annihilated But when this would not take then they reported that the Body only was that which the Quakers held should never rise again Here Reader thou mayst see how they have been slandered both wayes for they do believe the Resurrection of the Just and of the Unjust the one to Salvation and the other to Condemnation according to the Judgment of the great Day And then shall every Seed have its own Body as saith the Scriptures Acts 24. 15. Iohn 5.29 1 Cor. 15. 38. But because they dare not be so foolishly inquisitive as to ask nor so arrogant in their Minds as to dertermine with that Bodies they shall rise therefore do some say They deny the Resurrection of the Body of Christ and of all that are or shall be dead But this is most falsly charged upon them for they do believe the Resurrection of the Dead for if the Dead rise not they are of all men most miserable What can be a Ballance of an Equal Poix with the Tryals Exercises Afflictions and Persecutions that are their Lot and Portion in this Life short of an Eternal Inheritance and a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away Therefore they also believe that every man shall be raised in his own order Christ the First Fruits afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming yea they do believe that the Dead shall be raised incorruptible and that God giveth a Body as it pleaseth him and to every Seed his own Body there is a Natural Body and a Spiritual there are Bodies Terrestrial and Bodies Coelestial wherein they agree with the Testimony of the Apostle 1 Cor. 15. 23 43 44. which I think is sufficient to give all sober Inquirers full satisfaction herein For as to my own particular I freely do confess it suffices me that God will give unto my Spirit such a Body as it pleases him CHAP. IV. Concerning Original Sin AS to Original Sin in which the Quakers are judged to be of so Dangerous an Opinion without shewing to me what that Opinion was I Answer Though the word Original be not sound in Scripture yet if any mean hereby the inward Corruption and Seed of Sin which Satan hath sown in us and wherewith we are defiled in our first and fallen Nature I am sure this will not be denyed by any true Quaker for they know and believe that in the first Adam all are Sinners but in the second Adam which is the Lord from Heaven we are made Righteous for as in Adam all dye even so in Christ shall all be made alive as 't is written 1 Cor. 15. 22. But though it be granted that by one Man Sin entred into the World and Death by Sin and so Death passed upon all Men for that All have sinned even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's Transgression who is the Figure of him that was to come Rom. 5. 12. 14. yet this doth
the Washing of Regeneration or Renewing of the holy Ghost and being born again of Water or being born again of the Spirit are Terms Synonimous or Expressions to the same purpose all pointing at that One Baptism of the Spirit so faithfully believed and experimentally witnessed by the Quakers who are said to deny Baptism to be an Ordinance But how is it they deny it let their Cause be examined or there can no true Judgment be given whether they ought to be acquitted or condemned Infant-Baptism or Sprinkling of Infants this they do utterly deny as a thing by men imposed never by God or Christ instituted neither is there ony Scripture-Precept or President for it Indeed how should there since it was not taken up nor invocated for about 200 Years after Christ dyed and then it was first brought in by one Fidus a Roman-Priest in the Year 248. which was assented to by Cyprian Bishop of Carthage and first preach't up by Agustine then decreed by the Melivitan Council last of all ratified and confirmed by Pope Innocent the third which was not done till the Year 402. Yet we grant the Baptism of those that were adult or come to Age and had Faith to Entitle them unto it this was the Baptism of Iohn who was a fore-runner of Jesus Christ but this was not permanent and continuing but to pass away that Christ's might take place for he must increase but I must decrease saith Iohn himself John 3. 30. For Iohn's Baptism was but a Figure of Christ's Baptism but that he should be made manifest to Israel therefore am I come Baptizing with Water saith Iohn Chap. 1. 31. However where any now have believed it simply their Duty to be baptized as thinking it either for the Furtherance of the Gospel or Tryal of their Faith the Quakers are tender of judging them in that Case but if they stick in the Shadow and reject the higher Ministration then they are more Reproveable But there is a third Scripture I am yet to speak to and that has reference to Noah's Ark which was a Figure I have heard some of your selves say of our Ark Christ The like figure whereunto saith the Text even Baptism doth now save us it must be a baptizing into Christ then for the Apostle saith 'T is not the putting away the filth of the flesh so then 't is not Water Baptism for that can but purifie the outward man that that is External cannot cleanse the Spirit that is Internal and give the answer of a good Conscience towards God as it followeth in the next words wherefore saith Beza a Man whose Memory ye pretend to honour The Baptism which answered to Noah's Ark was not Material Water but the Power of Christ within which preserves us cleansed and enables us to call on God with a good Conscience But then the last clause of the Verse ought to be considered which having Co-herence with the foregoing words saith by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lo here is the true Baptism indeed the which I am now pleading for and of which the Apostle speaks Col. 2. 12. Buried with him in Baptism wherein also ye are risen with him through the Faith of the Operation of God who hath raised him from the dead And now Reader since there is but One Lord One Faith One Baptism as saith the Apostle Ephes. 4. 5. whether this Baptism be the Sprinkling of Infants or outward Washing of grown Persons or the inward Cleansing by the holy Ghost I 'll leave the Witness of God in thy own conscience of judge and then to determin whether the Quakers are not greatly wronged in being charg'd with denying Baptism Now I come to speak concerning the Sacrament so called of the Lord's Supper In answer to which in the first place I must needs say I find not the Word Sacrament in all the Scripture but if by Sacrament ye mean a Sign then can it not be of necessity to continue longer then till the thing signified is come and clearly discovered so that granting it to be a Practice enioyned it was to last but its Day and Time that was till Christ who i the Bread of God that cometh down from Heaven which Bread is his Flesh that he gave for the Life of the World should come according to his own Intention see Ioh. 6. 33 35. Indeed the whole Chapter speaks of Christ's being the true Bread wherewith the Saints are nourished and that he would come again after his Departure see his Promise to his Disciples Iohn 14. 18. I will not leave you Comfortless I will come to you and that he meant an inward coming see Vers. 20. of the same Chapter At that Day ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in Me and I in You saith Christ. And therefore saith the Apostle I speak as to Wise men judge ye what I say the Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ c. for we being many are One Bread and One Body for we all are Partakers of that One Bread I Cor. 10. 15 16 17 And indeed I do believe that herein is the Communion of Saints namely in eating of the Flesh and drinking of the Blood of Jesus Christ not Carnally as the Iews thought when they murmered at him saying How can this man give us his Flesh to eat John 6. 52. But spiritually wherein conflicts the true Brotherhood and Fellowship of that Church which is in God as with one another so with the Father and the Son by the holy Spirit at the Spiritual Table of the Lord. Now if any in proof of the outward Supper shall produce that saying in Matthew 26. 26 27 28. And as they were eating Iesus took Bread blessed it and brake it and gave to the Disciples and said Take eat this is my Body and he took the Cup and gave Thanks and gave it to them and said Drink ye all of it for this is my Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the Remission of Sins I Answer That that Figuratively pointed to the true Bread I think is very clear so likewise that the Wine there figured out that Spiritual Wine which was to come from him will not be hard to make appear For in the very next Verse faith Christ I will not drink of this Fruit of the Vine untill that Day when I drink it new with you in my Fathers Kingdom And that he did not mean they should stay for this Wine till they came to Heaven as some understand by the Word Kingdom see what himself saith in Matthew 16. 28. Luke 17. 20 21. Verily I say unto you there be some standing here that shall not taste of Death till they see the Son of man coming in his Kingdom And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God should come he answered them and said The Kingdom of God cometh not with
he us with the Word of Truth that we should be a kind of First Fruits of his Creatures James 1. 18. But since there is a Willing Faculty placed in Man and this Will being corrupted is naturally froward and averse to any thing spiritually Good whereby Man chooseth that wherein the Lord delighteth not and will not hearken to his Counsel nor turn at the Reproofs of Instrustion which are the Way of Life but obstinately pursues the sinful Desires and Lust of the Flesh to his Soul's Ruin and so his Destruction is of himself and God clear of his Blood by the free Tenders of his Grace and strivings of his Spirit within him If this be granted then it will follow if ever Man be saved this stubborn Will most be bowed and subjected and brought into Obedience to the Lord Jesus for 't is the Willing and Obedient to whom the Promise is made Ier. 1. 19. So that Man must come to be freely willing to serve the Lord and to take up the Cross and bear the Yoak of his Son Christ Jesus not only of Necessity but of a Ready Mind And thus now to have the Will sanctified and brought into the pure Obedience of him that sanctifieth it which is an Effect of the free Grace of God here comes the true Freedom of Will to be known even to be made free from Sin being delivered from the Bondage of Corruption into the Glorious Liberty of the Children of God which agrees to that of the Apostle Romans 8. 21. And here as the Truth maketh free man comes to be free indeed and to receive Ability to attend upon the Lord without Distraction and to do his Will on Earth as it is done in Heaven according to that Prayer which our Blessed Saviour taught his Disciples as we read in the sixth Chapter of Matthew After this manner pray ye saith Christ Our Father which art in Heaven hollowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven c. And yet how many are there that will plead for this Plat-form of Prayer who never expect to receive an Answer For say they The Will of God cannot be done perfectly here I grant where the Kingdom of God is not come there his Will can never perfectly be done but where the Kingdom of God is known and witnessed to be within that gives Power and Ability and makes willing to yield Obedience unto his Requirings of us so that here every one according to their several Measures may perfectly perform the Will of their Heavenly Father Yet is here a vast difference between the Natural Freedom of Man's Will which some plead for and the Gracious Freedom thereof maintained by the Quakers for that is quite another thing to what hath been slanderously reported of them CHAP. VII Concerning Inherent Righteousness AS touching Inherent Righteousnes as a Righteousness of Self is intended a thing wherein this People have been falsly as well as foully aspersed it having been given out concerning them viz. That hereby they expect to merit Heaven Now seeing the Truth struck at with such a Soul-mrudering Weapon as this makes me like Cresus his dumb Son to speak What! can their Adversaries wrongfully reproach them with nothing less then laying waste the very Foundation of the Christian Faith which stands in submitting to the Righteousness of Jesus Christ and not in establishing any Righteousness of our own as inherent in us and of our selves But be it known to the World though it hath been reported that the Quakers hold this dangerous Tenet yet the report will not hold true when it comes to be examined For although I have heard others often charge it upon them yet I never could find the person that durst say this was their own Confession viz That upon the account of Inherent or Self-Righteousness they expect Salvation but if we will take the Confessions of those that are so forward to make Confessions for others we may then believe the Quakers are as bad as they are pleased to render them to us but we must not take things upon trust but hear both parties if we will be ingenuous no Reader they have no such expectation far are such thoughts from them For though they do reckon a man must be made inwardly Righteous by the power of Christ that is meet for the Kingdom of Heaven I think this amounts to no more then what I have heard asserted by a Teacher of your own viz. That God freely bestows his Grace upon Men and Women and afterwards rewards his own Grace in his own Children which Words plainly imply the Grace of God to be free to all and to be tendered within which whoso accepts thereof to be led by the same do thereby receive the Spirit of Adoption and so come to obtain the reward of Children which is a part in their Fathers Kingdom and this indeed is according to the Quakers Principle for they know right-well Gods Grace is Universal a proser whereof he maketh unto all by which they might be made a Righteous people and in it come to enjoy Salvation Therefore they believe that inward Righteousness is wrought by Virtue of the Grace of God and is a necessary qualification to fit man for Glory which makes them choose with the Apostle rather then talk of the Righteousness of Faith to shew forth their Faith by their Works yet do they not expect to be saved neither for their Faith alone nor by their Works but by Christ who worketh true Faith For 't is not Works of Righteousness as done by them not only as Inherent in them by which they expect to be accepted of God and justified before him but by and through Christ Jesus the Author and Worker of those acts in them and for them whereby they know that they are in him and he in them and they hold him as their Head into whom all things are gathered together in one even in him How comes it about then it may be asked that this report has spread so far concerning them Why truly Reader if I may give in my Answer it must be this he who was an Enemy to all Righteousness ever since the beginning seeing the Faithful among this People not only Nominally but really Righteous throughout their Conversation he hath been so inraged against them that he hath not spared any pains to put on his Instruments to Reproach and Vilifie them Therefore have they been masked with the most affrighting Vizards of Self-Righteousness and Self-Sufficiency to bring about their own Salvation that if possible he might fright People from having any converse amongst them but notwithstanding the Wrath of the Adversary their Innocency will appear with its open Face for the time is now a hasting wherein it will be seen who are but Nominally and who are really Righteous Bear with me my Friends to whom I dedicate this little Tract For though I rank'd this point amongst the
inseparable from the Scriptures as some suppose Yet would I not be thought to undervalue the Scriptures any whit for I have very Venerable thoughts of them and a Reverential esteem for them as being Holy Writings But I dare not confine all means for mans Salvation in them because the Lord hath not confined himself to them but hath left himself a Witness in every Conscience which Witness is a spiritual manifestation of his Son the Saviour of the World And this the Scriptures plentifully declare of which sometimes they call the Word the Law the Grace the Spirit of God at other times they call it the Light of Iesus the New Covenant a Light to lighten the Gentiles a Rod a Staff a Shepherds Crook the Word nigh in the Heart and in the Mouth the Sure Word of Prophecy the manifestation of the Spirit a Shield a Buckler a strong Tower the Armour of Righteousness All which are one in Nature though diversly exprest according to its distinct Operations in the Soul as the Creature standeth in need sometimes to lighten its Darkness at other times to lead it in the way of Holiness one while it Instructs another while it Corrects sometimes it Counsels other times it Consolates and as its Counsel is heeded and the Soul guided by it it preserves and defends in all exigencies and straights But I pass over its special use intending to shew that in another place only here may be seen the great condescention and matchless love of him who gives unto all Life and Breath and Being in that he hath sent the Holy Ghost down from Heaven with the Revelation of his Son Jesus Christ in the Hearts of the Children of men that whosoever adhereth to the Spirit of his Son within them may thereby know him not only as a Saviour and Redeemer but also to be their Saviour and Redeemer and that not only from the Punishment but from the Power and Dominion of Sin by setting of them free from the Bondage of Corruption and bringing them into the glorious Liberty of his own Children But as for such who will not believe in this Principle of God but instead of owning it as his Power unto Salvation say it is A Satanical suggestion and instead of owning it to be of the Divine Nature of God or Christ they call it the Dim Light of created Nature putting Bitter for Sweet and Sweet for Bitter counting Darkness Light and Light Darkness such may continue in their Bondage and Vassallage under the Prince and Power of Darkness in the blindness of their Minds hardness of their Hearts and deadness of their Spirits notwithstanding Freedom and Liberty Life and Immortallity is brought to Light through the Gospel which it hath pleased the Father should be Preached to every Creature by his Son Sions Deliverer who is his own Messenger see Rom. 11. 26. Mal. 3. 2. For this Principle of Light of which I now write 't is something of the Nature and Being of God himself who as he is a Spirit so he is Light as you may read concerning him Iohn 4. 24. 1 Iohn 1. 5. and therefore 't is by his Light with which we are inlightned It proceedeth from him he being the Ocean wherein the fulness thereof is contained 't is from him through his Son Christ Jesus that we come to be inlighted by the same so 't is in his Light that we see Light even as the Natural Sun causeth its Beams to extend to the Ends of the Earth so this Eternal Son of Righteousnes who is the Ocean and Fountain of Divine Spiritual Light causeth more or less of the streams thereof to descend into all immortal Souls upon it Thus having shew'd the Nature and Quality Original and Fountain of this blessed Principle I come further to shew its Use and Extent that so I may not only tell my Reader What it is and Whence it comes but according to my Promise write something of What it doth and Whereto it leads § IV. In the first place It daily Reproves for Sin even in all men and excites to Holiness during the Time of their Visitation though 't is possible for men to sin themselves into such a state by drinking in Iniquity as the Ox drinketh Water when through custom in sinning their Consciences become seared as with an Hot-Iron that this Principle of God may cease striving with them and so these may not know when they do Evil yet there is a Time in which this Principle of God doth stand as a faithful Witness against all Unrighteousness and Ungodliness in the Hearts of Men and Women and Leads Draws Moves and Enclines their Minds to Righteousness seeking to Leaven them as they yield thereunto into the Nature of it self whereby an inward thorow and real Redemption may be wrought in the Hearts of all Men of what Kindred Nation or People soever notwithstanding any outward Benefit or Priviledge they may Providentially be deprived of yet is the Lord so Gracious as to dispense such a measure of his Grace Power and Spirit unto all the Children of Men to convince them of sin to Reprove them for it and to lead them out of it that as they give up to the Operation thereof in themselves it will thorowly sanctifie and make them clean and so prepare them and make them meet for his heavenly Kingdom yea though they never had the Scriptures amongst them nor never heard Christ outwardly named to them the Name of Christ being often put for the Power of Christ within as in Mark. 16. 17. In My Name shall they cast out Devils saith Christ of his Disciples So in Acts 4. 7. The High Priests and Rulers asked Peter and Iohn By what Power or by what Name they had made the Impotent Man whole For that Name of Christ which heals and saves is his Power that maketh Free from Sin Now whoso knoweth this Name of Jesus to be given unto them and effectually to have wrought in them they can truly witness him to be the Arm of God's Salvation However we do say that the Scriptures in which we have a Declaration of what Christ hath done and suffered for us those do much Facilitate Salvation through Faith in Christ Jesus and therefore they ought thankfully to be received by us and born Witness to when-ever the Lord shall require us so as that we may not be ashamed to own not afraid to confess him to be our Saviour who they make mention of to have been put to Death in the Flesh above Sixteen Hundred Sixty Years past by the Hands of Sinners For we do not believe that this Light Grace and Power of God which is sufficient both to sanctifie and save and able to give an Inheritance among them that are sanctified through Faith which is in Christ Jesus where Christ is not outwardly named I say We do not believe that this is given to any without Christ but we do believe it to be the Purchase and Benefit of
his Death who tasted Death for every man And so we do freely confess all that is derived to us to be in and by Christ Jesus as Mediator unto whom we ascribe all acknowledging him to be our Head in whom all Fulness dwells So that this Light with which all men are in some measure enlightned of God 't is no other but a measure of that Divine Fulness that dwelt in the Son of his Love when he was hear on Earth and now dwelleth in him since he is ascended up to Heaven where he was before whence he descends the streams thereof into the Hearts of all the Children of Men in order to bring them out of the Fall in the First Adam and to redeem them up unto himself the Second Adam that as they have born the Image of the Earthly so they may bear the Image of the Heavenly be restor'd unto that Grace and Favour of God again which by Transgression they are fallen from But First Let me tell thee whoever thou art that reads me This effectual Operation of the Spirit or Principle of God within is not nor cannot be known without a being centred down into the same For this I speak from good Experience the Spirit 's first work is to convince of sin before it effect a Restoration and this it doth even in all though all do not regard it it doth first shew them what is Evil and then it Reproves them when they do Evil which Reproofs if they be despised cause the fierce Anger of the Lord to be kindled and such as despise Wisdoms Reproofs which are the Way of Life while they are so doing they are treasuring up to themselves Wrath against the Day of Wrath and Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God And as ever they would come to know Remission of their Sins and enjoy Peace with the Lord who is hereby justly encensed against them they must submit to bear his Indignation against them that so they may be redeemed through Judgment and brought to unfeigned Repentance and then and not till then shall they know a blotting out of their Transgressions according as 't is written Acts 3. 19. But I say before Remission of Sins comes to be known there must be a centring down into the Manifestation of the Spirit of God within which will bring down every exalted Imagination and every high Thing and lay it Low even to the Ground that so every Thought may be brought into subjection to Jesus Christ And here comes the Terrors of the Lord to be known which causeth Fear and Trembling now doth the Soul exceedingly Fear and Quake under the Sense of the just Wrath of the Almighty who is of purer Eyes then to behold Iniquity and whose Jealousie burns like Fire and will so do till it have consumed the Stubble that it meets with in the Heart of the Sinner For he that long offered himself as a Guide is now become a judge in the Conscience of this Creature and his just Judgment against all Unrighteousness must be accomplished True indeed the Opperation of the Word of his Power by which he judgeth is diversly felt and experienced In some 't is as a Hammer to break the Rocks is sunder In others 't is as a Fire to melt down the Dross and separate it from the Silver In all 't is as a Sword to divide Sin and their Souls assunder yea it divideth between the Soul and that sinful Spirit which hath got into it and defiled it Thus the Lord deals with his Creatures as the matter doth require he considers their Nature and Temper and layes no more upon them then he gives them strength to bare For he knoweth our frame he remembreth that we are but Duft therefore he doth not retain his Anger forever left our Spirits should fail before him and the Souls which he hath made us However all that have sinned must know a Time of Sorrow yea even such who have not so rebelliously despised his Counsel and slighted his Reproofs and cast his Law behind their Backs as some there are which have yet inasmuch as they have at any time not hearkned unto his holy Spirit within them his Judgments will overtake them and in Righteousness will he plead with them and then I know former things will come into their Minds This I write as one having witnessed the Spirit to be given for a Remembrancer which was faithfully promised by the Lord Jesus Iohn 14. 26. even that Spirit of Truth which he told his Disciples it should bring all things to their Remembrance and so indeed it doth call back things that are past and set them in order before us judging condemning of us for what we have done amiss And now a Remnant having heard that in our Hearts that hath told us all things that ever we did we know this to be the Voice of Christ yea the spiritual appearance of the Christ of God For this was he who saw us under the Figg-tree when we had nothing but Leaves to cover us although we saw him not yet did he send and call us to himself that he might cover us with his own Spirit which when we came to be covered with we then saw who it was that cast the skirt of his Love over us and said unto us when we were poluted in our Blood Live And then was the time of his Love even when he stood at the Door of our Hearts and knockt that he might be entertained by us yea and sometimes in the silence of the Night hath he broken in upon us I know it in my own particular when no Creature hath been near this Invisible Oracle hath secretly communed with me reproving of me wherein I had done amiss and shewing me what was right in his sight And at other times in Company thus would the Lord cause his Voice to sound in my Heart THE CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE ARE VAIN by which I was brought off from many of those Vanities which before I had spent Time in and that by the Witness of God in my own Conscience which testified against the same although then I did not understand what it was that did so restrain from sin but now I know it was the Lord that girded me though I knew him not For I well remember when I have been using the common Language of our Country especially if after the now most usual strain this Testimony from God would arise in my Heart against it viz. I will return unto my People a pure Language Whereby I was reproved in my self for using Flattering Speech though such as was and is accounted of by many to be but Civil Language or expressions of common Civility to Persons according to their Quality in which I had such as Care to keep within the Bounds of Verity that I dare assert I did stere as near the compass of Truth-speaking as the Nature of such Speech would couch But since it hath pleased the
Lord by the inshining of his heavenly Light in my Conscience to let me see clearly into the Falshood and Folly of this corrupted courtesie I do not only Conscientiously but Voluntarily decline the using such Flattering Speech notwithstanding I know 't is to expose my self to be censur'd by some as a Person Unaccomplished Unmannerly and Ill Bred. Praised be his Powerful Name who hath made me willingly Renounce both giving and receiving that Honour that cometh from Man that so I might partake of that Honour which proceedeth from himself alone For this is the Honour which all the Faithful in Heart chiefly esteem it being the Unbelieving who seek the Praise of and Honour from men Which made Christ say to some of Old How can ye believe who receive Honour one of another and seek not the Honour that cometh from God only John 5. 44. Yet notwithstanding this Christ did then require his Disciples to render Honour to whom Honour and Fear to whom Fear which Requiring of his all his true Followers in their Respective places are at this Time careful to answer how uncivil soever accounted by the World yet have they learnt Gospel-Manners which is to give the Right Hand of Fellowship to whom it doth belong in Honour Preferring one another each Esteeming other better then themselves And now I say it was by this Principle of Divine Eight which God hath placed in my Heart by which he pleaded with me in days past even when I knew him not that is I knew not that it was the immediate Act of his own Power and Spirit though I felt such a Force in it that as I did in the least yield thereunto I must confess I was overcome by it but still it was as I was subject and obedient to his Power for I cannot say The Lord wrought in an irresistable manner although I know and do declare it was he who did subject me and made me willing in the Day of his Power and thus being prepared by him then did he send his Spirit to convince me both of Righteousness and of Judgment as well as Sin yea to convince me of that Righteousness and Religious Way of Worship which I formerly walked in whereby he let me see it was but a humane Righteousness and an invented traditional Worship set up by the Will and performed in the Spirit of Man and derived to me by outward Instruction and Education so that I had a Form which the Power did not attend for want of having regard to the Movings and Guidance of God's own Spirit in which alone he delights to be worshipped and therefore is he striving by this his Spirit in the Hearts of the Children of Men to bring them out of all Forms of humane establishing that they may worship him in Spirit and in Truth and serve him in the Gospel of his Son that so they may be accepted through him yet I do acknowledge that while I saw no farther and did sincerely serve the Lord in the Way which I walked in before hoping it might be right because reform'd in many things to what some other Wayes of Worship are the Lord was graciously pleased often to administer some Comfort and refreshment to my Soul through the Ministration I then sate under And in like manner I do believe his Dealings are with all the Upright-hearted who are seeking after him in the divers Wayes of Worfhip which if they continue seeking him in the Integrity of their Spirits I doubt not but he will seek them out for his Seed's sake and in due time bring them to the Mountain of his Holiness where his dwelling is For this was Christ's Promise Iohn â—0 16. Other Sheep have I which are not of this Fold them also saith he will I bring and there shall be one Sheepfold and one Shepherd over them And when Christ comes to fold them upon his holy Mountain which Mountain is within then will they walk in the Foot-steps of the Flocks of his Companions and know a lying down where he makes his flocks to rest at noon but first they must come to know a passing through Judgment and their Works must be burnt and they suffer Loss because the Lord of Hosts hath said Zion shall be redeemed with Iudgment and her Converts with Righteousness Isa. 1. 27. And Christ said I lead in the Way of Righteousness in the midst of the Paths of Iudgment Prov. 8. 28. And the Spirit of Christ was promised to convince the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment Iohn 16. 8. by which the Spirit and Prince of this World should be judged and he cast out of his Throne in the Hearts of the Children of Men whereby every one who comes to experience God's Righteous Judgments in themselves to be brought forth unto Victory such may also witness an Overcoming of the Prince Power of Darkness through the spiritual Strength of this Son of Righteousness howbeit while these two Spirits are striving together the Soul cannot but be sensible of an Hour of sorrow I surely know that Day is a Day of Mourning of Weeping and of Lamentation when Zion fits solitary with her Tears upon her Cheeks clad in Sack-cloth covered with Ashes in a spiritual sense fearing and quaking exceedingly before the Lord and trembling in her self because of his fierce Wrath and just Indignation that burns as a Fiery Oven against Sin Oh! then 't is a Time of Heaviness and of great Sadness with the Soul sleep departing from the Eyes and slumber from the Eye-lids because of Grief in the Night-season it being truly the Time of Iacob's Trouble even the time when the Seed of Iacob is travelling to bring forth and therefore doth that Dragon the Devil as in the General so in the Particular seek to destroy this Birth he is not willing this holy Off-spring should be born and therefore doth he raise Wars without and Fears within stirring up the Wicked to revile and smite with the Tongue and causing cutting Calumnies and sharp Censures to come from more Sober hands hereby intending to encrease the Commotions which are within by threatning the Soul with this that now it must expect to be reproached with the Reproaches of men Thus the Evil One in this time of sore Conflict seeks to aggravate the Soul's Grief and what he cannot do by storm he will attempt by Terror secretly striving to make the Soul impatient under its Exercise thereby to drive it into Dispair But though it be a Day of Tryal in which every ones Work must be tryed as by Fire and of sore Exercise with the Creature yet is there a secret Hope lieth hid under all this which is as an Anchor to the Soul sure and stedfast founded upon that Rock which endures forever and this bears it up above those Floods of Persecution which the Dragon spues out of his Mouth to drown that heavenly Birth that the Power of God is bringing forth within which when it is
brought forth and comes to have the Government in the Soul it must shall and will Reign over Death Darkness Sin and Corruption and all the Powers of Hell and the Devil I would have none think strange of what I have writ concerning this Thing though I know 't is a Mystery to the Natural Understanding of the wifest of the Children of Men and therefore since Paul was called a Babler for preaching such strange Doctrine to the Stoick Phylosophers Acts 17. 8. I can expect no better from some but to be counted a Non-sensical Scribler for writing of the same but this I am content to bear knowing in my self I had no Previous Intentions to amuse my Reader but having undertaken to describe in measure the extent of this powerful Principle of God placed in the Consciences of his Creatures following the Foot steps thereof for my Guide in this Matter Before I can attain to the End of my Journey I am necessarily brought hither and as I stand here I see by the Light of this Spiritual Pillar of Fire that though the Sea with the Waves thereof Roar yet is there a Way for the ransomed of the Lord to pass over and this Way is Christ the Light the Lamb the Grace the Gift of God given by the Father to bring out of the Fall which all Mankind are in by Nature that whosoever believeth in him layeth hold on him and continueth to be led by him should be brought into Fellowship with himself and abide therein forever and this same is he who leads in the midst of the Paths of Judgment and through the many Exercises that I have been writing of before he brings to the Banks of Salvation puts Songs of Deliverance into our Mouthes whereby we can sing of the Mercies of the Lord And thus having brought out of spiritual AEgypt's Land and caused to drink deep of the River of Judgment he then brings to Shiloh's Brook and giveth to drink of the Waters of Refreshment So 't is the same Hand that wounded which healeth and that Arm which broke us doth now bind us up the same Power which killed reviveth and he who once caused grief now giveth Songs in the Night And appointeth to Zion's Mourners Beauty for Ashes the Oyl of joy for Mourning and a Garment of Praises for the Spirit of Heaviness and who will in due time bring all his true spiritual Israel out of the Waste Howling Wilderness into a Land of Everlasting Rest. Thus it appears that the Light of Jesus in the Conscience is no Natural Insufficient Thing as some have sought to render it being something of God placed in every Man to witness against all sin convincing and reproving for that which is Evil contrary-wise prompting exciting and inclining to that which is good so that as many as yield to the Motives of it it is sufficient not only to condemn and to destroy but also to justifie and save being a measure of the Living Omnipotent Power of that One Law-giver who is able to save as well as to destroy see Iames 4. 12. which Power is Christ as saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 1. 23 24. We preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a Stumbling Block and unto the Greeks Foolishness but unto them that are Called both Jews and Greeks Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God who as he was once manifest in the Flesh so now is he manifest in Spirit to be that Covenant of Light which the Father promised by the Mouth of his holy Prophet Isa. 42. 6. And this Light Power and Arm is in measure extended and reached forth at one time or other unto all people for the gathering unto him in whom the Election stands that so as many as obey his Call in yielding themselves to be gathered by this gathering Arm may make their Election and consequently their Salvation sure in him For this is he who would have gathered Ierusalem and saved her from that Ruin and Destruction which afterwards came upon her because she knew not the time of her Visitation 'T is the very same Jesus and no other whom we believe in for our Saviour who by his spiritual Appearance in the Hearts of the Children of men gives Light gives Life gives Power and Victory over sin to as many as follow the Leadings and Guidance of this Immaculate Lamb for 't is given to the Lamb and his Followers to overcome and who so overcometh shall sit down with the Lamb on his Throne and live and reign with him for evermore Rev. 3. 21. 12 11. Even the same which was with his Church in the Wilderness being that Spiritual Rock that followed them of which they drank by the way and were refreshed in him who is the Rock of Ages the Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End the First and the Last the Antient of Dayes whose Dominion is an Everlasting Dominion which shall not pass away and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed whose goings forth have been from of Old from Everlasting For he is the blessed and only Potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords who only hath Immortallity and Eternal Life to whom be Glory and Honour Dominion and Power henceforth and forever Here now ye have a Description and that in Scripture Dialect concerning the Principle of our Faith something I have writ as to the Nature of it which though at first it causeth grief and brings in sorrow upon the Soul yet doth this sorrow work Repentance never to be repented of after which cometh reviving so that it was truly said Though Weeping may endure for a Night yet Ioy cometh in the Morning for they that sow in Tears shall reap in Ioy he that goeth forth Weeping bearing precious Seed shall doubtless come again Rejoycing bringing his Sheaves with him And such shall surely say In the Lord have we Righteousness and strength for in the Lord shall all the Seed of Israel be justified and shall Glory in him not in Wisdom Wealth nor Strength but in this that they know him to be the Lord who exerciseth Loving-kindness Iudgment and Righteousness in the Earth as saith the Prophets Isa. 45.24,25 Ier. 9.23,24 And this is he whom we acknowledge to be our Iudge and Law-giver yea he is our King and he will save us for to this end hath he appeared by his Light in our Hearts and for this end doth he appear in the Hearts of all men that as many as bow down to the measure of his Appearance in them may thereby see and be enabled to forsake their Wayes and Doings which have not been good whereby they may be saved from sin and by the same saving Power and Spirit in their Hearts come to be led into the Way of all Truth which Way of Truth is Christ our Mediator and Intercessor with the Father through whom man comes to be accepted of God as he cometh into him in whom alone the Father
is well-pleased for 't is no other Jesus concerning whom I write but the same that was born of the Virgin even the Lord 's Christ who hath made himself known unto his Servants by such Peculiar Names as suited the particular Circumstances of their Souls and according to their several Experiences of him so they reported concerning him Isaiah describes him to be as the Shadow of a great Rock in a weary Land a Refuge from the Heat a Covert from Rain and from Storms Chap. 4. Vers. 6. and chap. 32. 2 Again he spake of his being to his People as a place of broad Rivers and Streams Chap. 33. 21 David calls him The Shepherd of Israel which leadeth Joseph like a Flock Psal. 80. 1. He also calls him The Watchman of Israel who neither slumbereth nor sleeps Psal. 121 4. Paul speak of his being our High-Priest yea a Priest forever after the Order of Melchizedeck Heb. 5. 6. And likewise calls him the Minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which God hath pitched Chap. 8. 2. Iohn the Evangelist calls him The true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World John 1. 9. The other Iohn or Iohn the Divine saith This is he which was and is and is to come Rev. 1. 8. And now since he is come to a Remnant and they have believed in his Light as manifest in them they are not ashamed to confess that in the mind which gives a discovery of Sin to be the Power of God the Appearance of Jesus and that Light of the Lamb which the Nations of them that are saved must and shall walk forever in according to Rev. 21. 23 24 Neither is this any new Doctrine Opinion or Principle other then that which Abel Seth Enoch Noah Abraham Isaac and Iacob with all the holy Patriarches of Old were led and guided by in things relating both to Faith Life and Worship For what else could be a Rule unto them in matters of Salvation but this divine Principle when as they had no written Laws nor Ordinances amongst them which Principle is Christ the Light and Leader of his People in all Ages of the World who is one in all never was divided though variously described being the same who by his Light sheweth unto the Wicked and condemns them for the Vanity of their Thoughts who also by the same Spirit comforts and consolates his Peoples Hearts that so as many as whose minds are turned to this Light of Jesus and stayed in it though it be but small in its first appearance yet shall they see a growth and increase of it Thus Reader have I according to the Gift communicated to me from the Dispensation of the Most-high described what the Principle of Truth is which is perfect in it self and tends to the Perfecting of those that are gathered into it And now my former Familiars Neighbours Acquaintance and Kindred in the Flesh and all others to whom this may come hereby I invite you all to turn in hither even into the secret of your own Souls to that which there reproves you for your Sins witnessing for God against all Unrighteousness of men both in Thought Word and Action striving in their Hearts to turn them from the Evil of their Wayes and from the Vanity of their Conversations to walk in the newness of Life that so they may be redeemed and restored out of their fallen state of Degeneration into the Image of God again which hath been lost through Transgression O turn in turn in I say before it be too late lest you at last cry with them spoken of in Ieremiah 8. 20. The Harvest is past the Summer is ended and we are not saved Work while it is Day while the Candle of the Lord shineth in your Tabernacle be you workers together with God for the Night cometh wherein no man can Work and who can tell how soon the Sun of Righteousness may go down upon you and the Light thereof obscure it self from you Therefore hear Instruction and be wise while the good Spirit of the Lord is nigh to teach you seek ye the Lord while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near and refuse not to hearken to his heavenly Oracle in your Consciences whereby under this his spiritual Dispensation he is pleased to speak unto the Children of men lest he say by you as he said by some of Old who regarded not his Counsel They shall call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me Prov. 1.25.28 For that in the Conscience which checks for Sin and excites to Holiness is the Voice of the son of God by whom in these last dayes the Father speaketh unto us Oh be ye perswaded to hearken diligently unto him Hear and your Souls shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you saith the Lord even the sure Mercies of David Isa. 55. 3. And then you will come to know that Faith which Jesus is the Author of which stands in the Power of God even in that Power which inables to resist Temptations and overcome Sin and to get Victory over the World and the Spirit of it so will you witness a dying unto Sin and a living unto Righteousness to the praise of his Grace who is calling of you out of Darkness into Light that you may be Holy in all manner of Conversation So now since God's saving Arm is made bare for the gathering many People to himself before your Eyes Beware therefore left that come upon you which is spoken of in the Prophets Behold you Despisers and Wonder and Perish for I work a Work in your dayes which you shall in no wise believe though a man declare it unto you Read Acts 13. 40 41. But Friends my Hearts desire and Prayer to God for you is that you might be saved And therefore have I in the tender Bowels of his Love which he hath shed abroad in my Heart by Jesus Christ sent this Invitation unto you that ye all may make ready and come to the Supper of the great God who hath spread his Table and prepared a Banquet for you whereof whosoever will may eat and drink abundantly as long as the time of Visitation is extended unto you For this I write in the Openings of Life and from the motion of the good Spirit of my God do I declare unto ye viz. That none of ye were absolutely excluded from Eternity well knowing that a measure of his Grace hath been freely tendred to every one of you because his Love extendeth Universally and he is crying Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the Waters of Life And he that hath no Money come ye buy and eat yea come buy Wine and Milk without Money and without Price Isa. 55. 1. Here is free Grace indeed free Love indeed O do you but yield your selves the Subjects of his Love and he will set your Souls