nor stood in his Counsel therefore have they not profitted the people nor turned them from the evil of their wayes neither are they brought to the knowledge of the Truth by which Freedom and Redemption is witnessed So their Preaching is vain and their Faith is vain and they remain in their sins which separates them from God and are dead while they live and are unrestored and unreconciled and have no assurance of their eternal wel-being And when any comes into a serious Consideration and unto a true sence of the sad state they are in and how they have lived and spent their time all their Life long Then Judgment and Wrath Condemnation and Pangs and the Sorrows of Hell conpasseth them about and then seeing themselves in the perishing state are even at their wits end yet these things they consider not in the time of their prosperity Wherefore all people every where who desire to come out of these Distractions and Confusions and Hurryings and Contentions about Faith and Worship and Ordinances and out of the Pollutions which the World lives in and to come into the Spiritual Worship which is in the Spirit and in the Truth To you I say that is the Spirit of Truth in you all in which God will be worshipped which reproves you of sin in your hearts and as you come into obedience to that it will bring you into the Spiritual Worship For the Spiritual Worship consisteth in Obedience to the Spirit and this is the everlasting Ordinance of God viz. Christ the Light the quickening Spirit for him hath God ordained of old to all that believe and work Righteousness for Salvation So all being exercised in the Light and with the quickning Spirit here you are exercised in the Ordinance of God and here the living Substance is known in which the Shadows Types and Figures end And here the Hand-writing of Ordinances is blotted out And here the Law ends which was contained in Ordinances mark that in Christ the everlasting Ordinance Concerning FAITH ANd the Living FAITH which gives the Saints victory over the World this cometh by hearing of the Word which is nigh unto you all even in your hearts and in your mouthes and as every one comes to hear and obey it you will thereby be begotten in the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints by which they wrought Righteousness and that is the Faith which giveth victory over the World and which worketh by love for the purifying of the Conscience from dead works to serve the living God and without this Faith it is impossible to please God for whatsoever is not of Faith is sin So search your selves and see whether you are in this Faith yea or nay or whether your Faith be not a dead Faith For that which doth not lead to work righteousness is a dead faith for as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also yet by works only there is none justified and faith without works is dead for the Faith of Abraham wrought with works and by works Faith is made perfect So let not any deceive themselves with a fained faith or framed in the imagination for that is a vain faith and not able to save you Also beware that your Faith towards God be not taught by the Precepts of men for that will stand you in no stead neither will it give you victory over the Pollutions of the World nor purifie your hearts from sin Wherefore mind the Word which is nigh by the hearing of which Faith cometh even the Living Faith by which the Just live which was once delivered to the Saints and which we earnestly content for Concerning HOPE ANd the living Hope which maketh not ashamed but puryfieth the heart even as God is pure This is not witnessed nor known but through the tribulation patience in the experimental working and operation of the Spirit of Life in the inward parts and Word of Life For by the Word of God which lives and abides for ever are we begotten again unto a lively Hope which we have for an anchor both sure and stedfast in all our Tryals and tossings and hurryings which we meet withal in the World and amongst the hypocritical Professors thereof whose Hope will perish in the day when the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven upon all who hold the Truth in unrighteousness But he whose Hope is begotten by the operation of the Word and Spirit of Life even he it is that purifies himself even as God is pure So all who desire the Way of Life to knowe and to walk in the Path of Peace which the Worker of Iniquity knows not I say unto you all it is in the midst of the Paths of Judgment which Christ the Light the wisdom of God leads unto So every one the light in your own Consciences minde wherewith Christ Jesus the Son of the Fathers love hath enlightened you and as you Wait in it you will finde it checking and reproving you for sin and iniquity in the secret of your hearts and Consciences and as every one comes to be guided by this Light which is the way it will be an infallible guide unto you to lead you in the way of Righteousness and in the midst of the paths of Judgment and the worker of iniquity you will see judged in your own particulars daily and the Prince of this World will come to be cast out as you dwell in the Judgment and this is the way whereby Sion comes to be redeemed Wherefore dwell in that which judgeth the man of sin in your own particulars and joyn not to that Nature which would lead to work iniquity or unrighteousness but joyn to that which in your own particulars judgeth it and here the Cross you will know which the whole World are Strangers to and then the Old man will come to be weakened and to be put off with his deeds that the New man be put on which is created in Righteousness and true Holiness but this work is not wrought nor effected but though many Combats Trials and great Tribulations which formerly you were not acquainted with while you were lead captive at the Devils will and followed his lusts and the strong man armed kept the house then all was at peace but when the stronger is come the other must be bound and a spoil of his goods must be made and his heritage must be laid waste for the coming of the second Adam Christ Jesus the Light of the World is not to send Peace on Earth but a Sword and then you will hear of Wars and rumors of Wars see then that ye be not troubled for these are but the beginning of sorrow but the end is not yet So as every one are exercised with the Spirit of Truth in your own particulars which reproves you of sin this will lead you into all truth and to work Righteousness and will bring you to fulfil the Royal Law and
earnestly contend for But J. N. by this Assertion signifies that he is a Stranger to the Power of God in which true Faith standeth and therefore we may rationally conclude That he is also Reprobate concerning that Faith which Christ the Power of God is the Author and Object of Fourthly He saith It denyeth the Comforts of Faith for all Comforts that Faith can bring to the soul must be brought from the Promises of God according as they are laid down in the Scripture c. Answ Here J.N. absolutely limits God without any Ground or Reason or Warrant for so doing as though God who is the Fountain of all true Comfort could not convey true Comfort to the soul of a Believer by his Faith but he must first fetch it from the Scripture and so in effect the Scripture must be set above God or at least in the Place of God But what Scripture J. N. hath to prove this his absurd Affirmation I know not he hath produced none to prove that nor indeed any of the sad Consequences which he saith will follow the denying the Scriptures to be the Word of God and Perfect Rule c. we have only his bare word for it but whether that be of sufficient authority to enduce us to believe his Assertions I leave to the juditious Reader to judge seeing that Christ said to the Woman of Samaria That the Water that he would give should be in him that received it as a Well springing up to Eternal Life Joh. 4.14 again Joh. 7.38 39. said He that believeth on Me as the Scripture hath said out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of Living Water But this spake-he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive Mark Reader The Spirit that they should receive that believed on him and whose Faith stood in the Power of God was that Living Water that should be in them springing up unto Eternal Life or that should flow up in them through Faith and this Comfort their Faith did not fetch from Scripture but by their Faith was known to dwell in them as their Everlasting Comforter that was to abide with them forever even the Spirit of Truth according as Christ promised Jo. 14.16 17. so that to deny the Scripture to be the Word is not to deny the Comforts of Faith because that the true Comforter was known by Faith and is known by Faith to remain though the Scripture may be taken away and yet it doth not deny the Comfort of the Scripture neither unto those who have the understanding thereof Fifthly J. N. saith It destroyes the Support and Supplies of Grace to the soul in a time of Affliction c. and to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God is to deny the very Foundation and Well-spring of Comforts to the soul in Affliction which is brought out of the Promises in the Scriptures to the soul c. Answ This Assertion is like the former only the last part thereof somewhat more gross Blasphemy without any Scripture Argument to prove any part thereof only his own Assertion as in the rest though full contrary to the Testimony of the Prophet who speaking of the Affliction of the soul said When the Enemy shall come in like a Flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a Standard against him That was the Support and Relief of the soul in the time of its Affliction according to the Prophets Testimony and the same Support the Children of Light do still witness whose Faith stands in the Power of God and whose Trust is in that Name which is a strong Tower And for his calling the Scriptures the very Fountain and Well-spring of Comforts c. It s gross Blasphemy and a Robbing of God who is a Spirit and who is the Fountain of all Good whose Spirit as before shewed is in them that believe as a Well springing up unto Eternal Life for the Scriptures no where call themselves the Fountain nor have the holy Men of God so called them but they testifie of him-who is the Fountain of all Good Neither are they in them selves any where called the Well-spring of Comforts but they testifie of the Spirit of Truth the Comforter that it shall be in them that believe a Well springing up unto Eternal Life so that J. Newman to make good his Argument if he could Blasphemously putteth the Dead Letter in the place of God and in the place of the Living Spirit Sixthly He saith It denieth the Knowledge of Acceptance with God for if the Scriptures be deny'd to be the Word of God then who knoweth what God will accept c and who knoweth what God counteth sin and wickedness c. Answ To which I answer This is in part answer'd already for Enoch c. had this Testimony That he pleased God Heb. 11.5 before the Scriptures were written and that Testimony was the Seal of Acceptance with God which I dare affirm every true Believer will acknowledge and this Testimony of Acceptance he did not receive from Scripture for there was none but he obtain'd it by Faith which the Word that was in the Beginning was the Author of as the Apostle said He that believes hath the Witness in himself 1 Joh. 5.10 by which it appears That the Knowledge of Acceptance or the Seal of being Well-pleasing unto God is not the Scriptures but the Spirit of Faith But that J. N. and others may see the Confusion that he runs into while he is fighting against the Truth I insert his own words in the 77th page of his Book and compare them with this Assertion he saith I shall freely own the giving forth of his blessed Spirit into the Hearts of his Children whereby they are directed into his Most Holy Will by the enlightening of their spirits by that Holy Spirit of Promise by which they know their Adoption and also by the same Spirit can own God to be their Father c. Thus far are his own words by which the Reader may easily judge whether or no J-N. doth not speak absolutely contrary to the Belief or Perswasion of his mind in saying If the Scriptures be deny'd to be the Word of God it denieth the Knowledge of Acceptance and who then knoweth what God accounteth sin and wickedness c. I say let the Reader but compare his Confession concerning the Spirit with his Assertion concerning the Scripture and he shall see his Contradition sufficiently for if the giving forth of the Spirit directeth into the Knowledge of the Most Holy Will of the Father then by the same Spirit what is contrary to that must absolutely be known also and how then can it be said that without Scriptures be owned to be the Word of God the Ground of the Knowledge of Acceptance with God is deny'd seeing that which manifests the will of the Father manifests that which is acceptable to him and thereby it s known And all this may be known by the Spirit
will follow denying the Scripture to be the Word of God Without this saith he we know not that there is any God or Christ c. neither do we know what God counteth unclean or what he counteth holy c. Answ If by what God counteth Unclean and what Holy he meaneth the things appertaining to the Life and Conversation of People then the denial of Scripture to be the Word of God doth not hinder People from knowing what is Unclean and what is Holy Notwithstanding we cannot own the Scriptures to be the Word yet we own that to be unclean which is so accounted in the Scriptures of Truth in the Gospel Dispensation and that to be holy which in them is so accounted and that the one ought to be chosen and the other refused but if there were no Scriptures in beeing yet are people in the same capacity to receive the Knowledge of those things as they were before the Scriptures were written or as the Gentiles were who had not the outward Law yet in Life and Conversation shewed forth the Works of the Law that was written in their Hearts and if those Gentiles were now here they would condemn the Ignorance of J. N. who saith Without Scripture none know whether there be a God or what he counteth Unclean and what Holy For all the Heathen Poets and Philosophers who had not the Scriptures generally acknowledged a Supream Power and Beeing which all were to be subject to some calling of it by one name and some another but while they acknowledged the thing it is sufficient to signifie that if the Scriptures were not in beeing yet People might know that there is a God And they are not only in the capacity that the Gentiles were who knew and confessed That there was a God and shew'd forth the Works of the Law written in their Hearts but also in the capacity that the Fathers of old were who did not only know that there was a God but knew the only true God and were the acceptable Worshippers of him before Scriptures were written And these things I speak not in the least to under-value the Scriptures or out of a slight esteem of them for they are very profitable for Instruction c. and so I own them and have great esteem of them yet if people have no more Knowledge then what they carnally receive therefrom I may say as the Apostle said That what they know they know naturally as bruit Beasts and indeed knew nothing as they ought to know And those that he thus spake to had the Scriptures that were then in beeing yet had not the Knowledge of God which he spoke to their shame 1 Cor. 15.34 So that the End of my thus speaking is to enduce people not to rest in a Notional or Traditional Knowledge concerning God which is fecht into the Comprehension out of Scripture by the Wisdom that is from below but that all may encline unto the Inspiration of the Almighty which giveth Knowledge and wait in the Light which shineth in the Darkness or take heed unto the Word in the Heart as unto a Light that shines in a Dark place until the Day-star arise there that will expel the Darkness by which the Understanding hath been clouded and until the Light shine out of the Darkness which gives the Knowledge of the glory God in the Face of Christ Jesus And this is that Knowledge which is saving and is of concernment for all to come to because whatsoever notional Knowledge they have they that have not the Knowledge of God shall be punished with Everlasting Destruction from his Presence 2 Thes 1.8 9. Ninthly And Lastly J. N. saith That to deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God c. is to leave men to walk by Fancy or Imagination leaving that holy Rule wherein Life and Salvation is declar'd c. Answ This is but like the rest viz. His own Assertion without farther Proof But whether denying the Scriptures to be the Word of God be to deny them to be believed as containing true Testimonies concerning the Word for so I have alwayes owned them I may leave to the Reader to judge and how it leaves men to walk by Fancy or Imagination while J. N. himself saith That the Blessed Spirit directeth into the Knowledge of the most holy Will of the Father and that thereby the Adoption is known and God owned c. seems very strange for the Light and Spirit reproves all Imaginations and Fancies and leads into all Truth those who receive the Reproofs and Instructions thereof And therefore the denying of the Scripture to be the Word while the Word in the Heart which the Scripture testifieth of is owned people are not left to walk by Imagination but by the Word which is a Light to the Feet of those who take heed unto their Wayes according to the leadings of it And the Help and Comfort that is to be found in the Scriptures People are not depriv'd of neither though they are not owned to be the Word So that J. N. hereby and others may see plainly that those sad consequences do not follow the denying the Scriptures to be the Word of God and Rule c. as J. N. vainly imagin'd and boldly without Proof affirmed And what do all those Affirmations signifie more then this That J. Newman for all his large Profession of Knowledge and Understanding is ignorant of the Holy Spirit Power and Word of God without which none can be born again And so himself is found in the Unregenerate-state and worshipping according to the oldness of the Letter a Blind Leader of the Blind which all are to beware of for its such that lead people captive laden with Sins and divers Lusts alwayes learning but never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth which sets free and which sanctifieth which is the Word as Christ said John 17.17 but labours to keep them from enclining to the sanctifying Word which the Prophet declared should be their Teacher which their Ears would hear behind saying This is the Way walk in it when they turn to the Right-Hand or to the left Isa 30.21 And thus having briefly gone through with the principal Scriptures and Arguments produced by him to prove the Scriptures to the Word of God and Perfect Rule c. and with the sad Consequences which he affirmed would follow by denying of them so to be I shall leave it to the Reader to judge 1st Whether the Word so oft spoken of as before may be understood to be the Scripture or 2dly Whether that Word may not be understood to be that which was before the Scriptures were written which so oft-times came unto the Prophets by vertue of which they gave forth the Scriptures and 3dly Whether the Rule of the New Covenant be the Scriptures called the New Testament or 4thly Whether the Rule of the New Testament be not the Law written in the Heart even the Law of that
And whereas he saith Let us labour with God for his blessed Spirit to guide us in all Truth He therein seems to own Truth to be a Mystery within also for if the Spirit be to be receiv'd it must be within and the Spirit is Truth because as J. N. elsewhere confesseth It is of the same beeing nature power and tendency with God who is Truth and with Christ who is the Truth And the Spirit is the Unction which was received from the Holy One which was True and not a Lye so here he seems to own Truth a Mystery within the Spirit being Mystery which before he said was contrary to Truth 's Intent and thus his Confusion appears from time to time And moreover if in such a dangerous time as he supposes this to be the Spirit be the only Thing to be labour'd for as a Guide to lead in all Truth wherefore then does he so much cry against the Quakers whose Principle it is and also their Practice To labour with people to wait for the Spirit 's Operation that by it as the most certain Guide they may be led into all Truth Hath he not also oppos'd himself hereby who not long before asserted the Scriptures to be the only Rule which do but testifie of the Spirit which now he would have people labour for as a Guide in all Truth which indeed is the only Guide without which the Scriptures cannot be known because they are things of God and the things of God know no man but the Spirit of God and he to whom the Spirit of God reveals them And he saith Let us not be hasty to receive an Opinion before we have weighed the same by the Law and Testimony seeing there are many false spirits gone out into the world Answ That there are many false spirits gone out into the World I grant and that is a false babilonish spirit that contradicts it self as the spirit of J.N. has done as before shew'd And that is the true Spirit of Grace which teacheth to live God-like in this present World but that which leads into Confusion is not God-like but such is the spirit of J.N. therefore not to be receiv'd And that all Opinions and Spirits are to be try'd by the Law and Testimony I own but what is this Law and Testimony is it not the Light and Spirit in the inward parts for Solomon said The Law is Light and the Angel said The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophesie Pro. 6.23 Rev. 19.11 So here is the Law and Testimony declar'd which I dare say J.N. never intended to direct people to as a Touch-stone to try Opinions by as he call them And is not this Light the Law of the Spirit which the Apostle speaks of and which he sometimes called The perfect Law of Liberty Jam. 1.25 And by this Law indeed Paul said He was set free from the Law of sin and death So as the Prophet said Let all to the Law and to the Testimony or as the Apostle said Look into the perfect Law of Liberty the Law of the Spirit or Light thereof in the inward parts for this is that perfect Rule that leads in the Way in which a Wayfaring-man though a Fool cannot err And without this there are none able to understand the Scriptures nor to practise them because of our selves we can do nothing yet we are willing to having our Doctrines Principles and Practices try'd by the Scriptures of Truth But then saith J.N. the most dangerous spirit is this that draws all the Happiness of this Life and that which is to come into man and finishes all the Glory of man at the brink of the Grave Answ If by the Glory of man he means the Glory of Man as simply a Creature then I do say all that is to be finish'd at the brink of the Grave for it s but the glory of Flesh which as the Flower of the Grass passeth away But if by the Glory of man he means that which the Wise in Heart shall inherit Prov. 3.35 and which is the Reward of those before whom the Righteousness of God goeth then I know none except Athiests and Ranters that affirm or assert any such thing and I say also that is the most dangerous spirit of all and to be shun'd by all But that spirit which would keep people out of an Expectation of seeing and beholding that Glory that is endless while on this side the Grave is not much inferior as to the Ill-consequences of it to the other for that would deprive people of the chief Happiness of this Life and of the happy Enjoyment of that Glory which their Peace and Joy is full of in believing while they remain on this side the Grave and may also endanger to deprive them of the enjoyment of that which is to be receiv'd in the Life that is to come For if the Earnest of the incorruptible Inheritance which is a part thereof be not receiv'd in this Life what true Comfort can there be enjoy'd in this Life So then that Spirit of Grace or Word of Grace which manifests its Light and Strength in the Inward Parts by its own Operation for the begetting of Faith in and concerning it self in all that hear and receive it this I say is not to be shunn'd but adhered unto by all as unto the Author of true Faith seeing Faith cometh by Hearing and hearing by the Word of God and the Word is nigh thee in thy Heart and in thy Mouth Rom. 10.17 and the Spirit is in the inward parts which with the Word is one by which Faith is given And all that hear this Word and obey this Spirit of Faith shall doubtless behold the Glory of the Word as the Apostles did even as the Glory of the only Begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth and shall doubtless know that Faith in which is Peace and Joy unspeakable and full of Glory and this will be unto them an Earnest of the Everlasting Inheritance that never fades by which they will be assured of the full Possession thereof when time shall be no more And thus having examin'd the principal matters in this Book viz. Concerning the Scriptures being the Word of God and the perfect Rule and the sad Consequences which he saith will follow the denying of them so to be and concerning Christ being the Word really so and as he saith but comparatively so and concerning Christ being a Saviour as he is God or a Saviour only as he hath a Body of Flesh and concerning his being in Heaven with the Father at his Right-hand and his being in man really so I say having gone through with these things and spoken as to them I shall leave them to the Judgement of the Judicious Reader desiring of God by his own Spirit to give a right Understanding unto all that desire after him that they may know him that is true to be manifested in them that they may by his spirit be baptized into him to live and have their Beeing in him that so they may understand the things that appertain to his Kingdom and to their own everlasting Peace that in the Faith of the Unchangable Truth they may stand as Mount Sion that cannot be moved And the rest of his Book consisting of a large pretended Answer to six Queries that were sent to him by a certain Person whom I do not well know I shall not much concern my self therein at this time though I do acknowledge that divers things therein contained do concern the Truth which I profess and therein I am concerned but it consists chiefly of things that I have already spoken to so that what I have written may serve for an Answer to all for it would be superfluous to reiterate that which in substance I have already gone over J. C. A TESTIMONY Concerning LODOWICK MUGGLETON FOR as much as I have been informed That Lodowick Muggleton hath vaunted concerning my departure out of the Body because of his pretended Sentence of Damnation given against me I am moved to leave this Testimony concerning him behind me viz. That he is a Son of Darkness and a Co-Worker with the Prince of the Bottomless Pit in which his Inheritance shall be forever And the Judgment I passed on him when with him stands seal'd by the Spirit of the Lord by which I then declar'd unto him That in the Name of that God that spanneth the Heaven with his Span and measureth the Waters in the hollow of his Hand I bind thee here on Earth and thou art bound in Heaven and in the Chain under Darkness to the Judgment of the great Day thou shalt be reserved and thy faith and strength thou boastest of I defie and trample under Foot And I do hereby further declare the said Lodowick to be a false Prophet in what he said to me at that time who told me That from henceforth I should be always in fear of Damnation which should be a Sign to me that I was damned which Fear I was never in since so that his Sign given by himself did not follow his Prophesie which sufficiently declares him to be a false Prophet Josiah Coale What Josiah Coale spake a little time before he died to Friends that were about him WEll Friends Be faithful to God and have a single Eye to his glory and seek nothing for self or your own glory and if any thing arise judge it down by the Power of the Lord God that so you may be clear in his Sight and answer his Witness in all People then will you have the Reward of LIFE For my part I have walked in Faithfulness with the Lord and I have Peace with the Lord and his Majesty is with me and his Crown of Life is upon me So mind my Love to all Friends Then he ceased speaking After he spake to S. C. saying Dear Heart keep low in the Holy Seed of God that will be thy Crown He said after A minister of Christ must walk as he walked THE END
Purity and Self-denial through the Sanctifying operation of the same I had intimacy with him above many but so mixt was his kindness with seriousness and his familiarity with a stay'd and examplary Behaviour as he was ever an honour to the Truth and therein a confirmer of his holy Testimony and weaker Brethren He was an incessant Labourer in the Gospel and Few more spent in its Service his Soul seem'd wholly bent to the Renowning of it and its Enemies he ever accounted his His Declaration was to the Ungodly World like an Ax an Hammer or a Sword sharp and piercing being mostly attended with an eminent appearance of the dreadful Power of the Lord to the cutting down of many a tall Cedar and to the making of many lofty Oaks to bow but to the Faithful and diligent who mind the things of Christ more then their own O the soft and pleasant Streams of Life Immortal that have run through him to the refreshing of those the Lord's Heritage yea 't was his life and joy to be speaking the Word of the Lord and not his own And many thousands doubtless rest behind who are living Testimonies to the Power Vertue and Efficacy of his Ministry but above all terrible was he to the Sowers of Strife secret Back-biters and such as rend the holy Body and separate from the Life Love and Fellowship of the Blessed Truth Who in their own selfish spirit set themselves over the holy Brethren by feignedness and deceitful appearances to the betraying of the Simple-hearted and ketching the Innocent in their Snares Yet was he ready to reach out an helping Hand to save the upright Hearted whose desires were to the Lord and the Fellowship of the Faithful He was Hardy Valiant and fixt not of those that shun the Cross or sell their Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage He baulkt no Danger for the sake of his blessed Testimony but ever met in the Lord's Armour by which he has many times overcome in England Holland Barbadoes Virginia New-England Mary-Land c. where through many difficulties he boldly preached the everlasting Gospel Christ in him the Hope of Glory He was a good Example as well for his Liberality as Faithfulness for as I am a Witness that the prosperity of God's Truth and dear Friends was above all things most in his Eye so was he alwayes cautious of making the Gospel chargeable to any but having some Estate of his own he freely imploy'd it in the Lord's Service counting nothing too dear for the Name and Service of the Lord. And thus having laboured his natural strength away in this heavenly Warfare for the promotion of the glorious Truth of the Lord and the advancment of its Interest and Dominion in the World for about twelve Years together he did with perfect understanding and in an extraordinary enjoyment of the Lord's Life Majesty and Presence to the refreshment of the Beholders on the 15th of the 11th Moneth 1668. he chearfully laid down his Mortal Body it being in the five and thirtieth Year of his Age that he might be perfectly cloathed on with Blessed Immortallity which is the Wages of the Work and the Eternal Recompence of his Temporal Tribulations And now is he truely ascended above and beyond every Trouble and Temptation where all Tears are wip'd away from his Eyes and upon Mount Zion does he stand amongst the rest of our holy Brethren and those Martyrs who kept the Testimony of Jesus in their day singing the Song of the Lamb for evermore Therefore shall his Memorial remain as a sweet Oyntment with the Righteous and time shall never blot him out of their remembrance for amongst the Worthies shall he be reckoned in the Generations to come because he loved not his Life unto Death but chos'd to pass through the many Tribulations which have given him an enterance into the Everlasting Rest where his spirit lives and remains with God for ever My Soul is often heavy and bowed down in the sence of the loss of these Valiants at this time of the day but herein am I satisfied that our God that raised them will fill up their places and daily bring forth by his Eternal Arm many noble Champions for his Glory who shall sound forth his Wonders to the Ends of the Earth and stand as Saviours upon Mount Zion to the Nations And therefore woes to the dark hellish sin-pleasing persecuting Priests Professors and Prophane of the whole Earth for the Lord God Omnipotent is taking to himself his great Power and he will Reign whose Kingdom stands in Righteousness and is an Everlasting Kingdom and of whose Government and Dominion there shall be no end W. Penn. AN EPISTLE TO THE READER As Concerning Josiah Coale HE did labour much in the Power of the Lord and did stand in the Power of the Lord against the spirit of the World and against all the Opposers of the Truth to his dying day yea within one Hour and a half of his death see his Testimony against the dark blasphemous spirit of Muggleton in the latter end of this Book and besides the several Opposers of the Truth of the several Sects in New-England Barbadoes Virginia Mary-Land and other Islands and the several Cruel and Inhumane Sufferings and Imprisonments by the chief Priests Professors and Rulers which would be to large to mention and would make a great Volumn that he suffered amongst them And also his sore Travels among the Heathen in America concerning the Truth and preaching the Gospel and when the cruel murdering Priests and Professors of New-England which Murdered and Martyr'd and Spoyled so many of the Goods of our Friends and burned some of them with their hot Irons and cut off the Ears of some of our Friends for the Truth and Gospel's sake These New-England persecuting Professors said to some that they did persecute Why did not our Friends come thorow the Heathen by Land from Virginia to New-England thorow the Wilderness on foot for they looked for Miracles but Josiah Coale and another was that very Time passing thorow the Heathen and the Wilderness from Virginia to New-England and the persecuting Professors of New-England then did not think that they were so near them that did pass thorow the Woods and Wildernesses which immediately came among them having passed thorow the Woods and wilde Wildernesses and thorow the danger of the Men-Eaters and wilde Beasts and venomous Creatures but when they came through much Hunger and Cold and Weariness through the Bogs and Waters into New-England they found worss entertainment among the New-England persecuting Priests and Professers then they had found among the wilde and venomous Beasts and Men-eaters yea they were worss to them and others of the Disciples of Christ as I said then the Heathen and Men-eaters who had passed thorow much danger of their lives and oft times were fain to cut down Chest-Nut-Trees for the Nuts for Food when they were hungry And nevertheless when these came immediatly
and will dwell in the mid'st of you and amongst you for which the earnest Desire of my Soul is unto the Lord and in my Prayers I do oft make mention of you unto my God and your God that his Arm of Power and Salvation may alwayes be with you and that you may be thereby kept Pure and Unrebukeable and Spotless unto Himself in his sight from this time forth and forever Amen And Friends It was the fervent and sincere Desire of my Heart to have seen you this Year having a confident Perswasion and Assurance in me That if the Lord had so order'd it it would have been for your Good and Benefit and that I should have been Refreshed with you and amongst you as in times past And in order to it I wholy fixed and applyed my Heart to the Lord for some certain dayes to search his Counsel in the thing until he fully and clearly satisfied me that it must not then be in whose blessed Will I rest and am content yet am not wholy without hopes but that in Due Season it may yet be And in the mean time I leave you and commend you to God who is able to keep you and do more aboundantly for you then you can ask or think to whom be Glory forever Amen Written in Essex this 5th of the 7th Mon. 1664. I am your Dear Brother in the Tribulation Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Josiah Coale Let Copies of this be sent amongst Friends every where in the Province of Maryland and be read amongst them in their Assemblies in the Fear of the Lord. To the Flock of God IN MARYLAND GREETING The second EPISTLE MY Dear Friends Brethren and Sisters who are called and sanctified in Christ Jesus and with whom and amongst whom I have travell'd both in Body and Spirit for the Resurrection of that Birth which is Immortal through which you might become Heirs of Eternal Salvation and of the Kingdom Everlasting which is not of this World My soul and bowels even daily earn towards you and you are even daily presented before me and brought into my View and Remembrance by the Spirit of the Lord by which I am oft constrain'd to present my Supplications and Prayers to the God of my Life for you and on your behalfs beseeching and desiring him that he will keep and preserve you in the Unspotted Life of the Lamb and that Grace Mercy and Peace together with Spiritual Blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord may be multipy'd and encreas'd amongst you My beloved Friends Keep your station in the Holy Place every one who know it and in your Holy Calling wherewith you are call'd of God therein abide and walk with him that therein you may all adorn the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ And Friends You certainly know That the Living Blessed and Everlasting Truth it self which sanctifies throughly both in Soul Body and Spirit and which sets free from the Bondage of Corruption all who continue in it hath been freely made manifest amongst you Therefore I charge you all as you will answer the Lord Every one see that you live and walk in the Purity thereof And you likewise know the Way of Life and Salvation and of Holiness in which no unclean thing can pass see therefore that you continue therein that so whensoever your Lord comes you may be found of him in Peace and cover'd with his Righteousness For you have all need of Circumspection and Watchfulness and Diligence because the Adversary of your Soul's Peace is very subtil and lodgeth very near to every one and waits to devour and lurkes to destroy and will lose no Opportunity if possible he may beguile any of you as he did Eve in the beginning But as you all watch in the Light of God's Salvation which he hath caused to shine unto you the Adversary will thereby be discover'd unto you in all his Twindings and Appearances And my Friends This Light in which you have believed is the true Touch-stone by which all spirits may be tryed and all Motions in whom soever they arise may hereby be known whether they be of God and tend to that which is consistant with the Honour of Truth and your own Peace or whether they savour of the Flesh and tend to the satisfying of the Lusts thereof For the Lusts of the Flesh and of the Eyes and the Pride of Life are not of the Father but of the World which passeth away And where or in whomsoever these or either of these are found and discover'd by the Light which makes all things manifest they are therewith to be condemned and by you to be denied that so you may be every one kept out of the Snare of the Devourer and out of the Net of the mighty Hunter For If you live after the Flesh you shall dye for the Lusts thereof when they are conceiv'd bring forth sin and the Wages of sin is death But every one who through the spirit mortifies the Deeds of the flesh such shall live to God in the Newness of Life and such will adorn the Gospel of God And so my dear Friends You are called to Liberty but not to serve your selves therefore use not your Liberty as an Occasion to the Flesh lest thereby you be ensnared neither use it as an Occasion of stumbling unto others but every one in the Fear of the Lord stand fast in that glorious Liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free And beware of being again entangled with the heavy Yoak of Bondage and of being brought into Captivity with that which in measure you had Victory over For you that have passed from Death to Life know right well and I need not tell you through what Difficulties Hardships and Exercises you obtain'd that precious Liberty in the Truth which you are brought unto And you also know what it cost you to purchase the Possession of that measure of Life and Truth which is manifested amongst you therefore let none sell his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage neither let any perishing Object become a snare or divert you from your Simplicity and Sincerity in the Truth But every one walk worthy of the matchless Love of God which hath extended its self unto you that so the daily Multiplyings and Abounding thereof you may know and witness in your hearts that through it you may Grow and Increase and be Enriched and that God Almighty may take delight to dwell amongst you And my Friends The savoury holy Order that the Truth led into in the beginning and in which the primative Christians were exercis'd you are not ignorant of and I hope not unmindful of it neither And you likewise know what Fervency and Fear and Zeal towards God the Truth wrought in your Hearts when you first receiv'd the Testimony thereof And what a Godly Resolution was put on by many and there was not another thing accounted of by many of you in comparison of his Blessed Truth And whatsoever
things were honest and of Good Report and by which the Truth might have been adorn'd how readily would you have been made conformable thereunto though you had deny'd your selves therein And then how did the Blessings of God with Peace and Unity one with another abound amongst you Well I hope and doubt not but that you are still like-minded in the same thing many of you and that you have the same Consolation abounding amongst you But if any be otherwise-minded I would have such know that the Truth is of the same worth as ever it was and of as great price with all who really walk therein as ever it was esteem'd by such and this God shall reveal unto them in his Day And if any retain not their first Love Zeal and Fervency but walk disorderly and not according to the Truth of the Gospel which was preached unto you by us in the beginning I say if we or any other shall walk amongst you not according to that Holy Order of the Gospel by which it may be adorn'd and shall refuse the Admonition of the Spirit of Meekness to be humbled for his disorderly walking have no Fellowship with such a one but let him be accounted as a Heathen and a Publican unto you that God may deal with him for his Iniquity according to his Deserts Yet nevertheless against an Elder receive not an Accusation except it be by the Mouthes of two or three Witnesses that nothing be done but that which may tend to the Edification of all and not to the Destruction of any And farther my Friends If any amongst you shall walk not as becomes the Gospel of Christ nor according to that savoury holy Order that the Truth hath led and doth lead into but by any unsavoury Actions or Motions whatsoever shall vary from the Simplicity and Purity of the Truth yet let not that become a Stumbling-Block unto any nor cause any to fall from the Faith which you have receiv'd and through which you have obtain'd Remission of Sins and Immortal Life For the Unfaithfulness or disorderly walking of some will not be a sufficient Excuse for others in the Day of the Lord when they are called to an account but every one who have tasted of the Power and Love of God and have receiv'd the Gift of his Spirit be faithful thereunto that you may improve your Tallent which is committed to you For every one must give an account for himself unto God and none can excuse you before him therefore I say Look not at the Haltings of others though it should be such who have seem'd to be as Pillers nor think to make that a Plea or an Excuse to decline from the Purity of the Holy Way of the Lord for although that may serve for an Argument amongst men yet that will not serve when God shall come to plead with such before whom all Hearts are open and all things naked and bare and he will give to every one a just Reward according to their Deeds Wherefore I say Let every one have an Eye unto the Lord in all things and mind their own state and how it stands betwixt them and the Lord and that will keep them from looking-out and consulting about the state of others who may vary from the Purity of the Truth for hereby the occasion of stumbling comes unto many But rather let the halting of such be as Dreadful Examples unto you to take Warning by that so you may be kept in Fear and Faithfulness in Watchfulness and Diligence lest you fall into the same Temptation and Snare of the Devil For my Friends Whither can any go to find Life Immortal Consolation and Satisfaction to their Souls if they should forsake the precious Truth of which we have born testimony in the Life and Demonstration of God's Spirit amongst you and through which many of you have found Rest to your Souls after many long and sore Travels Truly there is not another thing that can add unto your everlasting Consolation if once any of you should vary or slip aside from that And this I hope and doubt not but that many or most of you are perswaded and satisfied in Therefore continue therein and therein be unanimous in your Service and Obedience unto the Lord that by him his Good Spirit and Word of Grace you may be established forever And as concerning the state of Marriages You know the comely Order of the Church in the primitive Times before the Apostacy began and how the Apostle said If any be called being Married let him nor seek to be loosed nay though he or she had an Unbelieving Wife or Husband but let the Husband render due Benevolence to the Wife and likewise the Wife to the Husband And further By Commission from God he said Let not the Wife depart from her Husband And so say I unto you in the Name and Fear of the Lord Let none give place in the least to that spirit that would beget Inclinations in the Wife or Husband to depart one from another but let every man have his own Wife and every woman her own Husband For whatsoever Pretence or Covering that spirit that would separate them may come under yet it is a spirit of Fornication and it will lead out of the comely Order into the Disorder and into the Defilements and Pollutions of the World and into a Pit and a Snare And for such things sake the Wrath of God will be reveal'd and he will make such Examples of his Vengeance For as the Apostle said The Wife is bound by the Law so long as her Husband liveth and if she depart from him and Marry another Man she is an Adulteress and a Transgressor of the Law And therefore my dear Friends as I said before In that comely Order in which you may adorn the Gospel and be kept in Favour with the Lord and in Unity and Fellowship one with another in his Spirit of Life let all walk together and in your places and stations where the Lord hath set you and order'd you therein abide with him having the Loins of your Minds girt about with the Truth it self and be zealous for the Honour thereof and keep stedfast therein with the Lord in Fear and Faithfulnes in Fervency and Simplicity all being Examples one to another of Chastity and Holiness and Godliness of Conversation that you may also be as Lights unto the World answering the Witness of God in all that none may have any thing against you nor whereof to accuse you but only concerning your Obedience to the Law of your God then will you have strong Consolation in the Lord and great Boldness and Confidence towards him and also in the sight of all men and the Lord will encrease your Spiritual Substance and will also enlarge your Borders by daily adding to your Number such as shall be saved And so the Everlasting God keep you all and be with and amongst you and cause the plentious
of darkness by which all who are guided by it comes to receive power over sin which made a separation between God and you And this is he which the Holy Prophets of God prophesied of in the dayes of old who is given a Light to lighten the Gentiles and for Salvation to the Ends of the Earth And whom Moses said the People should hear and said that he that would not hear this Prophet which the Lord should raise up to wit Christ Jesus the Light of the World Even he should be Cut off from amongst the People and therefore every one you being enlightened with a measure of the Light which comes from this Prophet Christ Jesus by whom the World was made and whom the people is to hearken to it is a thing of concerment to you all to wait to hear his voice who calls your minds out of the vanities of the World and the love thereof that you may hear live and no longer to spend your labour for that which doth not satisfie the soul But to hearken diligently to the Voice of God who is Light that you may come to eat of that which is good and let your Souls delight in fatness and so every out who prizeth the Everlasting Peace and welfare of your Souls beyond the pleasures and delights of the World Return unto him who calls in your minds out of the visible and perishing things of this World and the love thereof and wait to know the Sword of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Prince of Peace to Cut down the Transgressor in every particular of you and to know the Righteous Law of God revealed in you to take hold on the unrighteous Nature which hath led you into Rebellion against God and against his pure witness in you which hath long called for purity and for a holy Life and a godly Conversation that so into purity and holiness you might all come without which none can see the Lord And so they who comes to the Light of Christ in them such comes to that which is pure and holy with which they may come to see God And Friends This is the Word of the Lord God to you all and his Everlasting Counsel to you all who have desires in Truth and Righteousness to walk in the way of Life that you hearken diligently to the Voice of God the Light in every one of your Consciences and to it be obedient at all times in whatsoever it makes manifest to be the mind and Will of God the Father that so his will may be done by you in Earth as it is in Heaven and that your sins and iniquities may be blotted out by him for his own Names sake Who is now arisen for his Glories sake which hath been long trampled upon and for his Seeds sake which hath long cry'd unto him from under the burden of oppression which hath ruled above the pure in every one of you And the Cries and Groanings of the Oppressed hath entered into the Ears of the Lord God of Rest and he is arisen and is zealous for his Glory And in the valley of Judgment will he plead with Egypts King and with all the Host of the Egyptians and by his out-stretched Arm will he bring deliverance unto his own Elect Seed and the Host of the Egyptians will he destroy in the Red-Sea of his Wrath and then shall the Seed rejoyce over its Oppressors And so Friends as you hearken to and obey the Voice of the Lord the Angel of his presence you will see leading you in the way in which he will have you to walk and beware of him and obey his voice for he will not at all pardon your transgressions any more Exod. 23.20 21. But will give a just reward to every one according to their deeds whether they be good or whether they be evil And so that you may come and receive the reward of Everlasting Life which is enjoyed in my Fathers Kingdom Every one be good and faithful Servants and improve your Talents which is committed to you that so when the Lord shall come you may be found doing his will and not your own So shall an enterance be Administred unto you into the Kingdom which is without end where you may feed on the Heavenly Manna and drink of the water of Life out of the Wells of Salvation even abundantly and be filled and your Souls satisfied therewith And so Friends and people arise and come out of Death you that have desires after the way of Life and Salvation Which is now Preached freely and be all obedient to the measure of the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation which hath appeared unto you and believe in the Light which you are enlightned withal for saith Christ I am the Light of the World he that believeth in me shall not abide in darkness but shall have the Light of Life and this is the sure word of Prophesie unto which you do well if you take heed as unto a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts which Star being followed will lead unto the knowledge of the Saviour as it did the wise men who found him lying in a manger for there was no room for him in the Inn because it was full of other guests him that reads let him understand and so when you have found him according to the Angels Inteligence though it be but in a low place in you yet wait to know him to grow in stature and you in him to increase in Wisdom and in Favour with God for truly People no Union nor Fellowship with God can be known by you until you come to be Obedient to the Son of God and to hear him in whom the Father is well pleased and in whom alone we are accepted of God and by whom we have free access to his Throne of Grace where he sits at the Right hand of the Majesty on High Judging and Condemning all who walk contrary to his Light and that disobey the Gospel which is now Preached and justifieth and giveth life unto all that obey and follow him and stand in his Counsel which is the desire of my Soul that you all may do who have desires in the least measure after this Life of Holiness And for your sakes have I written these Lines according as the Lord gave it me by his Spirit Who am a true lover of all your Souls and a Labourer and Traveller for the Seeds sake which is Scattered throughout the Earth That those who are wandering upon the Barron Mountains and in desolate places may be gathered into the Everlasting Rest and Fold of Jesus Christ with me to lie down in peace and safety where none can make us afraid Josiah Coale A SALUTATION TO THE Suffering-Seed OF GOD Wherein the Things are Declared and Signified before-hand that must shortly come to pass DEarly beloved Friends Brethern and Sisters Babes Lambs and Children who
that in this present Visitation he taketh away the Righteous from the Earth as well as the wicked therefore the wicked cannot discern betwixt him that serveth God and him that serveth him not according to that saying of Daniel viz. None of the wicked shall understand but the wise shall understand c. But they are ready to conclude and many do conclude that the Righteous are not Righteous and that the Just and Innocent are not Just and Innocent But because they have slighted the Day of Gods love unto them in which his Hand was stretched forth to gather them he hath so brought it to pass and takes away the Just as well as the Unjust that thereby their Eyes may be blinded that they may not see a difference and that their years may be stopped left they should hear his Word and that their hearts may be hardned as Pharaoh's was lest they should understand the way of Life in which the just walketh and be converted thereunto and healed and yet in all these thing iniquity cannot he charged upon the Lord because he willed not their destruction but did strive with them long and gave them space to repent but they repented not therefore their destruction is of themselves for when he would have gathered them they would not therefore I say it s of themselves that they are left so desolation yet there is a remnant in the midst of thee Oh England whose day is not yet over and them he will spare and will gather them to himself and they shall see the path of Life and hear the voice of the Bridegroom of their souls and understand the things that belongs to their everlasting peace and shall be glad and rejoyce in his great Salvation Written by a Servant of the Lord. JOSIAH COALE The Whore Unvailed Or the Mystery of the Deceit of the CHURCH of ROME REVEALED BEING A brief Answer to a Book Entituled The Reconciler of Religions or A Decider of all Controversies in Matters of Faith Written by a professed Roman Catholick who subscribes his name A. S. in which he endeavoured to prove the Church of Rome to be the True Church But what his Arguments therein produced are worth for his purpose may here be seen in this following Treatise Also his Reflections upon the Principles of the People called Quakers Answered With a brief Discovery of the true Church in which the Doctrine of Perfection is Vindicated by sound Scripture Arguments Whereunto is added the 14th Chapter of A. S. his Book in which he declares the Protestant or Sectarian Ministers not to be true Preachers nor sent of God which I thought meet to publish herewith that the Sectarians or Episcoparians may Answer for themselves O thou that dwellest upon many Waters aboundant in Treasures thine End is come and the Measure of thy Covetousness Jer. 51.13 For out of the North there cometh up a Nation against her which shall make her land desolate and none shall dwell therein chap. 50.3 And a mighty Angel took up a great stone like a milstone and cast it into the Sea saying Thus with violence shall that great City Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all Rev. 18.21 Printed in the Year 1667. To the Reader Reader ALthough the Author of the pretended Reconciler of Religions did in the conclusion thereof seem to Challenge an Answer to all Particulars therein laid down according to the Chapters and Numbers thereof yet I did not look upon his Challenge to be any Obligation to me to proceed according to his Directions neither indeed was it needfull or necessary that I should answer his desire therein for it would have required more time then I was willing to spare for that work and more labour then I was willing to bestow about it because there is an easier way which I have taken to do the Work as effectual as though I had gone through with every particular there inserted For when the Foundation of a Building is Raced the whole Building will fall as effectually as though a man should begin at the top and pull down all one Stone after another and with a great deal less labour it is done So for my commodity I have observed that Rule in answering the aforesaid Book by Racing the Foundation of the Contents thereof or answering the chief Heads by which he therein endeavoured to prove the Church of Rome to be the True Church upon which all the rest of his Book hath its dependancy and those Heads or Particulars being confuted the rest must of themselves needs fall or of necessity be of no validity and so not worth spending Ink and Paper about upon consideration of which I doubt not but the Reader will find as good satisfaction in what I have hear written concerning the Church of Rome as though I had answered all his particulars particularly And so to the Grace of God do I commend thee J. C. The VVhore Unvail'd c. GReat is the controversie at this day throughout Christendom concerning the way of Worship and Salvation and great is the confusion that is about Faith and Religion c. even amongst all professing Christianity and many and cruel are the murthers that have been acted by them one against another about Faith and Worship since the Apostacy began and since people forsook the right way and went in Cains way and in Balà ams Jude ver 11. For then persecution began amongst the profest Christians and not before and when the right way was forsaken then people went into Envy and then they withstood the truth even as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses and then they began to be scattered from the holy Mountain of the Lord where nothings hurts nor destroys to the barren mountains where they have been destroying one another and there in the dark and cloudy day of Antichrist's reign they have been worshipping the many headed Beast that then arose and also the Dragon that gave power to the Beast to make War with the Saints and they who have been worshipping upon one mountain they have cryed salvation is here And they who have been worshipping another head or upon another hill they have cried that salvation was to be found there For the seven Heads of the Beast are seven Mountains upon which the Whore sits that drinks the Blood of the Saints And so they fell out one with another about the way of Salvation upon these barren Mountains unto which people are in looking for Salvation the strife and the envy hath been And there people hath been killing one another about the way and themselves all out of the way in an Antichristian destroying persecuting spirit as their fruits declare for the Spirit of Christ never led the true Christians to persecute any about Religion neither doth any who are in the right way kill and destroy mens lives about Religion Nay they that do so are not true Christians but of an Antichristian spirit for I testifie in
the Name of the Lord and for God that the Spirit of Christ doth not nor never did admit or allow of persecution or of destroying mens lives about Worship and Faith towards God neither are any of them true Christians whatsoever they profess that are found so doing For it is not a bare profession of Christ and of zeal for his cause and crying up Ordinances c. that makes people true Christians or that gives them acceptance with God or will make them well-pleasing unto God But that which makes a man a true Christian is his obedience unto that Spirit which baptizeth into the true Faith by which Righteousness is wrought Heb. 11.33 and into Christ who is the Author of faith and will bring him to have the mind of Christ as the true Christians had and will make him partaker of his divine nature and will teach him to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World and to do to all men as he would they should do unto him which is according to the Law and Prophets that Christ came to fulfil And indeed there is nothing that can bring a man into this true Christian state but only the working and operation of the Spirit of Christ in his inward parts which all ought to obey and submit unto For the persecuting Jews who were uncircumcised in heart and ears and did alwaies resist the holy Ghost they professed as great Zeal for God and his Cause as the Apostate Christians now do and they look'd for the coming of the Messiah of whom all the Prophets prophesied and professed they would Adore him and Reverence him c. and said That if they had been in the dayes of their Fathers they would not have slain the Prophets Mat. 23.31 who prophesied of the coming of Christ and so they had seemingly a great Zeal for God and his Truth But alas a Murdering spirit was found in them for notwithstanding they professed That they would not have kill'd the Prophets yet they kill'd the Son who was the end of the Prophets And although the Prophets signified the Time when Dan. 9.24 and the Place where the Messiah should be born Mic. 5.2 yet when he was come according to the Prophets which they profest these Professing Jews would not own him nor receive him John 1.11 because he reprov'd their Hypocrisie and their Murdering spirit John 8.40 but they Crucified and Slew Him And this is the very State of the Apostate Christians this day For who is there now amongst them but will profess as great Love to Christ as the Jews in Christ's dayes did to the Prophets who prophesied of him and who is there now among'st them but will say Had we been in Pilate's dayes 〈◊〉 would not have crucified Christ nor delivered him up to be crucified as the Jews said of the Prophets yet notwithstanding their so saying they do as the Jews did for now in this day of his spiritual appearance which they profess they look for and expect they are found persecuting of him in his Members under the sam̄e pretence that the Jews persecuted him in their day viz. as a Blasphemer c. And so the Persecutors were in all ages blinded by the godd of the World who was a murtherer from the beginning and though they could see the iniquities of their fathers and predecessors in persecuting and killing the Prophets yet the envy of their hearts was such that they could not see their own iniquities in persecuting and slaying the Son who was greater than the Servants whom their fathers slew so as I said before it is not a profession of Christ and his Ordinances or zeal for his cause that makes people true Christians neither is God Worshipped upon any of those mountains where the persecuting and destroying one another is but the Worship of God consisteth in obedience to that Spirit of Truth which condemns all those works of darkness and cruelty and in his own Mountain of Holiness where nothing hurts nor destroys Isa 11.9 And such is the Father now seeking to worship him that will worship him there and is now gathering his Sheep from off the barren Mountains upon which the Whore sits where they have been scattered in the dark and cloudy day of Anchrist's reign and where the Wars and Fightings are even to his own Holy Mountain where they shall learn war no more Isa 2.4 And this is the work that the Envious and Murtherous one opposeth and bestirs himself with all his force and might in his Instruments of Cruelty and Men of War arming of them with all kind 〈◊〉 weapons that possibly he can form to fight against this Appearance and Work of God for so it hath been that since we who are reproachfully called Quakers were raised up to be a people to bear Testimony for the Name of the Lord and of the working of his Spirit and Power we have alwayes been even as a Butt for all the Archers of Babylon even from every Mountain to shoot at and our sufferings have not been only in our persons and estates as the spoyling of our goods and scourgings and cruel mockings and imprisonments many unto death as this Nation to her anguish must be made to know but even all sorts of Babylons Merchants or they that trades in every part of her or within her Subburbs have oft made it their business to write and print against us endeavouring thereby as much as in them lay to render us odious to our own Nation and to Nations about us under pretence that we were Papists and Jesuits and that we propagated Jesuitical Principles c. but they being almost if not altogether weary of that work finding it to be to no purpose for the truth which we profess hath still got ground and flourisheth through all these things now at last the Papists or Jesuits themselves who I perceive have a secret hope of a day once more in this Nation they begin to put out their heads and to print against us and so both Protestants and Papists even every head and horn of the Beast after whom the whole World wonders are found pushing against the Lamb and the Saints Rev. 17.14 For of late a certain Pamphlet accidentally came to my hands written by a perfect Roman Catholick who subscribed his name A. S. in which he seems to shew himself sensible of the great distractions that are throughout the whole Christendom about the true way of worship and concerning the true Church and first states a Question viz. which is this Church c. and afterwards makes it his business to prove the Church of Rome to be this true Church and that by divers Arguments by him stated in a Syllogistical manner And I also finding the Author of the aforesaid Pamphlet therein smiting at the People of God called Quakers and endeavouring to render them odious by affirming they are led by a deluding spirit c. I found my self somewhat concerned to return a brief reply
Jesus yet it doth not follow according to the sequel of the major that the Scriptures the Faith in Christ Jesus being left out as J. N. hath done are a Perfect Rule for all men to walk by and none other because it s through that Faith which is in Christ Jesus that they are able to make wise c. which Faith he makes no mention of in his Assumption and Conclusion that they are a Perfect Rule c. by which the Falaciousness of his Argument appears And indeed its necessary that all should understand how the Scriptures are able to make wise unto Salvation through Faith c. for the Scriptures here spoken of and which Christ spoke of when he said Ye search the Scriptures c. cannot be otherwise understood then the Scriptures of the old Testament because the other was not then written And those Scriptures of the Prophets were they that testified of Christ who is the great Salvation of God And God said by the Prophet He had given him a Covenant of Light to lighten the Gentiles to be for Salvation to the Ends of the Earth And the Prophets likewise shewed the time when and the place where this Messiah should be born and brought forth in that Body which was prepar'd for him in which old Simeon beheld the Salvation to wit The Light of the Gentiles and the Glory of Israel so that the Scriptures of the Prophets containing in them so many clear and infallible Testimonies of the great Salvation of God and of the time and place of the Appearance thereof they were able through Faith in Christ to make him wise or to give an Understanding that he was the great Salvation of God that was then appear'd according to the Testimonies of the Prophets which from a Child he had known And so on this wise coming to the Knowledge of the great Salvation of God by Faith in him he in the same Faith did doubtless follow him as a Sheep that knew his Voice that so he might receive Life Eternal which he gives to his Followers and become an Heir of that Salvation which through Faith in Christ he was made wise unto and so coming as a Sheep to be a Follower of the true Shepherd he own'd him for his only Guide and his Spirit as the only Zule to walk by and to speak by whose Preaching was thereby even with words that it self taught 1 Cor. 2.13 And this is that Perfect Rule which cannot be corrupted as the Scriptures may as J.N. confesseth and so cannot be said to be a Perfect Rule if corrupted And indeed J.N. is one that greatly corrupts them as he states them thinking thereby to prove them a Perfect Rule even as before shewed The next Argument to prove Scriptures a perfect Rule is That if the Scriptures be given by Inspiration and are profitable for Doctrine for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all Good Works then the Scriptures are an Absolute and a Perfect Rule for all men to walk by and none other but the Scriptures are c. therefore c Answ That the Scriptures though not all Scriptures were given by Inspiration of God I shall grant and that they are profitable as aforesaid I shall acknowledge but that they are therefore an absolute and a perfect Rule for all men to walk by and none other as J.N. affirmeth that I do not acknowledge but deny because that may be profitable to man in order to the persecting of him to all Good Works which may not be an absolute and perfect Rule for him to walk by and none other as for instance One man may be profitable to another in teaching and instructing of him by the Spirit of the Lord to walk in the Light and Spirit of the Son of God which the Father hath sent into the Heart that so by that Spirit and the Power of it he may be able to deny all Unrighteousness and be furnished thereby perfectly to perform all Good Wooks herein I say one man may be profitable to another and yet it cannot therefore be said That that man who is so profitable c. is an absolute and perfect Rule for all men to walk by and no other for it were ridiculous so that although the Scriptures be profitable as aforesaid it doth not at all follow as J. N. concludeth that they are therefore a Perfect Rule and no other But that Word Light or Spirit of Truth in the inward parts from whence the Scriptures proceeded and which by the Scriptures we are instructed to walk in to hear and obey which cannot be corrupted as the Scriptures may that is the alone absolute and perfect Rule all men ought to walk by and none other as saith the Scripture Nehemiah 9.20 I gave them my Good Spirit to instruct them And this is that Rule or Leader which Christ directeth to Even the Spirit of Truth which will lead into all Truth Joh. 16.13 the same the Apostle directeth to saying Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh Mark What more Perfect Rule can be then that which keeps from the fulfilling the Lusts which bring forth sin for if the Lusts be not obey'd and fulfilled the sin is not acted therefore said the Apostle He that abideth in him sinneth not by all which it appears that J.N. hath not proved that the Scriptures are a Perfect Rule and none other Neither do the Scriptures any where testifie of themselves as a Perfect Rule excluding all other But frequently bear Testimony unto that one antient standing RULE which was from rhe beginning from which the Scriptures were given forth and which they direct unto Again saith J. N. pag. 26. For further Confirmation of this Truth I shall add some few Arguments more that the New Testament Way is a Perfect Rule for all men to walk by and none other Answ This wholly alters the Case for it is not the New Testament Way being a Perfect Rule c. that we are contending against neither will his proving the new Testament Way to be a perfect Rule at all prove the Scriptures to be a perfect Rule except he could first prove the Scriptures to be the New Testament Way which he is never able to do for it s declared in the Scriptures called the New Testament That Christ who is God's Covenant of Light said I am the Way the Truth and the Life Joh. 14.6 Abide in me c. cap. 15.4 And my Sheep bear my Voyce and they follow me and I give to them Eternal Life Joh. 10.27 28. Another New Testament Way or Perfect Rule then this for men to walk in and by I no where read of in the Scripture of Truth but this Way as the New and Living Way which leads to the Holiest of all is frequently borne witness of in the Scriptures which as before I have said contain many Testimonies concerning this Just
One who is the Way the Word the Truth c. And indeed the whole scope or drift of the Scriptures or of what is contained therein is to direct and enduce people to walk in him and according to him who is the Way the true Shepherd that carries his Lambs in his Arms Mark if his Lambs are in his Arm then he is essentially present with them And I do no where read in the Scriptures that they are called the New Testament or the New Testament Way but they testifie of the New Testament that it is the Spirit that giveth Life as in 2 Cor. 3.6 the Apostle saith Who hath made us able Ministers of the New Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit for the Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth Life And they testifie of the Way that it is Christ so that the Way of the Spirit which is the New Covenant is Christ and they that are led by the Spirit they walk in Christ the New Testament Way so that if J. N. had proved the New Testament Way to be a perfect Rule c. it had served nothing for his purpose to prove the Scriptures a perfect Rule they being proved not to be the New Testament as also said the Angel unto John cap. 19. vers 10. The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophesie though I do acknowledge as before That this New Testament or New Covenant or Testimony of Jesus is testified of in the Scriptures of Truth yet they are not the thing nor do they contain the thing in them which they testifie of as J. Newman seems to imply they do as hereafter may be signified But instead of proving the New Testament Way a perfect Rule he goeth about to prove the Scriptures a perfect Rule but never proves nor goes about to prove them to be the New Testament Way but takes that for granted as far as I perceive although that is the principal matter wherein the Controvesie lies betwixt us which I plainly perceive J.N. doth not understand though he hath so deeply engag'd himself For if he could have proved the Scriptures called the New Testament to be the New Testament Way I should not have put Pen to Paper to have contended against their being a perfect Rule for all men to walk by But herein is the great Mistake amongst many as also in this man They put the Dead Letter for the Living Word and the Scriptures for the Way and so would set them in the stead of the thing which they do but testifie of and thereby keep people alwayes learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth which sanctifieth and setteth free 2 Tim. 3.7 Joh. 8.32 Joh. 17.17 Then J. N. like a man fighting with the Wind or like one that sets up a Poppit of his own and supposeth it to be anothers and then lies fighting with it when he has done rumbles over a great deal of stuff like one that wanteth Work contending against a Third Covenant or a Third Testament Way arguing in the 26th page of his Book That if a Third Covenant or a Third Testament Way hath not been any where promised of God then the Second is still in force for all men to walk by and none other And for my part I know none that assert a Third Covenant or a Third Testament Way nor yet any that deny the Second to be in force so that J.N. hath busied himself to no purpose as I said before like one beating of the Air but I do not intend so to busie my self to contend against him about things in which I am not concern'd For as I said I own no other Covenant nor Testament Way but the Second Covenant which God promised by the Mouthes of his Prophets saying Jer. 31.33 This shall be the Covenant that I will make c. I will put my Law in their Inward Parts and write it in their Hearts and will be their God and they shall be my People And they shall no more teach every man his Neighbour saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me c. And in Isa 59.21 he said This is my Covenant with them saith the Lord my Spirit which is upon thee and my Words which I have put into thy Mouth shall not depart out of thy Mouth nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed's Seed saith the Lord from hence forth and for evermore Mark This Law and Spirit within the New Covenant the New Testament Way testified of in the Scriptures of Truth to be an Everlasting Covenant this we own to be a Perfect Rule for all men to walk by unto the End of the World and none other And for a third Covenant or third Testament Way I know none assert it therefore I shall not trouble my self to contend about it but shall leave that part of his Book for those whom it concern if there be any though I cannot well but observe that he hath offer'd many foolish falacious and ignorant Arguments pretending thereby to prove the New Testament Way still in force and to be so to the End which I have already granted and shall be ready so to do at all times but still he mistakes the matter by putting the Dead Letter in the place of the Quickning Spirit and directeth people to the Letter for Life when it s only the Spirit that giveth Life as before is signified and so he stumbleth at the Stumbling-Stone a Rock which many have run against and have been split And so after he hath rumbled over divers sylogistical Argments which serve to signifie that he loves to hear himself talk Logick thereby still labouring to prove That no Third Covenant or third Testament Way is to be expected for which cause the Second is to stand in force unto the End c. He then in page 42. of his Book comes to lay down some sad Consequences Which will as he saith follow by denying the Scriptures to be the Word of God and by making them insufficient as a Rule in order to Man's Salvation and first saith he It taketh away the general Ground of Faith from all men 2dly It denyeth the Ground of Faith for the Remission of sins 3dly It maketh void the Exercises of Faith in the precious Promises of God for what hath Faith to exercise it self in but only the Promises of God in the Scriptures 4thly It denieth the Comforts of Faith for all the Comforts that Faith can bring to the soul must be brought from the precious Promises of God in the Scripture 5thly It Destroyeth the Support and Supplyes of Grace to the Soul in a time of Affliction and to deny the Scripture to be the Word of God is to deny the Fountain and Well-spring of Comforts to the Soul 6thly It denieth the Knowledge of Acceptance with God 7thly If the Scriptures be denied to be the Word of God and thereby made insufficient as a Rule