Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due time Heb. 2.9 That he by the Grace of God should taste death for every Man 1 John 2.2 He is the Propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole World But it is commonly alledged by the Adversaries of Truth that by All in these places is understood not all particulars but some of all sorts or all the elect To this I answer the word All must needs be as full and universal with respect to Christs death and the benefit of it as it is with respect to Adam's fall because the Scripture maketh a plain parallel betwixt all that die in Adam and all that Christ died for as in that fore-cited place 2 Cor. 5.14 If one dyed for all then all were dead Now if All only signifie Some in the first part of the verse the sense must run thus If one dyed for some or a few then all were dead This quite maketh void the Apostles inference for if Christ only dyed for some then only some were dead and not all Again in Rom. 5.18 the parallel is very plain As by the offence of one Judgment is come upon all unto Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift is come upon all unto Justification of Life not that all are actually justified but the free gift is come upon them that they may be justified and so it is that the two sides or parts of Parallels are of equal extent Beside that the word All in Scripture doth most commonly signifie all particulars and therefore to restrict it in respect of Gods Grace and Mercy through Christ savours of a narrow Spirit and this narrowness of Spirit in Presbyterians and Independents is a great evil in them and maketh them so peevish uncharitable and cruel 2. And whereas they object against Christ his dying for all Men because he said he did not pray for the World and therefore he did not die for the World John 17.9 I pray for them I pray not for the World It may be very well granted that he dyed not for the World which he doth not pray for But what World is that It is not any part of Mankind as they are considered when first born into the World and having had a time to live in the World and a day of visitation wherein they might have repented and have been converted unto God but as having finally rejected the great Mercy and Grace of Christ after many tenders and offers of it until that the Lord hath wholly left striving with him by his Spirit in their hearts and then they become Reprobates and that World whereof Christ spoke when he said he prayed not for the World And therefore it ought to be well noted and considered that when it is said Christ dyed for the sins of the World it is only with respect to sins past or any other sins that Men may commit before the precise time and period of Gods leaving them and ceasing any more to strive with them when they are become perfected so to speak in sin and evil and are as the ripe Tares fit for burning having nothing remaining in them of any tenderness simplicity or sincerity or true Love to God or Man no grain of Goodness or Virtue nay not the least Seed but are wholly become as Dross after all the precious Mettal to the least grain is extracted or separated from it for such I say Christ hath neither dyed nor prayed And thus it may be with many and is with many before they die and concerning these John declared saying There is a sin unto Death I do not say that he shall pray for it 1 Joh. 5.16 and this is that sin of final Unbelief and obstinate Impenitency wherein men may be permitted to live some considerable time before they die And this is no Contradiction nor Inconsistency but serveth greatly to clear the understanding of this weighty matter how Christ hath dyed for all Men within a day or time of Grace and yet hath dyed for none of these Men after they have wilfully neglected that day of Grace and resisted the Spirit of Grace until he did altogether leave and forsake them And also it is to be considered that though Christ hath dyed for all Men within a day or time of Grace and Mercy beyond which time they have not the benefit of his death and there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sin unto them yet he hath not died with the same equal intention and degree of Love Kindness and Good-will for them who finally perish as for them who are saved nor are the gracious Providences of God and his dealings both inwardly and outwardly after the same way and manner towards all And therefore all who shall be saved at the end of the World have very great and unspeakable cause to praise God for his more abundant Mercy Grace and Love towards them in Christ Jesus and that he and not they did make them to differ from others yet none that perish can have any just cause to complain against God for when that that is sufficient is given to them they have no cause to complain But all who are saved God is pleased at one time or another that suiteth with his infinite Wisdom and good pleasure so to draw perswade move and incline them to come unto him and when come so to preserve them with him and in him or if at any time he suffer them to depart infallibly to reclaim them before the end that they shall certainly be saved and this the Lord can well do so as to put a difference betwixt Cattel and Cattel or Men and Men without their observation and so as neither to give unto the one any occasion of Presumption nor unto the other of Despair and without giving any greater measure of inward Grace although he may and oft doth give a greater measure to one than to another for he is free to give of his own as he pleaseth but only by suitable Providences and Dispensations and means of his own chusing the one may be taken and the other left the one gained and saved and the other not the inward Grace being the same both in kind and degree in some that are saved and in some that are not as the Parable of the Pounds and Marks plainly declare every Servant had his Pound or Mark which is an equal sum and some improved it and some not And of this more abundant Love of God towards Paul he himself taketh special notice with great Thanksgiving unto God 1 Tim. 1.14 16. And the Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all Long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to Life everlasting And the like notice he taketh of the
great Love of God towards the believing Ephesians and Thessalonians for his chusing them and so for all other Believers of all other Churches and People that God had chosen them from the beginning and for this he said he laboured and endured all things even for the sake of the Elect that they might be saved 2 Tim. 2.10 And as it is the great work and end of all faithful Ministers to gather Gods elect every where scattered so of the Angels Mat. 24.31 and so also of Christ Jesus according to John 6.39 cap. 10.27 28 29. Isa 43.5 6 7 8. Rom. 11.7 And thus we find a great difference betwixt some that were invited to come to the Supper who when they refused were no more called but sentence passed against them that they should not taste of the Supper and others that were compelled to come in Luke 14.23 24. not by using any violent Compulsion but by infallible Perswasions and Motions of his Spirit of Love and Grace that shall infallibly prevail with them Nor doth this give to any Man the least occasion either to presume or despair as by saying Either I am elected or not if not elected I cannot be saved for that doth not follow and yet it is most true that either a Man shall be saved or he shall not being contradictory Propositions whereof the one is always true and the other not But this doth not infer that he who shall not be saved could not be saved And seeing no Man certainly knoweth that he shall not before he discover it by his final Impenitency therefore it is the wisdom of every Man to improve with all diligence that inward Grace and all outward means and helps afforded him the which if he do according to his ability he shall infallibly be saved And though it is most true that there is a certain number elected in Christ Jesus the elect Head and Foundation and corner Stone living and precious that is infallibly known unto God which make up a compleat intire and perfect Body yet seeing none knoweth that great Mystery who is in any danger to abuse it it is great folly for any Man to presume that he is safe or upon a bare supposition which can infer no positive conclusion to resolve to be in any respect negligent And he that by the Grace of God doth know both his calling and election that knowledge hath its proper tendency to make him the more diligent to abound in all due Obedience and Thankfulness which is the only way to retain the knowledge of it after it is once obtained And the said above-mentioned Dilemma is as idle and foolish as who would argue I shall live for a Month or Year to come or I shall not if I shall not I need take no care to save my life seeing I shall die If I shall I need take no care for without taking care I shall live for seeing both these parts of the Argument are but Hypothetical they can infer no positive Conclusion But as to a Mans Salvation the only safe and sure way of arguing is this If I use the Grace and Means that God hath given me I shall infallibly be saved and if I do not use them I have no ground to expect that I shall and therefore let me with all diligence that is possible make use of them But the Doctrin of absolute Reprobation that maketh Salvation or the effectual use of the means absolutely impossible to many thousands yea as they say to the greatest part of Mankind is a most woful and miserable Discouragement unto People 3. The Lord Jesus Christ by means of his Death hath procured unto all Men both Jews and Gentiles as the fruit and effect of his death an inward Principle of divine Grace Light Life and Power that is the free Gift of God unto them in the hearts of all Men together with subordinate and concurring outward Means and Helps more or less but sufficient unto all Men whereby they may be saved one time or another before the end of the World and the ordinary outward means of Salvation is the preaching of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ even Jesus of Nazareth that was crucified for our Sins and rose again for our Justification by qualified Men or failing of them by reading or hearing read the holy Scriptures by which after a sort the Prophets Apostles preach unto all men or failing of these outward means God supplying them by his inward Teachings and Revelations in mens hearts and some other secret ways and manners of his divine Providences Dealings and Dispensations unknown to most Men For the proof of the first part see Rom. 5.18 Therefore as by the offence of one Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift is come upon all men unto Justification of Life the which Righteousness of one is the active and passive Obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the free Gift is come upon all The which free Gift is called Grace and the Gift of Righteousness and is expressed in this Chapter by four sundry Greek Words in the Greek Text as Charis Charisma Dorea Dorema all very significant see further John 1.9 He was that true Light that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World And he is called The Light of Men John 1.4 and John 8.12 I am the Light of the World he that followeth me shall not walk in Darkness but shall have the Light of Life And Tit. 2.11 12. For the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all Men teaching us to deny Vngodliness c. And Verse 13. Looking for that blessed Hope and the glorious appearing of that great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Ephes 3.6 That the Gentiles should be fellow Heirs and of the same Body and partakers of his Promise in Christ by the Gospel Col. 1.26 27. The Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations but now is made manifest to his Saints to whom God would make known what is the Riches of the Glory of this Mystery in the Gentiles which is Christ in you the Hope of Glory And Rom. 10.8 The Word is nigh thee in thy Mouth and in thy Heart and that is the Word of Faith which we preach And verse 6 7. He understandeth it of Christ which Moses preached in the People of Israel Deut. 30.14 And because this great Mystery which was in the Gentiles was much hid in the time of the Law and in all Ages of the world until Christ came in the Flesh both in Jews and Gentiles as Paul called it The Mystery hid from Ages and Generations therefore the Psalmist Psal 67.2 prayeth saying That thy Way may be known upon Earth thy saving Health or thy Jesus Hebr in all Nations For he saw that it was in them but as it were hid and vailed according to the weakness and darkness of that Dispensation and therefore he prayed
all things And Christ said his Yoke was easie and his Burden was light And John said His Commandments are not grievous But according to these Faith-publishers Christ's Yoke is so heavy that none can bear it for what is it to bear his Yoke but to keep his Commandments And if they cannot be fulfilled by Men and yet many Thousands cast into Hell-Fire for not fulfilling them they are very grievous which God forbid we should think And to say that God requireth perfect Obedience from any part of Mankind and yet giveth them no Ability to perform it and punish them with Hell-Fire for not doing that which is utterly and absolutely impossible for them do doth wofully reflect upon the Justice of God and rendereth him not only severe and hard but most Cruel and Tyrannical worse than Pharoah to the poor Israelites who required of them the tale of Brick but gave them no Straw and yet punished them for not performing their Task And lastly It is wofully injurious to Men to discourage them to press after Perfection or a perfect freedom from Sin to tell them They cannot attain to it while they live As if a Physician should tell his Patient For all the Physick I give thee thou must still remain diseased and never be healed till Death heal thee Or as if one should say to a Traveller that is going to such a City Thou shalt never reach to it whilst thou livest in this World Would not this greatly discourage them And also it doth greatly encourage People to live in sloath and neglect to tell them That though they live and die in their Sins they shall be saved if they have at any time once in all their Life believed in Christ Jesus that Faith will save them though they live and die in their Sins But we find that Christ fore-warned People That if they died in their Sins they should not come whither he did go John 8.21 And it was a fearful threatning that God denounced against that People Isa 22.14 Surely this Iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die saith the Lord God of Hosts But this false Doctrin of your Teachers telleth you It is no matter though ye die in your Sins yet ye shall immediately after Death go into Heaven if ye have once believed And the Scripture saith Where the Tree falleth there it shall be whether towards the South or towards the North Eccles 11.3 But according to this evil and corrupt Doctrin though the Tree falleth North it shall lie South It is a fearful thing to teach or believe such Doctrin in a matter of so great moment so to smooth and daub with untempered Morter and to flatter People to tell them They not only may but must live and die in their Sins and yet immediately after Death they shall go into Heaven if once they have believed their Faith secureth them though they sin daily in Thought Word and Deed and break all God's holy Commandments every day and that there be no Health nor Soundness in them And indeed it is the great love that People have to Sin and Iniquity that maketh them plead so earnestly for it for if they were weary of Sin and did hate it as a most cruel Tyrant they would be glad to hear of a possibility of deliverance from Sin here in this World And they that plead so much for Sin to live and die in it they plead for the Devil's Kingdom and are his Servants and Ministers in that respect and not the Servants and Ministers of Christ 6. But to clear the Doctrin of Perfection as it is believed and preached by the People called Quakers take these following considerations 1st It is not an absolute Perfection that we plead for as attainable in this Life as many of you have falsly accused us and particularly Nath. Morton in his New-England Memorial pag. 157. as in many other things he doth most falsly charge that People in his said Book for we say That the highest degree of Perfection attainable in this Life ought not to be sit down and rested in by any but there ought to be a continual progress by the best in Holiness and in conformity to the Image of the Son of God until the very last moment of their Life for Christ himself who was free from all sin yet was perfected further as he was Man and did grow both in Grace and Stature and Adam in the innocent state was still to have increased in Virtue and Goodness and then he would not have fallen as he did 2 dly This perfection or freedom from Sin and Possibility by the Grace of God to keep his Commandments we do not say it is attained by every one at their first Conversion or entrance into the true Faith but on the contrary we say many true Believers and who have a true measure of sincerity towards God are yet short of that state of a sinless Perfection and that it is not attained but by great diligence and wrestling against sin through the ability of the Grace of God and much watching and praying and using all the means appointed of God both inwardly and outwardly to attain to that blessed Conquest and Victory over sin 3 dly The most perfect in this Life have need to watch and pray that they enter not into Temptation for as Adam in Innocency and in the Garden did sin and by his sin lost his Innocency so may Men that are inwardly come to this state if they be not duly watchful sin against the Lord therefore it is not the impossibility of sinning in all respects that we plead for but the possibility of not sinning and that by the Grace of God and not otherwise Altho' some may arrive to that state in Holiness in conformity to the second Adam that they neither sin nor can sin in that sense as the Scripture doth intend it 1 John 3.19 which doth at least hold forth that such who are attained to this noble degree of Holiness they cannot commit any gross sin although in some things not for want of love but not having a full and perfect Knowledge in all things they may a little fall short as a most loving Child not perfectly understanding the Fathers mind in all things may do a thing amiss and yet without breach of true Love to his Father and therefore his Father doth not charge it upon him as a crime and the like example may be of a most loving Wife to her Husband who retaineth her chaste and perfect Love to her Husband and yet may do some things not according to his mind for as the Scripture saith Love is the fulfilling of the Law and he that faileth not in his Love and transgresseth not against the Law of Love though in some case he may fall short in understanding God doth not impute it to be a crime unto him 4 thly It is not temptations or motions unto sin that may arise either from the Devil or
Works were finished from the Foundation of the World and therefore that seventh day doth signifie Christ Jesus the first and the last who is the alone true Rest and Sabbath of all the Faithful as he invited saying Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you Rest And concerning this spiritual and divine Sabbath or Sabbatism it is said in Heb. 4.9 10. Therefore there doth remain a Rest unto the People of God for he that is entred into his Rest he also hath ceased from his own Works as God did from his let us labour therefore to enter into that Rest c. And Verse 3. We which have believed do enter into Rest By all which it doth plainly appear that the New-Testament understandeth the Christian Sabbath not of any outward Day but of Christ which the outward Sabbaths of the Jews did by way of Allegory signifie and hold forth And lastly as to Matth. 5.17 where Christ saith he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it It is not to be understood that he came to keep up and perpetuate the Types and Figures of the Law but to put an end to them and in the room and place thereof to fulfil all the Righteousness Equity and Justice that they did signifie or hold forth which is as the Kernal Otherwise ye might argue as much for upholding the outward Circumcision as the outward Sabbath and that outward Sabbath was not the first day but the seventh day And whereas some plead that the 4th Commandment is altogether Moral as well as the other nine that were given forth immediately by the Mouth of the Lord unto the People and writ by his Finger on the Tables of Stone and therefore is perpetual and never to be abrogated If all this be granted it doth not prove that the first day of the Week is there commanded as these called Presbyterians and Independents would have it Nor can they who plead for the keeping of the seventh day of the Week for the Sabbath prove that the said fourth Commandment did enjoyn to the Jews the keeping of any outward or natural seventh day of the Week for their keeping the outward seventh day of the Week was enjoyned to them among the other Ceremonial Laws and Precepts as is clear from Exod. 16.23 and Chap. 31.13 14. where it is called a Sign to wit of that spiritual moral and perpetual Sabbath And therefore if it be granted that the fourth Commandment is altogether moral and perpetual it doth not follow that the seventh day therein mentioned is any outward day or that it enjoyneth any outward day for it can all be spiritually understood very well as the tenth Commandment Thou shalt not covet doth not enjoyn any outward thing but reacheth to the Heart and inward part only and is altogether Spiritual And as the last Commandment of the second Table is altogether spiritual so why may it not be said that the last Commandment of the first Table is altogether spiritual And even the mystick Writers among the Jews do acknowledge that not only the seventh day mentioned in the fourth Commandment but all the six days signifie spiritual Days and Mysteries as well as the seventh of which I shall not particularly enlarge at present A Call and Warning from the Lord to the People of Boston and New-England to Repent c. THE Burden of the Word of the Lord that came unto me on the twenty first day of the fourth Month 1688. in the Town of Boston in New-England to declare it unto Boston its Inhabitants and to the Inhabitants of New-England who have been or are concerned in opposing and hardning their Hearts against the inward appearance of God and of his Son Christ Jesus in the Hearts of his Servants and in the Living Testimonies they have born unto you to call you to believe in the Light of his Son Christ Jesus who hath enlightned you all and every one of you and to turn you from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God Oh! Repent Repent for your great Sins and Transgressions of all sorts that ye have committed against the Lord and against his holy and divine Light and Gift in all your Hearts and especially Repent of your great Hypocrisie all Teachers and People of Boston and New-England every where who call your selves Christians and have a Name to live but are dead who draw near unto God with your Mouths and honour him with your Lips but have removed your Hearts far away from him and who have the Name of Christ oft in your Mouths and think to cover you with his imputed Righteousness while ye are ignorant of his Life and holy Power Spirit and divine Nature in your Hearts and while ye are daily crucifying the Lord of Glory afresh and putting him to open shame and treading under Foot the Blood of the Covenant as the holy Scripture declareth concerning some that professed Christ Jesus in former Ages And this is the state of many of you yea of the generality of you both Teachers and People of Boston and New-England of all sorts a few Names excepted whom the Lord doth honour and they shall walk with him in White although ye have sought to dishonour them And this I have seen from the Lord in that pure Light of his that maketh all things manifest and before which all things are naked and bare which Light ye generally despise and reject and blaspheme calling it A meer natural Light and insufficient to lead unto God and the Children of it ye have hated reproached and mocked with cruel Mockings whereby ye have sufficiently declared your selves to be born after the Flesh and not after the Spirit Oh ye Blasphemers against God and his Temple which is his Light and them that dwell therein Repent repent of your Blasphemies and hard Speeches and hard Thoughts against Gods inward appearance by his holy Word Light and Spirit in all your Hearts And Repent of all your Pride Vanity Folly Excess in Meats Drinks and Apparel who though ye profess your selves to be more pure and more purely reformed than other Churches so called yet in the sight of God ye are nothing better but many of you worse and the Sin of Sodom which was Pride and Excess and fulness of Bread is the Sin of many of you especially of the richer sort Oh unthankful Nation Do ye thus requite the Lord who are Jesurun like that since ye waxed fat have kicked against the Lord and are gone from that Tenderness Sobriety and Simplicity that was among you and your Fathers sometime ago Oh! how quickly have ye degenerated and departed from the Lord of whom ye have made and still are making a great Profession The anger of the Lord is ready to break out against you yet more than formerly unless ye Repent And though his Hand hath been manifestly stretched out against you in manifest Judgments and especially in
Rev. 2.2 Thou hast tryed them which say they are Apostles and are not and hast found them Liars Rev. 3.9 Behold I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not but do lie behold I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee Rev. 18.4 5 6. And I heard another Voice from Heaven saying Come out of her my People that ye be not Partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her Plagues for her sins have reached unto Heaven and God hath remembred her Iniquities Reward her even as she rewarded you and double unto her double according to her Works in the Cup which she hath filled fill to her double THE Presbyterian and Independent VISIBLE CHURCHES IN New-England And else-where Brought to the Test and examined according to the Doctrin of the holy Scriptures in their Doctrin Ministry Worship Constitution Government Sacraments and Sabbath Day More particulary directed to those in New-England and more generally to those in Old-England Scotland Ireland c. WITH A Call and Warning from the Lord to the People of Boston and New-England to Repent c. And two Letters to the Preachers in Boston and an Answer to the gross Abuses Lies and Slanders of Increase Mather and Nath. Morton c. By GEORGE KEITH LONDON Printed for Thomas Northcott in George-Yard in Lombard-street 1691. A Friendly EPISTLE To these PEOPLE called Presbyterians and Independents FRIENDS IN true Love and good Will I have writ the following Treatise unto you hoping it may find entertainment with some among you to give it the Reading and seriously to consider what you read and my earnest Exhortation and Advice is unto you that in all your reading whether in this or any other Book ye turn your minds to that Light of Christ within you wherewith he hath enlightned you and all Men as the holy Scriptures declare and that ye may believe in Christ the Light and Life in you who is the Wisdom and Power of God and who was in all the holy Prophets and Apostles and whose Spirit that was in them that gave forth the holy Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament and the same Spirit only doth and only can give to all Readers of the holy Scripture a true and right understanding of them and of all other Books that treat of Doctrins and Matters of Religion whether they have proceeded from a measure of the same holy Spirit And if ye believe in Christ the Light the Life the Wisdom and Power of God in you and joyn your Minds to his inward divine Illumination He will anoynt the Eyes of your Understanding with his Spiritual Eye-Salve and then your Eyes shall be opened to see and understand what ye read and through your faith in him he will also open and circumcise your inward Ears and cause you still more and more to be acquainted with his living Voice and Words in you all which are Spirit and Life and this will give you a spiritual savour and taste whereby ye shall be able to try and judge of things that differ whether Men or Books whether Spirits or Doctrins what are of God and what are not of him for although the Scriptures are the best outward Test or Touchstone or Rule whereby to try all Doctrins of Men or Books yet it is the holy Spirit of Christ and his Light inwardly shining and enlightning the dark Hearts and Vnderstandings of Men that gives them ability rightly to understand the Scriptures otherwise the Scriptures are as a sealed Book both to the learned and unlearned For though the Jews had the Scriptures of the Old Testament which prophecied of Christ and of the Time and Manner of his Coming and how he was to suffer Death for the sins of Men and to rise again and ascend into Glory yet none of them had that Understanding but such only as were turned to his divine Illumination in their Hearts and were acquainted with his holy Spirit Light and Life in them And the like grave and wholsom advice I recommend unto you which a certain Ancient Christian gave unto Justin Martyr before his Conversion to the Christian Faith to wit That he should diligently read and search the holy Scriptures which should give him more Content than all Heathen Authors but withal that he should mind the Gate the LIGHT by which only he could enter into the true Understanding and Knowledge of them The which Passage the said Justin relateth in his Works and John Fox hath it also in his Martyrology taken out of him And though in this Treatise I have affirmed and sufficiently demonstrated that your Visible Churches are no true Churches of Christ yet I do not say nor conclude that none of you belong to Christs true Church in any true regard But on the contrary I have that true Charity Faith and Hope concerning a Remnant among you who have in the least measure true Hungerings and Thirstings after Righteousness and a great inward longing and panting of Heart and Soul after the Lord Jesus Christ to know him and enjoy him more nearly than by all hear-say or report of him and whose Souls are sick of Love for him and feel your need and want of him as the sick that need the Physician that ye do indeed even all such of you belong to Christ and are the real Members of his Body which is his Church for where any living Desire is after Christ and where any true sense or feeling of the want and great need of him is raised in any Soul there is somewhat of the Life of Christ in that Soul and there is Christ himself present who hath begot it and that Soul is in some Measure a living Member of Christ and to such it will be glad Tidings to hear that Christ is so near unto it as really to be within it even really and livingly present and where the least true measure of Sincerity Tenderness Meekness Gentleness Humility Uprightness of Heart and Soul hath place in any there is Christ present in that Soul who hath already begun his good Work in the same and the beginning of his Work is to quicken and make alive the Soul unto him And every Soul that is thus quickned and made alive unto him as it doth hold fast this Beginning and doth continue still hungering and thirsting after Him to know and enjoy and receive of his Fulness more plentifully doth really belong to him and is in a state of Salvation e'en so far and as it here abideth it is impossible that it can perish But yet tho such belong to Christ and to his Church it doth not follow that the visible Church which they are outwardly and by some outward Form or Practice joyned unto is the true Church of Christ for they themselves distinguish of the Church Visible and Invisible and do affirm That Hypocrites are Members of their Visible Church
but that only the true Saints and Children of God belong to the invisible Church And again tho such who have true Desires and true living Breathings raised in them after the Lord may be said as such to belong to him and be of his Sheep yet they are still but as scattered and driven from the true Fold and as wandering for most part upon the barren Mountains and the dry and desolate Hills seeking the living among the dead until they come to be gathered into the True and Living Way of God and of Christ so as to know and be acquainted with the Lord and his inward Leadings Rule and Government in them and to be able to distinguish his Voice and inward appearance in them from that of a stranger and to worship him in Spirit and in Truth and serve him in the newness of the Spirit and in pure Holy Fear and Love as Sons and Children in his House And this State ye are generally strangers unto and therefore tho some of you may be allowed in true Charity to be the Sheep of Christ yet ye are but scattered until ye are returned unto Christ the Shepherd and Bishop of your Souls and know him revealed in you to lead rule and guide you and feed you with the living Bread and give you the living Water to drink which he himself is inwardly revealed and that ye be turned away from all false Teachers and Shepherds which is the earnest breathing and cry of my Soul unto God for you G.K. Heads or Principles OF Christian DOCTRIN CHAP. I. Concerning the Holy Scriptures 1. THe Holy Scriptures of the old and new Testament being generally and worthily acknowledged by all Christians to be writ by Divine Inspiration without any mixture of Error are a sufficient outward Rule and Standard whereby to examin and try all Doctrins of men 2. They contain a full and intire Declaration of all Christian Doctrin and therefore whatever Doctrins or Principles of Christian Religion men presume to teach which they cannot prove and demonstrate from the Holy Scriptures they lay no obligation upon any to believe them 3. The Scriptures are only sufficiently and savingly believed and understood by the inward Illumination and Revelation of the Holy Spirit which is the same in kind to that which God gave to the Saints of Old 4. Although they contain a full and sufficient Declaration of all Christian Doctrin yet they do not contain the whole Mind Will and Counsel of God as some say they do Because there are many things wherein God doth reveal of his Counsel to his Children which are not in Scripture either expresly or consequentially altogether necessary to their Peace and Comfort as to instance in some particulars First It is a part of the counsel of God for a Christian to know his inward Calling and whether he be indeed one of God's called and chosen Ones whether in favour with God and justified and sanctified And though the Scripture doth give infallible Signs and Marks of such an estate yet no Scripture nor Scripture-consequence can infallibly assure any man that he hath these marks but it is the spirit of God that only can and doth give them this assurance Rom. 8.16 2 dly All true Preachers and Ministers of Christ ought to know the mind and will of God whether they be called of God to the Work of the Ministry which Call is an inward Call that is altogether necessary to their faithful discharge of so great a Work but this they cannot know simply by the Scripture 3 dly Every true Christian should know his inward Call to Pray or give Thanks or perform any Religious Duty or Service unto God as David said When thou said'st Seek my Face my Heart answered thy Face O Lord I will seek hide not thy Face from me Psal 27.8 Again 4 thly It is commonly granted that it is a Duty belonging to every Christian to enquire the Mind and Counsel of God in every weighty matter and concern of our Life as if we be visited with any great Affliction inward or outward to enquire with Job Shew me O Lord why thou contendest with me And as Rebecca when the Twins strugled in her Womb enquired at the Lord and said Why am I thus And the Lord answered her Also in the case of Marriage every true Christian man and woman ought to enquire and wait for God's counsel with whom to be joyned in Marriage that they may know indeed the Lord's joyning of them and that they marry in the Lord But this cannot be known by any Scripture or consequence from Scripture but the Spirit of the Lord must reveal it even the same that led Abraham's Servant to take a Wise to his Son Isaac And every Christian should know the will and counsel of God in his outward Vocation that it is of God and so abide therein as the Scripture saith Let every man abide in the Calling wherein he is called of God And as the Servants of God in days past in traveling and sojourning from place to place received the counsel of God so do these now that wait for it in uprightness of Heart as really as holy men did of old and as Philip received the Word of God which he could not find in the Scripture either expresly or consequentially when the Spirit said unto him Joyn thy self to this Chariot when he was sent to preach Christ to the Eunuch and as Peter was sent to Cornelius and Ananias to Saul and many other the like instances and as James declareth Men ought not to be rash or hasty to say to day or to morrow we will go into such a City c. for that ye ought to say If the Lord will James 4.13 15. Now how can a man know what the Lord willeth in such a case unless it be given him by the Spirit of the Lord inwardly to feel either a Command or Permission to do such a thing For whereas too many make the outward passages of Providence their rule as to say If Sickness or some outward Impediment hinder not they constitute that to be the Will of God And whereas many remove from one place to another and Divine Providence doth not hinder them and yet in that removal they have not had God's approbation and it hath not had a blessing to follow it but on the contrary for leaving their place they have been exposed to sad Temptations and have fallen under them And lastly there are many precious living Soliloquies and Intercourses betwixt the Lord and the Souls of his dear Children while he answers the returns of their Prayers in living Testimonies and words of his Holy Spirit which though they are agreeable to Scripture yet are not express Scripture words but are the real Words and Dictates of the Holy Ghost speaking Peace and Consolation to them beyond all utterance or demonstration of Speech and wonderfully quickning and strengthning them in the inward man as we find in the
Psalms and in the Song of Solomon and other places of holy Scripture for by the living Word of God as they come freshly and newly or immediately from the mouth or spirit of God the Souls of God's Children are quickned and kept alive as Christ said The words that he did speak unto his Disciples were Spirit and Life and man liveth not by Bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God And David waited for the coming of the Word of God to quicken him to wit that God might speak unto him and he said I will hear what the Lord will speak for he will speak Peace to his Saints and to his People So here is God's Promise to all his Saints and People to speak Peace unto them and as he promised to his Israel in Hosea Chap. 14. I will allure or perswade her and bring her into the Wilderness or a solitary place and there I will speak comfortably unto her or as the Hebrew hath it I will speak to her Heart And this is an inward Speech And the Scripture Promises when God is pleased by his Spirit to apply them to the Souls of his Children is as real and proper an inward Voice and Speaking of God unto them as he spoke to the Prophets of old 5. And therefore the Scripture doth not contain either all the Word or Words of God as some say but many thousands of Words of God have been livingly spoke and utter'd by the Spirit of God to the inward Ears of his dear Children since the writing of the Scripture and daily are and will be to the end of the World And as it was said in the Apostles days the Word of the Lord grew and multiplied Acts 12.24 and 19 20. so ever since the Apostles and writing of the Scriptures the Word of God hath grown and multiplied and still shall and must to the end of the World and yet no new Doctrin or Gospel to be Preached but the same which the Prophets and Christ and the Apostles have already Preached 6. And as Christ and the Apostles expounded the Scriptures of the old Testament by divine Inspiration and Revelation of the same Spirit without propounding any new Doctrin or object of Faith unto People so why may it not be so now yea it is so that some at this day by the same Spirit do expound and open places of Scripture both of the old and new Testament and yet bring no new Doctrin And it is a far better way to have such Preachers and Expounders who open and expound the Scriptures by the Inspiration and Revelation of the Holy Spirit as the Apostles did than for men to presume to open and expound them without all new Revelation or Inspiration and who plainly confess They neither Preach nor Write by any Infallible Spirit And such mens Exposition who declare they have no infallible Spirit can neither be the word or words of God which are infallible but only the fallible word and words of man and human Imaginations 7. And as for the term Word the Greek of it being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I find it variously used and translated in the new Testament as first to signifie Christ Joh. 1.1 2dly to signifie Treatise Acts 1.1 3dly Communication Mat. 3.7 4thly Vtterance 1 Cor. 1.5 2 Cor. 8.7 Ephes 6.19 Col. 4.3 5thly Word of Talk or Discourse 1 Thes 1.5 6thly Reason 2 Pet. 3.15 Acts 18.14 7thly Preaching or Doctrin 1 Cor. 1.18 8thly Account or Business as to have to do Heb. 4.13 and 9thly the Hebrew word in the old Testament is translated Order Psal 110.4 10thly Matter Psal 45.1 11thly Speech Psal 19.2 and 12thly the same Greek word is used by Paul to signifie the empty and dead preaching of false Teachers 1 Cor. 4.19 And therefore whether the Scriptures may be called or are called the Word in Scripture rarely or improperly is not the proper state of the Question for it cannot be denyed and is not denyed but that rarely and improperly the word is used to signifie Scripture or Scripture Words either written or spoken and sometimes the words of evil men are rendred by the same Greek word in Scripture as Ephes 4.29 and 2 Tim. 2. â—7 But the true state of the Question is Whethâ—r first the Scripture doth contain all the Word or Words of God And this I justly deny for the reasons already given and indeed as the Word and Words of God are compared in Scripture Deut. 32.2 to the Dew and Rain that falleth upon the dry ground to refresh it and make it fruitful and the drops of the Dew and Rain are so many that they cannot be numbred which God hath been pleased to speak to the Souls of his People and still doth so nor can the Words of God be numbred by Men and therefore they are of a greater extent than all these set down in Scripture which may be numbred and also they are compared in Scripture to Bread that is eaten as Jeremiah said cap. 15.16 Thy words were found and I did eat them and as none can number the small grains of flower that make up a Cake of Loaf of Bread so none can number the words of God Secondly Whether the Scriptures only as they are outwardly written or spoken by the mouths of natural Men or heard by the outward ears or conceived only by the bare natural thoughts and understanding be properly and without all figure the Word or Words of God I say nay for the words of God are spiritual and of an inward nature as God himself is for the words of God are first and properly spoke to the mind and spirit of man and the outward words whether spoke or writ are but the signs of them as all outward words are but the signs of the inward thoughts of the mind which are the words of the mind or heart of man within it self Thirdly VVhether he who only talketh Scripture words and hath not the true sense of them doth truly and properly speak the VVord of God And whether he that only heareth them from man and hath not received the true sense of them hath properly heard the VVord of God I say Nay for it is not the bare Letter without the sense that is the Word of God properly understood Nevertheless the Letter of the Scripture in a figurative sense may be called the VVord as the Map of England is called England Moses his Books are called Moses and Isaiah his Book is called his Vision and John his Book is called his Revelation CHAP. II. Concerning new divine Revelations and Inspirations 1. THe places of Scripture which they commonly bring against all new divine Revelations and Inspirations of the Spirit of God prove no such thing as will easily appear to any that are impartial and unbyassed in their understanding if they will but read and consider them which places are these following as they are alledged and quoted by them called
Lord is a strong Tower Thy Name is as Ointment poured forth c. And whereas they object first That the Apostles could not baptize with the spiritual Baptism I answer yea they could Instrumentally and Ministerially as well as they could convert and beget Sons and Daughters unto God for they were Ministers of the Spirit and did minister of the Spirit both in Preaching and Prayer and laying on of Hands although God only was the principal worker and Author Next they object That Peter and Paul and some others baptized some with Water and that Christ was baptized with Water But none of these prove what they intend for Christ was baptized by John and also he was circumcised according to the Law and Paul circumcised Timothy and the Apostles generally in that day thought fit both to use and tolerate the use of Water-Baptism that belonged to John and divers other things of the Law which by permission for a time and not by any Gospel standing Commission otherwise Paul would never have said he was not sent to baptize but to preach the Gospel nor would he have thanked God that he had baptized so few For it were strange to think that Paul would thank God that he did not so fully obey a Gospel precept In short if these who are so zealous for Water-Baptism were cordially zealous for the inward and spiritual Baptism they might be the more born with as Men bear with Children that use Likenesses and Figures of things that sute most with the age and state of Children and Charity might be allowed them in that case to be as Children or Babes in Christ if they did hunger and thirst after Righteousness and did wait for the inward appearance and coming of Christ's Kingdom and the Revelation of it in their Hearts as some such there may be But these who altogether are for the outward Baptism and Supper and deny wholly the inward and spiritual Baptism and Supper of Christ which is only known and received by the holy Spirit 's inward Revelation no Charity can be allowed unto them to judge them true Christians in any degree not so much as Babes but altogether for the time Hypocrites and Formalists 4. Next concerning the Supper We grant that Christ had an outward Supper with his Disciples when he did eat the Pascal Lamb with them and this was a real Supper and not like that which ye now use that is neither substantial Supper nor Dinner being only a little crumb of Bread scarce so big as a Nut and a spoonful of Wine or two which hath little outward Substance and no inward and spiritual Signification unto you as ye use it while ye altogether deny that the Saints are partakers of the substance of Christ or that Christ really and substantially dwelleth in his Saints and while ye also deny all inward Revelation of him in these latter Ages Your Supper is a meer shadow and none of Christ's Supper nor of his Institution For when Christ did sup with his Disciples in the Night wherein he was betrayed he began with the Cup and blessed or gave thanks and said Take this and divide it among your selves And next he took Bread and blessed or gave thanks and brake it and gave unto them saying This is my Body this do in Remembrance of me Likewise after Supper he took the Cup saying This Cup is the New-Testament in my Blood drink ye all of it Luke 22.14 to 20. So we see he used the Cup twice and began and ended with it but so do not ye and though ye seem greatly to blame the Church of Rome for not giving the Cup to the People but only the Bread and charge them with mutilating or dismembring the Institution if so do not ye the same in part Seeing ye use the Cup but once and Christ used it twice and began with it but so do not ye And seeing ye say Ye have not that infallible Spirit that Christ had and gave to the Apostles and that we find you wholly ignorant of Christ's Body and that ye have no discerning of it nor no taste and savour of his Flesh which is Meat indeed nor of his Blood which is Drink indeed and know not the inward and spiritual supping with Christ we cannot believe nor acknowledge that ye Presbyterian and Independent Teachers have any power to bless either the Bread or the Cup as Christ did or to minister or give of his Body and Blood to any People which true Ministers of Christ have done and do at this day to my certain knowledge and joy and to the certain knowledge and joy of many thousands with me and that often in the use of outward eating and drinking being sanctified and blessed by the Word of God and Prayer as we have sat down together whether many or a few we have truly witnessed the fulfilling of that saying Luke 24.35 And they told what things were done in the way and how he was known of them in breaking of Bread And as it is Verse 30 31. And it came to pass as he sate at Meat with them he took Bread and blessed it and brake and gave to them and their Eyes were opened Note even as Jonathan's Eyes were opened or lightned when he did eat the Honey and as Isaac blessed Jacob when he did eat what he had prepared of savoury Meat for him and as the Angel blessed Abraham when he did eat of the Calf and the Cakes that were set before him and as Melchizedeck blessed Abraham when he brought him Bread and Wine and divers other the like examples and they knew him c. Even so can many say at this day to God's praise in the outward Eating and Drinking together as they have sate together and waited in true silence until God has been pleased to move some one or other of his faithful Servants and Ministers of his Word of Life and of his Flesh and Blood which is spiritual to pray unto the Lord or give Thanks their outward eating and drinking hath been so blessed unto them that at one and the same time they have eat both the outward Bread with the bodily Mouth and the inward Bread which is spiritual with the inward spiritual Mouth and they have also drunk outwardly the outward Cup and inwardly the inward and spiritual And so at the same time they have fed at a two-fold Table and have been both inwardly and outwardly refreshed nourished and strengthned and this also oftentimes in the use only of inward Prayer and Thanksgiving as well as of both inward and outward and yet we neither do nor can limit the spiritual and inward eating of Christ's Body and drinking of his Blood to any outward eating or drinking whatsoever As neither did the ancient Christians who said That all true Believers eat Christ's Flesh and drink his Blood daily and hourly and so we believe And no doubt Christ did really give his Body and Blood unto his Disciples at that
Blastings and unfruitful Seasons and other Judgments and Plagues and Strokes upon you yet ye have not seen nor regarded it many of you yea most of you but ye are like unto them concerning whom the Prophet Isaiah testified saying Lord when thy Hand is lifted up they will not see but they shall see and be ashamed for their Envy at the People And this is the Word of the Lord unto you all Teachers and People of all sorts of Boston and New-England all such of you who are Unbelievers and have not Faith in the Light of God and Christ within you but place all your Confidence Faith and Reliance upon the imputed Righteousness of Christ without you and what he did and suffered for you unto Justification while in the mean time ye know not Christ within you and so are in the state of Reprobation or rejection as such and while ye there remain opposing Christ without to Christ within professing to own him without but denying him within and the Revelation of him within in mens Hearts and crucifying him by your daily great Sins and Iniquities of all sorts But is Christ divided Or can any have a right and sincere Faith in Christ as he came and suffered Death in the Flesh and rose again and ascended into Glory unless they believe in him and own and witness him revealed in them their King Priest and Prophet Lord Judge and Lawgiver their Head and Foundation laid in them Christ in them the hope of Glory And all who sincerely own him within them have the benefit and comfort of his Death and Sufferings and Righteousness that he accomplished without them when he came in the Flesh and none others and this is unto you all the Word of the Lord whether ye will hear or forbear And oh Repent Repent of all your Self-Righteousness and Self-willings and Self-runnings and actings of all sorts in that ye call your Duties and Performances wherein ye are daily exercising your selves without the Lord 's holy Spirit and Power and Life inwardly revealed to which ye are Strangers and many of you wilfully ignorant hating and refusing to be informed or instructed even many or most of you And all ye who have made light of the cruel Sufferings of the Lord's Servants called in derision Quakers and some of whom have been put to Death at Boston by a most unrighteous and inhuman Law wherein they who either made or executed the same have shewed themselves more inhuman cruel and barbarous than many or most of all sorts of mankind Oh! mourn before the Lord for this great Sin and for shedding the Blood of the Innoccent wherewith your Land is still defiled and the Iniquity of it is not yet done away nor shall nor indeed can but by deep Repentance Mourning and Contrition of Soul and Godly Sorrow and unfeigned Repentance and turning unto the Lord and let it not be an excuse unto you that many of you were not the actors in that great Sin but ye have not mourned for it before the Lord many yea most of you and therefore it lieth upon you and this is the Word of the Lord unto you G.K. A Copy of this was set up in the most publick place in the Town of Boston the 21 st of the 4 th Month 1688. Boston the 12th of the 5th Month 1688. To James Allen Joshua Moody Samuel Willard Cotten Mather Preachers in the Town of Boston in New-England Friends and Neighbours I being well assured both by the Spirit of God in my Heart and the Testimony of the holy Scriptures that the Doctrin ye preach to the People is false and pernicious to the Souls of People in many things do earnestly desire and entreat you and every one of you the Preachers in the Town of Boston to give me a fair and publick hearing or meeting with you either in one of your publick Meeting-Houses or in any other convenient place where all who are desirous to come may have liberty and let the time be as soon as may as either to day in the Afternoon or to morrow in the Fore-noon but rather than fail if ye will give me any assurance to have a meeting with you I will attend your leasure for two or three days to come providing once this day you send me your positive answer and if ye give me a meeting with you I profer in true love and good-will by the divine assistance to shew and inform you that ye teach and preach unto the People many false and unsound Principles contrary to the Doctrin of Christ sufficiently declared in the holy Scriptures your Doctrin being according to the Catechism and Confession of Faith of the Church of Boston and New-England which I have diligently examined and find it to be the same with that published by the assembly of Presbyterians and Independents at Westminster in Old England about forty Years ago excepting some few small things wherein some of you may differ in Church Government and Discipline and if ye cannot receive my Information I profer to debate these things fairly with you which I call false Doctrin and to vindicate our Principles who in scorn are called Quakers whom ye have falsly charged for which some of our worthy Friends have suffered death at Boston and let the Scriptures Testimony be the only external Rule Test and Touch-stone of our said debate And the particular things I charge on you as being false Doctrin and contrary to the Doctrin of the holy Scripture beside many others that I could mention are these following 1. That God hath committed his Counsel wholly to Writing even since the Apostles days the former ways of God's revealing his mind to his People being ceased 2. That God hath fore-ordained what-ever cometh to pass 3. That God hath not afforded or provided sufficiency of Grace and means of Salvation unto all mankind whereby they may be saved 4. That there are reprobate Infants that die in Infancy and perish eternally only for Adam 's Sin imputed unto them and derived into them 5. That the Light that is in every Man that convinceth them of their Sins and calleth them to leave and forsake them is only natural and no ways sufficient to enable any Man to do any work acceptable unto God 6. That Christ hath not dyed for all Men. 7. That Justification is only by Christ's Righteousness without us imputed unto us and received by Faith alone and not by any Righteousness of God or Christ infused into us or wrought in us 8. That beginnings of true Sanctification cannot be fallen from totally 9. That no Man in this Life by any Grace of God given him or to be given him can perfectly keep the Commandments of God but doth daily break them in Thought Word and Deed. 10. That no Man ever since the Apostles days are assisted by any infallible Spirit to Preach Pray or Write and that to speak and pray by the moving of the holy Ghost as the Prophets
the sixth also seeing they believe it only to be but a Figure to wit that called the Eucharist And to say the truth they have not one whit more probability but rather less for the two Sacraments that they have reserved than for the other five that they have rejected And they have no cause to accuse the People called Quakers of Sacriledge for denying these two until they clear themselves of Sacriledge for denying five and give better grounds for reserving these two than as yet they have given 2. And as for Infants Baptism and sprinkling a Child of eight days or more or less on the Fore-head and call it Baptism it hath no footing in all the Scripture neither of Precept nor Practice as will easily appear by considering the places of Scripture they cite for it And first for Sprinkling on the Fore-head instead of Dipping they cite Heb. 9.10 to 22. But this Sprinkling was not of Water but of Blood and we do not read that it was only on the Fore-head and the Cups and Vessels that were sprinkled with Blood or Water were sprinkled all over and not in one single place And why did John baptize Christ by dipping into Water and others that he baptized if sprinkling on the Fore-head was sufficient in that day Next as to the baptizing of Infants they cite for it Gen. 17.9 Where God commanded Abraham that every Man child of his Posterity should be Circumcised and therefore every Infant of one or both the believing Parents are to be sprinkled with Water But this Consequence is meerly begged but nothing proved For the first we find an express command to Abraham For the second we find neither Command nor Practice in all the Scripture nor was the practice of baptizing Infants in use for an hundred of Years and more after the Apostles days among Professors of Christianity And let it be granted that Infants have a right to the Grace signified by Water Baptism it doth not therefore follow that the Figure or Sign belongeth unto them because they have also a right to Christ's Body and Blood and yet they confess the Supper is not to be administred unto them The next place they cite is Coloss 2.11 12. where Circumcision and Baptism are joyned together but neither the Circumcision nor the Baptism there mentioned is outward as is clear especially of Circumcision that is said to be made without Hands and therefore it is not the outward of the Flesh but the inward of the Heart and so is also the Baptism there mentioned verse 12. Buried with him in Baptism wherein also you are risen with him through the Faith of the operation of God Ye see here is nothing of outward Water Nor are all they who are baptized with outward Water either buried with Christ or risen with him but many still alive in old Adam and that too generally The next place they cite is Matth. 28.19 But this saith nothing of Water and if it were granted that Water-Baptism is understood as it neither is nor ought to be granted yet it will not prove that Infants should be any more baptized than taught seeing teaching and baptizing are joyned together Another place they cite is Luke 18.15 16. where Christ biddeth to suffer little Children to come unto him and forbid them not and that he blessed them and laid his hands upon them we read in Scripture but that he baptized them either with dipping or sprinkling we read not but on the contrary it is expresly said That Jesus himself baptized none to wit with Water see Joh. 4.2 Their last place they cite is Rom. 11.16 If the Root be holy so are the Branches but this doth not prove that Infants are more to be baptized than to have that called the Supper administred unto them And these Branches mentioned by Paul in that place Rom. 11.16 were really the unbelieving Jews that because of their Unbelief were broken off at that time yet the Root being holy to wit Abraham and the promised Seed Paul had hope of their conversion as many as did belong to God's election as he expresseth it verse 28. and these were not the immediate Children of Abraham but forty Generations after Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and therefore this Scripture saith as much for the aged unbelieving Children of unbelieving Parents if they have descended from any of their Fore-Fathers upwards of forty Generations that were Believers and if up to forty why not up to sixty and further Yea to Noah who is the common Father of all Men with whom God established his Covenant and with his Seed after him until the end of the World that all his Seed through Christ might receive the benefit of the same unless they do wilfully reject it of which I have said something already in Chap. 6. 3. And as for Water-Baptism in general we say it did only properly belong to John's Ministry and Dispensation and is expresly contradistinguished from the Baptism of Christ both by John and also by Christ himself for John did baptize with Water unto Repentance but Christ who cometh after John and was before him who is more worthy than John he baptizeth with fire and with the Holy Ghost and no doubt there was a spiritual blessing and Grace conveyed unto People by John's Baptism while it stood in force for God never ordained any outward thing but as it was rightly done in its day and season it had some spiritual blessing accompanying it as all the Sacrifices and Services of the Law And if any were raised up by the Lord as John was and could prove and instruct their being sent to baptize with Water as he was these to whom they should be sent ought gladly to receive it but to do it by bare imitation or a meer pretended Call which they cannot prove to be either mediate or immediate is great presumption yea superstition and to call that a Command of God which he hath given them no command to practise is to set up the Precepts of Men in the room of God's Commandments as the Pharisees did of old and is a taking of his Name in vain for which he will not hold them guiltless And they can never prove by all their art and skill that Water-Baptism is commanded by Christ Mat. 28.18 19. for all God's commands and precepts especially of publick institution relating to the Church are express in so many express Words and are not left to be gathered by uncertain and doubtful Consequences When God sent John to baptize with Water Water was expressed but in the Apostles Commission to baptize no mention is made of Water nor no words of Institution commanded to be used but the command is Go teach and baptize all Nations into the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost And the Name of either the Father or the Son or the Holy Ghost is most frequently if not always used in Scripture to signifie Power and Life as the Name of the