and now hath it made me a Spiritual Traveller for Souls Eternal Well-fare AN EPISTLE To such of the Friends of Christ As have lately been Convinced of the Truth as it is in Jesus MY Dear Friends and Spiritual Relations unto whom by Grace I am allied in the Love of Truth I send you this Salutation Often have you been upon my Mind long before I found a place to write unto you For though it was first upon me to write to my former Friends and Acquaintance and Natural Relations yet you being that new Kindred spoken of by Christ Matth. 12. 50 thus are you nearer to me by the Union of his inward Grace than any unconverted thereunto can be And now I tenderly admonish you That as you are convinced of the saving Power of this Divine Principle to wit the Light of Jesus manifest in the Conscience see you constantly keep therein For Friends let me tell you Here lieth our Strength in these Times of Tryal herein is our Safety this Day of Danger in this you 'l be secure and quiet when peoples Hands shall be upon their Loins because of Fear in the Night yea though you may be come but to the Dawning of this Day of God where you can discern but the glimmering of its Light appear which may at present shew you Trouble and minister condemnation to your Souls for your Evil Deeds placing Judgment on your Heads making you possess the Punishment of your Iniquities that are past so that instead of Peace you may have great Bitterness yet be perswaded to dwell in the Judgment wait patiently upon God who draweth near to you in the Way hereof and I will assure you in this Light you shall see more Light and in it Consolation and Salvation shall be injoyed Wherefore I now write unto you Little Children in the spiritual stature being my self one of that Number by way of Exhortation To cast away your Idols keep yourselves from them say unto them Get ye hence to the Moles and to the Bats Friends you know what I mean by them turn in and I am sure the Light will let you see them and the sooner you part with them the sooner will you find Forgiveness with the Lord for the Idolatry which he hath beheld in them And when your Idols are utterly destroyed then shall you be joyned to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant that shall never be broken And here will your Bow abide in strength wherewith you shall shoot at Mystery Babylon and see her falling down yea though her Archers may shoot sorely at you yet shall they not be able to hurt you for the Lord the Help of Israel will be a Shield before you and will turn back their Arrows into their own Quiver so shall they hang by their Sides and stick in their Hearts who privily intended to wound the Innocent without Cause Yet 't is very likely the Wicked will be pushing at you and casting scandalous Calumnies upon you in which I cannot but tenderly simpathize with you having my self lately passed those Pikes of the Enemy Renowned be the Lord of Hosts the Captain of my Salvation which caused me to march through valiantly and hath also given me the Victory so that though I speak not boastingly yet I can say The Revilings of the Vngodly do not at all dis-spirit me for now I can take their Reproaches for Christ's sake and bind them as an Ornament unto me To God be all the Glory who hath raised this Spirit of Courage and Christian-Fortitude in me and now hath called me to call on others to wait upon him that they may be thus strengthned with Might in their inward Man by him Therefore wait on the Lord be of good Courage and he shall strengthen your Hearts wait I say on the Lord as said holy David Psalm 27. 14. so shall One chase a Thousand and Two put Ten Thousand to flight Friends read inwardly so you 'll understand me I do not mean that you should avenge your selves on any with Carnal Weapons of War No no But as you stand and wait in the Light of the Lord though you can handle neither Sword nor Spear he will make you shew comely as Tirzah and terrible to the Wicked even as an Army with Banners For though the Remnant of the Just as to outward Defence are left this day like a City without Gates or Walls whom the Wicked will be PLOTTING against yet God will laugh at him for he seeth that his Day is coming and hath also given me this Confidence of Hope in him to wit That he will not give his People into the Hands of cruel Lords nor suffer Men of fierce Countenance to rule over them But they shall be as Standers in the Gap and Stakes in the Hedge though some may be but of tender growth to stop the Enemy from laying waste our Country and to stay the Lord's sore and terrible Stroke Ah Friends is it not Pity that Sin should make an Aceldama of our Nation and this City See therefore ye mind your inward Reprover that ye may be no Cause in procuring the Nation 's Misery You Children of the Light arise therefore and shine for your Light is come which will adorn your Conversation let it now appear throughout your whole Behaviour so shall your Words and Actions glorifie your Heavenly Father thus shall the Wicked see our Rock hath not sold us for stronger is he that is in us than they that are against us so though they may outwardly beset us yet we have a Rock to shelter us where the Enemy shall dispair forever of coming at us Wherefore faint not in your Minds nor be discouraged in your Spirits at the Tidings which you hear abroad but dwell within your Tent and serve the Lord with Fear everyone in your Sphear so shall you shine like Stars in their proper Orbs Yea though some of us may be but of small Magnitude as in the natural Firmament one Star differs from another Star in Glory yet as we abide in the Fear being clothed with Humility so shall we be preserved in our spiritual Station while we are as Strangers and Pilgrims on the Earth to have our Conversation honest and as much as in us lies inoffensive amongst them that are without that whereas they speak against us as Evil-Doers they may by the Good Works which they shall behold in us glorifie God in the Day of their Visitation so shall we convince the World of that Principle of Light and Grace that shineth in their Hearts which if they turn into it and obey it it will teach and enable them That denying Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts they should live Righteously Soberly and Godlily in this present World And by this Grace shall we be to those about us as Saviours in the Hand of the Lord upon Mount Sion as others have been to us when we were in spiritual Babylon Thus we being as a City
to inform them in the Principle of True Religion for the Principle of Truth is but One I shall therefore according to the Manifestation of the Spirit given unto me endeavour to signifie What this Principle is From whom it comes and Whereto it leads PART II. Concerning the Principle of Truth What it is From Whom it comes and Whereto it leads § I. IT is a Principle of Divine Light and Life of Christ Jesus placed in the Conscience which opens the Understanding enlightens the Eye of the Mind discovers Sin to the Soul reproves for it and makes it appear exceeding sinful quickens such as accept and believe in it though they were dead in Trespasses and Sins makes them alive to God ang bringeth up into Conformity to the Image of his Son Christ Jesus that he may be the First-born among many Brethren That this Description accords with Apostolical Doctrine see Ephes. 5. 23. All things that are reproved are made manifest by the Light for whatsoever doth make manifest is Light Therefore saith Christ Iohn 3. 20 21. Every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved But he that doth Truth cometh to the Light that his Deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God Ephes. 2. 4 5 6. But God who is rich in Mercy for his great Love wherewith he loved us when we were dead in Sins hath quickened us together with Christ c. Rom. 8.29 For whom he did fore-know he also did praedestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the First-born among many Brethren Thus is general have I briefly described the Christian-Principle but that I may make it further intelligible unto you I feel it upon me to write more particularly that so when you shall read it by a familiar Demonstration you may the sooner be prevail'd upon to yield to its Operation § II. In the first place This Principle of which I am now writing 't is the Grace of God that brings Salvation and hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godlily in this Present World as saith the Apostle Tit. 2. 11 12. Even that Word of his Grace which is able to build us up and to give us an Inheritance among all those that are Sanctified through Faith which is in Christ Iesus see Acts 2. 8. By which Grace we are Called Iustified and Saved That is If we believe in the same if we receive it and continue therein grounded and settled and be not moved away from the Hope of our Calling nor from the Hope of the Gospel which we have heard and which was preached to every Creature which is under Heaven according as it is written Col. 1. 23. But if we turn this Grace into Wantonness and so receive it in vain then indeed it will not save us However this Grace of God in it self is able and sufficient to save all to whom it appears and all that believe in it and are led by it are preserved because it was by this Grace of God that his Son Christ Jesus should taste Death for every man For there is no difference between the Iew and Greek but the same Lord over all is Rich unto all that call upon him For the Lord is Gracious and full of Compassion slow to Anger and of great Kindness The Lord is good to all and his tender Mercies are over all his Works as you may read Heb. 2. 9. Rom. 10. 12. Psal. 145. 8. 9. All which are clear proofs that the Grace of God is both Free and Universal which Grace of God is else where called the Light of Jesus he being that Gift of Grace given by God to enlighten the Children of Men as 't is written of him Joh. 1. 9. He is that true Light who lighteth every man that cometh into the World And this is he whom the Father promised by the Mouth of his Prophet saying I will give thee for a Covenant of the People for a Light of the Gentiles Isa. 42. 6. The same is again spoken of Chap. 49. 6. It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my Servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the Preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a Covenant to the Gentiles that thou may'st be my Salvation to the Ends of the Earth And the Prophet Isaiah speaking to the Church Chap. 60. 20. saith thus The Lord shall be thine Everlasting Light To which the Prophet David brings in his Experience The Lord is my Light and my Salvation saith he Psal. 27. 1. This is indeed the mighty Saviour he upon whom the Father hath laid help and who is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him whose appearance is Light whereby he Discovers and Reproves Sin in men see therefore that none reject him For this is he who hath the Key of David that openeth the Understandings of his People by which they understand the Scciptures when they read them This is he who hath discovered himself to be God manifest in the Flesh and also doth manifest himself in our Mortal Flesh in which we dwell This is he who when he was on Earth yielded both Active and Passive Obedience to his heavenly Father in Life Doctrine and Death which I firmly do believe was a Sacrifice acceptable unto God for the Sins of Men by believing in whom and yielding Obedience to him Pardon and Remission of Sins comes to be known and so the Creature finds Acceptance with the Father through the Son This is he who justifies by Faith in his own Name This is he which imputes his own Righteousness to the Children of men without whose applicatory act and gift of Grace in imputing his own Righteousness unto us all creaturely actings are but in vain This is he that hath laid down his Life for us and took it upon again for saith he I have Power so to do John 10. 18. And by the same Power that raised his own Body out of the Grave doth and will he raise up the Souls and Bodies of Believers to glorifie his great Name For this is he that Acquits his People of all Sin old as well as new taking away and cleansing them from the Sins of their first and fallen Natures as well as pardoning upon Repentance those Sins which some have at unawares or through weakness fallen into after they have received the Knowledge of the Truth For he who is called the Light of the World Iohn 8. 12. Iohn 1. 9. the same is called the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sins of the World vers 29. And therefore was his Name called Jesus a Saviour for it was said he should save his People from their Sins Mat. 1. 21. This is he who baptizeth his People with the Water of Life and Regeneration and sealeth up his
not prove the Lord to be so partial in his Love towards his Creatures as to choose some but leave the greatest part of Mankind in the fallen state without affording them any Benefit by Christ or a Measure of his Grace and Spirit for want of which and being so past by of God as somehave asserted they become under a necessity of sinning a necessity of dying Oh harsh Doctrine and so I must confess I often thought it whilst I was industromsly striving to work my self into a Belief of it but now from a certain experimental Knowledge and in full assurance of Faith can I testifie for God He is no Respecter of Persons but in every Nation he that seareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him For though all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God wherefore he hath concluded all under Sin 't is that he might have Mercy upon all not willing that any should perish in Sin but that all might come to Repentance Moreover than this the Scriptures do abundantly speak forth the extent and Benefit of Christ's Death for all Mankind upon condition of Faith and Repentance joyned with new and continued Obedience which are the Gospel Terms on which he is offered to them For Christ Jesus gave himself a Ransom for all he tasted Death for every Man so saith the Apostle 1 Tim. 2. 5. Hebr. 2. 9. So that it is a certain Truth all that are or shall be saved are elected only in Christ Jesus that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life There is no Prae-exception or absolute Fore-appointment as partially designed in relation to Persons but upon Man's Disobedience Wherefore it shall not be said The Fathers have eaten sour Grapes and the Childrens Teeth are set on edge but he that eateth the sour Grapes his Teeth shall be set on edge for all Souls are the Lord's as the Soul of the Father so also the Soul of the Son is his aud he hath said The Soul that sinneth it shall dye Ezek. 18. 2 4. Yet hath the Lord no Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his way and live Wherefore he hath given the Beloved of his Soul out of his Bosom to come into the World to same men from their Sins that they might be made accepted in him Therefore as by the Offence of one Judgment came upon all men to Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift came upon all men unto Justification of Life read Rom. 5. 18. which makes it clear to me the Lord will not condemn any for Adam's Sin who have not demerited his Wrath by Actual Trausgression CHAP. V. Concerning the Sacraments AS touching the Institution of the Sacraments so called by which is meant Water-Baptism and the outward Supper here also is another great Charge brought in against the Quakers unto which I cannot but be very tender in the Answer for I must confess I my self did once think them very chargeable in this Matter Now that Baptism even the Outward and Tipical Baptism was an Ordinance that is so say a Thing ordained by one that hath power to Ordain as Iohn Baptist had Command from God to Baptize this I do believe and own But then the Lord himself hath ordained a higher Baptism whereby he saveth which surely is not the outward no that 's not of Efficacy to obtain or effect such an End which is Salvation as that I think our Enemies themselves will grant and then why are they so angry with us that we do not own it in their Outward Form But the One Baptism necessary to Salvation I do believe is Inward and Spiritual being that of the holy Ghost fore-told by Iohn the Baptist Mat. 3. 11. I indeed Baptize you with Water unto Repentance saith he but he that cometh after me is Mightier then I whose Shoes I am not worthy to bear he shall Baptize you with the holy Ghost and with Fire This is the Baptism which Christ commanded his Disciples that they should wait for and therefore I call it an Ordinace because ordained by Christ as you may read Acts 1. 45. And being assembled together with them he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the Promise of the Father which saith he ye have heard of me for John truly baptized with Water but ye shall be baptized with the holy Ghost not many days hence The same did Peter Witness Acts 11. 15 16. And as I began to speak saith he the holy Ghost fell on them as on us in the beginning then remembred I the word of the Lord how he said John indeed baptized with Water but ye shall be baptized with the holy Ghost Now if any shall Oppose these Scriptures to prove outward and Water Baptism now in force Mat. 28. 19. Go teach all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father c. John 3. 5. Except a man be born of Water of the Spirie he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God 1 Pet. 3. 21. The like Figure whereunto even Baptism doth now save us not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Iesus Christ from the dead Something I shall write by way of Answer to them these being the chief Texts that ever I heard brought to prove the same As to the first I say that must needs mean the Baptism of which I am now speaking viz. Spiritual Baptism for Christ's bidding of them go denotes their being impowred from him to Baptize in or rather Into his own and his Father's Name which is the true Spiritual Baptism besides here is no Water made mention of whence we may infer the Apostles Ministry was to be the Laver in which they were to be baptized See here their Mission Christ bids them go Teach Baptizing Baptizing is in the Present Tence whilst they were Teaching and as it was then so it is now the Spiritual and Inward Baptism goes along with the preaching of the Word of Life To the second Scripture I Answer If our Opponents will have that mean Material Water may not we then as well conclude that Iohn Baptist meant Christ would Baptize them with Material fire but if we understand the Power of the holy Ghost to burn up the Stubble that naturally grows in us by the latter then must we also understand the same Power to cleanse us from our natural Filth by the former But I know it will be expected I should prove this by Scripture for which see Tit. 3. 5. Not by Works of Righteousness which we have done faith the Apostle but according to his Mercy he saved us by the Washing of Regeneration and Renexing of the holy Ghost Here is the Washing of Regeneration to parallel being born again of Water and the renewing of the holy Ghost to answer being born again of the Spirit for
Observation neither shall they say Lo here or Lo there for behold the Kingdom of God is within you And that there this Wine was drunk by the Disciples see Acts 2. from the first Verse to the 18th When the Holy Ghost fell upon the Apostles how full of the new Wine of the Kingdom they were to the astonishment of Beholders and certainly this Wine of the Spirit or Wine of the Kingdom which is all one for Christ's Kingdom is a Spiritual Kingdom must come from him for he is the true Vine as he calls himself Iohn 15 1. So that the Text alledged doth not at all prove outward and Elementary Bread and Wine to be of use after Christ's second and spiritual coming for this he fulfilled before his Death and the Holy Ghost was not given till after he was glorified as was glorified as you may read Iohn 7 39. But possibly some may object It was practised by the Church of Corinth after Christ was inwardly come after the Holy Ghost was given to them as may be argued from 1 Cor. 11. 24 25. Where the Apostle repeating Christ's words in Matthew adds This do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me To whom I answer in the behalf of the People whom I have undertaken to speak for if any break outward Bread and drink outward Wine with a sincere Intention as believing it their duty that they may the more be put in remembrance of the Body and Blood of Christ by the Remembrancer the Spirit of Truth which is appointed by the Father to lead the Saints into all Truth they judge them not but rather hope that such will come further out of the Shadow to the Substance But to do it meerly by Imitation or Tradition as most do is not to offer a Sacrifice to God in Righteousness however the outward Supper cannot be the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ which the Apostle speaks of in 1 Cor. 10. 15. and so on This can be but a Sign to put us in Remembrance thereof and therefore though it was commanded to and practiced by the Church of Corinth yet that doth not perpetuate its continuance For so was washing anothers Feet abstaining from things strangled and Blood annointing the Sick with Oyl laid upon the Saints of old which ye yourselves judge not needful to be practised now But if any shall say The Apostle relaxt some of these by saying in I Cor. 10. 25. Whatever is sold in the Shambles that eat asking no Questions for Conscience sake Then it must be granted that there is no necessity for the Continuance of the other for the same Apostle saith The Kingdom of God is not Meat and Drink but Righteousness and Peace and Ioy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 Let no man therefore judge you in Meat or in Drink or in respect of a Holy Day or of the New Moon or of the Sabbath Day saith he wherefore if ye be dead with Christ Iesus why as though living in the World are ye subject Ordinances touch not taste not handle not which all are to perish with the using after the Commandements and Doctrines of Men Coll. 2. 16 20 21 22. So here is as much said for the abolishing of this latter as to any necessity as can be alledged for the former therefore those that can dispence with the one have small reason to plead for the other And yet I testifie the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ the Quakers do own as that which every one must come to know and witness or they have no Life in them Now I appeal to the Reader How then can it be said that they deny the true Institution of the Lord's Supper Yet am I loath to leave the thing here being willing to hope I write to some who are Conscientiously scrupulous in this Matter who 't is like are ready to say as I my self in Heart have often said viz. To lay aside this Administration were at once to cast off and count useless what so many Martyrs in the Marian dayes so zealously contended for yea resisted unto Blood in striving to maeintain And having this Opinion I confess I was much swayed thereby as thinking it had been meerly for the outward Administration that they suffered Martyrdom but having since more seriously considered the Matter I can truly say I have received this from the Lord for Answer viz. It was not to maintain those outward Signs of Bread and Wine but to bear Testimony against the Falshood and Foppery of Transubstantiation that the Worthies of those dayes stood so stoutly against it that they counted not their Lives dear unto themselves that they might finish the Testimony they had received from the Divine Spirit which indeed History is clear in to them that read with Understanding For the Question put to them was not Why do you break Bread and drink Wine in your Sacrament without Consecration But What say you to the Sacrament of the Altar after the Bread and Wine is Consecrated is the Real Presence of Christ there I or no This was the Interrogatory they were to answer and bravely indeed did Tindal Philpot and others maintain their Negation to this Quest on which those that are acquainted with Martyrology cannot but have a Knowledge of Therefore the laying aside these outward Signs to be used by way of Remembrance when the Spirit it self is their Remembrancer This is not to put a slight upon the Sufferings of those Martyrs who then were breaking through a Cloud of Apostacy and Error the bright side of which blessed be our God hath since more fully appeared To conclude this Point If any shall be offended at what I have written to vindicate the laying aside of this outward Sign where the thing signified is inwardly come if they will dwell upon the Figure of the Death of Christ without and care not to come to know and witness his Resurrection and Life in themselves I 'll leave them where they are giving them to understand I have not attempted a formal Confutation of Error but a Vindication of the Truth CHAP. VI. Touching Free Will ALthough I have heard say That the Quakers are Free-willers yet this doth not prove them to be so no more than Peoples saying so is proof that they deny the Scriptures But since some are so willing to receive Reports against them something I shall say as to this Particular in behalf of them and that is this They are not of those that flightly say Man may be saved if he will for they know right well 'T is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but in God that sheweth Mercy for we are not able of our selves as of our selves so much as to think a good Thought but all our sufficiency is of God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good Pleasure And therefore say we with the Apostle Of his own Will beg at
Scruples of the Moderate having heard some whom I esteem such lay this Principle to the Quakers charge But now being better acquainted with them I find they have wrongfully charged it upon them and therefore I can do no less but use some sharpness of Speech to refute the falseness of this Opinion that through a mistaken Zeal I am apt to think some have taken up against them Well may I say Mistaken for were the Quakers rightly understood People would find that they have as low Thoughts of any Human Righteousness as those that daily confess all their Righteousness to be but as filthy Rags CHAP. VIII Concerning a Possibility of a Total Fall from True Grace THIS Doctrine being held by the Quakers it hath been branded with the Approbrious Term of Hetrodox which if so I know not how the Apostles Doctrine can be accounted Orthodox and yet I know the General Opinion of many Professors is Once in Grace and ever in Grace or Once in Christ and ever in Christ But it is not Universality if they had it that can give a certainty if this would have sufficed our Ancestors needed not to have divided from her who stiled her self the Universal Church Therefore as we are not to follow a multitude to do Wickedly so neither are we to receive an Opinion for Truth because it is so received by many Here I 'll digress no further but proceed to shew the Apostles Judgments in this matter Paul speaking of the Iews whom he calls the Natural Branches of the true Olive how that they were broken off that the Gentiles whom he compares to Branches of a wild Olive they might be grafted in saith the Apostle to them Well because of Vnbelief they were broken off and thou standst by Faith be not High-minded but fear for if God spared not the natural Branches take heed also lest he spare not thee Behold therefore saith he the goodness and severity of God towards them that felt severity but towards thee goodness if thou continue in his goodness otherwise thou shalt be cut off Rom. 11.20,21,22 And the Author in his Epistle to the Hebrews having spoken of Israel of Old to whom God sware in his Wrath That they should not enter into his Rest he Cautions them saying Take heed lest there be in any of you an Evil Heart of Vnbelief in departing from the Living God Heb. 3. 12. And in Chap. 4. he exhorts both them and himself saying Let us labour therefore to enter into that Rest lest any man fall after the same Example of Vnbelief And in Chap. 6. Vers. 4 5 6. he shews them the danger of falling for saith he 'T is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly Gift and were made partakers of the holy Ghost and have tasted of the Word of God and the Powers of the World to come if they shall fall away to renew them again unto Repentance seeing they Crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open Shame And in Chap. 12. Vers. 15. he wishes them to look dilligently lest any fail of or from the Grace of God lest any Root of Bitterness springing up should trouble them and thereby many be defiled Nor was this his Suspition concerning others only but his Supposition of himself For I keep under my Body and bring it into Subjection saith he lest that by any means when I have preached to others I my self should become a cast away 1 Cor. 9. 27. And in his Epistle to Timothy he speaks positively The Time will come when they will not endure sound Doctrine but after their own Lusts shall heap unto themselves Theachers having itching Ears and they shall turn away their Ears from the Truth and shall be turned unto Fables 2 Tim. 4. 3. 'T is likewise said of Hymeneus and Philetus that concerning the Truth they have Erred 2 Tim. 2. 17. And this I have heard publickly asserted by one Eminent in your own Esteem viz. That there could be no Hereticks if some did not Apostatize from the True Faith Which he infer'd from Paul's Advice to Timothy Chap. 3. Vers. 10 11. where he bids A Man that is an Heretick after the first and second Admonition Reject knowing that he that is such is subverted and sinneth being condemned of himself And this was the exposition which he gave upon the Text viz. A Heretick is one that maintains an Error contrary to the Light of his own Conscience pertenatiously persisting in it notwithstanding Reproof And without doubt the Text was truly exposited may we understand him to intend the Light of Christ Jesus in the Conscience for 't is Christ the true Light who lighteth every Man's Conscience and that is the Light of Conscience which if we may believe he had regard unto then it will follow from the fore-going words First That it is possible for People to turn from the true Grace of God by sinning against the Light which he hath placed in their Consciences Secondly That those are Nick-named or Mis-called who are called Hereticks for acting according to the Dictates of their enlightned Consciences or which is more clear to say For being guided by the Light of Christ in their Consciences Thirdly It follows that'tis utterly impossible to prove a man an Heretick unless he be guilty of Heresie and condemned in himself by the Light of Christ placed in his own Conscience to shew him what is Error and what is Truth Thus much the words import but it may be some will refuse to confess to the Import of them for fear of being counted Quakers herein Howbeit the Spirit speaks expresly That in the Latter Dayes some shall depart from the Faith c. 1 Tim. 4. 1. And such who have so done we know that inward Condemnation doth attend them according as the Apostle Peter and Iude spake of some in their Day as had forsaken the Righteous Way and were gone astray following the Way of Balaam the Son of Bosor who loved the Wages of Vnrighteousness These saith Iude are Wells without Water Clouds carried about with a Temptest to whom the Mist of Darkness is reserved forever for when they speak great swelling words of Vanity they alure through the Lusts of the Flesh through much Wantonness those that were Clean escaped from them who live in Error For if after they have escaped the common Polutions of the World through the Knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ they are again entangled therein and overcome the Latter End is worse with them than the Beginning for it had been better for them not to have known the Way of Righteousness then after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them but it is happened to them according to the true Proverb The Dog is turned to his Vemit again and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the Mire 2 Pet. 2. 15 17 18 20 21 22. And hence
first Divine Nature and Seed in which he stood before Transgression here was his Fall and Degeneration and so he came by that unexpressible Loss of the Favour of God and Freedom of Will that now the Lord being angry with him he had no Power to do any thing to appease him the Garment of Innocency being lost their Fig-leaf Aprons could not hide their shameful Nakedness from the Lord which he seeing and taking notice of compassionately made them Coats of Skin for their clothing and then he drove them out of the Garden of Eden So here man was put out of the Paradise of God for eating of the forbidden Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and Cherubims placed at the East End of the Garden with a Flaming Sword which turned every way to keep the Way of the Tree of Life as may be read in the third Chapter of Genesis at large Thus man being drove from the Presence of the Lord Death came over his Soul though he lived outwardly yet did he dye as to that Inward Principle of Divine Life and Virtue which once he enjoyed and so the Threatning was fulfilled which the Lord had said In the Day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely Dye Here Man and Woman having transgressed the Royal Law of God by breaking of his holy Commandment in eating of the Tree whereof he commanded them saying Ye shall not eat thereof by this they came to be separated from him So it was Sin that made the Separation and it is Sin which makes the Separation For Man and Woman in their primitive state wherein they were created were good as the rest of the Creatures of God for 't is written God saw every thing which he had made and behold it was very good and God blessed Man and Woman and they were in Favour with him till they became subject to Vanity by reason of that false Hope which the Serpent suggested to them they hoped to have been a Gods to know Good and Evil but by going out of God's Counsel they became corrupted by the Evil one and being joyn'd to the Serpentine Seed they were alienated from God so that had not the Lord out of his unmeasurable Loving-kindness and Compassion opened a Way to restore them they must have perished in this Deplorable Condition And this Way of Restoration was by Christ the Light the Seed and Saviour for he of whom God said unto the Serpent I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel He it was who was to be the Saviour of the World So that now considering the Sons and Daughters of Adam as they are found in the Fall and Degeneration having all sinned and come short of the Glory of God herein I say hath his universal Love and free Grace appeared to wit in giving of his Son to be a Saviour unto them as saith the Apostle Iohn In this was manifest the Love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the World that we might live through him 1 Epist. 4. 9. And that he was sent to the whole World see what Iohn the Evangelist faith Chap. 4. 16. For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son Mark that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life To which the Apostle testifies 1 Iohn 2. 2. saying He is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the whole World This was the free Gift of the Father that the Son of his Bosome should take Flesh upon him come into the World and lay down his Life for poor Sinners for he came from God and went to God again So that though he laid down his Life of himself having Power and being willing so to suffer according as 't is written Iohn 10. 18. Yet himself also said That his Body was prepared of his Father Heb. 10. 15. In which Body he did the will of him that sent him Lo I come to do thy Will O God saith he for a Body hast thou prepared me Who now that rightly considers this Dispensation of favour but must needs cry out Oh the Height and Depth and Breadth and Length of the Love of God and of Jesus Christ our Saviour who took not on him the Nature of Angels but took on him the Seed of Abraham and was made in every thing like unto us only without Sin that he might restore Fallen Man Which thing I know will readily be granted but 't is the extent thereof that some would have limitted affirming That Christ dyed for a certain definite number and not for the whole Lump of Mankind one as well as another Nay they speak as if none had any benefit by no nor so much as the Revelation of Christ this Gift of God whom to know is Eternal Life but those who have the outward Letter of the Scripture Yet do I believe and so do Thousand more whom the Lord hath called viz. That the Father of Lights and God of the Spirits of all Flesh hath given a measure of his own Divine Light and Spirit unto all the Children of men to manifest and reveal the Appearance of his Son in them who is that same Saviour which shed his Blood for us that he might wash us and cleanse us from our Sins and was offered upon the Cross not only as a Propitiatory Sacrifice to make Reconciliation for the Transgressors but that by his once offering up of himself he might bring in everlasting Righteousness and Perfect forever them that are Sanctified and a measure I say of this his Power which is Light God hath placed in every persons Heart in order to their Sanctification as they shall be subject to this his appearance in them True indeed all are not Sanctified and made Perfect by him although this was the end of his coming that he might finish Transgression and make an end of Sin and this was the will of the Father in sending him to wit our thorow Sanctification but this is not because all have not a knowledge and manifestation of his Light or Spiritual appearance of him in themselves but because all do not believe in and obey this his Appearance Now that People may attain to what Knowledge may be had of God by the inward manifestation of the Light of his Son which is a measure of his Spirit in their Hearts this is clearly proved by the Apostle Rom. 1. 19. That which may be known of God saith he is manifest is men for God hath shewed it into them For the Lord of the whole Earth who is the Preserver of men he is impartial in his Love to all Mankind not only to them in Christendom so called who have the Scriptures amongst them but his Love is extended unto all People in one Land as well as in another for his Spirit is not