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A90808 The holy scripture clearing it self of scandals: or, An answer to a book written by Richard Farnworth, who is commonly called a Quaker, bearing this title, Truth cleared of scandals. In this answer, you have the substance of a dispute at Harliston in Staffordshire, between Richard Faruworth [sic] and the author, in the yeer 1654. Written by Tho. Pollard, a member of the Church of Christ, gathered in, and about, Leichfield. Whereunto is added, Certain considerations and queries concerning those people called the Quakers; with desire of an answer. As also, a postscript, manifesting their folly in pretending a necessity of using the terms thee and thou to a single person. / By Henry Haggar, a servant of Jesus Christ, and of the congregation of his saints. Pollard, Thomas, fl. 1655.; Haggar, Henry. 1655 (1655) Wing P2775; Thomason E857_8; Thomason E842_10; ESTC R206619 43,888 64

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relate to the Law given by Moses much more shall we not escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven for John saith The Law came by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ John 1.17 Reas 2. Grounded on vers 28. We receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved let us have Grace that we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear But now the Question between Farnworth and my self was Whether he was in the possession of these priviledges he sa●● he was But Reader consider I pray you weigh the words a little with what he hath before affirmed and you will finde he lyes and speaks not the Truth First it is clear That these promises are to a visible Church as the Law was given to a visible Church then he denying a visible Church he cannot have any right to these promises as he is a visible man Secondly If these Hebrews had been in the possession of these things that is to say the new Jerusalem then for the holy Ghost to have warned them to take heed of refusing him that spake from heaven had been in vain Thirdly Then they needed not that exhortation To hold fast Grace as the Margin reads it vers 28. That we may serve God acceptably for that were fully done already if in the possession of it Fourthly The Scripture saith All lyars are without then they are not possessed of this enjoyment and that Farnworth is a lyar is plain else he would never say That all Ordinances ceased when Christ ascended and That Christ hath not a visible Church and see what lyars shall be possessed of Rev. 21.8 They shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone for ever which is the second death Fifthly If they and onely they are blessed that do his Commandments and they shall have right to the Tree Life then there is nothing but Curses Woes and Misery to all them that make it their work to keep poor souls out of these promises by perswading them to a slight esteem of the Ordinances of Christ And here is the pride of these men discovered that will boast of priviledges before they have any right to them In the next place I shall speak a word of perfection And this I say That I own a perfection in Christ to be attainable in this life thus that is to say by believing in Christ and obedience to Christ add this James tells us That Abraham's faith wrought with his works by works was faith made perfect And Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God Jam. 2.22 23. Now I say this faith that worketh by love perswadeth that soul wherein it is to yield obedience to Christ and God the Father is fully satisfied with his Son in the behalf of such a one Now I say that such a one may slip through infirmity or neglect of duty to God but see what Iohn saith to such 1 Ep. 1.9 If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to for give us our sins to cleanse us from all unrighteousness And this is by Iesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be a propitiati-through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Iesus And truly Reader for my part I know no way to attain perfection but by believing in Christ and yeilding obedience to Christ and this I own the Gospels preaching doth fully hold out the great love of the Father in giving his Son to die for us which Gospel being preached is the means of faith and is a perfect rule for all to walk by But for a perfection in glory to be attained on this side the Grave this I utterly disown As also what Farnworth said to me at Harliston That the resurrection and eternal judgement was then past in him I own not but disown for I believe the resurrection of the dead both of the just and of the unjust as Paul saith Act. 24.15 And now Reader you having a view of these men that their principles are very unsound and why I say these men because what Farnworth then affirmed others of his company stood by to maintain And in a few words I shall give you briefly what one Daniel Bott a brother in the Gospel resident at a Town neer Tamworth in Warwickshire who was once deluded by them but now through mercy is brought back to the joy of his heart and rejoycing of the Lord's people and this I received from his own moth That the said Farnworth and others did press him to lay aside the form of Scripture and he would they said have visions and revelations immediately Now consider Reader whither would they plunge a poor soul if they can once bring him to slight that form of sound words and that form of doctrine which was delivered unto us And further he saith to me That he heard one George Fox say these words I am that eternal Spirit that gave forth the Scripture and he told me He did believe that Fox did think when he spake this that there was none present but these of his own judgement And I assure the Reader this that I cannot gather that the said Daniel doth speak any thing out of malice for I judge the man to the best of my understanding one truely fearing God and one that can say much of their delusions and that they are false Prophers by their endeavouring to turn him from consenting to the wholesome words of Christ and that doctrine which is according to godliness Now Reader if thou dost throughly consider what is before laid down that this Farnworth did stand by to maintain you may plainly see what spirit this poor man is possessed with and if it be the work of the Spirit of Truth to lead his into all Truth then this man is led by an evil Spirit and this appears in its operation and by the evil fruit it brings forth you may see what the Tree is And this is evil to say That all that is gotten from the Scripture is but brain-knowledge and a great deal of such-like stuffe he is filled with If any man make search into them by questioning them else let them alone in their road of speaking and they will present a fair gloss before you This I have experience of And now Reader to his principles that he saith in the beginning of his book he owns as worship in the Spirit he owns he saith Ans To this if the way of worship that Jesus Christ hath commanded and hath promised to be present with them that so worship him to the end of the world be spiritual worship which worship is plainly laid down in the Scripture then all that refuse to take the words of
the Gospel for their rule and direction in the worship of God as thou Farnworth dost say falsely that say you own the worship in the Spirit but by your denying the rules you are Pharisee-like that say and do not Secondly Thou sayest Thou ownest the Church of Christ. Answ But here thou lyest in thy saying Christ hath not a visible Church and so thou shuttest thy self out both of Church and Ministery of Christ by thy own grant as being a visible man Thirdly Thou sayest The teachings of Christ thou ownest And here thou speakest a lye also as is evident by thy calling the Ordinances carnal which Christ taught his Disciples Mat. 28. Mark 16. Fourthly Thou sayest Thou ownest the baptism of Christ Answ But here thou lyest also for believers to be baptized is by Christ's Commandment and he gave himself and example to us herein and this thou callest an image and idol Fifthly Thou sayest Prayer in the Spirit thou ownest And Reader minde for this man to pray for himself c is perfect and freed from all acts of sin and past the eternal judgment as he saith then I say by this we may see that prayer is useless as to himself and for his prayer for me I do not desire it neither do I beleive it is his judgment to pray for others by his wicked censuring all men that go not his way But this I further say That by his fruit he brings forth it is made evident that he is a stranger to the Spirit of Truth for this Spirit it leads into Truth then it doth not lead out of the Truth I demand of thee Farnworth where ever the Spirit of Truth did or doth contradict the written word But to ask thee such a Question who art as it is evident possest with a Spirit of error I do not look for satisfaction from thee And now Saints you having briefly a discovery of this man's folly let us labour to take Solomon's counsel Prov. 23.4 Cease from thy own wisdom with Prov. 3.1 My son forget not my law but let thy heart keep my commandments Vers 5. Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not to thy own understanding It is high time for the Lords people to be continually upon their watch now Satan is thus transforming himself like an Angel of light that we be not overtaken with his devices but this I hope dear friends you well know that it becometh the Lord's people to speak the things which become sound doctrine that so we may stop the mouthes of all our adversaries for now is that day come that Paul speaks of 1 Tim. 4.3 For the time will come when they will not endure wholesome or sound doctrine but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they shall turn away their ears from hearing the truth then minde what such come to they shall be turned unto fables And it is the Apostles counsel to the Hebrews chap. 3.1 2. Take heed brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God and for your direction herein minde vers 13. But exhort one another dayly while it is called to day lest any of you be hardened through the deceit fulness of sin For vers 14. we are made partakers of Christ How if saith the Apostle we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end For as it is plainly laid down in this Chapter That the unbelieving Israelites came short of temporal Canaan so without question will it be with all those now that turn back from the holy Commandments delivered unto them For the just shall live How by faith but if any man draws back What follows my soul shall have no pleasure in him Heb. 10.38 And he that once puts his hand to the Lord's plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God And it is worth the observing how Paul tells the Romans chap. 1. 16. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to whom to every one that believeth minde that for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith and saith Paul as many as walk according to this rule peace be unto them And let us minde Paul's counsel Rom. 14.19 Let us therefore follow after the things that make for peace and things where with one may edifie another And as Paul advises the Church Phil. 4.8 Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any vertue it there be any praise think on these things those things you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do and the God of peace shall be with you And as Paul said to the Church at his departure Act. 20.32 so I say to you Brethren I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified And to thou Farnworth and the rest that walk up and down and live idly without a calling if you would observe the Scripture for your rule you would see what Paul saith 2 Thess 3.10 For even when we were with you this we commanded you that if any would not work he should not eat O see thy folly in going about to deceive which thou art not called to by God nor man according to the rule and what would be the condition of all people in our Nation if this were generally practised Certain CONSIDERATIONS and QUERIES Dear Brother in the Lord OUr neer relation that we have one to another in the bonds of the Gospel doth engage me to manifest my unfeigned love unto Christ and unto thee in answering thy desires in propounding some Queries by which we may examine and try the Spirits of these men who say they are Jews and are not that so they may be found liars and their falshood and folly may be made manifest and all that yet fear the Lord may beware of giving heed to their cunning-devised fables lest they be led away with the error of the wicked and so fall from their own stedfastness and to that end my desire is that they will consider their cunning craftiness wherewith they lie in wait to deceive by handling the word of God deceitfully sometimes denying it to be of any authority at all and sometimes confessing it to be indeed a declaration of the minde of God but nothing comparable to that light which is within them yet other times they will make use of it for their own ends that so they may as Paul saith by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple And therefore that their snares may be broken and poor souls delivered I shall commit certain things in the first place to their
words of one Foster to me at Coulton in Staffordshire who said It was all one to them if all Bibles were burnt as many of the Lord's people can witness But O you Saints of God! minde the progress of the Lords people how they followed after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness as Paul exhorts 1 Tim. 6.11 12. Again let us consider how patient Job was under the hand of the Lord saying The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord. And he is brought in by the Apostle James 5.10 Take my brethren the Prophets for an example of suffering affliction and of patience and how they are accounted happy that endure Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy to all them that wait patiently on him And so we finde David an excellent patern for obedience he made hast and delayed not to keep God's Commandments Psalm 119.60 O saith David how I love thy law it is my meditation all the day Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser then my enemies yea I have more understanding then my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation I understand more then the ancient because I have kept thy precepts I have refrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep thy word Thus dear Friends mind David and these men and you will finde they as far differ as light and darkness and if David had so much wisdom in this way of keeping God's Commandments and Ordinances of Christ Jesus are proud men and fools because they consent not to the wholsome words of Christ and to the Doctrine which is according to godliness he is proud or a fool as saith the margin 1 Tim. 6.3 4. O what will these scorners do when the Lord comes from Heaven with his Saints to render vengeance on all that know not God and obey not the Gospel minde that and you may easily see that all them that deride the Word and Ordinances of Christ under what term and title soever called whether Quakers Ranters or other Reproachers of God his Son his Saints his Ordinances and trample the Blood of Christ under their feet and do despight to the Spirit of Grace and sadden the hearts of his dear Ones and cause the Truth of God to be evill spoken of O to such I say it had been better for them that they had never known the way of Truth then after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them but it is happened unto them according to the true Proverb The dog is turned to his own vomit again and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire as saith the Apostle 2 Pet. 2.21 22. But O ye Saints and spiritual Christians who are troubled to hear the Truth of Christ abused by such men See what Paul's counsel is 2 Thess 1.7 To you who are troubled rest with us abide in the doctrine of Christ quit you like men be strong in the Lord labour to be stedfast unmoveable alwayes abounding in the work of the Lord for you know your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Rom. 1.15 58. The Lord hath promised to you such a reward that all these evil-speakers cannot rob you of And seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation on them that trouble you be incouraged to run the race that is set before you Follow the holy Commandments and the pattern of the Apostles as they followed Christ you may be born up above all the discouragements you meet with by such as speak evil of the holy Scripture and Ordinances which you own as a Rule to walk by for whatever is done against any of the Lord's people that are found doing his Commandments Jesus Christ will take all that is done against them as done to himself as you may see in that Acts 9. by the words Christ said to Saul for you are dear in his sight and are continually before him and his delight is with you his heart is towards you there shall be no want to them that fear him Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter into the gates through the city But O Farnworth and those with thee that so impudently boast of perfection and judge all to be in darkness that throw not away the rule of Truth as you do O call to mind your self-conceitedness Had you ever such ground of boasting as Job David Paul and John The Lord never said so of you or any that ever went your way as he saith of these men that you were after his heart as David or his chosen as Paul or his beloved Disciple as John or such a one for doing that which was good and hating that which was evil as Job that the Lord saith There was none like him in all the Land of Uz 〈…〉 Yet we do not finde any of these men thus justifie themselves as you do and they never judged so rashly of others as you do of all men that are not of your minde calling them carnal and saying that they are devils as I can shew under some of your hands surely you are coming on apace to them that say they are God but your glorying is not good for you glory in appearance having a kinde of voluntary humility but this will not stand you in stead because you go about to set up your selves and not the Lord your own way and not his way and therefore you are the greater Hypocrites And see what Iob saith of all such Iob 8.13 The hypocrites hope shall perish And Job 20.5 The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment And Solomon saith Prov. 11.9 An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour And do not you with your deluding tongues and out-side holiness throwing dirt in the face of Truth and as much as in you lies destroying all men by your Doctrine which had its rise from Hell and darkness and now raigns in the children of disobedience such as you who minde nothing less then the holy Commandments and Ordinances as they were delivered to the Saints and committed to faithful men and are of great use to all the Lord's people which word discovers all your wayes to be from Hell and darkness as in the following discourse it will be manifest that your Opinions are hatch'd in Hell and never came from above Whence Iames saith every good and perfect gift comes and then it will plainly appear that all that follow you are in the error and are under a great delusion to take your bare word for what you affirm yea though it cross the Scripture never so much But O consider ye poor deluded ones first The heart of man is deceitful above all things Jer. 17.9 Secondly He that trusteth his own heart is a fool Prov.
I said then that eminent Apostle John had And therefore thou dealest wickedly to say I brought it in to plead a continuance in sin surely that light which thou sayest is in thee is darkness else thou wouldst not have spoken thus falsly but having treated on this before I pass it by Again I said Where was your proof that you was in this condition Then he laid his hand on his heart and said I witness this Then I said to the people That to trust his own bare testimony without Scripture we should leave the word of God and trust the word of a man and so bring our selves under that curse Jer. 17.5 Cursed be he that trusteth in man And also said as Jeremiah saith in that 17 chap. The heart is deceitful And therefore it was good for us to try our own and others by the Scripture Read Prov. 28.26 Then thou Farnworth saidst I told thee of a Church in the world Answ Yea Christ had a Church in the world though not of the world but gathered out of the world and for the gathering of it did not the holy Ghost say Act. 13.2 Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them And I am sure that Paul makes this good by many Scriptures that he was a Planter of a visible Church But thou sayest in thy book That the Officers and Overseers of the Church of Christ were invisible and why because made by the holy Ghost which is invisible And here the Reader may plainly see thy folly for as I have already proved a visible Church so I will prove visible Officers as what was Paul and Barnabas but visible men else their enemies could not have persecuted them And read Acts 6.2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them By which it is plain this Church were made up of a visible company And the Apostle said unto them Look you out among you seven men of honest report full of the holy Ghost And the saying pleased the multitude and they chose Stephen with others who are said to be full of the holy Ghost So that it is a clear Truth That visible men were here found in this Church made visible Officers But Farnworth take heed of scorning so clear a Truth But one thing Reader I pray you observe if it be so as Farnworth saith That the Officers of the Church of Christ be invisible then by his own grant he is none because he is a visible man And here is his folly made manifest And also he denying a visible Church you may as plainly see from whence he is sent and whose errand he goes on not of Christ's errand for then his work would he do but it is plain he is of his Father the Devil who was a lyar from the beginning else he would never say that Christ had not a visible Church and say all Ordinances ceased when Christ ascended and that the Scripture would never bring a man to the knowledge of God and say that all Ordinances contained in the Scripture are carnal Again Farnworth saith in his Book That I said the Letter and the Spirit was inseparable I do not so wonder of his taking boldness to lye of me that dare so impudently lye of Christ and of his Word and Ordinances as he hath done But to answer to this thou chargest me with this I then said unto thee as I now say That the Word and Spirtt were one or inseparable and this I said I will prove by the word of God 1 John 5.7 For there are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one And further when I said this then thou Farnwarth pulledst out thy Bible and not before and laid it on the ground and saidst to the people If that be Spirit and Life it would rise it self I told thee at that time That what was contained in that book which it declared of and held out to us was Spirit and Life And here Reader take not my words but the words of Christ John 6.63 The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life minde that which Christ spake they are and compare this with Job 12.48 The words saith Christ that I have spoken minde that the same shall judge you at the last day which word is established in heaven and written for our learning and is a perfect rule for us to walk by and see what Paul saith Rom. 15.4 For whatever were written ofore time were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope And minde what Paul said to the Church Act. 20.32 at his departure Now brethren I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to make you wise to salvation and to build you up to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified And Paul commends Timothy that from a childe he had known the holy Scripture and which is very observable Paul presseth Timothy to continue in the things he had learned 2 Tim. 3.13 14 15 16. For saith he evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived And Farnworth it seems you have not learned to distinguish between Law and Gospel for I demand of thee where any of the words of Christ or his Apostles are called Letter see what Paul saith 2 Cor. 3.6 Our sufficiency is of God who hath made us able Ministers of the New Testament not of the letter that killeth but of the spirit that giveth life Now I am sure if Paul the other Apostles were alive you would call them Pharisees and outward Jews Ministers of the Letter and call Christ a Water-ma 〈…〉 r outside-washer as you call me for I am sure that they that carry on this work they have their rules from Christ and they are the onely wise men And this I say That for Baby-sprinklers and Tythe-takers and Parish-men we own no such thing and therefore let them runne in your number and ranke as men refusing and rejecting the holy Commandments and Ordinances of Christ as you do onely this I believe that many of them do what they do ignorantly but I fear you do wilfully speak against Truth But O you Scorners how long will you delight in your scorning to call the Holy Scripture a dead Letter and carnal as you do But to all of you that are contentious and do not obey the Truth of what ranke soever you be or by what name so ever called see your portion Rom. 2.8 Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that is contentious and doth not obey the truth And see what Paul saith 2 Thes 1.9 where he speaks of some men that shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power and minde who they are vers 8. Them that know not God and obey not the
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ O then what will you do that speak reproachfully against the Gospel of Christ But let me tell you it is not all your sayings that can put off or defer the Lord's coming and at that time shall the wicked be turned into hell and all the people that forget God Psal 9.17 with Psal 11.6 Then thou Farnworth saidst I called the Bible a History Now let the Reader minde how this hangeth together first he said I set up the Letter and made it one with the Spirit and now saith I call it a History Now Reader I will declare what I spake when I proved what I said all along by Scripture He said unto me That is Letter and that I had nothing to do with it being ignorant of the mystery Then I said What will you call this a History yet this I say That if there be a mystery in the Scripture then there must be a History wherein it is kept which doth declare of it read Ephes 5.31 32. For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh This is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and his Church Compare this with Col. 1.21 And you who were sometimes alienated and enemies in your minde by wicked works yet now he hath reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblamable and unreproveable in his sight vers 22. Whereof I am made a Minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you to fulfil the word of God vers 23. Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations but now is made manifest to his Saints to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory vers 26 27. Again God manifest in flesh is a mystery 1 Tim. 3.16 and the bringing in of the Gentiles into the Church to be of Christ's body is called a mystery read Ephes 3.3 4 5 6. and the word declares it Dear Friends minde the design of these men that do not onely destroy the Ordinances of Christ but Gospel-Order also as God is a God of order in all the Churches of the Saints and we finde that Christ came into all his Offices when he was on earth in an orderly way 1 John 5.6 This is he that came by water and bood even Jesus Christ not by water onely but by water and blood and it is the Spirit that beareth witness Now this must needs be the coming of Christ into his Offices for we know that his coming into the world was as a man and born of a Virgin but his coming into his Offices by water and blood is witnessed by the Spirit And first we will see how Christ came into his Prophetical Office and that is plain he came by Water and the Spirit bears witness to it see Matth. 3.13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan to John to be baptized of him And there you may further minde when John said I have need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me Jesus answered and said Suffer it to be so now for it becometh us minde not he onely but us that is to say all that will be followers of him What is it that becomes us to do To fulfil all righteousness Then he suffered him And see how the Spirit witnesses this orderly coming of Christ into his Prophetical Office v. 16. And when he was baptized he straight way went up out of the water minde that no Font nor Bason for that could not contain him as is well known And to the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove and lighting upon him And further see how the Father commendeth this righteous act in these words Thou art my well-beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased Here the Lord so fully declares him to be his Son in whom he is well-pleased as is not declared in the Scripture that ever he said so before though I grant that he were his beloved Son before though not so declared unto us till this obedience to this Ordinance And see Matth. 4.17 From that time Jesus began preach and to say Repent for the kingdom of God is nigh at hand See Christs second Office that is his Priestly Office and that he came into by his Blood Heb. 9.11 Christ is become an high Priest for ever of good things to come not by the blood of others but by his own blood vers 12. and this the Holy Ghost signified v. 8. And read Heb. 10.14 15. By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified whereof the holy Ghost is witness to us And his third Office namely his Kingly Office he came into at his Resurrection Matth. 28.18 All power is given to me in heaven and in earth And by vertue of this Authority he sends out his Apostles to teach all Nations baptizing them But you Farnworth and all those with you that go about to destroy order that will not come into the Prophetical Office as Christ came into his I dare be bold to say you are no Ministers of Christ but of Antichrist for you are self-called and not by the Church of Christ and speak visions of your own heart instead of the wholesome words of Christ Surely you would call Christ and his Apostles Water-men and outside-Washers if they were now on earth But you say You have the baptism of the Spirit and therefore the other is nothing to you Methinks you should grant that Christ had more of the Spirit 's baptism then ever you had and yet we finde it kept him not from Water-baptism but he layes a necessity of it Suffer it to be so now for it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness And we see Peter speaking to Cornelius and his houshold whom the Spirit was fallen upon as on the Apostles at the beginning Act. 11.15 yet this did not hinder them from Water-baptism but rather fitted them for it for saith Peter Act. 10.47 Can any man for bid water minde that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we And he commanded them to be baptized Without question if Peter were now alive you would say he were an Hypocrite and one that rested in the Letter but indeed you shew your selves to be no Messengers of Christ no not qualified as the Priests under the Law for they were such as could have compassion of the ignorant and of them that are out of the way but where is your pity and tenderness towards any that are not so black-mouth'd as you to rail against the Scripture and Ordinances as you do O poor Creatures this I say of you That ye be objects of pity and not of punishment for I believe That Christ will never account such worty
according to these Scriptures John 1.9 chap. 8.12 7. Whether did he not declare it and make it manifest to the sons of men both by his words and actions more then ever any man else could do according to these Scriptures Joh. 12.49 50. Whatsoever I speak therefore even as the Father said unto me so speak I and as the Father gave me commandment even so do I chap. 14.31 Again All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you chap. 15.15 8. Whether did not the Apostles of the Lord declare and testifie the same things to others that they heard and saw and learned of him according to these Scriptures 1 John 1.3 That which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you and Acts 20.27 Paul saith He had not shunned to declare unto them all the counsell of God 9. Whether we came to know any of these things that Christ or his Disciples did or whether we can know them but by the holy Scriptures or how can we know that either Christ or his Disciples were ever in the world but by the holy Scriptures consider and judge If these things be so 10. Then whether is there not a greater light shining to us in the face of Jesus Christ through the New Testament which he hath sealed with his own blood then we can possibly expect to come from the heart or brain of any man now living or to live untill Christ himself shall again appear 11. If a greater light now shineth through Christ by the New Testament then ever hath or by men or Angels can shine to the sons of men then whether is it not folly and madness for any man now to refuse this light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ to walk by the light and dictates of his own heart which is deceitful and desperately wicked who can know it Jer. 17.9 even as a man should light a candle to walk by when the sun shineth in his full strength 12. Whether may we not now according to Paul's directions Gal. 1.8 9. account all men or Angels accursed that refuse the light of the glorious Gospel thus shining unto us and chusing rather to walk by another that is to say by the light within them Lastly if the spirit of truth when it cometh into a soul shall lead him into all truth then whether may we not safely conclude that they have none of the spirit of God which err from the truth of the Gospel as it was once delivered to the Saints and under value those words of Christ which himself who had the spirit without measure said They are spirit and they are life and if they were not so to any man it was because they believed not John 6.63 64. For how can we know that the dead shall rise and come to judgemens but by the holy Scriptures of Truth This much by Henry Haggar a Servant of the Lord JESUS CHRIST and the Congregations of his Saints with a desire of an Answer by any who will or can POSTSCRIPT ALthough there is much spoken in the former part of the Book in answer to the vain conceit impudedent practise of these foolish men in using the term Thee and Thou to all single persons whatsoever by which they break the Commandment of the Lord which is That we give no offence to Jew nor Gentile nor to the Church of God Therefore I thought it fit to put down these following lines to make their folly manifest First They affirm that the word Thee and Thou is onely proper to a single person and none else in which they belye the Scriptures and deceive themselves and others as appeareth thus Deut. 25.17 18. Remember what Amalek did unto Thee how he met Thee by the way and smote the hindmost of Thee when Thou wast faint and weary c. Thus you see plainly the word Thee Thou is as well proper to thousands as to a single person see also 27.9 10. Secondly That the word or term You was used by Christ and that to a single person is evident Luk. 22.31 where Christ saith Simon Simon behold Satan hath desired to have You that he might sift You as wheat but I have prayed for Thee that Thy faith fail not Here we see that the Lord Christ used the word You as well as the word Thee to a single person by all which it is evident that it is no sin nor yet an improper speech and therefore the people of God may and ought to use it upon occasion and they which do affirm it to be a sin do blasphemously conclude that Christ was a sinner And thus is their folly made manifest Henry Haggar FINIS