of Truth but the Spirit of Truth they have not and who have it not cannot minister it And therefore Paul imputeth all the good Fruit and Success of his Ministry not to himself but to the Grace of God that was with him and in him 1 Cor. 15.10 How then can a graceless Man have any fruit or success in his Ministry seeing all fruit and success belongeth not to the Man however so well furnished with natural or acquired parts but to the Grace of God It is Grace Grace that maketh a Man's Preaching effectual to the Hearers and that Grace is in the Minister and worketh both in him and with him in the Hearts of the Hearers where God is pleased to concur and give the blessing and increase and thus the Grace of God is like a good Seed and Plant that not only bringeth forth Fruit in that little spot of Earth where it was first planted but spreadeth abroad and filleth many other parts and places with it and hath new Roots and Seeds continually encreasing and multiplying 7. And as concerning the Call to the Ministry It is worthy of great observation how they are pinched and narrowed to give any colourable account of their Call who deny all inward and immediate calling to the Ministry and especially such of them who say The Church of Rome is no true Church but a Harlot and the Pope is Antichrist as the Westminster Cenfession of Faith doth expresly call him cap. 25. sect 6. and yet the Presbyterian Ministers generally derive their Call from him and I have heard divers of them expresly affirm it being questioned about their Call whether immediate or mediate they have answered mediate from the Apostles and then being urged to shew the Line of Succession through which that mediate Call is conveyed unto them they have plainly said The Popes of Rome as one lately a Preacher in New-England said before some Hundreds of People That their Call to Preach was by the Popes of Rome and so according to their own Doctrin by Antichrist Surely these men do not believe that Christ is in them either to call or furnish them in their Ministry who must go so far as Rome to bring it and from him too whom they call Antichrist But they think Rome and the Pope however much distant from them is much nearer than Christ and Heaven from whom the true Ministers have their Call 8. And as all true Preaching ought to be by the Inspiration and moving of the Spirit of God so all true Praying and Singing both in private and in publick for still that is it which the Scripture enjoyneth Ephes 6.18 to Pray always with the Spirit or in the Spirit and no man can say that Jesus is the Lord either in Preaching or Praying but by the holy Ghost And I charge them to produce one Instance where Praying without the Spirit is commanded any where in Scripture or was ever practised by any of the Saints without the Inspiration of the Spirit Do they not grant that all the Prayers recorded in Scripture did proceed from divine Inspiration and Revelation And if their Prayers do not they are quite of a Bastard kind for the true Worshippers Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth and the Father seeketh such to Worship him and none else And whereas some say Then men who neglect Prayer are excusable because they have not the Spirit to move them to Prayer I answer Not they are not in the least excusable for as he that oweth a sum of Mony to his Prince though he hath not wherewith to pay his Debt is still Debtor and yet must not pay with false Coyn but true so he who hath not the Spirit 's assistance and help to Pray is still obliged to Pray but not without the Spirit and that he hath not the Spirit 's help at all seasonable and requisite times for Prayer it is his own default who hath resisted the Spirit and provoked him to with-draw his necessary assistance from him for the Spirit of the Lord is ready to give his seasonable help to all men to help them both in Prayer and Thanksgiving and all other commanded Duties and Performances And as for Singing on a Book and with artificial Musick and notes or tones it is no part of Gospel-worship being no where either commanded or practised in the New-Testament And it is strange that these men should be against Praying on a Book and yet Sing on a Book for if the one be not Spiritual the other is not 9. There are others such as these called Independents and Baptists who deny all immediate Call to the Ministry and yet betake themselves to as poor and shiftless evasion about their Call as the former They say They have the Call of the Church But still the question is Whence had the Church her Power either immediately or mediately And then the former difficulty returneth for they cannot say their Church hath been visible from the Apostles days and besides the Church is posterior to the Ministry for by true Preachers and Ministers people come to be converted and so to be made fit Members of a Church and therefore the Ministers by whom their Church was first raised or gathered cannot have their Call from the same for that were to put the Effect before the Cause or to say the Church called the Ministers and the Ministers called the Church is to run into a Circle as to say the Egg bringeth forth the Hen and the Hen bringeth for the Egg to wit first of all which is impossible 10. And as concerning true Gospel-Maintenance to the Ministry any Maintenance that may be necessary to any that are poor and have not of their own according to the Scripture it ought to be free and voluntary without force of human Law and compulsion for the Scripture saith He that Preacheth the Gospel should Live by the Gospel It doth not say by human Laws and straining of mens Goods and Cattle as the Preachers both of Old and New-England have done and they ought to relie upon the gracious Care and Providence of God that never suffered his Ministers to want for when Christ sent forth his Disciples without Bag or Scrip at their return they said they wanted nothing Secondly there should be no bargaining in the case betwixt the Minister and the People for that is altogether mercenary and proveth them to be Hirelings and the Servants of Men who have so hired them Thirdly they should receive only to supply their present Necessities and labour with their Hands as honest Paul did that he might make the Gospel of Christ without charge who would not abuse his Power in the Gospel 1 Cor. 9.18 and 2 Cor. 11.9 I was chargeable to no Man And 1 Thes 2.9 Because we would not be chargeable and 2 Thes 3.8 For why may not Ministers when they do not Preach or otherwise labour in the ministerial Work work with their Hands to supply their Necessities to
but that only the true Saints and Children of God belong to the invisible Church And again tho such who have true Desires and true living Breathings raised in them after the Lord may be said as such to belong to him and be of his Sheep yet they are still but as scattered and driven from the true Fold and as wandering for most part upon the barren Mountains and the dry and desolate Hills seeking the living among the dead until they come to be gathered into the True and Living Way of God and of Christ so as to know and be acquainted with the Lord and his inward Leadings Rule and Government in them and to be able to distinguish his Voice and inward appearance in them from that of a stranger and to worship him in Spirit and in Truth and serve him in the newness of the Spirit and in pure Holy Fear and Love as Sons and Children in his House And this State ye are generally strangers unto and therefore tho some of you may be allowed in true Charity to be the Sheep of Christ yet ye are but scattered until ye are returned unto Christ the Shepherd and Bishop of your Souls and know him revealed in you to lead rule and guide you and feed you with the living Bread and give you the living Water to drink which he himself is inwardly revealed and that ye be turned away from all false Teachers and Shepherds which is the earnest breathing and cry of my Soul unto God for you G.K. Heads or Principles OF Christian DOCTRIN CHAP. I. Concerning the Holy Scriptures 1. THe Holy Scriptures of the old and new Testament being generally and worthily acknowledged by all Christians to be writ by Divine Inspiration without any mixture of Error are a sufficient outward Rule and Standard whereby to examin and try all Doctrins of men 2. They contain a full and intire Declaration of all Christian Doctrin and therefore whatever Doctrins or Principles of Christian Religion men presume to teach which they cannot prove and demonstrate from the Holy Scriptures they lay no obligation upon any to believe them 3. The Scriptures are only sufficiently and savingly believed and understood by the inward Illumination and Revelation of the Holy Spirit which is the same in kind to that which God gave to the Saints of Old 4. Although they contain a full and sufficient Declaration of all Christian Doctrin yet they do not contain the whole Mind Will and Counsel of God as some say they do Because there are many things wherein God doth reveal of his Counsel to his Children which are not in Scripture either expresly or consequentially altogether necessary to their Peace and Comfort as to instance in some particulars First It is a part of the counsel of God for a Christian to know his inward Calling and whether he be indeed one of God's called and chosen Ones whether in favour with God and justified and sanctified And though the Scripture doth give infallible Signs and Marks of such an estate yet no Scripture nor Scripture-consequence can infallibly assure any man that he hath these marks but it is the spirit of God that only can and doth give them this assurance Rom. 8.16 2 dly All true Preachers and Ministers of Christ ought to know the mind and will of God whether they be called of God to the Work of the Ministry which Call is an inward Call that is altogether necessary to their faithful discharge of so great a Work but this they cannot know simply by the Scripture 3 dly Every true Christian should know his inward Call to Pray or give Thanks or perform any Religious Duty or Service unto God as David said When thou said'st Seek my Face my Heart answered thy Face O Lord I will seek hide not thy Face from me Psal 27.8 Again 4 thly It is commonly granted that it is a Duty belonging to every Christian to enquire the Mind and Counsel of God in every weighty matter and concern of our Life as if we be visited with any great Affliction inward or outward to enquire with Job Shew me O Lord why thou contendest with me And as Rebecca when the Twins strugled in her Womb enquired at the Lord and said Why am I thus And the Lord answered her Also in the case of Marriage every true Christian man and woman ought to enquire and wait for God's counsel with whom to be joyned in Marriage that they may know indeed the Lord's joyning of them and that they marry in the Lord But this cannot be known by any Scripture or consequence from Scripture but the Spirit of the Lord must reveal it even the same that led Abraham's Servant to take a Wise to his Son Isaac And every Christian should know the will and counsel of God in his outward Vocation that it is of God and so abide therein as the Scripture saith Let every man abide in the Calling wherein he is called of God And as the Servants of God in days past in traveling and sojourning from place to place received the counsel of God so do these now that wait for it in uprightness of Heart as really as holy men did of old and as Philip received the Word of God which he could not find in the Scripture either expresly or consequentially when the Spirit said unto him Joyn thy self to this Chariot when he was sent to preach Christ to the Eunuch and as Peter was sent to Cornelius and Ananias to Saul and many other the like instances and as James declareth Men ought not to be rash or hasty to say to day or to morrow we will go into such a City c. for that ye ought to say If the Lord will James 4.13 15. Now how can a man know what the Lord willeth in such a case unless it be given him by the Spirit of the Lord inwardly to feel either a Command or Permission to do such a thing For whereas too many make the outward passages of Providence their rule as to say If Sickness or some outward Impediment hinder not they constitute that to be the Will of God And whereas many remove from one place to another and Divine Providence doth not hinder them and yet in that removal they have not had God's approbation and it hath not had a blessing to follow it but on the contrary for leaving their place they have been exposed to sad Temptations and have fallen under them And lastly there are many precious living Soliloquies and Intercourses betwixt the Lord and the Souls of his dear Children while he answers the returns of their Prayers in living Testimonies and words of his Holy Spirit which though they are agreeable to Scripture yet are not express Scripture words but are the real Words and Dictates of the Holy Ghost speaking Peace and Consolation to them beyond all utterance or demonstration of Speech and wonderfully quickning and strengthning them in the inward man as we find in the
as the ordinary and common allowance and priviledge of all God's Saints and People and not only to Saints but to Men and Women in order to their becoming Saints they need God and Christ inwardly to speak unto them for it is the inward Voice and Speaking of Christ that quickneth the dead Souls of Men according to the words of Christ The Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live John 5.25 CHAP. III. Of the Supream Judge and Rule of Controversies of Religion IT hath been already acknowledged in the first Chapter that the holy Scriptures are a sufficient outward Rule and Standard whereby to try all Doctrins of Men however so holy or wise they may be or however much indued with the holy Spirit because the Spirit of the Prophets is subject to the Prophets and as the holy Spirit of Truth is one so the words of it do all agree in all the true Prophets Apostles Evangelists Pastors and Teachers and as is already said the Noble Bereans were commended in Scripture for searching the Scriptures to see and examin whether the Apostles Doctrin was according to the Doctrin of the ancient Prophets that wrote the Old Testament and until the Apostles Doctrin was generally received they did appeal to the Scriptures of the Old Testament for a proof of their Doctrin although that was not their only proof for they had a greater proof than that outward was even the inward Witnéss and Testimony of the holy Ghost that made both them and their Doctrin manifest in the Hearts and Consciences of their Hearers whose Hearts God was pleased to open 2. And therefore in respect of any outward Rule and Standard the Scripture is sufficient and to be preferred in all respects to any other latter Writings or Testimonies or Records whatsoever first because writ from a greater measure and depth of divine Wisdom for though the Spirit be one yet it hath diversity of Gifts and Operations and Administrations and all Men divinely inspired had not the same clearness of divine Knowledge Numb 12.6 7 8. Moses exceeded the Prophets generally David and Solomon exceeded many of them and Isaiah and Jeremiah exceeded others of them and among the Prophets some were as Fathers some as Sons hence we read in Scripture that God is the Father of Lights and of these Lights as to us some are higher and some lower which some mystick Writers both among Jews and Christians have taken notice of out of the Scripture it self hence they say Moses drank at the Fountain Samuel David Solomon and some others drank at the Streams and others of an inferior degree at the Pond or Cistern And they further say Moses had his Revelations from Binah Abraham from Gedulah a step lower Isaac from Geburah yet lower Jacob from Tipheret yet lower but partaking of both signified by his dwelling in Tents betwixt the Tents of Abraham and Isaac David sometimes from Tipheret and sometimes from Nezah and Hod hence we read some of the Inscriptions of his Psalms to Nezah and sometimes from Mulcuth and they say that the ordinary Prophets had their Revelations from these two divine Measures Nezah and Hod called Exod. 38.8 The Looking-Glasses of the Lords Hosts that Assemble at the door of the Tabernacle see the Heb. text But Moses had liberty to go into the heavenly Tabernacle it self and so had some others And that God did make himself more known to Moses than to Abraham Isaac and Jacob is clear from these words of his to Moses at the Bush I appeared to Abraham Isaac and Jacob by the Name of God Almighty but by my Name Jehovah was I not known to them Exod. 6.3 And concerning this distinction of divine Gifts and Illuminations Paul declareth saying To one is given the Word of Wisdom to another the Word of Knowledge to another Faith all by the same Spirit Hence we read in the Proverbs Wisdom Understandang and Knowledge distinguished Wisdom buildeth the House Vnderstanding establisheth it and Knowledge filleth the Chambers with all precious and pleasant Riches Prov. 24.3 4. Therefore Wisdom is a degree above Understanding and Understanding a degree above Knowledge all which divine Measures are set in order as the parts of a Tree with Root Branches and Tops or as the Members of a Mans Body by way of Allegory and Analogy Cochmah Binah and Daath belonging to the Head Gedulah Geburah to the right and left Hand and Arm Tipheret to the Body Nesah Hod and Jesod to the Thighs and Legs c. and Mulcuth lowest of all all which make up by way only of allegory and analogy the Parts and Members of the Son of Man or heavenly Adam as both Ezekiel and John saw him upon his Throne The English Names of these Hebrew words all which are found in Scripture in their true order are these following Cochmah i e. Wisdom Binah i. e. Understanding or Prudence Daath i. e. Knowledge see 1 Chron. 29.11 Gedulah i. e. Magnificence Geburah i. e. Power Tipheret i. e. Beauty Nesah and Hod i. e. Victory and Glory Jesod i. e. Foundation and Mulcuth i. e. the Kingdom And secondly and most especially we give the Preheminence to the Scriptures beyond all latter Writers because we are well assured that the Scriptures throughout are pure without all mixture of Error or Mistake and this is generally granted by all Christians that the Scriptures are really so being duly and rightly translated but we are not assured that any mans or mens Writings since are altogether pure and free of all mixture of Error and human Weakness until they be duly examined and found to agree to the holy Scriptures and to the inward testimony of the holy Spirit for altho' whatever the Spirit of God inwardly revealeth is infallible and pure from all mixture of Error and whatever any man saith or writeth as he hath receiv'd it from that his Testimony is pure and without mixture yet we are not assured that any man or men are in that state of Perfection that they may not by human frality in some measure or way more or less decline or depart from the pure and infallible Teachings of the Spirit of God for as it is possible they may purely and chastely keep unto them so for want of due watchfulness and holy care they may more or less depart from them and so there may be a mixture of Truth and Error both in their Understandings and Words and therefore they are not to be taken on trust but both their Doctrin in all things is to be tryed by the Scripture and their Spirit by the Spirit of Truth as every one is able according to what he hath received All which doth not hinder but that the Spirit of God in our day both teacheth and leadeth infallibly although the Disciples and professed Followers of it at times by weakness may be liable to mistakes 3. And as concerning that phrase or expression that some use That
the Spirit of God speaking in the Scriptures is the supream Judge of all Controversies of Religion although it is no Scripture phrase nor proper but figurative as when a man is said to speak in his Books or Writings yet in a figurative sense it might be allowed if they did not confine all the speaking of the spirit of God to his only and alone speaking in the Scriptures so as that the Spirit speaketh not at all as they would have it in the Souls and Hearts of Men as he used to do in the Prophets and Apostles And because they have a wrong sense of it and that it is not proper but figurative it is better not to use it And in the room of it I say the Spirit of God speaking in some measure in the Heart of every true Believer and Spiritual man opening and expounding the Scripture unto him in the due and diligent use of reading hearing and meditation of Scripture words or any other means of God's appointing for our Institution and especially in the frequent use of fervent and earnest Prayer praying earnestly with David who was richly indued with divine Revelation Open my Eyes that I may see the wonderful things of thy Law and most especially in our being found in the way of Righteousness and faithful Obedience to what is already revealed unto us for as we are found here we have good warrant to expect that where any doubt or Controversie in Doctrin or in the meaning of a place of Scripture doth arise that God's holy Spirit whom Christ hath promised to his Disciples to teach them all things and to lead them into all Truth will indeed judge and decide the matter in question in their Hearts by his secret Light and Teaching or Revelation And let it be noted that I say it is not the Spirit abstractly considered from the Scriptures or our due use of them or the duty that God requireth of us but it is the holy Spirit opening or expounding the Scriptures unto us in reading hearing meditation prayer waiting and obedience to what we already know that it is the Judge of all Controversie in matter of Doctrin 4. Next as to the Rule as the Scripture is the best and only external or outward Rule and Standard it is worthily preferred to all other outward Records and Testimonies yet because we both believe the Scriptures not simply for their own Testimony but for the inward Witness and Testimony of the Spirit and also because we can only understand the Scriptures but by the said inward Witness and Testimony of the holy Spirit therefore the inward Witness of the spirit or the spirit inwardly witnessing both to the truth and true sense of Scripture is the greatest and primary Rule as John plainly testified saying If we receive the Testimony of Men the Testimony or Witness of God is greater and he that believes hath the Witness in himself and hath set to his Seal that God is true And therefore Paul recommended his Doctrin to the Witness of the Spirit in the Hearts and Consciences of the Hearers and told the Thessalonians 1 Thess 1.5 that his Gospel came unto them not in word only but in Power and in the holy Ghost and in much assurance And he told the Corinthians that their Faith was to stand in the Power of God and therefore not in the bare words that he preached for he did not preach himself nor his Words but Christ to be the Foundation of their Faith CHAP. IV. Concerning ministerial Gifts and Qualifications and the Call to the Ministry the nature and manner of true Preaching and Praying and Singing and the true Gospel-Maintenance to the Ministry 1. BEcause of the near and close connexion and dependance that the things mentioned in the Title of this Chapter have with the truth of what is delivered in the preceeding Chapters therefore I do see it meet to treat of them in this place The common Doctrin and Opinion of these who deny all new Revelation of the holy Spirit is that natural and acquired Parts of Letter-learning without divine inward Revelation or Inspiration is sufficient to qualifie a man to be a Minister of the Gospel and is necessary to his esse or being of a Minister and Grace or true Piety and Holiness is only accidental and doth but only contribute to his bene esse or making him the better By Letter-learning they do not only mean human Arts and Sciences and the knowledge of Greek Hebrew and Latin but especially a Letter-knowledge of the Scripture without any saving Grace or illumination of the Spirit as being essential to a Minister And indeed they say agreeable enough to their own Doctrin for if all new Revelation of the Spirit is ceased what is left behind to qualifie a Man to be a Minister but only natural and acquired parts of Letter-learning Nor can they with any Reason affirm according to their Doctrin that true Piety and Holiness is essential to a Minister otherwise no Man is a Minister without it and then it doth follow that no Man can infallibly be known whether he be a real Minister yea or nay for if divine inward Revelation be ceased then all infallible discerning of Mens Spirits and spiritual estates is ceased and no Man can know another infallibly whether he be a Saint or Hypocrite for they grant that a Hypocrite may have all the outwards of a true Christian as the Pharisees that made clean the outside but their inward was full of Rottenness and Uncleanness And if a Man cannot be known to be a true Minister according to their Doctrin the People are in a woful case as concerning that they call their Sacraments and especially that called the Supper which they say cannot be administred but by a true and real Minister and if any that is not a true Minister should presume to do any such thing as to Bless or Consecrate and set apart the Bread and Wine from common use it would be no Sacrament at all as some or most of them affirm 2. Now that divine Revelation and Inspiration is necessary to the Being or Essential Constitution of a Minister of Christ is evident from the Doctrin already delivered because it is necessary to the being or essential Constitution of every true Christian No man is or can be a true Christian without inward divine Revelation or Inspiration and therefore without the same no man can be a true Christian or Gospel-Minister for that which is absolutely necessary to constitute a true Christian or Believer is absolutely necessary to constitute a true Christian Minister otherwise it might be said a man may be a true Christian Minister and yet no true Christian But every true Minister of Christ as he ought to be a true Christian so he ought to be more than an ordinary Christian so as to exceed or excel them both in Spiritual Knowledge and other spiritual Gifts even as in natural teaching the Master or Teacher should
all inward new Revelation of the Spirit but one Man must take up all the time and preach over the People one Year after another and the people ever learning and yet never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth as was the manner of false Teachers in days past who had the Form of Godliness but denyed the Power thereof who were to be turned from 2 Tim. 3.5 6 7. And concerning the trying and knowing of Spirits as well as Doctrins the Apostle John writ in his General Epistle 1 John 2.1 Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God Now this ability to try Spirits is greater than barely to try whether a Man's Doctrin be true or false for it is possible a Man may Preach for an hour or more words of Doctrin that may be true and yet his Spirit not be of God And that which gave them this Ability to try all Spirits as well as Doctrins was the Vnction or anointing from the holy One which they had received 1 John 2.20 But ye have an Vnction from the holy ' One and ye know all things And vers 26 27. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you i. e. seek to seduce you But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any Man teach you but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things c. 5. But because it is taken for granted and laid down for a Fundamental among Presbyterians and Independent Teachers as well as many others That all inward divine Revelation and Inspiration such as Believers had in the time of the Apostles is ceased therefore they lay no claim to any of these spiritual Gifts and plainly confess they have them not and also that they have no Infallible discerning or knowledge what Men are truly gracious and holy and living Members of Christ's Body and what not And therefore when these and other places of Scripture are brought that declare how true Ministers of Christ had spiritual Gifts of Ministration some in a lesser degree and some in a greater they alledge all these Gifts are now ceased and the reason they give is because all inward divine Revelation and Inspiration such as the Saints formerly had is altogether ceased Whereas if they did grant that inward divine Revelation did continue they would also readily grant that these spiritual Gifts of Ministry did continue and a spiritual discerning and ability whereby to know Infallibly who were indeed indued with the Spirit of God and who did preach and pray by the Spirit or sing by the Spirit and who not And the like concerning the Ministerial Call if they did grant that divine inward Revelation and Inspiration did continue in the Church as the common Priviledge of all true and sound Believers as being given to all and every one of them to lead them into all Truth they would readily enough grant that Ministers had an inward Call to preach and exercise other Ministerial Services and Performances as these Ministers did of old So that indeed this their Doctrin That inward divine Revelation is ceased in the Church and in Believers is the foundation of many other false and pernicious Doctrins yea almost of all the false and erroneous Doctrins they have among them And since it is so that they have no Belief of having the Spirit of God inwardly inspiring them and revealing in them the things of God and inwardly teaching them the Mysteries of the Kingdom What is their Ministry or Church or Ordinances All made things of Mans making and inventing and setting up a Man-made Church Man-made Ministry Man-made Ordinances and a Man-made Worship And though they say they hope they have the Spirit and seem at times to lay great stress and weight upon it and the need of it not only to believe but to do all good and acceptable Works and Performances yet their blind Doctrin and Unbelief that all inward divine Revelation is ceased doth so blind and darken them generally and make them so spiritually stupid senseless and benummed that they plainly confess They have no infallible assurance or infallible knowledge that they have the Spirit of God or any of these gracius Motions and Operations of the holy Spirit For according to their blind Doctrin and Faith all the motions and operations of the Spirit are only effective but none of them objective and any Illumination that they have is only effective and not objective that is to say is no immediate object of their knowledge or feeling or spiritual perception the Spirit only works in them so to speak as fire or heat works in Stone or Iron or Wood but the Stone Iron or Wood hath not any inward sense or perception of it for if they did grant true spiritual sense and spiritual feeling or perception they would grant infallible knowledge of these things even as our outward senses when sound and duly qualified and within due circumstances give us an infallible knowledge of outward things for is not every sensible Child infallibly sure that it both seeth its Mother and feeleth her when the Mother is handling the Child and feeding it And doth not the Suckling on the breast surely know the Milk that it sucketh and can well distinguish the breast that hath Milk in it from that which is dry and empty But as the Epistle to the Hebrews saith Things made to wit the things of Mans making without the Spirit and Power of God inwardly revealed are all to be removed Heb. 12.26 27. Yet once more I shake not the Earth only but also Heaven And this word yet once more signifieth the removing of these things that may be shaken as of things that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remain Let them consider this who seem to themselves to have a Church Constitution Ministry Discipline Worship far above others as Heaven is above Earth as the Presbyterian Church thinks she is above the Episcopal the Independent Church thinks she is above the Presbyterian the Baptists think themselves above both and yet all these as well as others are open and declared Enemies to the holy Spirit his inward Revelation and Inspiration by which alone the true Church is a living Church and the Ministry a living Ministry and every true Member a living Member and all truly Religions Duties and Services are living But made things of Mans making are all dead things and therefore must all be shaken and removed not the made Earth only but the made Heavens also of Mans making made Faiths made Worships made Ministers made Covenants all things of Mens making without the Spirit and Power of God inwardly revealed must all be removed and every plant that is not of the heavenly Fathers planting must be plucked up But if any of them say Our Churches our Ministry our Faith our Worship our Covenant is not so for we have the spirit of God assisting
infallible Assurance doth not belong so to the essence of Faith but that a true Believer may wait long and Conflict with many Difficulties before he be partaker of it see Chap. 18. Sect. 3. And it is yet as strange that they affirm That a Man without divine new Revelation which here they call Extraordinary although in their first Chapter they have denyed all new divine Revelation even since the Apostles can be infallibly assured that he is in favour with God the which Assurance they seem to ground upon the inward Evidences of the Graces of God and the Testimony of the Spirit of Adoption witnessing with our Spirits that we are the Children of God But whether this be not a manifest Contradiction one while to assert the necessity of the inward Evidence of Grace and the Testimony of the Spirit witnessing with our Spirits that we are the Children of God and another while yea with the same Breath to deny all inward Revelation of the Spirit and to say the Spirit worketh only effectively and not objectively and therefore is only medium incognitum assentiendi to wit an unknown Principle of assenting let the wise in heart consider and judge For seeing no place of Scripture telleth us that we have these infallible marks of God's Children and yet the Spirit doth tell or witness it to or together with our Spirits this certainly is a novum effatum or new Truth or saying no where either expresly or consequentially contained in the Scripture or if they say it is contained in Scripture at least consequentially to wit that J.D. or J.C. hath the infallible marks of a Child of God let him produce it or any for him which they shall never be able to do It is wonderful that these Men have such inveterate Prejudice against divine inward Revelation that rather than assent to so blessed and comfortable Doctrin they will run into the most palpable Non-sense and Contradiction And when they start from the Testimony of the Spirit as implying divine inward Revelation they run at last to the Testimony of a Man 's own Heart and Conscience not well considering that the bare Testimony of a Man's Heart and Conscience cannot infallibly assure him or if it could it is no divine Testimony but only human and therefore no true object of divine Faith 11. But as the least true measure of Faith as it is lively acted or excercised upon Christ inwardly revealed hath an infallible Assurance in it so this Assurance doth only reach to the present state of Faithfulness as it is continued in until it please God to reveal to the Soul that it shall be preserved faithful to the last which so high degree of Assurance many true Believers have not attained unto God reserving that to such as he counteth worthy to reveal the same But the first degree of Assurance to wit whereby the Soul is infallibly assured that for the present it is in the way and state of Salvation and as it abideth and continueth to walk in that living Way and Path it hath begun in it shall be eternally saved is a very blessed and comfortable degree and such as for which every Soul that hath it has great cause to praise God Nor doth this degree of Assurance hinder but that the Enemy of the Soul's peace may raise up Clouds and Fogs of doubting and unbelief which may for some time obscure that Assurance if the Soul be not duely watchful and diligent to retain the same CHAP. VIII Whether true beginnings of Sanctification can be fallen from totally And whether it is true that no Man by any Grace of God given him or to be given him in this Life can perfectly keep the Commandments of God but doth daily break them in Thought Word and Deed 1. THat real and true beginnings of Faith and Sanctification or true and real Righteousness may be fallen from is clear from many Testimonies of the holy Scripture especially Heb. 6.4 5 6 7 8. Where first is described the state of some who do fall away what it was before they so do as 1 st that they were enlightned so as to have tasted of the heavenly Gift 2 dly to have been made partakers of the holy Ghost 3 dly to have tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come and surely all this could not be without some real beginning of true Sanctification Secondly the state of such is described when or after they do so fall away that they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame and also the great danger they are in so that it is impossible to renew them again unto Repentance But how far this Impossibility doth extend whether to a simple Impossibility or only in some respect is not the present business to determin and to the same purpose the Author writeth Heb. 10.26 27 28. Thirdly The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans Chap. 11. doth not only affirm that many Jews and People of Israel who were the natural Branches were broken off from the Root which Root is Christ by unbelief but warneth the believing Gentiles of their great danger also to be cut off if they did not keep in holy fear and watchfulness see Verse 20.21 22. Fourthly The Apostles Peter and Jude set before the Christians the fearful Examples of the fallen Angels and of the old World and also of the People of Israel who were saved out of Egypt to be a warning and caution unto them lest they should fall after the same manner Now the fall of the Angels was a total falling away and so was that of Israel in the Wilderness who though they did eat that spiritual Meat and drink that spiritual Drink to wit the Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ as Paul expresly declared 1 Cor. 10. yet were overthrown in the Wilderness for their Idolatry Fornication and other great Sins they were destroyed of the Destroyer so that in that day God did swear against them they should not enter into his Rest see 2 Pet. 2. throughout compared with Jude and 1 Cor. 10. throughout Fifthly The Parable of the Seed that was sown in the stony and thorny Ground that sprang up and afterwards whithered did signifie as Christ expresly did expound it some that believed for a time and afterwards did fall away And this Faith was not altogether a false Faith otherwise it had not been blame-worthy in them to have left it or cast it away for it is rather commendable than reproveable to cast away what is false and hypocritical and not real Nor doth it argue that their Faith was not true or real that it sprang up in the stony and thorny Ground For many that are real and sincere Believers at their first believing feel their Hearts to be both stony and thorny Ground and yet with diligence and labour through the Power and Grace of God come to get their Hearts in
one is that unerring true and infallible Spirit of Christ which leadeth all God's true Children and the other the Spirit of this World which is the very Devil himself the God of this World that leadeth all Unbelievers and Ungodly Persons in the World and this Spirit is not only fallible but false continually leading into Error as the Spirit of Truth leadeth into all Truth 8. And how are ye not ashamed to cite see Confes cap. 30. sect 1. Isa 9.6 7 Acts 20.17 Matth. 28.18 for your Government and Governors and Elders of your Churches Because it is said Isa 9.6 7. The Government is upon his Shoulders to wit Christ Jesus Doth it therefore follow it is upon yours Or can any be Governors or Rulers in the Church under him without he himself and his holy Spirit Power and Life which hath the heavenly Authority in it be known inwardly revealed which ye deny Was not the Government in the Apostles days altogether derived from the Power and Spirit of Christ in them but yours is quite another thing by your own Confession ye have not that infallible Spirit nor the inward Revelation of it And if ye derive it from the Letter so may any body else as well as ye and say because they have the Letter they are Rulers and Governors of Churches And as to these Elders mentioned Acts 20.17 They were such whom the holy Ghost had made Overseers as is expresly affirmed of them Verse 28. But this ye cannot in truth say who deny all pretence to inward divine Revelation which they had Nor doth Matth. 28.18 make any thing at all for you but against you Christ said to the Apostles All Power in Heaven and in Earth is given unto me go ye therefore and teach all Nations But when said he so unto you Or when gave he you such Commission Or suppose ye had such Commission surely ye are very unfaithful unto it who creep each of you into a House or Town and there only pretend to teach a few that come to hear you So did not the Apostles but travelled from place to place and from one Nation City and Country to another and had no certain dwelling-place by virtue of their said Commission but so do not ye but commonly keep to one place unless a fatter Benefice or more yearly Sallary and Hire invite you to another Will nothing serve your turn but the same Commission which Christ gave the Apostles And if ye have the same Commission are not ye also Apostles A charge which some of you have laid to us But why do ye not mind the other part of the Commission and apply that unto you Acts 1.4 8. And being assembled with them he commanded that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the Promise of the Father which he saith ye have heard of me Verse 8. But ye shall receive Power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be Witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the Earth And though some of you in New-England have made some show of Preaching to the Indians and to have converted them and got great sums of Mony out of Old England on that account Alas to what have ye converted them Is it not very manifest they are generally nothing better than when they were called Heathens but are for most part rather worse Which of them all have ye turned from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God and to know God and Christ by his Power and Spirit to rule in them Nay alas ye know it not in your selves and preach against it and therefore ye are not like to be Instruments to bring others to know it And if ye say Ye are the Successors of the Apostles and therefore the same Call which he gave unto them he doth give unto you Ye must first prove and demonstrate it that ye succeed them in the same Spirit Power Light and Life and in the same Holiness and Righteousness of Life as well as in Profession before ye ought to be believed but the contrary in all these respects is manifest Nor can ye shew your Line of Succession but from the Church of Rome and her Popes and Bishops which ye have called Antichrist in your Confession of Faith Cap. 25. Sect. 6. as is formerly observed in Cap. 4. 9. And as concerning the visibility of the true Church as it hath been granted that the true Church is oft visible and doth visibly appear in the Face of the World as a City set upon an Hill and doth make a visible and outward Profession of her Faith in Christ Jesus and love to him both in good Words and good Works yet it is not any thing meerly outward and visible that doth infallibly prove or demonstrate her to be the true Church or can make her known to People But it is the same inward Light Spirit and Power of God inwardly revealed that doth make known both Christ the Head and the true Church which is his Body and every true Member thereof And without the Light and Spirit of Christ inwardly shining and revealing both Christ and his Church is unknown unto Men but by the same is well known even as Christ said unto his Disciples John 15.18 If the World hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you Now whence is it that the World both hateth Christ and his Church Because it knoweth them not And Paul said 2 Cor. 6.9 As unknown and yet well known to wit well known to the Children of the Light who dwell in the Light and see and judge of things and Men in the Light but to them who are in Darkness and are Darkness unknown and therefore hated and persecuted by them CHAP. X. Of their two Sacraments called BAPTISM and the SVPPER 1. AS for the term or word Sacrament it is no where to be found in all the English Translation of the Bible received among Protestants nor is there any Word either in the Hebrew or Greek that doth properly answer unto it unless they will translate the Greek Word that signifieth Mystery to signifie a Sacrament as the old Latin hath it in Ephes 5.32 Hoc est magnum Sacramentum i. e. This is a great Sacrament for which our English Translation readeth more properly this is a great Mystery But if Sacrament signifie Mystery then there must be as many Sacraments as Mysteries and Faith it self is a Sacrament at that rate and true Preaching and Prayer and every other Religious matter and thing all which are holy Mysteries And they who say there are two Sacraments have borrowed these two out of the seven professed by the Church of Rome having cast off and rejected five of the seven for which the said Church doth accuse these latter Churches of Sacriledge and spiritual Robbery to abolish and take away five of the seven Sacraments or rather indeed
and holy Men witnessed of Old is ceased 11. That human and outward learning without the saving Grace of God and the holy Spirits inward Revelation and Inspiration is sufficient to qualifie a Man to be a Preacher of the Gospel 12. That the Scriptures ought to be believed only for their own outward Evidence and Testimony and not for the inward Evidence and Testimony of the holy Spirit in Mens Hearts I expect your Answer some time this day and remain your Friend G.K. Having received a Blasphemous and Heretical Paper subscribed by one George Keith our answer to it and him is IF he desires Conference to instruct us let him give us his Arguments in writing as well his Assertions If to inform himself let him write his Doubts If to cavil and disturb the Peace of our Churches which we have cause to suspect we have neither list nor leasure to attend his Motions If he would have a Publick Audience let him Print If a private Discourse though he may know where we dwell yet we forget not what the Apostle John saith Ephes 2.10 July the 12th 1688. James Allen Joshua Moody Samuel Willard Cotten Mather To James Allen Joshua Moody Samuel Willard Cotten Mather called Preachers in Boston I Received yours wherein ye give no satisfactory nor reasonable answer to my fair proposal ye call my Letter unto you A blasphemous heretical Paper But wherein it doth contain either Heresie or Blasphemy ye have not mentioned far less demonstrated I pity your Ignorance and I perceive ye are in the same darkness and blindness of Mind that the Jews were in who accused the Lord Jesus Christ of Blasphemy and if he were now among you in the Flesh he would meet with the same entertainment from you for the measure of the same Spirit of Truth which is in his Servants that dwelt in him in all fulness ye blaspheme against But it is well ye have not the Magistrates Sword now at command which your Brethren sometime ago had and made a woful and miserable use of it to turn it against the Innocent And now that ye have no Carnal weapons to fight with we can find no Spiritual weapons that ye have But by silly and frivolou Excuses ye seek to lurk and hide in Corners when ye are fairly and justly required to appear in open Field to defend your false Doctrin To whom shall I liken or compare you but to Night-birds and Beasts of prey as they are described Psal 104.20 21 22. Thou makest Darkness and it is Night wherein all the Beasts of the Forest do creep forth the young Lyons roar after their Prey c. The Sun ariseth they gather themselves together and lay them down in their Dens For now that your Sun of Persecution is gone down and the Sun of Peace is arisen ye have no courage to appear in the open and fair Field to defend your evil Cause only in your Dens and Houses into which ye have crept where the honest People called Quakers have not occasion to hear you ye speak Evil of things ye know not and lie and rail against the Truth And that ye and not we the People called in scorn Quakers are Blasphemers I have not only charged but demonstrated in sundry particulars in this Treatise And yet because I judge ye do so in ignorance I believe it is pardonable and if ye sincerely Repent of it it shall be forgiven you But why are ye afraid of the Light to appear in publick to try your Spiritual strength and weapons when your Carnal are gone Is not that Scripture fulfilled upon you Job 24 16 17. In the dark they dig through Houses which they had marked for themselves in the day time they know not the Light for the Morning is to them even as the Shadow of Death if one know them they are in the terrors of the shadow of Death I do say it in uprightness I writ not this boastingly or glorying in my strength as of self my alone glorying is in the Lord and in his Truth which is the strongest of all that God in his infinite Mercy hath made known unto me and the Truth in the Mouth or Pen of the youngest Child is too strong for all the Goliahs among you Remember that memorable passage of the Barley-Cake that tumbled into the Host of Midian as it was represented to one in a Dream which was the occasion of Gideon's taking courage to go out against the Midianites who was prospered with great success though he and his Men were but a small company Judge 7. And also remember how at the sounding of the Rams Horns the Walls of Jericho fell down flat to the Ground Men of an evil Conscience are commonly afraid Or if ye fear your People lest if any publick Dispute should be they might be in danger to change their mind Is it not the most effectual way to rescue your Sheep if they be in danger suppose we be Wolves as we thank God we are none to appear openly and in a manly way against us and not to suffer the Wolves to hunt the Shepherds for that were a strange thing but that if ye be Shepherds ye hunt the Wolves and seek them out every way and by all means and be glad of every occasion to find them And is your Preaching to the People so little effectual that many Years teaching them is not sufficient to save them from the danger of two or three Hours fair debating of things If your People were built on the Rock ye needed not fear that they would be so soon shaken In your very short Letter ye have very many idle and frivolous Suppositions If this and If that so that in six Lines or seven ye have five needless Suppositions and labour as Men in a Sweat or at least seem so to do to find out the design or intention of my Writing unto you the which is plain without any enquiry for I told you very plainly the end of my writing was to inform you That ye preach unto the People many false and unsound Principles pernicious to the Souls of People And if ye could not receive my Information I profered to debate these things fairly with you And though I neither had nor have the least mind to Cavil yet I most assuredly believe that the Peace of your Churches is not the true Peace of Christ but that both ye and they are set down in a false peace and rest And therefore he who at the command of Christ Jesus and by the motion of his eternal Spirit doth proclaim a holy War and soundeth an alarm in your Ears that Christ himself is come and more abundantly coming to take away your false Peace and to send a spiritual Sword and Fire unto you is really your best Friend and such a Friend I am unto you whether ye will hear or forbear For I came not unto you in my own will but a necessity from the Lord by his living
Motion in my Heart and his living Word that was and is as a Sword and a Fire did lie upon me to clear my self among you And seeing your Churches are no true Churches of Christ as I have sufficiently demonstrated in this Treatise their peace is no true peace and therefore must and will be broken and the sooner it be broken the better it will prove to many poor Souls among you in order to their being gathered unto the Lord. And whereas ye say in your Letter If he would have a publick Audience let him Print Ye see how I have complyed with your Proposal yet not in your will but in the will of the Lord who hath laid it upon me and hath assisted me in this undertaking to write this Treatise and direct it more particularly unto you and more generally to all the Presbyterian and Independent Teachers and People both in New-England or elsewhere to whose Hands by divine Providence it shall come And I require this reasonable demand of you that seeing ye have said Let him Print that after it is come unto you ye would seriously read it and if it please God by it as an Instrument to convince you through his eternal Spirit give God the Glory and confess to the Truth But if otherwise that still ye think ye have Truth on your side then appear in Print openly to defend your Cause not with Railing and Lies but solid Arguments if ye can produce them And if in some places I seem to have appeared sharp unto you or your Brethren in this undertaking I would have you to consider that on a due examination my Arguments and Reasons are full as sharp as my Charges or Conclusions and sharp Premisses can well allow to have sharp Conclusions And what Sharpness or Tartness or seeming Severity I have used true love and compassion to Souls as well as zeal to God's Glory hath constrained it Sweet Potions of Physick are not always the most safe The true Prophets of God were generally led and moved of God to reprove sharply the false Prophets of Old And Christ and the Apostles and other true Teachers did sharply reprove false Teachers in that day and there is the same cause now and the same Spirit of Truth and true Zeal now that moveth in God's true Servants in measure in this day The precious Souls of many Thousands lie at stake and therefore there ought to be plain dealing and no daubing with untempered Morter or sowing Pillows under Arm-holes I know the wrath of Man doth not work the Righteousness of God and I have laboured to keep free from that human Passion and whether I have kept clear and free of it I can and do freely submit to the Judgment of the spiritual Man who hath a spiritual discerning and is able to judge but to the carnal Man's Judgment I have no reason to submit And as I freely submit my Spirit to be tryed so the Doctrin to him that is able and above all I appeal to the holy Scripture as the best outward Test and Touch-stone and to the inward opening of the holy Spirit in all that are sensible of it without which ye cannot but err not knowing the Scriptures nor the Power of God Ye decline my coming privately to your Houses citing for your Warrant John 2. verse 10. but I had no such design however ye miserably misapply that place of Scripture as ye are wont to do many more For ye take it for granted that I bring another Doctrin than the Doctrin of Christ and the Apostles which I altogether deny Secondly what John did write was to a private Woman and therefore doth not quadrate to you who reckon your selves publick Men and Rulers as well as Teachers and Pastors in the Church and I do not find any command or practice in all the Scripture for you to decline a fair Dispute with Men suppose Hereticks or false Teachers unless ye have first dealt with them in order to convince them And even ye ought not to reject an Heretick till after the first and second Admonition according to Scripture but ye never as yet gave me your first And he who is an Heretick is self condemned which I bless God I am not and ye pretend not to that spiritual discerning whereby ye can know me to be such It is not always one nor divers Errors or Mistakes in Judgment that maketh Men worthy of that odious Name of Heretick The Apostle John and all the other Apostles had the infallible Spirit of Truth and that gave them a discerning infallibly to judge both Doctrins and Spirits but this ye neither have nor lay claim to And yet we find that the Apostles did not shun to discourse and debate with Men of ill Principles as occasion and season required And Christ also did unweariedly reason with Opposers of all sorts Jews Pharisees Sadducees c. And Paul disputed daily in the School of Cyrannus with them that opposed and with Epicureans and Libertines and others at Athens and went into the Jews Synagogues and reasoned with them and did not excuse themselves with your silly Evasion that these Men were false Teachers and therefore ought not to be disputed with The Scripture commandeth that in Meekness we should instruct them that oppose themselves if God peradventure may give them Repentance And though this is not the work of all private Christians who have not a publick Gift of teaching and are not called to that Work yet this is no defence unto you who pretend to be publick Teachers And if it be so that false Teachers are on no account to be received into Houses ye little consider how this Weapon may ere long be turned against your selves For my hope is that in due time many People both in Boston and New-England shall have their Eyes opened by the Spirit of the Lord which ye blaspheme to see your sort to be these false Teachers who bring not the Doctrin of Christ and the Apostles and the Houses ye Preach in not being your Houses but the Houses of the People they shall not any more receive you into them and this warrantably enough according to your own words But seeing ye are so unwilling that any called a Quaker should come into your Houses why should ye receive their Goods To wit their Kettles Pewter Houshold-stuff Corn and Cattel as some yea many of your Brethren have done and used them as your own though unjustly taken away from the true Owners because they would not give you Maintenance A rare and unparalled practice no where to be traced in all the Scripture nay not by false Prophets and Teachers in like manner as ye have done And when our honest Friends have expostulated with you Why ye crave Wages of them who do not hear you ye have oft told them The Door is open and have invited them to come yea and some have been fined for not coming to your Houses some call Churches but
assured that the Spirit of God never teacheth nor leadeth any to think say or do what is contrary to the declared Will of God in the holy Scriptures nor to that holy and righteous Law that is writ by the Finger of God upon the Hearts of Men universally which is the substance of the Decalogue that God writ upon the two Tables of Stone And we readily grant that whoever pretend to follow the Spirit of God to be their inward Guide and Rule should be very cautious and wary lest the evil Spirit that doth and can transform himself into many Likenesses but always short of the Truth step in and deceive But there is a most safe and sure way for every one to be sure that they are not deceived and shall never be in any matter of moment and that is for every one to be faithful unto God in these moral Duties or any other things which they know infallibly and are generally agreed upon by all Christians to be good things for such have the Promise of God that they shall be preserved from being deceived And whereas the said Increase Mather hath writ so many remarkable Judgments of God that have come upon notorious Offenders on purpose to record them in Print and that he saith Cap. 11. We may not judge of Men meerly by outward Accidents which befall them in this World c. And some Lines after he saith Nevertheless a Judgment may be so circumstanced as that the displeasure of Heaven is plainly written upon it in legible Characters And in this he saith true but he should have added that such Men who can read the same must not be blind but have the true Eye opened in them otherwise they will make a wrong Construction of these things There wants to be inserted or added to his Book the many signal and manifest Judgments of God that came upon the People of New-England in general and upon divers particular Persons the main actors for that horrible Persecution they raised against that honest People called Quakers and putting to death four of the Lord's Servants for which the Name of these Actors and Abettors are a stink over many places of the World And of these Judgments in general the blasting of their Wheat generally ever since they put our worthy Friends to Death at Boston and the Indian Wars that soon after followed whereby many English were destroyed And after that but of late Years a dreadful Visitation of the Small-Pox called by some the Black Pock that cut off very many both at Boston and else-where of which they were fore-warned by a Woman that came from Barbadoes and went into some of their Meetings with her Face all made black for a Sign of what was coming upon them she being one of these People called Quakers and owned by them in that very Testimony which she declared she was moved by the Lord to come from Barbadoes to bear among them her Name being Margaret Brewster to which may be added the taking away their Charter and Power which they so grosly abused in turning the Sword against the Innocent one cause of which was their persecuting the Quakers unto Death and the manifest Judgments of God that came upon divers particular Persons notorious Persecutors of that innocent People are very observable as Major Adarton who joyned in passing sentence of Death against some of these Servants of the Lord who suffered Death at Boston who not long after was killed with a Cow and that Horton Preacher at Boston a great Persecutor who dyed suddainly as he was walking in his House after Sermon and Captain Davenport another great Persecutor who was killed with Lightning And though the said Increase Mather doth relate the suddain Deaths of both these men he altogether omitteth these great Circumstances of their being great Persecutors the which ommission whether it was wilfully in him or not I shall not determine But it is the more memorable that the said Major Adarton being warned before-hand of the Judgment of God he made light of it as I was informed by some in New-England who had the Relation of it from some that did so warn him being of that persecuted People And also it is very memorable how one of these persecuted Servants of the Lord called Quakers did plainly fore-tell that the House of Governor Indicot a greater Persecutor should be left desolate and become a Dunghil as did accordingly come to pass and hath been observed by divers to have been a real Prophecy divine Justice and Providence did so bring it about There are many other Instances and Examples might be mentioned some of which I refer to George Bishop his Book called New-England Judged to be there read and considered I shall only add one passage more which I was informed of and had it writ from some of the People of Barnstable how that from an honest-man a Quaker in the Town of Barnstable were taken four Cows with some Calves the Quaker's name being Ralph Jones who is yet alive and these Cattel were taken away by the Preacher of that Town his Son-in-law who had married his Daughter and returned to the Priest as a part of his Wages The Priest sent to Ralph Jones to tell him He might have two of his Cows returned to him if he would send for them But he never sent and so the said Priest used them and disposed of them as his own killed one of the Calfs and sent a part of it to his Daughter that lay in Child-bed she no sooner did eat a little of the Calf but fell into a great trouble and cryed Return home the Man's Cows I hear a great noise of them and so dyed in that trouble The Priest alledged the Quakers had bewitched his Daughter although it cannot be proved that ever they had any business with her But to what evil Construction will not Malice and Hypocrisie and Covetousness bend a thing Some time after the said Preacher killed some of these Cows to be eat in his House saying He would try if the Quakers could bewitch him and not long after he dyed even before the Flesh of these Cows were all eat The passage is so fresh in that Town that it is acknowledged by divers of the Neighbours to be true And as great havock was made upon this honest Man and upon many in Sandwich a neighbouring Town and in many other places so much more might have been expected had not their Violence been restrained by the King 's granting an Indulgence to all tender Consciences Next as to Nath. Morton in his Book called New-England's Memorial pag. 157. he chargeth the Quakers with corrupt and damnable Doctrin in the following particulars 1. That the holy Scriptures were not for the enlightning of Man nor a setled and permanent Rule of Life The which charge is false for we have granted that the Scriptures are a Rule of Life so we do still the best outward Rule that can be found but