but the Serpent tempted Eve to eat of the Fruit of the Tree Again p. 30. he saith Moses acted as a God in the person of the Angel or Tree of knowledge of good and evil Observ Moses was faithfull in all his house as a Servant Nor did he act in the person of the Serpent for the Serpent was the Devil and was out of Truth long before Moses time and spake of his own but Moses spake and ministred from the pure holy Spirit of Life Was not the Devil defiled a corrupt tree an Angel fallen from his habitation before he tempted Eve and Adam to sin and fall And who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean or an holy Commission out of the Devil In p. 31. he saith The Law speaking of Moses Law which is just and good doth enlighten Reason to do as he is done unto not as he would be done unto Observ If Christ may be believed he saith otherwise for he saith All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets Matth. 7. 12. So that the Law and the Prophets did teach and require this not only for a man to do as he is done unto but as he would be done to In p. 32. he saith The Law of Reason is called a law of sin and death it being given unto reason because reason is sin for there is nothing doth break the Law but Reason Observ Those that are delivered by the powerfull appearance of Christ from the law of sin and death knows it to be another Law then the Law of Reason even a law contrary not only to the Life of Christ but to the reason and understanding of a man bringing him below the state of Reason even into bruitish captivity and sensuality Doth Reason teach a man to mannage his body destructively and unreasonably as the corrupt and unreasonable law of sin and death teacheth many men Reason is not sin but a deviating from that from which Reason came is sin God did not create man in sin or make a sinful Creature but he gave him Reason and thereby made him reasonable In p. 34. he saith The Moon Rev. 12. did signifie the Law of Moses which must now be trod underfoot by the Sun-shine Light of the Gospel Observ No not so the Law is not trod underfoot by the Light and Power of Life when it appeareth but its righteousness is fulfilled in them that walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 4. Christ did not teach men to tread Moses and his Law underfoot but brings forth that Life and bestows that Spirit which leads through and beyond the Law even to the righteousness of Faith which the Apostle Paul said they did not make the Law void by Rom. 3. 31. Therefore not trod underfoot through Faith in the Gospel In p. 37. he saith There was none of the Prophets that were commissionated to write Scripture Observ They spake and wrot as they were moved by the holy Spirit and is not that a sufficient Commission In his Book called The neck of the Quakers broken he had scoffingly cast away the Writings of Solomon from being Scripture and now he casts away the Writings of all the Prophets too as being written without Commission In p. 42. he argueth against Gods being an infinite incomprehensible Spirit saying Such a great vast Spirit doth not know it self neither can this vast Spirit tell where to find or see it self and if it cannot know or see it self how should his Creature be able to know or see his Maker when as he cannot know or see himself Then also that would be a vain thing which is spoken of in holy writ where it is said It is Life Eternal to know the true God Observ Here is dark imaginations indeed He that cannot read in the Spirit let him read that place Isa 40. 12. according to the plainness of the Letter and see if God can be less then infinite and incomprehensible He that knoweth the Nature and Spirit of God knoweth God though he be not able to measure or discern the utmost extent of his Beeing which who can For he is a Sea of Life a Sea of Love a Sea of Purity and Righteousness a Sea of Power and Wisdom c. but in a measure of the same Life received from him we know him so to be and worship him in the Spirit and Life which is of him not making likenesses of him in our minds but bowing to him and worshipping him in his own appearances In p. 77. he saith The holy Ghost sate upon none like as of fire but the Twelve Apostles neither could any other speak with tongues by inspiration but the Twelve Apostles Observ This is directly contrary to the Testimony held forth in Scripture For said Peter the holy Ghost fell on them as on in at the beginning Acts 11. 15. And they of the Circumcision which believed were astonished because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the holy Ghost For they heard them speak with tongues and magnifie God Chap. 10. 45 46. In p. 52. he saith Christ's Apostles could do no miracles neither could they cast out Devils until he was ascended Observ Did they not cast out Devils and do miracles while he was on Earth Did not he give them power so to do See Mat. 10. 8. In p. 59. and 60. he speaking of the wild Olive-tree and the good Olive-tree The wild Olive-tree he saith is the state of nature or reason the Devil which is wild by nature The good Olive-tree he saith was the very Person of Christ which the Gentiles were ingrafted into by Faith But the Commission of Mises and the Prophets proceeded from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil he acting his part in that Seed c. which he afore said was the Serpent Observ Is the wild Olive-tree the Devil which is wild by nature one of Gods Witnesses or the head or root from whence any of the Commissions of Gods Spirit came Did the Law of God which was against Sin and the Devil come from the Devil Is not the Law holy just and good and did it come from an unholy root What was the Olive-tree the Jews were broken off from Read their state Rom. 9. 4 5. and 11. 16 17. Was this holy Root they were broken from a wild Olive-tree What interpretation of Scripture is here Surely from a Spirit quite contrary to that which wrot it In p. 63. he saith The great and high wall about the new Jerusalem was all that visible and external worship which was set up by Moses which did belong to that Tabernacle c. Observ Is this the defence about the glory of the new Jerusalem is this the Wall and Bulwark Nay nay the Power of Gods Salvation is the Wall and Bulwark Isa 26. 1. which is a sure defence upon all the glory of this
OBSERVATIONS On some Passages of Lodowick Muggleton In his Interpretation of the 11th Chapter of the Revelations As also on some Passages in that Book of his stiled The Neck of the Quakers Broken and in his Letter to Thomas Taylor Whereby it may appear what spirit he is of and what god his Commission is from Whereunto is added A brief Account of my Souls Travel towards the Holy Land with a few words concerning the Way of knowing and receiving the Truth Written in tender love to Souls in true sense and understanding received from the Lord and with reverence to his holy Spirit and Power By Isaac Pennington Printed in the Year 1668. The Preface to the Reader HAving bad a Book of Lodowick Muggleton's sent me to peruse and having been earnestly pressed thereunto by some who had let in his spirit and doctrines to their great hurt in the fear of the Lord and in the sense of his holy Spirit of Truth and in tender love to them who had requested this of me I cast my eye thereupon wherein I observed very many things contrary to the Spirit of 〈◊〉 Lord the Testimony of the holy Scriptures and the nature of Truth some whereof for the service of others are here communicated To which there arose somewhat in my heart to add concerning my self in reference to my wearisom seekings journeys and travels after the Lord. Indeed it came upon me very freshly and livingly and the Lord may please to make it usefull to others even to help to stay the minds and quicken the hopes of such that are fainting as I deeply was Now if so be any shall reap any benefit thereby let them give glory to the Lord alone who alone is worthy thereof For I seek not esteem of men but all my desire is that men might know the Lord and the Power of his Truth and by him be gathered into and preserved in that which is pure of him It is the day of the Gospel even of Gods Eternal Power which is risen in many hearts for indeed the Light of the Everlasting Day of God shines gloriously and doth conquer and shall conquer the darkness and corruption in mens minds daily more and more O that more might partake of its vertue and not stumble at that stumbling Stone which the Builders out of the Life and Power in every Age and Generation have first dispised and rejected O that men might seek after Christ the Wisdom of God aright not in that spirit and wisdom which shall never find him For it is easie to seek amiss but none can seek aright save only those that are led and taught of God so to do Observations on some passages of Lodowick Muggleton in his Interpretation of the 11th Chapter of the Revelations IN Page 9. he saith The Law is not written in the Seed of Faiths Nature at all but in the Seed of Reasons Nature only Reason or the Spirit of Reason he saith is the Devil p. 15. Observ The Sum of the Law is Love Even to love God above all and ones Neighbour as ones self And this Love which is the Sum of the Law and fulfils the Law God writeth in the hearts of his spiritual Seed In p. 15. he affirmeth That that saying of the Devil was true which he laid to Christ All the Kingdoms of the Earth are mine Observ The Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof The Devil hath no right to it God never gave it him but God himself is Judge who throweth down one and setteth up another disposing of the Kingdoms of men according to his pleasure Psal 75. 7. Dan. 4. 25. In p. 19. he saith There never was no Enmity between the Person of the Serpent and the Person of the Woman but the Enmity which lay between them was in the two Seeds Observ Is not the Enmity as expessly placed by God between the Serpent and the Woman as between their Seeds I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed Gen. 3. 15. In p. 21. he saith So that now God himself is not capable to dissolve himself into Seed or Nature as he was before Observ Is God changable Is he one thing to day and another thing tomorrow and can he never be any more what he was yesterday His god may be so but the true God is not so I the Lord change not his Nature his Seed his Life his Spirit his Power is the same for ever Further in p. 21. he saith These two Seeds were those two spiritual bodies which are called by the revelation of Moses two Trees Yet they were in forms of men and was capable as they were spiritual bodies to dissolve into Seed or Nature and so become capable to suffer the paine of death Observ O the depth of imagination from that Spirit which giveth imaginations to them that will receive them He that is taught of God never learned thus but learneth much otherwise and in the feeling sense and experience knoweth the two Seeds and is born of the one and separated from the other from the very womb I mean from his birth of the Jerusalem which is above which is free from the spirit of deceit and all its imaginary knowledge which is the Mother of all that are born of the Spirit In p. 22. he saith Knowledge proceedeth from life that hath wisdom in it Observ Living knowledge doth But there is a knowledge which comes not from the true Wisdom nor doth convey Life but Death And such is the knowledge which he hath from his god and holdeth forth to others it poysons and corrup◠the mind and leads out of the capacity of receiving and obeying the Truth as it is in Jesus In p. 27. he saith Reason can feed on nothing but what it can see with this visible eye Observ That is not Reasons food only which is seen with this visible eye but Reason is in the mind and feeds chiefly on thing which the mind gathers and comprehends inwardly In p. 29. he saith I declare by revelation from the holy Spirit that out of these two spiritual trees came forth these two Commissions namely the Commission of Moses and the Prophets and the Commission of Jesus and the Apostles Observ He had said before p. 11. One of these trees was the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the form of a man p. 14. that tempted Adam Was that which tempted Adam the tree out of which Moses his Commission came Doth not he call this tree the Serpent p. 30. Had Moses his Commission from the Serpent Surely every one that is of God will say no. In p. 30. he saith These two Olive-trees and Candlesticks here spoken of I declare are those two Commissions which came forth of these two spiritual trees Observ One of these trees he said was the very Person of God himself p. 10. That the other was the tree that tempted Adam whereas the Tree did not tempt Adam
Building Isa 4. 5. In p. 66. he saith The Apostles should be equal in the Kingdom of Glory as they were equal here in the Kingdom of Grace And again p. 67. As there should be no preheminence with the Apostles here in the Kingdom of Grace neither should there be any preheminence in the Kingdom of Glory Yet p. 102. he saith Peter was the head of the Apostles Observ Hath the Head no preheminence in the Body Are the rest of the Members equal with the Head is not this an absolute contradiction In p 78. he saith The Commission of the Apostles was not the Commission of the Spirit Observ Paul saith they were made able Ministers of the new Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3. 6. What is to be desired more then the new Covenant wherein Life Spirit and Power is received Now the Apostles were made by God able Ministers thereof and the glory of this Covenant and Ministration remaineth verse 11. In p. 93. he saith Death being the First-born of the Law it went forth as a Conqueror of all Life both in God and man Observ The Law is holy just and good and bringeth forth only that which is holy Sin is not of the Law but against the Law and the wages of sin is death Yet neither sin nor death could ever conquer the Life of God but the unconquerable Life and Power have ever reigned over them Gods Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion endureth throughout all Ages which Sin nor Death nor Hell could ever conquer That life which Christ did give up none took from him as a Conqueror but he laid it down freely at the requiring of the Father knowing his glorious Power was able to restore and raise it up again In p. 105. he saith The body of man is that Tophet that was ordained of old and the spirit of Reason is that King which must abide in this Tophet Observ The body of man was Gods Temple before it was defiled with sin and is Gods Temple again when it is purified and purged from sin Now him that defileth this Temple of God him will God destroy And Christ said Fear him who after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell Luk. 12. 5. What is he able to cast into Hell why both body and soul Mat. 10. 28. Then the body of man is not the Tophet or Hell but Tophet is that whereinto the souls and bodies of the wicked are to be cast In p. 116. he saith Eternity did become Time and Time shall become Eternity again Observ Eternity did never become time but is unchangable in its Nature Spirit Life and Beeing for evermore but it brought forth natural and changable things in time which time shall have an end Observations on some Passages in a Book of Lodowick Muggleton 's stiled by him The Neck of the Quakers Broken IN p. 14. he affirmeth That Adam had no part in the begetting of Cain Observ The Scripture saith Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bare Cain and said I have gotten a man from the Lord Gen. 4. 1. Here the holy Spirit of God attributeth the begetting of Cain to Adam's knowing his wife Eve but L. M. saith otherwise In p. 15. he saith Whoever is partaker of the seed of Adam may be said to have the Spirit of Christ in them and their spirits to be in him that is Christ dwells in their hearts by Faith Observ The Scriptures distinguish between the first and second Adam None have the Spirit of Christ from or in the first Adam but only from and in the second And the old Adam's seed spirit and nature is to be put off by him that puts on the new and he must be born again of the immortal Seed of Life who receives the Spirit of Life In p. 17. He calls Reason the Devil and p. 29. saith This Devil so much spoken of in Scripture is no other but the spirit of Reason Observ Indeed corrupted reason is of the Devil but pure Reason is of God Man by his fall had his reason corrupted and so became bruitish and unreasonable but by Faith in the redeeming Power he is brought out of the Fall raised from Death to Life and in the new Life hath the true holy righteous Reason restored to him again 2 Thes 3. 2. which Reason is neither the Devil nor of the Devil In p. 22. he saith If God be a person in the form of a man as I am sure he is for I do acknowledge no other God but the man Christ Jesus who is a distinct body of flesh and bone of his own how then can he fill Heaven and Earth with his presence and get in-the Quakers bodies c. Observ Solomon said in prayer to God 2 Chron. 6. 18. which prayer God testified his acceptance of as being from his own Spirit chap. 7. 1 Behold Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much less this House which I have built Again Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth Eternity what is Eternity whose Name is holy I dwell in the high and holy with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit c. Isa 57. 15. Yet again it is said Ye are the Temple of the Living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them 2 Cor. 6. 16. Is it such a strange thing that God should be in Heaven and in Earth also Is not the Earth his Footstool and are not the feet present in the place on which they tread Was not Christ in Heaven while he was hear on Earth according to his own words No man saith he hath ascendded up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven the Son of Man which is in Heaven John 3. 13. And cannot God be in Heaven and in Earth too and also by his Spirit in the hearts of his people In p. 23. he saith To say that Christ according to the Flesh was of Abraham is Blasphemy Observ The Apostle said concerning the Jews whom he calls his Brethren and Kinsmen according to the Flesh Rom. 9. 3. of whom as concerning the Flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Amen verse 5. Did Christ come of the Jews according to the Flesh and did he not come of Abraham according to the Flesh Now lest any should apprehend there may be some difference between according in verse 3 and concerning in verse 5 I shall add this they are both the same in the Greek It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in both In p. 24 25. he saith None can interpret Scriptures truely but himself Observ All that are children to them God giveth of his Spirit Gal. 4. 6. and they that have the Spirit have that which interprets Scriptures truly which they keeping to cannot be deceived about the interpretation of them But they that keep not to the Anointing within but receive interpretations from men
all things hold fast that which is good verse 21. Further p. 48. he saith Who do you blind Quakers think should be judge of a Prophet that hath a Commission from God Observ What saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 2. 10. The Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God And again verse 15. The spiritual man discerneth or judgeth all things yet he himself is discerned of no man Yet again p. 48. he saith Is not a true Prophet the Law-giver and ought not every one to submit unto his Law Observ There is but one Law-giver but one King but one Lord but one Master All Prophets and Ministers from him are but his Messengers and Servants not Law-givers The Law cometh forth from the King himself from the great Prophet and Shepherd of the Soul to every Lamb and Sheep in the Covenant as it is written All thy children shall be taught of the Lord and I will write my Law in their hearts and so taught by this Prophet in the new and Living Covenant as that they shall need no other Teacher This was once fulfilled before the Apostacy as is faithfully testified 1 John 2. 27. 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 thing c. and it is again fulfilled after it blessed be the Name of the holy one of Israel But mind Reader what is the reason that he reviles us above all others calling us blind and the darkest pieces to interpret Scriptures and the cursedst of all Sects and the like but because we stand most in his way because we cannot receive him as a Law-giver because we have received the true Light the true Spirit and Anointing from God which discovereth and denieth him in his very root and ground In p. 50. He makes himself the Judge and the day of Judgement but a day of general Execution wherein Christ shall say Come you blessed and go you cursed He saith there shall be no more pleading with God but this will be all that God will say in the Resurrection Come you blessed and go you cursed Observ Yes there will be more said There will be the reason given publickly why men are blessed or cursed as was testified by Christ himself while he was here on Earth Matth. 25. 35 c. And men shall have liberty to plead as is there expressed verse 44. So that Christ the great Judge is not so bound up as he would bind him up nor are persons to be judged by him absolutely bound up from considering of their Sentence and pleading their cause with him but if they have any thing to say on their own behalfs they shall be equally heard In p. 60. he saith God doth not come down from Heaven upon this Earth to interpret Scriptures to men but this was alwayes Gods practise to commissionate particular men and furnish them with gifts for that purpose and what interpretations of Scriptures they give it is owned of God as if he had done it himself Observ The Apostle saith Every man is to stand or fall to his own Master and bids every man be fully perswaded or assured in his own mind and affirms that whatsoever is not of Faith is sin Rom. 14. 4 5. and verse 23. Nor did Christ deal thus with his Disciples requiring them to receive what ever interpretation of Scripture he would give them but he opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures themselves and saith the Spirit of Truth should lead them into all truth Nor did the Apostles thus deal with men but they waited for Gods opening of the true capacity in others and were not lords over mens Faith but Demonstrators of the Truth of God to mens Consciences by his Spirit and as in his sight Again he saith Christ doth not teach every particular man neither by his Spirit nor by voice of words Observ Every man that is truly begotten and new-born to God is born of his Spirit John 3. There is not another begetter and bringer forth of Life in the heart And the Spirit of the Lord in the new Covenant teacheth all its children It was written so of old All thy Children shall be taught of God How taught Why they shall hear and learn of the Father John 6. 45. Thus the Scriptures speak and thus it is witnessed felt and known in the heart blessed be the Name of the Lord. For the children of the Lord are anointed with the holy anointing with the oyl of the same Spirit the same oyl of gladness Psal 45. 7. and Hebr. 2. 11. wherewith Christ was anointed which maketh them also of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord and of deep insight into the mysteries of his Kingdom as they grow up in his life and sweet innocent holy nature Yet again in that page he saith The true and right interpretation of the Scriptures it lieth in those men that God hath chosen anointed and sealed for that purpose and men cannot come to the knowledge of God nor the true meaning of the Scriptures no other way Observ The Gospel is a ministration of the Spirit and Power of the endless life and it consists not in receiving words but in receiving the Spirit from which the good words and precious knowledge comes And he that receives the Spirit and hath the Spirit receiveth and hath that which openeth and giveth entrance not only into words concerning the Kingdom but into the Kingdom it self And the Apostle who had a true Commission from God was not sent to limit men to his interpretation of Scriptures but to turn men to the Light and to the Power which gives to see the Scriptures and spiritual things Acts 26. 18. And the Church of Laodecea was counselled not only to buy gold and raiment but also eye-salve of Christ that therewith they might be enabled to see Rev. 3. 18. They had words from those that were sent by God and much knowledge insomuch as they seemed to themselves to be rich and full but yet they wanted the eye-salve which they were to buy themselves for no man is to offer any thing but at his own cost Yet again in p. 60. he saith The opening of the Scriptures belongs unto commissionated men and not unto Christ himself Observ In the new Covenant God himself is the Shepherd the King the Prophet the Teacher This is not known only from words left upon record by holy men of God but also inwardly felt and witnessed The Eternal Word is nigh nigher then words from commissionated men and teacheth more inwardly and fully then words from men can The same God who creates the heart anew puts his Law into the mind and heart yea his Spirit within Now to this the Gospel Ministers formerly did and still do direct and turn men but did not limit them to words from themselves or to their interpretations of Scriptures as was said
before And as under the Law men were to hear Moses so under the Gospel men are to hear Christ in all things and he that doth not hear him is to be cut of as Acts 7. 37. In p. 62. he saith Though the Prophets and Apostles were anointed and sealed of God for that great Work will it follow therefore that you Quakers because you read their Writings that you are anointed and sealed of God for the Work of the Ministry Observ Where was this ever affirmed by them But this they certainly know and faithfully testifie that they have received the very same Spirit in measure which the Prophets and the Apostles had and minister in its Name and Authority and Demonstration and have the true and living Seal of their Ministry in many hearts In p. 17. he saith As for my mouth being full of cursing that is my Commission And p. 18. God hath ordained me the chief Judge in the World at this day to give sentence upon men and womens spiritual and eternal state what will become of them after death Full of this cursing I confess my mouth is and I do rejoyce in it too c. Observ When Christ pronounced Judgment upon Jerusalem he did it weeping Matth. 24. 37 38. and Luke 19. 41 c. And the true Apostle knew that those that watched for the soul when they gave up the account concerning such as did not submit to and obey the Truth but rebelled against it and perished they could not do it with joy but with grief Hebr. 13. 17. In p. 69. He teacheth his Disciples to curse men to eternity despsing spirits he calls them such he means as do not own his Commission but know it not to be of God and faithfully testifie against it Observ Christ taught his Disciples to bless saying to them Bless them that curse you Matth 5. 44. And the Apostles said Bless and curse not Rom. 12. 14. And Christ is the same at this day and teacheth his Disciples so now Yea I and many others can faithfully witness it that since we felt the seed of blessing in our hearts we never learned of it to curse any man but rather to pity them and pray to the Lord for them and direct them to the holy Light Spirit and Power whereby they might be turned from their iniquities and come into the blessing as Acts 3. 26. And though he pretends that those whom he curses have sinned the sin against the holy Ghost and are Devils yet that is but the judgment of his spirit not of Gods Spirit for they are in that which keeps from grieving Gods Spirit much more from sinning the great and unpardonable sin against it In p. 63. he saith Neither do I curse any until he judge me first Observ Feel ye that have true sense and understanding what moves him to curse In p 73. he saith If the witness that informed me did not witness truth then the Sentence which I have passed upon them shall be of no value Observ How often hath he affirmed his Judgment to be infallible and such as God himself could not reverse But here it seems it is such as may be passed by hearsay and depend upon the Witnesses words so that if the Witness that informed him spake truth it shall stand but if the Witness did not speak truth then the Sentence which he hath passed shall be of no value What shall a man be commissionated and receive authority from God to judge irreversibly so as God himself cannot pardon that man he hath judgeth as he affirmeth and yet that man not receive true sense wisdom and understanding from God to preserve him from misplacing it but it may be a true Judgment or a false Judgement according as the Witnesses information was Ah cease deceit and for shame be silent thy covering is manifestly too narrow In p. 66. he saith speaking of the penalty or punishment of the Laws If my innocency nor money will not deliver me I must and will suffer under it Observ He hath took scope enough to avoid the cross or suffering by any Laws which might lay hold on him for Conscience sake The Apostles never saved themselves by money from their sufferings for their Testimony In p. 70. he saith Every man that reads the Scriptures doth think to find Eternal Life in them as Christ said to the Jews and as you Quakers and others do now adayes Observ Do the Quakers think to find Eternal Life in the Scriptures did they ever teach men so have they not very often faithfully testified otherwise Not in words concerning the thing but in the thing it self in the Word which was in the beginning and from the beginning do they look to find Eternal Life Yea and there they have found it and do live in the Life which is Eternal and the Life which is Eternal lives in them This Testimony hath the living seal to it whereby it may be known by those that are truly living and cannot be shaken But he hath manifestly in this thing as in several others also discovered himself to be a false Witness and a false Witness can never be a true Judge Nay alas his judgment is of and like his spirit which manifestly is not of God and his knowledge which he holds forth leads not to God not to Life but to the Chambers of Hell and Death Observations on some Passages in his Letter to Thomas Tayler IN Page 5. he saith I marvel what satisfaction any man can have in his mind in believing in a Quakers God to tell a man that God abides in himself and is what he is Observ Doth not God say to Moses concerning himself I am that I am When Moses desired to know how he should answer the Israelites when they should enquire who sent him to them God bid him tell them that I am had sent him Exod. 3. 14. How could the Israelites understand what God was by this what satisfaction could they find in this answer of Moses would this spirit say But God is not to be known by the description of words of the earthly wisdom but in his own feeling Spirit and Life In p. 11. he saith concerning the Quakers That which purifies your hearts is the Law written in your seed or nature even the same as was written in the Angel-serpents nature before his fall which is no other but the nature of Reason Observ This is not a true Testimony for the Light wherewith Christ enlightneth the Soul to redeem and bring it back out of the Fall is not of the nature of Reason but confounds corrupt Reason and brings it into the dust begetting the Soul into the Divine Wisdom and giving it to pertake of the Divine Nature Yea that which we are born of and purified by as we sensible feel and truly understand is not the nature of the Serpents reason but the immortal Word of Gods eternal Power which doth that in us and for us which the
nature of reason never did nor can do in any Again in p. 11. he saith very slightingly and as untruly concerning the Quakers thus As for the sins your hearts are clensed from they are no other but such like as these that is to say to keep the hat on the head before a Magistrate and to find fault with gold-lace and a piece of ribbon a bandstring and a gold button and to rend and tear gold-lace and other lace off their clothes and burn it and to use the Language of thee and thou He or she that gets thee or thou perfectly is a very good Quaker they are gotten half way to the Quakers Heaven These and such like righteousness is the Quakers perfection and all the cleansing of heart they have c. Observ O thou despiser reproacher and belyar of the Work of God in the hearts of his children Nay nay there are thousands who in Gods Presence can testifie against thee that they have waited for and received the inward clensing from the filthiness of flesh and spirit from the inward lusts and motions of sin in the mind having felt the Ax of the Lord and the two-edged Sword which cutteth up sin at the very roots But thou art so far from having thy heart cleansed that thou art not yet clensed from lying lips but bringest forth thy false reproachfull slanderous testimony against the Heritage of God in the sight of the Sun In p. 13. he saith further of the Quakers That they own no other death of Christ but what is within them what ever they pretend by using the words of Scripture c. Observ They sincerely and in plainness of heart own and acknowledge the death of that Body which the Father prepared for his Son in which he did the Fathers Will in his suffering without the Gate of Jerusalem Therefore in this he is a very false Witness and therein hath grosly belyed the Quakers In p. 15. he saith You Quakers are the darkest pieces to interpret Scripture of any other Opinions in the World for you will name places of Scripture but never interpret any c. Observ It is better to bring men to that which opens the mind to understand the Scriptures then to give men interpretations of words or things beyond their capacity Yet the Spirit of the Lord in and through many called Quakers doth often open many Scriptures in clearness and demonstration to others Read the Book called Gospel-Liberty or the Royal Law of Love and see if many Scriptures be not therein opened to the lowest capacity But the Lord hath given them the true skill and understanding and they are not to open to and feed that in men which the Lord hath appointto be famished Yet if they did not open Scriptures the Scriptures are plain to him that hath an understanding Now for a close I shall add somewhat of the Testimony which is written in my heart by the finger of Gods Spirit concerning the People called Quakers Indeed they have met with many reproaches and sore oppositions many wayes since they were a People but notwithstanding all their bow abides in strength and the hands of their arms have been made strong against the wicked one with all his devices in his several kinds of instruments and their Light is still the same and their God the same who blesseth them from day to day even in the midst of all the revilings slanders persecutions and curses which they have met with from men without and in the midst of all the temptations inward trials and afflictions also which are often met with inwardly Yea we know him to be our God and cannot but trust him having found him to be faithfull to us hitherto and knowing his nature to be such that he cannot but continue his loving-kindness and faithfulness to all who are gathered by him into his holy inward spiritual Covenant of Life and Peace and who dwells with him therein And truly we are fully satisfied and at rest in him and cannot desire another then he who hath redeemed our Souls from death given us Life brought us out of the pit wherein was no water into a large place set our feet upon a rock a rock indeed and establisheth our goings in the path of holiness working all our works in us and for us by his Spirit and Power Yea we have the Witness in our hearts even the Witness which never erred nor can deceive which testifieth to and with our spirits our Sonship so that we do not imagine our selves sons from apprehensions upon Scriptures but we feel our selves sons in the true sensibleness and know who David is and reap and inherit the sure mercies of David daily O blessed be our Father O blessed for ever be the Father of Life who feeds who nourishes who waters who refreshes with the Bread of Life and with the pure living Water his Lambs his babes his plants his tender ones of whom he is daily tender and who are daily tender of his Name and Honour And if any man preach another God then he who creates anew in the true Light and therein puts forth his arm of Salvation death and destruction and the curse are his portion from the hand of the Lord. Now O people any of you that reads this mans writings and admire them what spirit are ye of what is it in you that relisheth them what do they feed in you Not the true Birth I am sure but that in you which must perish and come into death and destruction if ever your Souls be saved I speak sensibly and from the true understanding and experience which God hath given me yea I certainly know that the knowledge and notions which he holds forth are not pure nor able to cleanse the heart of any that receives them And all people that truly love your Souls and desire the Salvation thereof O wait on God that ye may be enabled by him rightly to distinguish between receiving notions concerning God and Christ and feeling and receiving the Power which effectually redeems from sin and death for deceit may enter in at the one but cannot at the other The Enemy hath all deceivableness of unrighteousness to paint as if it were righteousness and appear in and to enter and possess the mind by but he is excluded the redeeming power He that feels that which renews his heart to God and breaks the power and strength of lusts and temptations in him and brings him into subjection to the Truth which from God lives in the hearts of those that receive it in the vertue life and power of it here his devices and deceits are at an end and here the elect Sheep feel the hand of the Father which is stronger then all which none can pluck out of Here is the Fold here is the safe dwelling place whither the Lord leadeth and where he preserveth his Lambs and Children and there is not another Now as for him notwithstanding all that he hath done