compared with those of the Light Sect. 3. The Light and Grace flow from the same Principle proved by their agreeing Properties Sect. 4. An Objection Answer'd Sect. 5. Difference in Manifestation or Operation especially in Gospel-Times but not in Principle Illustrated Obj. BUt some may say we could willingly allow to the Spirit and Grace of God which seemed to be the peculiar Blessing of the New and Second Covenant and the Fruit of the coming of Christ all that which you ascribe to the Light within but except it appeared to us that this Light were the same in Nature with the Spirit and Grace of God we cannot easily bring our selves to believe what you say in favour of the Light within Answ This Objection at first look seems to carry weight with it But upon a just and serious Review it will appear to have more Words than Matter Show than Substance Yet because it gives occasion to solve scruples that may be flung in the way of the Simple I shall attend it throughout I say then if it appear that the Property 's ascribed to the Light within are the same with those that are given to the Holy Spirit and Grace of God and that those several Terms or Epithytes are only to express the divers Manifestations or Operations of one and the same Principle then it will not it cannot be denied but this Light within is Divine and Efficacious as we have Asserted it Now that it is of the same Nature with the Spirit and Grace of God and tends to the same End which is to bring People to God let the Properties of the Light be compar'd with those of the Spirit and Grace of God I say they are the same in that First The Light proceeds from the one Word and one Life of that one Word which was with God and was God Secondly It is Vniversal it lighteth every Man Thirdly It giveth the Knowledge of God and Fellowship with him Rom. 1. 19. John 3. 21. 1 John 1. 5 6. Fourthly It manifesteth and reproveth Evil John 3. 20. Eph. 5. 13. Fifthly It is made the Rule and Guide of Christian Walking Psalm 43. 3. John 8. 12. Eph. 5. 13 15. Sixthly It is the Path for Gods People to go in Psalm 119. 105. Prov. 4. 18. Isa 2. 5. 1 John 1. 7. Rev. 24. 23. and the Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the Light of the Lamb. Lastly It is the Armour of the Children of God against Satan Psalm 27. 1. The Lord is my Light whom shall I fear Rom. 13. 12. Let us put on the Armour of Light § 2. Now let all this be compar'd with the Properties of the Holy Spirit and their Agreement will be very manifest First It proceedeth from God because it is the Spirit of God Rom. 6. 11. Secondly It is Vniversal It strove with the Old World Gen. 6. 3. Then to be sure with the new One Every one hath a measure of it given to profit withal 1 Cor. 12. 7. Thirdly It revealeth God Job 32. 8. 1 Cor. 2. 10 11. Fourthly It reproveth Sin John 16. 8. Fifthly It is a Rule and Guide for the Childten of God to walk by Rom. 8. 14. Sixthly It is also the Path they are to walk in Rom. 8. 1. Gal. 5. 15. Walk in the Spirit Lastly This is not all it is likewise the Spiritual Weapon of a true Christian Eph. 6. 17. Take the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God After this I hope none will deny that this Light and this Spirit must be of one and the same Nature that work one and the same Effect and tend evidently to one and the same Holy End § 3. And what is said of the Light and Spirit may also very well be said of the Light and Grace of God in that First The Grace floweth from Christ the Word that took Flesh as well as the Light for as in him was Life and that Life the Light of Men so he was full of Grace and Truth and of his fulness have all we received and Grace for Grace Secondly It is Vniversal both from this Text and what the Apostle to Titus teacheth For the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men. Thirdly It manifesteth Evil for if it teaches to deny Ungodliness and worldly Lusts it must needs detect them and so says the Text. Fourthly It revealeth Godliness and consequently it must manifest God Fifthly It is an Instructor and Guide for says the Apostle It teaches to deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World and herein is a Rule of Life Tit. 2. 11 12. Sixthly It is to all that receive it all that they can need or desire 2 Cor. 12. 9. My Grace is sufficient for thee An high Testimony from Heaven to the Power of this Teaching and Saving Grace under the strongest Temptations § 4. Obj. But there is little mention made of the Spirit and none of the Grace before Christs coming and therefore the Spirit as spoken of in the Writings of the New Testament and especially the Grace must be another and a nobler thing than the Light within Ans By no means another Thing but another Name from another Manifestation or Operation of the same Principle It is called Light from the Distinction and Discerning it gives Let there be Light and there was Light said God in the beginning of the Old World so there is first Light in the beginning of the New Creation of God in Man It is called Spirit because it giveth Life Sense Motion and Vigour And it is as often mentioned in the Writings of the Old as New Testament which every Reader may see if he will but please to look into his Scripture Concordance Thus Gods Spirit strove with the Old World Gen. 6. 3. and with Israel in the VVilderness Neh. 9. 30. and David ask'd in the Agony of his Soul Whither shall I go from thy Spirit Psalm 139. 7. and the Prophets often felt it It is stiled Grace not from its being another Principle but because it was a fuller Dispensation of the Virtue and Power of the Same Divine Principle And that being purely God's Favour and Mercy and not Mans Merit is aptly and deservedly called the Grace Favour or Goodwill of God to undeserving Man The Wind does not always blow fresh nor Heaven send down its Rain freely nor the Sun shine forth clearly shall we therefore say it is not of the same kind of Wind Rain or Light when it Blows Rains or Shines but a little as when it Blows Rains or Shines much It is certainly the same in Nature and Kind and so is this blessed Principle under all its several Dispensations Manifestations and Operations for the Benefit of Mans Soul ever since th◠World began § 5. But this is most freely humbly and thankfully acknowledged by us that the Dispensation of the Gospel was the clearest
fullest and noblest of all other both with regard to the coming of Christ in the Flesh and being our one Holy Offering to God for Sin through the Eternal Spirit and the breaking forth of his Light the Effusion of his Spirit and Appearance of his Grace in and to Man in a more excellent manner after his Ascention For though it was not another Light or Spirit then that which he had given to Man in former Ages yet it was another and greater Measure and that is the Priviledge of the Gospel above former Dispensations What before shined but dimly shines since with great Glory Then it appeared but darkly now with open Face Types Figures and Shadows Vailed and made its appearances look low and faint but in the Gospel Time the Vail is Rent and the Hidden Glory manifest It was under the Law but as a Dew or small Rain but under the Gospel it may be said to be poured out upon Men. According to that Gracious and Notable Promise of God by the Prophet Joel In the latter Days I will pour out of my Spirit upon all Flesh Thus we say when it Rains plentifully look how it pours So God Augments his Light Grace and Spirit to these latter Days They shall not have it sparingly and by small Drops but fully and freely and overflowingly too And thus Peter that deep and excellent Apostle applies that Promise in Joel on the Day of Pentecost as the beginning of the accomplishment of it This is Grace and Favour and Goodness indeed And therefore well may this Brighter Illumination and Greater Effusion of the Spirit be called Grace for as the coming of the Son excelled that of the Servant so did the Manifestation of the Light and Spirit of God since the coming of Christ excell that of the foregoing Dispensations yet ever sufficient to Salvation to all those that walked in it This is our Sence of the Light Spirit and Grace of God And by what is said it is evident they are one and the same Principle and that he that has Light need not want the Spirit or Grace of God if he will but receive it in the Love of it For the very Principle that is Light to show him is also Spirit to quicken him and Grace to Teach Help and Comfort him It is sufficient in all Circumstances of Life to them that diligently Mind and obey it CHAP. VI. Sect. 1. An Objection Answer'd All are not good though all are Lighted Sect. 2. Another Objection Answer'd that Gospel Truths were known before Christ's coming Sect. 3. Another The Gentiles had the same Light tho' not with those Advantages Prov'd from Scripture § 1. Obj. BVt some may yet say if it be as you declare how comes it that all who are enlightned are not so good as they should be or as you say this would make them Answ Because People don't receive and obey it All Men have Reason but all Men are not Reasonable Is it the fault of the Grain in the Garnary that it yields no increase or of the Talent in the Napkin that it is not improved It is plain a Talent was given and as plain that it was improveable both because the like Talents were actually improved by others and that the Just Judge expected his Talent with Advantage which else to be sure he would never have done Now when our Objecters will tell us whose fault it was the Talent was not improved we shall be ready to tell them why the unprofitable Servant was not so good as he should have been The Blind must not blame the Sun nor Sinners tax the Grace of Insufficiency 'T is Sin that darkens the Eye and hardens the Heart and that hinders good things from the Sons of Men. If we do his Will we shall know of his Divine Doctrine so Christ tells us Men not living to what they know cannot blame God that they know no more The unfruitfulness is in us not in the Talent 'T were well indeed that this were laid to Heart But alas Men are too apt to follow their sensual Appetites rather then their reasonable Mind which renders them Brutal instead of Rational For the Reasonable part of a Man is his spiritual part and that guided by the Divine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Word which Tertullian interprets Reason in the most excellent Sence makes Man truly Reasonable and then it is that Man comes to offer up himself to God a reasonable Sacrifice Then a Man indeed a compleat Man Such a Man as God made when he made Man in his own Image and gave him Paradice for his Habitation § 2. Obj. But some yet Object If Mankind had always this Principle how comes it that Gospel Truths were not so fully known before the coming of Christ to those that were obedient to it Answ Because a Child is not a grown Man nor the Beginning the End and yet He that is the Beginning is also the End The Principle is the same though not the Manifestation As the VVorld has many Steps and Periods of Time towards its End so hath Man to his Perfection They that are faithful to what they know of the Dispensation of their own Day shall hear the Happy welcome of well done good and faithful Servant And yet many of God's People in those Days had a Prospect of the Glory of the latter Times the Improvement of Religion the Happiness of the Church of God This we see in the Prophesie of Jacob and Moses concerning the Restoration of Israel by Christ So David in many of his excellent Psalms expressing most sensible and extraordinary Injoyments as well as Prophesies Particularly his 2 15 18 22 23 25 27 32 36 37 42 43 45 51 84 c. The Prophets are full of it and for that Reason have their Name particularly Isaiah Chap. 2. 9 11 25 28 32 35 42 49 50 51 52 53 54 59 60 61 63 65 66. Jeremiah also Chap. 23 30 31 33. Ezekiel Chap. 20 34 36 37. Daniel Chap. 8 9 10 11 12. Hosea Chap. 1 3. Joel Chap. 2 3. Amos Chap. 9. Micah Chap. 4 5. Zachariah Chap. 6 8 9 11 13 14. Malachy Chap. 3 4. This was not another Principle though another Manifestation of the same Principle nor what is common but particular and extraordinary in the Reason of it It was the same Spirit that came upon Moses which came upon John the Baptist and it was also the same Spirit that came upon Gideon and Sampson that fell upon Peter and Paul but it was not the same Dispensation of that Spirit It hath been the Way of God to visit and appear to Men according to their States and Conditions and as they have been prepared to receive him be it more outwardly or inwardly sensibly or spiritually There is no Capacity too low or too high for this Divine Principle For as it made and knows all so it reaches to all People It extends to the meanest and the highest
great Agent and Means of Man's Conversion and Eternal Felicity any more than Infancy Youth and Manhood make three Men instead of three growths or periods of Time of one and the same Man But passing that the many Modes or Ways of Gods appearing to Men arise as hath been said from the divers States of Men in all which it seems to have been his main design to prevent Idolatry and Vice by directing their Minds to the true Object of Worship and pressing Virtue and Holiness So that though mediately he spoke to the Patriarchs mostly by Angels in the fashion of Men and by them to their Families over and above the Illumination in themselves so the Prophets for the most Part by the Revelation of the Holy Ghost in them and by them to the Jews And since the Gospel Dispensation by his Son both Externally by his coming in the Flesh and Internally by his spiritual Appearance in the Soul as he is the great Light of the World Yet all its flowings mediately through others has still been from the same Principle co-operating with the Manifestation of it immediately in Man 's own Particular § 2. This is of great weight for our Information and Incouragement that God's Work in reference to Man is all of a Piece and in it self lies in a narrow Compass and that his Eye has ever been upon the same thing in all his Dispensations viz. to make Men truly Good by planting his Holy Awe and Fear in their Hearts Though he has condescended for the hardness and darkness of Men's Hearts to approach and spell out his Holy Mind to them by low and carnal ways as they may appear to our more Enlightned Understandings Suffering Truth to put on divers sorts of Garments the better to reach to the low State of Men to engage them from false Gods and ill Lives seeing them sunk so much below their nobler Part and what he made them that like brute Beasts they knew not their own Strength and Excellency § 3. And if we do but well consider the Reason of the Prevalency of Idolatry upon the Earlier and Darker Times of the World of which the Scripture is very particular we shall find that it ariseth from this that it is more Sensual and therefore calculated to please the Sences of Men being more Outward or Visible or more in their own Power to perform then one more spiritual in its Object For as their gods were the Workmanship of Mens Hands they could not prefer them that being the Argument which did most of all gaul their Worshippers and what of all things for that reason they were most willing to forget But their Incidency to Idolatry and the Advantages it had upon the true Religion with them plainly came from this that it was more outward and sensual They could see the Object of their Devotion and had it in their Power to Address it when they would It was more fashionable too as well as better accommodated to their Dark and too Brutal State And therefore it was that God by many Afflictions and greater Deliverances brought forth a People to endear himself to them that they might remember the Hand that saved them and Worship him and him only in order to root up Idolatry and plant the Knowledge and fear of him in their Minds for an Example to other Nations VVhoever reads Deuteronomy which is a summary of the other four Books of Moses will find the frequent and earnest Care and concern of that good Man for Israel about this very Point and how often that People slipt and laps'd notwithstanding God's Love Care and Patience over them into the Idolatrous Customs of the Nations about them Divers other Scriptures inform us also especially those of the Prophets Isaiah 44. and 45. Psalms 37. and 115. and Jer. 10. where the Holy Ghost Confutes and Rebukes the People and mocks their Idols with a sort of Holy Disdain § 4. Now that which is farthest from Idolatry and the best Antidote against it is the Principle we have laid down and the more Peoples Minds are turned and brought to it and that they resolve their Faith VVorship and Obedience into the Holy Illuminations and Power of it the nearer they grow to the end of their Creation and consequently to their Creator They are more spiritually qualified and become better fitted to VVorship God as he is VVho as we are told by our Lord Jesus Christ Is a Spirit and will be Worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and that they are such sort of Worshippers which God seeketh to worship him in this Gospel Day The hour cometh saith he and now is That is some now do so but more shall A plain Assertion in present and a Promise and Prophesie of the encrease of such VVorshippers in future VVhich shows a Change intended from a Ceremonial VVorship and State of the Church of God to a Spiritual One. Thus the Text But the time cometh and now is when the true Worshippers shall Worship the Father in the Spirit and in the Truth VVhich is as much as to say when the VVorship of God shall be more Inward than Outward and so more suitable to the Nature of God and the nobler Part of Man his Inside or his inward and better Man For so those blessed VVords import in Spirit and in Truth In the Spirit that is through the Power of the Spirit In the Truth that is in Realities not in Shadows Ceremonies or Formalities but in Sincerity with and in Life being divinely prepared and animated which brings Man not only to offer up Right VVorship but also into Intimate Communion and Fellowship with God who is a Spirit § 5. And if it be duly weighed it will appear that God in all his Manifestations of himself hath still come nearer and nearer to the Insides of Men that he might reach to their Understandings and open their Hearts and give them a plainer and nearer Acquaintance with himself in Spirit And then it is that Man must seek and find the Knowledge of God for his Eternal Happiness Indeed all things that are made show forth the Power and Wisdom of God and his Goodness too to Mankind and therefore many Men urge the Creation to silence Atheistical Objections But though all those things show a God yet Man does it above all the Rest He is the precious Stone of the Ring and the most glorious Jewel of the Globe to whose reasonable Use Service and Satisfaction the whole seems to be made and dedicated But God's Delight by whom Man was made we are told by the Holy Ghost is in the habitable Parts of the Earth with the Sons of Men Prov. 8. 31. And with those that are contrite in Spirit Isa 66. 1. And why is Man his Delight but because Man only of all his Works was his Likeness This is the intimate Relation of Man to God Somewhat nearer than ordinary for of all other Beings Man only
general an Unhappiness among the Professors of Christianity that they are apt to cloak their own Active and Passive Disobedience with the Active and Passive Obedience of Christ The first part of Justification we do reverently and humbly acknowledge is only for the sake of the Death and Sufferings of Christ nothing we can do though by the Operation of the Holy Spirit being able to cancel Old Debts or wipe out Old Scores It is the Power and Efficacy of that Propitiatory Offering upon Faith and Repentance that justifies us from the Sins that are past and it is the Power of Christ's Spirit in our Hearts that purifies and makes us acceptable before God For till the Heart of Man is purged from Sin God will never accept of it He Reproves Rebukes and Condemns those that entertain Sin there and therefore such cannot be said to be in a Justified State Condemnation and Justification being Contraries So that they that hold themselves in a Justified State by the Active and Passive Obedience of Christ while they are not Actively and Passively Obedient to the Spirit of Christ Jesus are under a strong and dangerous Delusion and for crying out against this Sin-pleasing Imagination not to say Doctrine we are Staged and Reproached as Deniers and Despisers of the Death and Sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ But be it known to such they add to Christ's Sufferings and Crucifie to themselves afresh the Son of God and trample the Blood of the Covenant under their Feet that walk unholily under a Profession of Justification for God will not acquit the Guilty nor justifie the Disobedient and Unfaithful Such deceive themselves and at the Great and Final Judgment their Sentence will not be Come ye Blessed because it cannot be said to them Well done Good and Faithful for they cannot be so esteemed that live and die in a Reproveable and Condemnable State but Go ye Cursed c. § 5. Wherefore O my Reader Rest not thy self wholly satisfied with what Christ has done for thee in his Blessed Person without Thee but press to know his Power and Kingdom within thee that the strong Man that has too long kept thy House may be bound and his Goods spoiled his Works destroyed and Sin ended according to the 1 John 3. 7. For which end says that Beloved Disciple Christ was manifested that all things may become New New Heavens and New Earth in which Righteousness dwells Thus thou wilt come to glorifie God in thy Body and in thy Spirit which are his and live to him and not to thy self Thy Love Joy Worship and Obedience thy Life Conversation and Practice thy Study Meditation and Devotion will be Spiritual For the Father and the Son will make their abode with thee and Christ will manifest himself to thee for the Secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him And an holy Vnction or Anointing have all those which leads them into all truth and they need not the Teachings of Men They are better Taught being Instructed by the Divine Oracle no bare Hear-say or Traditional Christians but fresh and living Witnesses Those that have seen with their own Eyes and heard with their own Ears and have handled with their own Hands the Word of Life in the divers Operations of it to their Souls Salvation In this they Meet in this they Preach and in this they Pray and Praise Behold the New Covenant fulfilled the Church and Worship of Christ the Great Anointed of God and the Great Anointing of God in his Holy High Priesthood and Offices in his Church CHAP. IX Sect. 1. A Confession to Christ and his Work both in Doing and Suffering Sect. 2. That ought not to make void our Belief and Testimony of his Inward and Spiritual Appearance in the Soul Sect. 3. What our Testimony is in the latter respect That 't is impossible to be Saved by Christ Without us while we reject his Work and Power Within us Sect. 4. The Dispensation of Grace in its Nature and Extent Sect. 5. A further Acknowledgment to the Death and Sufferings of Christ Sect. 6. The Conclusion shewing our Adversaries Vnreasonableness § 1. AND lest any should say we are Equivocal in our Expressions and Allegorize away Christ's Appearance in the Flesh meaning only thereby our own Flesh and that as often as we mention him we mean only a Mystery or a Mystical Sense of him be it as to his Coming Birth Miracles Sufferings Death Resurrection Ascention Mediation and Judgment I would yet add to preserve the well-disposed from being stagger'd by such Suggestions and to inform and reclaim such as are under the Power and Prejudice of them That we do we Bless God Religiously Believe and Confess to the Glory of God the Father and the Honour of his Dear and Beloved Son that Jesus Christ took our Nature upon him and was like unto us in all things Sin excepted That he was Born of the Virgin Mary and Suffered under Pontius Pilate the Roman Governour Crucified Dead and Buried in the Sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea Rose again the Third Day and Ascended into Heaven and sits on the Right Hand of God in the Power and Majesty of his Father who will one Day Judge the World by him even that Blessed Man Christ Jesus according to their Works § 2. But because we so Believe must we not Believe what Christ said He that is with you shall be in you John 14. I in them and they in me c. Chap. 17. When it pleased God to reveal his Son in me c. Gal. 1. The Mystery hid from Ages is Christ in the Gentiles the hope of Glory Col. 1. Vnless Christ be in you ye are Reprobates 2 Cor. 13. Or must we be industriously represented Deniers of Christ's Coming in the Flesh and the Holy Ends of it in all the Parts and Branches of his Doing and Suffering because we Believe and press the Necessity of Believing Receiving and Obeying his Inward and Spiritual Appearance and Manifestation of himself through his Light Grace and Spirit in the Hears and Consciences of Men and Women to Reprove Convict Convert and Change them This we esteem hard and unrighteous Measure nor would our warm and sharp Adversaries be so dealt with by others But to do as they would be done to is too often no part of their Practice whatever it be of their Profession § 3. Yet we are very ready to declare to the whole World that we cannot think Men and Women can be saved by their Belief of the one without the Sense and Experience of the other and that is what we oppose and not his Blessed Manifestation in the Flesh We say that he then overcame our Common Enemy foil'd him in the open Field and in our Nature triumphed over him that had overcome and triumphed over it in our Forefather Adam and his Posterity and that as truly as Christ overcame him in our Nature in his own Person so by his Divine
been so treated in the Primitive Times nor indeed is it only about Doctrines of Religion for our Practice in Worship and Discipline have had the same Success But this is what I earnestly desire that however bold People are pleased to make with us they would not deceive themselves in the great things of their own Salvation That while they would seem to own all to Christ they are not found disowned of Christ in the last Day Read the 7th of Matthew it is he that hears Christ the great Word of God and does what he enjoins what he commands and by his Blessed Example recommends that is a Wise Builder that has founded his House well and built with good Materials and whose House will stand the last shake and Judgment For which cause we are often plain close and earnest with People to consider that Christ came not to save them in but from their Sins and that they that think to discharge and release themselves of his Yoke and Burden his Cross and Example and secure themselves and Complement Christ with his having done all for them while he has wrought little or nothing in them nor they parted with any thing for the love of him will finally awake in a dreadful surprize at the sound of the last Trumpet and at this sad and irrevokeable Sentence Depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity I know you not Which terrible End may all timely avoid by hearkening to Wisdom's Voice and turning at her Reproof that she may lead them in the Ways of Righteousness and in the midst of the Paths of Judgment that their Souls may come to inherit Substance even durable Riches and Righteousness in the Kingdom of the Father World without end CHAP. X. Sect. 1. Of the true Worship of God in what it stands Sect. 2. Of the true Ministry that it is by Inspiration Sect. 3. The Scripture plain in that Case Sect. 4. Christ's Ministers True Witnesses they speak what they know not by Report Sect. 5. Christ's Ministers they affirm Preach freely 't is one of their Marks § 1. AS the Lord wrought effectually by his Divine Grace in the Hearts of this People so he thereby brought them to a Divine Worship and Ministry Christ's words they came to Experience viz. That God was a Spirit and that he would therefore be worshipped in the Spirit and in the Truth and that such Worshippers the Father would seek to worship him For bowing to the Convictions of the Spirit in themselves in their daily course of living by which they were taught to eschew that which was made manifest to them to be evil and to do that which was good they in their Assembling together sate down and waited for the Preparation of this Holy Spirit both to let them see their States and Conditions before the Lord and to worship him acceptably and as they were sensible of Wants or Shortness or Infirmities so in the secret of their own Hearts Prayer would spring to God through Jesus Christ to help assist and supply them But they did not dare to wake their Beloved before his time or approach the Throne of the King of Glory till he held out his Scepter or take thought what they should say or after their own or other Mens studied Words and Forms for this were to Offer strange Fire to pray but not by the Spirit to ask but not in the Name that is in the Power of our Lord Jesus Christ who pray'd as well as that he spoke like one having Authority that is Power a Divine Energy and Force to reach and pierce the Heavens which he gives to all that obey his Light Grace and Spirit in their solemn Waitings upon him So that 't is this Peoples Principle that Fire must come from Heaven Life and Power from God to enable the Soul to pour out it self acceptably before him And when a Coal from his holy Altar touches our Lips then can we Pray and Praise him as we ought to do And as this is our Principle and that according to Scripture so is it Blessed be God our Experience and Practice And therefore it is we are separated from the Worships of Men under their several Forms because they do not found it in the Operation Motion and Assistance of the Spirit of Christ but the Appointment Invention and Framing of Man both as to Matter Words and Time We do not dissent in our own Wills and we dare not comply against His that has called us and brought us to his own Spiritual Worship in Obedience to whom we are what we are in our Separation from the divers Ways of Worship in the World § 2. And as our Worship stands in the Operation of the Spirit and Truth in our inward Parts as before expressed so does our Ministry For as the Holy Testimonies of the Servants of God of Old were from the Operation of his Blessed Spirit so must those of his Servants be in every Age and that which has not the Spirit of Christ for its Spring and Source is of Man and not Christ Christian Ministers are to minister what they receive This is Scripture now that which we receive is not our own less another Mans but the Lord's So that we are not only not to Steal from our Neighbours but we are not to Study and speak our own words If we are not to study what we are to say before Magistrates for our selves less are we to study what we are to say for and from God to the People We are to minister as the Oracles of God if so then must we receive from Christ God's Great Oracle what we are to minister And if we are to minister what we receive then not what we Study Collect and beat out of our own Brains for that is not the Mind of Christ but our Imaginations and this will not Profit the People § 3. This was recommended to the Corinthians by the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 14. that they should speak as they were moved or as any thing was revealed to them by the Spirit for the Edification of the Church for says he Ye may all Prophecy that is ye may all Preach to Edification as any thing is revealed to you for the Good of others and as the Spirit giveth Vtterance And if the Spirit must give Christ's Ministers their Utterance then those that are his are careful not to utter any thing in his Name to the People without his Spirit and by good Consequence they that go before the true Guide and utter words without the Knowledge of the Mind of the Spirit are none of Christ's Ministers Such certainly run and God has not sent them and they cannot Profit the People And indeed how should they when it is impossible that meer Man with all his Parts Arts and Acquirements can turn People from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God which is the very End and Work of the Gospel-Ministry It must be Inspired Men Men
had the Honour of being his Image and by his Resemblance to God as I may say came his Kindred with God and Knowledge of him So that the nearest and best way for Man to know God and be acquainted with him is to seek him in himself in his Image and as he finds that he comes to find and know God Now Man may be said to be God's Image in a double Respect First As he is of an Immortal Nature and next as that Nature is Endued with those Excellencies in small and proportionable to a Creatures Capacity that are by Nature Infinitely and Incomparably in his Creator For Instance Wisdom Justice Mercy Holiness Patience and the like As Man becomes Holy Just Merciful Patient c. By the Copy He will know the Original and by the Workmanship in himself he will be acquainted with the Holy Workman This Reader is the Regeneration and New Creature we press and according to this Rule we say Men ought to be Religious and Walk in this World Man as I said just now is a Composition of both Worlds his Body is of this his Soul of the other World The Body is as the Temple of the Soul the Soul the Temple of the Word and the Word the Great Temple and Manifestation of God By the Body the Soul looks into and beholds this World and by the Word it beholds God the World that is without End Much might be said of this Order of things and their respective Excellencies but I must be Brief CHAP. VIII Sect. 1. Doctrine of Satisfaction and Justification Owned and Worded according to Scripture Sect 2. What Constructions we can't believe of them and which is an abuse of them Sect. 3. Christ Owned a Sacrifice and a Mediator Sect. 4. Justification Twofold from the Guilt of Sin and from the Power and Pollution of it Sect. 5. Exhortation to the Reader upon the whole Obj. 1. THough there be many good things said how Christ appears and works in a Soul to Awaken Convince and Convert it yet you seem not particular enough about the Death and Sufferings of Christ And it is generally Rumour'd and Charged upon you by your Adversaries that you have little reverence to the Doctrine of Christ's Satisfaction to God for our Sins and that you do not Believe That the Active and Passive Obedience of Christ when he was in the World is the alone ground of a Sinners Justification before God Answ § 1. The Doctrine of Satisfaction and Justification truly understood are placed in so strict an Union that the one is a necessary Consequence of the other and what we say of them is what agrees with the suffrage of Scripture and for the most part in the terms of it always believing that in Points where there arises any difficulty be it from the Obscurity of Expression Mis-translation or the Dust raised by the Heats of Partial Writers or Nice Criticks it is ever best to keep close to the Text and maintain Charity in the rest I shall first speak Negatively what we do not own which perhaps hath given occasion to those who have been more Hasty than Wise to judge us defective in our Belief of the Efficacy of the Death and Sufferings of Christ to Justification As § 2. First We cannot Believe that Christ is the Cause but the Effect of God's Love according to the Testimony of the Beloved Disciple John Chap. 3. God hath so loved the World that he hath given his only Begotten Son into the World that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have Everlasting Life Secondly We cannot say God could not have taken another way to have saved Sinners than by the Death and Sufferings of his Son to satisfie his Justice or that Christ's Death and Sufferings were a strict and rigid Satisfaction for that Eternal Death and Misery due to Man for Sin and Transgression For such a Notion were to make God's Mercy little concerned in Man's Salvation and indeed we are at too great a distance from his Infinite Wisdom and Power to judge of the Liberty or Necessity of his Actings Thirdly We cannot say Jesus Christ was the greatest Sinner in the World because he bore our Sins on his Cross or because he was made Sin for us who knew no Sin an Expression of great levity and unsoundness yet often said by great Preachers and Professors of Religion Fourthly We cannot Believe that Christ's Death and Sufferings so satisfies God or justifies Men as that they are thereby Accepted of God They are indeed thereby put into a state capable of being accepted of God and through the Obedience of Faith and Sanctification of the Spirit are in a state of Acceptance For we can never think a Man justified before God while Self-condemned or that any Man can be in Christ who is not a New Creature or that God looks upon Men otherwise than they are We think it a state of Presumption and not of Salvation to call Jesus Lord and not by the Work of the Holy Ghost Master And he not yet Master of our Affections Saviour And they not saved by him from their Sins Redeemer And yet they not redeemed by him from their Passion Pride Covetousness Wantonness Vanity Honours vain Friendships and Glory of this World Which were to deceive themselves for God will not be mocked such as Men sow such they must reap And though Christ did Die for us yet we must by the Assistance of his Grace work out our Salvation with fear and trembling As he Died for Sin so we must Die to Sin or we cannot be said to be saved by the Death and Sufferings of Christ or throughly justified and accepted with God Thus far Negatively Now Possitively what we own as to Justification § 3. We do Believe That Jesus Christ was our Holy Sacrifice and Attonement and Propitiation that he bore our Iniquities and that by his Stripes we were healed of the Wounds Adam gave us in his Fall and that God is just in forgiving true Penitents upon the Credit of that Holy Offering Christ made of himself to God for us and that what he did and suffer'd satisfied and pleased God and was for the sake of fallen Man that had displeased God And that through the Offering up of himself once for all through the Eternal Spirit he hath for Ever perfected those in all times that are sanctified who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. Mark that § 4. In short Justification consists of two parts or hath a twofold Consideration viz. Justification from the Guilt of Sin and Justification from the Power and Pollution of Sin and in this Sense Justification gives Man a full and clear Acceptance before God For want of this latter part it is that so many Souls Religiously inclin'd are often under Doubts Scruples and Dependencies notwithstanding all that their Teachers tell them of the Extent and Efficacy of the first part of Justification And it is too
Grace being received and obeyed by us he overcomes him in us That is he detects the Enemy by his Light in the Conscience and enables the Creature to resist him and all his Fiery Darts and finally so to Fight the Good Fight of Faith as to overcome him and lay hold on Eternal Life § 4. And this is the Dispensation of Grace which we declare has appeared to all more or less teaching those that will receive it to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World looking for which none else can justly do the blessed Hope and glorious Appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ c. Tit. 2. 11 12 13. And as from the Teachings and Experience and Motion of this Grace we minister to others so the very drift of our Ministry is to turn Peoples Minds to this Grace in themselves that they may all up and be doing even the good and acceptable Will of God and work out their Salvation with fear and trembling and make their High and Heavenly Calling and Election sure which none else can do whatever be their Profession Church and Character For such as Men sow they must reap and his Servants we are whom we obey Regeneration we must know or we cannot be Children of God and Heirs of Eternal Glory And to be Born again an other Spirit and Principle must prevail leaven season and govern us then either the Spirit of the World or our own depraved Spirits and this can be no other Spirit than that which dwelt in Christ for unless that dwell in us we can be none of his Rom. 8. 9. And this Spirit begins in Conviction and ends in Conversion and Perseverance And the one follows the other Conversion being the Consequence of Convictions obey'd and Perseverance a natural Fruit of Conversion and being Born of God for such Sin not because the Seed of God abides in them John 3. 7 8. but through Faithfulness continue to the end and obtain the Promise even Everlasting Life § 5. But let my Reader take this along with him that we do acknowledge that Christ through his Holy Doing and Suffering for being a Son he learned Obedience has obtained Mercy of God his Father for Mankind and that his Obedience has an Influence to our Salvation in all the Parts and Branches of it since thereby he became a Conqueror and led Captivity Captive and obtained Gifts for Men with divers Great and Precious Promises that thereby we might be partakers of the Divine Nature having first escaped the Corruption that is in the World through Lust I say we do Believe and Confess that the Active and Passive Obedience of Christ Jesus affects our Salvation throughout as well from the Power and Pollution of Sin as from the Guilt He being a Conqueror as well as a Sacrifice and both through Suffering Yet they that reject his Divine Gift so obtained and which he has given to them by which to see their Sin and the sinfulness of it and to repent and turn away from it and do so no more and to wait upon God for daily strength to resist the Fiery Darts of the Enemy and to be Comforted through the Obedience of Faith in and to this Divine Grace of the Son of God such do not please God believe truly in God nor are they in a state of true Christianity and Salvation Woman said Christ to the Samaritan at the Well hadst thou known the Gift of God and who it is that speaketh to thee c. People know not Christ and God whom to know is Life Eternal John 17. because they are Ignorant of the Gift of God viz. a measure of the Spirit of God that is given to every one to profit with 1 Cor. 12. 7. which reveals Christ and God to the Soul Flesh and Blood cannot do it Oxford and Cambridge cannot do it Tongues and Philosophy cannot do it for they that by Wisdom knew not God had these things for their Wisdom They were strong deep and accurate in them but alas they were clouded puft up and set farther off from the Inward and Saving Knowledge of God because they sought for it in them and thought to find God there But the Key of David is an other thing which shuts and no Man opens and opens and no Man shuts and this Key have all they that receive the Gift of God into their Hearts and it opens to them the Knowledge of God and themselves and gives them a quite other Sight Taste and Judgment of things than their Educational or Traditional Knowledge afforded them This is the beginning of the New Creation of God and thus it is we come to be New Creatures And we are bold to declare there is no other way besides this by which People can come into Christ or to be true Christians or receive the Advantage that comes by the Death and Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ Wherefore we say and upon good Authority even that of our own Experience as well as that of the Scriptures of Truth Christ will prove no Saving Sacrifice for them that refuse him for their Example They that reject the Gift do deny the Giver instead of themselves daily for the Givers sake O that People were wise that they would consider their latter End and the things that make for the Peace thereof Why should they perish in a vain hope of Life while Death Reigns Of living with God who live not to him nor walk with him Awake thou that sleepest in thy Sin or at best in thy Self-righteousness Awake I say and Christ shall give thee Life For he is the Lord from Heaven the quickening Spirit that quickens us by his Spirit if we do not resist it and quench it by our Disobedience but receive love and obey it in all the Holy Leadings and Teachings of it Rom. 8. 14 15. To which Holy Spirit I commend my Reader that he may the better see where he is and also come to the true Belief and Advantage of the Doings and Sufferings of our Dear and Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who saves from the Power and Pollution as well as Guilt of Sin all those that hear his knocks and open the Door of their Hearts to him that he may come in and work a real and through Reformation in and for them And so the Benefit Virtue and Efficacy of his Doings and Sufferings without us will come to be livingly applied and felt and Fellowship with Christ in his Death and Sufferings known according to the Doctrine of the Apostle which those that live in that which made him suffer know not tho' they profess to be saved by his Death and Sufferings Much more might be said as to this matter but I must be brief § 6. To conclude this Chapter we wonder not that we should be mistaken mis-construed and mis-represented in what we believe and do to Salvation since our Betters have
Gifted by God taught and influenced by his Heavenly Spirit that can be qualified for so great so inward and so Spiritual a Work § 4. Ministers of Christ are his Witnesses and the Credit of a Witness is that he has heard seen or handled And thus the Beloved Disciple states the Truth and Authority of their Mission and Ministry 1 John 1. 1 3. That which we have heard which we have seen with our Eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled that declare we unto you that your Fellowship may be with us and truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ I say If Christ's Ministers are his Witnesses they must know what they speak that is they must have experienced and past through those States and Conditions they Preach of and practically know those Truths they declare of to the People or they come not in by the Door but over the Wall and are Thieves and Robbers He that has the Key of David comes in at the Door Christ Jesus and has his Admission and Approbation from him anointed by him the alone High Priest of the Gospel-Dispensation He it is that breaths and lays his hands upon his own Ministers he anoints them and recruits their Cruice and renews their Horn with Oyl that they may have it fresh and fresh for every Occasion and Service he calls them to and engages them in § 5. Nor is this all but as they Receive freely freely they Give They do not Teach for Hire Divine for Mony nor Preach for Gifts or Rewards It was Christ's Holy Command to his Ministers to give freely and it is our Practice And truly we cannot but admire that this should be made a Fault and that Preaching for Hire should not be seen to be one yea a Mark of False Prophets when it has been so frequently and severely cried out upon by the True Prophets of God in former times I would not be Uncharitable but the Guilty are desired to call to mind who it was that offered Mony to be made a Minister and what it was for if not to get Mony and make a Trade or Livelihood by it and what answer he met with from the Apostle Peter Acts 8. 18 19 20. The Lord Touch the Hearts of those that are giving Mony to be made Ministers in order to live by their Preaching that they may see what ground it is they build upon and repent and turn to the Lord that they may find Mercy and become living Witnesses of his Power and Goodness in their own Souls so may they be enabled to tell others What God has done for them which is the Root and Ground of the true Ministry and this Ministry it is that God does Bless I could say much on this Subject but let what has been said suffice at this time only I cannot but observe that where any Religion has a strong Temptation of Gain to induce Men to be Ministers there is great Danger of their running faster to that Calling than becomes a true Gospel-Minister § 1. Object But does not this sort of Ministry and Worship tend to make People careless and Spiritual Pride in others may it not give an occasion to great Mischief and Irreligion Answ By no means For when People are of Age They of right expect their Inheritances and the End of all Words is to bring People to the Great VVord and then the Promise of God is Accomplished They shall be all taught of me from the least to the greatest and in Righteousness pray mark that they shall be Established and great shall be their Peace To this of the Evangelical Prophet the beloved Disciple agrees and which is a full Answer to the Objection These things have I written unto you concerning them that Seduce you But the Anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any Man teach you but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things and is Truth and is no Lye And even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him In which Three things are observable 1st That he writ his Epistle upon an extraordinary Occasion viz. to prevent their Delusion 2dly That he asserts a nearer and superior Minister than himself viz. The Anointing or Grace they had received and that not only in that particular Exigency but in all Cases that might attend them Thirdly That if they did but take heed to the Teachings of it they would have no need of Man's Directions or fear of his Seducings At least of no Ministry that comes not from the Power of the Anointing Though I rather take the Apostle in the highest Sence of the Words 2 Thess 4. 9. Thus also the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians But as touching Brotherly Love ye need not that I write unto you For ye your selves are Taught of God to Love one another But Helps are useful and a great Blessing if from God such was John the Baptists but remember he pointed all to Christ John 1. 26. Lo the Lamb of God! I Baptize you with VVater but he shall Baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire Mat. 3. 11. And so the true Ministry does And while People are Sensual and under such an Eclipse by the Interposition of Sin and Satan God is pleased to send forth his Inlightning Servants to awaken and turn them from the Darkness to the Light in themselves that through Obedience to it they may come to be Children of the Light John 12. 36 and have their fellowship one with another in it and an Inheritance at last with the Saints in Light for ever And as it is the Way God has taken to Call and Gather People so a Living and Holy Ministry is of great advantage to VVatch over and Build up the Young and Comfort and Establish the feeble and simple Ones But still I say the more Inward the less Outward The more People come to be taught Immediately of God by the Light of his Word and Spirit in their Hearts the less need of outward means read Isa 16. 19 20. which is held by all to be a Gospel Promise and the Sun and Moon there as general understood to mean the external Means in the Church Compare them with John 1. 13. Rom. 1. 19. 1 Cor. 2. 11 15. 1 Thes 4. 9. 1 John 2. 20 27. Rev. 21. 22 23 24. All which points at what we assert of the sufficiency and glorious Priviledge of Inward and Spiritual Teachings And most certainly as Men Grow in Grace and know the Anointing of the Word in themselves the Dispensation will be less in Words though in Words and more in Life and Preaching will in great Measure be turned into Praising and the Worship of God more into Walking with than Talking of God For that is VVorship indeed that Bows to his Will at all Times and in all Places The truest the highest Worship Man is capable of in this World And
to be according to Godliness and therefore we have long exhorted all that their Moderation may be known unto all Men for that the Lord was at hand to enter into Judgment with us for every Intemperance or Excess and herein we hope we have been no ill Examples or Scandal unto any that have a due Consideration of things § 8. We cannot in Conscience to God observe Holy days so called the Publick Fasts and Feasts because of their Human Institution and Ordination and that they have not a Divine Warrant but are appointed in the Will of Man § 9. Lastly We have been lead by this Good Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ of which I have treated in this Discourse according to Primitive Practice to have a due Care over one another for the Preservation of the whole Society in a Conversation suitable to their Holy Profession First In respect to a strict Walking both towards those that are Without and those that are Within that their Conversation in the World and Walking in and towards the Church may be blameless That as they may be Strict in the one so they may be Faithful in the other Secondly That Collections be made to supply the Wants of the Poor and that care be taken of Widows and Orphans and such as are helpless as well in Council as about Subsistance Thirdly That all such as are intended to Marry if they have Parents or are under the Direction of Guardians or Trustees are obliged First to declare to them their Intention and have their Consent before they propose it to one another and the Meeting they relate to who are also careful to examine their Clearness and being satisfied with it They are by them allowed to Solemnize their Marriage in a Publick Select Meeting for that Purpose Appointed and not otherwise Whereby all Clandestine and Indirect Marriages are prevented among us Fourthly And to the end that this Good Order may be observed for the Comfort and Edification of the whole Society in the Ways of Truth and Soberness Select Meetings of Care and Business are fix'd in all Parts where we Inhabit which are held Monthly and which Resolve into Quarterly Meetings and those into one Yearly Meeting for our better Communication one with another in those things that maintain Piety and Charity that God who by his Grace has called us to be a People to his Praise may have it from us through his Beloved Son and our Ever-blessed and Only Redeemer Jesus Christ for He is Worthy Worthy Now and Ever Amen Thus Reader thou hast the Character of the People called Quakers in their Doctrine Worship Ministry Practice and Discipline Compare it with Scripture and Primitive Example and we hope thou wilt find that this short Discourse hath in good measure Answered the Title of it viz. 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