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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33498	The books and divers epistles of the faithful servant of the Lord Josiah Coale collected and published, as it was desired by him the day of his departure out of this life.	Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668.; Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668. Collection of the several books of Josiah Coale.; Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668. Whore unvailed.; Coale, Josiah, 1632?-1668. Vindication of the light within.; Parker, Alexander, 1628-1689.; Whitehead, George, 1636?-1723.; Penn, William, 1644-1718.	1671 (1671)	Wing C4751_PARTIAL; Wing C4760A_PARTIAL_CANCELLED; ESTC R23397	193,793	414

things were honest and of Good Report and by which the Truth might have been adorn'd how readily would you have been made conformable thereunto though you had deny'd your selves therein And then how did the Blessings of God with Peace and Unity one with another abound amongst you Well I hope and doubt not but that you are still like-minded in the same thing many of you and that you have the same Consolation abounding amongst you But if any be otherwise-minded I would have such know that the Truth is of the same worth as ever it was and of as great price with all who really walk therein as ever it was esteem'd by such and this God shall reveal unto them in his Day And if any retain not their first Love Zeal and Fervency but walk disorderly and not according to the Truth of the Gospel which was preached unto you by us in the beginning I say if we or any other shall walk amongst you not according to that Holy Order of the Gospel by which it may be adorn'd and shall refuse the Admonition of the Spirit of Meekness to be humbled for his disorderly walking have no Fellowship with such a one but let him be accounted as a Heathen and a Publican unto you that God may deal with him for his Iniquity according to his Deserts Yet nevertheless against an Elder receive not an Accusation except it be by the Mouthes of two or three Witnesses that nothing be done but that which may tend to the Edification of all and not to the Destruction of any And farther my Friends If any amongst you shall walk not as becomes the Gospel of Christ nor according to that savoury holy Order that the Truth hath led and doth lead into but by any unsavoury Actions or Motions whatsoever shall vary from the Simplicity and Purity of the Truth yet let not that become a Stumbling-Block unto any nor cause any to fall from the Faith which you have receiv'd and through which you have obtain'd Remission of Sins and Immortal Life For the Unfaithfulness or disorderly walking of some will not be a sufficient Excuse for others in the Day of the Lord when they are called to an account but every one who have tasted of the Power and Love of God and have receiv'd the Gift of his Spirit be faithful thereunto that you may improve your Tallent which is committed to you For every one must give an account for himself unto God and none can excuse you before him therefore I say Look not at the Haltings of others though it should be such who have seem'd to be as Pillers nor think to make that a Plea or an Excuse to decline from the Purity of the Holy Way of the Lord for although that may serve for an Argument amongst men yet that will not serve when God shall come to plead with such before whom all Hearts are open and all things naked and bare and he will give to every one a just Reward according to their Deeds Wherefore I say Let every one have an Eye unto the Lord in all things and mind their own state and how it stands betwixt them and the Lord and that will keep them from looking-out and consulting about the state of others who may vary from the Purity of the Truth for hereby the occasion of stumbling comes unto many But rather let the halting of such be as Dreadful Examples unto you to take Warning by that so you may be kept in Fear and Faithfulness in Watchfulness and Diligence lest you fall into the same Temptation and Snare of the Devil For my Friends Whither can any go to find Life Immortal Consolation and Satisfaction to their Souls if they should forsake the precious Truth of which we have born testimony in the Life and Demonstration of God's Spirit amongst you and through which many of you have found Rest to your Souls after many long and sore Travels Truly there is not another thing that can add unto your everlasting Consolation if once any of you should vary or slip aside from that And this I hope and doubt not but that many or most of you are perswaded and satisfied in Therefore continue therein and therein be unanimous in your Service and Obedience unto the Lord that by him his Good Spirit and Word of Grace you may be established forever And as concerning the state of Marriages You know the comely Order of the Church in the primitive Times before the Apostacy began and how the Apostle said If any be called being Married let him nor seek to be loosed nay though he or she had an Unbelieving Wife or Husband but let the Husband render due Benevolence to the Wife and likewise the Wife to the Husband And further By Commission from God he said Let not the Wife depart from her Husband And so say I unto you in the Name and Fear of the Lord Let none give place in the least to that spirit that would beget Inclinations in the Wife or Husband to depart one from another but let every man have his own Wife and every woman her own Husband For whatsoever Pretence or Covering that spirit that would separate them may come under yet it is a spirit of Fornication and it will lead out of the comely Order into the Disorder and into the Defilements and Pollutions of the World and into a Pit and a Snare And for such things sake the Wrath of God will be reveal'd and he will make such Examples of his Vengeance For as the Apostle said The Wife is bound by the Law so long as her Husband liveth and if she depart from him and Marry another Man she is an Adulteress and a Transgressor of the Law And therefore my dear Friends as I said before In that comely Order in which you may adorn the Gospel and be kept in Favour with the Lord and in Unity and Fellowship one with another in his Spirit of Life let all walk together and in your places and stations where the Lord hath set you and order'd you therein abide with him having the Loins of your Minds girt about with the Truth it self and be zealous for the Honour thereof and keep stedfast therein with the Lord in Fear and Faithfulnes in Fervency and Simplicity all being Examples one to another of Chastity and Holiness and Godliness of Conversation that you may also be as Lights unto the World answering the Witness of God in all that none may have any thing against you nor whereof to accuse you but only concerning your Obedience to the Law of your God then will you have strong Consolation in the Lord and great Boldness and Confidence towards him and also in the sight of all men and the Lord will encrease your Spiritual Substance and will also enlarge your Borders by daily adding to your Number such as shall be saved And so the Everlasting God keep you all and be with and amongst you and cause the plentious

to betray his Master did afterwards rebuke him for it but then his Ignorance would have somewhat more plainly appeared But it was indeed the same spirit which led Judas into that presumptuous act as to betray his Master that afterwards led him to desperation and to hang himself and that Spirit which let him see his wickedness which he had done and rebuked him for it was Light For whatsoever makes manifest is Light Eph. 5.13 Eleventhly then lastly he saith Thus far have we digressed for the Conversion of Quakers c Answ To which I say that if he hath no better way to convert Quakers nor no better Arguments to produce in order to their Conversion then what he hath made use of in his pretended reconsiler of Religions he were better be silent and save his Labour for I cannot believe that a thousand such Books will ever convert or rather divert one Quaker nay nor convince them neither except it be of his own gross Ignorance or wilful wickedness of which there is enough appears as before manifested Thus having briefly answered the most remarkable Arguments produced by A. S. to prove the Church of Rome the true Church and also the several particulars by which he endeavoured to render the people called Quakers as a people led by a deluding Spirit I find the rest of his Book consists of divers Arguments in which he controverts with Sectaries and their Bibles and Ministers c. whose cause as aforesaid I am not ingaged in therefore it doth not concern me to answer his Charges against them but shall leave them to answer for themselves Although there are indeed many things contained in the remaining part of his Book from which I might lay open much of the deceit and Ignorance of A. S. and the Abominations of the Church of Rome But the generality of people being alreadly so fully satisfied concerning her and the confusion and ignorance of A. S. also being herein so fully manifested already I look upon it as superfluous at present to inlarge on this account and indeed if never a word had been said the very fruits brought forth by the Church of Rome in the view of all Nations are enough to foreware them of adhering to her for can a man touch Pitch and not be defiled A hint towards the discovery of the true Church But for all that hath been said It may be some will say that grand Question propounded by A. S. in the second Chapter of his Book Remains yet unanswered viz Which is the true Church c. First to which I answer that is the true Church and no other whose fruits make manifest that they are govern'd by the invisible head Christ and that continue in the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles and that are found in the same order or discipline in their Assemblies that the true Church was in the primitive times and that have the same way of ordaining Ministers that the true Church had and that lives soberly righteously and godly in this present World as the true Church did But the people called Quaekers are such as hereafter I shall prove Therefore the people called Quakers are the true Church Secondly It is manifest by the fruits of the people call'd Quakers that they are governed by the invisible Head Christ for Christ commands his Followers not to swear at all which command the aforesaid people observe and keep as this Nation of England full well knows Again Christ came not to destroy mens lives but to save them and commanded his Followers to love their Enemies And it is manifest that the people called Quakers have the mind of Christ because they seek not the destruction of any but the preservation and good of all and that they love even their Enemies who hate and persecute them because they are ready to assist or be helpfull to them upon all occasions or opportunities in any thing that may tend to their present and future well-being therefore they are governed by the invisible Head Christ Again Christ commanded saying whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you even so do ye unto them Mat. 7.12 which command the aforesaid people observe and keep as thousands can bear witness for them Therefore they are governed by the invisible Head Christ and are the True Church Thirdly Again the people called Quakers continue in the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles for Christ preacht the Doctrine of Perfection saying Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect Math. 5.48 And the Apostle preacht the same Doctrine Heb. 6.1 and Laboured to persent every man perfect in Christ Col. 1.28 having received gifts for that very work Ephes 4.11.12 And the people called Quakers do preach the same Doctrine of Perfection and Labour in the Power and Spirit of the Lord to present people perfect in Christ as the Apostles did as thousands can bear Testimony by which it sufficiently appears that they continue in the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles and therefore they are the true Church But this Christian Doctrine is opposed by all the Antichristian Ministers thoughout the whole Christendom or by all Babylons Merchants in every part of her Teritories who ignorantly produce many good words to oppose this Doctrine 1. As First they urge Solomons words viz There is not a just man upon the Earth that doth good and sinneth not Therefore say they people cannot be perfect But alas they do not discern the signs of the times neither do they consider the time and season when these words were spoken for at that time all were gone out of the Way and there was none that did good Psa 14.3 and they had forsaken the Lord and knew not so much of him as the Oxe did of his Owner Isa 1.3 and were in the transgression of Gods Covenant which he made with their Fathers Jer. 31.32 so that although there were none without sin at that time yet it doth not follow the people can never be free from sin no more then their being then ignorant of God doth argue that people should never come to the knowledg of him the contrary of both which may be easily proved by plain Scripture for at that time when Israel were strangers unto God and were all gone out of the way and none amongst them did good c. even then did God promise that the day should come in which he would make a new Covenant with the house of Judah and with the house of Israel who were in the transgression of the first Covenant Jer. 31.31 and that he would finish transgression and make an end of sin Dan. 24. who had hid his face from them and by which they were made Strangers to him Isa 59.2 and that he would remember their Iniquities no more and that they should all know him from the least to the greatest Jer. 31.34 by which it is evident that although in the Prophets days they were all in transgression and had not

the Knowledge of God the purpose of God was to bring them into a better state which the true Church in the Apostles dayes were Witnesses of for the Apostles said Heb. 11.46 God having provided some better thing for us that they without us could not be made perfect and although some of them had been Idolators and had lived in the pollutions of the World yet they were washed and clensed yea and justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God 1 Cor. 6.10 11. and so though they were sometimes ignorant of God yet God caused the Light to shine out of darkness in their hearts to give them the Light of the Knowledge of Gods Glory in the face of Christ who dwelt in them 2 Cor. 4.6 Gal. 2.20 so that both sin and ignorance was done away in them though the power and coming of the Lord Jesus and so they did not always remain in their sin but were freed from them as the Apostle testified Rom. 18. 1.2 Secondly But then Antichrist's Mimisters saith That if they were free from sin why did the Apostle say That if we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us 1 John 1.8 I Answer he did not say so because people could not be made free from sin but he said so that they might not sin 1 John 2.1 and consider who they were that he then wrote to for he sometimes wrote to Children and somtimes to Young-men and sometimes to Fathers in the truth 1 Joh. 2.13 But when be spake those words viz If we say we have no sin c. he then spake to Children for said he my little Children these things I write unto you that you sin not 1 John 2.1 Now if they had been already perfect or fully fully freed from sin then had they attained to the mans state which the Apostle laboured to bring them to Col. 1.28 But they having not attained to that state he would not have them to deceive themselves nor to think more highly of themselves then they ought to think Rom. 12.3 which Children in understanding are subject to do but with these little Children the Apostle Travelled in birth that Christ might be formed in them Gal. 4.19 who is the one offering that perfects for ever all them that are sanctified Heb. 10.14 and he laboured to build them up in the holy Faith which gives Victory through Christ that so they might be borne up to a mans state for said He he that is born of God doth not sin John 3.9 Thirdly But then it may be some will object that the Apostle spake not only of Children but of himself also saying If we say c. To which I Answer that although the Apostle numbred himself with them yet that doth not argue that he was in their state or that he was not set free from sin no more then James his numbring himself amongst the scattered Jews saying with the same mouth curse we men c. Jam. 1.9 doth argue that he was one of them that did curse men for its evident that the Apostle became as weak to them that were weak and to the strong as strong and to them that were under the Law as under the Law and to them that were without the Law as without the Law though not without Law to God and became all things unto all that he thereby might gain some 1 Cor. 9.20 21 22. so although he did condescend to them that were weak as Children or Babes in Christ as to number himself amongst them for the gaining of them to a farther state yet that doth not at all argue that he was as they were for the Apostle Paul himself said that he was set free from the Law of sin and death Rom. 8.2 all which being rightly weighed it manifestly appears that perfection or freedom from sin is attainable according to the Doctrine of Christ and his Apostles which by the people called Quakers is preached and continued in as before asserted therefore they are the true Church 4. Again The Order and Discipline of the true Church in the Apostles time was That the Prophets might speak two or three and the rest might judge and if any thing was revealed to another that sate by he might speak and the first was to hold his peace 1 Cor. 14.29 30. and the same order the people called Quakers have in their Assemblies as is known to thousands by which it appears that they are the true Church 5. Again The Ministers of Christ in the true Church in the primitive times who turned people from darkness to light and from Satans power to the Power of God Gal. 1.1 were Ordained and made Ministers not of man nor by man nor of the letter but of the Spirit by the revelation of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 3.6 and so are the Ministers amongst the people called Quakers made Ministers of the Spirit by the revelation of Jesus Christ as the effects of their ministry doth testifie for many are turned from darkness to light and from iniquity to righteousness and the spirits in Prison is by them ministred unto and the dead are raised unto life and the Captives are set at Liberty as thousands can and must bear witness Therefore the people called Quakers are the true Church Sixthly The true Church in the primitive times was taught by the Grace of God that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts they should live soberly and righteously and goodly in this present World Tit. 2.11 12. and the people called Quakers being taught by the same spirit of Grace do deny ungodliness and wordly lusts as many in this Nation well knows and doth live soberly righteously and godly in this present world as thousands can testifie Therefore the people called Quakers are the true Church Thus I might produce many more Arguments to prove the aforesaid people to be the Church of true Christians but much of this kind hath been by several of them already written wherefore I shall not inlarge at present but for any that shall desire any farther satisfaction let them come to the Assemblies of the aforesaid people and hear their Doctrines and behold their Discipline c. and as the Apostle said Try all things and hold fast that which is good 1 Thess 5.21 These following Lines are sent to all Sectaries in Christendom who have been killing and destroying one another about Faith and Worship but especially to the Church of ROME O Babylon the Great who long hast reign'd a Painted Whore And hast Bewitch't the Nations with thy Inchanting Power Into Remembrance thou art come of God the Mighty Lord who 'll do to thee as thou hast done the Saints with one accord Have bent their Bowes against thee strong and mighty men they are They will not spare nor pitty thee in this day o' th Lambs War For it 's the day of veng'ance great of our Almighty God He 'll do to thee as thou

therefore she is infallible I answer He hath not at all confirmed that by any proof neither hath he any farther proof than his own affirmation except he would produee that saying of the Mother of Harlots viz. I sit as a Queen and am no Widdow and shall see no sorrow Rev. 18.7 And indeed that would be a very pittiful Argument to prove the Church of Rome infallible but none other can he produce except he could first prove her to be the true Church which he is never able to do his best Argument by which he hath undertaken it being already confuted Therefore we have no more cause to believe his Affirmation than we have to believe the sayings of the forementioned Mother of Harlots for they are both alike to us and though she said she should see no sorrow yet John who was in the Spirit of the Lord said that in one day her Desolation should come Rev. 18.8 And although A. S. saith That the Church of Rome shall alwayes remain to the end of the World yet I say in the Name of the Lord and by the same Spirit that John was in That the one day of which John spake is already dawned in which the Desolation of that Great Whore the Church of Rome shall come and as surely as when Sodom was overthrown the Cities round about it were overthrown also 2 Pet. 2.9 Jude ver 7. so certainly when this great City Babylon is overthrown and made desolate the Suburbs thereof shall be overthrown and made desolate also The Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it and therefore she must fail in her Prophesies and cease in her Beeing which as A. S. saith the true Church cannot Fourthly And farther the Church of Rome is variable in her Judgments as the diversities of Councels that she hath held concerning matters of Faith beareth witness for the following General Counsel hath oft-times excluded that which was concluded on by the former and surely both cannot be infallible they being quite contradictory one to the other Read the 15th chapter of F. H. his Book entituled THE GLORY OF THE TRUE CHURCH DISCOVERED c. wherein the contradictions of the General Counsels which the Church of Rome hath held are sufficiently made manifest so that I need not trouble my self to insert them here and thereby its evident enough that the Church of Rome is not infallible Fifthly Again if A. S. or any other could prove that the Church of Rome had alwayes remained since Christs time yet as aforesaid that is not a sufficient Argument to prove her infallible or that she cannot fail nor cease For consider the Dragon that old Serpent called the Devil who was a Murtherer from the beginning who gave power to the Beast that carries the Whore that drinks the Saints blood that said she should see no sorrow was before the dayes of Christ's appearance in the flesh yet the Dragon is not infallible But the Church of Rome is upheld by the Murtherer or carried by the Dragons power in the Beast as the Murthers acted by her beareth witness therefore she is no more infallible than the Dragon is Seventhly And as to the 7th part of A. S. his Argument wherein he saith The True Church is inerrable and then saith that the Church of Rome is this inerrable True Church for all the Sectaries Schismaticks and Hereticks in the World saith he could never yet shew wherein she erred nor ever shall Therefore she is inerrable Answ 1. I answer although the Hereticks could not prove that the Church of Rome hath erred yet there are many who are members of the true Church of which Christ is Head and supreme Governour alone that can prove wherein she hath erred and doth still grosly err from the Doctrine Practice and Discipline of the true Church as it stood in the Apostles dayes for the Apostle in his dayes said Let every man be fully perswaded in his own Conscience Rom. 14.5 and did not go about to force People to conform to such things that they were not perswaded of in their consciences nor to compel them by outward Laws to conform thereunto but the Church of Rome doth not admit that every one should walk or act according as they are perswaded in their own Consciences but goes about by outward Laws to compel them to conform to that which she calls her holy Ordinances and Institutions which many for conscience sake towards Gods dare not conform to because they know them to be invented Idolatries and they who cannot for Conscience sake submit to her Impositions or drink of her Cup of Abominations then to be sure she will drink their Blood Witness the Blood she hath drunk for above this thousand years past of them that could not for Conscience sake towards God conform to her Ordinances And therefore she hath erred from that Spirit which was in the true Church and from the Apostles Doctrine and is still in the Error Secondly In the true Church in the Apostles dayes every one as he had received the Gift of the Spirit of God so he might Administer 1 Pet. 4.10 and the Prophets might speak two or three and if any thing was revealed to him that stood by he might speak and the first should be silent 1 Cor. 14.29 30 31. But this is not the order of the Church of Rome as is sufficiently manifested to all Christendom therefore she hath erred from the Apostles Spirit and Order and is still in the Error And thus I might produce many more Arguments to shew wherein the Church of Rome hath erred and doth err only my desire is to be as brief as may be so that satisfaction may be given for which I doubt not but this is sufficient as to that particular 8. And as concerning Miracles in the true Church I do confess and bear witness that there are Miracles wrought in her daily but that all Miracles are an Argument sufficient to prove a people to be the true Church that I do not acknowledge but deny For First the Magicians of Egypt could by their Sorceries or Inchantments imitate those things in the sight of the Egyptians that Moses and Aaron did by the Power of God Exod. 8.7 and the false Prophet he wrought lying Miracles before the Beast that carries the Whore insomuch that he caused fire to come down out of Heaven in the sight of men Rev. 13.13 14. and chap. 19. ver 20. And this the Whore might have said was done in confirmation of her faith doctrines as A. S. doth yet nevertheless it was done by the Dragons power who was a Murderer from the beginning For he gave power to the Beast that carries the Whore to do such things Rev. 13.2 and therefore the Miracles in the Church of Rome if now there be any is no infallible evidence to prove her to be the true Church Well 2. But then it may be some will say that this is harsh judgment and how can you tell but