to you but ye have turned from it and despised it and except the churches of Galatia did and the churches of the Anabaptists do return to that Gospel from which they were removed the Peace of God neither did nor doth belong to them nor you neither could they or can you be accounted the churches of Christ He saith So likewise the church of the Philippians many so walked of whom the Apostle saith I have often told you and now tell you weeping that they are enemies to the cross of Christ Phil. 3. 18. Yet saith he they were owned to be a Church with their Officers To which I say That those who are enemies to the cross of Christ are not the church of Christ for the church of Christ did glory in the cross of Christ and were not enemies to it Gal. 6. 14. and the preaching of it was to them and it is to as many as believe the power of God 1 Cor. 1. 13. And the Apostle tells what is the end of such who are enemies to the cross of Christ he saith their end is destruction and that is not the end of the church of Christ But though the Apostle writes to the church of the Philippians of such who were enemies to the cross of Christ yet he doth not say that the church of the Philippians were enemies to the cross of Christ nor that any of them in particular were so He also bids them beware of dogs and of evil workers c. Doth he therefore say that the church of the Philippians are dogs and evil-workers But this is some of those Scriptures which are called T. C. his cloud of Witnesses to prove that the true churches of Christ have had the same or as great sins and abominations in them as is confess'd in the Tiverton Epistle Now though T. C. be a noted lyar yet the Scriptures are true and cannot be broken And although by perverting and wresting the true sence thereof thereby endeavouring to make the Scriptures speak what he would have them to abuse the simple minded and deceive ignorant people he hath drawn this wicked conclusion from the whole That they are may be owned to be the churches of Christ notwithstanding their great abominations confess'd in their Tiverton Epistle Yet now these Witnesses being honestly examined without wresting or perverting they are found to witness against T. C. and the same Witness which he brings to prove his assertions doth witness against him and proves himself to be the lyar and this is usual that if the Witnesses which T. C. offers for proof of any thing be the Scriptures of truth they surely testifie against him and prove him to be the lyar and instead of witnessing for him they witness against him And when he affirms a thing that is so notoriously false and wicked as that he cannot any way wrest the Scriptures to make them seem to prove what he asserts he useth to say That this is true Is so evident that it needs no proof or That this is true is so evident that he that runs may read and such like words witness his Looking-glass as is at large discovered in a Book call'd Truth vindicated by John Pitman and Jasper Batt Some other Scriptures are by him mentioned whereby he hath endeavoured to prove the churches of Christ in former ages to be sinful thereby to make way for themselves to be owned as a church of Christ but all that he saith is to no more purpose then that which hath been already answered could as easily be answered his folly thereby made manifest as it hath been sufficiently by what hath been answered to those Scriptures by him quoted But he saith of those before mentioned that they were called to repentance What were they then a church of Christ or the churches of Christ before repentance that he makes use of this to prove them churches of Christ because they were call'd to repentance Simon Magus was call'd to repentance was he therefore a member of the church of Christ And the Apostle said that God commanded all men every where to repent Are therefore all men every where the church of Christ Oh gross darkness and ignorance to use that as an argument to prove them to be the church of Christ because they were call'd to repentance And so are you call'd to repentance and to repentance you must come before you can be owned as a church of Christ for we say Christ came to call sinners to repentance and his Ministers were sent to turn people from the darkness to the light and to bring them from under Satan's power unto God but though you have been call'd to return from your wickedness and live and have been invited to come to him who is the way to the Father who gives eternal life to all that come unto him yet you have refused to return and have rebell'd against the light Neither is it onely the calling to repentance that makes them or you the churches of Christ but it is them who answers that holy call and comes to repentance even to that repentance which is never to be repented of that is to repent and forsake it is such shall find mercy and acceptance with the Lord and they shall be his and accounted members of his church in the day when he makes up his Jewels but as for such as have been call'd to repentance and have not answered that holy call by obedience to him that hath called them his call and his loving invitation shall stand as a witness against such for ever and because the Lord hath called and they would not hear therefore when they call and cry there shall be none to deliver them Thou saist That T. S hath manifested abominable hypocrisie and deceit in that he saith that T. C. instanceth the Saints infirmities in former ages to encourage in a state of sin c. when its evident saist thou that he instanceth those examples to stop the mouths of lyars and deceivers c. and to discover the simple and vain notions of those who would suggest that the churches of Christ are none of his because there is sin in them To which I say I have answered some of those Scriptures call'd T. C. his Cloud of Witnesses which may also serve for answer to all the rest thereby to discover the folly and ignorance sottishness and blindness of those who would suggest that Fornicators and unclean persons Drunkards Railers Revilers Extortioners Thieves covetous persons Idolaters and such like are Members of the church of Christ and also to stop the mouths of such lyars and deceivers who say the true churches of Christ have had the same or as great sins and abominations in them as are mentioned in Tiverton Epistle and yet were the true churches of Christ notwithstanding And although according to thy wonted manner thou railest at T. S. accusing him with hypocrisie and deceit because he saith T. C. doth encourage in a state of
spirit and in the truth I say The Spiritual Man with his Ordinances and Administrations which are spiritual stands over the man of sin and over these his carnal weak unprofitable Ordinances beggarlie rudiments vain ceremonies and traditional imitations which although you call them the Ordinances of Christ yet they are but your own fancies and imaginations And thus by a just and a lawful Trial it plainly and evidently appears that you are neither Churches nor Ministers of Jesus Christ but in all the particulars before-mentioned you are found very much to differ from them and because you are not the church of Christ and that his Spirit doth not lead you to and guide you in the practise or performance of those things which you plead for and follow therefore those things by you pleaded for are not the Ordinances of Christ but the Ordinances of the man of sin and so the Spiritual Man with his Ordinances and Administrations are exalted above the man of sin with the weak and unprofitable Ordinances that doth not make the comers thereunto perfect according to the truth asserted by Thomas Salthouse which is hereby vindicated and fully confirmed And now I shall return to speak to some particulars in thy Paper wherein thou saist Because in the Tiverton Epistle there is a complaint against the sins that are remaining in the Churches T. S from hence suggesteth that they are no Churches of Christ I answer T. S. had sufficient ground from your own confession in the said Epistle to conclude that you are no churches of Christ as was by him fully proved and is now again more at large confirmed For the church of Christ which is his bodie is in all things answerable and proportionable to him who is the Head Now you will all confess that the Head is holie harmless undefiled seperate from sin and sinners and if the Bodie be unholie full of abomination and defiled with sin and iniquitie then is Christ the Head of a defiled polluted unclean sinful Body and this is not proportionable for as is the Head such are the members and they said As he is so are we in this present world 1 Joh. 4. 17. But in that Epistle you do not onely complain against those sins that are yet remaining in the churches but you there say that abominations are reigning in your churches and in your souls Now these expressions in thy Paper where thou speakest of sins remaining c. might seem very much to alter the case and to lessen the crime in the judgement of those that have not seen your Consession in the said Epistle and such might begin to think that T. S. had dealt something uncharitably with you to exhort all that fear God to seperate from you and to come out from among you because some sins were yet remaining amongst you for to speak of sins yet remaining might seem to imply that some sins were mortified and put off and as if you were warring against and waiting to receive power to overcome those that remain and such a condition as this we could own though we cannot own those for a church of Christ who live in sin for we own and witness a spiritual warfare which all must know before they can be Members of the church of Christ and had you been found in such a condition as this to be armed with the power of God and so to stand in the war against sin and Satan we could have owned you in such a state as a people whom the Lord was purging and cleanslng and sanctifying for himself sitting and preparing you to be a habitation for the Lord to dwell in that your bodies might become the Temples of the Holy Ghost and so you might be married to the Lord in righteousness become the Spouse of Christ which is his Church but it is far otherwise with you for sin is not onely remaining in you but reigning in you and apparently written upon you and where sin and abomination reigns it hath the sole dominion power and preheminence and as a strong man armed keeps the house and is at peace and the stronger is not come that should dis-possess him and make the keepers of the House to tremble and the strong to bow that should enter in and break his peace and spoile his goods neither are you in a condition to war against sin for you confess that all weapons are wrested from you with which you should maintain war against it so that sin abomination hath quiet peaceable possession in you hath got both strength weapons to defend it self upon all occasions And so you are altogether servants to sin slaves to Satan under Aegyptian darkness this is much more then to say Sins yet remaining in you and as I have said doth very much alter your case from what these expressions of thine might seem to render it And saist thou that which T. C. saith is That the true churches of Christ have had the same or as great sins and abominations in them as are mentioned in that Epistle and yet were the true churches of Christ owned of God as is fully proved c. to which Scriptures thou saist T. S. gives no answer To this I say It is a very light thing with T. C. to lay sin to the charge of Gods elect and to condemn the generation of the Just and also to plead Justification for those in whom abomination reigns and in whose fore-heads iniquitie is apparentlie written but T. C. will one day know that he which justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just even they both are abomination to the Lord Yet by all that T. C. hath said though he hath quoted so many Scriptures perverting them and even wresting them to his own destruction it doth not appear that ever the church of Christ was guilty of these or the like abominations as in the Tiverton Epistle is exprest neither doth any one of those Scriptures at all prove any such thing therefore it was needless for T. S to give any answer thereunto but forasmuch as thou seems to vaunt thy self because T. S. hath not spoken particularly in answer to those Scriptures which thou call'st T. C. his Cloud of Witnesses and that both in thy Paper and also in T. C. his Answer to T. S. his Epistle the perverting of the Scriptures especially what is written to the church of Corinth is made use of as a Stirrup whereby you may mount you selves upon the Throne of Iniquitie taking occasion from what the Apostle writes to them concerning such as had sinned to boast your selves to be the church of Christ notwithstanding your great abominations and apparent iniquities confest and exprest in Tiverton Writing I shall therefore speak something briefly to some of those Scriptures thereby to discover thy blindness and ignorance of the things of God of which the Scriptures of truth declares And first concerning the Church of the Romans chap. 13.
such imperfect Ministers denyed But John Pitman and Jasper Batt did declare That they had received the gift of God vvhich is perfect and the Apostle said When he ascended up on high he gave gifts unto men for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry And such who ministers from that gift of God which is perfect their Ministry is not an imperfect Ministry Thou saist Thou supposest T. S. will not own two Churches the one perfect and the other imperfect least there should be room for you To which I answer T. S. can truly allow you the title of an imperfect sinful church or Synagogue of Satan who are going on in the broad way to destruction where you have room enough to commit very great abominations and apparent iniquities by your own confession in Tiverton Epistle but in the Church of Christ there is no room for such For the church of Christ is a chaste Virgin without spot and cannot join to any thing that is unclean neither can any person or any thing that is unclean be joyned to it For although the Gates of the holy City New Jerusalem stand alwayes open yet there can in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth or that worketh abomination or maketh a lye but they that are written in the Lambs Book of Life And the church of Christ hath no fellowship with the unfruitful Works of darkness for they vvalk in the light of the Lord and what communion hath light with darkness Or vvhat fellowship hath righteousness vvith unrighteousness Therefore whilst your abominations reigns and you are drawing iniquity and bears the mark thereof on your Fore-heads so apparently according to your own confession there is no room for you in the Church of Christ neither can you have any fellowship vvith them For vvhilst there is no room for Christ in your hearts nor in your affections there is no room for you in his Church And you confess that the World as a canker hath eaten out your affections to the Lord Jesus and your minds are much yea too much alienated from him but it seems by your Tiverton Epistle that you vvill leave no room for your selves in the church of Christ for there you promise to take some effectual course to purge sin or sinners out of the House of God Now to purge out sin vvould be to make such a church as T. C. saith God never had in the World For he saith God never had yet any church in the world free from sin And vvould you go about to make such a church as you have not so much as a pattern or president for You say in your Tiverton Epistle That whosoever beholds you may say What singular thing do ye But now it seems you think to do something that is singular indeed if you make such a church for God as T. C. saith he never had the like before But are not you hypocrites by T. C.'s Words if you should make such a church For he saith None durst say that God had ever a church in the world withous sin but hypocrites And if you purge away sin out of your church then yours vvill be a church vvithout sin which if you should confess then you fall under the notion of hypocrites but if you cannot purge out sin then you fall upon sinners for you promise to purge out sin or sinners Now if you purge out sinners do not you then exclude your selves from having any room there And yet this is not all that you do onely to exclude your selves if T. C. his words be true but you will leave no church for God at all for he saith God never had a Church in the world without Sin and if he never had a Church without sin in the World and now you are promising to purge sin or sinners out of his Church is not this to leave him no church at all neither with sin nor without sin Oh read your confusion and blush thereat you sottish children What a strange piece of Work have you promised to undertake who say that God never had a church in the World without sin and yet now you will undertake to purge sin out of his church And so you who are as vile as the worst of them with whom you intend thus to deal are going about to do that which according to T. C.'s account none of the faithful servants of the Lord or Ministers of Christ could ever do that is to purge sin out of his church and if you cannot do that then to purge out sinners and so exclude your selves amongst the rest who are abominable ones by your own confession and when sinners are purged out os that church which did onely consist of sinners For T. C. saith They that say they are without Sin are none of the church of Christ And if they that are without sin be none of his Church then all that are of his church must be sinners I say When all those are purged out what becomes of that church Or where will the place of any one of you be found Or whereof must the church of God consist Or must he have no church at all Therefore mind what you are going about left whilst you are supposing T. S will leave no room for you in going about to purge out others you leave no room for your selves Thou saist T. S. hath past sentence upon all the churches that ever was in the world to be the churches of the Devil and that he hath likewise sentenced all the Prophets and Apostles in their Doctrine and the Scriptures to be all the Doctrine of Devils and they the Ministers of the Devil c. Because T. S. hath said That for any to perswade men to joyne themselves with and to be members of a Church that is sinful and imperfect is no better then a Doctrine of Devils I answer Thou art sentenced for an impudent lyar and a false accuser and I am sure that lyars are of the devil but neither Prophet nor Apostle Scriptures nor church of Christ are at all concerned in his sentence nor comes not under it For none of them did ever perswade men to joyne with or to be members of a church that is sinful and imperfect which they must have done if T S. had sentenced them for preaching a Doctrine of Devils but on the contrary they did exhort the church of Christ to seperate from such and to have no fellowship with them but to come out from amongst them and not to touch the unclean thing and the Prophet of the Lord did complain against those that did not put a difference between the clean and the unclean between the holy and the prophane between the precious and the vile And those that do perswade people to joyn themselves to a church that is sinful they are the Devils Ministers and not Christ's and they are adding to the Devil s church or to Satan's Synagogue and are not adding
whilst sin doth reign in you all that you practise is but the Ordinances of the Man of Sin and those Ordinances are weak and unprofitable and can never make the comers thereunto or the practisers of them perfect and in this state the Spiritual Man which is Christ you know not neither of his Ordinances which are spiritual can you partake for this I affirm That the Ordinances of Christ which are spiritual are onely used and practised in the Church of Christ and amongst the Saints and not elsevvhere and for any other to say that they either follovv them or plead for them I say they are intruders into those things vvhich they have not seen and are talking of those things vvhich belongs not to them neither vvere they ever intended or ordained for such to practise and it vvill be said to all such Who hath required these things at your hands And therefore notvvithstanding your profession and your great boasting of the Ordinances of Christ except it may appear that you are the Church of Christ and that his Spirit leads you to and guides you in the practise of those things they are not the Ordinances of Christ to you but a Worship set up in your wils in imitation of others who were thereunto led by the spirit of God for he that hath not the spirit of Christ to lead him and guide him is none of his and then no member of his Church such cannot partake of his Ordinances And he that hath received that spirit is thereby made a Member of the Church of Christ and by it led and guided into all truth and so into the practise of those Ordinances of Christ that are spiritual and this is agreeable with and according to the Scriptures of truth and therefore I say except it may appear that you are Members of the church of Christ and led and guided by his spirit in the exercise performance of those things which you practise which you call Ordinances of Christ all that you do is but imitation at the most and not withstanding your boasting of the Ordinances of Christ and that it is his Ordinances you plead for and follow yet it will appear to be but will-worship and voluntary humility and the foolish inventions and imaginations of your own hearts which wil never make the comers thereunto perfect and so your Faith of which you speak will appear to be vain and as by your own confession it appeats it hath not so it will not purifie your hearts nor give you victory over the world but you will stil remain in your sins and the Law stil have dominion over you if you are not Members of that church whereof Christ is the Head and so Members of his body and that his spirit leads you to and guides you in your Worship and your Practise then you are of the Synagogue of Satan and so the man of sin is exalted in you above all that is called God and his voice you obey and his servants you are and his Ordinances you practise and him you worship and of the true God and his Worship and the true Christ and his Ordinances you are ignorant and therefore you shall be tryed whether you are the church of Christ or not or wherein you differ from them and thereby it will appear what those Ordinances are and whose they are which you say you follow and plead for herein you shall have just measure for you shall be tried by your own confession and the Scriptures of truth shall be witness which said Confession is recorded in a printed Paper directed to all the Churches of Jesus Christ as you call them from a meeting of the Messengers of the Churches in Tiverton the 18. day of the 7. Month 1657. Signed in their Names and by their appointment as the Subscribers say who write themselves Thomas Collier Nathaniel Strange Thomas Glass And so this Author with all the rest of the people called Anabaptists are concerned in it which said Tiverton-Writing or printed Paper was the occasion of T. S. his directing his Epistle to you called An Epistle to the Churches of the Anabaptists so câ—lled Which ought rather to have been received by you in love then for any of you thus to reward him evil for good but his reward is with the Lord and whether you hear or forbear whether you believe or perish in your gain-saying he will be clear of your blood and be a good savour to the Lord And amongst many other particulars contained in your said Epistle you say You have made confession of those reigning abominations in your own souls and in the Churches To wch I say Hereby you appear to be neither Ministers nor Churches of Jesus Christ but very much to differ from them for if abomination reigns in your Churches then abomination is the Head of your Church for that which reigns in the church is the head of the church and if abomination be the head of your church then is not Christ your head but the church of Christ did witness Christ to be their head and not abomination and they were exhorted to grow up into him in all things which is the Head even Christ who is both the Head and the Saviour of his church which is his body according to the Scriptures Eph. 4. 15. Eph. 5. 23. Coll. 1. 18. and thus it 's evident that you are not the church of Christ which is his Body because Christ is not your Head Again that which reigns in your churches hath dominion over your churches and you say abomination reigns in your churches in your souls therefore abomination hath dominion over your churches and over your souls and this proves you to be no Church of Christ because you are subjects to another Prince and other Lords hath the Dominion over you and you are not subjects of Christs Kingdom but the Church of Christ were in subject on to Christ and he did reign over them and had the dominion over them as the Scriptures declares which saith He shall reign over the house of David for ever and of his Kingdome there shall be no end who is set far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named c. to whom they ascribed praise and dominion for ever and ever Luke 1 33. Eph. 1. 21. 1 Pet 4. 11. Again Abo nination is that which God hates and his wrath and displeasure is against such in whom abomination reigns for the fearful and unbelieving and abominable c. must have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone but the Church of Christ are beloved of God and have their part and their inheritance and fellowship with the Father and with the Son and with the Saints in light as the Scriptures doth witness which saith For the Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me and the love of God was shed abroad in their hearts and
nothing was able to seperate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus And they had known and believed the love that God had to them John 16. 27. Rom. 5. 5. Rom. 8. 39. 1 John 1. 3. 1 John 4. 16. And thus you in whom abomination reigns are proved to be no church of Christ for where abomination doth reign there Christ doth not reign but such were they who sent a Message after him saying We will not have this man to reign over us who must be brought and slain before his face And where Christ doth not reign there his Statutes and his Ordinances are not known but every one walketh and worshippeth according to the imagination of his own heart and every one doth that which is right in his own eyes even as they did when there vvas no King in Israel and the Statutes and Ordinances vvhich you follow and plead for are the dictates of the man of sin vvhich bears rule in you yea even from the abomination vvhich is set up where it ought not to stand vvhich makes desolate do you receive them and not from Christ vvho is the Head King and Law-giver to his Church and People and in this state vvhilst abomination reigns and is head in you vvhat ever you profess or vvhat ever you practise it is all abomination to the Lord For the prayers of the wicked or those in vvhom abomination reigns are abomination to the Lord and vvhilest that vvhich is abominable in the sight of the Lord rules and is head in you all that proceeds from you yea even your best performances though they may in outward appearance seem to be the same vvith the people of God or Church of Christ and like that vvhich the people of God and Church of Christ did practise according to Scripture-Testimony yet it all stinks in the nostrils of the Lord and is an abomination in his sight for who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one And surely you in whom abomination reigns are unclean in the eyes of our God for he is of purer eyes then to behold iniquity And therefore vvhilst abomination reigns in your Churches and in your souls call not your selves Ministers of Christ nor Churches of Christ nor do not say you plead for and follow his Ordinances for the Church of Christ hath an Altar whereof you have no right to eat neither can you taste of the Supper of the Lord neither have you any part or lot in this matter for your hearts are not upright before the Lord neither into the City of our Solemnity may you enter for into that City can in no wise enter any thing that defiles or worketh abomination or loves or makes a lye You complain in your Epistle of a light Spirit living short of the true sight and sence of Gods Majesty in his Churches and among his Saints By vvhich also it appears you are not the Church of Christ neither is that light Spirit of vvhich you complain the Spirit of God but it was otherwise vvith the Church of Christ of vvhich the Scriptures declares for they had received the Spirit of Truth vvhich vvas not a light spirit by which they were led into all truth and had the true sight and sence of Gods Majesty amongst them and did not live short thereof but beheld his glory and were made glad with the favor of his countenance which was lifted up upon them Psal. 89 15. Psal 21. 6 Acts 2. 28. John 14. 16 17. 1 Cor. 2 12. Gal. 4. 6. 1 Ioh. 3. 24. your spirit is a spirit of blindnes by your own confession so that you cannot perceive the things that pertain to the Kingdom of God but you are without the true sight sence thereof so you are walking in the dark paths and going on in the broad way which leadeth to destruction but the church of Christ did walk in the light of the Lord the spirit by which they were led and guided led them out of darkness into the marvelous light of the Lord and guided their feet into the paths of peace as the Scriptures doth witness 2 Cor. 4. 6. Ephes. 5 8. 1 Thess. 5. 4 5. 1 Pet. 2 9. And thus you who are led and guided by a light spirit that lives short of the true sight and sence of Gods Majesty in his Churches and among his Saints are not the Church of Christ but are under chains of darkness and the god of this world hath blinded your eyes Now you seem to confess that Gods Majesty is to be seen in his Churches and his presence to be enjoyed by his people and among his Saints and if so then you who live short of the true sight and sence of his Majesty which is seen in his Church and do not behold the glory of his presence which his Saints doth see and behold and which is amongst them I say Then you are not of that number who are indeed his Church and Saints but you live short of the true sight and sence of that glory and excellency which they behold and are made partakers of and in this state of ignorance and blindness you are groping but cannot find the door and you call evil good and good evil you put darkness for light and light for darkness you call your own fancies and imaginations Ordinances of Christ and the light of Christ which is spiritual and shines in the hearts of his people by which they have the true sight and sence of Gods Majesty amongst them this you call fancy and imagination and your own inventions you set up as an Altar to the unknown God and you worship you know not what but of the true God and his Worship you are ignorant for his voice at any time you have not heard nor his shape you have not seen and of the true Christ and his Ordinances you are unsensible and his body which is spiritual you cannot discern and therefore though you boast that it is the Ordinances of Christ you plead for and follow as Church-fellowship in breaking of Bread and Prayers c. yet you are discovered to be of that number that are unworthy to partake of the Supper of the Lord and of the Ordinances of Christ for you being out of the true sight and sence of Gods Majesty in his Churches and amongst his Saints you are out of the discerning of the Lords body which is spiritual and therefore instead of partaking of the Ordinances of Christ you eat and drink to your selves damnation not discerning the Lords body Again you complain in the said Epistle of a wretched worâ—â—y spirit which plucks the Saints down from their excellency and leaves blackness upon you which renders you uncomely c. Which doth also manifest you to be no Church of Christ for the spirit which is in them doth build them up and not pluck them down and doth beautifie them and not render them uncomely and it causeth them to excel
all other people doth not pluck them down from their excellency it is not a wretched wordly spirit but the spirit of God by which they overcome the world and this spirit was in the Saints and Church of Christ of which the Scriptures of truth doth witness and they had received that Grace which taught them to deny ungodliness worldly lusts and had escaped the pollutions which are in the world through lusts they did witness that Faith which overcomes the world and knew him to live in them by whom the world is overcome and were directed and commended to that Grace which was able to build them up and they were built up together and became a habitation of God through the Spirit even a spiritual House an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices unto God 1 Cor. 2. 12. Gal. 6. 14. Tit 2. 12. 2 Pet 1. 4. 1 Ioh. 5. 4. Acts 20. 32. Eph. 2. 20 21 22. Iude 20. 1 Pet. 2 5. Isa. 28. 5 6. Isa. 61. 3. By all which it appears how much you differ from the Church of Christ insomuch that the absolute contrary marks fruits and effects doth appear in you and amongst you as was in them and amongst them but you are of those who turn again with the dog to the vomit and with the Sow that was washed to the wallowing in the mire who were indeed once more excellent while you were little in your own eyes before you were thus setled on your Lees there was a time when there was breathings in some of you after the Lord and something which did hunger and thirst after righteousness and there was then some tenderness amongst you and a sensibleness of something that was oppressed and held captive as under the power of a strange King and then there was some groanings for deliverance and some desires raised in you after the Lord and after purity and holiness which did render you comely whilst you abode in that state but you have lost that condition and the cry of the oppressed is not regarded by you but you are joyned and become one wiâ—â—â—he oppressor and that which oncâ— breathed to be delivered from the bondage of corruption you have even choaked strangled and so you never knew that born or brought forth which is heir of Gods Kingdom but an untimely birth is brought forth and you are sate down by the way in an empty form wanting the life and power and have taken up a false rest but the true rest you have not known And thus a wretchedworldly spirit hath overcome you accompanied with many other evils of the like nature by your own confession and hath pluckt you from that excellency which you once had and hath defaced that comeliness which was once upon you and hath left blackness and deformity upon you and those desires which once appeared amongst you are forgotten and the tenderness quite lost and hardness of heart got up and nothing remains but deadness and dryness and emptiness amongst you according to your confession and thus the seed even rots under the clods and you dwell in a Land of darkness where the presence of the Lord is not found to refresh you nor the dew of the lasting Hills falls not on you but you remain dry and barren bringing forth no fruit to God but deceit and abomination rules in your hearts and the man of sin is exalted in you above all that is called God and great clusters of the sowre Grapes of Sodom appear amongst you and is plentifully brought forth by you to the dishonor of God So your latter end is worse then your beginning Again you say in your said Epistle You have been as in a great measure without the sence of the work so without the true travel of soul which this work should have pat you into So hereby you utterly exclude your selves from being a Church of Christ and are manifested in a great measure to differ from them for if you are insensible of the work of God amoâ—â—sâ— you and in you and if it be not he that worketh the will and the deed and that works all your works for you and in you then you are doing your own works and your righteousness is your own and not the Lords so your righteousness is the same with that of the Scribes Pharisees who were not the Church of Christ but those who crucified him But the Church of Christ were sensible of the work of God in them and amongst them as the Scriptures of truth doth witness and they gave a particular relation thereof how it wrought in them saying That patience worketh experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed and these were the works of God in them of which they were sensible they said Lord thou wilt ordain peace for us for thou hast wrought all our works in us So they were sensible of the work and of him that worketh and they knew that they were of God and that the Son of God was come who had given them an understanding to know him that was true and they were in him that is true and they testified that this was the true God and eternal life and those were not insensible but had their sences exercised in the knowledge of the Work of God and they had known the terrors of the Lord and therefore did perswade men and so were not insensible of the Work as the Scriptures witnesseth Rom. 5. 4 5. Isa. 26. 12. 1 Ioh. 5. 19 20. 2 Cor. 5. 11. Again the Church of Christ had known the true travel of soul and witnessed the birth which is born of the Spirit which inherits the Kingdom of God of which travel it seems you are ignorant and therefore never came to the birth which is immortal but they had cryed as a Woman in travel and felt the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child and every man was seen with his hands upon his loins as a Woman in travel and they have also known the deliverance and forgotten the anguish and the pain for joy that a Man-child is born and the Minister of Christ said That he travelled in pain until Christ was formed in them And they were born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever as the Scriptures doth witness Ier. 4. 31. Mic. 4. 10. Gal. 4. 19. 1 Pet. 1. 23. But you who are without the sence of the Work and have not known the souls travel are not born of the seed which is incorruptible and so not heirs of Gods promise for the promise is to the Seed in which all the Nations of the earth are blessed and those who are not born of the Seed wch is incorruptible they are under the curse in the transgression alienated from the life of God strangers from the Common-Wealth of Israel out of Gods Covenant with whom the Church of Christ can have
Lord but he that is unsanctified is without holiness and therefore cannot see the Lord And so though Grace hath abounded towards you yet it seems your sins hath much more abounded in so much that sin hath overcome you and eaten out all the Divine sweetness of regenerating and sanctifying Grace but with the church of Christ it was otherwise for though there was a time in which sin had abounded yet Grace had much more abounded in them so that by Grace they were saved from sin and were become dead to sin and alive unto righteousness and had their fruits unto holiness and the end everlasting life And so by all these particulars of which you have confest your selves to be guilty it is evident that you are neither Ministers nor churches of Christ but on the contrary it plainly appears that you very much differ from them And also there are many other particulars exprest in the said Tiverton Epistle of which you confess your selves to be guilty which time would even fail me to insist upon whereby I could further and more fully and largely prove that you are neither Ministers nor churches of Jesus Christ some of which are as followeth That coldness and deadness is upon your selves and upon the churches formality in holy duties indifferencie and a Laodicean spirit is sallen in upon you that you have been drawing iniquitie with cords of vanitie that there is amongst you personal iniquitie congregational iniquitie national iniquitie familie iniquitie closet iniquitie that you are without soundness from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot full of bruises and putrified sores and the crown is fallen from your head by reason of your iniquities that you have but as it were played with God and not trembled in his presence but have been wanton before him and without the terror of his Maiestie and â—â—at you have delighted to confess and to word it out with the Lord and being gone away presentlie forgot what manner of men and women you were thought no more on your prayers and so confess that you have often mocked God that the World doth eat out your time your strength your zeal and that in the lap of this Dalilah whilst asleep your locks have been cut off and you are but as other men that Satan hath shewed you the Kingdoms of the world and this hath bewitched you and alienated your minds from the Lord that you are remiss in meetings and that you neglect the poor Saints Ministers of Christ whose dailie complaints and addresses you say are living monuments of this reigning abomination That you are cruel to servants and children exacting all their labours and takes no time to counsel or instruct them whereby their souls might be the better for you that slavish fear hath stopped your mouths until the mouth of this Iniquitie hath almost devoured your poor churches That these evils are so deeplie rooted in your hearts that it is hard to get them out that they have wrested all weapons out of your hands that have been formed against them so that you have laboured in vain and that which you have brought forth hath been to little purpose Several other such like things as these you confess your selves and your churches to be guilty of in the said Tiverton Epistle To all which I say If you are indeed guiltie of all these reigning abominations and apparent iniquities according to your confession then assuredlie may I conclude That you are neither Ministers nor churches of Christ and that the Ordinances which you practise are not the Ordinances of Christ but the Ordinances of the man of sin which is exalted and bears rule in you for of these abominations and apparent iniquities the church of Christ was never guiltie as hath been proved And if you say you are not guiltie thereof according to your confession then is this confession of yours a most abominable piece of hypocrisie wherein you have even mocked God as you say you have done often which will render you no less culpable of his fierce wrath and heavy indignation then the former And thus are your skirts discovered your deeds brought to light you weighed in an Equal Ballance â—nd true judgment pass'd upon you and therefore although you call your selves churches of Christ Ministers of Christ yet your presumption is hereby discovered who call your selves churches of Christ and are not as their blasphemie was known who said they were Jews and were not and you with them are found lyars And although you boast of the Ordinances of Christ and say it is his Ordinances you follow and plead for according to the Scriptures and would seem to deck your selves with precious Stones and Pearls yet whilst these abominations reign in you and such iniquities so apparentlie written upon you your Name is Mysteris Babylon the Mother of Harlots and Abomination of the Earth a Synagogue of Satan a habitation of Devils a hold of every foul Spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful Bird And therefore though Joab flie to lay hold on the horns of the Altar yet from thence he must be taken because he is a man of blood and so on his head must the blood of Abner be charged and rest for ever that Davia and his house may be clear before the Lord for ever And thus the Spiritual Man which is Christ the true light with his Ordinances and Administrations which are spiritual are exalted above the man of fin and above his Ordinances which are weak and unprofitable and which doth not make the comers thereunto perfect and above that imagined false Christ which doth not save his people from their sins and above that Justification which justifies people in their sins and above that blood which doth not reach to the purging of the conscience from dead works and above that faith which doth not purifie the heart and give victory over the world and above that baptism which is not by one spirit into one body whereby sin and transgression reigning abominations and apparent iniquities are washed away and above that Church-fellowship which is not with the Father and with the Son and with the Assembly of the first-born and with the spirits of just men made perfect and above that Bread which is not the Body of Christ and above that cup which is not the cup of blessing of consolation and salvation even the Communion of the Blood of Christ the spiritual Rock of which the Israel of God drunk And above those Prayers which are but lip-labour which are so soon forgotten and no more thought upon and wherewith God is so often mocked which comes not from a pure heart and holy hands lifted up without wrath and doubting and above that Worship which stands in the will of man in conformity to a Rule or Law without them not being thereunto led by the Spirit of the living God whose Worship is spiritual and who will be worshipped in the
ver. 12 13 14. which T. C. mentioneth where the Apostle saith The night is far spent the day is at hand let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the Armor of light let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness not in strike and envying but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ c. Doth the Apostle here charge them with walking dishonestly because he exhorts them to walk honestly Nay assuredly for he saith to them I am perswaded of you my Brethren that ye also are full of goodness fill'd with all knowledge c. Rom. 15. 14 And if they were full of goodness then there was no room for dishonesty and rioting and drunkenness chambering and wantonness strife and envying are works of the night and of darkness but he saith The night is far spent the day is at hand let us put on therefore the Armor of light Now if they had not been come to the day how could they put on the Armor of light And if they were come to the day then the night was past and the works of darkness put off this exhortation he gave unto them to stir up their pure minds by way of remembrance as the Apostle Peter did likewise who said Wherefore I will not be negligent to put ye alwayes in remembrance of these things though ye know them and are established in the present truth 2 Pet. 1. 12. And so this proves nothing at all for T. C. that the church of the Romans were guiltie of the same or as great sins and abominations as is mentioned in the Tiverton Writing And as touching the church at Corinth although the Apostle did write to them concerning Fornication yet he doth not say that such Fornicators were of the church of Christ neither doth he tollerate them though T. C. saith that Fornication was tollerated amongst them but doth exhort the church of Christ when they were gathered together in the spirit and power of the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such to Satan and bids them to have no fellowship with such nay not to companie with such nor to eat with such especially if any such were called a Brother that was a Fornicator or covetous or an Idolater or a Railer or a Drunkard or an Extortioner but they were to put away from among them that wicked person 1 Cor. 5. chap. And surely this was not to tollerate them as T. C. hath affirmed For although such might creep in amongst them as Jude saith in his Epistle ver. 4. That there were certain men crept in unawares who were before ordained to this condemnation ungodly men turning the Grace of God into laciviousness yet these ungodly men were none of the church of Christ for though they might creep in amongst them yet they were not of them and such Iohn saw and said of them They went out from us Mark They went out Therefore they had been in or had crept in They went out from us that they might be made manifest that they were not of us 1 Ioh. 2. 19. And the Apostle did say to the church of Christ at Corinth That neither Fornicators nor Idolators nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And if they shall not inherit the Kingdom of God then assuredly they are not the church of Christ and this would be but small advantage to T. C. and his Brethren in iniquitie if they could shelter themselves under such Fornicators Idolaters Railers Drunkards Revilers c. and cover themselves with the Name of the church of Christ whilst as wicked and as abominable in the sight of God as the worst of them I say This covering would be of small advantage to them seeing the portion of such is to be shut out of God's Kingdom And the Apostle makes a noted distinction between the church of Christ and such wicked persons saying And such were some of you mark They had been such but saith he Ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Iesus and by the Spirit of our God 1 Cor. 6. 9 10 11. And this shews your blindness that you cannot make a distinction between such ungodlie sinners here spoken of and the church of Christ you may trulie say that you live short of the true sight and sence of God's Majestie in his churches and among his Saints who are thus blind that you cannot distinguish between a member of the church of Christ and a Fornicator especiallie where the Scripture hath made such a noted distinction Might not T. C. as well have instanced Iudas for a Member of the church of Christ as these Fornicators and unclean persons Yea rather for the Disciples were not for bid to keep him companie nor forbid to eat with him nor bid to excommunicate him as the church of Christ was those before-mentioned and therefore his being tollerated amongst the Disciples might better have served for your purpose from his example to endeavour to perswade people that you are and may be accounted a church of Christ notwithstanding your great abominations confess'd in your Tiverton Epistle trulie your blindness may even be felt and if you were not quite insensible you might blush and be ashamed of your gross ignorance But T. C. saith The Apostle did not unchurch them as the Enemies of Christ do in these dayes Take notice Reader Did not he unchurch those whom he delivered to Satan and those whom he commanded the church of Christ to have no fellowship with or not to company with them nor to eat with them but were commanded to put away from amongst themselves such wicked persons Is not this to unchurch them according to T. C. his own expressions What doth he call unchurching if this be not to unchurch them He saith The Churches of Galatia were so deeply corrupted that the Apostle wondered they were so soon removed to another Gospel c. yet notwithstanding saith he he owns them to be the churches of Galatia and wisheth Grace and Peace to them c. To which I say If the churches of Galatia were removed from the Gospel of Christ which is the power of God then the churches of Galatia were not the churches of Christ no more then the churches of the Anabaptists in whom such abomination reigns are the churches of Christ neither doth his owning them to be the churches of Galatia prove them to be the churches of Christ any more then T. S. his calling you the churches of the Anabaptists proves you to be the churches of Christ And whereas he saith he wisheth Grace and Peace to them and endeavours their reformation I say Your reformation likewise hath been endeavoured by the servants and messengers of the Lord whose counsel ye have rejected and Grace hath been tendered and hath appeared
you call it by Faith in another which you say you own and press after but the perfection which the people of God in all ages did press after it seems you are against Thou railest at T. S. extreamly charging him with hypocrisie wretched perverting and to be a forger of lyes for saying T. C. hath contradicted himself in directing his Epistle from Tiverton to them that are called to be Saints through the immortal Seed that dwelleth in them and yet saith It is language beside the Scripture to mention the oppressed seed For thou saist He doth not say it is language beside the Scripture to mention the seed within but for the oppressed seed he knows no such Gospel expression c. Novv to this I say If the immortal Seed be in them to whom that Epistle vvas directed and that abominations reigns in them as in the same Epistle is confess'd I query Whether the Seed in them be not opprâ—st If yea then T. C. is found in confusion and contradiction and knows nothing of the immortal Seed of vvhich he speaks Now where enmity is put between tvvo if the one bears rule then the other doth suffer oppression and I suppose you will grant that there is no concord or agreement fellowship or union betwixt the immortal seed and abomination for that which worketh abomination is of the Serpents seed betvveen vvhich and the seed immortal enmity isput and vvhilst abomination reigns in you and that iniquity is apparently vvritten upon you and you are dravving thereof vvith cords of vanity the Serpent's seed is head in you and the seed immortal is oppressed and thus the blind guide is fallen into the pit vvhich for another he had digged vvho streins at a Gnat and vvould seem to make a man an offender for a vvord notvvithstanding the substance of the matter by him declared be clear and evident Thou art much offended vvith T. S. because he saith It seems they have refused to return from their wickedness and great abominations if T. C. may be credited but saith he trusts they shall be found so more if this be to be vile we shal yet be more vile for which thou utterest many bitter railing expressions against him saying that T C. saith If to deal faithfully with sins and sinners if to arraign abominations c If this be to be vile we shall yet be more vile c. To which I say That you have refused to return from your wickedness and great abominations is a truth clear and apparent for T. C. hath endeavoured to prove you to be a church of Christ notvvithstanding your great abominations and saith the true churches of Christ have had the same or as great sins and abominations in them as is confest in Tiverton Epistle and that Christ never had a church in the World free from sin and vvhether this doth not strengthen the hands of the vvicked so that they cannot return from their vvickedness and give encouragement to such to live in sin let all who are spiritually minded judge And vvhilit you are endeavouring to vindicate your selves in such a condition and such practises there is small hopes or little likelyhood of your returning from that condition And whereas he saith If to deal faithfully c. be to be vile c. I say Hovv can such a deceitful hypocrite deal faithfully with sin or sinners in whose own soul by confession such abominations reigns on whose own Fore-head such iniquities are so apparently written and out of vvhose hands sin hath wrested all Weapons wherewith he should deal with it should not the hypocrite first pull the beam out of his own eye and deal faithfully with his own soul in arraigning and casting out his own abominations by the power of the Lord before he go about to pull the mote out of his brothers eye or to deal with his sins or to arraign his abominations I am sure for T. C. to tell of arraigning abominations in others whilst abominations are reigning in his own soul or for him to talk of dealing faithfully with sin and sinners whilst by his own confession he is manifested to be as bad as the worst of them if not the worst of all and hath more need to be taken under dealing then any of those with whom he speaks of dealing with this renders him to be so much the more vile as T. S. hath truly said Some other false accusations thou bringst agaist T. S. in particular and against the people called Quakers in general as That he pleads up their own righteousness beyond all bonds not onely of Religion but of modesty and civillity too and that no people upon earth are so great enemies to Christ according to the Scriptures as they that none are more obedient to their own fancies imaginations then they c. And thou tells the old lye over again saying He calls the Ordinances of Christ the Ordinances of the man of sin To all which I say Thou hast made it thy work to slander and falsly accuse and for as much as thou hast been so often proved a lyar I shall not spend time to answer every impertinency and false accusation especially where no proof is offered by thee for what thou affirmest but let it lie and rot as the foame and filth of a Tlanderous spirit which cannot touch the innocent nor gain credit or acceptance with any people of understanding Thou goest on with thy work propounding queries and answering thy self lying and perverting slandering and falsly accusing the innocent digging a pit and spreading a net for them but into the pit which thou hast digged for others art thou fallen and in the Gin which thou hast laid is thy own feet snared And because T. S. saith Without boasting we can speak it to the praise of his grace who hath wrought all our works for us and in us that we are of God though the whole world lieth in wickedness and that Christ hath had and yet hath a Church without sin in this mortal Estate Thou therefore queriest Whether this Church without sin be not the Quakers And thou answerest thy self Yea doubtless if they onely are of God and the whole world lyeth in wickedness it must needs be them And here thou hast proved T. C. a lyar For if it be an undoubted truth that they who are of God are a church without sin then undoubtedly T. C. is a notorious lyar for affirming that Christ never had a church without sin in this mortal estate For John saith We know that we are of God and the whole world lyeth in wickedness 1 John 5. 9. And because they were of God they were without sin according to thy own reasoning Then thou queriest Whether the Quakers have not dealt notoriously wicked with T. C. in denying their owning themselves to be perfect and calling T. C. a lyar for affirming it and now T. S. so openly and publikely not onely to confess it but to
plead for it To which I answer Thou hast herein dealt notoriously wicked with T. S. as T. C. hath done with others before For T. S. hath not said he is perfect nor confest that the people call'd Quakers doth own themselves to be perfect and therefore thou art a lyar for affirming it And because the ground or foundation of thy query is a lye therefore I shall give no further answer to it Thou queriest Whether John Pitman Jasper Batt Robert Wastfeild c whom thou call'st Preachers and Leaders in that Faction be members of the true Church or of the Devil Because T. S. saith That those that remain in sin in the unconverted and imperfect state and are seduced and deceived being out of the truth they are enemies to the cross of Christ and are not the church of Christ And thou saist The forementioned persons at a Meeting at Glaston with T. C. protested that they were not perfect nor free from sin but pressing after it Therefore thou queriest How they shift themselves from being Enemies to the crosse of Christ I answer Though thou hast laboured much to bring forth this work of wickedness hoping thereby to trap the innocent yet it will not at all serve for thy purpose For though in the words of the Apostle we did in plainness and in the simplicity and integrity of our hearts declare which thou call'ft a Protestation That we were pressing forwards towards the mark of the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus not as though we had already attained or were already perfect but were pressing after it yet this doth no more prove us to be of the Devil or enemies to the cross of Christ by any thing that T. S. hath said then the Apostles words did prove him to be of the Devil or an Enemie to the cross of Christ For though we did say not as though we had already attained or were already perfect yet we did confess openly to the glory of God That we did witness him come and to live in us who is perfect and that we did believe that perfection is attainable in this life through him and that having this hope it doth purifie our hearts even as he is pure who worketh all our Works for us and in us and that in this Faith we are pressing after perfection And of this Faith did we make confession openly as many can testifie and this is the Faith to which vve are converted and so vve do not remain in the unconverted estate neither are we seduced or deceived but are established in the eternal living Truth and not out of it and by the Spirit of Truth which vve have received vve are able to judge of seducers and deceivers And vve did likewise declare that vve vvere by nature children of Wrath as vvell as others and that vve had long travelled under the burthen of sin and bondage of corruption vvhilst the strong man armed kept the house and that we had known the terrors of the Lord against sin And vve did likewise say That there is sometimes in us motions to sin from vvhich vve are not freed and that vve are exercised vvith temptations but those motions not being consented unto nor the temptations joyned with or entered into but resisted in the povver of God those motions are not imputed to us as sin for it is no sin to be tempted And we did also declare That we now vvitness the stronger come to ease us of our burthen and to save us from our sins and to deliver us from the bondage of corruption that we might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of our lives and this doth not prove us to be no church of Christ or prove us to be of the Devil therefore vve are without the reach of thy envy for vve are none of those which T. S. speakes of who are enemies to the cross of Christ but thou hast not contrived thy Work so as that it may serve for thy purpose for thou canst not strike us all at once as it stands which appears to be thy intention neither canst thou divide our Testimony so as to take us in confusion or contradiction which thou hast laboured after for if we had protested as thou saist that we were not perfect then thou hast nothing against us as to that it being one main charge against the people called Quakers though a very false one that they say they are perfect and now if we have said that we are not perfect then are we clear of that charge But thou art not willing we should pass so and therefore thou saist thou dost question whether we did not lye notoriously c. And here through thy envy thou haft manifested thy folly and in striking at us thou hast wounded thy self For if we did lye notoriously in saying we were not perfect then it will follow that if we had said we were perfect we had spoken truth and yet if any say they are perfect or free from sin such are accounted hypocrites so if any confess that he hath not attained but is pressing after perfection he is suspected to be a notorious lyar and if any through the love of God should confess to his glory that he is redeemed from sin and transgression and brought into the glorious liberty of the sons of God where he doth not commit sin such a one is said to be an hypocrite What work is here Confusion with a witness Who can escape thy slanderous tongue Truly thou art so drunk with rage and envy that it even darkens thy understanding so than thou canst not see thy folly and confusion but because of the perverseness of thy spirit thou errest in thy Work as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit Thou sayest The reason why thou proposest this query is Because we ovvned T. S. to be a Minister of Christ and vvould vvitness for him and vvith him so that doubtless vve must be one in vvitness To which I say Yea doubtless we are one in witness and our witness is true and doth agree together and thou hast lost thy labour in striving to make our witness disagree For our vvitness is for the truth and in the truth and there is union and agreement and not confusion And thou saist A perfect Church without sin cannot admit of an imperfect Ministry Pitman and Batt being Preachers amongst the quakers I say The church of Christ cannot admit of an imperfect Ministry for that Ministry which is imperfect is unsound and untrue and such a Ministry cannot be owned by the church of Christ For the sheep of Christ know the voice of Christ and follows him but will not follow imperfect unsound voices and although such grievous Wolves like thy self should array your selves vvith the sheeps clothing to deceive yet by your strange voices your imperfect Ministry is knovvn and by the Spirit of Truth vvhich rules in the Church of Christ are all
to the church of Christ and the Doctrine which such do preach is the Doctrine of Devils and not the Doctrine of Christ as T. S. hath truly said And because T. S. saith You follow cunning devised fables Thou saist He calls Gospel Ordinances cunning devised fables and that in sum he saith our Lord Christ and his Apostles were cunning devisers of Fables To which I say Deceit and Falshood hath summed up the matter and by the falseness of the account the wickedness of the Accountant is discovered and he is thereby manifested to be a notorious lyar and a false accuser but if honesty had cast up the sum the account would have appeared otherwise And I have already proved That whilst you remain in that state where you stand at present as appears by your confession in your Tiverton Epistle that all that you do or perform in imitation of others whilst you are not thereunto led by the Spirit of God but your rule is without you abomination reigns within you though you may call it the ordinances of Christ or great Gospel-Ordinances yet it is but Fables and Fancies of your own devisings and such things as Christ nor his Apostles did ever ordain or devise for you to follow or practise and you might as well charge all the rest of your abominations and apparent iniquities upon Christ and his Apostles and say they were the devisers of them as to say that Christ or his Apostles did devise those Fables Fancies and imaginations which you follow plead for practise and call Ordinances of Christ For that which you account the best of all your doings is as great an abomination in the sight of the Lord if not greater then the very worst action or most apparent iniquity which you confess your selves to be guilty of For the very prayers of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord and nothing will sooner or more certainly bring desolation upon you then the setting up of those abominations in the stead of the Worship of God and the Ordinances of Christ and those Exorcists who adjured the unclean spirits in the Name of Jesus whom Paul preached might as well say that our Lord Christ had devised those Exorcismes which they used because he had commanded unclean spirits to come out of people as you to say that Christ and his Apostles devised those Fables which you follow and plead for and call Gospel-Ordinances because you imagine that such things were practised in the church of Christ for it 's possible that those Exorcists were as much in the words of Christ and Paul as you are and I am sure you are as great Enemies to the iife and power of Christ as they were And after thou hast thus wickedly and salsly accused T. S and so impudently and grosly belyed him Thou saist Thou must have done with Salthouse at present and thou thinkest for ever unless there were more truth and honesty appearing in him Oh wonderful that such a notorious lyar and such a vile dishonest person as thou hast manifested thy self to be partly by thy own confession and fully and largely proved both by thy practise and by thy principles should be so impudent as to accuse another for want of truth and honesty But although thou mightest have hopes to shelter thy self and to escape undiscovered by accusing the innocent of the same crimes whereof thy self art guilty yet know that thy covering is too narrow for thy skirts are discovered and thy shame and nakedness doth appear and thy refuge of lyes cannot hide thee and it had been much better for thee if thou hadst ended sooner or that thou hadst never begun this work of darkness and wickedness wherein thou hast so desperately hazarded the loss of thy precious soul to satisfie thy cruel envious blood-thirsty desires against the innocent Lambs of Christ Onely thou saist take this Interpreter with you and T. C. his Answer to his Epistle and this together and you will find them to be a choice pair of Spectacles to help you to see into and understand what you read in T. S. his Books To which I answer The truth as asserted by T. S. in his Books are so plain and clear as they stand that whoever looks on them with a single eye and a mind not stuft with prejudice may easily read them and understand them without an interpreter and all who are not quite blind and given up to believe lyes may easily see and discover thy hypocrisie and deceit thy railing and false accusing thy lyes and thy confusion without the help of a pair of Spectacles But although thou hast done with T. S. I have not yet done wth thee for I have yet to question thee concerning a most horrible false accusation twice charged in thysheet of Paper where thou saist Would not these men as truly judge and condemn Saints and Churches in former ages that were subject to the like failings and passions were it not because they know it will not be born Else what meant the Answer of a Preaching-quaker in a publike meeting of them in Bristol one presenting something concerning the Scripture to him he answers I came not to tell you of Paul and Barnabas and Timothy the serpents of old but we were sent to direct them to look to the light within c. And thou saist The same person at the same time spake the same language of Samuel and the Prophets and this thou saist thou hadst from credible testimony who was present and heard him and proposed to query to him Whether he did own the Scriptures to be a rule for Christians to walk by Now to this I say The righteous Lord God of Heaven and Earth is witness for us against thee in this thing that we the Servants of the Most High God who are in scorn call'd Quakers do from our hearts abhor and detest any such words or thoughts concerning the holy men of God either Prophets or Apostles as thou most falsly from thy envious heart and slanderous tongue hast cast upon us and we do likewise utterly disown any such to be of us or to have any fellowship with us or to be permitted to speak amongst us without reproof who should declare or hold forth any such wicked damnable unsound unsavoury words as to say that either Paul or Barnabas or Timothy or Samuel or any other of the holy Prophets or Apostles were the Serpents of old for of them and of their words we have a more high and honorable esteem we being made partakers of the same eternal life and have obtained like precious Faith in which they lived and by which they obtained a good report and have received a measure of the same spirit by which they spoke and from which the Scriptures of truth were given forth and so we have the witness in our selves of the truth of what they declared and I do with confidence affirm That it cannot be proved that ever any person who is