of the Body of the Quakers in general And because the Image or Paper of Orders may be known to the Quakers in general I have here inserted it word for word with the names of the eleven Elders that signed it A Testimony from the Brethren who were met together at London in the third month 1666. to be communicated to the faithful Friends and Elders in the Countries by them to be read in their several Meetings and kept as a Testimony among them WE your Friends and Brethren whom God hath called to labour and watch for the Eternal good of your Souls at the time aforesaid being through the Lord's good hand who hath preserved us at liberty met together in his Name and Fear were by the Operation of the Spirit of Truth brought into a serious Consideration of this present state of the Church of God which in the day of her return out of the Wilderness hath not only many open but some Covert Enemies to Conflict against who are not afraid to speak evil of Dignities and despise Government without which we are sensible our Societies and Fellowship cannot be kept holy and inviolable Therefore as God hath put it into our hearts we do communicate these things following unto you who are turned from darkness to light and profess with us in the Glorious Gospel throughout Nations and Countries Wherein we have travelled as well for a Testimony against the unruly as to stablish and confirm them unto whom it is given to believe the Truth which is unto us very precious as we believe it is also unto you who in love have received it and understood the Principles and felt the Vertue and Operation of it In which our spirits breath that we all may be preserved until we have well finished our Course and Testimony to the honour and glory of our Lord God who is over all blessed for ever 1. We having a true sense of the working of the Spirit which under a Profession of Truth leads into a Division from and Exaltation above the Body of Friends who never revolted nor degenerated from their Principles and into marks of Separation from the constant Practice of good and anitient Friends who are found in the Faith once delivered to us And also unto a slight esteem of their Declarations or Preaching who have and do approve themselves as the Ministers of Christ and of the Meetings of the Lords People whereby and wherein Friends are and often have been preciously revived and refreshed And under pretence of keeping down Man and Forms doing down the Ministry and Meetings or encourage those that do the same We say the Lord giving us to see not only the working of that Spirit and those that are joyned to it that bring forth these ungrateful fruits but also the evil Consequence and Effects of it which are of no less importance than absolutely tending to destroy the Work of God and lay waste his Heritage We do unanimously being thereto encouraged by the Lord whose presence is with us declare and testifie That neither that Spirit nor such as are joyned to it ought to have any Dominion Office or Rule in the Church of Christ Jesus whereof the Holy Spirit that was poured forth upon us bath made us Members and Overseers Neither ought they to act or order the affairs of the same But are rather to be kept under with the power of God till they have an Ear open to Instruction and come into Subjection to the Witness of God of the encrease of whose Kingdom and Government there shall be no end 2. We do declare and testifie That that Spirit and those that are joyned to it who stand not in Vnity with the Ministry and Body of Friends that are constant and stedfast to the Lord and to his unchangeable Truth which we have received and are Witnesses of and Ambassadors have not any true Spiritual Right or Gospel-Authority to be Judges in the Church and as the Ministry of the Gospel of Christ so as to condemn you and their Ministry Neither ought their judgment to be any more regarded by Friends than the judgment of other Opposers who are without For of right the Elders and Members of the Church which keep their habitation in the Truth ought to judg matters and things that differ and their judgment which is so given therein ought to stand good and valued among Friends though it be kickt against and disapproved by them who have degenerated as aforesaid And we do further declare and testifie That it is abominable Pride which goeth before Destruction that so puffs up the mind of any particular that he will not admit of any judgment to take place against him For he that is not justified by the Witness of God in Friends is condemned by it in himself though being hardened he may boast over it in a false Confidence 3. If any difference arise in the Church or amongst them that profess themselves Members thereof We do declare and testifie That the Church with the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ have power without the assent of such as dissent from their Doctrine and Practices to hear and determine the same If any pretend to be of us and in case of Controversie will not admit to be tried by the Church of Christ Jesus nor submit to the judgment given by the Spirit of Truth in the Elders and Members of the same but kick against their judgment as only the judgment of Man it being manifested according to Truth and consistent with the Doctrine of such good antient Friends as have been and are found in the Faith agreeable to the Witness of God in his People Then we do testifie in the Name of the Lord if that judgment so given be risen against and denied by the party condemned then he or she and such as so far partake of their sins as to countenance and encourage them therein ought to be rejected And having err'd from the Truth persisting therein presumptuously are joyned in one with HEATHENS and INFIDELS 4. We do declare That if any go abroad hereafter pretending to that weighty Work and Service who either in Life or Doctrine grieve good Friends that are stedfast in the Truth sound in the Faith so that they are not manifest in their Consciences but disagree to the Witness of God in them Then ought they whatever have been their Gifts to leave them before the Altar and forbear going abroad and ministring until they are reconciled to the Church and have the Approbation of the Elders and Members of the same And if any that have been so approved of by the Church do afterwards degenerate from the Truth and do that which tendeth to Division and countenance Wickedness and Faction as some have done then the Church hath a true Spiritual Right and Authority to call such to Examination and if they find sufficient cause for it by good testimony may judg them unfit for the Work of Gods Ministry whereof they
by some evident proof either from the Spirit of Truth or the Scriptures of Truth and if you cannot prove your Doctrine and the setting up of your Image Orders and comely Forms as you call them in those which you call your Churches either from the Scriptures of Truth or by the Spirit of Truth and so prove them by Revelation from God and make God to be Author of your false Doctrines and also the Father of your Image otherwise they must be held forth and also managed by Satan in you transformed into an Angel of Light But now I do believe that those Doctrines and Practices of yours which I have writ against were never revealed to you from Heaven by the Spirit of God but they rose out of Hell Now in page the eighth of your Book you write against me because I deny the Resurrection of the Power or the arising of the Seed or God in Man the which Doctrines I did deny in my first Book and do still deny them for it was neither the Seed nor God that fell from Heaven into Bondage and Captivity in the Sons and Daughters of Man but it was the first Man Adam that fell both Soul and Body and we were his Generation having been in the Fall as well as he And you also say that Christ descended to bring Man out of the Fall Then according to your own confession it is the first Man Adam which God created and made that fell into Transgression so then it both was and is the first Man Adam that is to be both quickned and also raised by the Spirit of Life that never sinned the which is God manifesting himself in these earthly Tabernacles by his own Spirit But now the Holy Ghost never descended into the Virgins Womb for the raising the Seed or God out of Bondage and Captivity but the Spirit of God doth descend in the Sons and Daughters of Men for the bruising the Serpents Head and for raising and bringing of them both Soul and Body to an enjoyment of God again But yet I do own the Power to be both the Resurrection and the Life as he is in himself and he is also Mans Resurrection and Life as he comes to believe in the Light and obey it so Man comes to be quickned and also raised from under the Power of Death by the Spirit of Life and so brought into an enjoyment of Light and Life again For the Seed did never descend in Man for the quickning and raising up of the Seed in Man neither doth the Spirit of God descend to raise up God in Man nor yet Christ within never descended to raise up the Spirit of Christ in Man Now you do suppose the Resurrection of the Power because the Light descends and appears to Man whilst he is in the Fall but yet it abides not with Man whilst he is in the Fall but only to convince him of his Sin and also to condemn him for it But now if Man hears the Spirit and believes in the Light and obeys it then Man is both Quickned and Raised and brought up to God again by him who is both the Resurrection and the Life Wherefore now look back and remember that God called to Adam in the cool of the Day after he had eaten of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledg and had broke the Command of God then God cursed the Serpent and also drove Adam out of the Garden because of his Sin and Transgression And he also placed a flaming Sword against him But still God abode in the Garden in Dominion over all to Adams Condemnation But now in page the ninth of your Book in contradiction to what I have written you say If God be above in all the Sons and Daughters of Men he is taken in his proper place and the Devil is in his and I might have spared my pains But now I did never read or heard that God was out of his proper place for God is in his proper place and his Throne is established in Justice and Judgment over wicked Men to their Condemnation Psalm 11. as well as in Love and Mercy over those that hear him and obey him But now the Devil and Man both left their Place and Habitation in God and the Serpent hath had the Dominion over Man and Woman for the Scripture saith Darkness hath covered the Earth and gross darkness the People And because the Prophet saith Behold I am pressed as a Cart is pressed with Sheaves Again because the Scripture saith Let God arise and his Enemies shall be scattered therefore you do conclude and also believe that the Seed of God is underneath and must arise And indeed I once heard once Preach and in his Declaration did exhort all that had believed to feel God to arise and none to keep him down from which I do conclude thus much that the Creature is in dominion over his Creator and also hath Power to keep him down And another said All feel God to arise and take the Dominion over all which doth conclude that he is not yet in Dominion over all But now consider a little Wherefore did God swer in his Wrath that Israel should not enter into his rest And why did God strive with the old World by his Spirit was it because his Spirit was in Bondage and Captivity in them and so stood in need of help and deliverance from them Or wherefore did God strive with us by his Spirit in our youthful days was it because his Spirit or Seed was in Bondage and Captivity in us and so stood in need of our help to raise him up out of Bondage and Captivity or was it not we that were in Bondage and Captivity both Soul and Body being under the Power of Death and Darkness and so stood in need both of help and deliverance by the Spirit of God for the Apostle saith Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee Light So then it is we that have slept the sleep of Death that are to be awakened and also quickned and it is not the Seed nor God that is to be quickned nor yet that are to arise out of Bondage and Captivity in the Sons and Daughters of Men. Therefore you must find out some other interpretation for these Scriptures For is it not written that the Seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head then must not the Seed of the Woman be uppermost and above the Serpents Head in all the Sons and Daughter of Men for the Seed of the Serpent as it is written shall but bruise his Heel And is it not also written that God is the higher Power and every Soul must be subject to him And in page 10. of your Book you say that I do deny the travelling Seed Now this I do deny that neither the Seed nor God in Man travels for their own deliverance because that neither God nor yet his Spirit were ever in Bondage or
and Women die and Soul and Body parts whether the Soul doth ascend above the visible Heavens to an Injoyment of Glory or whether it shall descend into Hell a Place of Misery and Torment 6. Whether you do believe the Resurrection of all the visible Bodies that have died ever since our first Parents Adam and Eve yea all that were before Noah's Flood and all the World that was drowned at the Flood yea and all the visible Bodies of Men and Women which have died both by Sea and Land from a day old to the longest age that ever Man lived and that every one of these visible Bodies shall arise and come to Judgment and receive their Reward in Misery and Torment or else in Glory and Happiness each one according to their deeds done in the Body yea Children that never knew what Sin was nor yet what their Souls and Bodies were 7. And whether you do believe that Christ shall descend from above the visible Heavens where the Priests and Professors and Rome also believe he now sitteth and from thence he shall descend with his visible Body and shall come and judge the World both Men Women and Children 8. And whether you do believe that this visible Earth shall be destroyed by fire and that the visible Heavens shall also melt with fervent heat Now Friends seeing you do not deny some of the Doctrines of the Church of Rome nor yet of the Priests of England but only that which is Antichristian and these are those Doctrines that both the Priests and Professors own Wherefore I would desire you to give forth a plain Answer both to the World and me also which of these fore-mentioned Doctrines are according to the Truth and which of them are Antichristian and Erroneous so write an Answer in plain words that every one that can read may come to understand for the Truth is not ashamed of the Articles of its Faith Now in pag. 11 of your Book you say that I do exclude the Manhood Now I do not exclude the Manhood out of his Place for the visible Man Christ was the Son of God by generation from God full of Grace and Truth But yet there is a Distinction to be made betwixt the Godhead and the visible Body in which the Godhead dwelt for Christ himself made a Distinction and said that his Father was greater than he And again he said My Doctrine is not mine but his that sent me And he said to the Jews Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up again Now they had no power to destroy the Godhead that dwelt in the Temple that both was and is a thing impossible Now you say in pag. 12 of your Book That I contradict my self because that I said that the Man in the Mystery was the Womans Part that was his Soul and Body Now the Mystery that dwelt in Christ's Body that was the Godhead and the Godhead died not as I writ in my Answer to the Baptist Now as Christ was God or the Seed of God or the Son of God by generation from God he never died for the Holy Ghost died not neither had the Devil power to tempt him as he was God for God cannot be tempted as saith the Scripture But as he was the Son of Mary the Devil had power to present Temptations to his Soul even whilst his Soul dwelt in the Godhead But the visible Manhood which was the Seed of the Woman as well as the Seed of God who dwelt in the Godhead he was impowered by the Godhead to bruise the Serpents head in all his appearances and temptations and so the Seed of the Woman did bruise the Serpents head and so he never came under the Devil's power where both we and our first Parents Adam and Eve have been So that Christ as he was Man of the substance of his Mother he died but as he was God and of the substance of his Father he died not for the Godhead died not But as for our Souls and Bodies they like Eve their Mother have been in Transgression but as for Christ's Soul and Body it never consented to Sin nor yet joyned to the Spirit of Corruption And again you say His goings were of old from everlasting Friends are not the Lords goings by his universal Spirit among the Gentiles the same now as they were in the days of Abraham for then God appeared to Abimelech King of the Philistines by his Spirit in the night and was not he a Gentile as well as we and did not God by his Spirit make known Himself to Job and Elihu were not they Gentiles And had not the Samaritans the Spirit of God in the Days of Christ's Flesh as well as we have it now And was God not to be worshipped in his own Spirit then as Christ said to the Woman of Samaria And in pag. 12 of your Book you say that Christ's Blood had a Testimony in it towards the Remission of Sins So then according to your own words there was no real Remission of Sin by Christ's Blood that was shed upon the Ground Then I would desire to know what benefit the Gentiles have by that Blood if they had not real Remission of Sins by Christ's Blood that was shed upon the Cross without he Gates of Jerusalem And in pag. 13 of your Book you say that I do not tell you by whom Eve conceived the Man of Sin who was the Son of Perdition But now I will tell you by whom Eve conceived it was by the Serpent who had a Conception in her Soul when his Temptation entred her and the same Spirit of Darkness that brought Death over her hath brought Death over us we having been the Children of Adam and Eve in the Fall and having been captivated by the same Spirit of Darkness as they were And you also write against me because I said there are two Christs Now did not the true Christ say that there shall be false Christs and they are the Sons of Perdition who are one with the Spirit of Antichrist And are there not two Spirits two Powers two Gods two Princes two Mysteries And is not the one Light and the other Darkness The one is called the true Christ and the other is the false Christ which is Antichrist And yet they bear all one Name in Words although they be different in Works And you also say that I do directly oppose the Scripture to say that Christ came not of David nor Israel Now the words in my Book pag. 23 run thus Now Christ be neither came of David nor yet of Israel according to the Flesh not as to his outward appearance as he was a visible Man but he came of David and Israel both according to the Spirit And in the 18 Page of my Book it is written thus Now Christ he was not the Son of David by generation from David as he was a visible Man for Mary she was a Virgin and
have rendred themselves unworthy and so put a stop to their proceedings therein And if they submit not to the judgment of the Spirit of Christ in his People then ought they publickly to be declared against and warning given to the Flock of Christ in their several Meetings to beware of them and to have no fellowship with them that they may be ashamed and Lambs and Babes in Christ preserved 5. And if any man or woman which are out of the Unity with the Body of Friends print or cease to be printed or published in writing any thing which is not of service for the Truth but tends to the scandalizing and reproaching of faithful Friends or to beget or uphold Division and Faction then we do warn and charge all Friends that do love Truth as they desire it may prosper and be kept clear to beware and take heed of having any hand in printing republishing or spreading such Books or Writings And if at any time such Books be sent to any of you that sell Books in the Country after that you with the advice of good and serious Friends have tried them and find them faulty to send them back again whence they come And we further desire from time to time faithful and sound Friends may have the view of such things as are printed upon Truth 's account as formerly it hath used to be before they go to the Press that nothing but what is sound and savory and that will answer the Witness of God even in our Adversaries may be exposed to publick view 6. We do advise and counsel That such as are made Overseers of the Flock of God by the Holy Spirit and do watch for the good of the Church meeting together in their respective places do set and keep the affairs of it in good order beware of admitting or encouraging such as are weak and of little faith to take such trust upon them for by hearing things disputed that are doubtful such may be hurt themselves and may hurt the Truth not being grown into a good understanding to judge of things Therefore we exhort That you who have received a true sense of things be diligent in the Lord's business and keep the Meetings as to him that all may be kept pure and clean according to that of God which is just and equal We also advise That not any be admitted to order Publick business of the Church but such as have felt in a measure of the Universal Spirit of Truth which seeks the destruction of none but the general good of all and especially of those that love it who are of the Houshold of Faith So dear Friends and Brethren believing that your Souls will be refreshed in the sense of our spirits and integrity towards God at the reading of these things as ours were while we sate together at the opening of them and that you will be one with us on the behalf of the Lord and his precious Truth against those who would limit the Lord to speak without Instruments or by what Instruments they list and reject the Counsel of the Wise-men and the Testimony of the Prophets which God sanctified and sent among you in the day of his Love when you were gathered and would not allow him liberty in and by his Servants to appoint time and place wherein to meet together to wait upon and worship him according as he requireth in Spirit and calling it Formal and the Meeting of Man We say believing that you will have Fellowship with us herein as we have with you in the Truth we commit you to God and the Word of Life which hath been preached to you from the beginning which is neither limited to place nor time nor persons but hath power to limit us to each as pleaseth him that you with us and we with you may be built up in our most holy Faith and be preserved to partake of the Inheritance which is heavenly amongst all them that are sanctified Richard Farnsworth Alexander Parker George Whitehead Josiah Coale John Whitehead Thomas Loe Stephen Crispe Thomas Green John Moon Thomas Briggs James Parkes This Book is given forth from one who hath born the Name of a Quaker this twenty years and more who was a Son of Adam by generation in the Fall but now an Informer against Antichrist in his Ministers and also a Member of the visible Creation amongst the Sons of Men wherein God dwells called by the Name of Jeffery Bullock This Book was given forth by Jeffery Bullock whose outward Being is in Sudbury in Suffolk in the Year 1677.
Captivity but Man both Soul and Body hath been under the Bondage of Corruption So it is we that are to be delivered out of Bondage and Captivity it s we that are to make War in the Spirit against the Power of darkness and also to travel in the Spirit that so by the Spirit of God we may come to be delivered from the Power of Death and brought into the liberty of the Sons of God for they that overcome as he overcame in the days of the Flesh they shall inherit all things Now the Son of Righteousness did arise among the Jews according as it is written with healing under his wings According to the promise of God to his Prophets of old that so he might put an end to all those things by which they did expect healing or remission of Sins Now in page 7 of your Book you write against me because I said the Books were paid for out of the Poors Collection Now as concerning the Quakers buying of the Books when I first opposed the thing which is about three years ago or more since I opposed the buying of them but if the Quakers had continued their buying of them still then you should not have needed to have ordered that they should be paid for out of the Poors Collection but the thing was true and I can prove it out of some of their own Mouths And in the same page of your Book you say that I contend against the Truth and yet you say that I am crying up the Light Is not the Light and the Truth all one And is not this Confusion in Babylon Take it into your Consideration and let God's Witness judg And in Page 9 of your Book you say that he that was dead is alive and is risen over Death and Hell Now God who both was and is a Spirit was never dead for he is without beginning of Dayes or end of Life But now we have been dead as to the enjoyment of the Spirit of Life in us for the Power of Death and Hell hath had Dominion over us both Soul and Body and Understanding but yet the Power of Death was never over nor yet above the Spirit of God in us neither was ever God or Christ under the Power of Death and Hell in us Wherefore it is neither God nor Christ that is to arise in us but we are to be raised by the Arm of his Power revealed from Heaven And again you say his Power is risen in thousands Now I do believe many have been quickned and also raised by his Power from under Deaths Power For the Lords Spirit or Trumpet hath sounded and the dead have heard it As the Apostle saith Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee Light And you say in pag. 11. Was not that the Light of the World that died by which Men are condemned Now Christ said of Himself in the Days of his Flesh I am the Light of the World And his holy Life was a Witness to his Words as he was a Man begotten by the Spirit of God and he also said of his Disciples ye are the Light of the World but yet they were not the Salvation of the Ends of the Earth But now God saith Look unto me all ye Ends of the Earth and be saved for I am God and besides me there is no Saviour Isa 43. and 45 chap. and Hos 13.4 And it is God that shews to Man his Thoughts as saith the Scripture Now Christ as he was the Son of Mary died he being made of a Woman made under the Law died to redeem them from the Law that were under the Law The which Law or Dispensation the Gentiles were never under nor yet had any Command for the Observation of them But now Christ as he was God by generation from God he died not for the Godhead died not as I have formerly written And the same God that ever was a Saviour and Salvation to the Ends of the Earth now is and not another and his Appearance throughout all Ages among the Gentiles hath been by his Spirit to the Gentiles the which Spirit Law or Light within both was and is the Gentiles Schoolmaster and Rule to walk by And in pag. 10. you query How came the War in Heaven if the Devil could never get into Heaven Now as concerning my Saying that the Devil could never get up into Heaven the thing both was and is true I or Christ in the days of his Flesh he then dwelt in Heaven and in the Power of his Father made war against every Temptation of the Man of Sin and so in the Power of his Father he kept him out of Heaven and so did John who was born of the Spirit of God And as concerning the Scripture saying that the Devil is exalted above all in the Temple of God above all that is called God Christ saith to the Jews Is it not written in your Law I said ye are Gods And Moses was to be instead of a God to Aaron as saith the Scriptures But now the Devil he hath been exalted in the Temple of God above all that is called God or that is called of God or made by the Power of God in the Temple of God but yet he is not exalted above God Himself And You say We are glad for the Truth and our sakes that I printed what I did print And you say That the true Doctrine that Rome and the Priests own you own it also but the Antichristian Doctrine you deny Well Friends if this Doctrine be true that Rome and you own that is to say Justification and Condemnation by him that died without the Gates of Jerusalem then without any further dispute your Image must down For your Image saith That he that is not justified by the Witness of God in Friends is condemned So this Doctrine can never stand for Rome and you say both that Justification and Condemnation is by that Christ that died But and if the Old Christ keeps his Dominion and Authority as to the Justifying of People then your new invented Doctrine and Image can never stand opon its feet long Wherefore Friends seeing you do acknowledge to own some of Romes and also of the Priests Doctrine I query of you Whether you do own these following Doctrines which Rome and the Priests of England do own 1. Whether the Kingdom of Heaven be above the visible Firmament And also Hell to be underneath the visible Earth which Men walk upon 2. Whether Christs visible Body that once was upon the Earth be now above in the visible Heavens at the right hand of his Father and there making Intercession to God his Father for Sinners 3. Whether there be three Persons as Father Son and Holy Ghost which they call the Trinity above the visible Heavens 4. Whether you do believe that the Souls of Men Women and Children be immortal and shall abide for ever 5. Whether when Men