been so treated in the Primitive Times nor indeed is it only about Doctrines of Religion for our Practice in Worship and Discipline have had the same Success But this is what I earnestly desire that however bold People are pleased to make with us they would not deceive themselves in the great things of their own Salvation That while they would seem to own all to Christ they are not found disowned of Christ in the last Day Read the 7th of Matthew it is he that hears Christ the great Word of God and does what he enjoins what he commands and by his Blessed Example recommends that is a Wise Builder that has founded his House well and built with good Materials and whose House will stand the last shake and Judgment For which cause we are often plain close and earnest with People to consider that Christ came not to save them in but from their Sins and that they that think to discharge and release themselves of his Yoke and Burden his Cross and Example and secure themselves and Complement Christ with his having done all for them while he has wrought little or nothing in them nor they parted with any thing for the love of him will finally awake in a dreadful surprize at the sound of the last Trumpet and at this sad and irrevokeable Sentence Depart from me ye Workers of Iniquity I know you not Which terrible End may all timely avoid by hearkening to Wisdom's Voice and turning at her Reproof that she may lead them in the Ways of Righteousness and in the midst of the Paths of Judgment that their Souls may come to inherit Substance even durable Riches and Righteousness in the Kingdom of the Father World without end CHAP. X. Sect. 1. Of the true Worship of God in what it stands Sect. 2. Of the true Ministry that it is by Inspiration Sect. 3. The Scripture plain in that Case Sect. 4. Christ's Ministers True Witnesses they speak what they know not by Report Sect. 5. Christ's Ministers they affirm Preach freely 't is one of their Marks § 1. AS the Lord wrought effectually by his Divine Grace in the Hearts of this People so he thereby brought them to a Divine Worship and Ministry Christ's words they came to Experience viz. That God was a Spirit and that he would therefore be worshipped in the Spirit and in the Truth and that such Worshippers the Father would seek to worship him For bowing to the Convictions of the Spirit in themselves in their daily course of living by which they were taught to eschew that which was made manifest to them to be evil and to do that which was good they in their Assembling together sate down and waited for the Preparation of this Holy Spirit both to let them see their States and Conditions before the Lord and to worship him acceptably and as they were sensible of Wants or Shortness or Infirmities so in the secret of their own Hearts Prayer would spring to God through Jesus Christ to help assist and supply them But they did not dare to wake their Beloved before his time or approach the Throne of the King of Glory till he held out his Scepter or take thought what they should say or after their own or other Mens studied Words and Forms for this were to Offer strange Fire to pray but not by the Spirit to ask but not in the Name that is in the Power of our Lord Jesus Christ who pray'd as well as that he spoke like one having Authority that is Power a Divine Energy and Force to reach and pierce the Heavens which he gives to all that obey his Light Grace and Spirit in their solemn Waitings upon him So that 't is this Peoples Principle that Fire must come from Heaven Life and Power from God to enable the Soul to pour out it self acceptably before him And when a Coal from his holy Altar touches our Lips then can we Pray and Praise him as we ought to do And as this is our Principle and that according to Scripture so is it Blessed be God our Experience and Practice And therefore it is we are separated from the Worships of Men under their several Forms because they do not found it in the Operation Motion and Assistance of the Spirit of Christ but the Appointment Invention and Framing of Man both as to Matter Words and Time We do not dissent in our own Wills and we dare not comply against His that has called us and brought us to his own Spiritual Worship in Obedience to whom we are what we are in our Separation from the divers Ways of Worship in the World § 2. And as our Worship stands in the Operation of the Spirit and Truth in our inward Parts as before expressed so does our Ministry For as the Holy Testimonies of the Servants of God of Old were from the Operation of his Blessed Spirit so must those of his Servants be in every Age and that which has not the Spirit of Christ for its Spring and Source is of Man and not Christ Christian Ministers are to minister what they receive This is Scripture now that which we receive is not our own less another Mans but the Lord's So that we are not only not to Steal from our Neighbours but we are not to Study and speak our own words If we are not to study what we are to say before Magistrates for our selves less are we to study what we are to say for and from God to the People We are to minister as the Oracles of God if so then must we receive from Christ God's Great Oracle what we are to minister And if we are to minister what we receive then not what we Study Collect and beat out of our own Brains for that is not the Mind of Christ but our Imaginations and this will not Profit the People § 3. This was recommended to the Corinthians by the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 14. that they should speak as they were moved or as any thing was revealed to them by the Spirit for the Edification of the Church for says he Ye may all Prophecy that is ye may all Preach to Edification as any thing is revealed to you for the Good of others and as the Spirit giveth Vtterance And if the Spirit must give Christ's Ministers their Utterance then those that are his are careful not to utter any thing in his Name to the People without his Spirit and by good Consequence they that go before the true Guide and utter words without the Knowledge of the Mind of the Spirit are none of Christ's Ministers Such certainly run and God has not sent them and they cannot Profit the People And indeed how should they when it is impossible that meer Man with all his Parts Arts and Acquirements can turn People from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God which is the very End and Work of the Gospel-Ministry It must be Inspired Men Men
Primitive Christianity REVIVED IN THE Faith and Practice Of the PEOPLE called QUAKERS Written in Testimony to the present Dispensation of God through Them to the World That Prejudices may be removed the Simple informed the Well-enclined Encouraged and the Truth and its Innocent Friends Rightly Represented By William Penn. This People have I formed for my self They shall shew forth my Praise Isa 43. 21. LONDON Printed and Sold by T. Sowle near the Meeting-house in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-Street and at the Bible in Leaden-Hall-Street near the Market 1696. THE EPISTLE TO THE READER Reader BY this short Ensâ—â—ing Treatise 〈…〉 perceive the Subject of it viz. The Light of Christ in Man as the Manifestation of Gods Love for Mans Happiness Now for as much as this is the Peculiar Testimony and Characteristick of the People called Quakers their great Fundamental in Religion That by which they have been distinguished from other Professors of Christianity in their Time and to which they refer all People about Faith Worship and Practice both in their Ministry and Writings That as the Fingers shute out of the Hand and the Branches from the Body of the Tree so true Religion in all the Parts and Articles of it Springs from this Divine Principle in Man And because the Prejudices of some are very great against this People and their Way and that others who Love their Seriousness and commend their good Life are yet through Mistakes or want of Inquiry under Jealousie of their Vnsoundness in some Points of Faith and that there are not a few in all Perswasions which desire earnestly to know and enjoy God in that sensible Manner this People speak of and who seem to long after a State of Holiness and Acceptance with God but are under Doubts and Dispondings of attaining it from the want they find in themselves of inward Power to enable them and are unacquainted with this Efficacious Agent which God hath given and appointed for their Supply For these Reasons and Motives know Reader I and so often trod upon and treated as the Off-scouring of the Earth are the People of God and Children of the most High Bear with me Reader I know what I say and am not high minded but fear For I write with Humility towards God though with Confidence towards thee Not that thou shouldst believe upon my Authority nothing less for that 's not Act upon Knowledge but Trust But that thou shouldst try and prove what I write For that is all I ask as well as all I need for thy Conviction and my own Justification The whole indeed being but a spiritual Experiment upon the Soul and therefore seeks for no implicite Credit because it is Self-evident to them that will uprightly try it And when thou Reader shalt come to be acquainted with this Principle and the plain and happy Teachings of it thou wilt with us admire thou shouldst live so long a Stranger to that which was so near thee and as much wonder that other Folks should be so blind as not to see it as formerly thou thoughtest us singular for obeying it The Day I believe is at hand that will declare this with an uncontroulable Authority because it will be with an unquestionable Evidence I have done Reader with this Preface when I have told thee First That I have stated the Principle and opened as God has enabled me the Nature and Virtue of it in Religion Wherein the common Doctrines and Articles of the Christian Religion are delivered and improved and in which I have endeavoured to express my self in Plain and Proper Terms and not in Figurative Allegorical or Doubtful Phrases that so I may leave no room for an Equivocal or Double Sence but that the Truth of the Subject I treat upon may appear Easily and Evidently to every common Vnderstanding Next I have confirmed what I have writ by Scripture Reason and the Effects of it upon so great a People whose uniform concurrence in the Experience and Practice thereof through all Times and Sufferings since a People challenge the Notice and Regard of every serious Reader Thirdly I have written briefly that so it might be every ones Mony and Reading And much in a little is best when we see daily that the Richer People grow the less Mony or Time they have for God and Religion And perhaps those that would not buy a large Book may find in their Hearts to give away some of these for their Neighbours Good being little and Cheap Be serious Reader be Impartial and then be as Inquisitive as thou canst and that for thine own Soul as well as the Credit of this most misunderstood and abused People And the God and Father of Lights and Spirits so bless thine in the Perusal of this short Treatise that thou mayst receive real Benefit by it to his Glory and thine own Comfort Which is the Desire and End of him that wrote it who is in the Bonds of Christian Charity very much and very ardently Thy Real Friend William Penn. CHAP. I. Sect. 1. Their Fundamental Principle Sect. 2. The Nature of it Sect. 3. Called by several Names Sect. 4. They refer all to this as to Faith and Practice Ministry and Worship § 1. THat which the People called Quakers lay down as a main Fundamental in Religion is this That God through Christ hath placed a Principle in every Man to inform him of his Duty and to enable him to do it and that those that live up to this Principle are the People of God and those that live in Disobedience to it are not God's People what ever Name they may bear or Profession they may make of Religion This is their Ancient First and Standing Testimony With this they began and this they bore and do bare to the World § 2. By this Principle they understand something that is Divine and though in Man yet not of Man but of God that came from him and leads to him all those that will be lead by it § 3. There are divers ways of speaking they have been led to use by which they declare and express what this Principle is about which I think fit to Precaution the Reader viz. They call it the Light of Christ within Man or Light within which is their Ancient and most General and Familiar Phrase also the Manifestation or Appearance of Christ the Witness of God the Seed of God the Seed of the Kingdom Wisdom the Word in the Heart the Grace that appears to all men the Spirit given to every Man to profit with the Truth in the inward Parts The spiritual Leaven that Leavens the whole Lump of Man Which are many of them Figurative Expressions but all of them such as the Holy Ghost hath used and which will be used in this Treatise as they are most frequently in the Writings and Ministry of this People But that this Variety and Manner of Expression may
lead and guide the Soul of Man to Blessedness In order to which the first thing it does in and for Man is to give him a True Sight or Discerning of himself What he is and what he does that he may see and know his own Condition and what Judgment to make of himself with respect to Religion and a future Estate Of which let us hear what the Word himself saith that cannot Err as John relates it Chap. 3. 20 21. For every one that doeth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light least his deeds should be Reproved But he that doeth Truth cometh to the Light that his deeds may be made Manifest that they are wrought in God A most pregnant Instance of the Virtue and Authority of the Light First It is that which Men ought to examine themselves by Secondly It gives a true Discerning betwixt Good and Bad what is of God from what is not of God And Lastly It is a Judge and condemneth or acquitteth reproveth or comforteth the Soul of Man as he rejects or obeys it That must needs be Divine and Efficacious which is able to discover to Man what is of God from what is not of God and which gives him a Distinct Knowledge in himself of what is wrought in God from what is not wrought in God By which it appears that this Place does not only regard the discovery of Man and his Works but in some Measure it manifesteth God and his Works also which is yet something higher for as much as it gives the obedient Man a discovery of what is wrought or performed by God's Power and after his Will from what is the meer Workings of the Creature of himself If it could not manifest God it could not tell Man what was God's Mind nor give him such a grounded Sense and Discerning of the Rise Nature and Tendency of the Workings of his mind or Inward Man as is both expressed and abundantly implied in this Passage of our Saviour And if it reveals God to be sure it manifests Christ that flows and comes from God Who then would oppose or slight this blessed Light § 2. But that this Light doth manifest God is yet Evident from Rom. 1. 19. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in Men for God hath shewed it unto them An universal Proposition and we have the Apostles Word for it who was One of a Thousand and inspired on purpose to tell us the Truth Let it then have its due weight with us If that which may be known of God is manifest in Men the People called Quakers cannot certainly be out of the Way in Preaching up the Light within without which nothing can be manifested to the mind of Man as saith the same Apostle to the Ephesians Eph. 5. 13. Whatsoever doth make manifest is Light Well then may they call this Light within a Manifestation or Appearance of God that sheweth in and to Man all that may be known of God A passage much like unto this is that of the Prophet Micah Chap. 6. 8. God hath shewed thee O Man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with thy God God hath shewed Thee O Man It is very Emphatical But how hath He shewed him Why by his Light in the Conscience which the wicked Rebel against Job 24. 13. Who for that Cause know not the ways nor abide in the Paths thereof For its way are ways of Pleasantness and all its Paths are Peace to them that obey it § 3. But the Light giveth the Light of Life which is Eternal Life to them that receive and obey it Thus says the blessed Saviour of the World I am the Light of the VVorld he that follweth me shall not abide in Darkness but shall have the Light of Life Now he is the Light of the VVorld because he lighteth every Man that cometh into the VVorld and they that obey that Light obey him and therefore have the Light of Life That is the Light becomes Eternal Life to the Soul That as it is the Life of the VVord which is the Light in Man so it becomes the Life in Man through his Obedience to it as his Heavenly Light § 4. Furthermore this Light was the very Ground of the Apostolical Message as the Beloved Disciple assures us This then is the Message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all If we say we have Fellowship with him and walk in Darkness we Lye and do not the Truth But if we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have Fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all Sin VVhich is so comprehensive of the Virtue and Excellency of the Light in reference to Man that there is little need that more should be said upon it for as much as First It reveals God and that God himself is Light Secondly It discovers Darkness from Light and that there is no fellowship between them Thirdly That Man ought to walk in the Light Fourthly That it is the VVay to obtain forgiveness of Sin and Sanctification from it Fifthly That it is the Means to have Peace and Fellowship with God and his People his true Church redeemed from the Pollutions of the VVorld § 5. Some perhaps may Object as indeed it hath been more than once objected upon us That this is another Light not that Light wherewith every Man is enlightned But the same Apostle in his Evangelical History tells us that in the VVord was Life and the Life was the Light of Men and that that very Light that was the Life of the VVord was the True Light which lighteth every Man that cometh into the VVorld John 1. 4 9. VVhere is there as plain a Text to be found against the sufficiency as well as Universality of the Light within or a plainer for any Article of Faith in the whole Book of God Had the Beloved Disciple intended Two Lights in his Evangelical History and his Epistles to be sure he would have noted to us his Distinction But we read of none and by the Properties ascribed in each Writing we have â—eason to conclude he meant the same § 6. But if any shall yet Object That this is to be understood of a Spiritual Light and that ours is but a Natural one I shall desire them to do two things 1st To prove that a Natural Light as they phrase it doth manifest God other then as I have before explained and allowed Since whatever is part of Man in his Constitution but especially in his Degeneracy from God is so far from Yielding him the knowledge of God that it cannot rightly Reprove or Discover that which offends him without the Light we speak of And it is Granted that what we call Divine and some Mistakenly call Natural Light can
compared with those of the Light Sect. 3. The Light and Grace flow from the same Principle proved by their agreeing Properties Sect. 4. An Objection Answer'd Sect. 5. Difference in Manifestation or Operation especially in Gospel-Times but not in Principle Illustrated Obj. BUt some may say we could willingly allow to the Spirit and Grace of God which seemed to be the peculiar Blessing of the New and Second Covenant and the Fruit of the coming of Christ all that which you ascribe to the Light within but except it appeared to us that this Light were the same in Nature with the Spirit and Grace of God we cannot easily bring our selves to believe what you say in favour of the Light within Answ This Objection at first look seems to carry weight with it But upon a just and serious Review it will appear to have more Words than Matter Show than Substance Yet because it gives occasion to solve scruples that may be flung in the way of the Simple I shall attend it throughout I say then if it appear that the Property 's ascribed to the Light within are the same with those that are given to the Holy Spirit and Grace of God and that those several Terms or Epithytes are only to express the divers Manifestations or Operations of one and the same Principle then it will not it cannot be denied but this Light within is Divine and Efficacious as we have Asserted it Now that it is of the same Nature with the Spirit and Grace of God and tends to the same End which is to bring People to God let the Properties of the Light be compar'd with those of the Spirit and Grace of God I say they are the same in that First The Light proceeds from the one Word and one Life of that one Word which was with God and was God Secondly It is Vniversal it lighteth every Man Thirdly It giveth the Knowledge of God and Fellowship with him Rom. 1. 19. John 3. 21. 1 John 1. 5 6. Fourthly It manifesteth and reproveth Evil John 3. 20. Eph. 5. 13. Fifthly It is made the Rule and Guide of Christian Walking Psalm 43. 3. John 8. 12. Eph. 5. 13 15. Sixthly It is the Path for Gods People to go in Psalm 119. 105. Prov. 4. 18. Isa 2. 5. 1 John 1. 7. Rev. 24. 23. and the Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the Light of the Lamb. Lastly It is the Armour of the Children of God against Satan Psalm 27. 1. The Lord is my Light whom shall I fear Rom. 13. 12. Let us put on the Armour of Light § 2. Now let all this be compar'd with the Properties of the Holy Spirit and their Agreement will be very manifest First It proceedeth from God because it is the Spirit of God Rom. 6. 11. Secondly It is Vniversal It strove with the Old World Gen. 6. 3. Then to be sure with the new One Every one hath a measure of it given to profit withal 1 Cor. 12. 7. Thirdly It revealeth God Job 32. 8. 1 Cor. 2. 10 11. Fourthly It reproveth Sin John 16. 8. Fifthly It is a Rule and Guide for the Childten of God to walk by Rom. 8. 14. Sixthly It is also the Path they are to walk in Rom. 8. 1. Gal. 5. 15. Walk in the Spirit Lastly This is not all it is likewise the Spiritual Weapon of a true Christian Eph. 6. 17. Take the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God After this I hope none will deny that this Light and this Spirit must be of one and the same Nature that work one and the same Effect and tend evidently to one and the same Holy End § 3. And what is said of the Light and Spirit may also very well be said of the Light and Grace of God in that First The Grace floweth from Christ the Word that took Flesh as well as the Light for as in him was Life and that Life the Light of Men so he was full of Grace and Truth and of his fulness have all we received and Grace for Grace Secondly It is Vniversal both from this Text and what the Apostle to Titus teacheth For the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men. Thirdly It manifesteth Evil for if it teaches to deny Ungodliness and worldly Lusts it must needs detect them and so says the Text. Fourthly It revealeth Godliness and consequently it must manifest God Fifthly It is an Instructor and Guide for says the Apostle It teaches to deny Vngodliness and worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World and herein is a Rule of Life Tit. 2. 11 12. Sixthly It is to all that receive it all that they can need or desire 2 Cor. 12. 9. My Grace is sufficient for thee An high Testimony from Heaven to the Power of this Teaching and Saving Grace under the strongest Temptations § 4. Obj. But there is little mention made of the Spirit and none of the Grace before Christs coming and therefore the Spirit as spoken of in the Writings of the New Testament and especially the Grace must be another and a nobler thing than the Light within Ans By no means another Thing but another Name from another Manifestation or Operation of the same Principle It is called Light from the Distinction and Discerning it gives Let there be Light and there was Light said God in the beginning of the Old World so there is first Light in the beginning of the New Creation of God in Man It is called Spirit because it giveth Life Sense Motion and Vigour And it is as often mentioned in the Writings of the Old as New Testament which every Reader may see if he will but please to look into his Scripture Concordance Thus Gods Spirit strove with the Old World Gen. 6. 3. and with Israel in the VVilderness Neh. 9. 30. and David ask'd in the Agony of his Soul Whither shall I go from thy Spirit Psalm 139. 7. and the Prophets often felt it It is stiled Grace not from its being another Principle but because it was a fuller Dispensation of the Virtue and Power of the Same Divine Principle And that being purely God's Favour and Mercy and not Mans Merit is aptly and deservedly called the Grace Favour or Goodwill of God to undeserving Man The Wind does not always blow fresh nor Heaven send down its Rain freely nor the Sun shine forth clearly shall we therefore say it is not of the same kind of Wind Rain or Light when it Blows Rains or Shines but a little as when it Blows Rains or Shines much It is certainly the same in Nature and Kind and so is this blessed Principle under all its several Dispensations Manifestations and Operations for the Benefit of Mans Soul ever since th◠World began § 5. But this is most freely humbly and thankfully acknowledged by us that the Dispensation of the Gospel was the clearest
cannot subsist without it Which made David break forth in his Expostulations with God Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy Presence Psalm 139. 7 8 9 10. Implying it was every where though not every where nor at every time alike If I go to Heaven to Hell or beyond the Seas even there shall thy Hand lead me and thy Right Hand shall hold me That is there will this Divine Word this Light of Men this Spirit of God find me lead me help me and comfort me For it is with me where ever I am and where ever I go in one respect or other Prov. 6. 22. When thou goest it shall lead thee when thou sleepest it shall keep thee and when thou awakest it shall talk with thee And I can no more get rid of it if I would then of my self or my own Nature so present it is with me and so close it sticks unto me Isa 43. 2. When thou passest through the Waters I will be with thee and through the Rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the Fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the Flame kindle upon thee David knew it and therefore had a great value for it In thy Light shall we see Light or we shall be enlightned by thy Light Thou wilt Light my Candle the Lord my God will lighten my Darkness Again The Lord is my Light whom shall I fear It was his Armour against all Danger It took Fear away from him and he was undaunted because he was safe in the way of it Of the same blessed Word he says elsewhere It is a Lamp unto my Feet and a Lanthorn to my Paths In short a Light to him in his way to Blessedness § 3. Obj. But if the Jews had this Light it does not follow that the Gentiles had it also but by your Doctrine all have it Answ Yes and it is the Glory of this Doctrine which we profess that Gods Love is therein held forth to All. And besides the Texts cited in general and that are as Full and Positive as can be exprest the Apostle is very Particular in the second Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans That the Gentiles having not the Law did by Nature the things contained in the Law and were a Law unto themselves That is they had not an outward Law circumstanced as the Jews had but they had the Works of the Law written in their Hearts and therefore might well be a Law to themselves that had the Law in themselves And so had the Jews too but then they had greater outward helps to quicken their Obedience to it such as God afforded not unto any other Nation And therefore the Obedience of the Gentiles or Vncircumcision is said to be by Nature or Naturally because it was without those Additional External and extraordinary Ministries and Helps which the Jews had to provoke them to their Duty Which is so far from lessening the obedient Gentiles that it exalts them in the Apostles Judgment because though they had less Advantages then the Jews yet the Work of the Law written in their Hearts was made so much the more evident by the good Life they lived in the World He adds their Consciences bearing Witness or as it may be rendred witnessing with them and their Thoughts mean while accusing or else excusing one another in the Day when God shall judge the secrets of all Hearts by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel Which presents us with four things to our Point and worth our serious Reflection First That the Gentiles had the Law written in their Hearts Secondly That their Conscience was an allowed Witness or Evidence about Duty Thirdly That the Judgment made thereby shall be confirmed by the Apostles Gospel at the great Day and therefore Valid and Irreversible Fourthly That this could not be if the Light of this Conscience were not a Divine and Sufficient Light For Conscience truly speaking is no other then the Sence a Man hath or Judgement he maketh of his Duty to God according to the Vnderstanding God gives him of his Will And that no ill but a true and scriptural Use may be made of this Word Conscience I limit it to Duty and that to a Virtuous and Holy Life as the Apostle evidently doth about which we cannot miss or dispute read verse 7 8 and 9. It was to that therefore the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ desired to be made manifest for they dared to stand the Judgment of Conscience in reference to the Doctrine they preach'd and prest upon Men. The Beloved Disciple also makes it a Judge of Man's present and future State under the Term Heart For if our Heart condemn us God is greater then our Heart and knoweth all things Beloved if our Heart condemn us not then have we Confidence towards God Plain and strong Words And what were they about but whether we Love God in Deed and in Truth And how must that appear VVhy in keeping his Commandments which is living up to what we know And if any desire to satisfie themselves farther of the Divinity of the Gentiles let them read Plato Seneca Plutarch Epictetus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and the like Gentile VVriters They will also find many of their sayings collected in the first Part of a Book called the Christian Quaker and compared with the Testimonies of Scripture not for their Authority but agreeableness In them they may discern many Excellent Truths and taste great Love and Devotion to Virtue A fruit that grows upon no Tree but that of Life in no Age or Nation Some of the most Eminent VVriters of the first Ages such as Justin Martyr Origen Clemens Alexandrinus c. bore them great Respect and thought it no lessening to the Reputation of Christianity that it was defended in many Gentile Authors as well as that they used and urged them to engage their Followers to the Faith as Paul did the Athenians with their own Poets CHAP. VII Sect. 1. An Objection Answer'd about the various Dispensations of God The Principle the same Sect. 2. God's Work of a Piece and Truth the same under divers Shapes Sect. 3. The Reason of the prevalency of Idolatry Sect. 4. The Quakers Testimony the best Antidote against it viz. walking by a Divine Principle in Man Sect. 5. It was God's End in all his Manifestations that Man might be God's Image and Delight § 1. Obj. BUt it may be said If it were one Principle why so many Modes and Shapes of Religion since the World began For the Patriarchal Mosaical and Christian have their great differences to say nothing of what has befallen the Christian since the Publication of it to the World Answ I know not properly they may be called divers Religions that assert the true God for the Object of Worship the Lord Jesus Christ for the only Saviour and the Light or Spirit of Christ for the
great Agent and Means of Man's Conversion and Eternal Felicity any more than Infancy Youth and Manhood make three Men instead of three growths or periods of Time of one and the same Man But passing that the many Modes or Ways of Gods appearing to Men arise as hath been said from the divers States of Men in all which it seems to have been his main design to prevent Idolatry and Vice by directing their Minds to the true Object of Worship and pressing Virtue and Holiness So that though mediately he spoke to the Patriarchs mostly by Angels in the fashion of Men and by them to their Families over and above the Illumination in themselves so the Prophets for the most Part by the Revelation of the Holy Ghost in them and by them to the Jews And since the Gospel Dispensation by his Son both Externally by his coming in the Flesh and Internally by his spiritual Appearance in the Soul as he is the great Light of the World Yet all its flowings mediately through others has still been from the same Principle co-operating with the Manifestation of it immediately in Man 's own Particular § 2. This is of great weight for our Information and Incouragement that God's Work in reference to Man is all of a Piece and in it self lies in a narrow Compass and that his Eye has ever been upon the same thing in all his Dispensations viz. to make Men truly Good by planting his Holy Awe and Fear in their Hearts Though he has condescended for the hardness and darkness of Men's Hearts to approach and spell out his Holy Mind to them by low and carnal ways as they may appear to our more Enlightned Understandings Suffering Truth to put on divers sorts of Garments the better to reach to the low State of Men to engage them from false Gods and ill Lives seeing them sunk so much below their nobler Part and what he made them that like brute Beasts they knew not their own Strength and Excellency § 3. And if we do but well consider the Reason of the Prevalency of Idolatry upon the Earlier and Darker Times of the World of which the Scripture is very particular we shall find that it ariseth from this that it is more Sensual and therefore calculated to please the Sences of Men being more Outward or Visible or more in their own Power to perform then one more spiritual in its Object For as their gods were the Workmanship of Mens Hands they could not prefer them that being the Argument which did most of all gaul their Worshippers and what of all things for that reason they were most willing to forget But their Incidency to Idolatry and the Advantages it had upon the true Religion with them plainly came from this that it was more outward and sensual They could see the Object of their Devotion and had it in their Power to Address it when they would It was more fashionable too as well as better accommodated to their Dark and too Brutal State And therefore it was that God by many Afflictions and greater Deliverances brought forth a People to endear himself to them that they might remember the Hand that saved them and Worship him and him only in order to root up Idolatry and plant the Knowledge and fear of him in their Minds for an Example to other Nations VVhoever reads Deuteronomy which is a summary of the other four Books of Moses will find the frequent and earnest Care and concern of that good Man for Israel about this very Point and how often that People slipt and laps'd notwithstanding God's Love Care and Patience over them into the Idolatrous Customs of the Nations about them Divers other Scriptures inform us also especially those of the Prophets Isaiah 44. and 45. Psalms 37. and 115. and Jer. 10. where the Holy Ghost Confutes and Rebukes the People and mocks their Idols with a sort of Holy Disdain § 4. Now that which is farthest from Idolatry and the best Antidote against it is the Principle we have laid down and the more Peoples Minds are turned and brought to it and that they resolve their Faith VVorship and Obedience into the Holy Illuminations and Power of it the nearer they grow to the end of their Creation and consequently to their Creator They are more spiritually qualified and become better fitted to VVorship God as he is VVho as we are told by our Lord Jesus Christ Is a Spirit and will be Worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and that they are such sort of Worshippers which God seeketh to worship him in this Gospel Day The hour cometh saith he and now is That is some now do so but more shall A plain Assertion in present and a Promise and Prophesie of the encrease of such VVorshippers in future VVhich shows a Change intended from a Ceremonial VVorship and State of the Church of God to a Spiritual One. Thus the Text But the time cometh and now is when the true Worshippers shall Worship the Father in the Spirit and in the Truth VVhich is as much as to say when the VVorship of God shall be more Inward than Outward and so more suitable to the Nature of God and the nobler Part of Man his Inside or his inward and better Man For so those blessed VVords import in Spirit and in Truth In the Spirit that is through the Power of the Spirit In the Truth that is in Realities not in Shadows Ceremonies or Formalities but in Sincerity with and in Life being divinely prepared and animated which brings Man not only to offer up Right VVorship but also into Intimate Communion and Fellowship with God who is a Spirit § 5. And if it be duly weighed it will appear that God in all his Manifestations of himself hath still come nearer and nearer to the Insides of Men that he might reach to their Understandings and open their Hearts and give them a plainer and nearer Acquaintance with himself in Spirit And then it is that Man must seek and find the Knowledge of God for his Eternal Happiness Indeed all things that are made show forth the Power and Wisdom of God and his Goodness too to Mankind and therefore many Men urge the Creation to silence Atheistical Objections But though all those things show a God yet Man does it above all the Rest He is the precious Stone of the Ring and the most glorious Jewel of the Globe to whose reasonable Use Service and Satisfaction the whole seems to be made and dedicated But God's Delight by whom Man was made we are told by the Holy Ghost is in the habitable Parts of the Earth with the Sons of Men Prov. 8. 31. And with those that are contrite in Spirit Isa 66. 1. And why is Man his Delight but because Man only of all his Works was his Likeness This is the intimate Relation of Man to God Somewhat nearer than ordinary for of all other Beings Man only
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Tit. 3. 4. c Act. 17. 28. 2 Pet. 4. d Rom. 8. 16. 1 John 5. 10 12. e 1 Pet. 1. 23. 1. Jo. 3. 9. f Mat. 13. 19 23. g Prov. 1. 20 21 22 23. Ch. 8. 1 2 3 4. h Deut. 30. 12. Rom. 10. 6 7 8. Psal 119. 10. i Tit. 2. 11 12. k 1 Cor. 1. 7. l Psalm 51. 6. Isa 26. 2. John 14. 6. m Mat. 13. 33. John 3. 5. a Joh. 1. 4 9. b Ch 8. 12. c Rom. 5. 6. d 2 Cor. 5. 15. e 1 Tim. 2. 4. f Tit. 2. 11 12. Job 18. 5 6. Ch. 21. 17. Ch. 25. 3. Ch. 38. 5. Psalm 18. 28. Psalm 27. 1. Psalm 34. 5. Psalm 36. 9. Psal 118. 27. Psalm 119. 105. Prov. 13. 9. Ch. 20. 20 27. Ch. 24. 20. and Isa 2. 5. Ch. 8. 20. Ch. 42. 6. Ch. 49. 6. 1 Pet 2. 9. 1 John 2. 8. John 8. 12. 1 John 1. 5 6 7. John 1. 4. John 1. 9. John 1. 4 9 14 16. Tit. 2. 11 12. 2 Cor. 3. 18. John 1. 5 17. Joel 2. 28. Gen. 49. 10. Deut. 18. 15 18. Psalm 34. 9. Psalm 18. 28. Psalm 27. 1. Rom. 2. 7. unto the 17. 1 John 3.21 22 Gen. 31. Ch. 35. Exod. 20. Levit. 21. Deut. 29. Ch. 30. 31. 32. Chap. Josh 22. 23 24. Chap. Gal. 6. 15 16. Isa 54. 13 14. 1 John 2. 26 27. Rom. 14. 5 6 7 8 17. 1 Cor. 8. 6. Col. 2. 16. 17. Phil. 1. 21. Gal. 2. 20.