all inward new Revelation of the Spirit but one Man must take up all the time and preach over the People one Year after another and the people ever learning and yet never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth as was the manner of false Teachers in days past who had the Form of Godliness but denyed the Power thereof who were to be turned from 2 Tim. 3.5 6 7. And concerning the trying and knowing of Spirits as well as Doctrins the Apostle John writ in his General Epistle 1 John 2.1 Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God Now this ability to try Spirits is greater than barely to try whether a Man's Doctrin be true or false for it is possible a Man may Preach for an hour or more words of Doctrin that may be true and yet his Spirit not be of God And that which gave them this Ability to try all Spirits as well as Doctrins was the Vnction or anointing from the holy One which they had received 1 John 2.20 But ye have an Vnction from the holy ' One and ye know all things And vers 26 27. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you i. e. seek to seduce you But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any Man teach you but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things c. 5. But because it is taken for granted and laid down for a Fundamental among Presbyterians and Independent Teachers as well as many others That all inward divine Revelation and Inspiration such as Believers had in the time of the Apostles is ceased therefore they lay no claim to any of these spiritual Gifts and plainly confess they have them not and also that they have no Infallible discerning or knowledge what Men are truly gracious and holy and living Members of Christ's Body and what not And therefore when these and other places of Scripture are brought that declare how true Ministers of Christ had spiritual Gifts of Ministration some in a lesser degree and some in a greater they alledge all these Gifts are now ceased and the reason they give is because all inward divine Revelation and Inspiration such as the Saints formerly had is altogether ceased Whereas if they did grant that inward divine Revelation did continue they would also readily grant that these spiritual Gifts of Ministry did continue and a spiritual discerning and ability whereby to know Infallibly who were indeed indued with the Spirit of God and who did preach and pray by the Spirit or sing by the Spirit and who not And the like concerning the Ministerial Call if they did grant that divine inward Revelation and Inspiration did continue in the Church as the common Priviledge of all true and sound Believers as being given to all and every one of them to lead them into all Truth they would readily enough grant that Ministers had an inward Call to preach and exercise other Ministerial Services and Performances as these Ministers did of old So that indeed this their Doctrin That inward divine Revelation is ceased in the Church and in Believers is the foundation of many other false and pernicious Doctrins yea almost of all the false and erroneous Doctrins they have among them And since it is so that they have no Belief of having the Spirit of God inwardly inspiring them and revealing in them the things of God and inwardly teaching them the Mysteries of the Kingdom What is their Ministry or Church or Ordinances All made things of Mans making and inventing and setting up a Man-made Church Man-made Ministry Man-made Ordinances and a Man-made Worship And though they say they hope they have the Spirit and seem at times to lay great stress and weight upon it and the need of it not only to believe but to do all good and acceptable Works and Performances yet their blind Doctrin and Unbelief that all inward divine Revelation is ceased doth so blind and darken them generally and make them so spiritually stupid senseless and benummed that they plainly confess They have no infallible assurance or infallible knowledge that they have the Spirit of God or any of these gracius Motions and Operations of the holy Spirit For according to their blind Doctrin and Faith all the motions and operations of the Spirit are only effective but none of them objective and any Illumination that they have is only effective and not objective that is to say is no immediate object of their knowledge or feeling or spiritual perception the Spirit only works in them so to speak as fire or heat works in Stone or Iron or Wood but the Stone Iron or Wood hath not any inward sense or perception of it for if they did grant true spiritual sense and spiritual feeling or perception they would grant infallible knowledge of these things even as our outward senses when sound and duly qualified and within due circumstances give us an infallible knowledge of outward things for is not every sensible Child infallibly sure that it both seeth its Mother and feeleth her when the Mother is handling the Child and feeding it And doth not the Suckling on the breast surely know the Milk that it sucketh and can well distinguish the breast that hath Milk in it from that which is dry and empty But as the Epistle to the Hebrews saith Things made to wit the things of Mans making without the Spirit and Power of God inwardly revealed are all to be removed Heb. 12.26 27. Yet once more I shake not the Earth only but also Heaven And this word yet once more signifieth the removing of these things that may be shaken as of things that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remain Let them consider this who seem to themselves to have a Church Constitution Ministry Discipline Worship far above others as Heaven is above Earth as the Presbyterian Church thinks she is above the Episcopal the Independent Church thinks she is above the Presbyterian the Baptists think themselves above both and yet all these as well as others are open and declared Enemies to the holy Spirit his inward Revelation and Inspiration by which alone the true Church is a living Church and the Ministry a living Ministry and every true Member a living Member and all truly Religions Duties and Services are living But made things of Mans making are all dead things and therefore must all be shaken and removed not the made Earth only but the made Heavens also of Mans making made Faiths made Worships made Ministers made Covenants all things of Mens making without the Spirit and Power of God inwardly revealed must all be removed and every plant that is not of the heavenly Fathers planting must be plucked up But if any of them say Our Churches our Ministry our Faith our Worship our Covenant is not so for we have the spirit of God assisting
is this righteous Law but in their Hearts And this righteous Law cannot be any natural Faculty of fallen Man which they confess is wholly defiled and corrupted and unholy and unrighteous 3 dly they confess That it is sufficient to leave men unexcusable sect 1. cap. 1. And therefore it is also sufficient to make men excusable who are diligent to frame their Life according to it and to say the contrary is to contradict the very instinct of common Justice that God hath put into mens Hearts 4 thly the Scripture saith that some of the Gentiles their Thoughts did excuse them in well doing as it did accuse them in evil doing Rom. 2.15 5 thly The Apostle Paul doth plainly distinguish it from the Conscience Rom. 2.15 the true Translation being Their Conscience co-witnessing or bearing a joynt Witness with that righteous Law or Principle 6 thly He calleth it the Truth and that which may be known of God which God hath shewed unto them which gave them the Knowledge of God and shewed them the goodness of God that leadeth to Repentance and also gave them to know the Judgment of God and revealed the Wrath of God from Heaven against them And because that many of them who knew God did not glorifie him as God nor were thankful therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind and therefore they were not Reprobates from the beginning far less from all Eternity as these men alledg And therefore any Light or Illumination that these Gentiles had in them or that any men have in them is a new Gift and Grace of God and gracious Visitation of God unto them as the Apostle calleth it Rom. 5.18 Moreover that God himself doth inwardly speak to men generally in their Hearts both in good men and bad and is their Teacher and doth warn them yea and fore-warn them of Evil and Wrath to come and doth reprove and convince them of Sin is the Testimony of the holy Scripture in many places see Psal 94.10 Psal 50.1 16 to 22. Amos 4.13 Micah 6.8 Prov. 8.1 2 3 4. Job 28.28 Chap. 24.13 and 21.14 And it is a place greatly worth noticing Luke 12.20 God said unto him Thou Fool this Night thy Soul shall be required of thee And where did God say thus to him but in his Heart And therefore it hath been the way of God and ever will be to speak to men in their Hearts to call them and warn and fore-warn them of evil and danger and to perswade and incline them to that which is good And they who deny this as they belye God and say It is not the Lord that speaketh and calleth to men in their Hearts so they do a great injury and wrong unto men who instead of turning them to God's Teachings in their Hearts turn them away from them and they do ill deserve so great Wages of the People so to turn away the Ears of the People from God's inward teachings in their Hearts and from the Word of his Grace which is able to save their Souls And to conclude although the dispensations of the divine Grace be various and may be variously distinguished into a more or less number yet God and Christ and the holy Spirit are one and the one Author of all these various Dispensations and who-ever is faithful unto God in any of them is accepted in Christ and for Christ's sake and not otherwise And though the last which is the pure and perfect Christian and Gospel Dispensation is far more excellent and far surpassing either that among the Gentiles who had not the outward Law or that among the Jews and People of Israel who had the outward Law and the Prophets yet every one of them had their Glory in their day and that inward divine Dispensation that is now among the Gentiles who have not Christ as yet outwardly preached unto them hath its Glory and great Service and Blessing to them who are faithful to God in it and such who continue faithful therein to the end shall never perish and though it be not purely and throughly Christian and Evangelical but rather more Legal yet it is also partly Christian and Evangelical and the pure Gospel Dispensation is hid within it as a Wheel within a Wheel or as the most holy place was hid within the outer Court and there to wit in that first Dispensation Christ as it were lieth as in swadling Cloathes and though the Jews do not know him as he is there yet such as the Wise men from the East do both know and honour him as the King of the Jews yea as King and Lord both of Heaven and Earth who is in all and through all and over all blessed forever Amen CHAP. VII Concerning Justification and the Nature of true Faith whether Assurance is of the Nature of it 1. WHen the Scripture saith God justifieth the Vngodly Rom. 4.5 It is not to be understood that he doth justifie them in their Ungodliness but from it as the like manner of Speech is used Acts 13.39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses For seeing according to the Law of God He that justifieth the Wicked is an Abomination to the Lord Prov. 17.15 God himself can do no such thing as to justifie a wicked or ungodly man in his Ungodliness 2. As it is only the true believer who hath Faith in Christ Jesus whom God justifieth so it is only he who is truly sanctified and regenerated or born again of the Spirit of God whom God doth justifie who are called the Seed of Israel Isa 45.25 In the Lord shall all the Seed of Israel be justified and shall glory For as a Rich Man when he dyeth by his Will or Testament leaveth his Goods or Riches not to Strangers but to his own Kindred as his Brethern or Children and to his Wife so our Lord Jesus Christ hath left by his Will and Testament when he dyed his Spiritual Goods to wit Remission of Sin Justification Adoption and Eternal Life only to his true spiritual Kindred to wit his Brethren who are born from Above and spiritually related unto him who are the true Children of God by spiritual Regeneration and renewing of the holy Ghost and who are his true Church and Body and of his Flesh and Bones according to Ephes 5.30 3. And therefore not only Faith but true inward Sanctification and a thorow inward renewing into the Image of God and Conformity of the whole man unto the Image of the Son of God is a Condition and Qualification necessarily required in order unto mens being perfectly justified in the sight of God and as no man is justified but who is sanctified so no man is any more or further justified than he is sanctified 4. According unto which God doth justifie men not only by Faith in Christ but by a real inward Righteousness or Holiness which he doth beget in
the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thes 1.1 And it is built upon Christ that sure Foundation and Rock of Ages whom Peter confessed unto which Flesh and Blood hath not revealed unto him but the Father in Heaven And upon this Rock so confessed and so known and understood which Flesh and Blood hath not revealed but the Father in Heaven is the true Church built And this is more than a Profession of the true Religion For it is not every one that professeth the true Religion to whom the Father in Heaven hath revealed the Lord Jesus Christ as he did unto Peter and as he doth unto every true and faithful Believer and Confessor of Christ And the true Church that is built on this Rock and every Member thereof they are not only hearers and professors of the Words and Doctrin of Christ but they are doers of them But they who do not although they both hear and say they are foolish Builders and build upon the Sand and such are all these visible Churches who have no other thing to qualifie them but to profess the true Religion Now to profess the true Religion carrieth a two-fold sense one is that the Religion which People profess they call or profess it to be the true Religion and in this sense every one that professeth any Religion at all if he be in earnest professeth the true Religion that is he esteemeth or professeth his Religion to be such The other sense is that the Religion that is professed is indeed the true Religion and is not only so called or professed And according to this sense your visible Churches whether Presbyterian or Independent are no true Churches For the Religion ye profess is not the true Religion of Christ Jesus which he and the Prophets the Evangelists and Apostles did teach as I have already proved in many weighty particulars yea in Fundamentals and in the very Foundation it self which is Christ Jesus on which the true Church is built and every Member thereof But ye who say All inward divine Revelation of Christ is ceased ye build not on Christ but on a meer Hear-say and Historical report of him For how can ye build on him when ye have no belief that Christ is nearer unto you than in some remote place beyond the Skies Can the Walls of the House be built on a Foundation that is altogether remote from it Must not the House and the Foundation be immediately joyned together And must not this Foundation be seen and felt by every Member And is not this incomparably more than the best Profession of true Religion O ye blind Leaders of the Blind How doth my Soul pity you and the poor People more especially who are led by you and whom ye are still seeking to lead until both ye and they fall into the Ditch and ye ill deserve your Wages and the many Hundreds yea Thousands of Pounds that poor People pay Yearly unto you and work sore and hard to feed you and cloath you and your Wives and Children to Luxury and Wantonness many of you while in the mean time under colour and pretence of feeding the Souls of the People ye famish and starve yea poyson and kill them with your false Doctrin as I have through God's assistance sufficiently made appear and I hope yet more to make appear as I have occasion given unto me 6. And Christ Jesus the living elect precious Corner-stone the sure Foundation is laid in Zion and that Zion is not only the heavenly Zion above but the Church and People of God on Earth and Christ Jesus is one both in Heaven without us and also within us even the Man Christ Jesus the same that took hold of the Seed of Abraham and is the Son of Abraham and David according unto that Seed and he is exalted in heavenly Glory in that same Seed and Nature in the whole and intire and perfect Nature of Man in Soul and Body having put off nothing that he had upon Earth but these Weaknesses and Infirmities which he did take on him for our sake even Jesus of Nazareth he who was crucified for our Sins and rose again for our Justification who was dead and is alive and lives for evermore and he who by true Faith is joyned to the Spirit of Christ by the same he is joyned both to Christ in him and also to Christ in Heaven and also to all the Saints in Heaven and the innumerable company of Angels and Spirits of just men made perfect and also unto the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and both God and Christ are not only in remote places and Heavens without us but also in us and in all his Saints as he hath said Jer. 23.23 24. Am I a God at Hand saith the Lord and not a God afar off Do not I fill Heaven and Earth Saith the Lord. 7. And as to the Government and Governors or Rulers of your visible Churches both Presbyterian and Independent it is of the same Nature with your visible Churches the only qualification of them being an outward profession of Christian Religion and an outward Call which ye are all at a loss where to begin it as I have already proved Cap. 4. accompanied with some natural or acquired Gifts and Abilities of Letter-learning reaching no further than the Letter of the Scripture at best and oft or for most part not that for ye preach not the Letter in the form of sound words of Scripture but have so mingled it with your Glosses and wrested Senses and Meanings and Words of men's wisdom and intentions that it is but little of the very Letter ye preach But if ye did preach the Letter and have not that infallible and unerring Spirit of Christ which was in the true Ministers of Christ in former Ages and is now in his true Ministers in this Age ye are but at best Ministers of the Letter and not Ministers of the Spirit and therefore not Ministers of the New-Testament And what is the use and end of your Government but to keep poor People in Bondage under you and your false Doctrin And if they do not believe it but witness against it then ye cast them out of your Synagogues and yet then will force Maintenance from them as many of you have done And when ye had Power with the Magistrates to instigate and stir them up to persecute honest Dissenters to Whip Stock Imprison spoil Goods cut off Ears and also to put to Death for testifying against your false Doctrins from your false and fallible Spirit I say both false and fallible For seeing ye do not profess to be taught led and guided by the infallible Spirit of Christ which was in the Prophets and Apostles and in all true Christians if ye have not this Spirit your Spirit is not only fallible but false to wit the Spirit of this World For there are but two Spirits that do teach lead and guide all men on Earth the
Light according to the English Translation or as it may be as well translated the Light is that which maketh manifest every thing to wit both it self and all other things And this description of Light belongeth only to God and Christ and the holy Spirit in the full extent of it for no created Light visible or invisible can manifest or reveal all things the outward Light of the Sun can only manifest some outward things but not all it cannot let us see what is under the Earth or in the bottom of the Seas but God can and doth search all Deeps and can reveal or make manifest every thing however so hid and therefore the Name Light doth more properly belong to God the Father of Lights and to Christ and to the holy Ghost than to any created Light visible or invisible and yet a publick Preacher in New-England in the Town of Hampton before some Hundreds of People most of them his common Hearers did affirm That God was not properly Light but only by a Figure borrowed from the outward Light of the Sun And to say God was Light and Christ was Light was the fundamental Error of the Quakers And though some of his Brethren have blamed his Rashness yet it cannot be denyed but he said that which was most consequential and agreeable to his Brethren's Doctrin and the Westminster Confession of Faith which the Church of New-England hath espoused to be her Confession of Faith also for if God do not at all reveal himself immediately or any other things he is not Light at all unto his Saints now on Earth as we may well say if the outward Sun should with-draw his Beams altogether from the Eyes of Men or that some dark body should be interposed always betwixt the Sun's Light and Men's Eyes the Sun should not be Light unto Men for it is the nature and property of all Light to reveal it self immediately to every one or else not at all and always to be its own Messenger and to discover teach and direct Men by its own Light and Evidence and not by any other thing For to say the Sun doth not lighten us immediately when it giveth us its Illumination is a great Contradiction that the Assertion carrieth to it self for whatever means or mediums the Sun's light passeth through to our Eyes as the Air Glass and the Tunicles of our Eyes or suppose some Lattise or thin vail or cloathing yet it s still immediate or if it be reflected from a Looking-glass or any other Object yet the Light it self coming to our sight through all these means or mediums and not stopping or staying by the way nor employing some other Messenger in its room to carry the tydings of it to us it is still immediate the Light hath a self-evidence whereby to make it self known without any other help or instrument whereby to make it known And thus God is Light and thus not only the Saints knew God to be Light but also divers of the Gentiles who had not the Scriptures knew God to be Light as Plotinus who said As we see know the Sun by his own Light so we see and know God by his own Light And Pythagoras and Plato declared God to be Light and it was one of Pythagora's rules Let none presume to speak or teach of God without his Light wherein he saw further and better into the true Mystery of Preaching and Teaching than these blind Faith makers at Westminster and New-England Preachers who have espoused that blind and dark thing called their Confession of Faith And Plato taught That God created the Soul of Man in a Region of divine Light and then it conversed with the true substance of Light and of every other thing but by its Sin it was thrust down into a Cave or Dungeon where it only conversed with Shadows and Figures or Images of things which are the things of this outward and perishing World And this doth well agree with the Scripture that saith God drove out the Man from the Garden And thus the mind of Man losing the inward enjoyment of God the true Light did joyn it self to the perishing things of this World where it can find no true Rest for they are but Figures and Shadows and the Scripture calleth this World a Fashion or Figure and Scheme 1 Cor. 7.31 And why is Christ called the true Light and the true Bread in Scripture and the Truth but to signifie unto us that he is indeed more truly and properly and satisfyingly the Soul 's true Light and Food than the outward Light and Bread is unto the Body or outward Man And therefore in comparison of God all created things of Heaven and Earth are said to be nothing and less than nothing and the Nations are as nothing and less than nothing before him Isa 40.17 And therefore as the Name Being and Good doth most properly belong to him as Christ said There is none good but God So the names Light Life and Love do most properly belong to him though it is most readily granted that he doth infinitely surpass and excel all that Men can either speak or think of him and that he hath a Name that none knoweth but he himself but since it hath pleased God to call himself by the Name Light speaking unto Men in the Language of the Sons of Men I say in the language of Men the Name Light doth most properly and without all Figure belong to God and Christ and this the Saints in Light well knew but they who know not the Light and believe not in it it is no wonder that they think that God or Christ is Light only by a Figure or Metaphor from the outward Light For indeed the Animal or natural Man that only followeth his natural Thoughts and Apprehensions doth not know God but by Figures and Shadows And though I plead for the immediate Revelation of God and Christ in the Hearts and Spirits of his Saints who is their Light and Life yet the means are owned and acknowledged in their place as good Men are Means good Books and especially the Scriptures are means whereby to transmit the Light of God and Christ unto us as he is pleased to make use of them and not otherwise even as the Air or Glass of the Window cannot convey any light of the Sun unto us but when the Sun shineth for when the Sun withdraweth and hideth his Face the Air and the Glass hath no Light to convey unto us And thus it is as to all Men and Books and Means they can convey no Light to us but what how and when God the Father of Lights is pleased to send forth through them unto us and this David well knew when he prayed saying O send forth thy Light and thy Truth to lead me and guide me to thy holy Hill and lift up the Light of thy Countenance upon us Psal 43.3 Psal 4.6 And as it pleaseth God often to
transmit the Beams of his divine Light Life and Love into our Souls through Means and Instruments as good Men and good Books and especially in reading or meditating in the Scriptures and also good Angels who are ministring Spirits and do minister to the Heirs of Salvation so many times it pleaseth him to bring them into a solitude or solitary place Hos 2.14 and there to speak unto them and reveal himself to the unspeakable satisfaction of their Souls without all means whatsoever save only that great and always most necessary and desirable Mean the Lord Jesus Christ in and through whom the Father doth always speak and reveal his Glory to his dear Children even as Christ declared saying No Man knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son reveals him For none of all the Prophets or Apostles did know or converse with God but as the Son did reveal him who is that most lovely and aimable skreen cloathing or vail through which the Glory of the Father shineth forth into our Souls meekly and gently and yet most sweetly according as every one is able to receive 3. And they who deny all inward divine Revelation of God in his Saints ever since the Apostles days and would wholly exclude the Saints from all inward enjoyment of God and Christ in their own immediate Light Glory and Brightness may be justly charged with Blasphemy against the great love and kindness of God to his People And such of the Priests of New-England who have blasphemously called the Light of God in his People A stinking Vapour from Hell and do blaspheme against the Light of God and Christ in all Men in a Day of Visitation that is given to lead and bring them unto God a meer human and natural Light corrupt and dark as some of them have called it and as they generally esteem of it And yet for this their Blasphemy we would not have the Magistrate to hang them or any way to punish them but our desire and Prayer unto God is for them if it be his good will that such of them who have not out-lived the Day of Visiation may find Mercy to repent and believe and acknowledge the Truth they have so long gain-sayed And whereas these Faith-publishers at Westminster in Old-England and at Cambridge and Boston in New-England do say in their Confession cap. 26. sect 3. This Communion which the Saints have with Christ doth not make them in any wise partakers of the Substance of his God-head and that to affirm it is impious and blasphemous It deserveth our serious consideration and to examin where the Impiety and Blasphemy lieth whether at their door who deny it or theirs who affirm it Even that the Saints are partakers of the Substance of his God-head And first as to their Proof from Scripture they cite Col. 1.18 19. And he is the Head of the Body the Church who is the beginning the first-born from the Dead that in all things he might have the preheminence for it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell But this place of Scripture saith not that the Saints are not partakers of the Substance of the God-head of Christ but the contrary may be proved from this very place which calleth him the Head of the Body the Church For as it is the same Substance of Life that is in the Head and in the Body and every Member of it So it is the same divine Life and Spirit that is in Christ the Head and all his Members and that Spirit is the holy Spirit and that Life is the Word and the Word and the Spirit are one Substance and Being with God as the same Confession saith cap. 2. sect 3. And that the Saints are partakers of the divine Nature and of the holy Ghost the Scripture expresly declareth it 2 Pet. 1.4 and Heb. 6.4 So that it is marvelous blindness or inadvertency in these Men so to contradict the express Scripture testimony And for the Word Substance with respect to the inward enjoyment of God and Christ the Scripture hath it expresly in several places Prov. 8.21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit Substance and I will fill their Treasures And Heb. 10.34 Knowing that in your selves for so the Greek doth bear it ye have in Heaven a better and more enduring Substance For as they had it in Heaven so they had an earnest of it on Earth in their Hearts and that all fulness dwelleth in Christ doth not prove that his Saints enjoy none of that fulness but on the contrary Out of her Fulness as said John we have all received and Grace for Grace John 1.16 And not only the Saints receive Gifts and Graces from Christ but they receive him and the Father in him and with him to live and dwell in them according to John 17.23 I in them and thou in me And yet this doth not infer that the Saints are equal with Christ that they have the same Spirit and Life with him and through him and by and from him as it doth not prove that the Foot is equal with the Head because the same Soul or Spirit that is in the Head is in the Foot and the same Life that is in the Root of a Tree is in the Branches and as Christ said I am the Vine ye are the Branches And if the Saints do no wise partake of the Substance of the Godhead of Christ I ask them what do they partake of him Do they partake only of the Substance of his Manhood without the Godhead or of neither If the first then the Manhood of Christ as they partake of it is without the Godhead which is Blasphemy indeed or if the second that is to say the Saints do neither partake of the Substance of his Godhead nor of the Substance of his Manhood then they partake nothing of Christ at all substantially according to their Doctrin O miserable Teachers What then do they partake of him if nothing Substantially Of his Accidents as they commonly say All Graces are nothing but Accidents Then here is a new sort of Doctrin of Transubstantiation as these of Rome say The consecrated Wafer or Cake hath the Accidents of Bread in it as the colour taste and smell of Bread but nothing of the Substance of Bread is there So say these Faith-makers The Saints that did see smell taste and feel of Christ in ancient times that which they did spiritually see smell taste and feel with their Souls and Hearts is only Accidents and no Substance This is more strange than that other that there is no Substance of Bread in the Cake but only the Accidents But why was not your reverend Brother as ye called him John Owen taxed with Blasphemy for affirming That the holy Ghost doth well in Believers really and as he worded it personally together with his Graces And Samuel Rutherfold a great Presbyterian who said in one of his Printed Epistles He
them which did suffice unto that present time and state Secondly in that God did chuse the Line of Jacob and his Posterity out of whom Christ should be born after the Flesh and also the Apostles and that out of Jacob the Gospel should go forth and be preached to all the World 3dly That the Nation that should come of Esau should really become Servants and Tributaries to the Nation of Israel and this was fulfilled in David's time and was also a Figure of another thing to be spiritually fulfilled And therefore this Election doth not infer any Reprobation of Esau or his Posterity as to their eternal estate no more than when David said 1 Chron. 28.4 5. The Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house of my Father for he hath chosen Judah to be the Ruler and of the house of Judah the House of my Father and of the Sons of my Father he liked me to make me King over all Israel and of all my Sons he hath chosen Solomon my Son So here are divers Elections first Judah out of all the Tribes secondly the Family of Jesse out of the Tribe of Judah thirdly David out of all the Sons of Jesse and fourthly Solomon out of all the Sons of David and yet no absolute Reprobation of any that were not so chosen as to their eternal state And because many of the People of Israel were proud because of this choice and preference that God made of their Nation above the Nation of Esau so as to make them a Church to himself when the Nation of Esau was not so favoured for Reasons best known unto God and for that cause did conclude that they were always to remain a People singularly favoured of him above all other People from first to last To beat down this vain Conceit of theirs Paul telleth them first that they are not all Israel which are of Israel Secondly that as God did prefer and make choice of the Nation of Israel to be a gathered People and Church unto him before the Nation of Esau and that without any regard to their Works or to the Works of their Fathers but for some other hid Cause and Reason in the depth of Gods secret Counsel so God could as freely yea and would prefer the poor Gentiles who were no People to be a People unto him and a Gospel-Church to become true Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ when in the mean time the bulk and body of the Nation of Israel should be rejected and cast off at least for some time from having any such dignity and favour a Remnant only being reserved according to the Election of Grace Rom. 11.5 and this Paul proveth at large from Verse 25. of that 9th Chapter to Verse 33. and doth further prosecute it in the two following Chapters Verse 25. c. As he saith also in O see I will call them my People which are not my People and her beloved which was not beloved And verse 30. What shall we say then that the Gentiles which followed not after Righteousness have attained to Righteousness even the Righteousness of Faith but Israel which followed after the Law of Righteousness hath not attained to the Law of Righteousness because they sought it not by Faith c. So we see how Paul maketh the Parallel that as God once preferred or chused Jacob's Nation before the Nation of Esau so again he preferred and chused the Gentiles that had no good Works to recommend them and to move God to make that choice out of his free Mercy before the People of Israel and of these Gentiles no doubt many of them did belong to the Posterity of Esau and also of Ishmael yea of Cain for there is an express Promise made to the Remnant of Edom and of all the Heathen upon whom his Name is or shall be called Amos 9.12 And it is but a Remnant also of Israel that is saved until the fulness of the Gentiles come in and then all Israel to wit the true Israel which is not all who are of Israel after the Flesh shall be saved see Rom. 9.27 and 11.5.25 26. And lastly it is to be again considered that what God spoke unto Rebecca before the Children were born not having done Good or Evil did not so much regard the singular Persons of Jacob and Esau as their Posterities as is clear from Gen. 25.23 And the Lord said unto her Two Nations are in thy Womb and two manner of People shall be separated from thy Bowels and the one People shall be stronger than the other People and the Elder shall serve the Younger So we see here the words are said of the Nations of Jacob and Esau and not the Persons of them for we read not any where that ever Esau in Person served Jacob but only in his Posterity as was fulfilled in David's time when the Edomites became Tributaries to the People of Israel Nor was it said before the Children were born Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated as it is commonly alledged but many hundred Years after he was deceased And if it had been so said it could not prove an absolute rejection either of Esau or his Posterity as to their eternal state for God is said in Scripture to hate all evil-Doers and yet many Evil-doers repent and obtain Salvation and therefore Hatred doth not signifie absolute and final hatred either in God or Men For it is said Jacob loved Rachel and hated Leah that is he loved Rachel more And Christ said He that hateth not Father and Mother for my cause is not worthy of me that is he that loveth me not more than Father and Mother And therefore to conclude this whole passage in Rom. 9.11 12. doth not prove the absolute Reprobation of either Esau or of his Posterity because many of Esau's posterity had a Promise of Salvation as is already proved from Amos 9. And if Esau had been an absolute Reprobate the Scripture would never have said that Isaac by Faith blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come Heb. 9.20 And that Faith was the Substance of things hoped for and had a regard to the spiritual Blessing of Esau and of his Posterity for though Jacob got the first Blessing yet Esau got the second and their two Blessings did not differ in Substance but in some weighty Circumstances of order and time and Isaac prophesied in Esau's Blessing that he should have the fatness of the Earth and dew of Heaven the same but the order inverted with Jacob's blessing and that in process of time he should be a free People to wit in Gospel days signified by these words Gen. 27.40 And it shall come to pass when thou shalt have Dominion to wit in Christ in Gospel days in thy Posterity that thou shalt break his Yoke from off thy Neck And so we find that divers Mark 3.8 Idumeans that were of Esau followed Jesus and Jacob's putting on Esau's goodly Rayment signified
just Man and perfect in his Generation and Noah walked with God Another place they cite Rom. 3.9 Answ This place is as impertinently alledged as the former for it is plain that Paul there describeth the condition of Men both Jews and Gentiles as they are generally under the Law and before they have Faith in Christ as is clear from Verse 19. Now we know that what things soever the Law saith it saith to them who are under the Law But no where can it be found in Scripture that there are none of these who are under Grace that are righteous Men and made free from Sin but the contrary is manifest which expresly testifieth of many righteous and perfect Men in their Generation both before and after Christ came in the Flesh who pleased God and were Men of good Hearts and good Lives and especially Enoch is recorded to have walked with God by Faith of whom nothing blame worthy is mentioned in any one particular And Christ speaking of good men saith A good Tree cannot bring forth evil Fruit and a good Man out of the good Treasure of his Heart bringeth forth good things But to apply these words Rom. 3.9 and the following words to the Saints generally as these Faith publishers do sutes more with Ranters than sober Christians see and well consider the words from Verse 10. to Verse 19. There is none Righteous no not one there is none that understandeth there is none that seeketh after God they are gone out of the way they are together become unprofitable there is none that dâ—th good no not one Their Throat is an open Sepulchre with their Tongues they have used Deceit the poyson of Asps is under their Lips whose Mouth is full of Cursing and Bitterness their Feet are swift to shed Blood Destruction and Misery are in their ways and the way of Peace they have not known there is no Fear of God before their Eyes O ye Presbyterian and Independent Teachers of New-England and Old How are ye not ashamed to apply these words to all God's true Saints Yea to the best that ever lived in the best state and to bring them as a proof against the possibility of the Saints perfection in this Life For if these Words do hold forth the best condition of the Saints that ever they were in upon Earth ye may as well say all Men yea the worst of Men are Saints or the Saints are the worst of Men and there is no difference of Men at all but all are equally wicked equally ungodly unholy unrighteous which is indeed the plain and express Language of Ranters Libertines Atheists some of whom to the wounding and loathing of my Soul I have heard so affirm But we cannot grant unto you that any of God's Saints are in that state and condition described by Paul in that place Rom. 3. from verse 9. to verse 19 and 20. which Words he citeth out of some of the Psalms of David describing the state of Men as they are in the fallen state and before the new Birth and spiritual Regeneration in Christ But thus to confound these so differing states is to confound Heaven and Earth yea rather Heaven and Hell and to soppose a concord betwixt Light and Darkness God and Belial Christ and Antichrist But let it be known unto you we can allow none of God's true Saints to be such as are there described by Paul Rom. 3. from verse 9. to 19. But it doth too much sute and quadrate with many of your supposed New-England Saints who have most bitterly and falsly accused God's Servants called in scorn Quakers and most cruelly whipped imprisoned and robed many of them and hanged some of them It may be well enough said of them indeed Their Throat is an open Sepulchre with their Tongues they have used Deceit the poyson of Asps is under their Lips whose Mouth is full of Cursing and Bitterness their Feet are swift to shed Blood destruction and misery are in their ways c. Take this home to you and blame not me for the Application seeing ye make it your selves and judge it to be your own condition 5. And that the said Doctrin viz. The best of the Saints by the greatest Grace of God given in this Life cannot perfectly keep the Commandments of God but doth daily break them in Thought Word and Deed and cannot be free from Sin for term of Life but must sin so long as they live and are only set free from sinning after Death as they expresly word it in answer to Quest 89. larger Catechism is not only warranted by any place of Scripture but is most expresly contrary to Scripture in many places and is quite opposite to the very Nature of the New Covenant and Gospel Dispensation and highly injurious to the Lord Jesus Christ tending to make void and of none effect the very end of his coming and to frustrate his exceeding rich Grace and also it is most wofully injurious to Mens Souls not only discouraging Men to press after Perfection in Holiness and Freedom from Sin but tending to encourage them in sloath and neglect to live and die in their Sins and yet for all this be Saints and immediately go to Heaven although they both live and die in their Sins And first That the said Doctrin is expresly contrary to Scripture see Rom. 6.18 Being then made free from Sin ye became the Servants of Righteousness And Chap. 8.2 3 4 5. and Verse 9. and Chap. 6.6 7 8. John 8.32 33 34 35 36. Ephes 4.13 Coloss 1.28 Heb. 7.19 Next God did promise in the New Covenant That he would pour clean Water upon his People and they should be clean from all their Filthiness Ezek. 36.25 c. and he would write his Law in their Hearts Jer. 31.33 and put his Spirit in their inward parts and give them a Heart of Flesh and a new Heart and a new Spirit and put his Fear in their Hearts that they shall not depart from him And surely all this doth plainly hold forth a freedom from a total sinning and that daily in Thought Word and Deed. Thirdly The very end of Christ's coming was to save his People from their Sins and not in their Sins to put an end to Sin and to finish Transgression and bring in everlasting Righteousness Dan. 9.24 and to do or effect that which the Law could not do viz. to destroy Sin and him who hath the power of Death to wit the Devil that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8.4 And the Lord said unto Paul 2 Cor. 12.9 My Grace is sufficient for thee But if it cannot preserve any Soul one day or hour or moment from sinning actually in Thought Word and Deed it cannot be understood to be sufficient and Paul said Where Sin did abound Grace hath much more abounded and he was able through Christ that strengthened him to do
one is that unerring true and infallible Spirit of Christ which leadeth all God's true Children and the other the Spirit of this World which is the very Devil himself the God of this World that leadeth all Unbelievers and Ungodly Persons in the World and this Spirit is not only fallible but false continually leading into Error as the Spirit of Truth leadeth into all Truth 8. And how are ye not ashamed to cite see Confes cap. 30. sect 1. Isa 9.6 7 Acts 20.17 Matth. 28.18 for your Government and Governors and Elders of your Churches Because it is said Isa 9.6 7. The Government is upon his Shoulders to wit Christ Jesus Doth it therefore follow it is upon yours Or can any be Governors or Rulers in the Church under him without he himself and his holy Spirit Power and Life which hath the heavenly Authority in it be known inwardly revealed which ye deny Was not the Government in the Apostles days altogether derived from the Power and Spirit of Christ in them but yours is quite another thing by your own Confession ye have not that infallible Spirit nor the inward Revelation of it And if ye derive it from the Letter so may any body else as well as ye and say because they have the Letter they are Rulers and Governors of Churches And as to these Elders mentioned Acts 20.17 They were such whom the holy Ghost had made Overseers as is expresly affirmed of them Verse 28. But this ye cannot in truth say who deny all pretence to inward divine Revelation which they had Nor doth Matth. 28.18 make any thing at all for you but against you Christ said to the Apostles All Power in Heaven and in Earth is given unto me go ye therefore and teach all Nations But when said he so unto you Or when gave he you such Commission Or suppose ye had such Commission surely ye are very unfaithful unto it who creep each of you into a House or Town and there only pretend to teach a few that come to hear you So did not the Apostles but travelled from place to place and from one Nation City and Country to another and had no certain dwelling-place by virtue of their said Commission but so do not ye but commonly keep to one place unless a fatter Benefice or more yearly Sallary and Hire invite you to another Will nothing serve your turn but the same Commission which Christ gave the Apostles And if ye have the same Commission are not ye also Apostles A charge which some of you have laid to us But why do ye not mind the other part of the Commission and apply that unto you Acts 1.4 8. And being assembled with them he commanded that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the Promise of the Father which he saith ye have heard of me Verse 8. But ye shall receive Power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be Witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the Earth And though some of you in New-England have made some show of Preaching to the Indians and to have converted them and got great sums of Mony out of Old England on that account Alas to what have ye converted them Is it not very manifest they are generally nothing better than when they were called Heathens but are for most part rather worse Which of them all have ye turned from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God and to know God and Christ by his Power and Spirit to rule in them Nay alas ye know it not in your selves and preach against it and therefore ye are not like to be Instruments to bring others to know it And if ye say Ye are the Successors of the Apostles and therefore the same Call which he gave unto them he doth give unto you Ye must first prove and demonstrate it that ye succeed them in the same Spirit Power Light and Life and in the same Holiness and Righteousness of Life as well as in Profession before ye ought to be believed but the contrary in all these respects is manifest Nor can ye shew your Line of Succession but from the Church of Rome and her Popes and Bishops which ye have called Antichrist in your Confession of Faith Cap. 25. Sect. 6. as is formerly observed in Cap. 4. 9. And as concerning the visibility of the true Church as it hath been granted that the true Church is oft visible and doth visibly appear in the Face of the World as a City set upon an Hill and doth make a visible and outward Profession of her Faith in Christ Jesus and love to him both in good Words and good Works yet it is not any thing meerly outward and visible that doth infallibly prove or demonstrate her to be the true Church or can make her known to People But it is the same inward Light Spirit and Power of God inwardly revealed that doth make known both Christ the Head and the true Church which is his Body and every true Member thereof And without the Light and Spirit of Christ inwardly shining and revealing both Christ and his Church is unknown unto Men but by the same is well known even as Christ said unto his Disciples John 15.18 If the World hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you Now whence is it that the World both hateth Christ and his Church Because it knoweth them not And Paul said 2 Cor. 6.9 As unknown and yet well known to wit well known to the Children of the Light who dwell in the Light and see and judge of things and Men in the Light but to them who are in Darkness and are Darkness unknown and therefore hated and persecuted by them CHAP. X. Of their two Sacraments called BAPTISM and the SVPPER 1. AS for the term or word Sacrament it is no where to be found in all the English Translation of the Bible received among Protestants nor is there any Word either in the Hebrew or Greek that doth properly answer unto it unless they will translate the Greek Word that signifieth Mystery to signifie a Sacrament as the old Latin hath it in Ephes 5.32 Hoc est magnum Sacramentum i. e. This is a great Sacrament for which our English Translation readeth more properly this is a great Mystery But if Sacrament signifie Mystery then there must be as many Sacraments as Mysteries and Faith it self is a Sacrament at that rate and true Preaching and Prayer and every other Religious matter and thing all which are holy Mysteries And they who say there are two Sacraments have borrowed these two out of the seven professed by the Church of Rome having cast off and rejected five of the seven for which the said Church doth accuse these latter Churches of Sacriledge and spiritual Robbery to abolish and take away five of the seven Sacraments or rather indeed