intended matter So I leave that and come a little to examin the proof of the second false Assertion viz. That the main End of the Quakers Meetings in these Islands is to make the Lords Christ his Holy Spirit his Angells and Apostles all Lyars and false Witnesses of God Now let any Reasonable Man judge what ground or foundation he hath to lay down such a positive Assertion for he never was at any of our Meetings in these Islands to know our practices in our Meetings whereby he might discover our ends but either he must have it by Information or Supposition or Consequence Which either of these may prove true or false and therefore whether the one or the other it is too slender a ground to build such an Accusation upon against an Innocent People but whither will not Envy lead a Man Even to shame himself But let us see how he will prove his Work Why Mark. First he supposes That the main end of our Meeting is to declare to People or to build up one another in this Doctrine that the Light within or Spirit of Christ in us is the Saviour This he supposeth to be the main end of our Meeting and this saith he is against the Testimony of Christ to the Man whose Eyes he had opened John 9.35 36 37. As I remember this was the Scriptu e he brought when the Blind Man enquired who the Son of God was that he might believe Jesus Answered I that speak unto thee am he This saith he was the Man or Body only from whence he doth infer that the Man Jesus considered meerly as Man is the oâ—ly Saviour and therefore saith he The Quakers main end of their Meeting is to make the Lords Christ a Lyar. Noâ— see what Weight this Argument hath in it the Weight must lie in these Words I that speak unto thee am he Now here lies the Question whether in these Words he meant the Body only or that which dwelt in the Body also Which was the Godhead joyned with the Manhood which thing was not at all proved at that time from the Scripture according to his promise and so did falsifie his Word and is it not strange that the Priest should make Christs Body to speak without his Spirit But now that People may not be left in the dark with their Understandings Clouded consider and Weigh seriously whether it was not the same Jesus which spake to the Jews in the foregoing Chapter 8 56. Abraham rejoyced to see my Day and he saw it and was glad And Verse 58. Before Abraham was I am Now the Body was brought forth in time according to Gal. 4.5 And so was not before Abraham in the Body But S. B. said That he is not the Son of God but as he was Man Now consider how grievous dark this Man is read the Scripture diligently and you shall see what a Testimony it gives concerning the Son of God Psal 2.7 The Lord hath said unto me thou art my Son this Day have I begotten thee This was long before the Body was and he speaks here of the time present This Day have I begotten thee Heb. 1.2 Where he saith that God Hath in these last Dayes spoken to us by his Son whom he hath appoined Heir of all things now mark by whom also he made the Worlds So he that made the World or that Word by which the World was made was the Son of God John 1.10.3 Who being the brightness of his glory the Son of God he is the Brightness of his Fathers Glory and the express Image of his substance and upholding all things by the Word of his Power mark this was the Son of God that upholds all things by the word of his Power when he had by himself purged our Sins sat down on the Right Hand of the Majesty on High So see and consider well and weigh this matter and let the wise in Heart Judge For God had promised afore by his Prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord who was made of the seed of David according to the Flesh and declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the Dead by whom we have received grace c. Rom. 1 2.3.4.5 And this is the true Christ we own in his Grace and Truth both as he was made of the seed of David according to the Flesh and as he is declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness c. according to God and his Son and his Angels and Prophets and Apostles against all Opposers and Blasphemers but espacially against SAMPSON BOND who was Priest at Bermudas And we are sorry that the Sherriffe and Justices of Peace in Bermudas should believe or regard his Lyes and Slanders But it is clear Sampson Bond hath put the Sheep of Christ in scorn called Quakers in his Bear-Skin that such as he is might worry them Secondly He saith We in our Meetings or the main end of our Meetings is to make the Holy Spirit a Lyar and to prove this he names Luke 2.30 Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace for mine Eyes hath seen thy Salvation I hope said he you will not deny that Old Simeon spakâ— by the Spirit Now said he it was his Bodily Eyes which he spake of by which he only beheld the Body of Jesus and hence doth infer that we witnessing to the Spirit do makâ—th Spirit of God a Lyar. Let us see what weight this Argument hath in it and for the better opening of your Understandings take S. B's own Words I hope you will not deny Old Simeon to speak by the Spirit Indeed he was a Spiritual Man and so was abâ—e to discern the things of God and he was a Prophet and spake in the Spirit of Prophesie in which he spake and declared of him as a Light prepared before the face of all People not the Jews only but all People A Light to lighten the Gentiles c. And mark withal what it was that was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost that he should see Was it not the Lords Christ If the Body barely considered without the Spirit had been the Lords Christ then the Jews had seen the Lords Christ for they only saw the Body and Crucified it But the Lords Christ the Lord of Glory was vailed from their Eyes For had they seen him they had seen the Father also John 14.9 And had they known him they would not have Crucified him But now the unbelieving Iews had neither heard the Fathers Voice at any time nor seen his shape Iohn 5.37 And so it is clear though they saw the Body yet saw not the Father they saw not the Eternal Power and Godhead as they did whose Eyes where opened in and by the Spirit as Old Simeons was who saw through the Vail and beheld the endless Power of that which made the
Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. And truly Priest Bonds Book is such a pack of Nonsence and Contradictions and Tautologies that it is loathsome and noisome to the Reader and in it there is more malice than matter as any rational man may see by the foulness of his Spirit and Tongue and his filthy Language and ungracious and filthy words that his ungodly Book is stuft withal Priest Bond I would have thee to prove that the holy-Holy-Ghost is a Person which proceeded from the Father and the Son and leads into all Truth And when the holy-Holy-Ghost fell upon the Disciples in the time of Pentecost did it fall upon them as a Person And when it fell upon Cornelius's Family did it fall upon them as a Person And Christ tells the Disciples that the holy-Holy-Ghost the Comforter dwells with you and shall be in you John 14. And was this a Person Acts 11. Acts 19. The Holy-Ghost fell upon c. So where ever did Christ or the Apostles call the Holy-Ghost a Person S. B. is to prove this Word by Scripture which he saith is his Rule Now concerning the Scriptures which Priest Bond calls the Word of God first doth not the Scripture signify Writings And do not you teach your Children so that Scripture signifies Writings in your Catichisme and Matthew the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ and Christ read in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and in the Book of the Words of Isaiah the Prophet Luke 3 and 4. and Luk. 4.17 Written in the Book of the Law Gal. 3.10 and Written in the Book of the Psalms Acts 1.20 And doth not Luke set forth a Declaration Luke 1. And so doth he not call that a Declaration which he set forth and so Daniel calls them the Scriptures of Truth Daniel 10.21 And Mark calls them the Scriptures Mark 12.10 and Luke 4.21 Christ calls them Scriptures and John 2.22 and in Acts 1.16 The Apostle calls them Scriptures Rom. 10.11 and 11.2 The Apostle calls them Scriptures 2 Tim. 3.16 James 2.8 2 Peter 1.20 Acts 17.2.11 Rom. 15.4 1 Cor. 15.3 Here in all these places and many more Christ and the Apostles calls them Scriptures which signifies Writings Now Scriptures of truth which signifies Writings they are called the Words of God God spake all these Words Exod. 20. And Christ saith John 3.34 The Words of God And John 5.47 John 6.62 And John 8.20.47 John 10.121 John 12.47 48. John 14.10.23.17.8 All these are concerning the Words And Acts 2.14.5.20 1 Tim. 4.6.6.3 The words in all these places and many more Revelations 1.3 that hear the words of this prophecy and until the Words of God shall be fulfilled Revel 17.17 These Words are true Revel 21.5 Testifie saith John to every Man the words of the Prophecy of this Book if any Man shall take away from the words of the Prophecy of this Book c. So here you may see the Scriptures are called Words Books Declarations and the Writings and Scripture and are called the Words of God and the Words of Christ but Christs Name is called the Word of God John 1.8 And again Christs Name is called the Word of God Revelations 19.13 So here the Quakers own the Scriptures as they have been called by Christ and his Apostles and the Prophets S. Bond saith The written Word of God the Scriptures are an infallible Rule of Faith and Life Page 88. The matter contained in Scriptures is the only Infallible Rule of Faith and Life Page 91. See here how Priest Bond contradicts himself Let the Word of Christ dwell in your hearts in all Wisdom Coloss 3. And what Priest Bond is this the Letter Priest Bond saith The Quakers worship cannot be acceptable to God Page 89. These are Priest Bonds Lyes for Quakers worship God in the Spirit and the Truth as Christ commanded and hath taught us John 4. And Priest Bond saith The Quakers reproach the Lord when they deny the Scriptures to be the Word of God Page 88. And yet Priest Bond contradicts himself in Page 87. and saith We do not affirm the Scriptures to be the Word of God but as the written Scriptures do declare the Mind of God to us So here Priest Bond is made to confess the Quakers principles but presently after he confounds it again and saith The Scripture is the Word of God And then contradicts himself again and saith The matter therein contained is the declaritive Word of God Page 87. Priest Bond saith the Quakers are apt to say there is no sin Charged upon Zachariahs Wife who was Righteous and blameless but saith Priest Bond Death took hold as well of her as of him which is the wages of sin Rom. 6. So what must we understand from Priest Bonds words Here they that put off the Earthen Tabernacle and dye in the Lord that natural death is the Wages of Sin Rom. 6.23 But let the Reader see how he abuses the Scripture for the Wages of sin is death But saith the Apostle Now being made free from sin and become the Servants of God This is while they were upon the Earth alive and is it not a denying of Christ that dyed for Sin to say that Death took hold of Elizabeth as well as Zachariah and so upon all other People to wit a natural death and that natural death which is the wages of sin as in Page 86. where he perverts Rom. 6. But the Saints and we tell Priest Bond Christ dyed for our Sins and is risen for our Justification and so whether we live or dye we are the Lords and if we dye we dye in the Lord and Blessed are they that dye in the Lord. Priest Bond They have a Light of direction from the Law of the Creation and this Light is clear and full enough to make them Guilty in Page 82. But Priest Bond dost not thou call this Light within an Idol Light Page 90 And where doth the Scripture call the Light of Christ a Law of the Creation or a natural Light And Priest Bond thou saist in Page 81. The Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law There is naturally in all Men as such a Light of direction or natural Light And Priest Bond dost not thou call this a Natural Light or by Generation this Law written in the Gentiles hearts as thou saist in Page 81. But who writ the Law in the Gentiles hearts and how doth this Light come by nature or generation prove this by express words in Scripture which thou callest thy rule Noah was a just and a perfect man c. Job was a good and perfect man And Priest Bond saith to infer and say that Noah or Job were perfect from all Sin in this Life would be a miserable perverting of other places of Scripture c. Page 78. And in Page 87. There is in all true believers a Cursed Root of bitterness not cast out Death only
and time to stop his boasting over them in some things wherein they are not versed Wherein he shews both his Arrogance and Deceit pretending an Aristotelian Schooll-form before and against Men that are not skilled at that Weapon forsaking the plain Spiritual Weapons inclosed in plain words and methods which the true Preachers used Some of the Schooll-Men themselves say Baconthorp prol 4 sen q 8 Beware of Subtil Sophisters in the Doctrine of the Church The nature of Sophisms is to bring in all errors and Heresyes Wherein he shews himself unskilful as well as deceitful J. Bale as in saying The Conclusion ought not to be denyed And in proving but one part of the reason in all his four Arguments Begging the former part in all unproved The Consequence is Ungranted Ungrounded and Unproved which is in question the second part unquestioned by all is all he proves For he proves Jesus of Nazareth to be Christ by the Scriptures he brings but no where pâ—oves by the Scriptures that we own him not as Christ Onely as the Professers then saying He had an unclean Spirit a Devil So S. B. c. now saying His Spirit is an Vnclean Spirit the Devil Because they have said it it must be taken as an axiom a Maxim needing no proof because they have said it their authority is sufficient because they are Infallible their Positions are Principles Authentic Self-proof And so great is his Authority he thinks that he makes himself determinating Judge in the Schoolls Magisterially For as I remember I have read in the Master of the Sentences upon occasion of a dispute between a Presbyterian and a Baptist almost forty Years ago on that Question that several of the Fathers held That the Spirit was in Men not only efficiently or Vertually So no new Doctrine And they being in all Mens esteem greater then we how comes it that we in his esteem and not they are then the greatest Antichrists But it happens to us as Erasmus said it did to Luther when the Priests accounted that Heresy in him which they accounted Orthodox in the Fathers And as it happened to Erasmus himself Apolog. when he said to the Popish Doctors of Paris Why blame ye me for denying swearing to be lawful blame the Fathers for denying it whose Authority I bring But S. B. seperates as well as distinguishes Personal Mystical Operative but no where proves it but only by his mighty Greek Word Metonymy which he brags that F. E. understands not which he could if he had not hid himself in Greek as their manner is but call'd it in plain English as the word signifies Misnaming which he no ways proves only says it As if God were not in us of a Truth in whom we live move and have our being and not afar off as the Heathen acknowledged but only operatively working by a Metonymy a misnaming improper speaking as the Sun is at a distance and so fills not all things nor Christ where his Spirit is nor the Father where the Son Works and both where the Spirit contrary to the Schools also which say that the works of those three are indivisible ad extra Nor that Christ is not really where he is mystically so not in his Body Christ not in Christ nor the Father in the Son nor he in him Cyril on John l. 10 c. 13. nor they in the Saints nor that they dwell in them but only by a Metonymy not really and properly only by works at a distance I do not read that ever the Lutherans called Vbiquitarians were by their adversarys called for that the vilest Antichrist or other his vilest terms he bestows on us but allowed honourable Names as Zanchy called the judicious Zanchy of Ch. Relig. of true disp p. 6. 7. c. who said The Humane nature of Christ might extend from Heaven to Earth c. But to omit him and others to avoid that Name Vbiquitarian Chytraeus approved as aforesaid handling those Controversies professedly of the Son in the Articles of the Creed and opposing the prodigious Vbiquity as he calls it yet saith in the close all The Divinity of the Word which only of it self is Quickening Omnipotent and Omniscient yet shines in the whole Humane nature assumed and in it and by it is freely effectual as hot Iron possesses heat and the force of shining and burning truly and in very deed communicated in it self but not of it self For we know that all Orthodox Antiquity unanimously used this similitude And as for Ubiquity our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ Immanuel not only by his Divinity but also according to his Humane Nature to be truly present wheresoever he hath promised by his Word that he will be present we doubt not nor take away the glory of his Truth and Omnipotency due to Christ So he who would in these Controversies also have the plain words in Scriptures kept to as they sound simply properly p. 201. But S. B. also Magesterially invents a lowing new term viz. Humane p. 50. as easily found in Authours as Humane in Scriptures Also he declares without proof that in Rom. 1.19 is not meant Christ by whom the World was made p. 25. 38. though by Christ he understands God-man And that to them is not in them but without them I would have him shew how the God-head can be shewn to the outward Eye the inward being blind by the monstrous Syllogism or reasonless reason to speak plain English of this blind Sampson the Phiilstines having put out his Eyes The Psalm the Apostle grounds it on shews the inward Preacher as well as the outward declaring God as the fear of the Lord and the Words and Expressions of like signification after the Hebrews manner of speech And what Light can the Scriptures which he calls the Light give to them that have no Light in them Even as much as the Sun can give to a blind Man They would have the course of the Word to begin from externals says Oecolampadius Eze. 3.10 a chief Protestant Reformer but without ears it is in vain that the sound is inculcated so it s begun in the Spirit Abraham believed God not the Word Preached for where then were the Preachers or the Law Then it would follow that justification we e by the Works of our Hands Man should lay the first Stone so he and much more And now on mention of Justification I shall bring another Protestant chief Reformer to obviate his calling the â—uaker's Light within but the Pope without viz. to omit the rest I have largely cited elsewhere Melancton They say not well says he that by justify understand to be made just and obedient apud Pezâ—l de sign justif Aâ—g 5. and do not also therewith comprise the acceptation of the person So he contrary to S. B. his justification onely without with others his like ... And the Fathers of the first 300 Years after Christ were
World and upholds it by the same Word of Power who after he had purged our sins said the Apostle sat down on the Right Hand of the Majesty on High Ephes 4.6 And this is he who fills all things and is above all and in us all So all those that desire to know their Sin purged must know Christ not at a distance only but nigh even dwelling in them else they are Reprobates which all the obedient in Heart do Witness according to his promise If a Man love me he will keep my Words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him So he that believeth in Christ at a distance only never knows a fulfilling of Christs Words in them who said He and his Father would make their abode with them For it was revealed by the Holy Ghost to Old Simeon before he had seen the Lords Christ and Simeon came by the Spirit into the Temple c. And the Angel of the Lord told Ioseph that which was conceived in Maâ—y is of the Holy Ghost Now Simeon by the Spirit and Holy Ghost did see the Lords Christ which was conceived by the Holy Ghost who was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost So this was a Spiritual Sight not Natural For the Natural Man receives not the things of God they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them bâ—cause they are Spiritually discerned Mat. 1.20 Luke 2.26 27. 1 Cor. 2.14 And the Angel said to Mary that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God And doth not Christ say That none knowes the Father nor the Son but by Revelation 3. S. B. saith farther we make the Angels Lyars who said he bore witness only to the Body or Man Luke 2.11 To which I Answer I deny that the Angels there do bear Witness meerly to the Body for in their Testimony they testifie to this Saviour as a King For unto you is Born said they in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. Which Word Christ relates to his Kingly Power which was Spiritual as he saith My Kingdom is not of this World And the Testimony or Message the Angel brought to Mary as concerning the Son of God who was now coming to be made manifest in the Flesh said He should Reign forever and his Kingdom should have no End Luke 1.33 For the Angel said Behold a Virgin shall be with Child and shall bring forth a Son and they shall call his Name Emanuel which being Interpreted is God with us So here you may see that the Angels bore Witness more then only to the Body or Man Mat. 1.23 as Sampson Bond doth assert which he has not proved So Mary believed God and did not ascribe the Work of Salvation to him meerly as Man but to God saying My Spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour Vers 47. I would not have any one to think because I plead so much for the Spirit that I deny the Body of Christ but do own it in all points as the Scripture doth declare of it and so give the Honour due unto it Though I cannot believe the things declared by S. B. in his Nonscriptural expressions The last thing which is the Apostles Testimony of Christ I have sufficiently spoke to already and so shall wave it here So People may see how far short of his promise he came in proving his Three Accusations with the greatest clearness from the Holy Scripture so hath little cause to boast or glory of his Victory for the Truth stands over his Head and will do for ever The Third and last Accusation is That the prime Principles of a Quaker is the same that was held and professed by the Beasts which Paul fought with at Ephesus And to prove this he first doth endeavour to prove that those Beasts did deny the Resurrection and said so do we I answer The first was never truly proved and the second is absolutely false his Scripture to prove the first 1 Cor. 15.32 where the Apostle saith If after the manner of Men I have fought with Beasts at Ephesus what doth it avail if the Dead rise not Doth this at all argue that this was the Ephesians profest Principles or doth it not rather argue that the Saints loses their reward for all their labour if the Dead rise not as he saith in the 19th Vers If in this Life only we have hope in Christ we are of all Men most Miserable So that he hath fallen short of his proof and so his Accusation is truly overthrown But inasmuch as he did go on to charge the thing upon us viz That we do deny the Resurrection I do here testifie that it is none of our Principles to deny the Resurrertion for we own it as the Apostles own'd it Not the same Body not a Corruptible Body not a Natural Body a Natural Body hath Flesh Blood and Bones but a Spiritual Body as the Apostle saith And a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones said Christ which before he can prove he must be fain to get new Scripture for the Old will maintain no such Doctrines So though he did stop and hinder me that time by his Mocks and Scoffs and deriding Speeches and clamorous Noise altogether unlike a Preacher of the Everlasting Gospel as he saith in his Paper be is yet now through mercy I trust as the Truth will stand over your Heads so I shall be clear of your Blood whether you will hear or forbear I am a Friend to the Seed and a Lover of your Souls The 11th of the 3d Month 1678. Francis Estlacke Some few Lines briefly Answering some Part of SAMPSON BOND 's Book Entituled The Quakers in BERMUDAS Tryed c. THat part in his Book which I find my self chiefly concerned to make Answer to is where he makes mention of my Name viz. William Wilkinson As for my part I do not know that I should have set Pen to Paper to have made him any Answer had he laid down the Matter concerning me every way Fairly and truly without Abusing me or the Truth but I finding in several places of his Book Words printed that I cannot own to be Truth besides his reviling Speeches which he hath cast at me As Prater a Baffling Quaker and one that never had the Spirit of God in me All which things in the sense he brings them if true were a great Reproach But I knowing it is too hard a thing for him to prove or plainly to make appear do find my self justly concerned to make some reply or answers both to these and several other things for the vindicating of the Truth and my self also from him whom I find in his Book hath very much strove to make his own case appear strong and ours weak c. But according to that saying in Prov. 18.17 He that is first in his own cause seemeth just but his Neighbour cometh and searcheth
it was brought which might be enough to make a Sober Man admire what I or we did mean so to do But to be short the reason why that Scripture was brought was in answer to him who stood there to affirm Thâ—t Christ as Man was the only material Saviour without joyning the Godhead with the Manhood which place of Scripture I judge was very pertinent to that master shewing that though the Apostles had known Christ after the Flesh yet now henceforth said he kâ—ow we him no more 2 Cor. 5.16 So that of necessity the true sensibâ—e knowledge that any Man could have of Christ for the future time must be in Spiâ—it according to what Christ himself had promised wherein he said He that is with you shall be in you and again he saith in John 16.7 It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you And in the 13th Vers When he the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth The next place of Scripture which he saith I repeated was the 1 Cor. 6.11 where the Apostle saith But ye are washed but ye are justified by the Spirit of God and farther he asserts that I Queriâ—d Why they meaning us might not be washed and justified by the Spirit now as well as others heretofore To which part of his reply was That I never had the Spirit of God in me and to prove it he layes down three Arguments the which I here sleight as not worth the mentioning only this I look upon as worth the noting and I would have them that reads his Book take notice of it in Pag. 65 66 67. where his Charge or Accusation concerning me as abovesaid is mentioned His Charge runs thus That I never had the Spirit of God in me and his proof is only a recharging me in different terms That I have not the Spirit of God in me his Charge in both most uncharitably excludes me from the Spirit of God saying thou never had it it is not in thee And in the other two â—f his censorious judgings his words are hast not and have â—ot Now I say a Man would think that he looking upon himself so wise and so learned as it appears by his Book he does that he should not have repeated such proofless and false Accusations as that I never had the Spirit of God in me which I know through the mercy of God he cannot prove while he lives yet what satisfaction could this be to the People that heard To the Question Propounded the Apostle speaks of some that were bad Sinners as we may read in the 1 Cor. 10.11 But they were Washed and Sanctified and Justified in the Name of the Lord Jâ—sus and by the Spirit of God And the Question to this purpose was why we might not be Washed and Justified now as well as others heretofore This Quâ—stion ought to have been answered directly to because it is commonly spoken of by many in the World that there is no Revelation now adays and no freedom from in on this side the Grave and if so then indeed there were no Spiritual Washing nor Cleansing from Sin in these days as in days past But this I have to say and through the mercy of God am a Witness of that Revelation is not ceased now adays for God hath shewed by his Spirit or Light in the Heart of Man in these days the things that belong unto his Peace he shews unto Man now as in days past that he should do Justly love Mercy and walâ— humbâ—y with the Lord and this Revelation or Manifestation of God by his Spirit or Light in the Heart and Consciences of People is very precious and by taking heed unto this Light within or measure of the Spirit or Grace of God which is all one and the same thing though called by several Names and by loving and obeying it I believe many are come to depart from Sin and Iniquity and come by it to find and feel the true peace fo God And so herein the true Spiritual Washing and Cleansing from Sin is known and witnessed ye even by the powerful working of the Spirit of God in Man But for all his bad Words and hard Speeches which he hath cast not only at me but at the Light within also which may be plainly seen in his Book I can leave him to the Lord to answer for it to whom every Man must give an account for the Deeds done in the Body be they Good or Evil. Now I having answered to his three false Accusations mentioned in the beginning which he in his Book hath cast at me I would have it considered by the Reader whether that which he hath cast at me be not come upon himself Namely where he hath striven to baffle the Apostles meanings to his own Words and give another meaning to them then the Apostle himself there doth where he saith Christ in you the Hope of Glory this Man to wit Sampson Bond calls this an inforced sense and saith It doth destroy the true nature of the Word HOPE Now I would have it well considered by the Reader who hath baffled he or I I that own the Apostles Words or he that has so far disowned them as his Words above mentioned hath made appear And where it is in all his Book that I have either baffled or prated unsound Words that I have not given a sound reason for what I have said to him ought to have been made appear But this I have to say to all People that are not yet convinced of the Truth as my Testimony for it That he or they that hath not Christ in them to wit his Spirit in them their hope of Glory cannot come to know the true living hope of true Glory in them let them Profess what they will And for this many places of Scriptures may be brought to prove As First The Apostles own Words before mentioned Coll. 1.27 where he faith Christ in you the hope of Glory Secondly Christs own Words John 15.5 For without me you can do nothing Thirdly In Phil. 2.13 For it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good Pleasure Fourthly Where the Apostle saith Gal. 2.20 I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God Gal. 4.6 And God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your Hearts crying Abba Father Fifthly In Rom. 8.24 We are saved by Hope Sixthly Rom. 8.9 He that hath not the Spirit of Christ is none of his Seventhly It is clear that they that are the Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God as in Rom. 8.14 where the Apostle saith As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God Eighthly The hope of the Wicked is to
the Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures through Holy Men 2 Pet. 1.21 And it is the Spirit that must open the mysterys in the Scriptures 1 Cor. 2.12 Or else all are blind like thee Sampson And S. B. doth strongly plead for his Masters Kingdom of Sin and Darkness from the 77 to the 87 Page of his Book and in these 10 Pages he hath made such a Babel building in confusion and wresting the Scriptures and giving his meanings upon them to prove what he saith and then concludes never to come our of Sin nor no Man else till they be Dead and hath charged all the Holy Prophets Fathers and Apostles to live in Sin he hath thrown dirt in the faces of them all and with his cloud of Darkness where under he dwells would he cover them all But God will judge thee for thy Lies and reproach thou hast cast upon his Ministers Servants and Prophets who were redeemed from the Earth and knew the Kingdome to be come in Power and sate together in Heavenly places in Christ Iesus who were Washed and Cleansed by his precious Blood and their Bodys were Temples for God to dwell in and walk in and not receptacles for Sin and Darkness as S. B. is and cannot come out of it as he saith till he be dead and so he will live and have all Men to live â—in and serve the Devil till they be dead and then they shall pertake of the fulness of God in Heaven 8 Page of his Book Oh! S. B. Thou hast sound out easy way to please Hypocrites to go to Heaven But if thou repent not of this thy wicked and confused work and believe in the Light of Christ Iesus that thy Heart may be cleansed thou wilt perrish in Darkness for ever But Job and Paul and John with the rest of Gods Servants whom thou hast falsly accused who were humble Men fearing God and did not justifie themselves but saw they were weak without him but as they stood in the Faith they beheld his glory and confest to his power which redeemed their Souls from Death and their Feet from falling And David was washed from his Sin through Repentance and Job was accepted of God but not in Sin S. B. do thou look to that Neither did Paul sit down in that state crying out O Wretched Man Who shall deliver me from this Body of Death But as a good Soldier in the Spiritual Warfare he followed Christ Jesus the Captain of his Salvation and sought a good fight and kept the Faith and did not sit down in unbeleif but bore Teâ—timony to the Power of Christ Jesus that had made him more then a Conquerer and then he came to know a better state and a growth in Christ Jesus and then he could say There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walks not after the Flesh but after the Spirit for the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death Rom. 8.1 2. And Christ Jesus said The Strong Man keeps the House till a stronger comes and binds him and spoils his Goods and disposses him And so they that are in the Faith which purifies the Heaâ—t not a Notion only they have experience of this blessed work and cannot plead for Sin term of Life but are in him that destroys the Devil and his works and brings in Everlasting Righteousness And they that are born of God sins not 1 Iohn 3.9 We believe the Apostle John spake true although thou S. B. would make him a Liar as in thy 83 Page where thou chargest the Apostle with saying We that are in the new Birth if we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us But John doth not say so but it is thou that art adding to his Words for he doth not say He that is born of God commits Sin but He that is born of God doth not commit Sin and so thou art a false accuser of the beloved Disciple of Christ Jesus Who saith 1 John 1.5 This is the Message we have heard and declare unto you that God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in Darkness we Lie and do not the Truth but if we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have from fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin But if we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us but if we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness And here the Apostle speaks of states and conditions he had passed through that others who where Travelling after might be Encouraged to walk in the Light that they might know the Blood of Christ to cleanse them from their Sins And so he that hath this Hope purifies himself as he is pure 1 Iohn 3.3 And so we have Testimony unto the Power of Christ Jesus who destroys the Devil and his works and brings in Everlasting Righteousness and makes an end of Sin and so we cannot plead for the Devils Kingdom of Sin and Darkness like S. B. till he is Dead But let Sampson Bond plead for Sin till his Tongue cleave to the Roof of his Mouth yet God will establish Righteousness in the Earth And in thy 82 Page thou falsly accuseth Paul That perfection from Sin was not attainable in this Life but at the Resurrection of the Dead and bringest Phil. 3.12 But Paul says no such thing but he says He follows after that he may Apprehend that for which he is Apprehended of Christ And 14 Vers I press towards the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus and preached wisdom amonâ—st them that were perfect And if S. B. had experience of the work of Christ Jesus in his Heart he would have seen a possibility of being washed and cleansed from his Sin and a further growth increase into the manifold Gifts and Graces of Gods Spirit for to be cleansed from Sin is not the highest perfection attainable in this Life But S. B. saith in his 80 Page The meanest Saint upon the Earth is like his Father in Heaven that he is like to God who begitteth all his Children in his own Likâ—ness How now S. B. what must we be like our Father which is in Heaven who begets his Children in his own likeness what is not this perfection to be like God But if this be true as no doubt it is then what will become of thy Kingdom of Sin and Death thou art pleading for term of Life in these 10 Pages of thy Book thou hast overthrown it all at once But saith S. B. No Man is like the Father or the Son in the degrees of these perfect or pure Qualities No who ever said they
above us then a Quakers Pretended Saviour within him is not the true Christ But the true Christ and our only Saviour is in Heaven above us therefore a Quakers pretended Saviour within him is not the true but the false Christ Reply This Argument is founded upon the same Foundation as the other viz That Christ as Man without the God-head is the only material Saviour which if he could prove that Mans only Saviour were a meer Man as S. B. foollishly and carnally seems to imagin then it were easy to limit the Saviour of the World to one place and then it were easy for him to make good his Charge against us but that is too hard for him to prove for the Scripture saith of him that he is God blessed for ever Rom. 9.5 and in Hos 13.4 the Lord himself declares there is no Saviour beside him and Mary of whom Christ was Born according to the Flesh ascribes Salvation to God Luke 1.47 My Spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour and another Scripture saith That Christ was the same Yesterday to Day and forever What shall I say the Scripture is plain as it is written God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself And God was manifest in the Flesh But this is a mystery above the comprehending Wisdom in and about which the Wise-men of the World are Confounded And those and only those that live in the Wisdom which is from above can behold and understand the Jews that saw his Body understood not nor be ieved in the Invisible Power for they saw it not and their Eyes wâ—re shot that they could not behold it neither did Flesh and Blood reveal him 〈◊〉 Disâ—â—ples but the Father So that as none can know the Father but the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him so none can know the Son by reading of Letter or by Fleshly-wisdom but as the Father reveals him in them and is only seen and known in the Light though he be in Heaven and such as believe not in the Light wherewith they are Enlightned and which doth Enlighten every Man that cometh into the World have not known him nor seen him although the Jews saw the Body yet they saw not him that dwelt in the Body that was before Abraham who was the Saviour of the World and was one with the Father So that whosoever saw him saw the Father also John 14.9 And whereas S. B. brings the Scripture to prove his Argument or rather Imagination That the Saviour of the World the Christ of God is only limitted to one place called Heaven above at a distance from the Saints it s more then any Scripture doth say for the Scripture saith He is God as I noted before as well as Man and so cannot be limitted to any one perticular place and the Apostle Rom. 10.6 7 8. Verses speaks thus The Righteousness which is of Faith speaketh on this wise Say not in thy Heart who shall ascend into Heaven that is to bring Christ down from above or who shall descend into the Deep that is to bring Christ again from the Dead But what saith it The Word is nigh even in the Mouth and in the Heart that is the Word of Faith which we Preach So this Holy Apostle did not Preach Christ at a distance only but Nigh in the Mouth and in the Heart and such as did not so know 〈…〉 him the same Apostle deemed them as Reprobates 2 Cor. 13.5 This is no other Doctrine then what Christ himself declared to his Disciples while he was with them in the Body John 14.20 and it was part of Christs Prayer to his Father viz that he might be in them John 17.23 So that you may see by plain Scripture it is no new thing to acknowledge Christ in Man or the Saviour within for Christ is the Saviour who is God and cannot be limitted to one place so that he cannot be elsewhere for that were to limit the Holy One of Israel Thus having gone through his four Arguments which he calls Apostolical and having tryed them by the Scripture of Truth and finding them falsly grounded they are by plain Scripture truly overthrown His next Argument in Page fourth which S. B. brings to prove The false Christ to be the Devil is no whit material to his Work sith he cannot make good his Charge against us Now this being the manner of his work on that Day Friends met him expecting a regular Dispute he having gone through the four Arguments as laid down in his Book to prove the first part of his Charge he sought to proceed to his next Question or second part of his Charge against us But I stopt him being willing to answer each Question in its order though the said Bond did appear very unwilling whereupon I did then Declare my Faith as concerning Christ Jesus the Saviour of the World Contrary to his many lyes against us and how he is to be acknowledged and believed in before he took the Body Even as the Scripture doth declare of him John 1.1.2 3. and likewise as the Scripture doth declare of him when he took the Body how he took flesh of the Virgin and was born and had his Conversation among men and how at length he was Crucified without the Gates of Jerusalem performing the work of mans Redemption paying the prece So obtaining Remission of Sins through his Blood and being dead and buried how on the third day he rose again from the Dead aad also asended into Heaven as also I did declare my Faith as concerning his Spiritual appearanc afterward according to his promise to his Disciples I will not leave you Cemfortless I will come again John 14.17 Which promise he did perform unto them and also now to as many as do believe and truly wait upon him as Inward in the heart according to his word he dwelleth with you and shall be in you ver 17. This S. B. calls a Bare repetition of words Impertinent to the matter and saith Page 5 I made no mention of Christs Resurrestion which I noat as a Lye but before I had done he Interrupted me calling me Mr. which title I denyed saying that I was none of his Master He said I was Master of an Assembly not naming what Assembly here he takes upon him to judg me and saith that I grew Impertinent which I note again as false all though I did lay upon him something of Unfaithfulness who had promised that I should have liberty to say what I had to say without Interruption Now in his Book he goes on so confusedly that it is a hard matter to trace him to and fro in his several windings Therefore my intents are chiefly to note the Lies Slanders and Blasphemies and things of the like nature cast upon the Truth and People of the Lord and where I see occasion a little to inlarge that the Truth may be cleared and stumbling Blocks may be taken out of the
the Light within a Quaker must be Born at Bethlehem Reply I could say more and yet speak truly of the work of the Light or Spirit of God or measure of Christ within then S. B. câ—n receive or understand but this I say I never said the Light in every perticular was the entire Christ for that were to make many Christs but I say that it is only a measure of that Christ who appeared in the Body that was â—orn in Bethlehem Again this Priest Page 9. In his answer to that Text 1 Tim. 3.16 said Nothing can be more Evident then this Disputant would have had the Hearers to believe that the God-head as distinct from Christ being a Man is the true Christ and only Saviour In answer to this and all other of his Wicked and false Accusations I say and testifie that I do truly and really give according to what I Understand and feel by the Inward Operation of the Spirit of Christ within according to the Testimony of Saints without as it is Recorded in the Scripture of Truth unto God his due and also what the Scripture doth declare of the Man or Body of Christ I also truly own So let his Lies and false Accusations return upon his own Head who shall assuredly feel the weight of them in the Day of the Lord. In Page 10. He clearly manifests his Ignorance and the Carâ—allity of his Mind for speaking there of the Apostle John's words 1 John 1. Vers 1 2 3. where he saith That which was from the Beginning mark diligently Christ in that Body was not from the Beginning which we have heard which we have seen which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of Life This he seems to affirm That the blessed Apostle did testifie that they had seen him and looked upon him and handled him viz the Word of Life by being in his company as dark a piece and as ignorant almost as I have heard drop from â—ny one that hath taken upon them to write in the defence of their Religion What! the outward Eye to behold the word of Life Doth not the Scripture say No Man hath seen God at any time Did not the Jews see the Body Yet they saw not God that dwelt in the Body For he that saw Christ saw the Father also according to Christs own Words to Phillip likewise Christ saith The hour cometh and now is when the Dead should hear the Voice of the Son of Man and they that heard should live But the Jews heard the outward Voice yet did abide in Death and Darkness where this Priests place is otherwise he never durst adventure to open his Mouth in Blasphemies against the clear manifestation of the Spirit in the Heart and Consciences of Men calling it an Idol even the Light of Christ who himself bore witness and declared That he was the Light of the World But now having begun to revile the Appearance of Gods Spirit What can put a stop to him but the Hand of Divine Justice Which will assuredly overtake him and he shall have a Reward from the Hand of the Lord. In Page Twelve This Sampson Bond accuseth us of Envy comparing us to the Jews who Contradicted the things spoken by Paul and Blasphemed To which I Answer Therefore art thou inexcusable O Man for wherein thou Judgest us thou thy self art Condemned even by thine own Judgment for the very thing thou hast laid to this Peoples Charge thou thy self art sound guilty of for thou at found contradicting the things spoken by Paul and left upon Record viz Christ his being or Appearance within as witnessed 2 Cor. 13.5 Gal. 2.20 and Chap. 4.19 Col. 1.27 And hast also Blasphemed his Inward Appearance calling it an Idol So with the Wicked and Sloathful Servant thou art justly Condemned out of thine own Mouth and so the Judgment wherewith thou hast judged me will redound upon thy self defend thy self as well as thou canst And Rom. 10.6 7 8. Which he keeps such a busle about turning and winding Serpent like yet except he could race the Words out of the Book it will stand a Witness for Christ the Eternal Word which Faith takes hold of and brings the Soul into Union with him who is nigh unto his in the Mouth and in the Heart So that his People feeling his presence in their Hearts are not ashamed to Confess him with their Mouths In the Sixteenth Page speaking of the 2 Cor. 13 5. Know ye not your own selves how that Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates This Scripture he saith Wounds their new Coined Religion to Death and to make it appear he forms an Argument thus If the Light which is by Natural Generation in Reprobates coming into the World be not the true Christ then the Light that is in every Man that comes into the World by Natural Generation is not the true Christ But the Light which by Natural Generation in Reprobates is not the true Christ as above Ergo the Light which is in every Man which comes intâ— the World is not according to your selves the true Christ Reply I shall never fear wounding by a Weapon that never comes near me so this Argument of thine is farr enough off from wounding our Religion that it touches not neither comes near for I believe this Bond would be hard put to it to find that Quaker out that either writ or said that the light which is in every man by Natural Generation is the true Christ but he who is the true Lighâ— that Lighteth every Man that cometh into the World is the true Christ but thy Natural Light we deny to be the Christ as well as thou dost knowing that whatsoever is Born of the Flesh is Flesh but that which is Born of the Spirit is Spirit at which I doubt thy enmity is chiefly although thy Ignorance is not able to put a difference between the one and the other but here by the way take Notice that the Apostle doth not say Christ is not in Reprobates but that Reprobates do not know Christ in them by his Light to condemn them in Page 18. he saith that I said I abhor Hour-Glasses Answer This is also false I said not I Abhor them for they are serviceable for their proper use but I said I deny them as they use them His Words viz. His familiar the Glow warm Light within what Scripture has he for this is not a Blasphemous Character put upon the Light within Farther in the same Page I take Notice of another grand Lie and false accusation Namely that I doubted in my Discourse whether the Word took Flesh of the Virgin and in that Flesh dyed for all Men. But I account it but a light thing to be Belied or Evil spoken of by him who is not afraid to speak Evil of the Divine and Elect Seed Christ in the Saints calling it the Idol Light within as it follows in the same Page and
than he or any of the persecuting Priests in New-England who make a Trade of them and keep people always under Teaching that they may be always paying of them And Priest Bond saith The spirits are to be tryed by the Scriptures and not the Scriptures by the Spirit page 92. And in page 93. He contradicts himself and confounds all again The Holy and Blessed Spirit of God is above all Tryal Priest Bond saith We deny the written Scripture to be a witness-bearer to your Light within See how Ignorant he is of the Scripture 2 Cor. 4. God who commanded the Light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give us the Light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus Mark the Light that shines in the heart that is the Light within that the Scriptures bear witness too But I perceive the God of this World hath blinded Priest Bond 's eye And how can any man come to the knowledge of God and Christ without the Light of Christ within shining in their hearts And Priest Bond falls on rayling Idol light within page 94. Seducing Quakers Idol light of your own addle brains Soul-deceivers ye would lay a foundation of your own humane inventions And yet Priest Bond calls Christs Body humane which is his own Invention and not Scripture And unbloody Light within Idolized light hath no more real blood in it than there is in the Transubstantiated blood of your Popish Brethren Here the Reader may see what a rage and madness Priest Bond is in against the Light of Christ And as for Popish Brethren Priest Bond 's language bewrays him he is nearer to them than the Quakers And S. B. confesses in page 95. That the Word of God was manifest through Adam and to Cain and to Noah Our Light within is the Light of Christ the Word by which all things were made and created and in him was Life and that Life was the Light of men And this the Scriptures witness But Priest Bond saith The whimsey called Light within is the new devised ground of Faith Christ who doth inlighten every man that cometh into the World saith Believe in the Light that you may become Children of the Light And Christ is the author and finisher of our Faith and the Light of Christ that he bids us believe in is no Whimsey which Priest Bond blasphemes against And in Page 96. Priest Bond makes a great pudder about the Soul of Man and he saith That the Quakers say the Soul of Man is God in part which are not the Quakers words And then he saith the Soul cannot be God No Quakers ever said so S. B. saith The Soul of Man was made after Gods Image It is a true Image it is a very near and likely Image which appears not only in the spiritual and immortal nature of it c. All pure and righteous conformed to Gods will the Soul is a Spirit c. page 98. And when Priest Bond hath rambled over a great deal of Pages about the Soul this he is made to confess and the Quakers say God breathed into Man the Breath of Life and he became a living soul And so is not the Soul part of his Breath And Priest Bond confesses the Soul is a Spirit and then is it not part of Gods Spirit from him And the Light in Man which is the Life of Christ the Word by whom all things are made Priest Bond saith must be the Principle of true Religion in the Devils and damned Oh hellish Divinity and Doctrine for even the Devils and damned live and move c. page 96. These are Priest Bond 's false conclusions The Light which is the Life in Christ the Word they that hate the Light their deeds are evil and the Light is their condemnation for it condemns the Devil who abode not in the Truth in whom there is no Truth S. Bond saith That the Quaker doth conclude that the invisible and Infinite Godhead is divided into parts Then he cries thus senseless are they of the gross absurdities But we charge S. B. to quote the Book or the Man that ever said the Godhead is devided into parts Then S. B. falls a railing in page 99. The Idol light within And in page 90. he makes many Comparisons with his railing words betwixt the Quakers and the Papists Quakers light within Quakers light within infallible Light within infallible Spirit within erroneous high blasphemy Thus Priest Bond is in a rage and a fury against the Light of Christ and his Infallible Spirit within But I ask Priest Bond and all his fellow Priests whether the Light of Christ and his Spirit within and his Holy Ghost be infallible yea or nay And whether he can call Jesus Lord without the Holy-Ghost and whether he that hath not the Spirit of Christ is Christs yea or nay And what Brightman said of the Pope Priest Bond may take it home to himself And in page 98. The Quakers Light within his Pope without These are scornful expressions and his Lies In page 99 and an 100. Priest Bond saith the Quakers denying of the Trinity or Three persons in one Deity Three persons in one Godhead Gen. 1. Let us make man c. But hath not Priest Bond made Four here Three persons in one Deity and one Godhead S. Bond saith No Man hath seen â—od at any time Then how can he tell he is a Person then and Christ saith He is a Spirit He saith The Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are declared three Witnesses c. And why cannot Priest Bond own them so but give other names to them Bu◠〈◊〉 all these Pages Priest Bond hath not proved his word Trinity nor Three Persâ—ns The Scripture mentions Christs Person but it doth not say a Trinity in Three Persons Is not Priest Bond ashamed to say That Scripture is his Rules and cannot prove his word Trinity or Three Persons by Scripture or in the Scripture But the Quakers according to the Scripture do believe that there is Three that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy-Ghost and these three are one mark are one which we own And there are three that bear witness in the earth the Spirit the Water and the Blood and these three agree in one which we own in 1 John 5.8 And Priest Bond goes on in his course of railing Atheistical and Idol light within which the Romish Nebuchadnezzar set up in teaching Quakers the Devil hath inspired S. B. Thus to blaspheme against the Light of Christ in his people and yet he makes people believe that he would dye for the Name of Jesus and dye like the glorious Martirs of Jesus whereas he is persecuting the true Lord Jesus of Nazareth in his people like Saul and blaspheming against the Light of Christ within his people which they believe in which shines in their hearts to give them the light of the knowledge of the