given to some Saints in this life not by the Power of man's strength but by the Grace of God he doth well to think so confidently and hope it faithfully That by the Gift of God all things are possible for by the Gift of God all things are possible That this was the Common Opinion of the Fathers appears from the words of the Aszansik Council Canon last We believe also this according to the Catholick Faith that all that are baptized through Grace by Baptism received and Christ helping them and Co-working may and ought to do whatsoever belongs to Salvation if they will faithfully labour Conclusion § XI Blessed then are they that believe in him who is both able and willing to Deliver as many as come to him through True Repentance from all Sin and do not resolve as these men do to be the Devil's Servants all their life time Phil. 3.14 but daily go on forsaking unrighteousness and forgetting those things that are behind Press forwards to the Mark the Prize an Overcoming press forwards towards the Mark for the Prize of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus Such shall not find their Faith and Confidence to be in vain but in due time shall be made Conquerors through him in whom they have believed and so Overcoming shall be established as pillars in the house of God so as they shall go no more out Rev. 3.12 PROPOSITION IX Concerning Perseverance and the possibility of Falling from Grace Although this Gift and inward Grace of God be sufficient to work out Salvation yet in those in whom it is Resisted it both may and doth become their Condemnation Moreover they in whose hearts it hath wrought in part to purify and sanctify them in order to their further perfection may by disobedience fall from it The Grace of God is lost by Disobâ—dience turn it to wantonness 1 Tim. 1.19 make shipwrack of faith and after having tasted the heavenly Gift and been made partakers of the Holy Ghost again fall away Hebr. 6.4 5 6 yet such an Increase and Stability in the Truth may in this life be attained from which there cannot be a Total Apostasy § I. THe first Sentence of this Proposition hath already been treated of in the fifth and sixth Propositions where it hath been shewn that that Light which is given for Life and Salvation becomes the Condemnation of those that Refuse it and therefore is already proved in those places where I did demonstrate the possibility of man's Resisting the Grace and Spirit of God And indeed it is so apparent in the Scriptures that it cannot be denied by such as will but seriously consider these Testimonies Prov. 1.24 25 26. John 3.18 19. 2 Thess. 2.11 12. Acts 7.51 13.46 Rom. 1.18 As for the other part of it That they in whom this Grace may have wrought in a good measure in order to purify and sanctify them tending to their further perfection may afterwards through disobedience fall away c. the Testimonies of the Scripture included in the Proposition it self are sufficient to prove it to men of unbiassed Judgments But because as to this part our Cause is Common with many other Protestants I shall be the more brief in it For it is not my design to do that which is done already neither do I covet to appear knowing by writing much but simply purpose to present to the World a faithful Account of our Principles and briefly to let them understand what we have to say for our selves A falling from Grace by Disobedience Evinced § II. From these Scriptures then included in the Proposition not to mention many more which might be urged I argue thus If men may turn the Grace of God into Wantonness then they must once Arg. 1 have had it But the First is true Therefore also the Second If men may make shipwrack of Faith they must once have had it neither Arg. 2 could they ever have had true Faith without the Grace of God But the First is true Therefore also the Last If men may have tasted of the heavenly Gift and been made partakers Arg. 3 of the Holy Spirit and afterwards fall away they must needs have known in measure the operation of God's Saving Grace and Spirit without which no man could taste the heavenly Gift nor yet partake of the Holy Spirit But the First is true Therefore also the Last Secondly Seeing the Contrary Doctrine is built upon this false Hypothesis That Grace is not given for Salvation to any but to a certain Elect Number which cannot lose it The Doctrine of Election and Reprobation is Inconsistent with Preaching and daily Exhortation and that all the rest of mankind by an absolute Decree are debarred from Grace and Salvation that being destroyed this falls to the ground Now as that Doctrine of theirs is wholly Inconsistent with the daily Practice of those that Preach it in that they Exhort people to believe and be saved while in the mean time if they belong to the Decree of Reprobation it is simply Impossible for them so to do and if to the Decree of Election it is needless seeing it is as Impossible to them to miss of it as hath been before demonstrated So also in this matter of Perseverance their Practice and Principle are no less Inconsistent and Contradictory For while they daily Exhort people to be Faithful to the end shewing them if they Continue not they shall be Cut off and fall short of the Reward which is very true but no less Inconsistent with that Doctrine that affirms There is no hazzard because no possibility of departing from the least measure of true Grace Which if true it is to no purpose to beseech them to Stand to whom God hath made it Impossible to Fall I shall not longer insist upon the probation of this seeing what is said may suffice to answer my design and that the thing is also abundantly proved by many of the same Judgment That this was the Doctrine of the primitive Protestants thence appears that the Augustane Confession Condemns it as an Error of the Anabaptists to say That who once are Justified they cannot lose the Holy Spirit Many such like sayings are to be found in the Common Places of Philip Melanchthon Vossius in his Pelagian History lib. 6. testifies The Opinion of the Fathers concerning falling from Grace That this was the Common Opinion of the Fathers In the Confirmation of the twelfth These pag. 587. he hath these words That this which we have said was the common Sentiment of Antiquity those at present can only deny who other ways perhaps are men not Vnlearned but nevertheless in Antiquity altogether strangers c. These things thus observed I come to the Objections of our Opposers Object 1 § III. First they Alledge That those places mentioned of making shipwrack of Faith is only understood of seeming Faith and not of a real
times are as full of the various Tragedies acted upon the account of this Spiritual and Ecclesiastick Monarchy and Common-wealth as the Histories of Old times that gave account of the Wars and Contests that fell out both in the Assyrian Persian Greek and Roman Empires These last upon this account though among those that are called Christians have been no less Bloody and Monstrous than the former among Heathens concerning their outward Empires and Governments The Ground and Cause thereof Now all this both among Rapists and Protestants proceedeth in that they seek in Imitation to uphold a Form and Shadow of things though they want the Power Vertue and Substance though for many of their Orders and Forms they have not so much as the Name in the Scripture But in Opposition to all this Mass of Formality and heap of Orders Rules and Governments we say the Substance is chiefly to be sought after and the Power Virtue and Spirit is to be known and waited for which is One in all the different Names and Offices the Scripture makes use of as appears by 1 Cor. 12.4 often before-mentioned There are diversities of Gifts but the same Spirit And after the Apostle throughout the whole Chapt. hath shewn how one and the self same Spirit worketh in and quickneth each Member then in vers 28. he sheweth how thereby God hath set in the Church first Apostles secondly Prophets Teachers c. And likewise to the same purpose Eph. 4.11 he sheweth how by these Gifts he hath given some Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists some Pastors some Teachers c. Now it was never Christ's purpose nor the Apostles that Christians should without this Spirit and Heavenly Gift set up a shadow and form of these Orders and so make several Ranks and Degrees to establish a Carnal Ministry of mens making without the Life Power and Spirit of Christ this is that Work of Anti-Christ and Mystery of Iniquity The Work of Antichrist and Mystery of Iniquity that hath got up in the dark night of Apostasy But in a true Church of Christ gathered together by God not only unto the belief of the Principles of Truth but also into the Power Life and Spirit of Christ the Spirit of God is the Orderer Ruler and Governour as in each particular so in the general And when they Assemble together to wait upon God and Worship and Adore him then such as the Spirit sets apart to the Ministry Such as the Spirit sets apart to the Ministry their brethren hear them by its Divine Power and Influence opening their mouths and giving them to Exhort Reprove and Instruct with virtue and power these are thus of God Ordained and Admitted into the Ministry and their Brethren cannot but hear them receive them and also honour them for their works sake And so this is not Monopolized to a certain kind of men as the Clergy who are to that purpose Educated and brought up The Clergy and Laicks as other Carnal Artists and the rest to be despised as Laicks but it is left to the free Gift of God to chuse any whom he seeth meet thereunto whether Rich or Poor Servant or Master Young or Old yea Male or * Women may preach Female And such as have this Call verifie the Gospel by preaching not in speech only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much fulness 1 Thess. 1.5 and cannot but be received and heard by the sheep of Christ. Object § XXV But if it be objected here That I seem hereby to make no distinction at all betwixt Ministers and others which is contrary to the Apostle saying 1 Cor. 12.29 Are all Apostles are all Prophets are all Teachers c. from thence they insinuate That I also Contradict his Comparison in that Chapter of the Church of Christ with a Humane Body as where he saith vers 17. If the whole Body were an Eye where were the Hearing If the whole were Hearing where were the Smelling c. Also the Apostle not only thus distinguisheth the Ministers of the Church in general from the rest of the Members but also among themselves as naming them distinctly and separately Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors and Teachers c. Answ. 1 As to the last part of this Objection to which I shall first Answer it is apparent that this Diversity of Names is not for to distinguish separate Offices Diversity of Names makes no distinct Offices but which may Coincide or be together in one person but to denote the different and various Operations of the Spirit a manner of speech frequent with the Apostle Paul wherein he sometimes exspatiates to the illustrating of the glory and praise of God's Grace as in particular Rom. 12.6 Having then Gifts differing according to the Grace that is given to us whether Prophecy let us prophesie according to the proportion of faith Or Ministry let us wait on our Ministring or he that Teacheth on Teaching Or he that exhorteth on Exhortation Now none will say from all this that these are distinct Offices or do not or may not coincide in one person as may all these other things mentioned by him in the subsequent verses viz. of loving being kindly affectioned fervency of spirit hospitality diligence blessing rejoycing c. Which yet he numbers forth as different Gifts of the Spirit and according to this Objection might be placed as distinct and separate Offices which were most Absurd Secondly In these very places mentioned it is clear that it is no Real Distinction of separate Offices because all acknowledge that Pastors and Teachers which the Apostle there no less separateth and distinguisheth than Pastors and Prophets or Apostles are one and the same and Coincide in the same office and person and therefore so may be said of the rest For Prophecy as it signifieth the foretelling of things to come is indeed a distinct Gift but no distinct Office and therefore our Adversaries do not place it among their several Orders neither will they deny but that both may be and have been given of God to some Prophecy and Prophesying its twofold signification that not only have been Pastors and Teachers and that there it hath Coincided in one person with these other Offices but also to some of the Laicks and so it hath been found according to their own Concession without the Limits of their Clergy Prophecy in the other sense to wit as it signifieth a Speaking from the Spirit of Truth is not only peculiar to Pastors and Teachers To Prophesy a Priviledge of Teachers and of all the Saints who ought so to Prophesy but even a Common Priviledge to the Saints For though to Instruct Teach and Exhort be proper to such as are more particularly called to the Work of the Ministry yet it is not so Proper to them as not to be when the Saints are met together as any of them are moved by the Spirit Common to
easie Compend of our Active Duty to God and Man yea to ourselves Soberly That is with Moderation Temper Government of our Passions and Affections Let your Moderation be known unto all Men Phil. 4.5 said the same Apostle His Reason was pressing and unanswerable For the Lord is at hand So be Sober for the Lord 's at hand and let Men see that we are so Though the Exhortation chiefly regards Ourselves that we may not Abuse or Disorder our selves Overdo or Act in reference to our own Persons and Affairs As if he had said be sober and moderate in thy Giving Getting Conversing in thy Pains and Pleasures in Thoughts VVords and Deeds in thy whole Man and Life Righteously Refers to our Neighbour to do as we would be done to To defraud none oppress none 1 Cor. 6.7 8 9. Eph. 6.1 10. Col. 3.20 25. Prov. 20.10 Ch. 22.28 but Discharge all Relations and Conditions uprightly to Parents Magistrates Husband VVife Children Servants Neighbours Strangers Enemies Just VVeights and Measures Old Land-marks and an Even Ballance These are well-pleasing to God in all Ranks and Relations Godly in this present VVorld relates chiefly to God the Faith VVorship and Obedience we owe to him Obedience by a pious Life For this is the will of God even our Sanctification without Holiness none shall see him 1 Thess. 4.3 So that to be Godly is to Live after God not the World and after his Spirit not our Flesh but to Crucify the flesh with the lusts thereof Rom. 13.12 14. Gal. 5.22 25. and put on the Lord Jesus Christ his Meekness his Patience Humility Mercy Forgiveness Love Temperance and Righteousness and make no more provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof No more be in pain Matt. 6.31 33. what we should eat or drink or put on or how we may make our selves Wealthy or Mighty in the Earth after the way of the Old Gentiles that knew not God as is the Custom of almost the whole Christian World so called at this very day which General Declension shews that a General Judgment and an Over-flowing Scourge of God is at hand but to seek the Kingdom of God first and deny our selves Job 14.14 and watch and pray waiting all the Days of our appointed Time until our Great and Last Change shall come So that Godliness is God-likeness Translation Renewing yea the First Resurrection that those who Attain to it the Second Death shall have no Power over them This Godliness with Contentment is the greatest Gain 1 Tim. 4.8 Ch. 6.6 1 Joh. 3.5 8. and profitable in all things the Sum and Substance of Religion and of all God's Dispensations in the World yea the very End of Christ's coming and the blessed Fruit of his Victory over Hell Death and the Grave that Sin might have an end the Devil's Works in Man and Woman be destroyed and Man made an holy Temple and Tabernacle for God to dwell in This is Godliness and this Godliness is the way to please God 2 Cor. 6.16 Matt. 6.20 1 Tim. 6.18 19. to lay up Treasure in Heaven to be fruitful in Grace rich in Faith and good VVorks and to lay hold on Eternal Life and become Heirs of an Inheritance Incorruptible Which brings me to the Fifth and Last thing observable from this Comprehensive Passage viz. The Comfortable Reward and End of this Life and Grace in vers 13. Looking for that blessed Hope and the glorious Appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ That is Looking for the Fulfilling of that blessed Hope to Have what they Hoped for An Hope that does not make Ashamed those that have it but is an Anchor to the Soul in the greatest Storms that Attend Men on thair Way to Blessedness It is for the Accomplishment of this Hope the gracious Livers have a Title to Expect and Wait. They that have been Taught by the Grace what to deny and what to do and to look and live above the VVorld and by an Eye of Faith to pierce through the dark Clouds of Time and stedfastly to look into the things that are Eternal they are but Travellers and Pilgrims as were all the Godly Fathers of old Time and expect with them a City Heb. 11.10 whose Builder and Maker is God These wait for the Glorious Appearing of the great God and their Saviour Jesus Christ as the Blessed End of their Hope and to them he will certainly come as the Glorious and Faithful Rewarder of the Faith Obedience and Perseverance of his poor Disciples and Servants They shall Reign with him a Thousand Years and for ever Their Obedience and Sufferings are but Temporal but the Recompence Everlasting Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard Isa. 64.4 1 Cor. 2.9 10. Psal. 84.1 10. nor has the Heart of man been able to perceive the good things that God has laid up in store for those that love him But in the Heavens that do not wax Old and which will never pass away those holy Courts of God the true Followers of Jesus the Children of Light and Disciples of the Cross that come through the many Tribulations from Conviction to Conversion from Conversion to Consummation the End of all shall Understand Tast and Enjoy those Hidden and Divine Pleasures that are as Ineffable as they are Eternal This Reader is the Old Divinity that of Christ and his blessed Apostles Time and Teaching renewed in our Days by the fresh Breaking-forth of the same Light Spirit and Grace that brought this Doctrine of Immortality to Light in those Primitive and Happy Ages yea Immortality it self a Divine Never-dying Life into the Soul that which quickens it out of the sleepy and dead Estate Sin brings it into by which it looseth all Savour or Relish of Spiritual Things I say this is the Divinity God has Renewed among us an Experimental Work or Operation of his Light Spirit and Grace in our Souls This Light is the great Luminary of the Intellectual World that expels the Darkness and scatters the Mists of Sin and Death that the Souls of Men labour under where it is Received and Obeyed This is the Day of God in which the whole World has a Visitation that by which we are to see our Way to God and Duty to him and all Men as the outward Sun is the Means by which we see our outward Ways and the Difference of outward Things This was the Principle that divinely endued the Author of the ensuing Volume and has enabled him to Write of God and his Attributes by the Power and Truth of them upon his own Soul He felt his Justice in himself for his Disobedience His Mercy by the Forgiveness of his Sins through Faith and Repentance His Holiness by the Sanctification of his Grace through Obedience to the Teachings of it That God is a Spirit by the Spiritual Operations upon his own Soul the Spiritual Part of himself And Omnipresent because he felt his Presence or him present as a
saith so These are his most Frequent and Inforcing Arguments against us Of this nature is his Arguing page 11. Reckoning it as a great Absurdity flowing from our Doctrine that it would Import Christ in some measure to be in the Americans because He bears Testimony in them against Iniquity Christ in the Americans in some measure But to prove this to be Absurd he produceth no Reason and if we may believe the Apostle Paul he tells us That a Manifestation of the Spirit is given every one to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 So this Every one Includes the Americans The second Absurdity which he seeks to Infer from this hath no better bottom That then it might be said that Christ is Revealed to Devils and that we do the Heathens small favour in putting them but in the same case with such For the Revelation of Christ to man before the Day of their Visitation be Expired and to such after they have sin'd it out is far different as may appear by Luke 17. Likewise W. M. hath forgot how easily this Argument may be Retorted upon himself for it is not questioned but Devils have enough of outward Knowledge even such as is gathered from Scripture and that which W.M. accounts the great Priviledge of Christians doth it therefore follow that Christians are in no better condition than Devils And thus is Answered another of his profuse Assertions page 12. That if Pagans have Saving Light their State should be as good as the State of real Christians For it is one thing to have Saving Light and another to harken to and receive it else according to his own Argument the State of Devils should be as good as the State of Real Christians He adds Where Saving Illumination is there is Saving Faith because there is a Concatination betwixt these Graces of the Spirit Answ. There is Grace given in order to Save where Faith doth not follow upon it which is evident by the Parable of the Seeds Matth. 13.3 it was the same Seed was sown in the Stony and Thorny Ground that was sown in the good Ground and yet it only brought forth Fruit there The Light enlighteneth every man He came unto His own and they received Him not but it was only To as many as received Him that He gave Power to become the Sons of God And whereas he Objecteth That where we are desired to believe in the Light it is understood of Christ's Person else it would Import a belief in a Creature I Answer He that believeth in the Light believeth in Christ for where the Light of Christ is as saith W. M himself page 22. there is Christ himself In the same page he further adds That if Pagans have Saving Light then there is no Spiritual Benefit accrues to Christians by the Scriptures and Gospel Pagans have Saving Light and Gospel But he hath not heard us contra-distinguish this Light from the Gospel We say expresly it is the Gospel according to Col 1.23 where the Apostle saith That the Gospel whereof he was a Minister was preached to every Creature This Scripture mentioned by me in my last he hath wholly Omitted Nor is this Arguing of his concerning the bad tendency of our Principle but a reiterate Clamour of what is already Answered in page 16. of my last where I shew him we distinguish betwixt things absolutely needful and things very profitable and how they Admit of this Distinction themselves As also how these bad Consequences of rendring the Gospel and Preaching useless doth far more follow from their Doctrine of absolute Predestination all which he hath also Omitted Predestination made void Now such are far likelier than we to reprove David his Praying for more Vnderstanding and that he might keep the Precepts of God for being Predestinate to Life he could not miss of it and how can such but reckon it folly for him to Pray that he might keep the Precepts whose Principles Obliges them to believe they can never be made able to keep them Page 13. To say That men are Brutish in their Knowledge because they turn their Backs upon the Light he reckons a Begging of the Question as having no proof at all Whereas it is particularly Intimated 1 Joh. 1.5 6 7. where the cause of mens Walking in Darkness is said to be their not Walking in the Light though it be Pastors mentioned in that 10 th of Jer. 19. that are said to be Brutish Brutish Pastors yet he cannot be Induced to name them It is easie to prove though he Insinuate the contrary that what in Scripture is called Darkness hath Saving Light seeing it is expresly mentioned that the Light shineth in the Darkness but the Darkness comprehended it not And this was Saving being Christ who is the Saviour Joh. 1.5 Nor doth his supposed Contradiction follow from this as if men could be Spiritually Dead and not Spiritually Dead in respect they have this in them which is Saving for though it be in them yet it is not of them he that believeth in me saith Christ though he be dead yet shall he live Joh. 11.25 If Life be not in them as their permanent Condition yet they may have some touches of it and the Principle of Life is Permanent even in those that are Spiritually Dead though many times as a Spark covered under the Ashes He addeth further That according to us such who are the Children of Darkness may be called the Children of Light because a Child of Light is as much as one in whom there is Saving Light and Grace citing for proof Luke 16.8 the words are For the Children of this world are wiser in their generation than the Children of Light But he offereth from this to Inter That such who are indeed the Children of Darkness because of their Disobedience to the Saving Light and Grace of Truth that is in them he has not offered so much as to mention Page 13. He confesseth with me That the Light in some may be Darkness but speaks not one word of what Light I mention may be so page 17. of mine only adds That we will do well to exhort our Disciples to take heed of our Light not to it But we desire not People to take heed to our Light or their Light as he terms it but to the Light wherewith Christ Jesus hath Enlightened them and in this there is no danger He greatly declares his Ignorance in alledging Our way of bidding People heed the Light within is not warranted by Scripture for God is Light 1 Joh. 1.3 Is he not in us Acts 17.27 28. God is Light Must we not then there take heed unto Him Or is not that Light to be taken heed unto which shineth in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the glory of God 2 Cor. 4.6 And is not the Word of God Light which the Apostle saith expresly is not far off neither above us below us nor without us but Nigh even
not the Things of the Spirit of God for they are Foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned Q. These Scriptures do sufficiently hold forth that the true Call to the Ministry is from God that which maketh a Minister is the Gift and Grace of God that the true and effectual Preaching of a faithful Minister is such Maintenance as is from the inward Teaching and Leading of the Spirit of God But what say the Scriptures touching the Maintainance of Ministers Gal. 6.6 A. Let him that is taught in the Word Communicate unto him that teacheth in all good Things 1 Cor. 9.11 12 13 14. If we have sown unto you Spiritual Things is it a great matter if we shall reap Carnal Things If others be Partakers of this Power over you are not we rather Nevertheless we have not used this Power but suffer all Things lest we should hinder the Gospel of Christ. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy Things live of the Things of the Temple and they which wait at the Altar are partakers with the Altar Even so hath the Lord ordain'd that they which preach the Gospel shall live of the Gospel For the Scripture saith 1 Tim. 5.18 Thou shalt not muzzle the Ox that treadeth out the Corn and the Labourer is worthy of his Reward Q. I perceive by these Scriptures that there lieth an Obligation upon the Saints to help with Outward Things such as truly Minister unto them Spiritual but this seems to be Voluntary Ought not therefore true Ministers to preach whether they be sure of this or not What saith the Apostle of himself in this Case and what adviseth he others 1 Cor 9.15 16 17 18. A. But I have used none of These Things neither have I written those things that it should be so done unto me for it were better for me to die than that any Man should make my Glorying void For though I preach the Gospel I have nothing to Glory of for Necessity is laid upon me yea Wo is unto me if I preach not the Gospel For if I do this Thing willingly I have a Reward but if against my Will a Dispensation of the Gospel is committed unto me what is my Reward then Verily that when I Preach the Gospel I make the Gospel of Christ without Charge that I abuse not my Power in the Gospel Acts 20.33 34 35. I have Coveted no Man's Silver or Gold or Apparel yea your selves know that these Hands have ministred unto my Necessities and to them that were with me I have shewed you all things how that so Labouring ye ought to support the weak and to remember the Words of the Lord Jesus how he said It is more blessed to give than to receive Q. It 's observable that the Apostle every where makes special mention among the Qualifications of Teachers that they be not given to Filthy Lucre What ought we then to think of these Teachers as will not preach without Hire yea that will by Violence take from those who receive no Spirituals from them Are they like to be the Ministers of Christ or what else saith the Scripture of such Isa. 56.11 A. Yea they are greedy Dogs which can never have enough and they are Shepherds that cannot understand they all look to their own Way every one for his Gain from his Quarter * Ezek. 34.2 3 8. Son of Man Prophesie against the Shepherds of Israel Prophesie and say unto them year 1675 Thus saith the Lord God unto the Shepherds Wo to the Shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves Should not the Shepherds feed the Flook Ye eat the Fat and ye cloath you with the Woll ye kill them that are fed but ye feed not the Flock As I live saith the Lord God surely because my Flock became a Prey and my Flock became Meat to every Beast of the Field because there was no Shepherd neither did my Shepherds search for my Flock but The Shepherds fed themselves and fed not my Flock Thus saith the Lord concerning the Prophets that make my People Err that bite with their Teeth and cry Peace Mich. 3 5 11. and he that puts not into their Mouths they even prepare War against him The Heads thereof judge for Reward and the Priests thereof teach for Hire and the Prophets thereof Divine for Money yet will they lean upon the Lord and say Is not the Lord amongst us None evil can come upon us Q. These are plain Testimonies from the Prophets Are there none such from the Apostles A. Perverse Disputings of Men of Corrupt Minds and destitute of the Truth supposing that Gain is Godliness 1 Tim. 6.5 6 7 8 9 10. from such withdraw thy self But Godliness with Contentment is great Gain For we brought nothing into the World and it 's certain we can carry nothing out and having Food and Raiment let us therewith be content But they that will be Rich fall into Temptation and a Snare and into many foolish and hurtful Lusts which drown men in Destruction and Perdition For the Love of Money is the Root of all Evil which while some Coveted after they have erred from the Faith and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows For Men shall be Lovers of their own selves Covetous Boasters Proud Blasphemers 2 Tim. 2.3 Disobedient to Parents Unthankful Unholy For there are many unruly and vain Talkers and Deceivers Tit. 1.10 11. especially they of the Circumcision whose Mouths must be stop'd who subvert whole Houses teaching things which they ought not for Filthy Lucre's sake But there were false Prophets also among the People 2 Pet. 2.1 2 3 14 15. even as there shall be False Teachers among you who privately shall bring in Damnable Heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift Destruction And many shall follow their Pernicious Ways by reason of whom the Way of Truth shall be Evil spoken of And through Covetousness shall they with feigned Words make Merchandize of you whose Judgment now of a long time lingereth not and their Damnation slumbereth not Having Eyes full of Adultery and that cannot cease from Sin beguiling unstable Souls an Heart they have exercised with Covetous practices Cursed Children which have forsaken the Right Way and are gone astray following the way of Balaam the Son of Bozor who loved the Wages of Vnrighteousness Wo unto them For they have gone in the Way of Cain and run greedily after the Error of Balaam for Reward Jude 11 16. and perished in the Gain-saying of Corah These are Murmurers Complainers walking after their own Lust and their Mouth speaketh great Swelling Words year 1673 having Mens Persons in Admiration because of Advantage Q Ought there to be any Order in the Church of God A. Let all things be done decently and in Order 1 Cor. 14.40 Q What good Order is prescribed
you Timotheus who is my beloved Son and faithful in the Lord who shall bring you into Remembrance of my Ways which be in Christ as I teach every where in every Church Here the Apostle Paul is very absolute First In that he desires them to be Followers of him Secondly In that he sends a Teacher yea a Minister and Eminent Bishop or Overseer of the Church for to put them in Mind of his Ways which be in Christ as he taught in every Church No doubt there were Apostates and Dissenting Spirits in the Church of Corinth that gave Paul Occasion thus to write as he testifies in the Beginning of the Chapter How he was Judged by some of them he shews how they were grown high verse 8. Now ye are full now ye are rich ye have reigned as Kings without us c. Might not these Dissenters of the Church of Corinth have reasoned thus against Paul Dissenting Reasonings against Church-Government Did not this Paul teach us at first to mind the Measure of Grace in our selves and follow that for no doubt that was Paul's Doctrine but now he begins to Lord it over us and tells us we must be Followers of him Might not they have judged the Beloved Timothy to be far out of his Place Might they not have said It seems it is not God that moved thee and sent thee here by his Spirit but Lordly Paul that seeks Dominion over our Faith It seems thou comest not here to preach Christ and wish us to be Followers of him and of his Grace in our Hearts but to mind us to follow Paul's Ways and take notice how he teaches in every Church We are not concerned with him nor with his Messenger nor with none of your Orders and so forth Doth not this run very plausible I question not but there was such a Reasoning among the Apostate Corinthians let such as are of the same kind among us examine seriously and measure their Spirits truly hereby Yea he goes yet further in the following Chapter vers 3 4. Vers. 3. As absent in Body 1 Cor. 5.3 13. The Power of giving Judgment in the Church but present in Spirit have judged already as though I were present concerning him that hath so done this Deed. Verse 4. In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together and my spirit with the Power of our Lord Jesus Christ c. Would not one think this to have been a very presumptuous Word and yet who dare offer to Condemn it From all which I shall shortly observe that it seems it was judged no Inconsistency nor Contradiction to be Followers of the Grace in themselves to be perswaded in their own Hearts and also to be Followers of the Apostle Paul and of his Ways because his Ways and Example was no other than the Spirit of God in themselves would have led them to if they had been obedient Therefore he found it needful to charge them positively to follow him without adding this Reason Next the great Argument the Apostle uses to perswade them hereunto upon which he mainly insists because he had begotten them into the Truth Ye have not many Fathers As of Fathers for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel wherefore I beseech you be ye Followers of me So he makes that as the Cause which the same Apostle also in his Expostulation with the Galatians putting them in mind how he preached the Gospel to them at first and Chap. 4. Vers. 15. Where is then the Blessedness ye spake of for I bear you Record if possible ye would have plucked out your own Eyes and given them unto me We see then that the Lord hath and doth give such whom he hath furnished and sent forth to gather a People unto himself And Overseers Care and Oversight over that People yea and a certain Authority in the Power over them to bring them back to their Duty when they stray at any Time and to Appoint yea and Command such Things as are needful for Peace and Order and Vnity's sake and that there lies an Obligation upon such as are so gathered to Reverence Honour yea and Obey such as are set over them in the Lord. To be Obeyed For saith the same Apostle 2 Cor. 2.9 For to this End also did I write that I might know the Proof of you whether you be Obedient in all Things and Chap. 7. Vers. 13 15. Yea and exceedingly the more joyed we for the Joy of Titus because his Spirit was refreshed by you all Verse 15. And his inward Affection is more abundant toward you whil'st he remembreth the Obedience of you all how with Fear and Trembling you received him Betrayings of the Enemy Now this will not at all Infer as if they had been Implicitly led of Old or that such as having the same Authority to exercise it now sought Dominion over their Brethrens FAITH or to force them to do any thing beyond far less contrary to what the Lord leads us to by his Spirit but we know as they did of Old that the Enemy lies near to BETRAY under such Pretences And seeing in case of Difference the Lord hath and doth and will Reveal his Will to his People and hath and doth raise up Members of his Body to whom he gives a Discerning and Power and Authority to Instruct Reprove yea and Command in some Cases those that are faithful and low in their Minds keeping their own places and minding the Lord and the Interest and Good of his TRVTH in the general over all The Murmurer shut out shut out the Murmurer and the Spirit of God leads them to have Vnity and concur with their Brethren But such as are heady and high-minded are inwardly Vexed that any should Lead or Rule but themselves And so it is the high Thing in themselves that makes them quarrel with others for taking so much upon them pretending a Liberty not sinking down in the Seed to be willing to be of no Reputation for its sake The Honour of Truth prostrated by Divisions Such rather than give up their own Wills will study to make Rents and Divisions not sparing the Flock but prostrating the Reputation and Honour of the Truth even to the World minister to them an Occasion of Scorn and Laughter to the hardning them in their Wickedness and Atheism Besides these Scriptures mentioned I shall set down a few of many more that might be Instanced to the same Purpose Scriptures for Submission and Lowliness of Mind and Esteem of the Brethren Ephes. 5.21 Submitting your selves one to another in the Fear of God Phil. 2.3 Let nothing be done through Strife or Vain glory but in Lowliness of Mind let each esteem other better than themselves Verse 29. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all Gladness and hold such in Reputation And 3.17 Brethren be Followers together of me and mark them which walk
Experience of the Church in all Ages as may appear from Matth. 24.24 Acts 15.54 1 Tim. 4.5 2 Tim. 3.8 Mark 13.21 22. 2 Pet. 2.19 Or on the other Hand that those that abide faithful Discerners of Evils to reprove and warn and have a Discerning of those Evils ought to be silent and never ought to Reprove and gain-stand them nor yet Warn and guard others against them and that it is a part of the commendable Vnity of the Church of Christ to suffer all such Things without taking Notice of them I know none will say so but if there be any so foolish as to affirm it let them consider these Scriptures Gal. 2.4 1 Tim. 1.20 2 Tim. 2.24 25. Tit. 1.9 10 11. Now if none of these hold true but on the contrary such Evils have been and may be found to creep in among the People of God and that such as see them may and ought to reprove them then necessarily the doing so is neither Imposition Force nor Oppression As to the Third concerning the Consequence and Tendency of them Cons. 3 it is mostly included in the two former for whatsoever tendeth not to Edification but on the contrary to Destruction Sowers of Discord among Brethren to be avoided and to beget Discord among Brethren is to be avoided according to that of the Apostle Rom. 16.17 Now I beseech you Brethren mark them which cause Divisions and Offences contrary to the Doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them And since there is no greater Mark of the People of God To follow Peace among our selves than to be at Peace among themselves whatsoever tendeth to break that Bond of Love and Peace must be testified against Let it be observed I speak always of the Church of Christ indeed and deal with such as are of another Mind not as reckoning only false Churches not to have this Power but denying it even to the true Church of Christ as judging it not fit for her so to Act as in relation to her Members For though Christ be the Prince of Peace and doth most of all commend Love and Vnity to his Disciples yet I also know he came not to send Peace but a Sword that is in dividing Man from the Lusts and Sins he hath been united to And also it is the Work of his Disciples and Messengers to break the Bands and Vnity of the Wicked To the breaking of the Bands of the Wicked wherein they are banded against God and his Truth and the Confederacy of such as stand in Vnrighteousness by inviting and bringing as many as will obey unto Righteousness whereby they become dis-united and separated from their Companion 's with whom they were Centered and at Peace in the contrary and cursed Nature And indeed blessed are they Prov. 20.26 that are sent forth of the Lord to scatter here that they may gather into the Vnity of the Life and they are blessed that in this Respect even for Righteousness sake are scattered and separated from their Brethren that they may come to know the Brotherhood and Fellowship which is in the Light from which none ought to scatter nor to be scattered but be more and more gathered thereunto And this leads me to what I proposed in the Third Place under this Head of the True Churches Power in Matters Spiritual or purely Conscientious which may be thus Objected If thou plead so much for an Oneness in the smallest Matters wherein Quest. III consisteth the Freedom and Liberty of the Conscience which may be Exercised by the Members of the true Church diversly without judging one another In Answer to this Proposition I affirm first in general That whatsoever Things may be supposed to proceed from the same Spirit Answer though divers in its Appearance tending to the same End of Edification and which in the Tendency of it layeth not a real Ground for Division or Dissension of Spirit Fellow-Members ought not only to bear one another but strengthen one another in them Now the Respects wherein this may be I can describe no better than the Apostle Paul doth principally in two Places which therefore will be fit to consider at length for the opening of this Matter this being one of the weightiest Points pertaining to this Subject Because as on the one Hand due Forbearance ought to be exercised in its right place so on the other the many Devices and false Pretences of the Enemy Place 1 creeping in here ought to be guarded against The first is 1 Cor. 12. from Verse 4. to 31. thus Vers. 4. Now there are Diversities of Gifts but the same Spirit Diversity of Gifts Administrations and Operations from the same Spirit makes no Division V. 5. And there are Differences of Administrations but the same Lord. Vers. 6. And there are Diversities of Operations but it is the same God which worketh all in all Vers. 7. But the Manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal Vers. 8. For to one is given by the Spirit the Word of Wisdom to another the Word of Knowledge by the same Spirit Vers. 9. To another Faith by the same Spirit to another the Gifts of Healing by the same Spirit Vers. 10. To another the Working of Miracles to another Prophecy to another Discerning of Spirits to another divers kinds of Tongues to another the Interpretation of Tongues Vers. 11. But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every Man severally as he will As many Members in one Body concur to the upholding the same Vers. 12. For as the Body is one and hath many Members and all the Members of that one Body being many are one Body so also is Christ. Vers. 13. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink into one Spirit Vers. 14. For the Body is not one Member but many Vers. 15. If the Foot shall say because I am not the Hand I am not of the Body is it therefore not of the Body Vers. 16. And if the Ear shall say because I am not the Eye I am not of the Body is it not therefore of the Body Vers. 17. If the whole Body were an Eye where were the Hearing If the whole were Hearing where were the Smelling Vers. 18. But now hath God set the Members every one of them in the Body as it hath pleased him Vers. 19. And if they were all one Member where were the Body Vers. 20. But now are they many Members yet but one Body Vers. 21. And the Eye cannot say unto the Hand I have no need of thee nor again the Head to the Feet I have no need of you Vers. 22. Nay much more those Members of the Body which seem to be more feeble are necessary Vers. 23. And those Members of the Body which we think to be less honourable upon these
of the Romish Church and are so far such as to understand their own Principles do unquestionably acknowledge First That no General Council can be lawfully called without the Bishop of Rome as Christ's Vicar and Peter 's Successor call it Secondly That either he himself or some for him as his Legates must be there present and always preceed Thirdly That the Members having Vote are made up of Bishops or Presbyters or Commissioners from the several Orders being of the Clergy Fourthly That what is Concluded on by Plurality of Votes and Agreed to by the Pope and his Legates must necessarily be supposed to be the Judgment of the Infallible Spirit Fifthly That all the Members of the Church are bound Implicitly to Receive and Believe it because it proceeds from a Council to be accounted Lawful in the Respects above-mentioned without Regard to the Intrinsick or Real Truths of the Things prescribed or bringing them in any Respect to the Test or Examination of the Spirit of God in themselves or the Scriptures Testimony or their Agreement or Disagreement with Truths formerly believed and received for so much as to Prove or Try them by Way of Doubt they reckon a Breach of the first Command as on the other Hand a matter of Merit Implicitly to receive and believe them however inconsistent with the Testimony of the Spirit in ones own Heart Scripture Truth and Reason Sixthly That no Man as a Member of the Church of Christ in that simple Capacity unless a Clergy-man or the Ambassadour of some King c. can be admitted to Sit Vote or give his Judgment Seventhly That it is in no Respect to be supposed that any Members especially Laicks whether in a particular City Country or Nation may meet concerning any Things relating to the Faith and Worship of the Church and give by the Spirit of God any Judgment but that all such Meetings are to be accounted Schismatical and Unlawful And Lastly That the Promise of Infallibility and the Gates of Hell not prevailing is necessarily annexed to the Pope and Council called and authorized in the Manner above-expressed Now if to deny every one of these Propositions wherein all Understanding Men know the Errors and Abuses of the Romish Church consist be to be Popish then indeed may we be supposed to be one with the Papists in this Matter but no otherwise So that the very mentioning of these things is sufficient to shew the Difference betwixt us and them But if any will needs plead our Agreement with them thus The Papists affirm an Infallibility of Judgment in the Church of Christ Objection and so do you therefore you are one with Papists I Answer That proves no more our Oneness in this Matter than if Answ. 1 it should be said The Papists plead that God ought to be Worshipped and so do you Therefore ye Agree Notwithstanding of the Vast Differences as to that which is known not only betwixt us and them but betwixt them and all Protestants who Agree more with them in the matter of Worship than we do Next again Infallibility in the Church according as we hold it Answ. 2 and I have above Defined it no man upon our Supposition or Hypothesis can deny it For since we first Assert as a Principle That no Gathering no Church nor Assembly of People The true Church is Led by the Infallible Spirit however True their Principles or Exact their Form be are to be accounted the Church of Christ except the Infallible Spirit lead and guide what can be the Hazzard to say that in such a Church there is still an Infallible Judgment Indeed this is so far from Popery that it resolves in a Proposition quite Contradictory to them The Romanists say That the Infallible Spirit always accompanies the Outward Visible Professors and is annexed to the External Succession of Bishops and Pastors though ever so Vitious as to their Lives yea though perfect * For some Popes have been known to deny or at least to doubt the Truth of the Scriptures as to the History of Christ and to call in question the Immortality of the Soul and the Resurrection Atheists and Infidels in their private Judgments yet if outwardly professing the Catholick Faith and Subjection to the Church they must be partakers of the Infallible Spirit We say the quite Contrary That where there is either Vitiousness of Persons or Vnsoundness of Judgment in the particular Members these cannot by Virtue of any outward Call or Succession they have or any Profession they make or Authority they may pretend to so much as claim an Interest in any part of the Church of Christ or the Infallible Spirit So then if we admit none to be Members of the Church but such as are led and guided by the Spirit The Infallible Judgment where it is it will be no Popery in the Second Place to affirm That were there is a Company of People so gathered who are not any longer to retain justly the Name of the Church of Christ than they are led and guided by his Spirit or a Church so qualified and designed there is still an Infallible Judgment So that this Infallibility is not annexed to the Persons to the Succession to the bare Visible Profession though true which the Church of Rome is denied to be or to any Society because of its Profession but singly and alone to the True Real and Effectual Work of Sanctification and Regeneration the New Creature brought forth in the Heart And this is the Spiritual Man which the Apostle saith Judgeth all Things 1 Cor. 2.15 To affirm there is an Infallibility here cannot well be Condemned by any or whoso doth must needs say the Spirit of God is fallible For we place the Infallibility in the Spirit and in the Power not in the Persons And so these are the Degrees we Ascend by Because such and such Men are led by the Spirit of God and are obedient to the Grace in their Hearts therefore are they Members and Officers in the Church of Christ. And because they are Members of the Church of Christ in the Respect before declared therefore there is an Infallible Judgment among them We do not say Because such men profess the Christian Faith and have received an outward Ordination and so are by a lawful Succession formally established Officers in the Church when they Meet together according to certain Rules above-declared there is an Infallibility annexed to their Conclusions and they cannot but Decide what is Right or rather what they Decide must needs be supposed to be Right Who seeth not here a vast Disproportion Now we differ herein fundamentally that is as to the very Basis and Foundation upon which we build and that not only from the Church of Rome but also from the Generality of Protestants in this matter All Protestants do acknowledge a General Council to be useful The Constitution of a Synod or General Council among yea necessary
not sufficient neither were ever appointed to be the adequate and only Rule nor yet can guide or direct a Christian in all those things that are needful for him to know We shall leave that to the next Proposition to be Examined What is proper in this place to be proved is That Christians now are to be led inwardly and immediately by the Spirit of God even in the same manner though it befall not to many to be led in the same measure as the Saints were of old § X. I shall prove this by divers Arguments and first from the Promise of Christ in these words Joh. 14.16 And I will pray the Father and he will give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever Vers. 17 Even the Spirit of Truth whom the World cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him but ye know him Christians are now to be led by the Spirit in the same manner as the Saints of old for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you Again vers 26. But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance And 16.13 But when that Spirit of Truth shall come he shall lead you into all Truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak and shall declare unto you things to come We have here first Who this is and that is divers ways expressed to wit The Comforter the Spirit of Truth the Holy Ghost the Sent of the Father in the Name of Christ. And hereby is sufficiently proved the Sottishness of those Socinians and other Carnal Christians who neither know nor acknowledge any internal Spirit or Power but that which is meerly Natural by which they sufficiently declare themselves to be of the World who cannot receive the Spirit because they neither see him nor know him Secondly Where this Spirit is to be He dwelleth with you and shall be in you And Thirdly What his Work is He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance and guide you into all Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As to the first Most do acknowledge that there is nothing else understood than what the plain words signify Who is this Comforter Which is also Evident by many Query I other places of Scripture that will hereafter occur neither do I see how such as Affirm otherways can avoid Blasphemy For if the Comforter the Holy Ghost and Spirit of Truth be all one with the Scriptures then it would follow that the Scriptures is God seeing it is true that the Holy Ghost is God If these mens Reasoning might take place wherever the Spirit is mentioned in relation to the Saints thereby might be truly and properly understood the Scriptures Nonsensical Consequences from the Socinians belief of the Scriptures being the Spirit Which what a Non-sensical Monster it would make of the Christian Religion will easily appear to all men As where it is said A manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal it might be rendred thus A manifestation of the Scriptures is given to every man to profit withal What notable Sense this would make and what a Curious Interpretation let us consider by the Sequel of the same Chapter 1 Cor. 12.9 10 11. To another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit to another the working of miracles c. but all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will What would now these great Masters of Reason the Socinians Judge if we should place the Scriptures here instead of the Spirit Would it answer their Reason which is the great guide of their Faith Would it be good and sound Reason in their Logical Schools to affirm That the Scripture divideth severally as it will and giveth to some the gift of healing to others the working of miracles If then this Spirit a Manifestation whereof is given to every man to profit withal be no other than that Spirit of Truth before-mentioned which guideth into all Truth this Spirit of Truth cannot be the Scripture I could infer an hundred more Absurdities of this kind upon this sottish Opinion but what is said may suffice For even some of themselves being at times forgetful or ashamed of their own Doctrine do acknowledge That the Spirit of God is another thing and distinct from the Scriptures to guide and influence the Saints Secondly That this Spirit is inward in my opinion needs no Interpretation nor Commentary He dwelleth with you and shall be in you This indwelling of the Spirit in the Saints as it is a thing most needful to be known and believed so it is as positively asserted in the Scripture as any thing else can be If so be the Spirit of God dwell in you saith the Apostle Query II to the Romans 8.9 and again Know ye not that ye are the Temple of the Holy Ghost Where is his place and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you 1 Cor. 6.19 without this the Apostle reckoneth no man a Christian. If any man saith he have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his These words immediately follow those above-mentioned out of the Epistle to the Romans But ye are not in the flesh if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you The Context of which sheweth The Spirit within the main Token of a Christian. that the Apostle reckoneth it the main Token of a Christian both positively and negatively For in the former verses he sheweth how the Carnal mind is enmity against God and that such as are in the flesh cannot please him Where subsuming he adds concerning the Romans That they are not in the flesh if the Spirit of God dwell in them What is this but to Affirm that they in whom the Spirit dwells are no longer in the flesh nor of those who please not God but are become Christians indeed Again in the next verse he Concludes Negatively That if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his that is he is no Christian. He then that acknowledges himself Ignorant and a Stranger to the Inward In-being of the Spirit of Christ in his heart doth thereby acknowledge himself to be yet in the Carnal mind which is Enmity to God to be yet in the flesh where God cannot be pleased and in short whatever he may otherways know or believe of Christ or however much skill'd or acquainted with the letter of the Holy Scripture not yet to be notwithstanding all that Attained to the least desire of a Christian yea not once to have embraced the Christian Religion For take but away the Spirit and Christianity remains no more Christianity than the dead Carcase of a man when the Soul and Spirit is departed remains a Man which the living can no more abide but do
all unto Salvation and able to save Clemens Alexandrinus saith lib. 2. Stromat Clem. Alex. The Divine Word hath cried calling all knowing well those that will not obey And yet because it is in our power either to obey or not to obey that none may have a pretext of Ignorance it hath made a righteous Call and requireth but that which is according to the ability and strength of every one The self-same in his Warning to the Gentiles For as saith he that Heavenly Ambassadour of the Lord the Grace of God that brings Salvation hath Appeared unto all c. This is the New Song Coming and Manifestation of the Word which now shews it self in us which was in the beginning and was first of all And again Hear therefore ye who are afar off hear ye who are near the Word is hid from none the Light is common to all and shineth to all There is no darkness in the Word The Gathering unto the One and alone Love let us hasten to Salvation to the New birth that we being many may be gathered unto the One alone Love Ibid. he saith That there is Infused into all but principally into those that are trained up in Doctrine a certain Divine Influence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And again he speaketh concerning the Innate Witness worthy of belief which of it self doth plainly chuse that which is most honest And again he saith That It is not Impossible to come unto the Truth and lay hold of it seeing it is most near to us in our own Houses as the most wise Moses declareth living in three parts of us viz. in our Hands in our Mouth and in our Heart this saith he is a most true badge of the Truth which is also fulfilled in three things namely in Counsel in Action in Speaking And again he saith also unto the Unbelieving Nations Receive Christ receive Light receive Sight to the end thou may'st rightly know both God and Man The Inlightning Word The Word that hath inlightned us is more pleasant than Gold and the Stone of great value And again he saith Let us receive the Light that we may receive God let us receive the Light that we may be the Scholars of the Lord. And again he saith to those Infidel Nations The Heavenly Spirit helpeth thee Resist and Flee Pleasure Again Lib. Strom. 5. he saith God forbid that man be not a partaker of Divine Acquaintance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who in Genesis is said to be a partaker of Inspiration And Paed. lib. 1 cap 3. There is saith he some lovely and some desirable thing in man which is called the In-breathing of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same man lib. 10. Strom. directeth men unto the Light and Water in themselves who have the Eye of the Soul darkned or dimmed through Evil up-bringing and Learning let them Enter-in unto their own domestick Light or unto the Light which is in their own house 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto the Truth which manifests accurately and clearly these things that have been written Just. Martyr Justin Martyr in his First Apology saith That the Word which was and is is in all even that very same Word which through the Prophets foretold things to come The Writer of the Calling of the Gentiles saith lib. 1. cap. 2. We Believe according to the same viz. Scripture and most religiously Confess Auth. de Voc. Gent. that God was never wanting in care to the generality of men who although he did lead by particular Lessons a people gathered to himself unto Godliness yet he withdrew from no Nation of men the Gifts of his own Goodness that they might be Convinced that they had received the Words of the Prophets and Legal Commands in services and testimonies of the First Principles Cap. 7. he saith That he believes that the help of Grace hath been wholly withdrawn from no man Lib. 2. cap. 1. Because albeit Salvation is far from sinners yet there is nothing void of the presence and virtue of his Salvation Cap. 2. But seeing none of that people over whom was set both the Doctrines were justified but through Grace by the Spirit of Faith who can question but that they who of whatsoever Nation in whatsoever Times could please God were ordered by the Spirit of the Grace of God which albeit in fore-time it was more sparing and hid yet denied it self to no Ages being in Virtue one in Quantity different in Counsel unchangeable in Operation multifarious Prop. III § XXIV The Third Proposition which ought to be proved is That it is by this Light Proved Seed or Grace that God works the Salvation of all men and many come to partake of the benefit of Christ's Death and Salvation purchased by him God's Salvation wrought by the Light in all By the Inward and Effectual Operations of which as many Heathens have come to be partakers of the Promises who were not of the Seed of Abraham after the flesh so may some now to whom God hath rendred the Knowledge of the History Impossible come to be saved by Christ. Having already proved that Christ hath died for all that there is a Day of Visitation given to all during which Salvation is possible unto them and that God hath actually given a measure of Saving Grace and Light unto all preached the Gospel to and in them and placed the Word of Faith in their hearts the matter of this Proposition may seem to be proved Yet shall I a little for the further satisfaction of all who desire to know the Truth and hold it as it is Jesus prove this from two or three clear Scripture-Testimonies and Remove the most-Common as well as the more-strong Objections usually brought against it Our Theam then hath two parts First That those that have the Part 1 Gospel and Christ outwardly preached unto them are not saved but by the working of the Grace and Light in their hearts Secondly That by the working and operations of this many have been Part 2 and some may be saved to whom the Gospel hath never been outwardly preached and who are utterly ignorant of the outward History of Christ. As to the First though it be granted by most yet because it 's more Part 1 in words Proved than deeds the more full discussing of which will fall-in in the next Proposition concerning Justification I shall prove it in few words And first from the words of Christ to Nicodemus Joh. 3.3 Verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God Now this Birth cometh not by the outward preaching of the Gospel The New Birth or Regeneration cometh not by the Outward Knowledge of Christ or knowledge of Christ or historical Faith in him seeing many have that and firmly believe it who are never thus Renewed The Apostle Paul also goes so far while he Commends the Necessity and Excellency of this New Creation as
us § III. First then as by the Explanation of the former Thesis appears Expl. 1 we Renounce all Natural Power and Ability in our selves in order to bring us out of our lost and fallâ—n Condition and first Nature Justification springs of and from the Love of God and Confess that as of our selves we are able to do nothing that is good so neither can we procure Remission of Sins or Justification by any Act of our own so as to merit it or draw it as a Debt from God due unto us but we acknowledge all to be of and from his Love which is the Original and Fundamental Cause of our Acceptance Secondly God manifested this love towards us in the sending of his Expl. 2 Beloved Son the Lord Jesus Christ into the World who gave himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling Savour Christ giveing himself a Sacrifice for us and having made peace through the blood of his Cross that he might Reconcile us unto himself and by the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot unto God and suffered for our Sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us unto God Thirdly then Forasmuch as all men who have come to man's Estate the Man Jesus only Excepted have sinned therefore all have need of Expl. 3 this Saviour to remove the Wrath of God from them due to their Offences in this respect he is truly said to have born the Iniquities of us all in his Body on the Tree and therefore is the Only Mediator having qualified the Wrath of God towards us so that our former sins stand not in our way being by virtue of his most satisfactory Sacrifice Removed and pardoned To Remission of Sins Neither do we think that Remission of Sins is to be expected sought or obtained any other way or by any Works or Sacrifice whatsoever though as has been said formerly they may come to partake of this Remission that are Ignorant of the History So then Christ by his Death and Sufferings hath Reconciled us to God The only Mediator betwixt God and Man even while we are Enemies that is he offers Reconciliation unto us we are put into a Capacity of being Reconciled God is willing to forgive us our Iniquities and to accept us as is well expressed by the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their Trespasses unto them and hath put in us the Word of Reconciliation And therefore the Apostle in the next verses intreats them in Christ's stead to be Reconciled to God intimating that the Wrath of God being removed by the Obedience of Christ Jesus he is willing to be Reconciled unto them and ready to Remit the sins that are past if they Repent A Twofold Redemption We Consider then our Redemption in a twofold Respect or State both which in their own nature are perfect though in their Application to us the one is not nor cannot be without respect to the other I. The Redemption of Christ without us The first is the Redemption performed and accomplished by Christ for us in his Crucified Body without us The other is the Redemption wrought by Christ in us which no less properly is called and accounted a Redemption than the former The first then is that whereby man as he stands in the Fall is put into a Capacity of Salvation and hath conveyed unto him a measure of that Power Virtue Spirit Life and Grace that was in Christ Jesus which as the Free Gift of God is able to Counter-ballance Overcome and Root-out the Evil Seed wherewith we are naturally as in the Fall leavened II. The Redemption wrought by Christ in us The second is that whereby we Witness and Know this pure and perfect Redemption in our selves purifying cleansing and redeeming us from the power of Corruption and bringing us into Vnity Favour and Friendship with God By the first of these two we that were lost in Adam plunged in the bitter and Corrupt Seed unable of our selves to do any good thing but naturally joined and united to Evil forward and propense to all Iniquity Servants and Slaves to the power and spirit of Darkness are notwithstanding all this so far Reconciled to God by the death of his Son while Enemies that we are put into a Capacity of Salvation having the glad Tidings of the Gospel of Peace offered unto us and God is Reconciled unto us in Christ calls and invites us to himself in which respect we understand these Scriptures * Eph. 2.15 1 John 4.10 Ezech. 16.6 1 Pet. 2.22 24. and 3.18 He slew the Enmity in himself He loved us first seeing us in our blood he said unto us live he who did not sin his own self bare our sins in his own body on the Tree and he died for our sins the Just for the Vnjust By the second we witness this Capacity brought into Act whereby receiving and not resisting the purchase of his death to wit the Light Spirit and Grace of Christ Revealed to us we witness and possess a real true and inward Redemption from the power and prevalency of sin and so come to be truly and really Redeemed Justified and made Righteous and to a sensible Union and Friendship with God Thus he died * Tit. 2.14 Phil. 3.10 for us that he might Redeem us from all Iniquity and thus we know him and the Power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his Sufferings being made conformable to us This last follows the first in order and is a Consequence of it proceeding from it as an Effect from its Cause So as none could have enjoyed the last without the first had been such being the Will of God so also can none now partake of the first but as he witnesseth the last Wherefore as to us they are both Causes of our Justification The first the Procuring Efficient the other the Formal Cause Fourthly We understand not by this Justification by Christ barely the Expl. 4 good works even as wrought by the Spirit of Christ for they as Protestants truly affirm are rather an Effect of Justification than the Cause of it The Formation of Christ in us begets Good Works But we understand the Formation of Christ in us Christ born and brought forth in us from which good Works as naturally proceed as Fruit from a fruitful Tree It is this Inward Birth in us bringing forth Righteousness and Holiness in us that doth Justify us which having removed and done away the Contrary Nature and Spirit that did bear Rule and bring Condemnation now is in Dominion over all in our hearts Those then that come to know Christ thus formed in them do enjoy him wholly and undivided who is the LORD our RIGHTEOVSNESS Jer. 23.6 This is to be Cloathed with Christ and to have put him on whom God therefore truly accounteth Righteous and Just. This is so far from being the
it is most Absurd so it luculently overturneth the very Import and Intent of the place as if the Corinthians turning Christians had not wrought any real Change in them but had only been a Belief of some barren Notions which had wrought no Alteration in their Affections Will or Manner of Life For my own part I neither see any thing nor could ever yet hear or read any thing that with any colour of Reason did evince Justified in this place to be understood any other ways than in its own proper and genuine Interpretation of being made Just. And for the more clear understanding hereof let it be Considered The Derivation of the word Justify Considered c. that this word Justify is derived either from the Substantive Justice or the Adjective Just both which words Import the Substantive that true and Real Virtue in the Soul as it is in it self to wit it signifies really and not suppositively that Excellent Quality expressed and understood among men by the word JVSTICE and the Adjective Just as applied signifies a man or woman who is Just that is in whom this Quality of Justice is stated For it would not only be great Impropriety but also manifest falsity to call a man Just meerly by supposition especially if he were really Vnjust Now this word Justify formed or from Justice or Just doth beyond all question signify a Making Just it being nothing else but a Composition of the Verb facio and the Adjective Justus which is nothing else than thus Justifico i. e. justum facio to make just and Justified of justus and fio as justus fio I become just and justificatus i. e. justus factus I am made just Thus also is it with Verbs of this kind as sanctifico from sanctus holy and facio honorifico from honor and facio sacrifico from sacer and facio all which are still understood of the Subject really and truly endued with that virtue and quality from which the Verb is derived Therefore as none are said to be sanctified Justified none are while they actually remain Vnjust that are really unholy while they are such so neither can any be truly said to be Justified while they actually remain Vnjust Only this Verb Justify hath in a Metaphorical and Figurative sense been otherways taken to wit in a Law-sense as when a man really guilty of a Crime is freed from the punishment of his sin he is said to be Justified that is put in the place as if he were Just For this use of the word hath proceeded from that true supposition That none ought to be acquitted but the Innocent Hence also that manner of speaking I will Justify such a man or I will justify this or that is used from the supposition that the person and thing is really Justifiable And where there is an Error and Abuse in the matter so far there is also in the Expression This is so manifest and apparent that Paraeus Paraeus de Just. cont Bell. l. 2. c. 7. p. 469. a Chief Protestant and a Calvinist also in his Opinion acknowledges this We never at any time said saith he nor thought that the Righteousness of Christ was Imputed to us that by him we should be named formally Just and be so as we have divers times already shewed for that would no less soundly fight with right Reason than if a guilty man absolved in Judgment should say that he himself were formally Just by the Clemency of the Judge granting him his life Now is it not strange that men should be so facile in a matter of so great Concernment as to build the stress of their Acceptance with God upon a meer borrowed and Metaphorical Signification to the excluding or at lest esteeming that not necessary without which the Scripture saith expresly No man shall ever see God Holiness required therefore good Works are For if Holiness be requisite and necessary of which this is said then must good Works also unless our Adversaries can shew us a holy man without good works But moreover Justified in this figurative sense is used for Approved and indeed for the most part if not always in Scripture when the word Justify is used it is taken in the worst part that is that as the Vse of the word that way is an Vsurpation so it is spoken of such as Vsurp the thing to themselves while it properly doth not belong unto them as will appear to those that will be at the pains to Examine these places Exod 23.7 Job 9.20 27.5 Prov. 17.15 Isa. 5.23 Jer. 3.11 Ezech. 16.51 52. Luk. 10.29 16.15 which are all spoken of men justifying the Wicked or of Wicked men justifying themselves that is Approving themselves in their Wickedness If it be at any time in this Signification taken in good part it is very seldom Comparatively and that so obvious and plain by the Context as leaves no scruple But the Question is not so much of the Vse of the word where it is passingly or occasionally used as where the very Doctrine of Justification is handled Where indeed to mistake it viz. in its proper place so as to content our selves with an Imaginary Justification while God requires a Real is of most dangerous Consequence For the Disquisition of which let it be considered that in all these places to the Romans Corinthians Galatians and elsewhere where the Apostle handles this Theam the word may be taken in its own proper signification without any Absurdity As where it is often asserted in the above-mentioned Epistles to the Romans and Galatians That a man cannot be justified by the Law of Moses nor by the Works of the Law there is no Absurdity nor Danger in understanding it according to its own proper signification Justified its proper signification to wit That a man cannot be Made just by the Law of Moses seeing this so well agrees with that saying of the same Apostle That the Law makes nothing perfect And also where it is said We are Justified by Faith it may very well be understood of being Made just seeing it is also said that Faith purifies the heart and no doubt the pure in heart are just and The just live by faith Again where it is said We are justified by Grace We are justified by Christ We are Justified by the Spirit it is no ways absurd to understand it of being Made Just seeing by his Spirit and Grace he doth make men Just But to understand it universally the other way meerly for Acceptance and Imputation would infer great Absurdities as may be proved at large But because I judged it would be acknowledged I forbear at present for brevity's sake But further in the most weighty places where this word Justify is used in Scripture with an Immediate Relation to the Doctrine of Justification our Adversaries must needs acknowledge it to be understood of making just Justification signifies a making Just. and not barely in the
and times and that in the beginning of Chap. 5. he sheweth them their Folly and the Evil Consequence of adhering to the Ceremonies of Circumcision then he adds v. 6. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision nor Vncircumcision availeth but Faith which worketh by love and thus he concludes again ch 6. v. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth nor Vncircumcision but a New Creature From which places appeareth that distinction of Works afore-mentioned whereof the one is excluded the other necessary to Justification For the Apostle sheweth here that Circumcision which word is often used to comprehend the whole Ceremonies and legal Performances of the Jews is not Necessary nor doth avail Here are then the Works which are excluded by which no man is Justified but Faith which worketh by love but the New Creature this is that which availeth which is Absolutely necessary for Faith that worketh by love cannot be without Works for as is said in the same 5 Chap. v. 22. Love is a Work of the Spirit Also the New Creature if it avail and be necessary cannot be without Works seeing it is natural for it to bring forth Works of Righteousness Again that the Apostle no ways intends to exclude such good Works appears in that in the same Epistle he Exhorts the Galatians to them The Usefulness and Necessity of good Works and holds forth the Vsefulness and Necessity of them and that very plainly c. 6. v. 7 8 9. Be not deceived saith he God is not mocked for whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap for he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth in the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting And let us not be weary of well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not Doth it not hereby appear how necessary the Apostle would have the Galatians know that he esteemed good Works to be to wit not the outward Ceremonies and Traditions of the Law but the fruits of the Spirit mentioned a little before by which Spirit he would have them to be led and walk in those good Works As also how much he ascribeth to these good Works by which he affirms Life Everlasting is Reaped Now that cannot be useless to man's Justification which Capacitates him to Reap so rich a Harvest But lastly for a full Answer to this Objection and for the Establishing of Answ. 2 this Doctrine of good Works I shall instance another saying of the same Apostle Paul which our Adversaries also in the blindness of their Minds make use of against us to wit Tit. 3.5 Not by Works of Righteousness Justified not by our legal performances but the fruits of the Spirit which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Ghost It is generally granted by all that Saved is here all one as if it had been said Justified Now there are two kinds of Works here mentioned one by which we are not saved that is not Justified and another by which we are saved or justified The first the Works of Righteousness which we have wrought that is which we in our first fall'n Nature by our own strength have wrought our own legal performances and therefore may be truly and properly called ours whatever specious Appearances they may seem to have And that it must needs and ought so to be understood doth appear from the other part But by the washing of Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Ghost seeing Regeneration is a Work comprehensive of many good Works even of all those which are called the Fruits of the Spirit Object Now in case it should be objected That these may also be called Ours because wrought in us and also by us many times as Instruments Answ. I Answer It is far otherwise than the former For in the first we are yet alive in our own natural State unrenewed working of our selves seeking to save our selves by imitating and endeavouring a Conformity to the outward Letter of the Law and so wrestling and striving in the Carnal Mind that is Enmity to God and in the Cursed Will not yet subdued But in this second we are Crucified with Christ we are become dead with him have partaken of the fellowship of his sufferings are made Conformable to his death and our first man our old man with all his deeds as well the openly wicked as the seeming righteous our Legal Endeavours and foolish Wrestlings are all buried and nailed to the Cross of Christ and so it is no more We Not We but Christ in us is the worker of Righteousness but Christ alive in us the Worker in us So that though it be We in a sense yet it is according to that of the Apostle to the same Gal. c. 2. v. 2O I am crucified yet nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me not I but the Grace of Christ in me These Works are especially to be ascribed to the Spirit of Christ and Grace of God in us as being immediately thereby acted and led in them and enabled to perform them And this manner of Speech is not strained but familiar to the Apostles as appears Gal. 2.8 For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of the Circumcision the same was mighty in me c. Phil. 2.13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do c. So that it appears by this place that since the Washing of Regeneration is necessary to Justification and that Regeneration comprehends Works Works are necessary and that these Works of the Law that are excluded are different from these that are necessary and admitted § XI Thirdly they Object That no Works yea not the Works of Christ in us can have place in Justification Object 3 because nothing that is impure can be useful in it and all the Works wrought in us are Impure For this they alledge that saying of the Prophet Isaiah c. 64. v. 6. All our righteousness are as filthy Rags adding this reason That seeing we are Impure so must our Works be which though good in themselves yet as performed by us they receive a tincture of Impurity even as a clean Water passing through an unclean Pipe is defiled Answ. 1 That no Impure Works are useful to Justification is Confessed but that all the Works wrought in the Saints are such is Denied And for answer to this the former Distinction will serve We Confess that the first sort of Works above-mentioned are Impure but not the second because the first are wrought in the unrenewed State but not the other And as for that of Isaiah it must relate to the first kind for though he saith What sort of Righteousness is as filthy Rags All our Righteousness are as filthy Rags yet that will not Comprehend the Righteousness of Christ in us but only that which we work of and
make a Gospel-Ministry that he be not a fool 2. Acquired Parts that he be Learned in the Languages in Philosophy and School-Divinity 3. The Grace of God The Two first They reckon Necessary to the being of a Minister so as a man cannot be one without them the Third they say goeth to the well-being of one but not to the being so that a man may truly be a lawful Minister without it and ought to be heard and received as such But we supposing a natural Capacity that one be not an Idiot judge the Grace of God indispensibly Necessary to the very being of a Minister as that without which any can neither be a true nor lawful nor good Minister As for Letter-Learning we judge it not so much necessary to the well-being of one though accidentally sometimes in certain respects it may Concur but more frequently it is hurtful then helpful as appeared in the Example of Taulerus who being a Learned man A poor Laick Instructed the Learned Taulerus and who could make an Eloquent preaching needed nevertheless to be Instructed in the way of the Lord by a poor Laick I shall first speak of the Necessity of Grace and then proceed to say something of that Literature which they judge so needful First then as we said in the Call so may we much more here If the Proof I Grace of God be a necessary Qualification to make one a true Christian it must be a Qualification much more necessary to Constitute a true Minister of Christianity That Grace is necessary to make up a true Christian I think will not be questioned since it is By Grace we are saved Eph. 2.8 it is the Grace of God God's Grace alone doth constitute a true and lawful Teacher that teacheth us to deny ungodliness and the lusts of this World and to live godly and righteously Tit. 2.11 yea Christ saith expresly that Without him we can do nothing John 15.5 and the Way whereby Christ helpeth assisteth and worketh with us is by his Grace Hence saith he to Paul My Grace is sufficient for thee A Christian without Grace is indeed no Christian but an Hypocrite and a false pretender Then I say If Grace be necessary to a private Christian far more to a Teacher among Christians who must be as a Father and Instructer of others seeing this dignity is bestowed upon such as have attained a greater measure than their Brethren Even Nature it self may teach us that there is more required in a Teacher than in those that are Taught and that the Master must be above and before the Scholar in that Art or Science which he Teacheth others Since then Christianity cannot be truly enjoyed neither any man denominated a Christian without the true Grace of God Therefore neither can any man be a true nor lawful Teacher of Christianity without it Proof II Secondly No man can be a Minister of the Church of Christ which is his Body unless he be a Member of the Body and receive of the Virtue and Life of the Head Arg Who first must be a Member of the Body and then Life is receiv'd and Virtue from the Head But he that hath not true Grace can neither be a Member of the Body neither receive of that Life and Nourishment which comes from the Head Therefore far less can he be a Minister to Edify the Body That he cannot be a Minister who is not a Member is Evident because who is not a Member is shut out and cut-off and hath no place in the Body whereas the Ministers are counted among the most-Eminent Members of the Body But no man can be a Member unless he receive of the Virtue Life and Nourishment of the Head for the Members that receive not this life and nourishment decay and wither and then are Cut-off And that every true Member doth thus receive Nourishment and Life from the Head the Apostle Expresly affirmeth Eph. 4.16 From whom the whole body being fitly joined together and compacted by that which every Joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part makes Increase of the Body unto the edifying of it self in Love Now this that thus is Communicated and which thus uniteth the whole is no other than the Grace of God and therefore the Apostle in the same Chapter v. 7. affirms But unto every one of us is given Grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ and vers 11. he sheweth how that by this Grace and Gift both Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors and Teachers are given for the work of the Ministry and edifying of the Body of Christ. And certainly no man destitute of this Grace is fit for this Work seeing that all that Christ gives are so qualified and those that are not so qualified are not given The Sheep of Christ nor ought nor will not hear the Stranger 's Voice nor sent of Christ and who are not given and sent of Christ are not to be heard nor received nor acknowledged as Ministers of the Gospel because his sheep neither ought nor will hear the voice of a Stranger This is also clear from 1 Cor. 12. throughout For the Apostle in that Chapter treating of the diversity of Gifts and Members of the Body sheweth how by the working of the same Spirit in different Manifestations or Measures in the several Members the whole Body is edified saying vers 13. That we are all baptized by the One Spirit into one Body and then vers 28. he numbers out the several Dispensations thereof which by God are set in the Church through the various Working of his Spirit for the Edification of the whole Then if there be no true Member of the Body which is not thus Baptized by this Spirit neither any thing that worketh to the Edifying of it but according to a measure of Grace received from the Spirit surely without Grace none ought to be admitted to work or labour in the Body because their labour and work without this Grace and Spirit would be but Ineffectual § XVI Thirdly That this Grace and Gift is a necessary Qualification to a Minister is clear from that of the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 4.10 11. As every man hath received the Gift even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold Grace of God If any man speak let him speak as the Oracles of God if any man minister let him do it as of the Ability which God giveth that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever Amen From which it appears that those that Minister must Minister according to the Gift and Grace received but they that have not such a Gift The Ministring must be by Gift and Grace received cannot Minister according thereunto Secondly As good stewards of the manifold Grace of God But how can a man be a good steward of that which
As this manner of Separating men for the Ministry is nothing like the Church in the Apostles days so great Evils have and do follow upon it For first Parents seeing both the honour and profit that attends the Clergy do allot their Children sometimes from their Infancy to it and so breed them up on purpose And others come to Age upon the same Account betake them to the same Trade and having these natural and acquired Parts that are judged the Necessary Qualifications of a Minister are thereby Admitted and so are bred up in Idleness and Pleasure thinking it a disgrace for them to work with their hands onely if they study a little out of their Books to make a Discourse once or twice in a week During the Running of an Hour glass whereas the Gift The Clergy's Study out of Books the Gift of God Neglected Grace and Spirit of God to call gift and qualify for the Ministry is neglected and overlooked And many Covetous Corrupt Earthly Carnal men having a meer shew and form but strangers to and utterly ignorant of the inward work of Grace upon their hearts are Brought-in and Intrude themselves and so through them death barrenness and darkness and by consequence Superstition Error and Idolatry hath entred and leavened the Church And they that will narrowly observe shall find that it was thus the Apostasy came to take place of the truth of which I could give many Examples which for brevity's sake I omit For so the Office Reverence and Respect due to it was annexed to the meer Name so that when once a man was Ordain'd a Bishop or a Priest he was heard and believed though he had nothing of the Spirit Power and Life that the true Apostles and Ministers were in that in a short time the Succession came to be of the Name and Title and the Office was thereto annexed and not of the nature vertue and life Which in effect made them to Cease to be the Ministry Ministers of Christ but onely a Shadow and vain Image of it The Marred Church Compar'd to Thesci pieced Boat which also decaying was in some Ages so Metamorphosed that not onely the Substance was lost but the very Form wholly vitiated alterated and marred that it may be far better said of the pretended Christian Church as was disputed of Theseus's Boat which by the piecing of many new pieces of timber was wholly Altered whether indeed it were the same or another But in case that the first had been of Oak and the last pieces put in but of rotten Fir and that also the Form had been so far changed as to be nothing like the first I think it would have suffered no Dispute but might have easily been concluded to be quite another retaining nothing but the Name and that also Vnjustly Secondly The Abuse following the Distinction of Laity and Clergy from this distinction of Laity and Clergy this Abuse also followes that good honest mechanick men and others who have not learned the Art and Trade of Preaching and so are not Licentiated according to these Rules they prescribe unto themselves such I say being possessed with a false Opinion that it is not lawful for them to meddle with the Ministry nor that they are any ways fit for it because of the defect of that Literatur do thereby neglect the Gift in themselves and quench many times the pure breathings of the Spirit of God in their hearts which if given way to might have proved much more for the Edification of the Church than many of the Cunned Sermons of the Learned And so by this means the Apostles Command and Advice is slighted who exhorteth 1 Thess. 5.19 20. Not to quench the Spirit nor despise prophesying Both Protestants and Papists exclude Mechanick men from Preaching who greatly contributed to Reformation And all this is done by men pretending to be Christians who glory that the first Preachers and Propagators of their Religion were such kind of plain Mechanick men and Illiterate And even Protestants do no less than Papists Exclude such kind of men from being Ministers among them and thus limit the Spirit and Gift of God though their Fathers in opposition to Papists asserted the contrary and also their own Historys declare how that kind of Illiterate men did without Learning by the Spirit of God greatly contribute in divers places to the Reformation By this it may appear that as in Calling and Qualifying so in Preaching and Praying and the other particular steps of the Ministry every true Minister is to know the Spirit of God by its vertue and Life to accompany and assist him But because this relates to Worship I shall speak of it more largely in the next Proposition which is concerning Worship The last thing to be considered and inquired into is concerning the Maintenance of a Gospel-Minister But before I proceed I judge it fit to speak something in short concerning the Preaching of Women and to declare what we hold in that matter Seing Male and Female are one in Christ Jesus and that he gives his Spirit no less to the one Womens publick Preaching and Praying Asserted than to the other when God moveth by his Spirit in a Woman we judge it no ways unlawful for her to preach in the Assemblies of God's People Neither think we that of Paul 1 Cor. 14.34 to reprove the Inconsiderate and Talkative Women among the Corinthians who troubled the Church of Christ with their unprofitable Questions or that 1 Tim. 2.11 That Women ought to learn in all silence not usurping authority over the man any ways Repugnant to this Doctrine because it 's clear that Women have Prophesied and Preached in the Church else had the saying of Joel been badly applied by Peter Acts 2.17 And seeing Paul himself in the same Epistle to the Corinthians giveth Rules how Women should behave themselves in their publick preaching and praying it would be a manifest Contradiction if that place were other ways taken in a larger sense and the same Paul speaks of a Woman that laboured with him in the work of the Gospel and it is written that Philip had four Daughters that prophesied Acts 21.9 And lastly it hath been observed that God hath effectually in this day Converted many Souls by the Ministry of Women and by them also Quest. IV frequently Comforted the Souls of his Children which manifest experience puts the thing beyond all Controversy Ministers Maintenance but now I shall proceed to speak of the Maintenance of Ministers The Ministers Food and their Maintenance Stated § XXVIII We freely acknowledge as the Proposition holds forth that there is an Obligation upon such to whom God sends or among whom he raiseth up a Minister that if need be they Minister to his necessities Secondly That it is lawful for him to receive what is necessary and convenient To prove this I need not insist for our Adversaries will readily grant
can best bear witness to this for God having shewn us this Corrupt and Anti-Christian Ministry and called us out from it and gathered us unto his own Power and Life to be a Separate People so that we dare not Join with nor Hear these Anti-Christian Hirelings neither yet put into their mouths or feed them O! what Malice Envy and Fury hath this raised in their hearts against us That though we get none of their Wares neither will buy them as knowing them to be Nought yet will they force us to give them Money and because we cannot for Conscience sake do it our Sufferings have upon that account been Vnutterable Yea to give account of their Cruelty and several sorts of Inhumanity used against us would make no small History These Avaritious Hirelings have come to that degree of Malice and Rage that several poor labouring men have been carried hundreds of Miles from their own dwellings and shut up in prison some two some three yea some seven years together for the value of one pound sterling and less I know my self a poor Widow that for the Tithes of her Geese * A Widow for the Tithes of Geese about four years in prison which amounted not to five shillings was about four years kept in prison thirty miles from her house Yea they by Violence for this cause have plundered of mens goods the hundredfold and prejudiced much more yea hundreds have hereby spilt their Innocent blood by dying in the filthy noisom holes and prisons And some of the Priests have been so Inraged Some lost their Lives in nasty Holes some wounded by the Priest c that goods thus ravished could not satisfy them but they must also satisfy their fury by beating knocking and wounding with their hands Innocent men and women for refusing for Conscience sake to put into their Mouths The only way then soundly to Reform and remove all these Abuses and take away the Ground and Occasion of them is to take away all stinted and forced Maintenance and Stipend and seeing those Revenues were anciently given by the people that they Return again into the publick Treasure and thereby the people may be greatly benefited by them for that they may supply for these publick Taxations and Impositions that are put upon them and may Ease themselves of them And whoever Call or Appoint Teachers to themselves Whoso heap Teachers to themselves let them provide their Stipend let them accordingly Entertain them And for such as are Called and Moved to the Ministry by the Spirit of God those that receive them and tast of the good of their Ministry will no doubt provide things needful for them and there will be no need of a Law to force a Hire for them for he that sends them will take care for them and they also having Food and Raiment will therewith be Content The Difference between the Ministry of the Quakers and their Adversaries § XXXIII The Sum then of what is said is That the Ministry that we have pleaded for and which also the Lord hath raised up among us is in all its parts like the true Ministry of the Apostles and Primitive Church Whereas the Ministry our Adversaries seek to uphold and plead for as it doth in all its parts differ from them so on the other hand it is very like the false Prophets and Teachers testified against and condemned in the Scripture as may be thus briefly Illustrated 1. The true Ministers Call 1. The Ministry and Ministers we plead for are such as are Immediately called and sent forth by Christ and his Spirit unto the Work of the Ministry so were the holy Apostles and Prophets as appears by these places Matth. 10. verse 1.5 Eph. 4.11 Heb. 5.4 1. But the Ministry and Ministers our Opposers plead for are such as have no Immediate Call from Christ to whom the Leading and Motion of the Spirit is not reckoned necessary but who are called sent forth and ordained by wicked and ungodly men Such were of old the false Prophets and Teachers as appears by these places Jer. 14.14 15. item Chap. 23.21 and 27.15 2. True Ministers Guide 2. The Ministers we plead for are such as are acted and led by God's Spirit and by the Power and Operation of his Grace in their hearts are in some measure Converted and Regenerate and so are good holy and gracious men Such were the Holy Prophets and Apostles as appears from 1 Tim. 3.2 3 4 5 6. Tit. 1.7 8 9. 2. But the Ministers our Adversaries plead for are such to whom the Grace of God is no needful qualification and so may be true Ministers according to them though they be ungodly unholy and profligate men Such were the false Prophets and Apostles as appears from Mic. 3.5 11. 1 Tim. 6.5 6 7 8 c. 2 Tim. 3.2 2 Pet. 2.1 2 3. 3. True Ministers Work 3. The Ministers we plead for are such as act move and labour in the Work of the Ministry not from their own meer natural Strength and Ability but as they are acted moved under-propped assisted and influenced by the Spirit of Christ and minister according to the Gift received as good stewards of the manifold Grace of God Such were the holy Prophets and Apostles 1 Pet. 4.10 11. 1 Cor. 1.17 1 Cor. 2.3 4 5 13. Act. 2.4 Matth. 10.20 Mark 13.11 Luk. 12. v. 12. 1 Cor. 13.2 3. But the Ministers our Adversaries plead for are such as wait not for nor expect nor need the Spirit of God to Act and Move them in the Work of the Ministry but what they do they do from their own meer natural strength and ability and what they have gathered and stolen from the letter of the Scripture and other Books and so speak it forth in the strength of their own Wisdom and Eloquence and not in the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit and of Power Such were the false Prophets and Apostles as appears Jer. 23.30 31 32 34 c. 1 Cor. 4.18 Jude 16. 4. The Ministers we plead for are such as being holy and humble True Ministers Humility Contend not for Precedency and Priority but rather strive to prefer one another and serve one another in love neither desire to be distinguished from the rest by their Garments and large Phylacteries nor seek the Greetings in the Market-places nor uppermost Rooms at Feasts nor the Chief Seats in the Synagogues nor yet to be called of men MASTER c. Such were the holy Prophets and Apostles as appears from Matth. 23.8 9 10. and 20.25 26 27. 4. But the Ministers our Adversaries plead for are such as strive and contend for Superiority and claim Precedency over one another affecting and ambitiously seeking after the fore-mentioned things Such were the false Prophets and Apostles in time past Matth. 23.5 6 7. 5. The Ministers we plead for are such as having freely received True Ministers Free Gift freely give
what the Spirit of God furnisheth him with not minding the Eloquence and Wisdom of Words but the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power and that either in the Interpreting some part of Scripture in case the Spirit which is the good Remembrancer lead him so to do or otherwise Words of Exhortation Advice Reproof and Instruction or the sense of some Spiritual Experiences all which will still be agreeable to the Scripture though perhaps not relative to nor founded upon any particular Chapter or Verse as a Text. Now let us Examine and Consider which of these two sorts of Preaching be most agreeable to the Precepts and Practice of Christ and his Apostles and the Primitive Church recorded in Scripture For First as to their Preaching upon a Text if it were not meerly Customary or Premeditated but done by the Immediate Motion of the Spirit we should not blame it but to do it as they do there is neither Precept nor Practice that ever I could observe in the New Testament as a part of the Instituted Worship thereof Object But they Alledge That Christ took the Book of Isaiah and Read out of it and Spake there-from and that Peter preached from a sentence of the Prophet Joel Answ. I Answer That Christ and Peter did it not but as Immediately acted and moved thereunto by the Spirit of God and that without Premeditation 1. Christ's and Peter's speaking was not by Premeditation which I suppose our Adversaries will not deny in which case we willingly approve of it But what is this to their Customary Conned Way without either Waiting for or expecting the Movings or Leadings of the Spirit Moreover that neither Christ nor Peter did it as a settled Custom or Form to be constantly practised by all the Ministers of the Church appears in that most of all the Sermons recorded by Christ and his Apostles in Scripture were without this as appears from Christ's Sermon upon the Mount Matth. 5.1 c. Mark 4.1 c. and Paul's Preaching to the Athenians and to the Jews c. As then it appears that this Method of preaching is not grounded upon any Scripture-precept so the Nature of it is contrary to the preaching of Christ under the New Covenant as exprest and recommended in Scripture For Christ in sending forth his Disciples expresly mentioneth that they are not to speak of or from themselves or to fore-cast before hand but that which the Spirit in the same hour shall teach them as is particularly mentioned in the Three Evangelists Matth. 10.20 Mark 13.11 Luke 12.12 Now if Christ gave this Order to his Disciples before he departed from them as that which they were to practise during his Abode outwardly with them much more were they to do it after his Departure since then they were more specially to receive the Spirit to lead them in all things and to bring all things to their remembrance Joh. 14.26 And if they were to do so when they appeared before the Magistrates and Princes of the Earth much more in the Worship of God when they stand specially before him seeing as it is above shewn his Worship is to be performed in Spirit and therefore after their receiving of the Holy Ghost it is said Acts 2.4 They spake as the Spirit gave them Vtterance not what they studied and gathered from Books in their Closets in a premeditated Way Franciscus Lambertus before cited speaketh well Franc. Lambertus his Testimony against the Priests studied Inventions and Figments and sheweth their Hypocrisy Tract 5. of Prophecy Chap. 3. saying Where are they now that glory in their Inventions who say A brave Invention A brave Invention This they call Invention which themselves have made up but what have the Faithful to do with such kind of Inventions It is not Figments nor yet Inventions that we will have but things that are Solid Invincible Eternal and Heavenly not which men have Invented but which God hath Revealed for if we believe the Scripture our Invention profiteth nothing but to provoke God to our Ruine And afterwards Beware saith he that thou determine not precisely to speak what before thou hast meditated whatsoever it be for though it be lawful to determine the Text which thou art to Expound yet not at all the Interpretation lest if thou so dost thou take from the Holy Spirit that which is his to wit to direct thy speech that thou may'st prophesy in the Name of the Lord denuded of all Learning Meditation and Experience and as if thou hadst studied nothing at all committing thy heart thy tongue and thy self wholly unto his Spirit and trusting nothing to thy former studying or meditation but saying with thy self in great confidence of the Divine promise The Lord will give a word with much power unto those that preach the Gospel But above all things be careful thou follow not the manner of Hypocrites who have written almost word by word what they are to say as if they were to Repeat some Verses upon a Theatre have learned all their preaching as they do that act Tragedies And afterward when they are in the place of prophesying pray the Lord to direct their Tongue but in the mean time shutting up the way of the Holy Spirit they determine to say nothing but what they have written O unhappy kind of Prophets yea and truly Cursed which depend not upon God's Spirit but upon their own Writings or Meditation Why prayest thou to the Lord thou false Prophet to give thee his Holy Spirit by which thou mayâ—st speak things profitable and yet thou repell'st the Spirit Why prefer'st thou thy Meditation or study to the Spirit of God otherwise why committ'st thou not thy self to the Spirit § XIX Secondly This manner of Preaching as used by them 2. The words man's Wisdom brings beget not Faith considering that they also affirm That it may be and often is performed by men who are Wicked or void of true Grace Cannot only not Edify the Church nor beget or nourish true Faith but is destructive to it being directly contrary to the nature of the Christian and Apostolick Ministry mentioned in the Scriptures For the Apostles preached the Gospel not in the Wisdom of words lest the Cross of Christ should be of none effect 1 Cor. 1.17 But this Preaching not being done by the actings and movings of God's Spirit but by man's Invention and Eloquence in his own will and through his natural and acquired parts and Learning is in the Wisdom of words and therefore the Cross of Christ is thereby made of none effect The Apostles Speech and Preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of Power That the Faith of their Hearers should not stand in the Wisdom of men but in the Power of God 1 Cor. 2.3 4 5. But this preaching having nothing of the Spirit and Power in it both the Preachers and Hearers confessing they Wait for
they did in the two places above-cited Alleg. II Secondly they say If this were not understood of Water-baptism it would be a Tautology and all one with Teaching How Teaching and Baptising differ I say Nay Baptizing with the Spirit is somewhat further than Teaching or Informing the Vnderstanding for it imports a Reaching to and melting the Heart whereby it is turned as well as the Vnderstanding informed Besides we find often in the Scripture that Teaching and Instructing are put together without any Absurdity or needless Tautology and yet these two have a greater Affinity than teaching and baptizing with the Spirit Alleg. III Thirdly they say Baptism in this Place must be understood with Water because it is the Action of the Apostles and so cannot be the Baptism of the Spirit which is the work of Christ and his Grace not of Man c. Answ. I Answer Baptism with the Spirit tho' not wrought without Christ and his Grace is Instrumentally done by Men fitted of God for that purpose and therefore no Absurdity follows The Baptism with the Spirit Ascrib'd to Godly Men as Instruments that Baptism with the Spirit should be expressed as the Action of the Apostles for tho' it be Christ by his Grace that gives Spiritual Gifts yet the Apostle Rom. 1.11 speaks of his Imparting to them Spiritual Gifts and he tells the Corinthians that he had begotten them through the Gospel 1 Cor. 4.15 And yet to beget People unto the Faith is the work of Christ and his Grace not of Men. To Convert the Heart is properly the Work of Christ and yet the Scripture oftentimes ascribes it to Men as being the Instruments And since Paul's Commission was To turn People from Darkness to Light tho' that be not done without Christ co-operating by his Grace so may also baptizing with the Spirit be expressed as performable by Man as the Instrument tho the Work of Christ's Grace be needful to concur thereunto so that it is no Absurdity to say that the Apostles did Administer the Baptism of the Spirit Alleg. IV Lastly they say That since Christ saith here that he will be with his Disciples to the end of the World therefore Water-baptism must continue so long If he had been speaking here of Water-baptism then that might have been urged Answ. but seeing that is denied and proved to be false nothing from thence can be gathered He speaking of the Baptism of the Spirit which we freely confess doth remain to the End of the World yea so long as Christ's Presence abideth with his Children Object III § IX Thirdly they Object the Constant Practice of the Apostles in the Primitive Church who they say did always Administer Water-baptism to such as they Converted to the Faith of Christ And hence also they further urge that of Matth. 28. to have been meant of Water or else the Apostles did not understand it in that in baptizing they used Water or that in so doing they walked without a Commission I Answer That it was the Constant Practice of the Apostles is denied for we have shewen in the Example of Paul that it was not so since it were most absurd to judge that he Converted only these few even of the Church of Corinth whom he saith he baptized nor were it less absurd to think that that was a constant Apostolick Practice which he that was not inferior to the Chiefest of the Apostles and who declares he laboured as much as they all rejoyceth he was so little in But further the Conclusion inferred from the Apostles Practice of baptizing with Water to evince How the Apostles Baptized that they understood Matth. 28. of Water-baptism doth not hold for tho they baptized with Water it will not follow that either they did it by vertue of that Commission or that they mistook that place nor can there be any Medium brought that will infer such a Conclusion As to the other insinuated Absurdity That they did it without a Commission It is none at all for they might have done it by a Permission as being in use before Christ's Death and because the people nursed up with Outward Ceremonies could not be weaned wholly from them And thus they used other things as Circumcision and legal Purifications which yet they had no Commission from Christ to do to which we shall speak more at length in the following Proposition concerning the Supper But if from the Sameness of the Word because Christ bids them baptize Object and they afterwards in the Vse of Water are said to baptize it be judged probable that they did understand that Commission Matth. 28. to authorize them to baptize with Water and accordingly practised it Altho' it should be granted that for a season they did so far mistake it Answ. as to judge that Water belonged to that Baptism which however I find no necessity of granting yet I see not any great Absurdity would thence follow For it is plain they did mistake that Commission as to a main part of it for a Season as where he bids them Go teach all Nations since some time after they judged it unlawful to Teach the Gentiles yea Peter himself scrupled it until by a Vision constrained thereunto for which after he had done it he was for a season until they were better informed judged by the rest of his Brethren Now if the Education of the Apostles The Apostles did scruple the Teaching the Gentiles as Jews and their Propensity to adhere and stick to the Jewish Religion did so far influence them that even after Christ's Resurrection and the pouring forth of the Spirit they could not receive nor admit of the Teaching of the Gentiles tho' Christ in his Commission to them commanded them to Preach to them what further Absurdity were it to suppose that through the like Mistake the Chiefest of them having been the Disciples of John and his Baptism being so much prized there among the Jews that they also took Christ's Baptism intended by him of the Spirit to be that of Water which was John's and accordingly practised it for a season it suffices us that if they were so mistaken tho' I say not that they were so they did not always remain under that Mistake else Peter would not have said of the Baptism which now says that it is not a putting away of the filth of the flesh which certainly Water-baptism is But further they urge much Peter's baptising Cornelius in which they press two things First That Water-baptism is used even to those that had received the Spirit Secondly That it is said positively he commanded them to be baptized Acts 10.47 48. But neither of these doth necessarily infer Water-baptism to belong to the New Covenant-Dispensation nor yet to be a Perpetual standing Ordinance in the Church Whether Peter's Baptizing some with Water makes it a standing Ordinance to the Church For first all that this will amount to was That Peter at that
Students gift of Contradicting themselves take one here in their own Words * The Students contradicting themselves about the Rule of Faith They say this above-mentioned Retortion doth not meet their Argument why Do we conclude that the Spirit is not the Rule of Faith because they cannot give an Evidence which will actually Convince that they are led by the Spirit No such thing Compare this with J. L's Medium of his second Argument where he undertaketh to prove That the Spirit is not the Rule of Faith as it is expressed by themselves because there can be no Evidence given of it in the World But if they think to creep out here that there may be Evidences given though not such as do actually Convince because of the want of a subjective Evidence or disposition of the mind as they afterwards add and that we can give no Evidence of this last sort It remains then for them to prove that their minds are well disposed seeing they are the Opponents and we the meer Defendents and that the Evidences assigned by us or such as are not manifest even to the well-disposed and yet to go round pag. 59. Paragraph 19. They account this of the well-disposed mind ridiculous though it was the best Answer their Master could give the Iesuit in the like case as above is shewn But thou may'st perhaps judge Reader that these that are so nice and scrupulous in receiving Evidences from others would give some very solid ones for their own Rule when pressed the same way to give us an Evidence that they have the Scripture to be their Rule from God and that they have the true sense of it Take then notice of them here Reader and see how satisfactory their Answer is Now say the Students pag. 59. The Solution is easie for they who make the Scripture their principal Rule are either our own Churches or they are Sects dissenting from us If the first have not our Divines frequently proved both from the intrinsick Characters of Divinity that appear in the Scriptures themselves and also from the outward Motives of Credibility that we have these Scriptural Revelations from God And have they not often assigned sufficient objective Evidences and Proofs of the senses of the Scriptures taught by our Churches as to every point controverted by us and all Sects whatsoever So that Dissenters remain Vnconvinced for want of subjective Evidence and disposition of mind and really ought to believe us teaching such senses of Scripture c. Is not this rarely well solved Do the Students give any better Evidence for all this than their own declaration And is not this according to themselves as good for other Hereticks as for them Is it not strange with what confidence they should print such stuff Besides as to the first part of it it is manifestly false for Calvin the Chiefest of their Divines hath in plain words asserted viz. That all the Objective Evidences and Motives of Credibility are not sufficient to establish the Conscience in the belief of the Scriptures certainly Calvin's Testimony for the Spirit and that thereunto is necessary the secret and inward Testimony of the Spirit yea that the same Spirit that was in the Prophets and Apostles enter into the heart c. So say all the publick Confessions of the Protestants abroad and seeing of this according to the Students there can be no Objective Evidences in the World given then neither can there of the Scripture which they confess is their Rule So the Reader may see that their Work is like the Viper's Brood that destroyeth it self and tends to overturn the Certainty of all Christian Religion landing in Scepticism Which because they cannot shun they end their Section in vain Boasting and Railing saying pag. 77. They provoke all the Papists and Quakers of the World to argue against them so if they can Here are high Words indeed but seeing they are so busie in Boasting we accept the Challenge and offer to prove before as publick an Auditory as the last Dispute was that their Arguments against the Quakers are no better than the Iesuit's against their Master And here to conclude they add Let the Reader therefore judge whether Railing Robin shews forth more of an Ass 's than of a Viper 's nature where he brands our Argument with the black mark of Popery Well! we leave to the Reader 's judgment who also may judge if this be not Railing And it the Students who talk at this rate be to be trusted in their Preface saying That they have abstained from all personal Criminations and have not rendred evil for evil And what may be thought of Men that are not ashamed thus to belie themselves SECTION III. Wherein the Students Arguments concerning the Supper and against Perfection and Women's Speaking are Considered and Answered contained in their Sub-section 3. from pag. 66. of their Book to pag. 78. FIrst They say They might argue that the Quakers have not Revelations from the Spirit because of their mad and impious Practices And then they turn this Assertion into a Question asking Have not the Quakers committed such Practices saying Lying Books writ against the Quakers they were commanded by the Spirit And for this they refer the Reader to several Books writ against the Quakers by their declared Adversaries Which signifie nothing unless they will prove that these Men spake Truth which they neither have nor can do and so are no more valued by us then Cochleus's Lies against Luther But to Confirm this They place at large a Citation out of H. More whom they say The Quakers have reported to be a Quaker This is a false Calumny which they are dared to prove That H. More hath in a Letter to G. K. owned some of the Quakers Principles is true as particularly that of Immediate Objective Revelation called by them The Head of the Monster and that the Seed is a Substance which they count one of the Quakers grand Errors As for that Citation of H. More he wrote it upon Trust and was not an Eye-Witness of these things and it recurs upon him and them to prove the things true The Story there mentioned of J. N. seeing it was at that very time disowned by the Quakers and since Condemned by himself militates nothing against us no more than other horrid things yea that which in the Students own esteem is down-right Treason being done by some of the Chief of their Ministry as Commanded by the Scripture doth against them In Conclusion they give a Proverb used by Will. Dundas in a Book of his as a further Instance which they call a Bundle of Ridiculous and Non-sensical Expressions But will they deny but the Presbyterian General Assembly of which W. Dundas so writes was a Mingle-mangle of Omni gatherums particularly that Assembly that Excommunicated and gave to the Devil B. Spotwood and these other called Reverend Prelates of the Church the Students own Or let the
he concludes J. B.'s false Accusation why we come to their places of Worship It is to do open Contempt This is but his malitious Conjecture We come not there but in Obedience to the Lord when moved by his Spirit so to do to bear a faithful Testimony against all Superstition and Will-worship For it is not pleasant to us to come there where for the most part we are saluted with knocks and stones and other such brutish and Paganish dealings by their Church-Members which is the fruit of their holy things and whereunto the People are often encouraged by their Preachers who sometimes shew an Example of this themselves and of whose barbarous Actions even by the Presbyterian-Preachers there is a Book Extant entituled Fighting Priests falling upon the Innocent with their own hands Of Fighting Priests giving account how many of them fell upon these Innocent Servants of the Lord with their own hands and I my self have seen of the present Preachers of Scotland do it As for his flouting at the Quakers for laying claim to a Spirit of discerning so as to distinguish who pray from the Spirit and who not he doth but therein declare himself to be none of Christ's Sheep who are said to know his Voice from that of a Stranger And as for his saying That the Quakers judge of this by the Mimical posture of the Body it is false and would agree far rather to his Brethren whose affected Postures of Body as well as their Nonsensical and Absurd Expressions in Prayer have disgusted many of their Way of which I could give some eminent Instances but that I spare them at present The Example I gave of their Excluding some from their Sacrament of the Supper so called doth not halt as he affirmeth pag. 462. as to the main for if the Command to take it is with presupposition of Examination so the Command of praying is with the presupposition of its being in the Spirit in which all Worship is now to be Praying always in the Spirit Eph. 6.18 To my shewing in answer to their Objection of Peter his Commanding Simon Magus to pray that he says Repent and Pray after a meer Assertion without proof he says He sees that with our Quaker a graceless Person can Repent but not Pray To which I answer If he speak of possibility I believe a graceless Person may both Repent and Pray but as he cannot Repent without Grace so not Pray without the Spirit but Grace worketh in all if not Resisted as the Spirit doth in all to Prayer when they have received the Grace in measure but that some Measure of Repentance must go before Prayer A measure of Repentance goes before Prayer in a sense of Iniquity and desire of Deliverance himself I judge will hardly deny since the very offering to Pray importeth in the Person applying himself thereunto a sense of his Iniquity and a desire to be delivered from it for which end he approacheth to God to demand Pardon and help to Amend ¶ 6. Now I come to his 25 th Chapter of Singing Psalms where I shall not need to be large J. B. endeavours to Justify their Custom of Singing Davids Conditions and their speaking Lies I deny not as he observes Singing But to Justify their Custom of singing David 's Conditions by which many are made as I observed in my Apology to speak Lies in the presence of God he objecteth the practice of the Jews but their practice in matters of Worship without a Gospel-precept is not a Rule to us Neither doth the Instance given by him of Psal. 66.6 answer the matter for the Jews might very well praise the Lord for the deliverance of their Fore-Fathers out of Egypt but that will not allow Drunkards and Impenitent Persons to fay They water their Couch with Tears as by singing Psalms many do which is false As for his saying They do but praise God for what he hath done for others why do they not express it so then And whereas he asketh Whether the Spirit inspireth the Meeter in the Song and the Tone of the singing he sheweth his Folly and Lightness while he ridiculously supposeth that Meeter is necessary or any other Tone than Nature hath given to every one of which God by his Spirit maketh use as an Instrument as he doth of other parts and faculties of the Body to the performing of Spiritual duties And the like Folly he sheweth when he tells What they do not in Scotland since he knows it was not particularly or only against the things practised in Scotland that I write in that Apology SECT XIII Wherein his Twenty Sixth Chapter Of Baptism is Considered ¶ 1. OUR Author to shew how angry and froward he resolves to be in this Chapter J. B. a Compleat Railer makes his first Paragraph a Compleat stick of Railing He begins with telling That the Paganish Antichristian Spirit which reigneth and rageth in the Quakers manifesteth a perfect and compleat hatred at all the Institutions of our Lord Jesus Christ and he endeth with this Exclamation O! what desperate Renegado's must these Men be More of this kind may be seen pag. 472 473 474.480 481. As for what he adds from several Scriptures of Baptism pag. 466 467. what of it relates to the weight of the Question will be Examined afterwards He gives us here a Citation out of their larger Catechism and then comes at last pag. 468. n. 4. to Examin what I say in the matter where upon my urging the many Contests among Christians concerning these things called Sacraments as one Reason against them he concludes Contests about their Sacraments among Christians so called I might as well plead against all Christianity because of the many Debates about it and with this Conceit he pleaseth himself a little which only evidenceth his malitious Genius for I should never have used that as an only Argument and did not use it at all but as having many other Considerable ones against their Vse of these things and therefore I add That these things contended for are meer Shadows and outward things Then to cover their making use of the word Sacrament which is not to be found in Scripture he objecteth my making use of the word Fermentation and of the Vehicle of God but I use not to make use of these words when I speak Scots or English but these words when Interpreted are made use of in Scripture For the Latine fermentum which signifies Leaven Fermentum or Leaven is oft used in Scripture is oft used even as compared to Spiritual things as Matth. 13 31. Luk. 13 21. 1 Cor. 5 6 7 8. yea the word Leaven and Leavened is to be found in Scripture above 30 times but the word Sacrament never so much as once And it is not as he saith a poor thing to Challenge them for expressing the Chief Mysteries of their Religion in words that cannot be found in all the Scripture
is not by the Outward Senses according to the following verse for the Apostle saith The Spiritual Man Judgeth all things This then must be done by some Senses or properties Peculiar to the Spiritual Man and in which he excells the Natural man which is not in the outward Senses as all do know Therefore the Perception of Spiritual things cannot be by the outward Senses either as the chief or only Means as is falsly contended for Now as to these words of the Apostle Rom. 10. That Faith comes by Hearing Zuinglius observed well That the Apostle intended not to affirm Faith to come by the hearing of the Outward word Whether Faith comes by the Outward Hearing Neither do the following words prove it How shall they Believe unless they hear And how shall they hear without a Preacher And how shall they Preach unless they be sent For the Apostle uses these words not as his Arguments but as Objections which might be formed as the same Apostle uses in other places To which Objections he answers in the same Chapter as appears verse 18. But I say have they not all heard Yes truly their Voice went into all the Earth That is of the Father and Son Or the Father in the Word which Word is not only neer us but according to the same Apostle in the same Chapter in our Mouths and in our Hearts But further thou canst conclude nothing from this but that Faith is begotten by Outward Hearing only and no otherwise For this is the strength of thy Argument That since Faith cannot be without Outward Hearing Therefore nothing can certainly be believed but where somewhat is proposed to the Outward Hearing For if thou acknowledge Faith can be begotten any otherwise than by Hearing thou loosest the Strength of thy Argument And if that Argument hold That Faith comes only by Outward Hearing thou destroyest the whole Hypothesis For having before affirmed That outward Miracles are sufficient to render one certain of the Truth of any Revelation those Miracles whether it be the Healing of the Sick or the Raising of the Dead would avail nothing because those as for most part all Miracles are obvious to the Sight not to the Hearing And if it be not by Outward Hearing only thou canst conclude nothing from this place But I the more wonder thy using of this Argument considering the Discourse we had together before we entred upon this Debate A certain Person placing the Certainty of every thing in the Outward Senses For when we were speaking of the Opinions of a certain Person who denied the Certainty of every thing but what was discerned by the outward Senses thou condemnedst as most Absurd But Why I cannot conceive since there is no great difference betwixt those two Opinions The one saith There can be no certainty concerning any Truth whether they be Necessary or Contingent but by the perception of the Senses The other affirms the same of Contingent Truths though not of Necessary Truths But among the number of Contingent Truths thou Esteemest what belongs to Christian Religion for thou reckons the Necessary Truths only to belong to natural Religion This then is all the difference that that other Person says There is no Certainty of any Religion neither Natural nor Christian but by the perception of the Outward Senses But thou say'st though thou Esteems the Certainty of Natural Religion to be without them yet not of the Christian Religion But again since thou Esteemest that not Natural Religion but the Christian Religion is necessary to Salvation Thou must necessarily conclude That those Truths which are necessary to Salvation rre only known and believed by the benefit of the Outward Senses In which Conclusion which is the Sum of all thou yeilds the Matter to that other Person But lastly If all the Certainty of our Faith Hope and Salvation did depend upon the Infallibility of Outward Senses Outward Senses can be deceived we should be most miserable since these Senses can be easily deceived and by many Outward Casualties and Natural Infirmities whereunto the Godly are no less subject than the Wicked are often vitiated and there are as the Scripture affirms False Miracles which as to the Outward cannot be distinguished from the True of which we cannot Infallibly Judge by the Outward Senses which only discern what is Outward There is a Necessity then to have Recourse to some other Means From all which it does appear how Fallacious and Weak this Argument is But thanks be unto GOD who would not that our Faith should be built upon so uncertain and doubtful a Foundation And whoever hath known True Faith or hath felt the Divine Testimony of GOD's Spirit in his Soul will judge otherwise neither will be moved by such Reasonings I pray GOD therefore to remove these Clouds which darken thy Understanding that thou may'st perceive the Glorious Gospel of CHRIST This is that Saving Word of Grace which I commend thee unto and that GOD may give thee a Heart inclinable to believe and obey the Truth is the desire of The 24th of the Month. called November 1676 Thy Faithful Friend R. BARCLAY This Letter a Year ago at the desire of my Friend R. B. I delivered into the hands of the afore-named Ambassador desiring his Answer in Writing which he then promised but not having as yet done It was seen meet to be Published Roterdam the 28th of March 1678. B. F. R. B's Testimony concerning his Father David Barclay of Vrie in the Kingdom of Scotland Received the Truth in the Year 1666. being the Fifty Sixth Year of his Age about the Seventh Month and Abode in it R. B's Account of the Death of his Father and in Constant Vnity with the Faithful Friends thereof having suffered the Spoiling of his Goods cheerfully and many other Indignities he was formerly unaccustomed to bear and several Tedious Imprisonments after the Sixty Sixth Year of his Age. In the latter End of the seventh Month 1686. being past the Seventy Sixth Year of his Age he took a Fever which continued with him for Two Weeks during which time he signified a Quiet Contented Mind freely Resigned up to the Will of God And gave several Living Testimonies to the Truth and to the Love of God manifest to him in the Revelation thereof And though there be hardly to be found one of a Thousand like to him for Natural Vigor of his Age and that his Fever at times was very strong yet he never was Vnsensible nor did any wrong Expression or Actions proceed from him nor the least Symptom of Discontent or Fretfulness He had been troubled with the Gravel and after his Sickness had very much Pain in Making Water So about Two Days before his Death as those about him were helping him up for that End feeling his Weakness with the Pain in an Agony he said I am gone now And then instantly checking himself added But I shall go to the Lord and
the Testimony of the First Protestants 91 92. the Lord's day is not the First Day of the Week 39. nor is it limited to a particular Day 92. the First Day is not come instead of the Sabbath 93. superstitious observing of Days is the Inventions of Men 92 146. and an Inlet to all the Popish Holidays 39 92. the Priests make the First Day of the Week their Market-day to sell and vend their Babylonish Commodities in 40. It is convenient and necessary that a Day be set apart to meet and Worship God in 146 the Divines Nonsensical Proofs that the First Day of the Week is instead of the Sabbath 177 178. no Man is to be judged in respect of an Holy Day or the Sabbath-days c. 170. the observing of Days being a returning to the beggerly Elements 224. the first Dawning and breaking forth of the heavenly Day of the Lord in this our Age described 689-691 Deacons 508. ‖ Deaf Persons see Light Death see Adam Redemption it entred into the World by Sin 316 317 In the Saints it is rather a passing from Death to Life 316. a Sleep 41. and their Natural Death is not the Wages of Sin 94. Devil he eares not at all how much God be Acknowledged with the Mouth provided he be Worshipped in the Heart 272 355 356. he can form an outward Sound of Words 278. he haunts among the Wicked 391. How he can be a Minister of the Gospel 425 427. when he can work nothing 453 454. he keeps Men in outward Signs Shadows and Forms while they neglect the Substance 489 491 507. The Rage of the Devil against the Lord's Chosen 713. Differences in the Church in outward Matters to be Composed 207. as coming from the besetments of the Enemy 228. the Spirit of God giving Judgment in the Church of Christ 240. Dispute The Dispute of a Shoo-maker with a certain Professor 422 423. of an Heathen-Philosopher with a Bishop in the Council of Nice and of the Vnletter'd Clown 423 424. Divinity School-Divinity 417. how pernicious it is 423 to 427. Divisions see Schism Dreams see Faith Miracles Doctrine That Doctrine which is both contrary to Scripture and Experience is not for the Spirit but against it 601. the Fruits prove the Doctrine 624. J. B. brings his own Author in for Devilish Doctrines 749. Duty The hardned and blinded see not their Duty 242. Duties natural and spiritual differ 636. E. Ear There is a Spiritual and bodily Ear 271 278. whether the outward Hearing is necessary to make a Man a Member of the Visible Church 806. Easter is Celebrated other ways in the Latine Church than in the Eastern 289. the Celebration of it is grounded upon Tradition 289. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 into the Name J. B's false Gloss upon it 859 487. see Baptism Ejaculations proved from Scripture 852. Elders 277 430. How Christ in Revealing his Will ordinarily makes use of the Elders and Officers in his Church 229. in Cases of Differences and Controversies 236. Election and Reprobation of Infants 766 767. J.B. makes the Word All express of two Numbers the least to be Elected 784 804. by the whole World he falsly understands the Elect only ibid. Elector of Saxony the Scandal given by him 471. Eminency Your Eminency see Titles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Greek preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is oftner translated in than among as in 1 Cor 2.2 p. 66. Endowments the Author glories not in natural Endowments Enjoyments inward former Feelings and Enjoyment are far exceeded by the Feelings and Enjoyments of this day 28 29. Enoch walked with God 394. Enthusiasm its proper signification 658. Epistle see James John Peter Esau and Jacob did strive in the Womb 447. Ethicks or Books of Moral Philosophy are not needful to Christians 424. Evangelist who he is and whether any now a days may be so called 429 430. Evidence the best and most principal is the Immediate Evidence of the Spirit and the greatest outward Evidence that can be given is the Scripture 593 594. the Spirit 's Evidence is that it teacheth to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts c. 575 576. an Evidence that no Hypocrite can have 657. See Ministry Spirit Revelation Exaltation self-Exaltation leads to Separation and Division 192 193. Excellency Tour Excellency see Titles Excommunication the evil thereof 690 691 Exorcism or Adjuration in the use of Water-baptism denied 492 Eye The Spiritual Eye sees and discerns the true Confessor from the false 657 837. F. Faith its Definition and what its Object is 277 278. how far and how Appearances outward Voices and Dreams were the Object of the Saints Faith 278. that Faith is one and that the Object of Faith is one 279. It s foundation 293 294. see Revelation Scripture Little Faith is perfect in the measure of it 23 80. what it is its absolute necessity 129. Accidental Objects of Faith 602. wherein the nature and Essence of Faith consists 603. J. B's halting Examples to prove true Faith 759. Sadeel's Testimony concerning Succession of Faith 648. the material and formal Object of Faith distinguished 742 744. whether Faith comes by the outward Hearing 904. falling away and departing from Faith 42 43. who they were that fell from Faith 96. not holding it in a good Conscience 137. thou that standest by Faith c. ibid. see Grace Fall of Man see Man Farellus 506 Father see Knowledge Revelation Fathers so called they did not Agree about some Books of the Scripture 296 303. they affirm that there are whole Verses taken out of Mark and Luke 288. concerning the Septuagint-Interpretation and the Hebrew Copy 303. they preached Universal Redemption for the first four Centuries 326. they frequently used the Word Merit in their Doctrine 387. concerning the possibility of not Sinning 397 398. the possibility of falling from Grace 400. many of them did not only contradict one another but themselves also 423 424. concerning Baptism and the Sign of the Cross 492. concerning an Oath 550. Feet Concerning the Washing of one anothers Feet 447 498 499. Christ washed the Disciples Feet 169 170. the Washing of Feet c. 651. a spiritual Washing of Feet pointed at by Christ 652. Washing of Feet observed by Christians in the Primitive Times ibid. which though Commanded with so great solemnity yet Ceased 863. Forbearance of God see God Franequer all things are set to sale at Rome to Franequer apply'd 433. Freedom from sin see Perfection Freely the Gospel ought to be preached freely 403 432 434. Nic. Arnoldus his Answer to Freely ye have received c. 433. G Games see Plays Gentiles by what Nature the Gentiles did the things contained in the Law 313 763. The Gentiles justified in doing the Law 360 362. Jew and Gentile Scythian and Barbarian partakers of the Salvation of Christ 363. see Heathens Gifted Brethren 416. Gifts 204. diversities of Gifts Administrations and Operations from the same Spirit makes no division 220. Gifts differing according
Profitableness of our Publick Meetings 460. not to be neglected 461. silent waiting in Meetings proved from Scripture and Reason ibid. private Meetings in Time of Persecution not Justifiable 530 J. M. his Answer to a Jesuite 611 Merit see Justification ‑ the Merit and Reward of Works 386 387 Metaphysicks 424 Meum Tuum the Case of Meum and Tuum 2â—8 Minister of the Gospel It is not found in Scripture if any be called 299 416 417. Teachers are not to go before the Teaching of the Spirit 304. the Popish and Protestant Errors concerning the Grace of a Minister are rejected 310 315. they are given for the Perfection of the Saints c. 391. concerning their Call and wherein it is placed 403 407 416. Qualities 403 416 424. Orders and Distinction of Laity and Clergy 428 430 433. of separating Men for their Ministry 425 426. Concerning the Sustentation and Maintenance of Ministers and their Abuse of the Idleness Riot and Cruelty of Ministers 431 437. what kind of Ministry and Ministers the Quakers are for and what sort their Adversaries are for 438 439 442 443 ‑ the Properties of a true Call 831 832. what Evidence the first Publishers of Truth 's Testimony in this Age gave in their Ministry 190. and with what Courage they preached ibid. what Opposition they met withal 191. nothing now in this kind but what hath been the Lot of God's Witnesses in Ancient Times ibid. the Ministration of the Gospel is a Ministration of Life and Grace 656. False Ministers preach from their Study and Books 28. true Ministers Call is not of Man 36 90 91 658. their Ministry its Tendency 37 91. Christ gave some Apostles some Prophets c. 89. what kind of Men the Ministers ought to be and their Duty c. 139 144 167 168. the End of the Ministry the Saints mutual Comfort 304. what renders the Work of the Ministry useless 391 392. the powerful Ministry of Illiterate Men 426. Ministers of the Gospel and of the Law and Shadows differ 654. the Lame and Blind no legal Ministers 655. the Students Graceless Ministry Judas its Patron ibid. Holiness required in a Preacher ibid. the Work of the Ministry is not limited to outward Ordination and Literature 703. see Priests whether Natural Sciences are necessary to the Ministry 834. the fore-runner of the Downfal of a Man-made Ministry 885. Minister of the Law there was no doubtfulness concerning them under the Law 409 420 421. their Ministry was not purely Spiritual and while they performed it they behoved to be purified from their outward Pollutions as now those under the Gospel from their Inward 408 409 420 421. see Maintenance Preaching Miracles whether they be needful to those who place their Faith in Objective Revelation 278 279 416. ‑ J. Calvin asserts there is no need of them 37. or to prove a True Call 90. those of the Apostles were wrought by the Power of Christ in them 385. the Unbelieving Jews believed them not â—24 the preaching of sound Doctrine with an Holy Life is a better Evidence of a true Prophet than all outward Miracles ibid. we need no outward Miracles to believe the Scriptures 903. Monasteries to be shut up in Cloisters and Monasteries is not the true Mortification and Abstraction from the Love and Cares of the World 535. Monks and Fryars demure Deportment Hair-cloth and Vows c. 27. Moses 361 456 458 475 494. ‑ Moses's and Christ's Deliverance compared 52. Motions wicked Men neglect the Motions of the Spirit to â—rayer 472. Motions to Worship are previous in order of Nature 635. false Motions denied 836. J. B. is for praying without the Spirit 's Motion 843. he calls the Movings of the Power of God upon the Quakers Devilry 844. J. B Instanceth unusual Motions of his own party 844 845 Munster see Anabaptists their mischievous actings 288 Murmurer the Truth shuts him out 198 Musick 473 Mystery of Iniquity 428 492 Mysticks a certain sort of Mysticks among the Papists 458 459. N Name of the Lord 486.488 To anoint in the Name of the Lord 512. Nature The Book of Nature cannot discover all things neccessary to Salvation 631. see Socinians The Lamb's Nature not to be found in most Christians but the Doggish and Wolfish Nature doth prevail 709. The Corrupt Nature in the fall distinguisht from the Divine Nature by which the Gentiles did the things contained in the Law 12. Naylor James 876. his Repentance 84 630. Nero 521 665. Noahs faith had neither the Scripture nor the Prophecy of those going before him 358. It is said of him that he was a perfect Man 394. Number of using the singular Number to one Person 539.540 To Thee and Thou a single Person says I. B. is blunt and rude 874.875 O. Oath That it is not lawful to swear 533.551 to 556.565 concerning Oaths 870 873. Obedience No Man's Obedience to any Command will avail him any thing unless upon inward belief and conviction that the thing Commanded is of God 738. is better than Sacrifice 300. Object of Faith see Faith Office What is meant by an Office in the Church 837. Officers 836. see Elders Ordinances sealing Ordinances 476. Ordination The best primitive Protestants had no lawful Ordination at all and therefore could not convey any to others after them whether Protestants or others 648.660 Original sin a term not found in Scripture 40. Original sin a Popish Tradition 93. Zwinglius condemned in the Council of Trent for his notion of Original Sin 93. Oyl To annoint with Oyl 493 511 513. P Pagans 64 Papists the Rule of their Faith 289. they are forced ultimately to recur unto the immediate and inward Revelations of the Holy Spirit 293. What difference there is betwixt the cursed deeds of those at Munster and theirs 288 290. They have taken away the second Commandment in their Catechism 3O2 they make Philosophy the Hand-Maid of Divinity 305. They exalt too much the natural Power and what they think of the saving Light 354. Their Doctrine concerning Justification is greatly vitiate 366. Concerning their manners and ceremonies 405.406 Their literature and studies 422. Of the modern Apostles and Evangelists 430. Whom they exclude from the Ministry 431.432 They must be sure of so much a year before they preach 433. They do not labour 437. The more moderate and sober of them exclaim against the excessive Revenues of the Clergy 435. Their worship can easily be stopped 454.455 Albeit they say None are saved without Water-Baptism yet they allow an Exception 289. Of Baptism 492. Of the Flesh and Blood of Christ 497 498. Of an Oath 550. The Maxim among the Papists Extra Ecclesiam nulla Salus in some sense true but as it is understood by them generally it destroys Love and Charity 688. Papists pretended charity see Armenian Parable of the Talents 344.349 Of the Vineyard entrusted 335. of the Sower 348 349 of the Tares 519 Paschal Lamb the end thereof 500. Patriarchs 496 501. Peace
Experience the just Authority of his Confidence because The natural Man perceiveth not the things of God neither can he as such because they are spiritually discerned The Natural Man may talk of them of God his Nature and Attributes of Christ his Relation Natures and Offices of Regeneration which is the Great Work of the Son of God in and upon Man But Alas that is all the Natural Man with all his Natural Powers and Skill is Capable of he can go no deeper 'T is all Hear-say and Imagination For they are a Mystery shut up close from all Unsanctified Hearts and Heads Yea they are all wrapt up and strongly inclosed in this Holy Seed of Light and Spirit that shines in the dark Hearts of Men and through the Power of that Darkness they cannot Comprehend it The Ground of which Darkness is Disobedience Which made Christ say to the Jews If you will do the will of God you shall know of my doctrine Joh. 7.17 if it be of God or not I say the Mystery Power and Virtue of Christianity is shut up in this Divine Seed And if thou O Reader knowest it not but art only speculatively a Christian open thy Heart and let it into the good Ground and thou shalt quickly find the Efficacy and Excellency of it in the Fruits that will spring from it The Increase will be very great and the Tast thereof sweeter much than the Honey or the Honey-Comb Psal. 19.10 She is a Tree of Life said a Wise and a great King of old Time to all them that lay hold upon her Prov. 3.18 ch 8.19 and happy is every one that retaineth her for her fruit is better than gold and her revenue than choice silver It was by him stiled Wisdom because it made him Wise and will make every one that is Taught by it Ch. 9.10 Job 28.111 Psal. 10. For it makes People Wise to Salvation by teaching them the Fear of the Lord and to depart from Iniquity and every evil way All such are said to have a good Vnderstanding The Apostle Paul also calleth it the Grace of God Tit. 2.11 12 13. that bringeth Salvation that hath appeared to all men c. Grace because it is God's Free Gift not our Merit or Purchase God so loved the World Joh. 3.16 Ch. 1.14.16 he gave his only begotten Son to save it who was full of Grace and Truth And of his fulness we receive grace for grace in order to Salvation In which Saying of the Apostle Five things are to be seriously remarked as Comprehensive of the very Body of our Christian Divinity First the Principle Talent or Gift which God giveth to Man and that is his Grace The Grace of God c. Secondly This Grace Talent Gift or Principle is sufficient to the End for which it is given viz. It bringeth Salvation God bestows it for that purpose Paul might well say so that had tried the Power and Virtue of it under the greatest Temptation As God told him 2 Cor. 12.8 9. his Grace was sufficient for him so he found it to his exceeding great Joy Thirdly The Vniversality of God's Bounty It appears to all Men more or less It is so intended Christ died for all and distributes Grace to all that all might come to the Knowledge of the Truth 1 Tim. 2.4 as it is in Jesus and be saved Fourthly The way by which the Sufficiency and Vniversality of it is demonstrated and that is The Teaching Quality and Virtue of it v. 12. Teaching us that denying Vngodliness and worldly Lusts we should live soberly righteously and Godly in this present World This every one feels in his own Bosom at Times and that of all Religions and of all Nations A Just Monitor a Secret Reprover and a Faithful Witness Blessed are they that give heed thereunto and learn of it what to Leave and what to Do what to shun and what to Embrace Prov. 8.20 Mich. 6.8 For it Leads in the Ways of Righteousness and in the midst of the Paths of Judgment It is by this God sheweth Man his Thoughts and what he doth require of him This it is that Man has made an Adversary by his Iniquities which he must make Peace with lest he bring him before the Judge Matt. 5.25 and he cast him into Prison and he come not out till he has paid the uttermost Farthing This Inward Teaching Reproving Exhorting Light Spirit or Grace of God Learns us Two Lessons which make up the holy Order of our Conversion and Salvation 1. What we are to Deny 2. What we are to Do. We are to Deny Vngodliness and wordly Lusts and it will shew us what they are both within and without in Thought as well as in Word and Deed if we will attend to it and Watch and Wait upon it And though the grosser Evils that carry the largest Characters of Impiety are easily seen and observed yet there are Lusts that lie near and stick close that are less perceptible and it may be are hardly by some thought Evil neither As in Relation to Extreams in Food Apparel Furniture Discourse Converse Gain Honour Revenge Emulation c. And there is an Vngodliness in a Mystery too which utterly mistakes and overthrows the true Nature and End of Religion as well as palpable Enormities Such is setting up the Form above the Power of Godliness Humane Traditions above the Scripture and Opposing that to the Spirit of God which it Testifies of and so often Refers unto and making and pressing Civil Edicts about Matters of Faith and suffering none to Live and Enjoy what is their own and prosecute their Lawful Callings for the Maintenance of their Families unless they will forgoe Convictions play the Hypocrite be of their Creed and receive their Mark in their Forehead Rev. 13.16 c. 14.9 or at least in their Right hand by which means they have made a Worldly Interest and Empire of the Church and of Religion that should be the Purity and Peace of the VVorld a meer Step and Test to Temporal Preferment These are the Things under which Religion and indeed Civil Society and true Civil Policy groan as well as other Impieties though by Worldly Men and some that would be thought Religious too this is as little seen as the more sensual Vngodliness is amended For all which the Eternal God is come by many Judgments and coming in Flames of Fire to Execute Vengeance upon the Wicked 2 Thess. 1.7 8. whatever Carnal and Secure Minds think And it is not the least of our Miseries that we are but too Vnsensible of it Thus we see what we are Taught by the Grace to deny Let us next consider the other part of our Duty which the Grace teacheth us and that is What we are to do Teaching us says the Great and Zealous Apostle that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World This is also a most Comprehensive Expression a plain and
other Professors of Religion It was a Scripture-Essay in the Heat of divers Controversies then on foot and as of very good Use so it has past Three Impressions before this That at which the Author Aimed was giving the Clear and Native Sense and Authority of the Holy Ghost in Scripture upon every Point of Faith and Practice especially those that were Controverted suggesting the Points successively in Questions from Head to Head and giving Answer by proper Scriptures without any Consequences leaving it to every Reader to judge how far the Question and Answer Agreed and what Sense the Holy Ghost exprest as to the Point stated in the Question Be it for Exampe of Faith Works Grace Revelation Justification Sanctification c. And indeed it were greatly to be Desired that where Men cannot Agree in their Comment who yet Agree in the Text they would strive to Improve Piety and Charity under Generalities where they do and can Meet and would study to be quiet and follow Peace with all Men and Holiness Rom. 12.10 18. Col. 3.14 15. without which no Man shall see the Lord. It was a great Vnhappiness to Men as well as an Injury to Religion it self that it has been branched and broken into so many Parts and Points and more that some Men have so boldly and critically Super-fined upon them but worst of all that Governments have troubled themselves to give them Authority and make them the Currant Creeds of their Countries and to deny and put down as Base and Adulterate all Principles or Doctrines of a Differing Sense though they have an Intrinsick Worth and the Exemplary Vertue of their Professors to Recommend them But I must Remember I am writing a Preface and not a Book And yet before I leave this I must say that I very much value the Simplicity of this Catechism and the Design of the Writer in it and wish That those who seek a Satisfaction by Reading of Points in Religion would seriously Read it For the Collection that is made out of the Srciptures to every Head suggested by way of Question carry that Clarity Vnity and Authority with them that I would think should Satisfy the Serious and Silence the Curious Inquirer The Sixth Book of the Ensuing Volume came out in the Year 1674. It is called The Anarchy of the Ranters and other Libertines the Hierarchy of the Romanists and other pretended Churches equally Refused and Refuted in a Twofold Apology for the Church and People of God called Quakers c. The Purpose of this Book was as the rest of the Title shews to Justify his Friends from Disorder against the Charge of one Sort of People and Imposition and Tyranny over Conscience against the Mistakes and Insinuations of another Sort of People Shewing farther That as the Ancient Gospel is in this Age Restored in its Purity by their Testimony so the Apostolical Order of the Church of Christ is the Practice and Ornament of their Christian Society and settled upon its only Right Foundation viz. the Love and Vnity of the Spirit of Wisdom This Discourse touching the tender Place both of those that Exercise a Coercive Authority over Conscience on the one hand and of those that to Avoid the Extream run into an Absolute Personal Independency in point of Order and Government on the other hand both Sorts were not a little Disgusted but the latter more especially that thought themselves Chiefly concerned in the Author's Intentions and Labour And indeed the Rise and Ground of the Discourse was the Dissatisfaction of some that professed to be of the same Society about the Methods of Proceeding as a Christian Community for the Honour of our Holy Profession Some Mistook him others too designedly Inveighed against him The Animosity rise so high in some few Leading Persons of that Dissent as to question his Sincerity to the Profession he made of Religion in general whispering him to be Popishly Affected if not a Papist and perhaps a Graduated one too And why First because he was Bred in France at School under an Vncle that was a Papist if not a Priest Secondly because he Maintained Church-Authority at as high a Rate at least upon the same Principles But for the First his Father who was always a Zealous Protestant coming heartily to Embrace the Communion of the Despised Quakers and shewing himself an Exemplary Member of their Society Commanded his Son over being yet a Child and only sent thither for the Advantage of a Relation and of Learning French and Latine together and that upon the pressing Importunity of his Fathers own Brother that was President of the Scotch Colledge where the Learning Common at our Schools as well as at Vniversities is daily taught To the Second Reason It flows from Weakness or something worse For first If he defends the Necessity and Service of Order by any Arguments the Church of Rome has used to support her power it cannot conclude him of the same Principle or Spirit unless it were to Carry it to the same End and Extremity which is denied Next Church-Government must no more be denied because the Church of Rome pleads for it then any other Truth that she Asserts There are Principles held by Jews and Turks in Common with Christians must Christians therefore Renounce these Common Truths or be branded with Judaism or Turcism Nor is the Abuse of a Principle or Practice by any Society a Reason why another Communion should be Abused for retaining or Vsing it The Power we Claim and Use differs both in its Nature and Object from the Power used by the Roman and other Churches too In Nature for ours is not Coercive and Penal upon the Persons or Estates of such as Dissent and that not because we want Power but because we believe it to be Evil to do so But Theirs is Coercive and Penal either by themselves or their Proxy the Civil Magistrate who is a Member of their Church In Object they differ because their Authority regards Matters of Faith and Worship but that we use only Order and the Government of Society And here I must beseech those few that are under any Dissatisfaction into whose Hands this may come to stop a while and ponder with the Spirit of Meekness and Wisdom upon this Distinction where I conceive the Stress Lies and the Matter in Controversy may receive a Satisfactory Issue The Protestants accuse the Church of Rome with the Addition of Articles of Faith and Institutions in Worship that are Forreign to the Scripture and the First Centuries or more Primitive Ages of the Church and Charge their Dissent from her Communion upon that Head The Protestant Dissenters Impeach Protestant National Churches in some Sense about Articles of Faith but plainly and strenuously with the Innovation and Imposition of diverse Institutions and Ceremonies in Worship that are not found in Scripture which is the best and truest Tradition of the Belief and Practice of those purer Times in which they
were written and they lay their Separation upon this Which has been followed with an Age of Severity on one hand as Zealous of Church-Discipline and on the other Hand of great Sufferings both in Person and Estate out of Conscience and Zeal for the Simplicity Purity and Example of Scripture-Worship against Humane Inventions But this is neither our Case nor our Dissenters Pretence for we never Assumed to our selves a Faith or Worship-Making-Power nor did any one of the most scrupulous of them ever Charge it upon us We pretend not to Introduce fresh Points of Faith or other Methods of Worship than it pleased God by his Heavenly Light and Spirit to lead us into at the beginning of our blessed Dispensation There are no Forms of Words set Gestures or peculiar Garments Dedicated and Injoined among us or any Novelties as to our Places of Worship Introduced in which we Symbolize with others we Condemned or Differ from our selves in what we once owned Our Case is plain Order not Articles of Faith and the Discipline of Government not of Worship We are a a Society and therefore cannot be longer Independent one of another We believe indeed for our selves and ought to do so and came Voluntarily into this Communion the Ground of it being the Inward Perswasion of our own Minds from a Spiritual Liking of Principles and Practice and above all that Divine Sense and Power which we felt to Vnite our Hearts in the Communion of VVorship without which Primitive Sense and Integrity the best part of the Fellowship will be Lost and the rest be but as a Body without a Spirit But being hereby drawn and engaged in Society there is an Outward a Civil and Temporal Part that must be Considered and Discharged though in Comparison of the Inmost Motives of our Fellowship it is but as a Body to the Soul And in this Sense we are not our own Masters We are in Subjection and must be in Subjection a Kin one to another and Answerable one to another and in some sense one for another at least to those that are without For which Cause we cannot say as Cain Answered God when he asked him Where his Brother was I am not my Brother's Keeper But as the Apostle said We are not our own in Reference to the Title God hath to us and that not only by Creation but by Redemption also and that Faith Worship and Obedience we therefore owe to him So in Society we are not our own but Christ's and the Church's to Good Works and Services yet all in Love For Example All Societies have Poor Sick Aged Widows Orphans c. These cannot be duly regarded and supplied but by the Care of the Whole nor that Care so effectually taken without Method nor that Method settled without the Concurrence of the Communion Here then is Power and here is Order What must he be called that Opposes this But yet further All Societies Marry Trade and Converse promiscuously and have one Time or other some that are Vnjust Litigious Licentious and others that though they may not fall under the Censure of those without yet deviate from their First Testimony and Principles upon which they Joined themselves in Fellowship What is to be done in this Case Has this Society no Power to Establish such wholesom Methods as may prevent Disorder and Scandal both to those within and those without And is she not the proper Judge as well as Authorizer of what is fittest to be done in such Cases Remembring all along that it is not about things relating to Faith and Worship or such a Sort of Exercise of Conscience towards God but about such things as immediately refer to Conversation and Practice among Men wherein nevertheless we ought to have the Fear of God before our Eyes that as the Apostle says We may do all things to the Praise and Glory of God I say here is no need of such an Exercise of Conscience in these things as if it had Faith for an Object Nor would it sound Congruous to Common Sense that because we may reasonably plead Conscience against acknowledging such an Article of Belief or practising such an Institution of Worship which hath God for the Object where Conscience is not satisfied therefore I may say It is against my Conscience to Comply with such Orders as tend to support the Poor visit the Sick help the Aged End Differences Reprove the Licentious Comfort the Tempted Reclaim the Back-slider Or if I should say It is against my Conscience to Ask my Relations Leave or the Woman's I intend to Marry before I propound my Design to her or to give them or the Society I am of any Satisfaction of my Clearness from all others by staying before I marry such a due Time for Inquiry as they think Safe and Decent both for my Credit and their own and which is at the same Time the General Practice of that Society of which I am a Member This I say has no Consequence or Coherence with the other Just Plea of Conscience that has Faith and Worship for Objects It must be therefore at least a Fruit of Inadvertency and Weakness not to Distinguish rightly between the Discipline of Worship where Conformity is Free and the Discipline of Conversation and Society where it is certainly Obligatory or Society Ceases For what is Society but a Voluntary Compound of Independent Persons or the Resignation of Singles into Community And what is every Member's Doing as it Listeth but a Dissolution of that Society and reducing it again into so many Singles or Personal Independencies And this is the Mischievous Consequence of Liberty Misunderstood and Challenged in the wrong Place I beseech God to make Those sensible of it that are concerned in the Mistake of whom I hope and for whom I heartily wish the best that they may see we mean not any thing against the Truth but for the Truth nor to Enthral their Minds but to Adorn their Conversation and that of the whole Society And that what we plead for do's not subject their Consciences but their Conveniences only â—o the General Good which every private Person of Course delivers up to the Benefit of Society when-ever he Joins himself to it and has what is better in the Room of it the Sweetness of Civil or Christian Fellowship For if he serves others which he was not equally obliged to before he is also served of others that formerly owed him no Obligation For the rest it is a good Life which is a Duty incumbent and so no Tyranny in Society to Require it and Censure the Contrary See then the Upshot pray of this whole Matter Conscience is God's therefore not our's to give nor any Man's or Society's to take or Usurp Conveniencies are our's and those we submit to the Benefit of Society when we enter into it for the Advantages we receive from it And a Just and Sober Life is a General Duty and therefore is not
only no Error in the Church to Expect from every Member but a Duty in her to Look after As it is her particular Interest to see that we walk faithfully up to the special Principles of Communion and wherein we are Deficient she may Exhort and if Refractory Rebuke and if Incorrigible Censure according to Christ's Rule and Command in that Case long ago provided Mat. 18.17 I know it is Objected That most of those Methods of Proceeding that are amongst us as a Religious Society came first from one or other of the Brethren and had not a formal Settlement But with all Humility let me Answer That First if it were so they were Elders and Fathers that were approved through many Trials and Worthy of double Honour Next They were such as at the first we received gladly and we could even have pluckt out our very Eyes to have shew'n our true Value and great Affection for them as those of old exprest for Paul And if we received joyfully the greater things that concern our Salvation through their Ministry are they Unworthy or Unfit to Convey and Communicate in the Love of God good and wholesom Advice about the Outward Things of our Fellowship But besides all that might be said upon this Head to render our Compliance Reasonable or Christian it is plain that the Church of God Gathered by the Ministration of his Spirit through his Servants hath almost Vniversally received and with Comfort and Godly Profit practised that good Order so Recommended unto them by divers Elders and Brethren particularly our Ever-honourable Elder Brother George Fox that Faithful Minister of our Lord Jesus Christ and Eminent Apostle of our Time and Day whom the Lord sent forth with the Testimony of the True Light within Enlightening every Man that cometh into the World and that in great Dread and Authority who proved a Fruitful Branch yielding much Fruit to him that had called him living to see many Thousands Gathered to and settled in that Testimony He preached the Light by Word and VVriting he VValked in the Light and he suffered for it and Departed in it in which he Lives and Reigns for ever And whoever Reads those Papers he writ to the Church of God in reference to these Things will find he uses very sparingly his Authority of Eldership and whatever he might have said that he hath said nothing which did not Consist with the most Exemplary Sweetness and Humility far short of that Power the Apostle Paul used to the Corinthians Philippians 1 Cor 6. to 13. Ch. 11.16 Ch. 14. 2 Cor. 6.14 15. Phil. 3.17 Col. 4.10 1 Thess. 4.1 2. 2 Thess. 2.13 Ch. 3.4 6 7 12. 1 Tim. 1.6 Ch. 5.21 2 Tim. 2.14 15. Ch. 4.1 2. Colossians Thessalonians and Timothy where as well as in divers other Places he Commands and Charges them over and over as well in Matters of Order relating to the Well-Governing of their Christian Society as Matters of Faith and VVorship And no Wonder for he that had allowedly Injoined the greater needed no Earthly Dispensation to Require the Lesser So that I must beseech such as are dissatisfied to Look into the way of God's Spirit in all Dispensations more especially that of the Primitive Church and Compare them with the Testimony of God's Servants in our Dispensation and Weigh in the Spirit of Love and Meekness with a good Understanding the Treatise we are now upon and another in Defence of it in the following Volume with the Liberty I have taken in a Preface upon this Occasion to Open my self unto them for their better Understanding and Satisfaction as to the Nature of those things and of that Power which they take Offence at and the Mind and End of their Friends that Recommended and so generally practise them O that a Divine Sense and Savour may fall upon them and that the Ancient Kindness may spring For if Love can Cover Real Faults surely it can Overcome Imaginary ones and Restore those that have Misapprehended Persons or Things to the Ancient Blessed Vnity they once Enjoyed Here it is that deep Saying of the Apostle may be Applied To the Pure all things are pure Read this Discourse of the Anarchy of the Ranters Tit. 1.15 with such a Mind and what is pure will Appear so to the Right Mind for that is the pure Mind blessed are they that have it A Right Spirit was Ps. 51.10 what David prayed for as well as a Clean Heart Consider First If ever God varied his Dispensations in the Life-time of them that were his Chiefest Instruments in them Secondly If he ever suffered them to fall away from them Thirdly If some Gathered by them have not Turned against them under such Pretence or because their Exercise of Power or Rule in the Church Fourthly If such have not often come to Nought and been manifested in time to the World and at last gone visibly in some Degree back into the World and so proved that they have gone out from those Sons of the Morning because they were not of them as John writes Therefore let all that be Concerned Hear 1 Joh. 2.19 and Fear and Beware Remembring who smote at Moses and who grieved Paul and who it was 3 Joh. v. 10 that John says Prated against him and the Brethren in his Third Epistle such as Insinuated They took too much upon them but were themselves found out of their Places And let us all Remember That if Obedience be supposed to live near to Bondage so do's Liberty to Licentiousness And that both Obedience and Liberty are Excellent in their proper Places and make a due and preserving Temper to one another in Civil and Religious Bodies as doth the Ballance of Elements to all Bodies Natural The Fear and Love of God dwell richly among us that brings to and keeps in the most precious Vnity Our Author's Seventh Discourse in order of Place because of the same Subject and wrote in Defence of it but not in Order of Time is called A Vindication of the Book Intituled The Anarchy of the Ranters c. Refuted It was writ in the Year 1679. drawn from the Author to Clear his former Discourse from the Mistakes and Scruples of such as did not Understand it or seemed however Offended both with him and it It is Dedicated to the Communion in general he was of written with a Serious and Clear Mind and Love to those that were his Opposers I am now come to his Elaborate Apology published in 1675. Intituled An Apology for the True Christian Divinity as the same is held forth and preached by the People called in scorn Quakers c. 〈◊〉 to King Charles the Second It was the most Comprehensive of all his Pieces published in Latin Dutch and English and at least twice Printed in our own Tongue It came out at the Close of a long and sharp Engagement between us of this Kingdom and a Confederacy of Adversaries of almost all Perswasions It was his
Appearance to Compass it It must be all called a Zeal for the House of God which if it only Ate up those that had it would be less Mischievous to the World but it Eats up other Folks It breaks Society violates Relation Invades Property Robs God and destroys Man a Fire of Hell not of Heaven for truly and excellently Speaking that is Love This Spirit Destroys instead of Informing Christ's Spirit Intreats Informs and finally Saves both Body and Soul People tinctured with this Religious or rather Irreligious Venom are the worse for their Religion their Natures are more Sowred their Dispositions more Testy less Bowels less Humility a worse Neighbour The good Samaritan is of more Worth than a whole Synagogue of them Reader beware of this Leaven of the Circumcision the Pharisee the spiteful Formalist that vext Paul every-where and were the great Enemies and Sticklers against the Truth in Power and Life Their Generation is yet living and sown too much about the World and seem to be the Lords of it But for all their Wisdom and Power and the fair Shew they make in the Flesh some after one Fashion and some after another Know Reader that Great is the Truth and it shall prevail The Lamb shall have the Victory who is the Light Rev. 21. and in the Despised Light of the Lamb must the Nations of them that are saved Walk The other Extream is quite the Contrary as all Extreams are but not so hurtful to the Concerns of this Life though perhaps not less pernitious to the Inward Man and in which Satan Acts a part for the most part out of Sight by which he Craftily Deceives and Ensnares some that are Simple-hearted and Commendable Livers viz. Loving all equally without due Distinction whatever their Perswasions be and standing loose of all as to a Formal Communion yet by their Latitude are in a sort of all and Intitle themselves both by their Indifferency and their Love to an Interest in them all and all to an Interest in them Our Author is weighty upon this Head he shews what Love is its Excellency in its Root and Fruit What Distinctions and Limitations true Love observes and what People and Principles now Extant in the World have the Rightfullest Claim to this Vniversal Love from their Universality and Gentleness To which I Recommend the Reader taking this along with him That true Love from Man springs from God's Love to Man They that have Tasted of God's Goodness and have had their own Hearts softned by it have an Extraordinary Tenderness to Mankind It is a most engaging Vertue It Covers Forgives Excuses Conquers all nothing can stand before it They that have known the Power of it feel all Peoples Infirmities and Sympathise with every one's Condition They hate nothing but Sin they love all can help and serve all but especially the Houshold of Faith But it is speculating this Love too far to Love all alike as these Vniversalists tell us For in Nature People do Love their Parents Brethren Husbands Wives and Children better than others and we cannot but Love the Religious Family we are of more because we feel them nearer to us than another But this it may be will not be denied in a sort but then the proper Sense is somewhat Equivocated viz. I find says one the Family of God every where in every Form and Sect and that is my Church which I love and for that Reason I love every Society and can Communicate as I see Cause with every one of them It is Certain we ought to See and Love the good in all and so far as Virtue shines in any Person whatever is their Perswasion so far there is a Loveliness it is Comely and of Good Report And though of a very differing Apprehension as to Revealed and Traditional Points of Religion yet they are to be loved nay Enemies Phil. 4.8 Heb. 6.1 2. Matt. 5.44 such as are Injurious to us in the highest Degree But all this is with a Grain of Salt under Restriction and with due Bounds For I am not obliged to Turn Jew Turk or Indian because I Honour their Virtue and Love their Persons as Fellow-Creatures Nor am I bound to Love an Enemy with the same Degree of Love I have for one that is my Friend Benefactor or Relation To Worship God with those that though Sober and Upright among Men VVorship him in Ways my Conscience tells me are below if not Contrary to the Nature of God his Revealed Will and my own Sense of Duty and Worship is an Extream that makes all Ways of Worship Indifferent and in Consequence Impeaches the Dispensations of God that have been to Carry Men farther and to Leave and Forget those things that are behind Yea Phil. 3.13 it causes the Offence of the Cross of God's Day and Dispensation to Cease especially in Trying and Suffering Times and opens a Door to a dangerous Temporizing Paul according to this Doctrine was much in the wrong Gal. 2.11 12 14. that he Reproved Peter for his Complacency with the Jews And indeed our Saviour and his Apostles will not Escape Blameless for Changing that Constitution if it were Lawful for them to Continue to VVorship God in the Jewish Manner Nor did the Primitive Christians well to be devoured by Wild Beasts if they might have been permitted to Symbolize with the Heathen For it is certain there were many Extraordinary Gentiles the Followers of Plato Zeno Seneca Epictetus Plutarch Marc. Aurelius Antoninus c. in those Times that have left the Just Fame of Virtue to their Names by their sober Lives and rare VVritings I may Converse kindly but I cannot VVorship with one I differ from even about that very VVay of VVorship and if this be a Fault we must impeach our Protestant Ancestors too But on the other hand I must be Careful I suffer not my self to be Carried beyond Bounds in Dissent neither the Difference must never Run so far as to beget a Dislike and much less an Aversion of Spirit to his Person or Conversation that I Differ from this were sinful yet alas too Common and it may be an hard Task to Conquer and a True Mark of Discipleship in all that Overcome it God Almighty Root out and Expel that Make-bait-Spirit among Men that where there is not an Vnity for that comes up to Faith and VVorship we may Exercise true Charity and Forbearance especially where there is any sincere Appearance of the Common Faith Tit. 1.4 Heb. 1.1 2. and the Fruits of a Fear towards God in general But as God has Appeared at sundry Times and in divers Manners since the World began so it was the VVay of his Spirit and Method of his Providence to gather up the Sincere-minded into one as so many Grains do Form one Lump And therefore the Apostle to the Corinthians calls the Believers one Bread unto which 1 Cor. 10.17 as a Standard others were to be gathered and upon which
as a Foundation of which Christ the VVord was the Corner-stone succeeding Believers were to be built And I challenge all the Disaffected Societies and Forms without Distinction or these Vniversalists I am upon to shew any other manner of God's Appearing to Men in any Age or that in the same Age or by the Primitive or first Instruments of such Appearance there was a Change of Dispensation or a Justifiable Declension from what they testified of and were the Instruments to gather and settle People in so that to Conclude Vniversal Love is a blessed Truth but with the Degrees Limitations and Distinctions that the Spirit of God sets and gives us whose Fruit it is and unto which we shall do well to take heed Gal. 5.22 that we at all times Love truly and rightly not too little nor too much but Consider the Object and Motive of our Love and we cannot fail in that great Duty of Love to all This Treatise of Vniversal Love is followed by another styled An Epistle of Love published at the End of the same Year Writ and sent by our Author as A Friendly Advice to the Ambassadours of the Several Princes of Europe met at Nimmegen to Consult of the Peace of Christendom shewing the True Cause of War and proposing the best Means of Peace To each of whom also was given one of his Apologies which were all received with Respect This Epistle has Edification in it to our present Times The Original Cause of VVar is not hard to Assign the Apostle James has told it us long ago He asks and Answers the Question thus From whence come Wars and Fightings among you Jam. 1.1 Come they not hence even from your Lusts that War in your Members It is what every one feels in himself that has not Overcome those Lusts or whose Consciences are not seared with an hot Iron though it is also what very few make their due Reflections upon else we should hear of less Blood and Misery But if Lust be the Ground of War what is become of the Doctrine of Christianity among those supposed Christians and what are they that shew a Pleasure in the Accounts of the bloodiest Battles Can a Christian of Christ's making look upon the Blood of Men or hear of it without horror and distress of Spirit Less surely can they shed it or encourage those that have a Delight or Part in that Man-slaying Work But how low and grosly are some Professed Christians fallen from the Nature of true Religion and the purity and Power of the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints through Sufferings by them to us Jud. 3. that hang their Religion and Gospel upon their Swords and Guns and pin it upon an Arm of Flesh as if the Gospel could be Overcome of that which cannot Touch it But how I pray did the Primitive Christians maintain their Ground yea grew upon their Adversaries Poor Naked Men and not of the greatest Quality or Capacity and finally Vanquish Cruelty it self but by Faith and Patience Hebr. 11.33 42. Thus they Converted Executioners Overcame Emperours and Armies and by a Successive Course of Meek and Suffering Integrity turned the Edge of the Sword quenched the Flames of Fire with their own Blood not the Blood of their Enemies and finally this Holy Constancy translated them from the Theatre of Slaughter to the Palaces and Diadems of Princes This brings to my Remembrance a Passage our Author has in this Book to this Effect That there is nothing a Greater Tarnish and Withering to the Protestant Cause than the Professors of it betaking themselves and that early to Earthly Powers and Weapons to preserve and promote it which are not the Weapons of the Apostolical Warfare and Inconsistant with the Nature Power and Glory of Christ's Kingdom For the Preservation of the Protestant Religion stands in a Spirit of true Reformation as well in Life as Doctrine as plainly decayed if not lost and it is to be feared for that Reason that God will blow upon all other Ways of supporting it especially such as we thought a Fault in our Enemies in Wordly Arts and Force If we would be Zealous to purpose for the Protestant Cause let us look to God and not Man Examine our selves Try our selves 2 Cor. 13.5 Luke 15.8 9. see what is wanting in us both to God and Man Let us Return Home Light our own Candle and sweep our own House and we shall find the Silver we have lost the Zeal Power and Purity of Soul that make our Worship acceptable our Prayers prevalent our Lives Blameless and an Ornament to Religion This Faith this Holiness this Reformation is the Cause of God and the rest is our own though we Gild the Pill flatter our selves and deceive others This Spirit of Reformation knows no Man no People no Church after the Flesh This goes on Overturning Overturning all Will-worship Man-made Faiths Humane Inventions and Traditions of Men about Religion till he Reigns in the Soul whose Right it is to Rule It is an Holy Leaven O Reader that leavens the whole Lump into its own Nature and makes fallen Matt. 13.33 2 Pet. 1.4 degenerate earthly-minded Man that receives it a Partaker of the Divine Nature This the earliest and purest Protestants aimed at Heb. 11. that had their Eye to an Eternal Country the City whose Builder and Maker is God Free of Humane Considerations and the Mixture of Worldly Interests and Advantages And to Evidence the Truth of what I say Read the Accounts that the Faithfullest Writers of those Times have obliged us with and you shall Taste the same thing even among the Martyrs themselves where the Country and Mechanical People those of least Account out-do those of Title Learning and Preferment among Church-men themselves as to the Life and Purity of Reformation and Zeal and Courage for it as occasion offered to shew both Wherefore O ye Protestants of all sorts Return Return Return to your First Love and Works before it be too late Hos. 12.6 Rev. 2.5 Joel 2. Zach. 1.3 Rend your Hearts and not your Garments and turn to the Lord your God you have but a little Time and a great Account to give Think not to be long safe from your Enemies without while you Entertain your greatest Enemy within in despight of God his Spirit and Scripture and your own Pretensions to Reformation While you have so many Sins on your Enemy's Side to fight against you they will ever have Power to Vex you if not to Destroy you And if in some Evils your Enemies Exceed yet in Moral Ones you are not a Jot behind them And Remember they have their Beads but you have your Bibles in your Hands when you Transgress God Almighty make you sensible with True and Godly Sorrow a Repentance never to be repented of that you may Overcome your Enemies by your Faith 2 Cor. 7.9 10. Prayers and Love and by the Power of your Example Recommend your Religion
and lead them out of Error and Blindness Don't Charge them and do worse for verily that will undo you in the End O that God would rend the Heavens and come down in Showers of Love and Quench the Flames that every-where devour his Creation That it would please him to still the furious Winds and calm the raging Seas and remove that Enmity which is the Ground of all and bring the Nations under his own heavenly Government where there is no need to Learn War against one another any more that they that have erred in Spirit Isa. 2.4 Isa. 29 29. Matt. 5.43 47. Ch. 18.21 22. Rom. 12.18 may come to Vnderstanding and those that have Murmured may learn Doctrine even the Doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ which is a Doctrine of Love Meekness Mercy Forbearance a Doctrine of Self-denial Humility and Holiness a Doctrine that Reconciles us to God and one to another And no Man can have the Benefit of the first that Hates his Brother and less that Kills him for the Love of this World O it is a Crying Sin with God a strong Judgment upon us and a sure Token both of more and nearer Calamities that we are so Hard-hearted and Vnsensible of it Nay it looks as if we were not to be moved unless God himself would appear in the Air and send Fire down to Consume all before our Eyes and our selves in the Conclusion of the Tragedy Is not the Wrath of God do we think Revealed sufficiently against us in the Faction Strife War Rom. 1.18 Gal. 5.19 23. Blood and Poverty that we see almost all over Europe this Day God Almighty make People sensible and weary of it and the Cause of it their Sins Sins against Light against Conscience and Knowledge their Vnfaithfulness to God and Man their Scandalous Immorality and most Inordinate Love of the World the Ground of all Contention and Mischief That so the Peace of God which passeth worldly Men's Understanding may fill all our Hearts through Repentance and Conversion Amen I have been the longer in my Notes upon this Occasion than I Expected but our present Condition in Europe drew it from me that needs an Olive-branch the Doctrine of Peace as much as ever Our Author's next Treatise was published 1679. being a Vindication of his Notable Apology for the Christian Divinity profest by the People called Quakers in Reply to the Exceptions made against it by one John Brown in his Book called Quakerism the Path-way to Paganism In which Vindication the Reader will find the Truth sifted from all the Durt and Rubbish with which her Malitious or Ignorant Adversaries have endeavoured to sully her Beauty and disfigure and bury her out of the Sight and Knowledg of the People The Defence being like the Apology performed with much Labour and Exactness and so fully and plainly that it leaves one would think no room for Objection with the Serious and Moderate Inquirer I do justly Esteem his Apology and this Vindication in the Front of his Polemical Works Though I cannot but every-where prefer those Labours in him and others that have least to do with Controversy and whose main and immediate Scope is the Engaging of the Soul into the Love of Holiness the End of True Religion for it leads into the Blessed Communion of the Father and of the Son and gives the Possession of those Comforts and Refreshments that no Tongue can Express nor Soul by any other means Enjoy For without Holiness it is determined no Man shall ever see the Lord that is with Peace Heb. 12.14 Yet Controversy handled in the Fear of God and in the Openings of his Light and Spirit that is ever present and sufficient to the Help of his People in all their Services has also its Edification especially where an Earnest and Tender Desire to Inform the Mistaken prevails above Private Interest or any Party or Personal Consideration for God will witness to such Labours and follow them with his Blessing With which I beseech him to Crown our Beloved Friend's Services in this and all other Respects that tend to the Exaltation of his Glorious Truth The last Tract our Author left us and which is the Conclusion of this Volume and Preface was writ and published 1686. and is Intituled The Possibility and Necessity of the Inward and Immediate Revelation of the Spirit of God towards the Foundation and Ground of true Faith proved in a Letter writ in Latin to a Person of Quality in Holland and now also put into English The Person to whom it was writ was a Learned Man especially in the New Philosophy very Free and Friendly but not Fool enough to Resign to this Doctrine as entirely as he ought yet I believe better Reconciled to it before he died As the Revelation of Sin Righteousness and Judgment of Mercy and Consolation what to Avoid what to Repent of what to Desire what to Do and where to wait for Power to Avoid and Do as we are thereby directed is the Revelation chiefly Insisted upon by us so those that come to Answer the Love and Mercy of God in the first part of this Revelation viz. the Sight of Sin shall know the Aboundings of it from Day to Day and from the Evidence and Authority of their own Experience shall be enabled nay constrained to pronounce this Testimony of the Revelation maintained by the People called Quakers 'T is true and according to Scripture I might Advance divers Arguments from the Nature of God and the Soul of Man and from what may be as well as what has been the Truth of this Revelation but that being done by our Author in this small Treatise in an Abstract and proper manner I chose rather to speak Scripturally and Experimentally And whoever is Lowly and Poor enough in Spirit to Try the Truth of what I say Shall Comprehend with all Saints the Height and Depth and Length and Breadth of the Love of God in Christ to the Souls of Men by the Revelation of that true Light and Spirit and Grace I have testified of in this Preface and which the Wisest of the Men of this World can at best have but a Shadow and Idea of Remember Life is more than Food and the Body than Raiment so is Bread better than Husks Substance than Shadow Realities than Imaginations of them which is the best of their Case that come not through the Obedience of the Truth and Discipline of Christ's Cross to enjoy them Reader It is a most Important Point of the first Consideration to Men without it no Knowledge of God nor of Christ that Reveals God and without that Knowledge no Salvation for the Souls of Men. Matt. 11.27 Joh. 17.3 So that this Volume ends with that which all Men must begin with if they will ever truly know God and possess Eternal Life viz. Revelation Now some will say Revelation why we have it Have we not the Scriptures Do you pretend to another Revelation No
Ability of the large Vnderstanding given him to set forth the Beauty and Infallibility of the Grounds and Excellent Principles of Truth and to open and prove the same over all Opposition of Gainsayers to the reaching of the Understanding of many of the Great and Learned of the World both at home and abroad and to the begetting a better Opinion and Judgment concerning both the Principles and Practices of God's People called in Derision Quakers than had been held forth by the Craft and Malice of the Priests and others to be in the beginning as Fools Madmen c. and holding non-sensical and unreasonable as well as Vnscriptural Whimsies and so forth But God who is Light is wipeing away the Reproaches and Slanders off his Blessed Truth and People and will more and more exalt the Standard and Ensign thereof to gather the Nations unto it out of their Cruelties Lusts and Roarings against one another and of the overflowing of all Abominations among them to the great provoâ—ing of God's Wrath. Reformation from all which will never be known nor Deliverance from the Bondage and Miseries thereby occasioned by all the Might Power and Fightings of the Carnal Sword nor Politick Devices of Men but only by the blessed Power Spirit and Grace of God which hath appeared to all to that very end to teach to deny Vngodliness and wordly Lusts and to live soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World if Men would turn to believe in and obey it Which is our Testimony and Holy Principle we direct all unto and which this Blessed Servant of the Church laid out himself in his many Excellent Writings especially his Apology to promulgate through the World with blessed Success not only in Printing but in Travelling having gone through a great part of Germany Holland and other Countries in the Service of the Truth And the Lord blessed him every way therein He was an Exemplary Husband Parent and Master in his Family so that the Beauty good Order Holiness Gravity and Lowliness of the Truth shined therein I can say to my Refreshment and many others as in a Quiet Habitation He was a Man of great Meekness Sweetness and Lowliness of Spirit and of such a bearing contented Mind that though a Man of such Parts and great Authority over Evil in his Servants and others yet kept in such a Dominion over any thing that would have disordered his own Syirit that I can truly say I never saw him in any peevish angry brittle or disordered Temper since ever I knew him though I had as much Intimacy and Frequency of Concerns with him as most here-away He was so far from being lifted up or Exalted by the great Gifts he had received from his Maker both in the Truth and as a Man that I can say I have often desired to grow in the plain down-right humble and lowly Spirit wherein he became as weak with the weakest and poor with the poorest and low with the lowest as well as he could be deep with them that were deep So that in a good Measure he had learned to become all things to all Men with a true and upright Endeavour to Gain some I can say I have parted with a most Entire Friend and Counsellor But glory to him who lives for ever through great Mercy I know him who is the Fountain of all Wisdom Righteousness Love and Pity who I trust will make up this great Loss not only to me but to his blessed People and Church especially in this his Native Country of Scotland in and to which he had made him an Ornament and as a Star and shining Light And Oh! that he may make me and all whom he hath Convinced of his pretious Truth in our Native Country whether living therein or abroad to shine forth in the Glory Beauty and Virtue thereof and as the first Fruits thereof and Witnesses of the great Glory that shall livingly arise therein though perhaps ushered in by great Tribulations when our God shall wipe away the Reproaches thereof and change its name from Barren or Forsaken because our God hath a true though a small Seed therein in which he delighteth and is Married thereunto and many shall be the Children of the Lamb's Marriage therein in due time when the Leaven of the Pharisees is purged out and the Bastard-Births of the Adulteresses and Whoredoms of a false Profession therein comes to be seen and turned from As concerning this our Dear Friend R. B. The Lord soon began his Work with him shortly after he was brought home from France wherein in his Young and Tender Years he was brought up at Paris under his Vncle And though at his Return thence but about sixteen Years yet it having pleased the Lord to bring his Dear and Worthy Father into his most-precious Truth he having thereby occasion to be in the Meetings of God's Chosen People who Worship him in his own Name Spirit and Power and not in the Words of Man's Wisdom and Preparation he was by the Virtue and Efficacious Life of this Blessed Power shortly after reached and that in the Time of Silence a Mystery to the World and came so fast to grow therein through his great Love and Watchfulness to the Inward Appearance thereof that not long after he was called out to the Publick Ministry and declaring abroad what his Eyes had seen and his Hands had handled of this pure Word of Life Yea the Lord who loved him counted him worthy so Early to Call him to some Weighty and Hard Services for his Truth in our Nation that a little after his coming out of the Age of Minority as it is called he was made willing in the Day of God's Power to give up his Body as a Sign and Wonder to this Generation and to deny himself and all in him as a Man so far as to become a Fool for his sake whom he loved in going in Obedience to his Will in Sack-cloath and Ashes through Three of the Chief Streets of the City of Aberdeen As his Testimony printed concerning it holds forth his Service therein besides some weighty Services at several Steeple-houses and Sufferings in Prison for the Truth 's Sake And I cannot forbear to touch at his great Care and Zeal that Vnity Love and Sweetness might be preserved among God's Children over all the Cunning Endeavours of the Enemy to the contrary What shall I more say concerning this Servant of the Lord but that Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord Yea saith the Spirit from henceforth they rest from their labours and their works follow them He laid down the Body in the Holy and Honourable Truth wherein he had served it about Twenty Three Years upon the Third Day of the Eighth Month 1690. near the Forty Second Year of his Age at his own House of Vrie in Scotland and it was laid in his own Burial-Ground there upon the sixth Day of the same Month before many Friends and other
so now for sometimes they said Christ had a Devil sometimes the Apostles are drunk and other times mad Since these things have thus occurred there hath been no little Industry used to suppress this People by Threatnings and Persecution on which account divers of our Friends have been cast into Prison and some detained long in of the said Town and also by Preaching and Writing of which for thy Information receive this Account There were Thirty Queries sent by the Bishop of Aberdeen so called to Alexander Jaffray Also about the same time a Paper of three or four sheets subscribed by G. M. Intituled The State of the Controversie betwixt the Protestants and the Quakers The Thirty Queries were not long after answered by G. K. in respect of A. J. his sickness at that time and returned to him from A. J. And some time afterwards George Meldrum his Paper called The State of the Controversie c. was answered by G. K. to which Papers of G. K. somewhat was premised by A. J. which Papers being several times called for but particularly in a Letter from G. M. his own hand to A. J. wherein he intreats for an Answer that he might know as he said in what things we did differ or in what things we only seemed to differ were sent to him within nine Months after the receipt of G. M. his Papers Before all which a Sermon on purpose was preached by G. M. against the Quakers in the ninth Month 1666. wherein the sum of both his Papers was asserted only that it was digested in a Pulpit-way and introduced with an insinuating Discourse of his pretended kindness for the persons of some Quakers and his unwillingness to meddle with them were it not his Office and Zeal for the Truth did ingage him to it but if it had been so indeed he would have said no more of them then the truth whereas it is stuffed with Lies which are positively asserted to be the Quakers Principles by this pretended Preacher of the Gospel from his Chair of Verity so called or rather of Falshood whereas yet G. M. his Papers afore-mentioned were not so much as sent far less answered by which according to the words of his own Letter above-mentioned he was to receive an Understanding of the Differences and yet before he received this Vnderstanding whilst he was ignorant of the Differences according to his own Confession he is not ashamed to forge numbers of Lies upon the Lord's People and as if they had been Truths consisting in his Knowledge to vent them before a Publick Auditory which Sermon is largely answered by G. K. together with some Animadversions upon it from A. J. Also several Papers past betwixt W. M. and G. K. which had their rise from some Queries sent by P. L. to W. M. answered by W. M. to which was returned a Reply by P. L. the same was Replied to by G. K. which having received a Reply from W. M. was again Replied to at length by G. K. It is now Two years and upwards since the last Papers from our Friends hands were returned to the respective Priests unto which as yet there is no Answer nor any of them published but instead of all at last comes out a Dialogue of which the Proverb is verified Parturiunt Montes nascitur Mus subscribed by no Hand but generally understood to be W. M. and by him not denied which whether it be to deal fairly or ingenuously the Ingenuous may judge Ingenuous Dealing would have stated things as related from our own Friends Hands and given an Account of the many Scripture-Proofs and Arguments made use of in our Friends Papers which this Author in his Dialogue hath done nothing less but deceitfully hath represented us considering what had past before to which he himself whoever he is could not but be privy and disingenuously hath dissembled and waved almost all the Scripture-Proofs and Arguments used by our Friends in their aforesaid Papers as any may see who are willing to look into the said Papers Copies of which are in several Hands and any who desire to read them may have them readily from our Friends Therefore however this Work of his may satisfy and deceive a benighted Multitude whose Faith is pinned upon other Mens sleeves nevertheless I hope it shall be an occasion to discover these Men to any who are ingenuous and love not to be hood-winked but are willing to know the Truth So Reader having given thee this Account I leave thee to the perusing of the following Papers omitting these needless Apologies and flattering Insinuations usual in Epistles of this Kind my end being To answer the Good in all and to starve and not to feed the Evil in any And I refer my self to that innocent and pure Principle the Light of Christ Jesus in thee which bears Testimony against all Evil that thereby thou mayst try and examine what is here written and who are the Owners of Scripture and who are the Wresters of it which thou canst only truly discover and discern by the Spirit from which the Scriptures came even that inward Light and Word of Grace that is able to build thee up and establish thee in the Truth unto which I Recommend thee Vry the 19th of the 2d Month 1670. R. B. TRUTH CLEAR'D OF CALUMNIES To the AVTHOR HAVING taken a serious view of the Dialogue lately published by thee and having weighed and considered it in the fear of the Lord I found it incumbent upon me to Reply unto it both upon the account of Truth at which it strikes and for thy Soul's sake as also for others that any simple hearts who have received hurt by it may be undeceived and thy unfair dealing may be manifested In order whereunto before I enter upon the Examination thereof particularly I have some things to lay before thee And first as to the manner and method of thy Book by way of Dialogue it is no ways allowable from thee being but a meer shift to shuffle by those other Papers aforesaid from being noticed or regarded where all these Controversies are spoken to at large Secondly The nature of this kind of writing ought to have engaged thee to set down as largely what could be said on the one hand as on the other and to have brought-in all the Proofs and Arguments alledged by the Quakers or at least the most considerable but in that thou hast done nothing so much as becomes a Man far less a Christian as any who have conversed with that people cannot but be sensible of Thou hast made a bare Representation of the Quaker's Principles and that so scantly and mincingly that thou frequently givest thy self occasion to fight against a Man of straw But that wherein thou hast manifested the badness of thy Cause and thy weakness in pleading for it is that the substance of what thou hast said is nothing else but that which was writ in the Papers before mentioned and so largely answered
first may deceive over again that makes nothing against the Insufficiency of the Spirit to discover the delusion but if a man be deceived either first or again he is to blame himself for his defect in not being duly watchful and faithful in what is discovered to him of God truly and certainly Consider the tendency of thy Argument which strikes not only at the certainty of the Saints faith now from the Spirit within and the assurance of Knowledge therefrom but also strikes at the very certainty and assurance of all the Faith and Knowledge the holy Prophets and Men of God had from the Spirit within when Scripture was not We are in no greater hazard to be deceived now than they were then You that set up the Scripture as your only Rule the many Sects of you what jangling and contesting is among you while one pleads for his sence and another for his Which all proceeds from their wandring from the Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures And as to satisfying of others we refer and recommend them to the same Spirit in them to receive their satisfaction from that which only can and will satisfy them who wait for it in singleness Page 18. And whereas thou sayst The Saints are led and guided by the Spirit but it is according to the Scriptures So say we too but it doth not therefore follow that the Spirit hath so tyed and limited himself to the use of the Scriptures as always to use them in every particular step of his guiding the Saints the Spirit is free to use or not use the Scriptures at his pleasure and guideth the Saints in many particular steps of their life for which there is no particular Scripture either to approve or disprove them in The more sure Word of Prophecy As for the more sure Word of Prophecy we grant it is the Rule but deny that that more sure Word is the Scriptures but it is that Word in the heart from which the Scriptures came and in and by which the Scriptures are to be interpreted And is it not gross blindness and darkness to say The Scripture is more sure than that Word Light Life and Spirit from which they came Had not the Scriptures all their sureness from the inward Testimony of the Spirit How then can they be more sure Thy example of the Schoolmaster and the Copy serves not thy turn for the Spirit is unto the Saints both their Teacher and their Copy and they need not go forth for a Copy and if they walk according to this by looking upon it and eying it they shall be good Scholars and Proficients He writes them a living Copy in their hearts engraves it on fleshly Tables whereas they who look upon no other Copy but the Words without them are those who are ever learning but never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth Page 19. Thou askest Why we disjoin the Spirit and the Scriptures citing Isaiah 50.21 Answ. We are not to disjoin what the Lord putteth together sometimes the Spirit joineth or concurreth with the Scripture-Words and sometimes not how many preach and pray and read the Scriptures and talk of them without the joint concurrence of the Spirit Which we say they ought not to do the Scriptures should never be used to preach and pray c. but in the concurrence and assistance of the Spirit for they are not of true use to any without the Spirit but ye disjoin them who would have praying in the letter and using of it without the Motion of the Spirit to such the Scripture is indeed but a dead letter and it is no ways a reproach unto them to be so called Yea what are the best of men without the Spirit but dead men And this is not a reproach to them but their Glory so nor is it to Scripture Thou sayst They are said to be a killing letter and this shews that they are not dead Answ. A poor Argument indeed Can not dead things kill if men feed upon them If thou seedest upon sand gravel stones The Letter killeth shells will not these things kill thee though they be dead And if thou feedest upon the Letter without thee and not upon the Life thou canst not live yea if one that lived did depart from feeding upon the Life to feed upon the Letter it would kill him And as for that Scripture cited by thee it makes very much against thee to wit Isaiah 59.21 For it is one thing for God to put Words into mens Mouths and far another for men to gather these Words from that without Isaiah 59.21 and put them into their own Mouths nor doth it say that the Words God shall put into their Mouths shall be no other Words more or less but the express Scripture Words Why art thou not ashamed to cite this Scripture Do ye not say To speak as the infallible Spirit gives utterance is ceased and consequently God's putting Words into the Mouth God's furnishing them with Words suggested from his own Spirit and Life which the holy Prophets and Apostles witnessed to speak as moved by the Holy Ghost do ye not say this is ceased Why then citest thou a Scripture which is so plain and clear for it but that thou art in Blindness and Confusion Page 19. In thy procedure upon the point of Justification thou makest a large step in that crooked path of deceit wherein thou hadst too much traced from the beginning but now more abundantly than ever thou displayest the Banner of thy Dis-ingenuity and gatherest all thy Forces together it should seem resolving to give the Quakers a final Overthrow And to make the matter misty in the very entry of it thou raisest Dust to thy self venting thy own filthy Imaginations under the notion of coming from them applauding thy endeavours as if thou wert studying to preserve pure the principle of Justification in a point where none is jumbling it among us As thou advancest a little further Page 20 21. having given a very scant Account of their Doctrine in this Matter couching it in most disadvantagious terms thou takest great liberty to extend thy self in a foolish and vain Excursion as if having fathomed the Quakers thou hadst discovered them to be either turned or turning rank Papists therefore to trace thee throughly in this matter that if it be possible thou may'st come to have a discovery of thy Vanity and Malice or though thou shouldst prove irrecoverable yet others may have a view of both I shall first in honesty and plainness declare the Principle of Truth in this matter thereby observing thy Mis-representations Secondly shew what Vast Difference is betwixt us and the Papists therein And Thirdly make manifest how much nearer of kin ye are to the Papists even as to this particular and the things relating thereunto than we which may serve as a seasonable shower to allay that windy Triumph which thou endeavourest to establish unto thy self
of the Scriptures and confirm negligent Atheists in their contemptuous slighting of them Because we speak of walking The Anointing is no Confirming of Atheists or doing our Work by the immediate Counsel of God But he might as well babble against the Beloved Disciple 1 Joh. 2.24 Ye have received an Anointing and ye need not that any man should teach you and yet was then teaching them himself without Contradiction As for that Scripture Joh 12.24 48. which he desires us to read we find not how in the least they strike against our Principle for as it is without doubt to us that the words which Christ spake will stand in Judgment against him and his Brethren because while in words they pretend to Exalt it both in Principle and Practice they vilifie and deny it As a third Reason he alledges We prefer our silent Waiting to the Reading of Scriptures as if we must first come to this e're we can know the Scripture aright adding that this Waiting is defined by us To be a silent posture of the Heart without thinking good or evil Answ. These thoughts which we say ought to be excluded from Waiting are man's own thoughts Waiting excludes man's own thoughts not such as the Spirit of God furnisheth him with and it is great Ignorance to say That without this we can use the Scriptures aright seeing the things of God knoweth no man save the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.11 As for his own Imaginations which he subjoins concerning our Waiting they signifie nothing because alledged without any proof We deny not but that Faith Hope and Charity is exercised in waiting yet not without such thoughts as proceed from the Spirit of God And whereas he finds we clear our selves of this Calumny of being Vilifiers of the Scripture by shewing how much it is our desire to try Doctrines by them he alledgeth We have herein been suspected of Juggling the proof is R. Farmer saith so But R. Farmer 's saying and W. M's saying is all one in this matter neither of them are to be trusted without proof Now the Reason because we say that the Scriptures are not the Saints Rule of knowing God and living to him But this is just to beg the thing in Question That Story mentioned by him of a Quaker's telling a certain Woman in Aberdeen that she might as well read a Latin Book as the Bible doth no ways prove that we are against trying of Doctrines by the Scripture seeing the Quaker he speaks of might have had good reason to look upon that supposed Religious Woman as one alienated from that Spiritual Key of David which can alone truly open the Scriptures and so might well tell her she would do well first to come to that else her Reading might be so far from profiting her that she might come to wrest them to her own Destruction 2 Pet. 3.16 Sect. 2. Page 30. He begins with Acknowledging That something may be accounted the Declaration of ones Mind which is not his Word Though page 12. of his Dialogue he could not but smile at it as Irrational To prove the Scriptures to be truly and properly called the Word of God he subjoineth That the Precepts of the Scripture were uttered and spoke of God But in Answer to this I shew him page 26. of my last that the Properties peculiar to the Word cannot be spoken of the Scripture The outward and inward word distinguish'd but of the Inward and Living Word To which he replies nothing only tells There is a twofold Word a Co-essential Co-eternal Word and a Spiritual Word the Temporal expressed Word or the Word written in time But seeing he pretends to be pleading for the Scripture he should have used the Language of it and not such strange Anti-scriptural Expressions which are not to be found in all the Bible Where doth he read of a Spiritual Temporal expressed Word A part of my Argument shewing that these Scriptures Hos. 1.1 Joel 1.1 Isai. 38.4 are understood of that Word from which the Scriptures are given forth he hath but mentioned not answered for I told him page 26. of my last that where it is said The Spirit of God came upon such a one or to such a one that therefore the Scripture is the Spirit and so as do the Socinians call the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles the Spirit denying the necessity of any other Spirit this he hath wholly omitted And indeed he seems pretty much to incline to the Socinians in this matter Sword of the Spirit for he says That the Scripture is the Sword of the Spirit and that because Christ in his conflict with Satan said It was written But had this been Christ's only Sword we must conclude the Devil to have had the same for he said also It is written and according to this Doctrine who hath a Bible in his pocket wanteth not the Sword of the Spirit which savoureth of that Popish soppery That the sign of the Cross puts away Devils but experience teacheth us both these Opinions to be alike ridiculous Upon this occasion in his Dialogue page 13. he asserted That it is all one to say the Scripture saith and God saith And whereas in Answer to this I told him that they might be said to be one because of their Agreement yet were no more one than the Sun-beam and the Shadow is one though they agree together Because he knew not what to reply to this he mentions a part of these words of mine and subjoins by way of Answer to them That they tend to advance humane Writings and equal them with the Scripture when they agree with what God saith Which as it is a manifest shift and no Reply so it is a notable Impertinency to say There is any Hazzard of advancing such Writings as truly agree with what God saith for upon what other account are the Scriptures to be esteemed Page 32. to prove That word mentioned Mark 7. which he fancies is said to be made void is not the Living Word but the outward Precept of the Scripture he says It is plainly held forth to be so without any further Probation He addeth page 34. That it seems we think they set up the Scriptures us an Idol instead of that from which they come asking If we did ever hear them call it the Eternal Son of God that Saviour who died c. Answ. Though we have not heard you term the Scripture yet it is not without Reason we say ye set them up in Christ's stead For I have a Letter under one of the present National Teacher's hand A National Teacher's belief of the Scriptures wherein he says The Scriptures are the alone means of Salvation yea the alone Way Truth and Life and that none can be saved without them And I have heard another call the Greek Testament The only Foundation Now being these are the peculiar Properties of Christ have we not reason to say that such
as ascribe them to the Scriptures put the Scriptures in Christ's stead though W. M. be pleased to term it unworthy dealing Sect. 2. page 35. he says it is not difficult to prove that the Law and Testimony mentioned Deut. 8.20 was not an inward Law The reason alledged is Because the Prophet opposes what is written as no Light if it agree not to the Law and Testimony But what then The Law and Testimony inward doth this prove the Testimony here not to be inward He adds That let People pretend what they will to a Law within if it agree not with the Scripture-Word there is no Light in them and that the outward Law gets the name of the Testimony But granting him all this it doth not in the least follow that the Law and Testimony there mentioned was not inward It is more observably strange here than in any other place with what shameless confidence he asserts his own bare Assertions instead of Arguments After the like manner without answering a word of what I infer page 27. of mine against him and his Brethren from Joh. 7.49 he concludes That Scripture fits us better than them because of our known rash censuring Upon which Supposition of his own he condemns us as like to Pharisees without more ado still by way of Reply to me he says It is not probable that Christ checked the Lawyer in saying How readest thou Luke 10.26 not offering to add any further probation And as for what he subjoineth page 7. That Christ used the Scripture about Divorcement and in the matter of the Sabbath it doth no ways prove them to be the only Rule for as is said we are willing to try Doctrines by them Page 37. He saith It is false to affirm that the Divine Authority of the Scriptures cannot be prov'd other ways than by the Spirit 's inward Testimony adding There are other Arguments whereby it can solidly and convincingly be proved and for this he instanceth one which he says is excellently approved by R. Baxter What then because W. M. thinks that Argument of R. Baxter will prove the Scriptures Authority without the Spirit must we therefore be of the same mind I doubt very much if R. Baxter think so much himself Now W. M. his deceit is very remarkable Joh. Calvin's Testimony concerning the Scriptures in quoting some words of John Calvin where he says If he were to deal with Arguments he could produce many to prove the Laws came from God for that I never imagined these Arguments could convincingly prove the Scriptures Authority without the Spirit which is the thing in debate it appears in the very following words Lib. Inst. 1. c. 7. Sect. 4. But if we will well look to our Consciences that they be not troubled with doubts and stick not at every scruple it is requisite the Perswasion whereof we have spoken be taken higher than human Judgment or Conjecture viz t. he secret Testimony of the Holy Spirit And a little after in direct Opposition to wit his words he adds This Word shall not obtain Faith in the hearts of Men if it be not Sealed by the Inward Testimony of the Spirit It is necessary then saith he that the Saints Spirit which spake by the mouth of the Prophets enter in our Hearts and touch them livingly to perswade us that the Prophets have faithfully delivered that which was Commanded them from on high and a little after This then is a Perswasion which requires no Reasons And again This is a Perswasion which cannot be Begotten but by a heavenly Revelation And in the beginning of the next Chapter he adds If we have not This certainly higher and more firm than all humane Judgment in vain is the Authority of the Scriptures proved by Arguments This doth abundantly shew how contrary W. M. is to Calvin in this matter and not to him alone but to the whole Reformed Churches of France who in their Confession of Faith agreed upon by the first National Synod they ever had at Paris Anno 1559. say thus The Synod at Paris concerning the Canonical Books in Scripture Art 4. We know these Books to be Canonique not so much by the common consent of the Church as by the Inward Testimony and Perswasion of the Holy Spirit And whereas he adviseth me to read Calvin his 6 th Chap. but that it would prove too long a Digression I could easily shew that we are no such Contemners of the Scripture as those he there speaks to And what if he contradict the Truth which we and himself elsewhere acknowledge I make use of his Testimony against W. M. and his Brethren even as he did the Testimony of Augustine Gregory and others of the Fathers against those of Rome whom nevertheless he spared not to reject some times Read Inst. lib. 1. cap. 11. Sect. 5. lib. cap. Sect. 4. and in many other places Thus also is added that which he adds about Pasor whose Translation he says We follow in one thing but not in another for we are not bound to follow him further than he follows the Truth Nor doth W. M. here produce any Argument to prove that these words Joh. 5.39 should be Ye search the Scriptures c. 2 pl. praes Ind. See Pasor Search the Scriptures and not Ye search the Scriptures but his own bare Assertion adding That Christ did not check them when he said In them ye think to have Eternal Life Whereas the very following words clearly Import a Reproof Ye will not come to me that ye might have Life He says not Seek for Life in the Scriptures ye do well to think to find it there but thus Ye think to have Eternal life in the Scriptures but will not come to me that ye might have life He ends this Section asking Seeing I grant the Scriptures are profitable for Doctrine Correction Reproof c. Why I deny them to be a perfect Rule But I never denied them and I told him also they were thus profitable not to every man but to the man of God The Scriptures profitable to the man of God i. e. he that 's led by the Spirit of God Now to this he replys nothing only tells me The man of God is most commonly understood of the Ministers of Christ Jesus which though I should grant him what he either can or would Infer from it against my Argument he hath left unmentioned Sect. 3. Page 40. He alledgeth The Voice and Testimony of the Father which Christ speaks of to the Jews not to have been inward desiring the Reader to look to the place and thereupon he cites Joh. 5.36 where Christ speaks of his Miracles as a greater Witness than that of John But his deceit is here abundantly manifest for the place mentioned by me was 1 Joh. 5.10 For this is the witness of God which he testified of his Son he that believeth in the Son of God hath the witness in himself Now this
he hath wholly omitted and mentioned another in the stead of it which makes nothing to the purpose I deny not but the Miracles were a greater witness than that of John but then will it therefore follow that the inward Testimony of the Father is not greater also This was the matter in question After the like manner he concludeth the Voice spoken of Joh. 5.37 Is not inward but outward citing for Proof Matth. 3.27 2 Pet. 1.17 18. the one is the Voice heard at Christ's being Baptized the other at his being Transfigured But what way he seeks to Infer from thence that the Voice of the Father here spoken of by Christ to the Jews was not inward but outward he hath left unmentioned Likewise the Exposition he adds unto this place as if Christ were only here reproving the Ignorance of the Jews whose Predecessors had heard so much of God It would be the better received that it had some other bottom than his own meer Assertion Page 14. He confesseth That where we are desired to try the Spirits there is no mention of trying them by the Scripture And to my Question asking If there be any surer way of trying of Spirits and by the Spirit of God he returneth no Reply but another Question Viz. Whether there be any surer way than that for which the Bereans were commended I Answer Yes by the Spirit Ananias and Sapphira were discerned by the Spirit Peter could never have discerned Ananias and Sapphira by the Scripture and yet did it by the Spirit To say as he does That this was a matter of Fact and not of Doctrine and that it was extraordinary is a meer silly shift for it was only by the Spirit of God which is so ordinary to Christians that none can be truly one without it Rom. 8.9 If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his And if this Spirit can discern the secret hypocrisy of the Heart in matters of Fact far more the Errors and Mistake of the Understanding in matters of Judgment which all grant to be more Obvious And though I never averr'd that John excluded all external Rules by pointing to the Anointing so his Assertion to say That the Anointing directeth us to the Law and to the Testimony as supposing it to be outward is but to beg the thing in question â—lready refuted Page 43. As he affirmeth That man 's being deluded proceeds not from the Scripture but their own blindness so he acknowledges That falling in Delusion proceeds not from the Spirit but from the tricks and deceits of Satan and thereby he hath clearly confessed what is asserted by me page 30. and not answered And whereas he adds That leaning to the Spirit and forsaking the Scripture provokes God to give men up to strong Delusions which he Illustrateth by the Example of one J. Gilpin once a Quaker who by harkening to a voice within was put upon Mischievous and Detestable Practices I Answer He hath not proved that we forsake the Scripture nor will one man's being deceived by harkening to a voice within prove the Spirit not to be a certain Rule more than as himself acknowledges The Pharisees having the Scripture in such high esteem and accounting them their Rule will prove their Delusion proceeded from them That Story of Gilpin's was largely answered about five years ago by E. B. and C. A. who have laid open his Deceit and Wickedness J. Gilpin's Story Answer'd neither can any of these Ridiculous Pranks granting the matter to be true which he pretended to do by a voice within while appearing to be among us prove the Insufficiency of that Light we Preach or the hazzard of following it more than his beastly Drunkenness and open Prophanity naturally known in the Garrison of Carlisle where he was a Souldier proves he was led by the Scripture which it is like he then pretended was his Rule unto these wicked practices which were the best fruits of that Repentance W.M. seems so much to congratulate in him Such filthy Dross whom God purgeth out from among us are fittest persons to be Proselited by him and his Brethren and truly we are well rid of them and can heartily spare such unto them They went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us 1 Joh. 2.16 Page 43. He says That though the Scripture be sufficient for discovering of Delusions and ending of Differences in genere Objecti yet the Spirit is necessary in genere Causae Effectivae Now this necessity of the Spirit he saith himself is That we may be right Discerners for removing our natural depravedness and now granting the Scripture were sufficient in this manner will it therefore follow that the Spirit within is not the Rule which was the thing to prove in this Section In so far as he acknowledges this necessity of the Spirit 's work he hath yielded to the Truth yet it is observable how in contradiction to the Truth he overturns it all again Pag. 47 48. Where he expresly pleads For preaching upon and using the Scriptures without the joint Concurrence of the Spirit alledging I have no ground to say they ought not so to do Then consider First he said The Spirit was necessary to remove the depravedness of our Nature that we might be discerners but now he says We ought to use the Scripture without the Spirit though our Nature be depraved yea though we be in no capacity to make a right discerning And here he hath notably manifested his Affinity with the Jesuits Jesuits c. Doctrine of the Scriptures Arminians Socinians Pelagians and Semipelagians in saying How many cold Hearts have been Rubbed and Chafed unto spiritual Heat by reading and talking of the Scripture For is not this to set Nature a work and to grant a Capacity in man to beget Spiritual heat without the joint Concurrence of the Spirit And this is altogether agreeable to that known Maxim of the Semipelagians Facienti quod in se est Deus non denegat gratiam i. e. God will not deny him Grace that doth what in him lies And hereby the Intelligent Reader may perceive how much nearer a kin our Adversaries are to these Errors than we notwithstanding they so falsly and frequently brand us with them in their Pulpits and elsewhere as also that it is meerly constraint when they are hardly put to it that they now and then and that in Contradiction to themselves let a word or two drop concerning a necessary Work of the Spirit Sect. 4. Page 45. He alledgeth There is no convincing People by this Rule of the Spirit within because each way may pretend to the guidance of his Spirit and so both remain obstinate adding That according to them the Scripture is the Rule which lieth patent to both
yea saith plainly in the next page That Prayer without the Spirit is Abomination And whereas he adds That forbearing of Prayer is also Abomination we do not deny it but freely confess that forbearing of Prayer in the Wicked is sinful But the way to prevent this is not to commit a second evil viz. to Pray without the Spirit they ought first to come to the Spirit that thereby they may Pray acceptably according to that of Paul Rom. 8.26 Prayer without the Spirit availeth not Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groans that cannot be uttered 1 Cor. 14.15 I will pray with the Spirit which being brought by me in my last he hath wholly omitted so much as to mention far less to answer And though omitting of Prayer be sinful yet to bid a man Pray without the Spirit is as much as to desire a man to see without opening his eyes This thing may appear by a familiar Example thus Suppose a Servant turn sluggard and sleep while he should be about his Master's work if when he is raised out of his bed he should run naked to it without taking along those Tools or Instruments which are absolutely needful for the doing of it what will he profit either himself or his Master Yea he will but hinder the work more Even so the Wicked as they ought to Pray so they ought first to come to the Spirit whereby they may do it to the glory of God and their own Souls good Now though this be so undeniable that he cannot gainsay it yet in Contradiction to the Truth and his own Concessions he goes about to Cavil against it alledging It might take off men as well from their necessary works because the ploughing of the Wicked is Sin and that also it might follow from this That Children should not honour their Parents and Husbands love their Wives but when they have a motion of the Spirit for it Answ. This Objection hath no weight to overturn the Truth for there is a great difference betwixt these things that relate to the Worship of God and what relates to Outward things either concerning our selves or our Neighbours The Worship of God is Spiritual The Worship of God is a Spiritual thing relating to himself which we are commanded to perform in the Spirit and God doth offer us his Spirit for the performance of it And because it is that which is meerly relative betwixt God and the Soul he doth not accept of it but as so offered we cannot Pray as we ought saith the Apostle But the Spirit helpeth c. Now though these other things would no doubt be the more acceptable to God and more frequently accompanied with his blessing that they were done in the sense of his Fear and in the drawings of his Spirit yet they are materially good in themselves answering really their End to them unto whom they immediately Relate without it But it is not so of Prayer which as it immediately Relates to God so W. M. himself confesseth without the Spirit to be Abomination The Prayer of the Wicked is sin Thus is also solved his Supposition page 124. That if a wicked Man contract guilt he may provoke the Lord to withdraw the Motions of the Spirit and then his Not Praying is not Sin For I have asserted that the Not Praying of the Wicked is sinful And this doth not Lull People in a sinful Security on the contrary they are alike rather to be Lulled in such a Security by being told they may be set about Prayer when they please whereby they foster themselves in a groundless hope because of their now and then repeating their words of Prayer neither expecting nor looking for the Spirit 's Assistance whereby instead of advancing in Grace and Righteousness they do but reiterate Abominations and so aggravate their own Guilt And whereas here he is forced to acknowledge that Motives of the Spirit will not be wanting to the Saints to Pray when they are at the Gates of Death or in danger of present Drowning He asks me Let the Wicked Repent c. What shall the Wicked do in this case Shall they not follow the Advice which Peter gave to Simon Magus Acts 8.22 Pray God if perhaps the thoughts of thy heart may be forgiven thee But here he minceth the Apostle's words which are Repent therefore of thy Wickedness and pray c. here the Apostle puts Repentance before Prayer it shall not be denied but when the Wicked have Repented of their Wickedness the Spirit will not be wanting to assist them to Pray Craving a blessing before Meat It is therefore to little purpose that page 120 and 121. he pleads for Craving a Blessing when we use the Creatures of God calling the neglect of it a Profane Custom For we do not deny it and Condemn a Profane Neglect of it as much as themselves And as Christ had the Spirit without and above measure having always a ready Access to the Father so we are glad and willing at such Occasions to express Words if we find the Spirit assisting us so to do yea we reckon that we ought not to use the Creatures without our hearts be in some measure retired to the sense of God's presence and stayed in his Fear whereby we may secretly breath for a Blessing for to speak audible words is not Essential And therefore it is apparently malitious for him to say That when we are not stayed in God 's fear we have liberty and freedom to fall to Meat my words had no such Importance though he seeks to turn them And yet can wholly omit much of page 44. of mine where I shew their Abuses in this matter how they mock God in it and provoke him to withdraw his Blessing And whereas he says One of us Confessed That he had not called together nor Prayed in his Family for a Twelve-month past He should have produced the Person 's Name that we might have inquired concerning it and therefore until he so do we can lay no stress upon it but reject it as False especially considering that W.M. being particularly challenged upon this refuseth absolutely to do it nor durst he aver he had any better ground for it than Hear-say Upon this occasion he asks If Abraham must not keep up Religion in his Family because an Ishmael is in it But this maketh nothing against us for none of us that are Masters of Families have forborn to keep up the Worship of God though Enemies of Truth have been in it whom we have not barred from being present Praying for Enemies and for whom we have not been wanting to Pray though we cannot join with them in their Prayers as W. M. adviseth us until first they Repent of their Wickedness This was the Method of Peter's Advice to Simon Magus first to Repent
express Words of Scripture and if in some of the Questions there be somewhat Subsumed of what in my Judgment is the plain and naked Import of the Words it is not to Impose my Sense upon the Reader but to make way for the next Question for the dependence of the Matter 's sake I shall leave it to the reason of any Vnderstanding and Judicious Man who is not byassed by Self-Interest that great Enemy to true Equity and who in the least measure is willing to give way to the Light of Christ in his Conscience if the Scriptures do not pertinently and aptly Answer to the Questions As I have upon serious Grounds Separated from most of the Confessions and Catechisms heretofore published so not without Cause I have now taken another Method They usually place their Confession of Faith before the Catechism I judge it ought to be otherwise in regard that which is Easiest and is Composed for Children or such as are Weak ought in my Judgment to be placed first it being most Regular to Begin with things that are Easie and Familiar and lead on to things that are more Hard and Intricate Besides that things be more largely opened in the Catechism and divers Objections Answered which are proposed in the Questions the Reader having past through that first will more perfectly understand the Confession which consisteth mainly in positive Assertions Not long after I had received and believed the Testimony I now bear I had in my view both the possibility and facility of such a Work and now after a more large and perfect acquaintance with the Holy Scripture I found Access to allow some time to set about it and have also been helped to accomplish the same I doubt not but it might be enlarged by divers Citations which are here omitted as not being at present brought to my Remembrance Yet I find Cause to be contented in that God hath so far assisted me in this Work by his Spirit that good Remembrancer the Manifestation of which as it is minded will help such as Seriously and Conscientiously Read this to find out and cleave to the Truth and also Establish and Confirm those who have already believed Which of all things is most earnestly desired and daily prayed for By FromVrie the Place of my Being in my Native Country of Scotland the 11th of the 6th Month 1673. ROBERT BARCLAY A Servant of the Church of CHRIST THE CONTENTS Chap. 1. OF God and the true and saving Knowledge of him Chap. 2. Of the Rule and Guide of Christians and of the Scriptures Chap. 3. Of Jesus Christ's being manifest in the Flesh the Use and End of it Chap. 4. Of the New Birth the Inward Appearance of Christ in Spirit and the Unity of the Saints with him Chap. 5. Concerning the Light wherewith Jesus Christ hath enlightned every Man the Universality and Sufficiency of God's Grace to all the World made manifest therein Chap. 6. Concerning Faith Justification and Works Chap. 7. Concerning Perfection or Freedom from Sin Chap. 8. Concerning Perseverance and falling from Grace Chap. 9. Concerning the Church and Ministry Chap. 10. Concerning Worship Chap. 11. Concerning Baptism and Bread and Wine Chap. 12. Concerning the Life of a Christian in general what and how it ought to be in this World Chap. 13. Concerning Magistracy Chap. 14. Concerning the Resurrection Chap. 15. A short Introduction to the Confession of Faith Chap. 16. A Confession of Faith containing Twenty Three Articles Article 1. Concerning God and the True and Saving Knowledge of him Art 2. Concerning the Guide and Rule of Christians Art 3. Concerning the Scriptures Art 4 Concerning the Divinity of Christ and his being from the Beginning Art 5. Concerning his Appearance in the Flesh. Art 6. Concerning the End and Use of that Appearance Art 7. Concerning the Inward Manifestation of Christ. Art 8. Concerning the New Birth Art 9. Concerning the Unity of the Saints with Christ. Art 10. Concerning the Universal Love and Grace of God to all Art 11. Concerning the Light that enlightneth every Man Art 12. Concerning Faith and Justification Art 13. Concerning Good Works Art 14. Concerning Perfection Art 15. Concerning Perseverance and Falling from Grace Art 16. Concerning the Church and Ministry Art 17. Concerning Worship Art 18. Concerning Baptism Art 19. Concerning Eating of Bread and Wine Washing of one anothers Feet abstaining from things strangled and from Blood and Anointing of the Sick with Oil. Art 20. Concerning the Liberty of such Christians as are come to know the Substance as to the using or not using of these Rites and of the Observation of Days Art 21. Concerning Swearing Fighting and Persecution Art 22. Concerning Magistracy Art 23. Concerning the Resurrection Chap. 17. A short Expostulation with and Appeal to all other Professors Chap. 18. A short Examination of some of the Scripture-Proofs alledged by the Divines at Westminster to prove divers Articles in their Confession of Faith and Catechism A CATECHISM c. year 1673 CHAP. I. Of GOD and the True and Saving Knowledge of Him Question SEeing it is a thing Vnquestioned by all sorts of Christians that the Hight of Happiness consisteth in coming to know and enjoy Eternal Life what is it in the Sense and Judgment of Christ Answer This is Life Eternal that they might know thee John 17.3 the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Q. How doth God Reveal this Knowledge A. For God who commanded the Light to shine out of Darkness 2 Cor. 4.6 hath shined in our Hearts to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ. Q. How many Gods are there A. One God We know that an Idol is nothing in the World Ephes. 4.9 1 Cor. 8.4 6. and that there is none other God but one But to us there is but one God Q. What is God A. God is a Spirit John 4.24 Q. Among all the Blessed Glorious and Divine Excellencies of God which are ascribed and given to him in the Scriptures what is that which is most needful for us to take notice of as being the Message which the Apostles Recorded in special manner to declare of him now under the Gospel A. This then is the Message which we have heard of him and declare unto you That God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all 1 John 1.5 Q. What are they that bear Record in Heaven A. There are Three that bear Record in Heaven the Father 1 John 5.7 the Word and the Holy Ghost and these Three are One. Q. How cometh any Man to know God the Father according to Christ's Words A. All things are delivered to me of my Father and no Man knows who the Son is but the Father and who the Father is Luke 10.22 Mal. 11.27 John 14.6 but the Son and he to whom the Son will Reveal him Jesus saith unto him I am the Way the Truth and
Justified by Grace is to be Justified or Saved by Regeneration which cannot exclude the Works wrought by Grace and by the Spirit How doth the Apostle add in the next verse for the maintaining this against those that Cavil about the Law A. This is a Faithful Saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly Tit. 3.8 9. that they which believe in God might be Careful to maintain good Works these things are good and profitable unto Men But avoid foolish Questions and Genealogies and Contentions and Strivings about the Law for they are unprofitable and vain Q. Doth the Apostle Paul that is so much against Justification by the Works of the Law speak any where else of being justified by the Spirit A. But ye are Washed but ye are Sanctified but ye are Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. 6.11 and by the Spirit of our God Q. But since the Law gives not Power nor Ability to obey and so falls short of Justification Is there no Power under the Gospel by which the Righteousness of the Law comes to be fulfilled inwardly A. For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh Rom. 8.3 4. God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh and for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh That the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Q. Seeing then there is Power in the Spirit is not Works through it a Condition upon which Life is proposed under the New Covenant Rom. 8.13 A. For if ye live after the Flesh ye shall Dye but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the Deeds of the Body ye shall Live Q. Do not the Apostles then frequently propose Life to People upon Condition of Repentance and other Works Acts 3.19 A. Repent ye therefore and be Converted that your Sins may be blotted out And if Children then Heirs of God and joint-Heirs with Christ if so be Rom. 8.17 that we may suffer with him that we also may be glorified together * 2 Tim. 2.11 12 21. It is a faithful Saying For if we be dead with him we shall also live with him If we Suffer we shall also Reign with him If a Man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a Vessel unto Honour sanctified and meet for the Master's Use and prepared unto every good Work Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen Rev. 2.5 and Repent and do the first Works or else I will come unto thee quickly and remove thy Candlestick out of his place except thou Repent Q. It appears clearly by these Passages that the Apostle excludes only our Righteousness which he elsewhere explains Reward of Works as being the Righteousness of the Law from being necessary to Justification and not such Works as the Law of the Spirit of Life leads to and are not so much ours as Christ in us are not such good Works Rewarded though they require no absolute Merit as being the Fruits of free Grace yet doth not God judge according to them and may they not be said to have a Reward A. But if a Man be just and do that which is lawful and right Ezek. 18.5 6 7 8 9. and hath not eaten upon the Mountains neither hath lift up his Eyes to the Idols of the House of Israel neither has defiled his Neighbour's Wife neither hath come near to a Menstruous Woman and hath not oppressed any but hath restored to the Debtor his Pledge hath spoiled none by Violence hath given his Bread to the Hungry and hath covered the Naked with a Garment he that hath not given forth upon Usury neither hath taken any Increase that hath withdrawn his Hand from Iniquity hath executed true Judgment between Man and Man hath walked in my Statutes and hath kept my Judgments to deal Truth he is Just he shall surely Live saith the Lord God For the Son of Man shall come in the Glory of his Father with his Angels Matth. 16.27 and then he shall Reward every Man according to his Works Then Peter opened his Mouth and said Of a Truth I perceive that God is no Respecter of Persons Acts 10.34 35. but in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh Righteousness is accepted with him The Righteous Judgment of God Rom. 2.6 7 10 who will render to every Man according to his Deeds To them who by Patient Continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality Eternal Life But Glory Honour and Peace to every Man that worketh Good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile For we must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ 2 Cor. 5.10 that every one may receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad Which is a manifest Token of the Righteous Judgment of God that ye may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God 2 Thess. 1.5 for which ye also suffer But who so looketh into the Perfect Law of Liberty James 1.25 and continueth therein being not a forgetful Hearer but a Doer of the Work this Man shall be blessed in his Deed. * Hebr. 10.35 Cast not away therefore your Confidence which hath great Recompence of Reward †1 Pet. 1.17 And if ye call on the Father who without respect of Persons judgeth according to every Man's Work pass the time of your sojourning here in fear Rev. 22.12 14 And behold I come quickly and behold my Reward is with me to give every Man according as his Works shall be Blessed are they that do his Commandments that they may have a Right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the Gates into the City Christ saves from Sin Q. It should seem that the Purpose of God in sending his Son the Lord Jesus Christ was not simply to save Man by an Imputative Righteousness altogether without them but also by the washing of Regeneration or an inward Righteousness What saith the Scripture further of this Matth. 1.21 A. And thou shalt call his Name Jesus for he shall save his People from their Sins Tit. 2.13 14. Looking for that blessed Hope and the Glorious Appearing of the Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might Redeem us from all Iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar People zealous of Good Works CHAP. VII Concerning Perfection or Freedom from SIN Question I Perceive then by all these Scriptures afore-mentioned that Christ as well as he hath purchased Pardon for our Sins hath also obtained Power by which we may even here be cleansed from the Filth of them may we expect then in this Life to be freed from the Dominion of Sin Rom. 6.14 A. For Sin shall not have Dominion over you Q. For what Reason Rom. 6.14 A. For ye are
have tasted of the Heavenly Gift and were made Partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come If they shall fall away to renew them again unto Repentance seeing they Crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open Shame Looking diligently lest any Man fail of the Grace of God Hebr. 12.15 lest any Root of Bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled Q Doth he speak this only by Supposition or doth he assert it not only possible but certain A. For the time will come 2 Tim. 4 3 4. when they will not endure sound Doctrine but after their own Lusts shall they heap to themselves Teachers having itching Ears and they shall turn away their Ears from the Truth and shall be turned unto Fables Q. Doth the Apostle even judge it necessary to guard such a one as his beloved Son Timothy against this Hazzard A. This Charge I commit unto thee Son Timothy 1 Tim. 1.18 19. according to the Prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them mightest war the good Warfare Holding Faith in a good Conscience which some having put away concerning Faith have made Shipwrack For the Love of Money is the Root of all Evil 2 Tim. 4.10 which while some coveted after they have erred from the Faith and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows 2 Tim. 17.17 18. And their Word will eat as doth a Canker of whom is Hymeneus and Philetus who concerning the true Faith have erred saying That the Resurrection is past already and overthrown the Faith of some Q. Doth the Apostle any where express his Fears of this as a thing that may happen to any number of People who once truly received the Faith of Christ A. Well because of Unbelief they were broken off Rom. 11.20 and thou standest by Faith be not High-minded but fear Now the Spirit speaketh expresly 1 Tim. 4.1 that in the latter times some shall depart from the Faith c. For this Cause 1 Thess. 3.5 when I could no longer forbear I sent to know your Faith lest by some means the Tempter have Tempted you and our Labour be in vain Q. What is the Apostle Peter's Mind does he judge that such as have known the right Way may forsake it A. * 2 Pet. 2.14 15 18 20 21 22. Cursed Children which have forsaken the Righteous Way and are gone astray following the Way of Balaam the Son of Bezor who loved the Ways of Unrighteousness but was rebuked for his Iniquity the dumb Ass speaking with Man's Voice forbad the Madness of the Prophet These are Wells without Water Clouds that are carried with a Tempest to whom the Mist of Darkness is reserved for ever For when they speak great swelling Words of Vanity they allure through the Lust of the Flesh through much Wantonness those that were clean escaped from them who live in Error For if after they have escaped the Pollutions of the World through the Knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again Entangled therein and Overcome the latter End is worse with them than the Beginning for it had been better for them not to have known the Way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them But it is happened to them according to the true Proverb The Dog is turned to his Vomit and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the Mire Q. Gives he any Cautions to them that stand as supposing they may also fall 2 Pet. 3.17 A. Ye therefore Beloved seeing ye know these things before beware lest ye also being led away with the Error of the Wicked fall from your own Stedfastness Q. May a Man be truly a Branch in Christ or a real Member of his Body and afterwards be Cut off John 15.6 A. If any Man abide not in me he is Cast forth as a Branch and is Withered Q May a Righteous Man then depart from his Righteousness Ezâ—k 18.26 and 33.13 A. But when the Righteous Man turneth away from his Righteousness and commits Iniquity and dieth in them for his Iniquity that he hath done shall he die Q. May a Believer come to such a Condition in this Life from which he cannot fall away Rev. 3.12 A. Him that Overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the Name of my God which is New Jerusalem who cometh down out of Heaven from my God and will write upon him my New Name Q. May such an one come to be assured that he is in this Condition Rom. 8.38 39. A. For I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor Things present nor Things to come nor Height nor Depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. CHAP. IX Concerning the Church and Ministry Question WHat is the Church Answer But if I tarry long 1 Tim. 3 15. that thou may'st know how thou oughtest to behave thy self in the House of God which is the Church of the Living God the Pillar and Ground of Truth Q. Who is the Head of the Church A. Who hath delivered us from the Power of Darkness Col. 113. and 2.19 and hath translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son and he is the Head of the Body the Church from which all the Body by Joints and Bands having Nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the Increase of God Q. What kind of Persons make the Church A. Them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus 1 Cor. 1.2 Acts 2.47 And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved Q. Hath not Christ appointed any Officers in the Church for the Work of the Ministry A. Wherefore he saith when he Ascended up on High Ephes. 4.8 11.12 he led Captivity Captive and gave Gifts unto Men and he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and some Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministry for the Edification of the Body of Christ. Q. What kind of Men should such as are Teachers and Overseers of the Church be A. A Bishop then must be Blameless the Husband of one Wife 1 Tim. 3.2 3 4 5 6 7. Vigilant Sober of good Behaviour given to Hospitality apt to Teach not given to Wine no Striker not greedy of filthy Lucre but Patient not a Brawler not Covetous one that ruleth well his own House having his Children in Subjection with all Gravity for if a Man know not how to rule his own House how shall he take Care of the Church of God not a Novice lest being lifted up with Pride he fall into the
Condemnation of the Devil Moreover he must have a good Report of them which are without lest he fall into Reproach and the Snare of the Devil For a Bishop must be blameless as the Steward of God Tit. 1.7 8 9. not self-willed not soon angry not given to Wine no Striker not given to filthy Lucre but a lover of Hospitality a lover of good Men sober just holy temperate holding fast the Faithful Word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound Doctrine both to exhort and to convince the Gain-sayers Q. What is incumbent upon such to do A. Take heed therefore to your selves and to all the Flock Acts 20.28 over which the holy Ghost hath made you Overseers to feed the Church of God * 1 Pet. 5.1 2 3. The Elders which are among you I exhort who am also an Elder and a Witness of the Sufferings of Christ and also a Partaker of the Glory that shall be revealed Feed the Flock of God which is among you taking the Oversight thereof not by Constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready Mind neither as being Lords over God's Heritage but being Ensamples to the Flock Q. Though they be not to Lord it over the Flock yet is there not a Respect due to them in their Place 1 Tim. 5.17 A. Let the Elders that Rule well be counted worthy of double Honour especially they who Labour in the Word and Doctrine Q. Albeit then among true Christians every one that believeth is to have the Witness in himself being perswaded in himself by the Spirit yet is there not also a real Subjection to be to one another in the Lord 1 Cor. 14.32 A. The Spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls Hebr. 13.17 as they that must give Account that they may do it with Joy and not with Grief for that is unprofitable for you 1 Thess. 5.12 13. And we beseech you Brethren to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in Love for their Works sake 1 Pet. 5 5. Likewise ye Younger submit your selves unto the Elder yea all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with Humility for God resisteth the Proud and giveth Grace unto the Humble Q. How ought true Teachers to minister in the Church A. As every man hath received the Gift even so minister the same one to another 2 Pet. 4.10 11. as good Stewards of the manifold Grace of God If any speak let him speak as the Oracles of God If any Man minister let him do it as of the ability which God giveth that God in all Things may be glorified through Jesus Christ. Q. I perceive then that every true Minister of the Church of Christ is to Minister of the Gift and Grace of God which he hath received But some are of the Judgment that natural Wisdom or Parts and Human Learning are the Qualification Human Learning which are of absolute Necessity for a Minister but Grace they judge not to be so absolutely necessary but that one may be Minister without it what saith the Scripture in this Case A. A Bishop must be sober just holy temperate Tit. 1.6 8. Q. Methinks it is impossible for a Man to be blameless just holy sober and temperate without the Grace of God So that if these Qualifications be absolutely necessary then surely that without which a Man cannot be so qualified must be necessary also But what saith the Scripture as to the Necessity of Natural Wisdom and Human Learning A. Where is the Wise where is the Scribe where is the Disputer of this World 1 Cor. 1.20 21 hath not God made foolish the Wisdom of this World For after that in the Wisdom of God the World by Wisdom knew not God it pleased God by the Foolishness of Preaching to save them that believe Q. It seems then the Preachings of the true Ministers are not gathered together by Wisdom and Learning It hath been supposed that a Man must be greatly skilled in Learning to make a good Sermon what is the Apostle's Judgment in the Case A. For Christ sent me not to Baptize but to preach the Gospel 1 Cor. 1.17 not with Wisdom of Words lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none Effect And I was with you in Weakness and in Fear 1 Cor. 2 3 4 5 and in much Trembling and my Speech and my Preaching was not with Enticing Words of Man's Wisdom but in Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power that your Faith should not stand in the Wisdom of Men but in the Power of God Q. I perceive the Apostle lays far more stress upon the Demonstration and Power of the Spirit in a Preacher than upon human Literature ought Ministers then to preach as the Spirit teacheth them A. Also we speak not in the Words which Man's Wisdom teaches 2 Cor. 2.13 but which the Holy Ghost teacheth And they were all fill'd with the Holy Ghost and began to speak Acts 2.4 as the Spirit gave them Vtterance Q. Is it Christ then that speaketh in and through his Ministers A. For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father Matth. 10.20 which speaketh in you For it is not ye that speak but the Holy Ghost Mark 13.11 For the Holy Ghost shall Teach you in the same Hour Luke 12.12 what ye ought to say Since ye seek a Proof of Christ speaking in me 2 Cor. 13.3 which to you-ward is not weak but is mighty in you Q. What is the Apostle's Mind of that human Learning which some cry up so much and think so needful in a Minister A. Beware Col. 2.8 lest any Man spoil you through Philosophy and vain Deceit after the Tradition of Men after the Rudiments of the World and not after Christ. O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust 1 Tim. 6.20 avoiding prophane and vain Babbling and Oppositions of Science falsly so caled Q. Though true Ministers speak not by the natural Wisdom of Men yet is their Testimony altogether void of Wisdom A. Howbeit we speak Wisdom among them that are perfect 1 Cor. 2.6 7. yet not the Wisdom of this World nor of the Prince of this World that came to nought but we speak the Wisdom of God in a Mystery even the hidden Wisdom which God ordained before the World to our Glory Q. What is the Reason that Man by his natural Wisdom is not capable to Minister in the Things of God A. For what Man knoweth the Things of a Man 1 Cor. 2.11 14 save the Spirit of a Man which is in him even so the Things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God But the natural Man received
4 5 6 7 8 9. For if there come unto your Assembly a man with a Gold Ring in goodly Apparel and there come in also a poor Man in vile Raiment and ye have Respect to him that weareth the gay Cloathing and say unto him sit thou here in a good Place and say to the poor stand thou there or sit here under my Foot-stool Are ye not then partial in your selves and are become Judges of evil Thoughts Hearken my beloved Brethren hath not God chosen the poor of this World rich in Faith and Heirs of the Kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him but ye have despised the Poor Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the Judgement-seat Do they not blaspheme that worthy Name by the which ye are called If ye fulfil the Royal Law according to the Scripture Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self ye do well but if ye have RESPECT to Persons ye commit Sin and are convinced of the Law as Transgressors Q. Though that be indeed sufficient to reprove the different Ranks among Christians upon the Account of Riches or Birth Master and Servant yet is there not a Relative Respect among Christians as betwixt Master and Servants What Admonitions gives the Apostle in this Case A. Servants be Obedient to them that are your Masters according to the Flesh with Fear and Trembling in Singleness of your Heart Ephes. 6.5 6 7 8 9. as unto Christ not with Eye-Service as Men-Pleasers but as the Servants of Christ doing the Will of God from the Heart with Good will doing service as to the Lord and not to Men knowing that whatsoever good Thing any Man doth the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free And ye Masters do the same Things unto them forbearing Threatning knowing that your Master also is in Heaven neither is there Respect of Persons with him Servants obey in all things your Masters according to the Flesh not with Eye-Service as Men-pleasers but in Singleness of Heart Col. 3.22 23 24 25. fearing God And whatsoever ye do do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto Men knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the Reward of the Inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doth Wrong shall receive for the Wrong which he hath done and there is no Respect of Persons Masters give unto your Servants that which is Just and Equal knowing that ye also have a Master in Heaven Col. 4.1 Let as many Servants as are under the Yoke count their own Masters worthy of all Honour 1 Tim. 6.1 2· that the Name of God and his Doctrine be not blasphemed And they that have believing Masters let them not despise them because they are Brethren but rather do them Service because they are faithful and beloved Partakers of the Benefit These things teach and exhort Exhort Servants to be obedient unto their own Masters Tit. 2.9 10. and to please them well in all Things not answering again not purloining but shewing all good Fidelity that they may adorn the Doctrine of God in all Things 1 Pet. 2.18 19 20 21. Servants be subject to your Masters with all Fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward for this is Thank-worthy if a Man for Conscience towards God endure Griefs suffering wrongfully For what Glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your Faults ye shall take it patiently but if when ye do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable with God For even hereunto were ye called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an Example that ye should follow his Steps Parents and Children Q. What good Admonitions gives the Scripture as to the Relation betwixt Parents and Children Ephes. 6.1 2 3 4. A. Children Obey your Parents in the Lord for this is right Honour thy Father and thy Mother which is the first Commandment with Promise that it may be well with thee and thou may'st live long on the Earth And ye Fathers provoke not your Children to Wrath but bring them up in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord. Col. 3.20 21. Children Obey your Parents in all Things for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers provoke not your Children to Anger lest they be discouraged Q. What between Husbands and Wives Husband and Wife A. Wives submit your selves unto your own Husbands as unto the Lord for the Husband is the Head of the Wife even as Christ is the Head of the Church Ephes. 5.22 23 24 25 28 31 33. and he is the Saviour of the Body Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ so let the Wives be to their own Husbands in every thing Husbands love your Wives even as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it so ought men to love their own Wives as their own Bodies he that loveth his Wife loveth himself for this Cause shall a Man leave his Father and Mother and shall be joined unto his Wife and they two shall be one Flesh. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his Wife even as himself and the Wife see that she Reverence her Husband Col. 3.19 1 Pet. 3.1 2 7. Husbands love your Wives and be not bitter against them Likewise ye Wives be subject to your own Husbands that if any obey not the Word they also may without the Word be won by the Conversation of the Wives while they behold your Chaste Conversation coupled with Fear Likewise ye Husbands dwell with them according to Knowledge giving Honour unto the Wife as unto the weaker Vessel and as being Heirs together of the Grace of Life that your Prayers be not hindered Q. * Christian's Armour What is the Armour of a true Christian and wherewith ought he to wrestle A. †Ephes. 6.11 12 13 14 15 16 17. Put on the whole Armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the Wiles of the Devil for we wrestle not against Flesh and Blood but against Principalities against Powers against the Rulers of the Darkness of this World against Spiritual Wickedness in high Places wherefore take unto you the whole Armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the Evil Day and having done all to stand Stand therefore having your Loins girt about with Truth and having on the Breast-Plate of Righteousness and your Feet shod with the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace above all taking the Shield of Faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery Darts of the Wicked One and take the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God Q. What are Christians Weapons and for what End and Weapons A. For though we walk in the Flesh we do not war after the Flesh for the Weapons of our Warfare are not carnal 2 Cor.
Worshipping of Angels and other such Acts of voluntary Humility A. Now the Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the Faith 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3. giving heed to seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils speaking Lies in Hypocrisie having their Conscience seared as with an hot Iron forbidding to Marry and commanding to Abstain from Meats which God hath Created to be received with Thanksgiving of them which believe and know the Truth Let no Man beguile you of your Reward in voluntary Humility Col. 2.18 and Worshipping of Angels intruding into these things which he hath not seen vainly puft up by his Fleshly Mind CHAP. XIII Concerning Magistracy Question WHat is the Duty of a Magistrate Answer The God of Israel said the Rock of Israel spake to me he that Ruleth over Men must be Just 2 Sam. 23.3 Ruling in the Fear of God Q. What do the Scriptures speak of the Duty of such Subjection as are under Authority A. Let every Soul be Subject to the Higher Powers Rom. 13.1 2 3 4 5. for there is no Power but of God The Powers that be are ordained of God Whatsoever therefore resists the Power resists the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation For Rulers are not a Terror to good Works but to the Evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power Do that which is Good and thou shalt have Praise of the same for he is the Minister of God to thee for Good But if thou do that which is Evil be afraid for he beareth not the Sword in vain for he is the Minister of God a Revenger to execute Wrath upon him that doth Evil. Wherefore Ye must needs be subject not only for Wrath but also for Conscience sake Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as Supream 1 Pet. 2.13 14 15. or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him for the Punishment of Evil-Doers and for the Praise of them that do well for so is the Will of God that with Well-doing ye may put to silence the Ignorance of foolish Men. Tribute Q. Ought Tribute to be paid to them A. For for this Cause pay we Tribute also for they are God's Ministers Rom. 13 6 7. attending continually upon this very thing Render therefore to all their Dues Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custom Fear to whom Fear Honour to whom Honour Then saith he unto them Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's Matth. 22.21 and unto God the things that are God's Obedience Q. Are we obliged to obey Magistrates in such things as we are perswaded in our Minds are contrary to the Commands of Christ Acts 4.18 19 20. A. And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the Name of Jesus but Peter and John answered and said unto them Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard And when they had brought them Acts 5 27 28 29. they set them before the Council and the High-Priest asked them saying Did not we straightly command you that ye should not Teach in this Name And behold ye have filled Jerusalem with your Doctrine and intended to bring this Man's Blood upon us Then Peter and the other Apostles answer'd and said We ought to obey God rather than Man Moderation Q. What ought to be Magistrates Behaviour in such Cases according to the Counsel of wise Gamaliel A. Then stood there up one in the Council a Pharisee named Gamaliel Acts 5.34 35 38 39. a Doctor of Law had in Reputation among the People and commanded to put the Apostles forth a little space and said unto them Ye Men of Israel take heed to your selves what ye intend to do as touching these men And now I say unto you Refrain from these men and let them alone for if this Counsel or this Work of Men it will come to nought but if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it leâ—t happily ye be found even to fight against God Tares Q. What Command giveth Christ to his People under the Gospel in Relation to this matter How doth he hold forth their Duty under the Parable of the Tares A. So the Servants of the Houshold came and said unto him Sir didst thou not sow Good Seed in thy Field Matth. 13.27 28 29. from whence then hath it Tares He said unto them An Enemy hath done this The Servants said unto him Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up But he said Nay lest while ye gather up the Tares ye root up also the Wheat with them Tares the Wicked Q. Doth he explain these Tares of the Wicked whom the Godly must not take upon them to cut off lest through mistake they hurt the Good but leave it to God to do it by his Angels A. * Matth. 13.38 39 40 41. The Field is the World the good Seed are the Children of the Kingdom but the Tares are the Children of the Wicked One the Enemy that sowed them is the Devil the Harvest is the End of the World and the Reapers are the Angels And therefore the Tares are gathered and burnt in the Fire So shall it be in the end of this World the Son of Man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend and them which do Iniquity CHAP. XIV Concerning the Resurrection Question WHat saith the Scripture of the Resurrection of the Dead Answer And have Hope towards God Acts 24.15 which they themselves also allow that there shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the Just and Unjust Q. To what different End shall the Good be raised from the Bad and how are they thereunto reserved A. Marvel not at this for the Hour is coming in the which all that are in the Graves shall hear his Voice and shall come forth John 5.28 29. they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done Evil unto the Resurrection of Condemnation But the Heavens and the Earth which are now 2 Pet. 3.7 by the same Word are kept in store reserved unto Fire against the Day of Judgment and Perdition of Ungodly Men. Q. What must be answered to such as ask how the Dead are raised and with what Body A. Thou Fool that which thou sowest is not quickened 1 Cor. 15.36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44. except it die and that which thou sowest thou sowest not that Body which shall be but bare Grain it may chance of Wheat or some other Grain But God giveth it a Body as it hath pleased him and to every Seed his own Body All
Flesh is not the same Flesh but there is one kind of Flesh of Men another Flesh of Beasts another of Fishes and another of Birds there are also Celestial Bodies and Bodies Terrestrial but the Glory of the Celestial is one and the Glory of the Terrestrial is another There is one Glory of the Sun and another Glory of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars for one Star differs from another Star in Glory so also is the Resurrection of the Dead it is sown in Corruption it is raised in Incorruption it is sown in Dishonour it is raised in Glory it is sown in Weakness it is raised in Power it is sown a Natural Body it is raised a Spiritual Body There is a Natural Body and there is a Spiritual Body Q. The Apostle seems to be very positive that it is not that Natural Body which we now have that shall rise but a Spiritual Body A. * 1 Cor. 15.50 51 52 53 54 55. Now this I say Brethren That Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God neither doth Corruption inherit Incorruption Behold I shew you a Mystery We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a Moment in the Twinkling of an Eye at the last Trump for the Trumpet shall sound and the Dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed For this Corruptible must put on Incorruption and this Mortal must put on Immortality So when this Corruptible shall have put on Incorruption and this Mortal shall have put on Immortality then shall be brought to pass the Saying that is written Death is swallowed up in Victory O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory CHAP. XV. A Short Introduction to the CONFESSION of FAITH HAving thus largely and evidently performed the chief Part of that which I promised in this Treatise in giving a full account of our Principles in plain Scripture-words and also answering by the Scriptures the chief and main Objections made against us I come to a Confession of Faith in which I shall not be so large for that I judge it not Convenient to make an Interpretation of all the Scriptures before-mentioned which if needful the Reader may easily observe were not very difficult to do But whereas a Confession of Faith called rather for an Affirmative Account of ones own Faith than for the Solution of Objections or any thing of Debate in a Discursive Way which is both more properly and pertinently performed in a Catechism therefore I have here only done so I am necessitated sometimes to intermix some words for Coherence of the Matter as sometimes And and sometimes Therefore and the like but not such as any Ingenuous Person can affirm do add to the Matter or that may any wise justly be reckoned a Comment or Meaning and therefore to avoid the Censure of the most Curious Carping Criticks these are marked with a different Character Likewise unless I should have ridiculously offered to publish incongruous Grammar there was a true need sometimes to change the Mood and Person of a Verb in all which places whosoever will look to the words shall find it is done upon no Design to alter any whit the naked Import of them As for Instance where Christ says I am the Light of the World were it proper for me to write thus I am the Light c. Or can it be reckoned any whit Contradicting of my Purpose and Promise to write Christ is the Light where the first Person is changed to the third Also sometimes I express things which are necessarily understood as when any of the Apostles say We there instead of We I write Apostles and where they say You speaking of the Saints there I mention Saints instead of it for the Connexion of the Sentence sometimes requires it As in the first Article in mentioning that of 1 John 1.5 concerning God's being Light and in such like Cases which I know no impartial Reader would have quarrelled though wanting this Apology which I judged meet to premise knowing there is a Generation who when they cannot find any real or substantial Ground against Truth and its Followers will be Cavilling at such little Niceties therefore such may see this Objection is obviated CHAP. XVI A CONFESSION of FAITH concerning Twenty Three Articles ARTICLE I. Concerning God and the True and Saving Knowledge of him THere is one God a Eph. 4.6 1 Cor. 8.4 6. who is a Spirit b John 4.24 And This is the Message which the Apostles heard of him and declared unto the Saints That he is Light and in him is no Darkness at all c 1 John 1.5 There are Three that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and these Three are One d 1 John 1.7 The Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father e John 10.38 and 14.10 11. and 5.26 No Man knoweth the Son but the Father neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will Reveal him f Matth. 11.27 Luke 10.22 The Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God g 1 Cor. 2.10 For the Things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God Now the Saints have received not the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God that they might know the things which are freely given them of God h 1 Cor. 2.11 12. For the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father sends in Christ's Name he teacheth them all things and bringeth all things to their Remembrance i John 14.26 ARTICLE II. Concerning the Guide and Rule of Christians CHrist prayed to the Father and he gave the Saints another Comforter that was to abide with them for ever even the Spirit of Truth whom the World cannot receive because it seeth him not nor knoweth him But the Saints know him for he dwelleth with them and is to be in them k John 14.16 17. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God l Rom. 8.9 14. For this is the Covenant that God hath made with the House of Israel He hath put his Laws in their Mind and writ them in their Hearts and they are all taught of God m Hebr. 8.10 11. And the Anointing which they have received of him abideth in them and they need not that any man teach them but as the same Anointing teacheth them of all things and is Truth and is no Lie n 1 John 2.27 ARTICLE III. Concerning the Scriptures WHatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our Learning that we through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures might have Hope o Rom. 15.4 which are able to make wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus All Scripture being given by Inspiration of God and
Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the whole World q 1 Joh 2.1 2. For by the Grace of God he hath tasted Death for every Man r Hebr 2.9 And gave himself a Ransom for all to be testified in due Time s 1 Tim. 2.6 Willing all Men to be saved and to come to the Knowledge of the Truth t 1 Tim. 2.4 Not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance u 2 Pet. 3.9 For God sent not his Son into the World to Condemn the World but that the World through him might be saved x John 3 17. And Christ came a Light into the World that whosoever believeth in him should not abide in Darkness y John 12.46 Therefore as by the Offence of One Judgment came upon All Men to Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of One the free Gift came upon all Men to Justification of Life z Rom. 5.18 ARTICLE XI Concerning the Light that enlightneth every Man THe Gospel was preached to every Creature under Heaven a Col. 1.23 which Gospel is the Power of God unto Salvation to them that believe b Rom. 1.16 And if it be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the Minds of them which believe not lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine into them c 2 Cor. 4.3 4. And this is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and Men love Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are Evil d John 3.19 And this was the true Light which lightneth every Man that cometh into the World e John 1.9 By which all things that are reproveable are made manifest for whatsoever maketh manifest is Light f Ephes. 5.11 Every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved but he that doth Truth cometh to to the Light that his Deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God g Joh. 3 20 21. And they that walk in the Light as Christ is in the Light have Fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth them from all Sin h 1 John 1. Therefore ought we to believe in the Light while we have the Light that we may be the Children of the Light i John 12.36 Therefore to Day if we will hear his Voice let us not harden our Hearts k Hebr. 4 7. For Christ wept over Jerusalem saying If thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy Day the Things which belong unto thy Peace But now they are hid from thine Eyes l Luke 19.42 And he would often have gathered her Children as a Hen gathereth her Chickens but they would not m Matth. 23.37 for the stiff-necked and uncircumcised in Heart and Ears do always Resist the Holy Ghost n Acts 7.51 And are of those that Rebel against the Light o Job 24.13 Therefore God's Spirit will not always strive with Man p Gen. 7.3 For the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness of Men who hold the Truth in Unrighteousness q Rom. 1.18 Because what is to be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them r Rom. 1.19 And a Manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Man to profit withal s 1 Cor. 12.7 For the Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World t Tit. 2.11 12. And this Word of this Grace is able to build up and give an Inheritance among all those that are Sanctified u Acts 20.32 For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of the Soul and Spirit and of the Joints and Marrow and is a Discerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart x Hebr. 4.12 Is that more sure Word of Prophesy whereunto we do well that we take heed as unto a Light that shineth in a dark place until the Day dawn and the Day-Star arise in the Heart y 2 Pet. 1. â—9 And this is the Word of Faith which the Apostles Preached which is nigh in the Mouth and in the Heart z Rom. 10.8 For God who commanded Light to shine out of Darkness hath shined in our Hearts to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ a 2 Cor. 4.6 But we have this Treasure in Earthen Vessels that the Excellency of the Power may be of God b 2 Cor. 4.7 and not of us for the Kingdom of God cometh not by Observation but is within us ARTICLE XII Concerning Faith and Justification FAith is the Substance of things hoped for and the Evidence of things not seen d Hebr. 11.1 Without which it is impossible to please God e Hebr. 11.6 Therefore we are justified by Faith which worketh by Love f Gal. 5.6 For Faith without Works being dead is by Works made perfect g Jam. 2.23 26. By the Deeds of the Law there shall no Flesh be justified h Rom. 3.20 Nor yet by the Works of Righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy we are saved by the Washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost i 1 Tit. 3.5 For we are both washed sanctified and justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God k 1 Cor. 6.11 ARTICLE XIII Concerning Good Works IF we live after the Flesh we shall die but if we through the Spirit do mortifie the Deeds of the Body we shall live l Rom. 8.13 For they which believe in God must be careful to maintain good Works m T it 3.8 For God will render to every Man according to his Deeds according to his Righteous Judgment to them who by patient Continuance in well-doing seek for Glory Honour and Immortality Eternal Life n Rom. 2.6 7. For such are counted worthy of the Kingdom of God o 2 Thess. 1.5 and cast not away their Confidence which hath great Recompence of Reward p Hebr. 10.35 Blessed then are they that do his Commandments that they may have Right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the Gates into the City q Rev. 22.14 ARTICLE XIV Concerning Perfection SIn shall not have Dominion over such as are not under the Law but under Grace r Rom. 6.14 For there is no Condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit for the Law of the
carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong Holds casting down Imaginations and every High Thing that exalteth itself against the Knowledge of God and bringing into Captivity every Thought to the Obedience of Christ y 2 Cor. 10 3.4 5. For Wars and Fightings come of the Lusts that war in the Members z Jam. 4.1 2. Therefore Christ commands not to resist Evil but whosoever will smite on the right Cheek to turn the other also a Mat. 5.39 Because Christians are Lambs among Wolves b Luke 10.3 Therefore are they hated of all Men for Christ's sake c Mat. 10.22 And all that will live Godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecution d 2 Tim. 3.12 Such are Blessed for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven e Mat. 5 10. For though they have lost their Lives yet shall they save them f Mat. 16.25 And because they have confessed Christ before Men he will also confess them before the Angels of God g Luke 12.8 9. We ought not then to fear them which kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul but rather him which is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell h Mat. 10.28 ARTICLE XXII Concerning Magistracy LEt every Soul be subject to the Higher Powers for there is no Power but of God the Powers that be are ordained of God Whosoever therefore resists the Power resists the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation For Rulers are not a Terror to Good Works but to the Evil wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power do that which is good and thou shalt have Praise of the same for he is the Minister of God to thee for good But if thou do that which is Evil be afraid for he beareth not the Sword in vain for he is the Minister of God a Revenger to execute Wrath upon him that doth Evil. Wherefore we must needs be subject not only for Wrath but also for Conscience sake For for this Cause pay we also Tribute for they are God's Ministers attending continually upon this very thing Render therefore to all their Dues Tribute to whom Tribute is due Custom to whom Custom Fear to whom Fear Honour to whom Honour i Rom. 13.1 2 7. Therefore are we to submit ourselves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as Supream or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him for the Punishment of Evil-Doers and for the Praise of them that do Well for so is the Will of God that with well-doing we may put to Silence the Ignorance of Foolish Men k 1 Pet. 2.13 14 15. Yet it is right in the Spirit of God to hearken unto him more than unto them l Acts 4.19 And though they straightly Command us not to teach in Christ's Name we ought to obey God rather than Men m Acts 5.28 29. ARTICLE XXIII Concerning the Resurrection THere shall be a Resurrection of the Dead both of the Just and Vnjust n Acts 24.15 They that have done Good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done Evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation o John 5.29 Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God neither doth Corruption inherit Incorruption p 1 Cor. 15.50 Nor is that Body sown that shall be but God gives it a Body as it has pleased him and to every Seed his own Body It is sown in Corruption it is raised in Incorruption It is sown in Dishonour it is raised in Glory It is sown in Weakness it is raised in Power It is sown a Natural Body it is raised a Spiritual Body q 1 Cor. 15.37 38 42 43 44. CHAP. XVII A short Expostulation with and APPEAL to all other Professors COme let us reason with you all ye Professors of Christianity of what sort or kind soever and bring forth your Catechisms and Confessions of FAITH to that which by most of your selves is accounted the Touch-Stone or Rule And suffer your selves no more to be blinded and to Err through your Ignorance of the Scriptures and of the Power of God but freely acknowledge and confess to that Glorious Gospel and Light which the Scriptures so clearly witness to and your Experience must needs answer as also to these other Doctrines The Noble Principle of Truth all are Invited unto which consequentially depend upon the behalf of that Noble and truly Catholick Principle wherein the Love of God is so mercifully exhibited to all Men and his Justice and Mercy do like Twins so Harmoniously Concord his Mercy in the oft tendering of his Love through the Strivings and Wrestlings of his Light during the day of every man's Visitation and his Justice both in the destroying and cutting away of the Wicked Nature and Spirit in those that suffer themselves to be Redeemed through his Judgments and in the utter Overthrow of such who rebelling against the Light and doing Despight to the Spirit of Grace hate to be Reformed Now not only this Fundamental Principle is clearly held forth in this Treatise but all these that depend upon it as the real and inward Justification of the Saints through the Power and Life of Jesus Revealed in them their full and perfect Redemption from the Body of Death and Sin as they grow up by the Workings and Prevalency of his Grace And yet lest Security should enter there is great need of Watchfulness in that they may even depart after they have really witnessed a good Condition and make Ship-wrack of the Faith and of a good Conscience with all the parts of the Doctrine of Christ as they lie linked together like a Golden Chain which doth very much evidence the Certainty and Vertue of Truth above all Heresies Error and Deceit however so cunningly gilded with the specious Pretences thereof For Truth is intire in all its parts and consonant to it self without the least Jar having a wonderful Coherence and notable Harmony The Harmony of Truth as of a well-tuned Instrument answering together like the Strings of a well-tuned Instrument whereas the Principles of all other Professors though in some things most of them come near and divers acknowledge that which is Truth yet in most things they stray from it so that their Principles greatly contradict and Jar one against another And though they may alledge Scriptures for some of their Principles yet they are put strangely to wrest it and to deny it for others My Appeal then to and Expostulation with all sorts of Professors is not to prove some one or two Points by the Scriptures for there be some general Notions of Truth which most if not all agree to but the whole Body of our Principles as they stand in relation to each other which none of them all is able to do For among the many Professors their Catechisms and Confessions of Faith I
find none save the Dispensation of Truth now again revealed but such as in most of their substantial Principles differ greatly and in many Contradict grosly the plain Text and Tenour of the Scripture I confess there be certain Men in this Age who with some plausible Appearance of Reality undertake this Task These are they that join with and own not wholly any Imbodied People but while they pretend a general Love to all yet find fault with some part of every Sort while in the mean time they scarce can give any Account of their own Religion and most of them prove at bottom to have none at all These Men I say may perhaps acknowledge some general Truths and also hold to the Letter of the Scripture in some other things so as thereby to take Occasion largely to judge others while themselves offer not to bring these good things to practice they blame others for the Want or Neglect of But such an Enterprize from these Men will not when weighed prove a fulfilling of this Matter Seeing it is not enough to acknowledge many Truths but also to deny and witness against all Error and likewise not to fall short of any Truth which ought to be acknowledged Whereas these sort of Men for the most part cannot give account of their Faith in many things needful to be believed and whatever things they may acknowledge to be true they Err most grievously and Contradict a Truth most needful to be minded and answered as is proved hereto in that they stand not forth to appear for any of these Discoveries they pretend they have but make a shift to hide their Heads in Times of Trial Pretenders hide their Heads in time of Trial. so as not to suffer for nor with any And through these fine Pretences above-mentioned through their Scruples of joining with any they can cunningly shun the Difficulties of Persecutions that attend the particular Sects of Christians yet by their general Charity and Love to all claim a share in any Benefits or Advantages that accrew to one and all Such then cannot honestly lay claim to justifie their Principles and Practices from the Scriptures But I leave these Straglers in Religion and come again to the divers Sects To begin with these that are most numerous I think I need not say much to the Papists in this Case for they do not so much as pretend to prove all their Dogma's by the Scriptures sith it is one of their chief Doctrines That Tradition may Authorize Doctrines without any Authority of Scriptures Papistical Dogma's Traditions and Councils Yea the Council of Constance hath made bold to Command things to be believed Non obstante Scripturâ i. e. Though the Scriptures say the contrary And indeed it were their great Folly to pretend to prove their Doctrines by Scripture seeing the Adoration of Saints and Images Purgatory and Prayer for the Dead the Precedency of the Bishop of Rome the Matter of Indulgencies with much more Stuff of that kind hath not the least Shadow of Scripture for it Socinians Pretences contrary to Scriptures Among Protestants I know the Socinians are great Pretenders to the Scriptures and in Words as much exalt them as any other People and yet its strange to see how that not only in many things they are not agreeable to them but in some of their chief Principles quite contrary unto it as in their Denying the Divinity of Christ which is as expresly mentioned as any thing can be And the Word was God John 1. As also in Denying his Being from the Beginning against the very Tenour of that of John 1. and divers others as at large is shewn in the Third Chapter of this Treatise Divers other things as to them might be mentioned but this may suffice to stop their Boasting in this Matter The Arminians are not more successful in their Denying the Doctrine of Absolute Reprobation Arminians Denials do center amiss and in Asserting the Vniversal Extent of Christ's Death for all than they are short in not placing this Salvation in that Spiritual Light wherewith Man is enlightned by Christ but wrongously ascribing a part of that to the Natural Will and Capacity which is due alone to the Grace and Power of God by which the Work is both begun carried on and accomplished And herein they Pelagians the like as well as both the Socinians and Pelagians though they do well in Condemning their Errors yet they miss in setting up another and not the Truth in place thereof and in that respect are justly proved by such Scriptures as their Adversaries who otherwise are as far wrong as they bring against them in shewing the Depravity of Man's Will by Nature and his Incapacity to do any Good but as assisted by the Grace of God so to do On the other hand its strange to observe how many Protestants the first Article of whose Confession of Faith is to assert the Scripture to be the Only Rule should deny the Vniversal Extent of Christ's Death contrary to the express words of Scripture which saith He tasted Death for every man or the Vniversality of Grace and a sufficient Principle which the Scriptures assert in as many positive Words as except we may suppose the Pen-men intended another thing than they spake it was possible to do viz A Manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal The Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared unto all men and many more before-mentioned The like may be said of their denying the Perfection of the Saints and asserting the Impossibility of any falling away from real Beginnings of true and saving Grace contrary to so many express Scriptures as are heretofore adduced in their proper place But to give all that desire to be undeceived a more full Opportunity to observe how the Devil has abused many pretending to be Wise in making them cloak with a Pretence of Scripture false and pernicious Doctrines I shall take a few of many Instances out of the Confession of Faith and Catechism made by the Divines at Westminster so called because the same is not only most universally received and believed by the People of Britain and Ireland but also containeth upon the Matter the Faith of the French Churches and of most others both in the Nether-lands and elsewhere that it may appear what wild Consequences these Men have sought both contrary to the naked Import of the Words and to all Common Sense and Reason to cover some of their Erroneous Principles CHAP. XVIII A Short Examination of some of the Scripture-Proofs alledged by the Divines at Westminster to prove divers Articles in their Confession of Faith and Catechism IT is not in the least my Design in this Chapter to offer so large and Examination of any of their Articles as might be done nor yet of so many as are very obvious but only of two or three to give the Reader a Taste of them
so as ye have us for an Ensample And 4.9 Those Things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me Do and the God of Peace shall be with you Col. 2.5 For though I be absent in the Flesh yet am I with you in the Spirit joying and beholding your Order and the Stedfastness of your Faith in Christ. 1 Thess. 5.12 And we beseech you Brethren to know them which Labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you Verse 13. And to Esteem them very highly in Love for their Work 's Sake and be at Peace among your selves Verse 14. Now we exhort you Brethren warn them that are unruly comfort the feeble-minded support the weak be patient toward all Men. 2 Thess. 2.15 Therefore Brethren stand fast and hold the Traditions which ye have been taught whether by Word or our Epistle 2 Cor. 10.8 For though I should boast somewhat more of our Authority which the Lord hath given us for Edification and not for your Destruction I should not be ashamed Now though the Papists greatly abuse this place as if hereby they could justifie that Mass of Superstition which they have heaped together yet except we will deny the plain Scripture we must needs believe there lay an Obligation upon the Thessalonians to observe and hold these Appointments and no Doubt needful Institutions which by the Apostles were recommended unto them and yet who will say that they ought or were thereby Commanded to do any thing contrary to that which the Grace of God in their Hearts moved them to 2 Thess. 3.4 And we have Confidence in the Lord touching you that ye both do and will do the Things which we Command you Verse 6. Now we Command you Brethren in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye withdraw your selves from every Brother that walketh disorderly and not after the Tradition which he received of us What more positive than this The Authority of the Church no Imposition and yet the Apostle was not here any Imposer And yet further Verse 14. And if any Man Obey not our Word by this Epistle note that Man and have no Company with him that he may be ashamed Thus Hebr. 13.7 Remember them which have the Rule over you who have spoken unto you the Word of God whose Faith follow considering the End of their Conversation Verse 17. Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give Account that they may do it with Joy and not with Grief for that is unprofitable for you Jude 8. Likewise also these filthy Dreamers defile the Flesh despise Dominion and speak Evil of Dignities I might at length enlarge if needful upon these Passages any of which is sufficient to prove the Matter in Hand but that what is said may satisfie such as are not wilfully blind and obstinate For there can be nothing more plain from these Testimonies The Primitive Christians Order practised in the Church than that the Ancient Apostles and Primitive Christians practised Order and Government in the Church that some did Appoint and Ordain certain Things Condemn and Approve certain Practices as well as Doctrines by the Spirit of God That there lay an Obligation in Point of Duty upon others to obey and submit That this was no Encroachment nor Imposition upon their Christian Liberty nor any ways contradictory to their being inwardly and immediately led by the Spirit of God in their Hearts And lastly That such as are in the true Feeling and Sense will find it their places to Obey and be one with the Church of Christ in such like Cases And that it 's such as have lost their Sense and Feeling of the Life of the Body that Dissent and are disobedient under the false Pretence of Liberty So that thus it is sufficiently proved what I undertook in this place Thirdly I judge there will need no great Arguments to prove the People of God may and do well to Exercise the like Government upon Reason III the very like Occasion For even Reason may teach us that what proved good and wholsome Cures to the Distemper of the Church in former Ages will not now the very like Distempers falling in prove hurtful and poisonable especially if We have the Testimony of the same Spirit in our Hearts not only allowing us but commanding us so to do Distempers of the Church require a Cure now as of old It is manifest though we are sorry for it that the same Occasions now fall in we find that there are that have eaten and drunken with us at the Table of the Lord and have been Sharers of the same spiritual Joy and Consolation that afterwards fall away We find to our great Grief that some walk disorderly and some are puffed up and strive to sow Division labouring to stumble the weak and to cause Offences in the Church of Christ What then is more suitable and more Christian than to follow the Foot-steps of the Flock and to labour and travel for the good of the Church and for the removing all that is hurtful even as the holy Apostles who walked with Jesus did before us If there be such as walk disorderly now must not they be admonished rebuked and withdrawn from as well as of Old Or is such to be the Condition of the Church in these latter Times that all Iniquity must go unreproved Must it be Heresy or Oppression to watch over one another in Love To take Care for the Poor To see that there be no Corrupt no Defiled Members of the Body and carefully and Christianly deal with them for Restoring them if possible and for withdrawing from them if incurable I am perswaded that there are none that look upon the Commands of Christ and his Apostles the Practice and Experience of the primitive Church and Saints as a sufficient Precedent to authorize a Practice now that will deny the Lawfulness or Vsefulness hereof but must needs acknowledge the Necessity of it But if it be Objected as some have done Do not you deny Objection that the Scripture is the adequate Rule of Faith and Manners and that the Commands or Practices of the Scripture are not a sufficient Warrant for you now to do any thing without you be again Authorized and led unto it by the same Spirit and upon that Score do you not forbear some things both Practised and Commanded by the primitive Church and Saints Well I hope I have not any thing weakned this Objection but presented it in its full Vigour and Strength to which I shall clearly and distinctly answer thus Times alter the Vsefulness of things Commanded First Seasons and Times do not alter the Nature and Substance of Things in themselves though it may cause Things to alter as to the Vsefulness or not Vsefulness of them Secondly Things commanded and practised at certain Times and Seasons fall of
themseves when-as the Cause and Ground for which they were commanded is removed As there is no need now for the Decision about Circumcision seeing there are none Contend for it neither as to the Orders concerning Things Offered to Idols seeing there is now no such Occasion yet who will say that the Command enjoin'd in the same place Acts 15.20 To abstain from Fornication is now made void seeing there is daily need for its standing in force because it yet remains as a Temptation man is incident to We confess indeed we are against such as from the bare Letter of the Scripture though if it were seasonable now to debate it we find but few to deal with whose Practices are so exactly squared seek to uphold Customs Forms or Shadows when the Vse for which they were appointed is removed or the Substance it self known and witnessed as we have sufficiently elsewhere answered our Opposers in the Case of Water-Baptism and Bread and Wine c. so that the Objection as to that doth not hold and the Difference is very wide in respect of such Things the very Nature and Substance of which can never be dispensed with by the People of God so long as they are in this World yea without which they could not be his People For the Doctrines and Fundamental Principles of the Christian Faith we own and believe originally and principally because they are the Truths of God whereunto the Spirit of God in our Hearts hath constrained our Understandings to obey and submit In the second place we are greatly Confirmed The Joint-Testimony of the Apostles c. to the Truths of God in our Hearts Strengthned and Comforted in the Joint-Testimony of our Brethren the Apostles and Disciples of Christ who by the Revelation of the same Spirit in the Days of old believed and have left upon Record the same Truths so we having the same Spirit of Faith according as it is written I believed and therefore have I spoken we also believe and therefore we speak And we deny not but some that from the Letter have had the Notion of these Things have thereby in the Mercy of God received Occasion to have them Revealed in the Life for we freely acknowledge though often calumniated to the contrary that Whatsoever Things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures may have Hope So then I hope if the Spirit of God lead me now unto that which is good profitable yea and absolutely needful in order to the keeping my Conscience clear and void of Offence towards God and Man none will be so unreasonable as to say I ought not to do it because it is according to the Scriptures Nor do I think it will savour ill among any serious solid Christians for me to be the more confirmed and perswaded that I am led to this Thing by the Spirit that I find it in it self good and useful and that upon the like Occasions Christ Commanded it and the Apostles and Primitive Christians practised and recommended it Now seeing it is so that we can boldly say with a good Conscience in the Sight of God that the same Spirit which leads us to believe the Doctrines and Principles of the Truth and to hold and maintain them again after the Apostacy in their primitive and ancient Purity as they were delivered by the Apostles of Christ in the Holy Scriptures I say that the same Spirit doth now lead us into the like holy Order and Government to be exercised among us as it was among them being now the like Occasion and Opportunity ministred to us therefore what can any Christianly or Rationally object against it For that there is a Real Cause for it the thing it self speaketh A Real Cause for the same Order and that it was the Practice of the Saints and Church of old is undeniable what kind of Ground then can any such Opposers have being such as scrupling at this do notwithstanding acknowledge our Principle that this were done by Imposition or Imitation more than the Belief of the Doctrines and Principles seeing as it is needful to use all Diligence to Convince and Perswade People of the Truth and bring them to the Belief of it which yet we cannot do but as Truth moves and draws in their Hearts it is also no less needful when a People is gathered to keep and preserve them in Vnity and Love as becomes the Church of Christ and to be careful as saith the Apostle That all things be done decently and in Order and that all that is wrong be removed according to the Method of the Gospel and the good cherished and encouraged So that we conclude and that upon very good Grounds That there ought now as well as heretofore to be Order and Government in the Church of Christ. Head III. That which now cometh to be examined in the Third place is First What is the Order and Government we plead for Secondly In what Cases and how far it may extend and in whom the Power Decisive is Thirdly How it differeth and is wholly another than the oppressive and persecuting Principality of the Church of Rome and other Antichristian Assemblies SECTION IV. Of the Order and Government which we plead for IT will be needful then before I proceed to describe the Order and Government of the Church to consider what is or may be properly understood by the Church for some as I touched before seem to be offended or at least afraid of the very Word because The Power of the CHVRCH The Order of the Church The Judgment of the Church and such like Pretences have been the great Weapons wherewith Antichrist and the Apostate Christians have been these many Generations persecuting the Woman and warring against the Man-child And indeed great Disputes have been among the Learned Rabbies in the Apostacy concerning this CHVRCH what it is or what may be so accounted Which I find not my place at present to dive much in but shall only give the true Sense of it according to Truth and the Scriptures plain Testimony What the word Church signifies properly The word CHVRCH in it self and as used in the Scriptures is no other but a Gathering Company or Assembly of certain People called or gathered together for so the Greek Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies which is that the Translators render Church which word is derived from the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Evoco I call out of from the Root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Voco I Call Now though the English word CHVRCH be only taken in such a Sense as People are gathered together upon a Religious Account yet the Greek word that is so rendered is taken in general for every Gathering or Meeting together of People and therefore where it is said The Town-Clark of the Ephesians dismissed the Tumult that was gathered there together the same Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
and that must be in some certain Place where all must know where to find it having herein a regard to the Conveniencies and Occasions of such as Meet Were it fit that those of the Church of Corinth should go do their Business at Antioch or the Church of Jerusalem at Rome Nay surely God hath not given us our Reasons to no Purpose but that we should make use of them for his Glory and the good of our Brethren yet always in Subjection to his Power and Spirit and therefore we have respect to these Things in the appointing of our Meetings and do it not without a regard to the Lord but in a Sense of his Fear And so the like as to Times And Convenient Set-Times appointed which is no contradicting of the inward Leading of the Spirit Else how came the Apostle to Appoint a Time to the Corinthians in their Contributions desiring them 1 Cor. 16.2 To lay by them in store upon the first Day of the Week yea saith he not that he gave the same Order to the Church of Galatia I know not how any in reason can quarrel Set Times for outward Business it being done in a Subjection to God's Will as all things ought to be or else how can such as so do but quarrel the Apostle for this Imposition at that Rate upon the Churches of Corinth and Galatia We appoint no Set-Times for the Performance of the Worship of God so as to appoint Men to preach and pray at such and such Set-Times though we appoint Times to Meet together in the Name of the Lord that we may feel his Presence and he may move in and through whom he pleaseth without Limitation Reasons for the Continuance of our said Practice Which Practice of Meeting together we are greatly encouraged to by the Promise of Christ and our own blessed Experience and also we are severely prohibited to lay it aside by the holy Apostle and also on the other Hand by the sad Experience of such as by Negligence or Prejudice forsake the Assemblies of God's People upon many of which is already fulfilled and upon others daily fulfilling the Judgments threatned upon such Transgressors read Hebr. 10. from vers 23. to the End where that Duty is so seriously exhorted to and the Contempt of it reckoned a Wilful Sin almost if not altogether unpardonable yea a Treading under Foot the Son of God and a Doing Despite to the Spirit of Grace which is fulfilled in our Day and proves the lamentable Fruits of such as have so back-slidden among us And therefore having so much good and real Ground for what we do herein together with the Approbation and Encouragement of Christ and his Apostles both by Command and Practice we can as that both the Alpha and Omega the Foundation and Cap-stone required faithfully affirm in good Conscience That God hath led us by his Spirit both to Appoint Places and Times where we may see the Faces one of another and to take Care one for another provoking one another to Love and good Works And our Faith and Confidence herein cannot be staggered by a meer Denial in our Opposers which no Man of Conscience and Reason will say it ought seeing the Thing it self hath such a solid and real Cause and Foundation so good and suitable a Patern and Example and that it is constantly Confirmed to us both by the Testimony of God's Spirit in our Hearts and by the good Fruits and Effects which we daily reap thereby as a Seal and Confirmation that God is well-pleased therewith and approveth us in it Having thus far proceeded to shew that there ought to be Order and Government among the People of God and that that which we plead for is that there may be Certain Meetings set apart for that End It is next to be considered In what Cases and how far it may Extend SECTION V. In what Cases and how far this Government Extends and first as to Outwards and Temporals I Shall begin with that which gave the First Rise for this Order among the Apostles The Occasion of those Meetings about Business and I do verily believe might have been among the first Occasions that gave the like among us and that is The Care of the Poor of Widows and Orphans Love and Compassion are the great yea and the chiefest Marks of Christianity Hereby shall it be known saith Christ that ye are my Disciples if ye love one another And James the Apostle places Religion herein in the first place 1. To take Care for the Poor Widows and Orphans Pure Religion saith he and Vndefiled before God and the Father is to visit the Fatherless and Widows in their Afflictions c. For this then as one main End do we Meet together that Inquiry may be made if there be any poor of the Houshold of Faith that need that they may be supplied that the Widows may be taken Care of that the Orphans and Fatherless may be bred up and Educated Who will be so Vnchristian as to reprove this good Order and Government and to say it is needless But if any will thus Object May not the Spirit lead every one of you to give to them that need What needs meeting about it and such Formalities I answer The Spirit of God leads us so to do what can they say to the contrary Nor is this a Practice any ways Inconsistent with being inwardly and immediately led by the Spirit for the Spirit of God doth now as well as in the Days of Old lead his People into those Things which are orderly and of a good Report for he is the God of Order The Example of the Apostles and not of Confusion and therefore the Holy Apostles judged it no Inconsistency with their being led by the Spirit to appoint Men full of the Holy Ghost and of Wisdom over the Business of the Poor Now if to be full of the Holy Ghost be a Qualification needful for this Imployment surely the Nature of their Imployment was not to render this so needful a Qualification useless and ineffectual as if they were not to be led by it Moreover we see though they were at that Time all filled with the Spirit yet there was something wanting before this good Order was Established There was a Murmuring that some Widows were neglected in the daily Ministration and we must not suppose the Apostles went about to remedy this Evil that was creeping into the Church without the Counsel of God by his Spirit or that this Remedy they were led to was stepping into Apostacy neither can it be so said of us we proceeding upon the like Occasion Contributions for the Poor If then it be thus needful and suitable to the Gospel to Relieve the Necessities of the Poor that as there was No Beggar to be among Israel of Old so far less now must there not be Meetings to appoint Contribution in Order to the performing these
Things which is no other but the giving of a general Intimation what the needs are that every one as God moves their Hearts and hath prospered them without Imposition Force or Limitation may give towards these needful Vses In which Case these Murmurers at our good Order in such matters may well think strange at the Apostle How pressingly how earnestly doth he reiterate his Desires and Provocations so to speak in this Respect to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 16.2 and the 8 th and 9 th Chapters of the 2 d Epistle throughout Now though he testifies to them elsewhere That they are the Temples of the Holy Ghost and that the Spirit of God dwells in them yet ceaseth he not to intreat and exhort yea and to give them certain Orders in this Matter Besides all these Reasons which are sufficient to Convince any unprejudicate Man The Secret Approbation of God's Spirit accompanying us in this Thing together with the Fruits and Effects of it which hundreds can witness to whose Needs have been supplied and themselves helped through divers Difficulties and the Testimonies of some already and of many more Orphans and Fatherless Children Fatherless Children put Apprentices who have found no want neither of Father nor Mother or other Relations through the tender Love and Care of God's People in putting them in Trades and Imployments and giving them all needful Education which will make it appear e're this Age pass away to those that have an Eye to see that these are not the meer Doings and Orders of Men but the Work of him who is appearing in ten Thousands of his Saints to establish not only Truth but Mercy and Righteousness in the Earth And for that End therefore in the second Place this Order reacheth the taking up and composing of Differences as to outward things 2. To Compose Differences in the Church in outward Matters which may fall out betwixt Friend and Friend for such things may fall out through the Intricacies of divers Affairs where neither hath any positive Intention to Injure and Defraud his Neighbour as in many Cases might be instanced Or if through the Workings and Temptations of him whose Work is to beset the Faithful and People of the Lord and to engender so far as he can Strife and Division among them any should step aside as to offer to wrong or prejudice his Neighbour we do boldly aver as a People gathered together by the Lord unto the same Faith and distinguished from all others by our Joint-Testimony and Sufferings that we have Power and Authority to Decide and Remove these things among our selves without going to others to seek Redress and this in it self hath so much Reason that I cannot tell if any that are not wholly prejudicate or obstinate can blame it For if we be of one Mind concerning Faith and Religion and that it be our Joint-Interest to bring all others unto the same Truth with us as supposing them to be wrong what Confidence can we have to think of Reclaiming them if the Truth we profess have not Efficacy as to Reconcile us among our selves in the Matters of this World If we be forced to go out to others for Equity and Justice because we cannot find it among our selves how can we expect to invite them to come among us when such Virtues as which still accompany the Truth are necessarily supposed to be wanting should we affirm otherwise it were to destroy the Truth and Faith we have been and are in the Lord's Hand building up and indeed the Spirit and Practice of such as Oppose us herein hath no less Tendency Moreover besides the Enforcing and Intrinsick Reason of this Thing we have the Concurrence Approbation and Comfort of the Apostle's Testimony 1 Cor. 6. Dare any of you having a matter against another go to Law before the Unjust and not before the Saints If it be objected Objection Do you reckon all Unjust that are not of you Think ye all other People void of Justice Believers not to go to Law before the Vâ—just c. I answer Though the Apostle useth this Expression I am perswaded he did not reckon all others Vnjust that had not received then the Christian Faith there were no doubt Moral and Just Men among the Heathen and therefore the same Paul commends the Nobility of Festus He reckons them there Vnjust in Respect of the Saints or Camparatively with them as such as are not come to the just principle of God in themselves to obey it and follow it and therefore though he accounts them who are least Esteemed in the Church capable to decide such Matters yet he supposeth it safer to submit to their Judgment in such Cases though it were by taking wrong or suffering wrong than to go before others to the greater Reproach of the Truth We hope though many Occasions of this kind have fallen in among us since we have been a People none have had just occasion to decline our Judgment And though some should suppose themselves to be wronged yet if they should go bring their matter before others we might say as the Apostle saith in the fore-mentioned Chapter vers 7. This were thereby a Fault in them and would evidence a greater Care of some outward Concern than of the Honour and Interest of Truth and therefore such as have a tender Regard that Way would rather suffer The Case of Meum Tuum what to their Apprehensions may seem wrong For in matters wherein two Parties are opposite in the Case of Meum and Tuum it is somewhat hard to please both except where the Power of Truth and the Righteous Judgment thereof reaching to that of God in the Conscience hath brought to a true Acknowledgment him that hath been mistaken or in the wrong which hath frequently fallen out among us to the often refreshing and confirming our Souls in the certain Belief that Christ was fulfilling his Promises among us In restoring Judges as at the first and Counsellors as in the Beginning Now suppose any should be so pettish or humorous as not to agree in such Matters to the Judgment of his Brethren Going before Vnbelievers from the Judgment of the Brethren is a dishonour to the Truth and to go before the Vnbelievers for though I reckon them not such Vnbelievers as the Heathen of Old because they profess a Faith in God and Christ yet I may safely say they are Vnbelievers as to these Principles and Doctrines which we know are the Truth of God and in that Sense must be Vnbelievers as to him that so Appealeth to them from his Brethren I say such as so do first commit a certain Hurt and Evil in staining the Honour and Reputation of the Truth they profess which ought to be dearer to us than our Lives And even in that outward Matter for which they thus do they run a Hazzard not knowing whether things shall carry as they expect if they loose they have
a double prejudice if they gain it is a too dear Rate even with the Hurt of Truth 's Reputation which their outward Advantage cannot make up If then it be unlawful to do evil that good may come of it even a Spiritual Good far less is it lawful to do a positive Evil of so deep a Dye as to bring an Evil Report upon the good Land and give the Vncircumcised an Occasion to Rejoice out of the Vncertain Hope of an outward Gain it is far better to suffer Loss as the Apostle very well argues in the Place above-mentioned Indeed if there be any such have been or appear to be of us as suppose There is not a wise Man among us all nor an honest Man that is able to judge betwixt his Brethren We shall not covet to meddle in their Matter being perswaded that either they or their Cause is naught Though Praises to God among all those that have gone from us either upon one Account or other I never heard that any were so minded towards us Apostates Testimony concerning us but the most part of them having let in the Offence of some things or persons have had this Vnanimous Testimony concerning us that Generally we are an honest and upright-hearted People But whatever Sense our Enemies or Apostates have of us who look asquint of the Face of Truth and can see nothing aright in those they love not or are prejudicate against This we can say in the last place besides the Reasons and Scripture above declared that the good Fruits and Effects which daily abound to the Houshold of Faith in this as well as the other Parts of the Government the Lord is establishing among us doth more and more Commend it unto us and confirmeth our Hearts in the certain Belief of that which we can confidently testify in good Conscience That God hath led us hereunto by his Spirit and we see the Hand of the Lord herein which in due Time will yet more appear Priests forced Maintenance and Tythes have received a deadly Blow that as through our faithful Testimony in the Hand of the Lord that Antichristian and Apostatized Generation the NATIONAL MINISTRY hath received a deadly Blow by our discovering and witnessing against their Forced Maintenance and Tythes against which we have testified by many Cruel Sufferings of all kinds as our Chronicles shall make known to Generations to come so that their Kingdom in the Hearts of Thousands begins to totter and loose its Strength and shall assuredly fall to the Ground through Truth 's prevailing in the Earth so on the other Hand do we by coming to Righteousness and Innocency weaken the Strength of their Kingdom who judge for Rewards as well as such as preach for Hire and by not ministring Occasion to those who have heaped up Riches and lived in Excess Lust and Riot by feeding and preying upon the Iniquities and Contentions of the People For as Truth and Righteousness prevails in the Earth by our faithful witnessing and keeping to it the Nations shall come to be eased and disburdened of that deceitful Tribe of Lawyers as well as Priests who by their many Tricks and Endless Intricacies have rendered Justice in their Method burdensome to honest Men Lawyers by Tricks and Intricacies foment Controversies and seek not so much to put an End as to foment Controversies and Contentions that they themselves may be still fed and upheld and their Trade kept up Whereas by Truth 's Propagation as many of these Controversies will die by Mens coming to be less Contentious so when any Difference ariseth the Saints giving Judgment without Gift or Reward or running into the Tricks and endless Labyrinths of the Lawyers will soon Compose them And this is that we are perswaded the Lord is bringing about in our Day though many do not and many will not see it because it is indeed in a Way different and contrary to Man's Wisdom who are now despising Christ in his inward Appearance because of the Meanness of it as the Jews of Old did him in his outward yet notwithstanding there were some then that did witness and could not be silent but must testify that he was come Even so now are there Thousands that can set to their Seal that he hath now again the second time Appeared and is appearing in Ten Thousands of his Saints in and among whom as a first Fruits of many more that shall be gathered he is restoring the Golden Age and bringing them into the Holy Order and Government of his own Son Christ's restoring the Golden Age. who is ruling and to rule in the midst of them setting forth the Counsellors as at the Beginning and Judges as at first and establishing Truth Mercy Righteousness and Judgment again in the Earth Amen Hallelujah 3. To take care in the Case of MARRIAGES Thirdly These Meetings take Care in the Case of Marriages that all things be clear and that there may nothing be done in that Procedure which afterwards may prove to the Prejudice of Truth or of the Parties concerned which being an outward Thing that is acknowledged in it self to be lawful of the greatest Importance a Man or a Woman can perform in this World and from the suddain unwary or disorderly Procedure whereof very great Snares and Reproaches may be cast both upon the Parties and the Profession owned by them therefore it doth very fitly among other things when it occurs come to be considered of by the People of God when Met to take Care to preserve all things right and savoury in the Houshold of Faith We do believe our Adversaries that watch for Evil against us would be glad how promiscuously or disorderly we proceeded in this weighty Matter that so they might the more boldly accuse us as Overturners of all Humane and Christian Order But God hath not left us without his Counsel and Wisdom in this Thing nor will he that any should receive Just Occasion against us his People and therefore in this weighty Concern we who can do nothing against the Truth but all for and with a Regard to the Truth have divers Testimonies for the Lord. And 1. Our Testimoniy against Marrying with the Vnbeliever First That we cannot Marry with those that walk not in and obey not the Truth as being of another Judgment or Fellowship or pretending to it walk not suitably and answerably thereto Secondly Nor can we go to the Hireling-Priests to uphold their false and usurped Authority 2. By the Priest who take upon them to marry People without any Command or Precedent for it from the Law of God Lastly Nor can we suffer any such Kind of Marriages to pass among us 3. In forbidden Degrees which either as to the Degrees of Consanguinity or otherwise in it self is unlawful or from which there may be any just Reflection cast upon our Way Test. 1. Against Vnbelievers As to the first Two they
the true Faith that they might learn not to Blaspheme In short if we must as our Opposers herein acknowledge preserve and keep those that are come to own the Truth by the same means they were gathered and brought into it we must not cease to be plain with them and tell them when they are wrong and by sound Doctrine both Exhort and Convince Gainsayers If the Apostles of Christ of old and the Preachers of the Everlasting Gospel in this day had told all People however wrong they found them in their Faith and Principles Our Charity and Love is such We dare not judge you A wrong Charity and false Love to Cherish in Error is nor separate from you but let us all live in Love together and every one injoy his own Opinion and all will be well how should the Nations have been or what way now can they be brought to Truth and Righteousness Would not the Devil love this Doctrine well by which Darkness and Ignorance Error and Confusion might still continue in the Earth unreproved and uncondemned If it was needful then for the Apostles of Christ in the days of old to Reprove without sparing to tell the High-Priests and great Professors among the Jews That they were stubborn and stiff-necked and always resisted the Holy Ghost without being guilty of Imposition and Oppression or want of true Love and Charity and also for those Messengers the Lord raised up in this day to Reprove and Cry out against the Hireling Priests and to tell the World openly both Professors and Profane That they were in Darkness and Ignorance out of the Truth Strangers and Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel if God has gathered a People by this means into the Belief of one and the same Truth must not they they turn and depart from it be Admonished Reproved and Condemned yea rather than those that are not yet come to the Truth because they Crucifie afresh unto themselves the Lord of Glory and put him to open Shame It seems the Apostle judged it very needful they should be so dealt with Tit. 1.10 when he says There are many unruly and vain Talkers and Deceivers especially they of the Circumcision WHOSE MOVTHS MVST BE STOPPED c. Were such a Principle to be received or believed That in the Church of Christ no man should be Separated from no man Condemned or Excluded the Fellowship and Communion of the Body for his Judgment or Opinion in Matter of Faith The Inlet to all manner of Abominations then what Blasphemies so horrid what Heresies so damnable what Doctrines of Devils but might harbour it self in the Church of Christ What need then of sound Doctrine if no Doctrine make unsound what need of Convincing and Exhorting Gainsayers if to Gainsay be no Crime where should the Vnity of the Faith be Were not this an Inlet to all manner of Abominations and to make void the whole tendency of Christ and his Apostles Doctrine and render the Gospel of none Effect and give a Liberty to the unconstant and giddy Will of Man to innovate alter and overturn it at his Pleasure So that from all that is above-mentioned we do safely Conclude That where a People are gathered together into the Belief of the Principles and Doctrines of the Gospel of Christ if any of that People shall go from their Principles and assert things false and contrary to what they have already received such as stand and abide firm in the Faith have Power by the Spirit of God after they have used Christian Endeavours to Convince and Reclaim them upon their Obstinacy to Separate from such and to Exclude them from their spiritual Fellowship and Communion for otherways if this be denied farewel to all Christianity or to the maintaining of any sound Doctrine in the Church of Christ. But secondly Taking it for granted that the Church of Christ or Assembly of Believers may in some Cases that are Matter of Conscience Quest. II pronounce a positive Sentence and Judgment without hazzard of Imposition upon the Members it comes to be inquired In what Cases and how far this Power reacheth I answer First As that which is most clear and undeniable In the fundamental Principles and Doctrines of Faith Answer in Case any should offer to teach otherways as is above declared and proved But some may perhaps acknowledge that indeed if any should Contradict the known and owned Principles of Truth and teach otherways it were fit to cast out and exclude such but what judgest thou as to lesser matters as in Principles of less Consequence or in outward Ceremonies or Gestures whether it be fit to press Vniformity in these things Consideration For Answer to this it is fit to Consider First The Nature of things themselves Secondly The Spirit and Ground they proceed from And Thirdly The Consequence and Tendency of them But before I proceed upon these I affirm and that according to Truth That as the Church and Assembly of God's People may and hath Power to Decide by the Spirit of God in Matters fundamental and weighty without which no Decision nor Decree in whatever Matters is available so the same Church and Assembly also in other Matters of less Moment The Decision of Matters of less Moment in the Church Obligatory as to themselves yet being needful and expedient with a Respect to the Circumstance of Time Place and other things that may fall in may and hath Power by the same Spirit and not otherways being acted moved and assisted and led by it thereto to pronounce a positive Judgment which no doubt will be found Obligatory upon all such who have a Sense and Feeling of the Mind of the Spirit though rejected by such as are not watchful and so are out of the Feeling and Vnity of the Life And this is that which none that own Immediate Revelation or a being inwardly led by the Spirit to be now a thing expected or dispensed to the Saints can without contradicting their own Principle deny far less such with whom I have to do in this Matter who claiming this Priviledge to Particulars saying That they being moved to do such and such things though contrary to the Mind and Sense of their Brethren are not to be judged for it adding Why may it not be so that God hath moved them to it Now if this be a sufficient Reason for them to suppose as to one or two I may without absurdity suppose it as well to the whole Body And therefore as to the first to wit Cons. 1 The Nature of the things themselves If it be such a thing the doing or not doing whereof that is either any Act or the Forbearance of any may bring a real Reproach or Ground of Accusation against the Truth professed and owned and in and through which there may a visible Schism and Dissension arise in the Church Against the Reproach of Truth by which Truth 's Enemies may be
gratified and it self brought into Dis-esteem then it is fit lor such whose Care is to keep all right to take Inspection in the Matter to Meet together in the Fear of God to wait for his Counsel and to speak forth his Mind according as he shall manifest himself in and among them And this was the Practice of the primitive Church in the Matter of Circumcision For here lay the Debate some thought it not needful to Circumcise the Gentiles others thought it a thing not to be dispensed with and no doubt of these for we must remember they were not the Rebellious Jews but such as had already believed in Christ there were that did it out of Conscience as judging Circumcision to be still Obligatory For they said thus Except ye be Circumcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved Now what Course took the Church of Antioch in these Cases Acts 15.2 The Church at Antioch sends a Case to Jerusalem for Advice from the Elders They determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go unto Jerusalem unto the Apostles and Elders about this Question We must not suppose they wanted the Spirit of God at Antioch to have decided the Matter neither that these Apostles neglected or went from their Inward Guide in undertaking this Journey yet we see they judged it meet in this Matter to have the Advice and Concurrence of the Apostles and Elders that were at Jerusalem that they might be all of one mind in the matter For there is no greater Property of the Church of Christ than pure Vnity in the Spirit that is a Consenting and Oneness in Judgment and Practices in Matters of Faith and Worship which yet admits of different Measures Growths and Motions but never contrary and contradictory Ones and in these Diversities of Operations yet still by the same Spirit the true Liberty is exercised as shall be declared hereafter Therefore prayeth Christ That they all may be one as he and the Father is one To which Purpose also let these following Scriptures be Examined Rom. 12.16 Be of the same Mind one towards another 1 Cor. 1.10 Now I beseech you Brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no Divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same Mind and in the same Judgment Ephes. 5.21 Submitting your selves one to another in the Fear of God Phil. 2.2 Fulfil ye my Joy that ye be like-minded having the same Love being of one accord of one Mind And yet more remarkable is that of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians Chap. 3. Vers. 15. Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded and if in any thing ye be otherways minded God shall Reveal even this unto you Vers. 16. Nevertheless whereto we have already attained let us walk by the same Rule let us mind the same thing Vers. 17. Brethren be Followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an Example So here though the Apostle grants Forbearance in things Pretenders and Innovators Judged by the Power of God wherein they have not yet attained yet he concludes they must walk so as they have him for an Example and so consequently not Contrary or otherways And therefore we conclude that whereas any in the Church of God pretending Conscience or Revelation shall arise to teach and practise however insignificant or small in themselves whether Principles or Practices yet if they be contrary to such as are already received as true and confirmed by God's Spirit in the Hearts of the Saints and that the introducing of these things tend to bring Reproach upon the Truth as such as are not edifying in themselves and so stumble the Weak those who have a true and right Discerning may in and by the Power of God authorizing them and no otherways Condemn and Judge such things and they so doing it it will be Obligatory upon all the Members that have a true Sense because they will feel it to be so and therefore submit to it And thus far as to the Nature of themselves Secondly As to the Spirit and Ground they proceed from Whatsoever Cons. 2 Innovation Difference or divers Appearance whether in Doctrine or Practice What proceeds not from the Spirit of God to be withstood and denied proceedeth not from the pure Moving of the Spirit of God or is not done out of pure Tenderness of Conscience but either from that which being puft up affecteth Singularity and therethrough would be observed commended and exalted or from that which is the Malignity of some Humours and natural Tempers which will be Contradicting without Cause and secretly begetting of Divisions Animosities and Emulations by which the Vnity and unfeigned Love of the Brethren is lessened or rent I say all things proceeding from this Root and Spirit however little they may be supposed to be of themselves are to be guarded against withstood and denied as hurtful to the true Church's Peace and a Hindrance to the Prosperity of Truth Quest. If it be said How know ye that these things proceed from that Ground Answ. For Answer I make not here any Application as to particular Persons or Things but if it be granted as it cannot be denied that there may arise Persons in the true Church that may do such Things from such a Spirit though pretending Conscience and Tenderness then it must also be acknowledged The Spirit of Discerning in the Church Judges Transgressors that such to whom God hath given a true Discerning by his Spirit may and ought to judge such Practices and the Spirit they come from and have no Vnity with them Which if it be owned in the General proves the Case to wit That some pretending Conscience in Things seeming indifferent but yet it proceeding in them from a Spirit of Singularity Emulation or Strife those that have received a Discerning thereof from the Lord may and ought to judge the Transgressors without being accounted Imposers Oppressors of Conscience or Inforcers of Vniformity contrary to the Mind of Christ against which the Apostle also guardeth the Churches of Old Phil. 2.3 4. Let nothing be done through Strife or Vain Glory but in Lowliness of Mind let each esteem other BETTER THAN THEMSELVES Look not every Man on his own Things but every Man also on the Things of others Now if it be an Evil to do any Thing out of Strife then such Things that are seen so to be done are they not to be avoided and forsaken So that we are confident our Judgment herein cannot be denied or reputed Erroneous except it be said That none will or can arise in the Church of Christ Pretenders may arise and must be watched against pretending such things from such a Spirit which I know not any that will it being contrary to the express Prophecies of the Scripture and the
in the Case of Division or Debate let us consider the Basis upon which they proceed and the Stress they lay upon it First All jointly both the Prelatical and Presbyterial will have this Synod or Council to Consist of a Convocation of the Clergy 1. Protestants Chosen and sent from the Particular Congregations with some few Laick Elders called together by the Civil Magistrate in case he be one in Judgment with them They decide by Plurality of Votes And though they assume not an Absolute Infallibility in that they reckon it possible for them to Err yet do they reckon their Decisions Obligatory upon their supposed Consonancy to the Scripture and however do Affirm that the Civil Magistrate hath Power to Constrain all to Submit and Obey or else to punish them either by Death Banishment Imprisonment Confiscation of Goods or some other Corporal Pain even though such be perswaded and offer to make appear that the Decisions they Refuse are Contrary to the Scriptures And Lastly Among the Papists None 2. Papists though otherwise Confessed to be a Member of the Church both Knowing and Sober except Commissionate in some of the Respects above-declared can be Admitted to Sit Vote and give his Judgment Any that will be at the Pains to apply this to the Foundation I before laid of the Infallibility of Judgment in that we may account only to be truly called the Church of Christ 3. We Differ from them Both. will easily fee the great Difference betwixt us which I shall sum up in these particulars First Do we Exclude any Member of the Church of Christ that may be truly accounted so to tell his Judgment Secondly Do we say man ought to be persecuted in his Outwards for his Dis-assent in Spirituals Thirdly Do we plead that Decision is to pass Conclusive because of the plurality of Votes And much more which the Reader may observe from what is already mentioned which that it may be all more Obvious at One View will appear somewhat clearly by this following Figure which will give the Reader an Opportunity to Recollect what lay heretofore more scattered I. The ROMANISTS say 1. That there is an Infallibility in the Church which Infallibility is when the Pope calls a General Council of Bishops c. that whatsoever they Conclude and Agree upon must needs be the Infallible Judgment of the Spirit of God because of the Promise of Christ That he would never suffer the Gates of Hell to prevail against his Church 2. And that the Pope and Council made up of certain of the Clergy having one Outward Succession and being lawfully Ordained according to the Canons are that Church to which that Promise is made however wicked or depraved without any necessary Respect to the Inward Holiness or Regeneration of the Persons if so be they be Outwardly Called Ordained and Invested in such a Place and Capacity as gives them an Authority to be Members of such an Assembly 3. What they thus Decide as they judge according to the Scripture ought to be received with Reverence and Submitted to and those that do not to be punished by the Civil Magistrate by Death Banishment or Imprisonment though they declare and be ready to evidence that it is because they are not Agreeable to the Scripture they refuse such Decrees II. The Generality of PROTESTANTS say 1. That though all Synods and Councils may Err yet such Assemblies are needful for the Edification of the Church That such do Consist of a Convocation of the Clergy West Conf. of Faith Chap. with some few Laicks particularly Chosen That all others except those so Elected have not any Right to Vote or give Judgment 2. That such an Assembly so Constitute may Ministerially determine Controversies of Faith Cases of Conscience Matters of Worship and authoritatively determine the same The Decision is to be by Plurality of Votes praved they be yet this Infallible Judgment follows them as being necessarily annexed to their Office in which the Authority still stands in its full Strength and Vigour 3. So that there lies an Obligation upon the whole Body of the Church to Obey their Decrees And such as do not are not only certainly damned for their Disobedience but that it is the Duty of the Civil Magistrate to punish such by Death Banishment or Imprisonment c. in Case they Refuse III. The QUAKERS say The Sanctified Members 1. That whereas none truly ought nor can be accounted the Church of Christ but such as are in a measure Sanctified or Sanctifying by the Grace of God and led by his Spirit nor yet any made Officers in the Church but by the Grace of God and Inward Revelation of his Spirit not by Outward Ordination or Succession from which none is to be Excluded if so Called whether Married or a Tradesman or a Servant 2. If so be in such a Church there should arise any Difference there will be an Infallible Judgment from the Spirit of God Their Infallible Judgment which may be in a General Assembly yet not limited to it as excluding others And may prove the Judgment of the Plurality yet not to be decided thereby as if the Infallibility were placed there excluding the fewer In which Meeting or Assembly upon such an Account there is no Limitation to be of Persons particularly Chosen but that all that in a true Sense may be reckoned of the Church as being Sober and Weighty may be present and give their Judgment To be Submitted unto 3. And that the Infallible Judgment of Truth which cannot be wanting in such a Church whether it be given through one or more ought to be Submitted to not because such Persons give it but because the Spirit leads so to do which every one coming to in themselves will willingly and naturally Assent to And if any through Disobedience or Vnclearness do not all that the Church ought to do She is to deny them her spiritual Fellowship in case the nature of their Disobedience be of that Consequence as may deserve such a Censure But by no means for Matter of Conscience to Molest Trouble or Persecute any in their Outwards Who will be at the Pains to Compare these Three seriously together I am hopeful will need no further Argument to prove the Difference But if any will further Object What if it fall out de facto year 1679 that the Teachers Elders or Plurality do Decide and from thence will say This is like the Church of Rome and other false Churches It will be hard to prove that to be an Infallible Mark of a Wrong Judgment as we have not said it is of a Right And indeed Objection Answ. to Conclude it were so would necessarily Condemn the Church in the Apostles days where we see the Teachers and Elders and so far as we can observe the greater Number did agree to the Decision Acts 1.15 For if the thing be Right and according to Truth it
and each of them void of the true Grace of God Votes and whom even supposing them to be gratious they affirm not at all to be led by the Immediate Spirit of Christ which they say is now Ceased Now can there be a greater Difference than is betwixt these Two to wit To Affirm That the power of Decision is in an Assembly of men being Members of which Assembly the Grace of God is no necessary qualification The false Decision and who deny any such thing as to be Immediately led by the Spirit of Christ as a thing not attainable in these days and yet that all Christians must be subject to what the Plurality of such an Assembly so Constituted do determine And to Affirm That the power of Decision is only and alone in the Spirit not necessarily Tied to a General Assembly but if it please God to make use of such an Assembly yet neither to the Plurality of them but in and through such of his Servants The true Decision as he sees meet And that none are Capable or can be supposed to be Members of such an Assembly or esteemed such from whom such a Judgment can be expected or ought to be received unless they be men in whom the Grace of God not only is but hath truly wrought to Mortifie and Regenerate them in a good measure In whom the Judgment of Truth really proceeding from the Spirit will be manifest to all who are truly Faithful who will accordingly Submit thereunto not with respect to the Men but the Authority of God manifested in and thorow them So that such as see not this Judgment aright will be justly Condemnable of God for their not submitting not as if they should be accepted of God if they did Obey before Conviction but because they brought this Blindness upon themselves through their Unfaithfulness and Unwatchfulness which renders them both Guilty of the Blindness and of the Disobedience occasioned by it Now the Vastness of the Difference that is here Manifest cannot but be Obvious to any that will Read and Consider this Impartially and without Prejudice Thus I have passed through all the things that I understood any did Scruple at there being nought else that I remember which is not either Relative to some of the particulars before-mentioned or Included in them But if any Wonder why I have Chosen this Method and not rather made a formal Reply to W. R's Papers I hope these following Reasons will satisfy all sober and truly peaceable-minded Friends who love Truth 's Prosperity more than Jangling as a Sufficient Reason for my so doing Reason I First Forasmuch as the greater part of what W.R. has Writ is wholly built upon the Particulars heretofore mentioned which Particulars being Cleared and his Mistakes therein Removed as his own Letter signifies the Superstructure falls of it self as not touching my Intentions nor yet reaching me but only that Apprehension he supposed to be my Meaning and to follow from my Words for which end he oftentimes is so Wary as to Affirm in his Papers That to his Vnderstanding my Words seemed to Import and my Meaning seems to be so In which things since himself saw and I have manifested his Mistake I am not so great a Lover of Contention as to busie either my self or the Minds of others with the men of straw of his making But yet he was not so Modest nor Kind to his Old Friend but that sometimes he did seek to render my Words Odious albeit the Mistake be his own by a Reiterate Repetition in Repeating that of the Tolerable Supposition of a Church at every Turn above twenty times But also he very obviously Wrests my Words and seeks to Impose upon me a disadvantagious Meaning that he may furnish himself an Occasion thereafter the more Liberally to Smite at me As where from the Apostle's Words saying And we have Confidence ye will do the things we Command you c. and in another place where he desires those to whom he writes to submit themselves to such as rule over them I Infer That some did Appoint and Ordain some things and that there lay an Obligation in point of Duty on others to Obey c. Upon which W. R. very unfairly Observes It is to be doubted his meaning is Others ought to Obey whether they see it their Duty Yea or Nay I leave such dealing to the Reader 's Judgment surely it is not answerable to that Candor and Justice that W. R. lays claim to Secondly Because W. R. in these Papers has taken occasion to extend Reason II himself in long Digressions upon other Matters not treated upon in that Book and takes oft Occasion to Insinuate his Jealousies of Persons and things that I medled not with As where he makes a large Digression which takes up several pages concerning the Constitution of the Second-Days-Meeting at London endeavouring what he can to Represent the Hurt and Abuse of it W. R's Reflections and where he divers times insinuates that some are Vsurpers or seeking to Vsurp a Jurisdiction over the Consciences of the Brethren And that some do believe that God hath raised up some outward Person to be among the Children of Light at this Day as Moses was of old among the Children of Israel c. And that some do lead many into a Temptation to run beyond their Line by procuring a Multitude of Hands to Confirm what is given forth by one or at least by a very few With divers other things of this kind which takes up no small part of his Papers Now these things are not pertinently brought in against me nor would I judge my self less Impertinent to enlarge in a Contest concerning those things which do not Immediately concern the things under Debate since the Person or Persons aimed at by him in these Reflections may take Occasion as they find it their place to Answer and perhaps may have had Opportunity to have discoursed with him divers of those things e're this time upon other Occasions Thirdly Since a Considerable part of W. R's Papers is taken up to Reason III Evidence as he pretends the Impertinent Application I make of the several passages of the Apostles which he thinks I have been too Curious to Collect that make mention of these words Order Rule Command and Government how he Evinces that I leave to the Serious Reader being the more willing to bear his Reflections in that respect that he is so bold when he cannot Compass his Matter otherwise not only to Censure me but the Apostle Paul 's Saying of 1 Tim. 1.19.20 mentioned by me That it is not only not to the purpose Intended by me but that it is not plain to the Purpose Paul himself intended at least to ordinary Capacities Adding That the Method there proposed by the Apostle Answers not that which the Light within tells us Since then the Light he follows is such as finds Fault with the Apostle's
as is hoped solidly Refuted THESES THEOLOGICAE year 1675 To the CLERGY of what Sort soever unto whose hands these may come but more particularly to the Doctors Professors and Students of Divinity in the Vniversities and Schools of Great Britain whether Prelatical Presbyterian or any other Robert Barclay a Servant of the Lord God and one of those who in Derision are called Quakers Wisheth Vnfeigned Repentance unto the Acknowledgment of the Truth FRIENDS UNto You these following PROPOSITIONS are Offered in which they being Read and Considered in the Fear of the Lord you may perceive that Simple Naked Truth which Man by his Wisdom hath rendred so Obscure and Mysterious that the World is even Burthened with the great and Voluminous Tractates which are made about it and by their Vain Jangling and Commentaries by which it is rendred a hundred fold more Dark and Intricate than of it self it is which Great Learning so accounted of to wit your School Divinity which taketh up almost a Man's whole Life-time to learn brings not a-whit nearer to God neither makes any Man less Wicked or more Righteous than he was Therefore hath God laid aside the Wise and Learned and the Disputers of this World and hath chosen a few despicable and Unlearned Instruments as to Letter-learning as he did Fisher-men of old to publish his pure and naked Truth and to free it of these Mists and Fogs wherewith the Clergy hath Clouded it that the People might Admire and Maintain them And among several others whom God hath Chosen to make known these things seeing also have Received in Measure Grace to be a Dispenser of the same Gospel it seemed good unto me according to my Duty to Offer unto You these Propositions which though short yet are Weighty Comprehending much and declaring what the true Ground of Knowledge is even of that Knowledge which leads to Life Eternal which is here witnessed of and the Testimony thereof left unto the Light of Christ in all your Consciences Farewel R. B. The First Proposition Concerning the true Foundation of Knowledge SEeing the Height of all Happiness is placed in the true Knowledge of God This is Life Eternal to know the true God and Jesus Christ John 17.3 whom thou hast sent the true and right Understanding of this Foundation and Ground of Knowledge is that which is most necessary to be known and believed in the first place The Second Proposition Concerning Immediate Revelation Seeing no Man knoweth the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son Revealeth him Matth. 11.27 and seeing the Revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit therefore the Testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true Knowledge of God hath been is and can be only Revealed Who as by the moving of his own Spirit Converted the Chaos of this World into that Wonderful Order wherein it was in the beginning and Created Man a living Soul to Rule and Govern it so by the Revelation of the same Spirit he hath Manifested himself all along unto the Sons of Men both Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles Which Revelations of God by the Spirit whether by outward Voices and Appearances Dreams or inward Objective Manifestations in the Heart were of old the formal Object of their Faith and remaineth yet so to be since the Object of the Saints Faith is the same in all Ages though set forth under divers Administrations Moreover these Divine Inward Revelations which we make absolutely Necessary for the building up of true Faith neither do nor can ever Contradict the outward Testimony of the Scriptures or right and sound Reason Yet from hence it will not follow that these Divine Revelations are to be subjected to the Examination either of the outward Testimony of the Scriptures or of the Natural Reason of Man as to a more noble or certain Rule and Touch-stone For this Divine Revelation and inward Illumination is that which is evident and clear of it self forcing by its own Evidence and Clearness the well-disposed Understanding to Assent irresistibly moving the same thereunto even as the Common Principles of Natural Truths move and incline the mind to a Natural Assent such as are these That the Whole is greater than the Part That two Contradictory Sayings cannot be both true or false Which is also manifest according to our Adversaries Principle who supposing the possibility of inward Divine Revelations will nevertheless Confess with us that neither Scripture nor sound Reason will Contradict it and yet it will not follow according to them that the Scripture or sound Reason should be subjected to the Examination of the Divine Revelations in the heart The Third Proposition Concerning the Scriptures From these Revelations of the Spirit of God to the Saints have proceeded the Scriptures of Truth which contain 1. A faithful Historical Account of the Actings of God's People in divers Ages with many singular and remarkable Providences attending them 2. A Prophetical Account of several things whereof some are already past and some yet to come 3. A full and ample Account of all the chief Principles of the Doctrine of Christ held forth in divers pretious Declarations Exhortations and Sentences which by the moving of God's Spirit were at several times and upon sundry occasions spoken and written unto some Churches and their Pastors Nevertheless because they are only a Declaration of the Fountain and not the Fountain it self therefore they are not to be esteemed the principal Ground of all Truth and Knowledge nor yet the Adequate Primary Rule of Faith and Manners Nevertheless as that which giveth a true and faithful Testimony of the first Foundation they are and may be esteemed a secondary Rule subordinate to the Spirit from which they have all their Excellency and Certainty For as by the Inward Testimony of the Spirit we do alone truly know them so they testify that the Spirit is that Guide John 16.13 Rom. 8.14 by which the Saints are led into all Truth Therefore according to the Scriptures the Spirit is the first and principal Leader And seeing we do therefore receive and believe the Scriptures because they proceeded from the Spirit therefore also the Spirit is more originally and principally the Rule according to that received Maxim in the Schools Propter quod unumquodque est tale illud ipsum est magis tale Englished thus That for which a thing is such that thing it self is more such The Fourth Proposition Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall All Adam's Posterity or Mankind both Jews and Gentiles Rom. 5.12 15. as to the first Adam or Earthly Man is fallen degenerated and dead deprived of the sensation or feeling of this inward Testimony or Seed of God and is subject unto the Power Nature and Seed of the Serpent which he sows in mens hearts while they abide in this Natural and Corrupted State from whence it comes that not their words and deeds only but all their
we make absolutely necessary for the building up of true Faith neither do nor can ever Contradict the outward Testimony of the Scriptures or right and sound Reason yet from hence it will not follow that the Divine Revelations are to be subjected to the Test either of the outward Testimony of the Scriptures or of the Natural Reason of man as to a more-noble or certain Rule and Touch-stone For this Divine Revelation and inward Illumination is that which is evident and clear of it self forcing by its own Evidence and Clearness the well-disposed understanding to Assent irresistibly moving the same thereunto even as the common principles of natural Truths do move and incline the mind to a natural Assent As That the whole is greater than its part That two Contradictories can neither be both true nor both false § I. IT is very probable that many Carnal and Natural Christians will oppose this Proposition who being wholly unacquainted with the Movings and Actings of God's Spirit upon their hearts Revelations by Apostate Christians Rejected judge the same nothing Necessary and some are apt to flout at it as Ridiculous Yea to that Heighth are the generality of all Christians Apostatized and degenerated that though there be not any thing more plainly Asserted more seriously Recommended nor more certainly Attested to in all the writings of the Holy Scriptures yet nothing is less minded and more rejected by all sorts of Christians than Immediate and Divine Revelation in so much that once to lay Claime to it is matter of Reproach Whereas of old none were ever judged Christians but such As had the Spirit of Christ Rom. 8.9 But now many do boldly call themselves Christians who make no difficulty of confessing They are without it and laugh at such as say they have it Of old they were accounted the Sons of God who were led by the Spirit of God ibid. vers 14. but now many aver themselves Sons of God who know nothing of this Leader and he that affirms himself so led is by the pretended Orthodox of this Age presently proclaimed a Heretick The Reason hereof is very manifest viz. Because many in these days under the name of Christians do experimentally find that they are not acted nor led by God's Spirit yea many great Doctors Divines Teachers and Bishops of Christianity commonly so called have wholly shut their Ears from hearing and their Eyes from seeing this inward Guide and so are become strangers unto it whence they are by their own Experience brought to this Strait either to Confess that they are as yet Ignorant of God and have only the shadow of knowledge and not the true knowledge of him or that this knowledge is acquired without Immediate Revelation For the better understanding then of this Proposition we do distinguish betwixt the Certain Knowledge of God Knowledge Spiritual and Literal distinguished and the Vncertain betwixt the Spiritual Knowledge and the Literal the Saving heart-Knowledge and soaring airy head-Knowledge The last we Confess may be divers ways obtained but the first by no other way than the Inward Immediate Manifestation and Revelation of God's Spirit shining in and upon the heart inlightning and opening the understanding § II. Having then proposed to my self in these Propositions to Affirm those things which relate to the True and Effectual Knowledge which brings Life Eternal with it therefore I have Affirmed and that truly That this Knowledge is no otherways attained and that none have any true ground to believe they have attained it who have it not by this Revelation of God's Spirit The Certainty of which Truth is such that it hath been acknowledged by some of the most Refined and Famous of all sorts of Professors of Christianity in all ages who being truly Vpright-hearted and Earnest Seekers of the Lord however stated under the disadvantages and Epidemical Errors of their several Sects or Ages the true Seed in them hath been answered by God's Love who hath had regard to the Good and hath had of his Elect ones among all who finding a distast and disgust in all other outward Means even in the very Principles and Precepts more particularly relative to their own Forms and Societies have at last concluded with one Voice That there was no true Knowledge of God but that which is Revealed inwardly by his own Spirit Whereof take these following Testimonies of the Ancients 1. It is the inward Master saith Augustin that teacheth it is Christ that teacheth Aug. ex Tract Epist. Joh. 3. it is Inspiration that teacheth where this Inspiration and Unction is wanting it is in vain that Words from without are beaten in And thereafter For he that Created us and Redeemed us and called us by Faith and dwelleth in us by his Spirit unless he speaketh unto you inwardly it is needless for us to Cry out 2. There is a difference saith Clemens Alexandrinus betwixt that which any one saith of the Truth and that which the Truth it self Interpreting it self saith A Conjecture of Truth differeth from the Truth it self a Similitude of a thing differeth from the thing it self It is one thing Clem. Alex. Lib. 1. Strom. that is acquired by Exercise and Discipline and another thing which by Power and Faith Lastly the same Clemens saith Truth is neither hard to be arrived at nor is it impossible to apprehend it Paedag. for it is most nigh unto us even in our houses as the most Wise Moses hath insinuated 3. How is it Tertullianus Lib. de Veland Virginibus Cap. 1. saith Tertullian that since the Devil always worketh and stirreth up the mind to Iniquity that the work of God should either cease or desist to act Since for this end the Lord did send the Comforter that because human Weakness could not at once bear all things Knowledg might be by little and little directed formed and brought to perfection by the holy Spirit that Vicar of the Lord. I have many things yet saith he to speak unto you but ye cannot as yet bear them but when that Spirit of Truth shall come he shall lead you into all Truth and shall teach you these things that are to come But of his work we have spoken above What is then the Administration of the Comforter but that Discipline be derived and the Scriptures Revealed c. 4. The Law saith Hierom is spiritual Hieron Epist Paulin. 103. and there is need of a Revelation to understand it And in his Epistle 150. to Hedibia Quest. 11. he saith The whole Epistle to the Romans needs an Interpretation it being involved in so great Obscurities that for the understanding thereof we need the help of the holy Spirit who through the Apostle dictated it 5. So great things saith Athanasius doth our Saviour daily Athanasius de Incarnatione Verbi Dei he Draws unto Piety Perswades unto Vertue Teaches Immortality Excites to the desire of Heavenly things Reveals Knowledge from the Father
Object That after the Dispensation of the Law God's Method of speaking was Altered I Answer First That God spake always Immediately to the Jews Answ. in that he spake always Immediately to the High-Priest from betwixt the Cherubims who when he entred into the Holy of Holies Sanctum Sanctorum returning did relate to the whole People the Voice and Will of God there Immediately Revealed So that this Immediate Speaking never Ceased in any Age. Secondly From this Immediate Fellowship were none shut out who earnestly sought after and waited for it in that many besides the High-Priest who were not so much as of the Kindred of Levi nor of the Prophets did Receive it and Speak from it as it is written Numb 11.25 where the Spirit is said to have Rested upon the Seventy Elders which Spirit also reached unto Two that were not in the Tabernacle None shut out from this Immediate Fellowship but in the Camp whom when some would have forbidden Moses would not but Rejoiced wishing All the Lord's People were Prophets and that he would put his Spirit upon them vers 29. This is also Confirmed Neh. 9. where the Elders of the People after their Return from Captivity when they began to Sanctify themselves by Fasting and Prayer in which numbring up the many Mercies of God towards their Fathers they say v. 20. Thou gavest also thy Good Spirit to Instruct them and v. 30. Yet many years didst thou forbear and testify against them by thy Spirit in thy Prophets Many are the Sayings of Spiritual David to this purpose as Psal. 51.13 Take not thy Holy Spirit from me uphold me with thy free Spirit Psal. 139.7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit Hereunto doth the Prophet Isaiah Ascribe the Credit of his Testimony saying Chap. 48. v. 16. And now the Lord God and his Spirit hath sent me And that God Revealed himself to his Children under the New Testament to wit to the Apostles Evangelists and Primitive Disciples is Confessed by all How far now this yet Continueth and is to be Expected comes hereafter to be spoken to § VIII The Fourth thing Affirmed is That these Revelations were Assert IV the Object of the Saints Faith of old This will easily Appear by the Definition of Faith Proved and considering what its Object is For which we shall not Dive into the Curious and Various Notions of the School-men but stay in the plain and positive words of the Apostle Paul who Hebr. 11. describes it Two ways Faith saith he is the Substance of things hoped for What Faith is and the Evidence of things not seen which as the Apostle illustrateth it in the same Chapter by many Examples is no other but a Firm and Certain Belief of the Mind whereby it resteth and in a Sense possesseth the Substance of some things hoped for through its confidence in the promise of God And thus the Soul hath a most firm Evidence by its Faith of things not yet seen nor come to pass The Object of this Faith is the Promise Word or Testimony of God speaking to the Mind Hence it hath been generally Affirmed that the Object of Faith is DEVS LOQVENS c. that is God speaking c. which is also manifest from all those Examples Deduced by the Apostle throughout that whole Chapter whose Faith was founded neither upon any outward Testimony The Object of Faith Deus loquens nor upon the Voice or Writing of man but upon the Revelation of God's Will manifest unto them and in them As in the Example of Noah v. 7. thus By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an Ark to the saving of his house by the which he Condemned the World and became Heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith What was here the Object of Noah's Faith Noah's Faith but God speaking unto him He had not the Writings nor Prophecyings of any going before nor yet the Concurrence of any Church or People to strengthen him and yet his Faith in the Word by which he Contradicted the whole World saved him and his House Of which also Abraham is set forth as a singular Example being therefore called the Father of the Faithful Abraham's Faith who is said Against hope to have believed in hope in that he not only willingly forsook his Father's Country not knowing whether he went In that he believed concerning the Coming of Isaac though Contrary to natural Probability but above all In that he Refused not to offer him up not doubting but God was able to raise him from the dead of whom it is said that in Isaac shall thy Seed be called And last of all In that he rested in the Promise that his Seed should possess the Land wherein himself was but a Pilgrim and which to them was not to be fulfilled while divers Ages after The Object of Abraham's Faith in all this was no other but Inward and Immediate Revelation or God signifying his Will unto him inwardly and immediately by his Spirit But because in this part of the Proposition we made also mention of External Voices Appearances and Dreams in the Alternative I think also fit to speak hereof what in that respect may be Objected to wit That those who found their Faith now upon immediate and objective Revelation Object ought to have also outward Voices or Visions Dreams or Appearances for it Answ. It is not denied but God made use of the Ministry of Angels who in the Appearance of men spake outwardly to the Saints of old and that he did also Reveal some things to them in Dreams and Visions The Ministry of Angels speaking in the Appearance of men to the Saints of old none of which we will affirm to be Ceased so as to limit the power and liberty of God in manifesting himself towards his Children But while we are considering the Object of Faith we must not stick to that which is but circumstantially and accidentally so but to that which is universally and substantially so Next again we must distinguish betwixt that which in it self is subject to Doubt and Delusion and therefore is received for and because of another and that which is not subject to any Doubt but is received simply for and because of it self as being Prima Veritas the very first and original Truth Revelations by Dreams and Visions Let us then consider how or how far these outward Voices Appearances and Dreams were the Object of the Saints Faith Was it because they were simply Voices Appearances or Dreams Nay Certainly We know and They were not ignorant that the Devil can form a sound of words and convey it to the outward Ear That he can easily deceive the outward Senses by making things to Appear that are not Yea do we not see by daily Experience that the Jugglers and Mountebanks can do as much as all that by their Legerdemain God forbid
then that the Saints Faith should be founded upon so fallacious a Foundation as man's outward and fallible Senses What made them then give credit to these Visions Certainly nothing else but the secret Testimony of God's Spirit in their hearts assuring them that the Voices Dreams and Visions were of and from God Abraham believed the Angels but who told him that these Men were Angels we must not think his Faith then was built upon his outward Senses but proceeded from the secret Perswasion of God's Spirit in his heart This then must needs be acknowledged to be originally and principally the Object of the Saints Faith without which there is no true and certain Faith and by which many times Faith is begotten and strengthened without any of these outward or visible Helps As we may observe in many passages of the Holy Scripture where it is only mentioned And God said c. And the word of the Lord came unto such and such saying c. But if any one should pertinaciously affirm Object That this did Import an Outward Audible Voice to the Carnal Ear. I would gladly know what other Argument such a one could bring for this his Affirmation saving his own simple Conjecture It is said indeed Answ. The Spirit witnesseth with our Spirit but not to our outward Ears Rom. 8.16 And seeing the Spirit of God is within us The Spirit speaks to the Spiritual Ear not to the Outward and not without us only it speaks to our Spiritual and not to our Bodily Ear. Therefore I see no Reason where it 's so often said in Scripture The Spirit said moved hindered called such or such a one to do or forbear such or such a thing That any have to Conclude that this was not an Inward Voice to the Ear of the Soul rather than an outward Voice to the bodily Ear. If any be otherwise minded let them if they can produce their Arguments and we may further Consider of them From all then which is above-declared I shall deduce an Argument to conclude the Probation of this Assertion thus That which any one firmly believes as the Ground and Foundation of his hope in God and Life Eternal is the formal Object of his Faith But The Inward and Immediate Revelation of God's Spirit speaking in and unto the Saints was by them believed as the Ground and Foundation of their hope in God and Life Eternal Therefore These Inward and Immediate Revelations were the formal Object of their Faith § IX That which now cometh under Debate is what we have Asserted Assert V in the last place to wit That the same continueth to be the Object of the Saints Faith unto this day Many will Agree Proved to what we said before who Differ from us herein There is nevertheless a very firm Argument Confirming the Truth of this Assertion included in the Proposition it self to wit That the Object of the Saints Faith is the same in all Ages though held forth under divers Administrations Which I shall reduce to an Argument and prove thus First Where the Faith is one the Object of the Faith is one But The Faith is one Therefore c. That the Faith is one is the express words of the Apostle Eph. 4.5 who placeth the One Faith with the One God importing no less than that to Affirm Two Faiths is as Absurd as to Affirm Two Gods Moreover If the Faith of the Ancients were one and the same with ours i. e. agreeing in Substance therewith and receiving the same Definition it had been impertinent for the Apostle Hebr. 11. to have illustrated the Definition of our Faith by the Examples of that of the Ancients or to go about to move us by the Example of Abraham if Abraham's Faith were different in nature from ours Nor doth hence any Difference arise because they believed in Christ with respect to his Appearance outwardly The Faith of the Saints of old the same with ours as future and we as already Appeared For nor did they then so believe in him to come as not to feel him present with them and witness him near seeing the Apostle saith They all drank of that spiritual Rock which followed them which Rock was Christ Nor do we so believe concerning his Appearance past as not also to feel and know him present with us and to feed upon him Except Christ saith the Apostle be in you ye are Reprobates so that both our Faith is one terminating in one and the same thing And as to the other Part or Consequence of the Antecedent to wit That the Object is one where the Faith is one the Apostle also proveth it in the fore-cited Chapter where he makes all the Worthies of old Examples to us Now wherein are they Imitable but because they believed in God and what was the Object of their Faith but inward and immediate Revelation as we have before proved Their Example can be no ways applicable to us except we believe in God as they did that is by the same Object The Apostle clears this yet further by his own Example Gal. 1.16 where he saith So soon as Christ was revealed in him he consulted not with flesh and blood but forthwith believed and obeyed The same Apostle Hebr. 13. vers 7 8. where he exhorteth the Hebrews to follow the Faith of the Elders adds this Reason Considering the end of their Conversation Jesus Christ the same to day yesterday and for ever hereby notably insinuating that in the Object there is no Alteration Object If any now Object The diversity of Administration Answ. I Answer That altereth not at all the Object for the same Apostle mentioneth this Diversity three times 1 Cor. 12.4 5 6. centred always in the same Object the same Spirit the same Lord the same God But further If the Object of Faith were not one and the same both to us and to them then it would follow that we were to know God some other way than by the Spirit But this were Absurd Therefore c. Lastly This is most firmly proved from a Common and Received Maxim of the School-men to wit Omnis actus specificatur ab Objecto Every Act is specified from its Object from which if it be true as they acknowledge though for the sake of many I shall not recur to this Argument as being too nice and Scholastick neither lay I much stress upon those kind of things as being that which commends not the Simplicity of the Gospel If the Object were different then the Faith would be different also Such as deny this Proposition now adays use here a Distinction granting That God is to be known by his Spirit but again denying That it is Immediate or Inward but in and by the Scriptures in which the mind of the Spirit as they say being fully and amply expressed we are thereby to know God and be led in all things As to the Negative of this Assertion That the Scriptures are
bury out of their sight as the noisom and useless thing however acceptable it hath been when actuated and moved by the Soul Lastly Whatsoever Query III is Excellent What is his Work whatsoever is Noble whatsoever is Worthy whatsoever is Desirable in the Christian Faith is Ascribed to this Spirit without which it could no more subsist than the outward World without the Sun Hereunto have all true Christian in all Ages attributed their Strength and Life It is by this Spirit that they avouch themselves to have been Converted to God to have been Redeemed from the world to have been Strengthened in their Weakness Comforted in their Afflictions Confirmed in their Temptations Imboldened in their Sufferings and Triumphed in the midst of all their Persecutions Yea the Writings of all true Christians are full of the Great and Notable things The Great and Notable Acts that have been and are performed by the Spirit in all Ages which they all affirm themselves to have done by the Power and Vertue and Efficacy of the Spirit of God working in them It is the Spirit that quickeneth Joh. 6.63 It was the Spirit that gave them Vtterance Acts 2.4 It was the Spirit by which Stephen spake that the Jews were not able to Resist Acts 6.10 It is such as walk after the Spirit that receive no Condemnation Rom. 8 1. It is the Law of the Spirit that makes free v. 2. It is by the Spirit of God dwelling in us that we are Redeemed from the Flesh and from the Carnal mind v. 9. It is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us that quickeneth our mortal bodies v. 11. It is through this Spirit that the deeds of the body are Mortified and Life Obtained v. 13. It is by this Spirit that we are Adopted and cry ABBA Father v. 15. It is this Spirit that beareth witness with our spirits that we are the Children of God v. 16. It is this Spirit that helpeth our infirmities and maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered v. 26. It is by this Spirit that the glorious things which God hath laid up for us which neither outward ear hath heard nor outward eye hath seen nor the heart of man conceived by all his Reasonings are Revealed unto us 1 Cor. 2.9 10. It is by this Spirit that both Wisdom and Knowledge and Faith and Miracles and Tongues and Prophecies are obtained 1 Cor. 12.8 9 10. It is by this Spirit that we are all baptized into one body v. 13. In short what thing relating to the Salvation of the Soul and to the Life of a Christian is rightly performed or effectually obtained without it And what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of all those things which the holy Men of old have Declared and the Saints of this day do witness themselves to Enjoy by the virtue and power of this Spirit dwelling in them Truly my Paper could not contain those many Testimonies whereby this Truth is Confirmed Wherefore besides what is above-mentioned out of the Fathers whom all pretend to Reverence and those of Luther and Melanchthon I shall deduce yet one observable Testimony out of Calvin because not a few of the followers of his Doctrine do refuse and deride and that as it is to be feared because of their own Non-experience thereof this way of the Spirit 's In-dwelling as uncertain and dangerous that so if neither the Testimony of the Scripture nor the Sayings of others nor right Reason can move them they may at least be Reproved by the words of their own Master who saith in the third Book of his Institutions cap. 2. on this wise But they alledge It is a bold presumption for any one to pretend to an undoubted Knowledge of God's Will Calvin of the Necessity of the Spirit 's In-dwelling in us which saith he I should grant unto them if we should ascribe so much to our selves as to subject the Incomprehensible Counsel of God to the Rashness of our Vnderstandings But while we simply say with Paul That we have received not the spirit of this world but the Spirit which is of God by whose Teaching we know those things that are given us of God what can they prate against it without Reproaching the Spirit of God For if it be a horrible Sacriledge to accuse any Revelation coming from him either of a Lie of Vncertainty or Ambiguity in Asserting its Certainty wherein do we offend But they cry out That it is not without great temerity that we dare so boast of the Spirit of Christ. Who would believe that the Sottishness of these men were so great who would be Esteemed the Masters of the World that they should so fail in the first Principles of Religion Verily I could not believe it if their own Writings did not Testify so much Paul accounts those the Sons of God who are acted by the Spirit of God but these will have the Children of God acted by their own Spirits without the Spirit of God He will have us call God Father the Spirit dictating that Term unto us which only can witness to our spirits that we are the Sons of God These though they cease not to Call upon God do nevertheless demit the Spirit by whose guiding he is rightly to be called upon He denies them to be the Sons of God or the Servants of Christ who are not led by his Spirit but these feign a Christianity that needs not the Spirit of Christ. He makes no hope of the blessed Resurrection unless we feel the Spirit residing in us but these feign a hope without any such a feeling But perhaps they will Answer That they deny not but that it is necessary to have it only of modesty and humility we ought to deny and not acknowledge it What means he then when he Commands the Corinthians to Try themselves if they be in the Faith To examine themselves whether they have Christ whom whosoever acknowledges not dwelling in him is a Reprobate By the Spirit which he hath given us saith John we know that he abideth in us And what do we then else but call in question Christ his promise while we would be esteemed the Servants of God without his Spirit Without the Spirit 's Presence Christianity must cease which he declared he would pour-out upon all his Seeing these things are the first Grounds of Piety it is miserable blindness to accuse Christians of Pride because they dare glory of the Presence of the Spirit without which glorying Christianity it self could not be But by their Example they declare how truly Christ spake saying That his Spirit was unknown to the World and that those only acknowledge it with whom it remains Thus far Calvin If therefore it be so why should any be so Foolish as to deny or so Vnwise as not to seek aster this Spirit which Christ hath promised shall dwell in his Children They then that do suppose the Indwelling
Guidance proved Seeing then we have already proved that Christ hath promised his Spirit to lead his Children and that every one of them both ought and may be Led by it If any depart from this certain Guide in deeds and yet in words pretend to be Led by it into things that are not good it will not from thence follow that the true Guidance of the Spirit is Vncertain or ought not to be followed no more than it will follow that the Sun sheweth not Light because a blind man or one who wilfully shuts his Eyes falls into a Ditch at noon day for want of Light or that no words are spoken because a deaf man hears them not or that a Garden full of fragrant flowers has no sweet smell because he that has lost his Smelling doth not smell it The Fault then is in the Organ and not in the Object All these Mistakes therefore are to be ascribed to the weakness or wickedness of men and not to that Holy Spirit Such as bend themselves most against this certain and infallible Testimony of the Spirit use commonly to alledge the Example of the Old Gnosticks and the late Monstrous and Mischievous Actings of the Anabaptists of Munster all which toucheth us nothing at all neither weakens a whit our most True Doctrine Wherefore as a most sure Bulwark against such kind of Assaults was subjoined that other part of our Proposition thus Moreover these Divine and Inward Revelations which we Establish as absolutely Necessary for the founding of the true Faith as they do not so neither can they at any time Contradict the Scriptures-Testimony or sound Reason By Experience Besides the intrinsick and undoubted Truth of this Assertion We can boldly Affirm it from our certain and blessed Experience For this Spirit never deceived us never acted nor moved us to any thing that was amiss but is clear and manifest in its Revelations which are evidently discerned of us as we wait in that pure and undefiled Light of God that proper and fit Organ in which they are Received Therefore if any Reason after this manner That Because some Wicked Vngodly Devilish Men have committed Wicked Actions and have yet more wickedly Asserted that they were led into those things by the Spirit of God Therefore The Absurdity of the Consequence No man ought to lean to the Spirit of God or seek to be led by it I utterly deny the Consequence of this Proposition which were it to be received as True then would all Faith in God and Hope of Salvation become Vncertain and the Christian Religion be turned into meer Scepticism For after the same manner I might Reason thus Because Eve was deceived by the Lying of the Serpent Therefore she ought not to have trusted to the Promise of God Because the Old World was deluded by Evil Spirits Therefore ought neither Noah nor Abraham nor Moses to have trusted the Spirit of the Lord. Because a lying Spirit spake through the four hundred Prophets that perswaded Achab to go up and fight at Ramoth Gilead Therefore the Testimony of the true Spirit in Micaiah was uncertain and dangerous to be followed Because there were seducing Spirits crept into the Church of old Therefore it was not good or Vncertain to follow the Anointing which taught all things and is Truth and no Lie Who dare say that this is a necessary Consequence Moreover not only the Faith of the Saints and Church of God of old is hereby rendered Vncertain but also the Faith of all sorts of Christians now is liable to the like hazzard even of those who seek a Foundation for their Faith elsewhere than from the Spirit For I shall prove by an Inevitable Argument Ab Incommodo i. e. from the Inconveniency of it That if the Spirit be not to be followed upon that account and that men may not depend upon it as their Guide because some while pretending thereunto commit great Evils that then nor Tradition nor the Scriptures nor Reason which the Papists Protestants and Socinians do respectively make the Rule of their Faith are any whit more Certain 1. Instances of Tradition The Romanists reckon it an Error to Celebrate Easter any other ways than that Church doth This can only be decided by Tradition And yet the Greek Church which equally layeth claim to Tradition with her self doth it otherwise Yea so little effectual is Tradition to decide the Case that Polycarpus Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. 5. cap. 26. the Disciple of John and Anicetus the Bishop of Rome who immediately succeeded them according to whose Example both sides Concluded the Question ought to be Decided could not Agree Here of necessity one behoved to Err and that following Tradition Would the Papists now judge we dealt fairly by them if we should thence Aver That Tradition is not to be Regarded Besides in a matter of far greater Importance the same Difficulty will occur to wit in the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome for many do Affirm and that by Tradition That in the first six hundred years the Roman Prelates never assumed the Title of Vniversal Shepherd nor were acknowledged as such And as that which altogether overturneth this Presidency there are that Alledge and that from Tradition also That Peter never saw Rome and that therefore the Bishop of Rome cannot be his Successor Would ye Romanists think this Sound Reasoning to say as ye do Many have been Deceived and Erred grievously in trusting to Tradition Therefore we ought to reject all Traditions yea even those by which we Affirm the Contrary and as we think prove the Truth Lastly In the * Conc. Flor. Sess. 5. Docreto quodam Concil Eph. Act. 6. Sess. 11. 12. Concil Flor. Sess. 18 20. Concil Flor. Sess. 21. p. 480. seqq Council of Florence the Chief Doctors of the Romish and Greek Churches did debate whole Sessions long concerning the Interpretation of one Sentence of the Council of Ephesus and of Epiphanius and Basilius neither could they ever Agree about it Secondly As to the Scripture the same difficulty occurreth the Lutherans Affirm they believe Consubstantiation by the Scripture which the Calvinists deny as that which they say according to the same Scripture is a Gross Error The Calvinists again Affirm Absolute Reprobation 2. Of Scripture which the Arminians deny Affirming the Contrary wherein both Affirm themselves to be Ruled by the Scripture and Reason in the matter Should I Argue thus then to the Calvinists Here the Lutherans and Arminians grosly Err by following the Scriture Therefore the Scripture is not a good nor certain Rule and è contrà Would either of them accept of this Reasoning as good and sound What shall I lay of the Episcopalians Presbyterians Independents and Anabaptists of Great Britain who are continually buffeting one another with the Scripture To whom the same Argument might be alledged though they do all unanimously acknowledge it to be the Rule 3.
Seditious Multitude of the Lutheran Citizens being stirred up by the daily Clamours of their Preachers did not only violently take up the Houses of the Reformed Teachers overturn their Libraries and spoil their Furniture but also with reproachful words yea and with stones Assaulted the Marquess of Brandenburgh the Elector's Brother while he sought by smooth words to quiet the Fury of the Multitude they killed ten of his Guards scarcely sparing himself who at last by Flight Escaped out of their hands All which sufficiently declares that the Concurrence of the Magistrate doth not alter their Principles but only their Method of Procedure So that for my own part I see no Difference betwixt the Actings of those of Munster and these others whereof the one pretended to be led by the Spirit the other by Tradition Scripture and Reason save this that the former were rash heady and foolish in their proceedings and therefore were the sooner brought to nothing and so into Contempt and Derision but the other being more politick and wise in their generation held it out longer and so have Authorized their Wickedness more with seeming Authority of Law and Reason But both their Actings being equally Evil the Difference appears to me to be only like that which is betwixt a simple silly Thief that is easily Catched and hanged without any more ado and a Company of Resolute bold Robbers who being better guarded though their Offence be nothing less yet by violence do to evite the danger force their Masters to give them good Terms From all which then it evidently follows that they Argue very ill that despise and reject any Principle because men pretending to be led by it do evil in case it be not the natural and consequential Tendency of that Principle to lead unto those things that are evil Again It doth follow from what is above asserted that if the Spirit be to be Rejected upon this account all those other Principles ought on the same account to be Rejected And for my part as I have never a whit the lower Esteem of the blessed Testimony of the Holy Scriptures nor do the less respect any solid Tradition that is answerable and according to Truth neither at all despise Reason that noble and excellent Faculty of the mind Let none reject the Certainty of the Vnerring Spirit because of false Pretenders to it because wicked men have abused the name of them to cover their wickedness and deceive the simple so would I not have any reject or diffide the Certainty of that Vnerring Spirit which God hath given his Children as that which can alone guide them into all Truth because some have falsly pretended to it § XV. And because the Spirit of God is the Fountain of all Truth and sound Reason therefore we have well said That it cannot Contradict neither the Testimony of the Scripture nor right Reason yet as the Proposition it self Concludeth to whose last part I now come it will not from thence follow that these Divine Revelations are to be subjected to the Examination either of the outward Testimony of Scripture or of the humane or natural Reason of man as to a more noble and certain Rule and Touch-stone for the Divine Revelation and inward Illumination is that which is evident by it self forcing the well-disposed understanding and irresistibly moving it to Assent by its own Evidence and Clearness even as the Common Principles of Natural Truths do bow the mind to a Natural Assent He that denies this part of the Proposition must needs Affirm That the Spirit of God neither can nor ever hath manifested it self to man without the Scripture or a distinct discussion of Reason or That the Efficacy of this Supernatural Principle working upon the Souls of men is less Evident than natural Principles in their common Operations Both which are false For First through all the Scriptures we may observe that the Manifestation and Revelation of God by his Spirit to the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles was Immediate and Objective as is above proved which they did not examin by any other Principle but their own Evidence and Clearness Secondly To say The Self Evidence of the Spirit that the Spirit of God has less Evidence upon the mind of man than natural Principles have is to have too mean and low thoughts of it How comes David to invite us to Taste and see that God is good if this cannot be felt and tasted This were enough to overturn the Faith and Assurance of all the Saints both now and of old How came Paul to be perswaded That nothing could separate him from the love of God but by that Evidence and Clearness which the Spirit of God gave him The Apostle John who knew well wherein the Certainty of Faith Consisted judged it no ways Absurd without further Argument to Ascribe his Knowledge and Assurance and that of all the Saints hereunto in these words Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit 1 Joh. 4.13 and again John 5.6 It 's the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is Truth Observe the Reason brought by him Because the Spirit is Truth Of whose Certainty and Infallibility I have heretofore spoken We then Trust to and Confide in this Spirit because we know and certainly believe that it can only Lead us a-right and never Mis-lead us and from this Certain Confidence it is that we Affirm The Spirit contradicts not Scripture nor Right Reason That no Revelation coming from it can ever Contradict the Scriptures-Testimony nor right Reason not as making this a more Certain Rule to our selves but as Condescending to such who not discerning the Revelations of the Spirit as they proceed purely from God will Try them by these Mediums yet those that have the Spiritual Senses and can savour the things of the Spirit as it were in primâ Instantiâ i. e. at the first blush can discern them without Natural Demonstrations from Astronomy and Geometry or before they Apply them either to Scripture or Reason Just as a good Astronomer can Calculate an Eclipse Infallibly by which he can Conclude if the Order of Nature Continue and some strange and Vnnatural Revolution Intervene not there will be an Eclipse of the Sun or Moon such a day and such an hour yet can he not perswade an Ignorant Rustick of this until he Visibly see it So also a Mathematician can Infallibly know by the Rules of Art that the Three Angles of a Right-angled Triangle are Equal to Two Right-Angles yea can know them more certainly than any man by measure And some Geometrical Demonstrations are by all acknowledged to be Infallible which can be scarcely discerned or proved by the Senses Yet if a Geometer be at the pains to Certify some Ignorant Man concerning the Certainty of this Art by condescending to measure it and make it obvious to his Senses it will not thence
follow that that Measuring is so Certain as the Demonstration it self or that the Demonstration would be Vncertain without it § XVI But to make an end I shall add one Argument to prove That this Inward Immediate Objective Revelation which we have pleaded for all along is the only sure certain and unmoveable Foundation of all Christian Faith which Argument when well weighed I hope will have weight with all sorts of Christians and it is this That which all Professors of Christianity of whatsoever kind are forced ultimately to recur unto Immediate Revelation of all Christian Faith the Immoveable Foundation when pressed to the last That for and because of which all other Foundations are Recommended and Accounted worthy to be believed and without which they are granted to be of no weight at all must needs be the only most true certain and unmoveable Foundation of all Christian Faith But Inward Immediate Objective Revelation by the Spirit is that which all Professors of Christianity of whatsoever kind are forced ultimately to recur unto c. Therefore c. The Proposition is so Evident that it will not be denied The Assumption shall be proved by parts Papists Foundation their Church and Tradition Why And first As to the Papists They place their Foundation in the Judgment of the Church and Tradition If we press them to say Why they believe as the Church doth Their Answer is Because the Church is always led by the Infallible Spirit So here the Leading of the Spirit is the utmost Foundation Again If we ask them Why we ought to trust Tradition They Answer Because those Traditions were delivered us by the Doctors and Fathers of the Church which Doctors and Fathers by the Revelation of the Holy Ghost Commanded the Church to observe them Here again all lands in the Revelation of the Spirit And for the Protestants and Socinians both which acknowledge the Scriptures to be the Foundation and Rule of their Faith Protestants and Socinians make the Scriptures their Ground and Foundation Why the one as subjectively influenced by the Spirit of God to use them the other as managing them with and by their own Reason Ask both or either of them Why they trust the Scriptures and take them to be their Rule Their Answer is Because we have in them the Mind of God delivered unto us by those to whom these things were inwardly immediately and objectively Revealed by the Spirit of God And not because this or that man wrote them but because the Spirit of God dictated them Christians by Name and not by Nature hold Revelations ceased contrary to Scripture It is strange then that men should render that so Vncertain and Dangerous to follow upon which alone the Certain Ground and Foundation of their own Faith is built Or that they should shut themselves out from that holy fellowship with God which only is enjoyed in the Spirit in which we are commanded both to walk and live If any reading these things find themselves moved by the strength of these Scripture-Arguments to Assent and Believe such Revelations necessary and yet find themselves Strangers to them which as I observed in the beginning is the Cause that this is so much gainsaid and contradicted Let them know that it is not because it is Ceased to become the Priviledge of every Christian that they do not feel it but rather because they are not so much Christians by Nature as by Name And let such know that the Secret Light which shines in the heart and reproves Vnrighteousness is the small beginnings of the Revelations of God's Spirit which was first sent into the World to Reprove it of sin Joh 16.8 And as by forsaking Iniquity thou com'st to be acquainted with that Heavenly Voice in thy heart thou shalt feel as the Old Man the Natural Man that savoureth not the things of God's Kingdom is put off with his evil and corrupt Affections and Lusts I say thou shalt feel the New Man the Spiritual Birth and Babe Raised which hath its Spiritual Senses and can Prop. 3 see feel taste handle and smell the things of the Spirit but till then the Knowledge of things Spiritual is but as an Historical Faith Who wants his Sight sees not the Light But as the Description of the Light of the Sun or of curious Colours to a blind Man who though of the largest Capacity cannot so well understand it by the most acute and lively Description as a Child can by Seeing them So neither can the Natural man of the largest Capacity by the best words even Scripture words so well understand the Mysteries of God's Kingdom as the least and weakest Child who tasteth them by having them Revealed inwardly and objectively by the Spirit Wait then for this in the small Revelation of that pure Light which first Reveals things more known and as thou becom'st fitted for it thou shalt Receive more and more and by a living Experience easily Refute their Ignorance who ask How dost thou know that thou art acted by the Spirit of God which will appear to thee a Question no less Riculous than to ask one whose Eyes are open How he knows the Sun shines at Noon-day And though this be the surest and certainest way to answer all Objections yet by what is above-written it may appear that the mouths of all such Opposers as deny this Doctrine may be shut by Vnquestionable and Vnanswerable Reasons PROPOSITION III. Concerning the Scriptures From these Revelations of the Spirit of God to the Saints have proceeded the SCRIPTURES of TRUTH which contain I. A faithful Historical Account of the Actings of God's People in divers Ages with many singular and remarkable Providences attending them II. A Prophetical Account of several things whereof some are already past and some yet to come III. A full and Ample Account of all the Chief Principles of the Doctrine of Christ held forth in divers pretious Declarations Exhortations and Sentences which by the Moving of God's Spirit were at several Times and upon sundry Occasions spoken and written unto some Churches and their Pastors Nevertheless because they are only a Declaration of the Fountain and not the Fountain it self therefore they are not to be Esteemed the Principal Ground of all Truth and Knowledge nor yet the Adequate Primary Rule of Faith and Manners Yet because they give a true and faithful Testimony of the first Foundation they are and may be esteemed a Secondary Rule Subordinate to the Spirit from which they have all their Excellency and Certainty For as by the Inward Testimony of the Spirit we do alone truly know them so they Testify that the Spirit is that Guide John 16.13 Rom. 8.14 by which the Saints are led into all Truth Therefore according to the Scriptures the Spirit is the First and Principal Leader Seeing then that we do therefore receive and believe the Scriptures because they proceeded from the Spirit for the very
same Reason is the Spirit more originally and principally the Rule according to that received Maxim in the Schools Propter quod unumquodque est tale illud ipsum magis est tale That for which a thing is such the thing it self is more such § I. THe former part of this Proposition though it needs no Apology for it The Holy Scriptures the most Excellent Writings in the World yet is a good Apology for us and will help to Sweep away that among many other Calumnies wherewith we are often loaded as if we were Vilifiers and Deniers of the Scriptures For in that which we Affirm of them it doth appear at what high Rate we Value them accounting them without all Deceit or Equivocation the Most Excellent Writings in the World to which not only no other Writings are to be preferr'd but even in divers respects not Comparable thereunto For as we freely acknowledge that their Authority doth not depend upon the Approbation or Canons of any Church or Assembly so neither can we subject them to the fall'n corrupt and defiled Reason of man and therein as we do freely Agree with the Protestants against the Error of the Romanists so on the other hand we cannot go the length of such Protestants as make their Authority to depend upon any Vertue or Power that is in the Writings themselves but we desire to ascribe all to that Spirit from which they proceeded We Confess indeed there wants not a Majesty in the Style a Coherence in the parts a good Scope in the whole but seeing these things are nor discerned by the Natural but only by the Spiritual man it is the Spirit of God that must give us that Belief of the Scriptures which may satisfy our Consciences Therefore the Chiefest among Protestants both in their particular Writings and publick Confessions are forced to acknowledge this Hence Calvin though he saith He is able to prove that if there be a God in Heaven Calvin's Testimony That the Scriptures Certainty is from the Spirit these Writings have proceeded from him yet he concludes Another Knowledge to be necessary Inst. lib. 1. cap. 7 sect 4. But if saith he we respect the Consciences that they be not daily molested with Doubts and they stick not at every Scruple it is Requisite that this Perswasion which we speak of be taken higher than Humane Reason Judgment or Conjectures to wit from the secret Testimony of the Holy Spirit And again To those that ask That we prove unto them by Reason that Moses and the Prophets were Inspired of God to speak I answer that the Testimony of the Holy Spirit is more Excellent than all Reason And again Let this remain a firm Truth that he only whom the Holy Ghost hath perswaded can Repose himself on the Scripture with a true Certainty And lastly This then is a Judgment which cannot be begotten but by a Heavenly Revelation c. The same is also Affirmed in the first Publick Confession of the French Churches published in the year 1559. Art 4. We know these Books to be Canonick and the most â—ertain Rule of our Faith The Confession of the French Churches not so much by the Common Accord and Consent of the Church as by the Testimony and Inward Perswasion of the Holy Spirit Thus also in the fifth Article of the Confession of Faith of the Churches of Holland Confirmed by the Synod of Dort Churches of Holland Assert the same We receive these Books only for Holy and Canonick not so much because the Church receives and approves them as because the Spirit of God renders Witness in our Hearts that they are of God And lastly The Divines so called at Westminster Westminster Confession the same who began to be affraid of and guard against the Testimony of the Spirit because they perceived a Dispensation beyond that which they were under beginning to Dawn and to Eclipse them yet could they not get by this though they have laid it down neither so clearly distinctly nor honestly as they that went before It is in these words Chap. 1. Sect. 5. Nevertheless our full Perswasion and Assurance of the Infallible Truth thereof is from the Inward Work of the Holy Spirit bearing Witness by and with the Word in our heart By all which it appeareth how Necessary it is to seek the Certainty of the Scriptures from the Spirit and no where else The Infinite Janglings and Endless Contests of those that seek their Authority elsewhere do witness to the Truth hereof For the Ancients themselves Apocrypha even of the First Centuries were not at one among themselves concerning them while some of them Rejected Books which we Approve and others of them Approved those Concil Laod. Can. 59 in Cod Ecc. 163. Concil Laod. held in the Year 364. Excluded from the Canon Eccl the Wisdom of Solomon Judith Tobias the Maccabees which the Council of Carthage held in the Year 399. Received which some of us Reject It is not unknown to such as are in the least acquainted with Antiquity what Great Contests are concerning the Second Epistle of Peter that of James the Second and Third of John and the Revelations which many even very Ancient deny to have been Written by the Beloved Disciple and Brother of James but by another of that name What should then become of Christians if they had not received that Spirit and those Spiritual senses by which they know how to discern the True from the False It 's the Priviledge of Christ's Sheep indeed that they hear his Voice and refuse that of a Stranger which Priviledge being taken away we are left a Prey to all manner of Wolves § II. Though then we do acknowledge the Scriptures to be a very Heavenly and Divine Writing the Vse of them to be very Comfortable and Necessary to the Church of Christ and that we also admire and give Praise to the Lord for his wonderful Providence in preserving these Writings so Pure and Vncorrupted as we have them through so long a Night of Apostasy to be a Testimony for his Truth against the Wickedness and Abominations even of those whom he made Instrumental in preserving them so that they have kept them to be a Witness against themselves yet we may not call them the Principal Fountain of all Truth and Knowledge nor yet the first Adequate Rule of Faith and Manners because the Principal Fountain of Truth must be the Truth it self i. e. that whose Certainty and Authority depends not upon another The Scriptures are not the Principal Ground of Truth When we doubt of the Streams of any River or Flood we recur to the Fountain it self and having found it there we Sist we can go no further because there it springs out of the Bowels of the Earth which are Inscrutable Even so the Writings and Sayings of all men we must bring to the Word of God I mean the Eternal Word and if they Agree
hereunto we stand there for this Word always proceedeth and doth Eternally proceed from God in and by which the Vnsearchable Wisdom of God and Vnsearchable Counsel and Will Conceived in the Heart of God is Revealed unto us That then the Scripture is not the Principal Ground of Faith and Knowledge as it appears by what is above spoken so it is provided in the latter part of the Proposition which being Reduced to an Argument runs thus That the Certainty and Authority whereof depends upon another and which is received as Truth because of its proceeding from another is not to be accounted the Principal Ground and Origin of all Truth and Knowledge But The Scriptures Authority and Certainty depends upon the Spirit by which they were dictated and the Reason why they were received as Truth is because they proceeded from the Spirit Therefore They are not the Principal Ground of Truth To Confirm this Argument I added the School-Maxime Propter quod unumquodque est tale illud ipsum est magis tale Which Maxime though I Confess it doth not hold Vniversally in all things yet in this it both doth and will very well hold as by Applying it as we have above Intimated will appear Neither are they the Primary Rule of Faith and Manners The same Argument will hold as to the other Branch of the Proposition That it is not the Primary Adequate Rule of Faith and Manners thus That which is not the Rule of my Faith in believing the Scriptures themselves is not the Primary Adequate Rule of Faith and Manners But The Scripture is not nor can it be the Rule of that Faith by which I believe them c. Therefore c. But as to this part we shall produce divers Arguments hereafter As to what is Affirmed That the Spirit and not the Scriptures is the Rule it is largely handled in the former Proposition the Sum whereof I shall Subsume in one Argument thus That the Spirit is the Rule If by the Spirit we can only come to the True Knowledge of God If by the Spirit we be to be led into all Truth and so be Taught of all things Then the Spirit and not the Scriptures is the Foundation and Ground of all Truth and Knowledge and the Primary Rule of Faith and Manners But the First is True Therefore also the Last Next The very Nature of the Gospel it self declareth that the Scriptures cannot be the Only and Chief Rule of Christians else there should be no Difference betwixt the Law and the Gospel As from the Nature of the New Covenant by divers Scriptures described in the former Proposition is proved Wherein the Law and Gospel differ But besides these which are before-mentioned herein doth the Law and the Gospel differ In that the Law being outwardly written brings under Condemnation but hath not Life in it to save whereas the Gospel as it declares and makes manifest the Evil so it being an Inward Powerful thing also gives Power to Obey and delivers from the Evil Hence it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is Glad Tidings The Law or Letter which is without us kills but the Gospel which is the Inward Spiritual Law gives Life for it consists not so much in Words as in Vertue Wherefore such as come to know it and be acquainted with it come to feel greater Power over their Iniquities than all Outward Laws or Rules can give them Hence the Apostle concludes Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace This Grace then that is inward and not an outward Law is to be the Rule of Christians Hereunto the Apostle Commends the Elders of the Church saying Acts 20.32 And now Brethren I commend you to God and to the Word of his Grace which is able to build you up and to give you an Inheritance among all those that are sanctified He doth not commend them here to Outward Laws or Writings but to the Word of Grace which is Inward even the Spiritual Law which makes free as he elsewhere Affirms Rom. 8.2 The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death This Spiritual Law is that which the Apostle declares he preached and directed People unto which was not Outward as Rom. 10.8 is manifest where distinguishing it from the Law he saith The Word is nigh thee in thy heart and in thy mouth and this is the Word of Faith which we preach From what is above said I argue thus The Principal Rule of Christians under the Gospel is not an Outward Letter nor Law outwardly written and delivered but an Inward Spiritual Law ingraven in the heart the Law of the Spirit of Life the Word that is nigh in the heart and in the mouth But The Letter of the Scripture is Outward of it self a dead thing a meer Declaration of good things but not the Things themselves Therefore it nor is nor can be the Chief or Principal Rule of Christians § III. Thirdly That which is given to Christians for a Rule and Guide The Scripture not the Rule must needs be so full as it may clearly and distinctly Guide and Order them in all things and occurrences that may fall out But in that there are many hundred of things with a regard to their Circumstances particular Christians may be concerned in for which there can be no particular Rule had in the Scriptures Therefore the Scriptures cannot be a Rule to them I shall give an Instance in two or three Particulars for to prove this Proposition It is not to be doubted but some men are particularly called to some particular services their being not found in which though the Act be no general positive Duty yet in so far as it may be Required of them is a great Sin to Omit forasmuch as God is zealous of his Glory and every Act of Disobedience to his Will Manifested is enough not only to hinder one greatly from that Comfort and Inward Grace which otherwise they might have but also bringeth Condemnation As for Instance Some are Called to the Ministry of the Word Paul saith There was a Necessity upon him to preach the Gospel Wo unto me if I preach not If it be Necessary that there be now Ministers of the Church as well as then then there is the same Necessity upon some more than upon others to occupy this place which Necessity as it may be Incumbent upon particular persons the Scripture neither doth nor can declare If it be said Object That the Qualifications of a Minister are found in the Scripture and by applying these Qualifications to my self I may know whether I be fit for such a place or no. I Answer The Qualifications of a Bishop or Minister Answ. as they are mentioned both in the Epistle to Timothy and Titus are such as may be found in a private Christian yea which ought in
some measure to be in every True Christian so that that giveth a man no Certainty Every Capacity to an Office giveth me not a Sufficient Call to it Next again By what Rule shall I judge if I be so Qualified How do I know that I am sober meek holy harmless Is not the Testimony of the Spirit in my Conscience that which must Assure me hereof And suppose that I was Qualified and Called yet what Scripture-Rule shall Inform me whether it be my Duty to Preach in this or that place in France or England Holland or Germany Whether I shall take up my time in Confirming the Faithful Reclaiming Hereticks or Converting Infidels as also in Writing Epistles to this or that Church The general Rules of the Scripture viz. To be diligent in my Duty To do all to the Glory of God and for the good of his Church Can give me no Light in this thing Seeing Two different things may both have a respect to that way yet may I commit a great Error and Offence in doing the one when I am called to the other If Paul when his face was turned by the Lord toward Jerusalem had gone back to Achaia or Macedonia he might have supposed he could have done God more acceptable Service in Preaching and Confirming the Churches than in being shut up in Prison in Judea but would God have been pleased herewith Nay certainly Obedience is better than Sacrifice and it is not our doing that which is good simply that pleaseth God but that good which he willeth us to do Every Member hath its particular place in the Body as the Apostle sheweth 1 Cor. 12. If then I being the Foot should offer to exercise the Office of the Hand or being the Hand that of the Tongue my Service would be Troublesome and not Acceptable and instead of helping the Body I should make a Schism in it So that that which is good for another to do That which is good for one to do may be sinful to another may be sinful to me For as Masters will have their Servants to Obey them according to their good pleasure not only in blindly doing that which may seem to them to tend to their Master's Profit whereby it may chance the Master having business both in the Field and in the House that the Servant that knows not his Master's Will may go to the Field when it is the Mind of the Master he should stay and do the business of the House Would not this Servant then deserve a Reproof for not answering his Master's Mind And what Master is so Sottish and Careless as having many Servants leaves them in such Disorder as not to Assign each his particular Station and not only the general term of doing that which is profitable which would leave them in various doubts and no doubt land in Confusion Shall we then dare to ascribe unto Christ in the Ordering of his Churches and Servants that which in Man might justly be accounted Disorder and Confusion The Apostle sheweth this Distinction well Rom. 12.6 8. Diversities of Gifts Having then Gifts differing according to the Grace that is given us whether Prophecy let us prophesy according to the proportion of Faith or Ministry let us wait on our Ministrings or he that Teacheth on Teaching or he that Exhorteth on Exhortation Now what Scripture-Rule sheweth me that I ought to Exhort rather than Prophesy or Minister rather than Teach Surely none at all Many more Difficulties of this kind occur in the Life of a Christian. Of Faith and Salvation can the Scripture assure thee Moreover that which of all things is most Needful for him to know to wit Whether he really be in the Faith and an heir of Salvation or no the Scripture can give him no Certainty in neither can it be a Rule to him That this Knowledge is exceeding Desirable and Comfortable all do unanimously acknowledge besides that it is specially Commanded 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether ye be in the Faith prove your selves Know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates And 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure Now I say what Scripture-Rule can Assure me that I have True Faith That my Calling and Election is sure If it be said By Comparing the Scripture-marks of true Faith with mine I demand wherewith shall I make this Observation What shall ascertain me that I am not Mistaken It cannot be the Scripture That 's the Matter under Debate If it be said My own heart How Vnfit a Judge is it in its own Case and how like to be partial especially if it be yet Vnrenewed Doth not the Scripture say The Heart of Man is deceitful that it is Deceitful above all things I find the Promises I find the Threatnings in the Scripture but who telleth me that the one belongs to me more than the other The Scripture gives me a meer Declaration of these things but makes no Application so that the Assumption must be of my own making thus as for Example I find this Proposition in the Scripture He that believes shall be saved Thence I draw this Assumption But I Robert Believe Therefore I shall be saved The Minor is of mine own making not Expressed in the Scripture and so a humane Conclusion not a Divine Position so that my Faith and Assurance here is not built upon a Scripture-Proposition but upon an humane Principle which unless I be sure of elsewhere the Scripture gives me no Certainty in the matter Again If I should pursue the Argument further and seek a New Medium out of the Scripture the same difficulty will occur thus He that hath the true and certain Marks of True Faith hath True Faith But I have those Marks Therefore I have True Faith For the Assumption is still here of my own making and is not found in the Scriptures and by consequence the Conclusion can be no better since it still followeth the Weaker Proposition This is indeed so pungent that the best of Protestants who plead for this Assurance The Inward Testimony of the Spirit the Seal of Scripture Promises ascribe it to the Inward Testimony of the Spirit as Calvin in that large Citation cited in the former Proposition so that not to seek further into the Writings of the Primitive Protestants which are full of such Expressions even the Westminster Confession of Faith affirmeth Chap. 18. § 12. This Certainty is not a bare Conjecture and probable Perswasion grounded upon fallible Hope but an infallible Assurance of Faith founded upon the Divine Truth of the promise of Salvation the inward Evidences of these Graces unto which these Promises are made the Testimony of the Spirit of Adoption witnessing to our Spirits that we are the Children of God which Spirit is the Earnest of our Inheritance whereby we are sealed to the day of Redemption
Moreover the Scripture it self wherein we are so earnestly pressed to seek after this Assurance doth not at all affirm it self a Rule sufficient to give it but wholly ascribeth it to the Spirit as Rom. 8.16 The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit that we are the Children of God 1 Joh. 4.13 Hereby do we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit and Ch. 5.6 And it is the Spirit that beareth Witness because the Spirit is Truth § IV. Lastly That cannot be the only Principle nor Chief Rule which doth not Vniversally reach every Individual that needeth it to produce the Necessary Effect and from the Vse of which either by some innocent and sinless Defect or natural yet harmless and blameless Imperfection many who are within the Compass of the Visible Church That the Scriptures are not the Chief Rule and may without Absurdity yea with great Probability be accounted of the Elect are necessarily Excluded and that either wholly or at least from the Immediate Vse thereof But it so falls out frequently concerning the Scriptures in the Case of Deaf People 1. Deaf People Children and Idiots Instanced Children and Idiots who can by no means have the Benefit of the Scriptures shall we then affirm that they are without any Rule to God-ward or that they are all Damned As such an Opinion is in it self very Absurd and Inconsistent both with the Justice and Mercy of God so I know no sound Reason can be alledged for it Now if we may suppose any such to be under the New Covenant-Dispensation as I know none will deny but that we may suppose it without any Absurdity we cannot suppose them without some Rule and Means of Knowledge seeing it is expresly Affirmed They shall all be taught of God Joh. 6.45 And they shall all know me from the least to the greatest Hebr. 8.11 But secondly though we were rid of this Difficulty how many Illiterate and yet Good men are there in the Church of God who cannot Read a letter in their own Mother's Tongue which Imperfection though it be Inconvenient I cannot tell whether we may safely affirm it to be Sinful These can have no Immediate Knowledge of the Rule of their Faith so their Faith must needs depend upon the Credit of other mens Reading or Relating it unto them where either the altering adding or omitting of a little word may be a foundation in the poor Hearer of a very dangerous Mistake whereby he may either continue in an Iniquity ignorantly or believe a Lie confidently As for Example 2. Papists conceal the Second Commandment from the People the Papists in all their Catechisms and publick Exercises of Examination towards the People have boldly Cut away the Second Command because it seems so expresly to hit against their Adoration and Vse of Images whereas many of these People in whom by this Omission this false Opinion is fostered are under a simple Impossibility or at least a very great Difficulty to be outwardly Informed of this Abuse But further suppose all could Read the Scriptures in their own language where is there One of a Thousand that hath that Through-Knowledge of the Original Languages in which they were written so as in that respect Immediately to receive the Benefit of them Must not all these here depend upon the honesty and faithfulness of the Interpreters 3. The Uncertainty of the Interpreters of the Scriptures and their Adulterating it Which how Vncertain it is for a man to build his Faith upon the many Corrections Amendments and various Essays which even among Protestants have been used whereof the latter hath constantly Blamed and Corrected the former as guilty of Defects and Errors do sufficiently declare And that even the last Translations in the Vulgar Languages need to be Corrected as I could prove at large were it proper in this place Learned men do Confess But last of all there is no less Difficulty even occurs to these Skilled in the Original Languages who cannot so immediately receive the Mind of the Authors in these Writings as that their Faith doth not at least obliquely depend upon the Honesty and Credit of the Transcribers since the Original Copies are granted by all not to be now Extant Hieron Epist. 28. ad Lucin. pag. 247. Of which Transcribers Jerom in his time Complained saying That they wrote not what they Found but what they Vnderstood And Epiphanius saith That in the Good and Correct Copies of Luke it was written That Christ wept and that Irenaeus doth cite it but that the Catholiks blotted it out fearing lest Hereticks should have abused it Other Fathers also declare that whole Verses were taken out of Mark because of the Manichees But further Epiph. in Anachor Tom. 3. Oper. the Various Lections of the Hebrew Character by reason of the Points which some plead for as Cooevous with the first Writings which others with no less probability alledge to be a latter Invention The various Lections of the Hebrew Character c. the disagreement of divers Citations of Christ and the Apostles with those passages in the Old Testament the Appeal to the great Controversy among the Fathers whereof some most highly Approve the Greek Septuagint decrying and rendring very doubtful the Hebrew Copy as in many places vitiated and altered by the Jews other some and particularly Jerom Exalting the Certainty of the Hebrew and rejecting yea even deriding the History of the Septuagint which the Primitive Church chiefly made use of and some Fathers that lived Centuries before him affirmed to be a most Certain thing And the many Various Lections in divers Copies of the Greek and the great Alterations among the Fathers of the first three Centuries who had greater opportunity to be better informed than we can now lay claim to concerning the Books to be admitted or rejected as above is observed I say all these and much more which might be alledged puts the Minds even of the Learned into Infinite Doubts Scruples and inextricable Difficulties Whence we may very safely Conclude that Jesus Christ who promised to be always with his Children to lead them into all Truth to guard them against the devices of the Enemy and to establish their Faith upon an unmoveable Rock left them not to be principally ruled by that which was subject in it self to many Vncertainties and therefore he gave them his Spirit as their Principal Guide which neither Moths nor Time can wear out nor Transcribers nor Translators Corrupt which none are so Young none so Illiterate none in so Remote a place but they may come to be Reached and rightly Informed by it Through and by the Clearness which that Spirit gives us it is that we are only best rid of those Difficulties that occur to us concerning the Scriptures The real and undoubted Experience whereof I my self have been a Witness of with great Admiration of the love
of God to his Children in these latter days For I have known some of my Friends who profess the same Faith with me faithful Servants of the most-High God and full of the Divine Knowledge of his Truth as it was immediately and inwardly Revealed to them by the Spirit from a true and living Experience who not only were ignorant of the Greek and Hebrew Wrong Translations of Scriptures discerned in the Spirit by the Unlearned in Letters but even some of them could not Read their own Vulgar Language who being pressed by the Adversaries with some Citations out of the English Translation and finding them to disagree with the Manifestation of Truth in their hearts have boldly Affirmed The Spirit of God never said so and that it was certainly wrong for they did not believe that any of the Holy Prophets or Apostles had ever written so Which when I on this Account seriously Examined I really found to be Errors and Corruptions of the Translators who as in most Translations do not so much give us the genuine Significations of the words as strain them to express that which comes nearest with that Opinion and Notion they have of Truth And this seemed to me to sute very well with that saying of Augustine Epist. 19. ad Hen. Tom. 2. fol. 14. after he has said that he gives only that honour to those Books which are called Canonical as to believe that the Authors thereof did in writing not Err. He adds And if I shall meet with any thing in these Writings that seemeth Repugnant to Truth I shall not doubt to say that either the Volume is Faulty or Erroneous that the Expounder hath not reached what was said or that I have in no wise Vnderstood it So that he supposes that in the Transcription and Translation there may be Errors § V. If it be then asked me Whether I think hereby to render the Scripture altogether uncertain Object or useless I Answer Not at all The Proposition it self declares what Esteem Answ. 1 I have for them And provided that to the Spirit from which they came be but granted that place the Scriptures themselves give it I do freely Concede to the Scripture the Second Place even whatsoever they say of themselves Which the Apostle Paul chiefly mentions in Two places Rom. 15.4 Whatsoever things were Written aforetime were Written for our Learning that we through Patience and Comfort of the Scriptures might have hope 2 Tim. 3.15 16 17. The Holy Scriptures are able to make wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus All Scripture given by Inspiration from God is profitable for Correction for Instruction in Righteousness that the Man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto every good Work For though God do principally and chiefly lead us by his Spirit yet he sometimes conveys his Comfort and Consolation to us through his Children whom he raises up and Inspires to Speak or Write a Word in Season whereby the Saints are made Instruments in the hand of the Lord to strengthen and encourage one another which do also tend to perfect and make them wise unto Salvation And such as are led by the Spirit cannot neglect The Saints Mutual Comfort is the same Spirit in all but do naturally love and are wonderfully cherished by that which proceedeth from the same Spirit in another because such mutual Emanations of the heavenly Life tend to quicken the mind when at any time it is overtaken with Heaviness Peter himself declares this to have been the End of his Writing 2 Pet. 1.12 13. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in Remembrance of those things though ye know them and be Established in the present Truth Yea I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in Remembrance God is Teacher of his People himself and there is nothing more Express than that such as are under the New Covenant They need no man to Teach them yet it was a Fruit of Christ's Ascension to send Teachers and Pastors for perfecting of the Saints So that the same Work is ascribed to the Scriptures as to Teachers the one to make the Man of God perfect the other for the perfection of the Saints As then Teachers are not to go before the Teaching of God himself under the New Covenant but to follow after it neither are they to Rob us of that great Priviledge which Christ hath purchased unto us by his Blood so neither is the Scripture to go before the Teaching of the Spirit or to Rob us of it Answ. 2 Secondly God hath seen meet that herein we should as in a Looking-glass see the Conditions and Experiences of the Saints of old that finding our Experience Answer to theirs The Scriptures a Looking-glass we might thereby be the more Confirmed and Comforted and our Hope Strengthened of obtaining the same End that observing the Providences attending them seeing the Snares they were liable to and beholding their Deliverances we may thereby be made Wise unto Salvation and seasonably Reproved and Instructed in Righteousness This is the Great Work of the Scriptures and their Service to us that we may witness them fulfilled in us and so discern the Stamp of God's Spirit and Ways upon them by the inward Acquaintance we have with the same Spirit and Work in our hearts The Scriptures Work and Service The Prophecies of the Scripture are also very comfortable and profitable unto us as the same Spirit Inlightens us to observe them fulfilled and to be fulfilled For in all this it is to be observed that it is only the Spiritual man that can make a right use of them they are able to make the Man of God perfect so it is not the Natural Man and whatsoever was written aforetime was written for Our Comfort Our that are the Believers our that are the Saints concerning such the Apostle speaks For as for the other the Apostle Peter plainly declares that the Vnstable and Vnlearned wrest them to their own destruction These were they that were Vnlearned in the Divine and Heavenly Learning of the Spirit not in Humane and School-literature of which we may safely presume that Peter himself being a Fisher-man had no great skill for it may be with great probability yea certainly be affirmed that he had no knowledge of Aristotle's Logick Logick which both Papists and Protestants now degenerating from the Simplicity of Truth make Hand-maid of Divinity as they call it and a necessary Introduction to their Carnal Natural and Humane Ministry By the infinite obscure Labours of which kind of men mixing-in their heathenish stuff the Scripture is rendered at this day of so little service to the simple people whereof if Jerom complained in his time now twelve hundred years ago saying Hierom. Ep. 134. ad Cypr. Tom. 3. It is wont to befall the most part of Learned men that it is
be Observed that these were the Jews of Beroea to Answ. 2 whom these Scriptures which were the Law and the Prophets were more particularly a Rule and the thing under the Examination was The Beroeans searching the Scriptures makes them not the Only Rule to Try Doctrines Whether the Birth Life Works and Sufferings of Christ did answer to the Prophecies that went before of him so that it was most proper for them being Jews to Examine the Apostles Doctrine by the Scriptures seeing he pleaded it to be a Fulfilling of them It is said nevertheless in the first place That they received the Word with Chearfulness and in the second place They searched the Scriptures not that they searched the Scriptures and then Received the Word for then could not they have prevailed to Convert them had they not first minded the Word abiding in them which opened their Vnderstandings no more than the Scribes and Pharisees who as in the former Objection we observed searched the Scriptures and exalted them and yet remained in their Vnbelief because they had not the Word abiding in them But Lastly If this Commendation of the Jewish Boereans might Infer that the Scriptures were the only and principal Rule to Try the Apostles Answ. 3 Doctrine by what should have become of the Gentiles How should they ever come to have Received the Faith of Christ who neither knew the Scriptures nor believed them We see in the end of the same Chapter how the Apostle preaching to the Athenians took another Method The Athenians Instanced and directed them to somewhat of God within themselves that they might feel after him He did not first go about to Proselyte them to the Jewish Religion and to the Belief of the Law and the Prophets and from thence to prove the Coming of Christ Nay he took a nearer Way Now certainly the principal and only Rule is not different One to the Jews and another to the Gentiles but is Vniversal reaching both though Secondary and Subordinate Rules and Means may be various and diversly suted according as the People they are used to are stated and circumstantiated Even so we see that the Apostle to the Athenians used a Testimony of one of their own Poets which he judged would have Credit with them and no doubt such Testimonies whose Authors they Esteemed had more Weight with them than all the Sayings of Moses and the Prophets whom they neither knew nor would have cared for Now because the Apostle used the Testimony of a Poet to the Athenians will it therefore follow he made that the Principal or Only Rule to Try his Doctrine by So neither will it follow that though he made use of the Scriptures to the Jews as being a Principle already believed by them to Try his Doctrine that from thence the Scriptures may be accounted the Principal or Only Rule § IX The last and which at first view seems to be the greatest Objection is this Object 4 If the Scripture be not the Adequate Principal and Only Rule then it would follow that the Scripture is not Compleat nor the Canon filled that if men be now immediately led and ruled by the Spirit they may add New Scriptures of equal Authority with the Old whereas every one that Adds is Cursed yea what Assurance have we but that at this rate every one may bring-in a New Gospel according to his Fancy Answ. The dangerous Consequences Insinuated in this Objection were fully Answered in the latter part of the last Proposition in what was said a little before offering freely to Disclaim all pretended Revelations Contrary to the Scriptures Object 1 But if it be urged That it is not enough to deny these Consequences if they naturally follow from your Doctrine of Immediate Revelation and denying the Scripture to be the Only Rule I Answer We have proved both these Doctrines to be True and Necessary Answ. 1 according to the Scriptures themselves and therefore to fasten Evil Consequences upon them which we make appear do not follow is not to Accuse us but Christ and his Apostles who preached them But secondly we have shut the door upon all such Doctrine in this very Answ. 2 Position Affirming That the Scriptures give a Full and Ample Testimony to all the Principal Doctrines of the Christian Faith For we do firmly believe that there is no other Gospel or Doctrine to be preached but that which was delivered by the Apostles and do freely subscribe to that saying Let him that preacheth any other Gospel than that which hath been already preach'd by the Apostles Gal. 1.8 according to the Scriptures be accursed A New Revelation is not a New Gospel So we distinguish betwixt a Revelation of a New Gospel and New Doctrines and a New Revelation of the good old Gospel and Doctrines the last we plead for but the first we utterly deny For we firmly believe That no other Foundation can any man lay than that which is laid already But that this Revelation is necessary we have already proved and this Distinction doth sufficiently guard us against the hazzard insinuated in the Objection Books Canonical As to the Scriptures being a filled Canon I see no necessity of believing it and if these men that believe the Scripture to be the Only Rule will be consistent to their own Doctrine they must needs be of my Judgment seeing it is simply Impossible to prove the Canon by the Scriptures For it cannot be found in any Book of the Scripture that these Books and just these and no other are Canonical as all are forced to acknowledge How can they then Evite this Argument That which cannot be proved by Scripture is no Necessary Article of Faith But The Canon of the Scripture to wit that there are so many Books precisely neither more nor less cannot be proved by Scripture Therefore It is no Necessary Article of Faith Object 2 If they should Alledge That the Admitting of any other Books to be now written by the same Spirit might infer the Admission of New Doctrines I deny that Consequence for the Principal or Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian Religion are contained in the Tenth Part of the Scripture but it will not follow thence that the Rest are Impertinent or Vseless If it should please God to bring to us any of these Books which by the Injury of Time are lost which are mentioned in the Scripture as The Prophecy of Enoch The Book of Nathan Books lost c. or The Third Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians I see no Reason why we might not Receive them and place them with the rest That which displeaseth me is that men should first affirm That the Scripture is the Only Principal Rule And yet make a great Article of Faith of that which the Scripture can give us no Light in As for Instance How shall a Protestant prove by Scripture to such as deny the Epistle of James to be
those that Exalt a natural Power or Light in man and how our Principle leads above all others to attribute our whole Salvation to the meer Power Spirit and Grace of God To them then that ask us after this matter How do ye differ from the Pelagians and Arminians For if two men have equal sufficient Light and Grace and the one be saved by it and the other not is it not because the one improves it the other not Is not then the Will of man the Cause of the one's Salvation beyond the other I say to such we thus Answer That as the Grace and Light in all is sufficient to save all and of its own nature would save all so it strives and wrestles with all for to save them he that Resists its strivings is the Cause of his own Condemnation The Light 's Operation in order to Salvation he that Resists it not it becomes his Salvation So that in him that is saved the working is of the Grace and not of the Man and it 's a Passiveness rather than an Act though afterwards as man is wrought upon there is a Will raised in him by which he comes to be a Co-worker with the Grace for according to that of Augustine He that made us without us will not save us without us So that the first step is not by Man's Working but by his not Contrary Working And we believe that at these singular seasons of every man's Visitation above-mentioned as man is wholly unable of himself to work with the Grace neither can he move one step out of the natural Condition until the Grace lay hold upon him so it is possible to him to be passive and not to Resist it as it is also possible for him to Resist it So we say The Grace of God works in and upon man's Nature which though of it self wholly corrupted and defiled and prone to evil yet is capable to be wrought upon by the Grace of God Even as Iron though a hard and cold Metal of it self may we warm'd and softned by the heat of the fire and Wax melted by the Sun And as Iron or Wax when removed from the Fire or Sun returneth to its former Condition of Coldness and Hardness so man's Heart as it Resists or retires from the Grace of God returns to its former Condition again I have often had the manner of God's working in order to Salvation towards all men illustrated to my mind by one or two clear Examples which I shall here Add for the Information of others The First is Of a man heavily diseased to whom I Compare Man in his fall'n and natural Condition I suppose God who is the great Physician not only to give this man Physick after he hath used all the Industry he can for his own Health by any skill or knowledge he hath of his own As those that say If a man Improve his Reason or natural Faculties God will superadd Grace Or as others say That he cometh and maketh Offer of a Remedy to this man outwardly The Example of a Diseased Man and the Physician leaving it to the liberty of Man 's Will either to receive it or reject it But He even the Lord this great Physician cometh and poureth the Remedy into his mouth and as it were layeth him in his bed so that if the sick man be but passive it will necessarily work the Effect but if he be stubborn and untoward and will needs rise up and go forth into the Cold or Eat such fruits as are hurtful to him while the Medicine should Operate then though of its Nature it tendeth to cure him yet it will prove Destructive to him because of those Obstructions which it meeteth with Now as the Man that should thus undo himself would certainly be the Cause of his own Death so who will say that if Cured he owes not his Health wholly to the Physician and not to any Deed of his own seeing his part was not any Action but a Passiveness The Example of Men lying stupified in a dark pit and their Deliverer The Second Example is of divers men lying in a dark pit together where all their senses are so stupified that they are scarce sensible of their own misery To this I Compare Man in his natural corrupt fall'n Coâ—â—dition I suppose not that any of these men wrestling to deliver themselves do thereby stir up or engage one able to deliver them to give them his help saying with himself I see one of these men willing to be deliver'd and doing what in him lies therefore he deserves to be assisted as say the Socinians Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians Neither do I suppose that this deliverer comes to the top of the pit and puts down a ladder desiring them that will to come up and so puts them upon using their own Strength and Will to come up as do the Jesuites and Arminians yet as they say such are not delivered without the Grace seeing the Grace is that Ladder by which they were delivered But I suppose that the Deliverer comes at certain times and fully Discovers and Informs them of the great Misery and Hazzard they are in if they continue in that Noisom and Pestiferous Place yea forces them to a certain sense of their Misery for the wickedest men at times are made sensible of their Misery by God's Visitation and not only so but lays hold upon them and gives them a Pull in order to lift them out of their Misery which if they Resist not will save them only they may Resist it This being Applied as the former doth the same way Illustrate the matter Neither is the Grace of God frustrated though the Effect of it be divers according to its Object being the Ministration of Mercy and Love in those that Reject it not but receive it Joh. 1.12 but the Ministration of Wrath and Condemnation in those A Simile of the Sun 's Melting and Hardening c. power that do Reject it Joh. 3.19 Even as the Sun by one Act or Operation melteth and softeneth the Wax and hardeneth the Clay the Nature of the Sun is to Cherish the Creation and therefore the Living are Refreshed by it and the flowers send forth a good Savour as it shines upon them and the Fruits of the Trees are ripened yet cast forth a Dead Carcase a thing without Life and the same Reflexion of the Sun will cause it to stink and putrify it yet is not the Sun said thereby frustrate of its proper Effect So every man during the day of his Visitation is shined upon by the Sun of Righteousness and capable of being Influenced by it so as to send forth good Fruit and a good Savour and to be melted by it but when he has sinned out his day then the same Sun hardneth him as it doth the Clay and makes his Wickedness more to appear and putrify and send forth an Evil Savour § XVIII Lastly As we
by which Inward Manifestation we are made capable to see and discern the Eternal Power and Godhead in the outward Creation So were it not for this Inward Principle we could no more understand the Invisible things of God by the outward Visible Creation than a blind man can see and discern the variety of Shapes and Colours or judge of the Beauty of the outward Creation Therefore he saith first That which may be known of God is manifest in them and in and by that they may read and understand the Power and Godhead in those things that are Outward and Visible And though any might pretend that the outward Creation doth of it self without any Supernatural or Saving Principle in the heart even declare to the natural man that there is a God yet what would such a Knowledge avail if it did not also Communicate to me what the Will of God is and how I shall do that The Onward Creation may beget a Perswasion in man of an Eternal Power and Virtue which is acceptable to him For the outward Creation though it may beget a Perswasion that there is some Eternal Power or Vertue by which the World hath had its Beginning yet it doth not tell me nor doth it Inform me of that which is just holy and righteous how I shall be delivered from my Temptations and Evil Affections and come unto Righteousness that must be from some Inward Manifestation in my heart whereas those Gentiles of whom the Apostle speaks knew by that Inward Law and Manifestation of the Knowledge of God in them to distinguish betwixt Good and Evil as in the next Chapter appears of which we shall speak hereafter The Prophet Micah speaking of man Indefinitely or in General declares this Mich. 6.8 He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do Justly and to love Mercy and to walk Humbly with thy God He doth not say God Requires till he hath first assured that he hath shewed unto them Now because this is shewed unto all men and manifest in them therefore saith the Apostle Is the Wrath of God revealed against them for that they hold the Truth in Vnrighteousness that is the measure of Truth the Light the Seed the Grace in them for that they Hide the Talent in the Earth that is in the Earthly and Vnrighteous part in their hearts and suffer it not to bring forth fruit but to be choked with the sensual Cares of this Life the Fear of Reproach and the Deceitfulness of Riches as by the Parables above-mentioned doth appear But the Apostle Paul opens and illustrates this matter yet more Rom. 10. where he declares That the Word which he preached now the Word which he preached and the Gospel which he preached and whereof he was a Minister is one and the same is not far off but nigh in the heart and in the mouth This Divine Preacher the Word nigh hath sounded in the Ears and Hearts of all men which done he frameth as it were the Objection of our Adversaries in Vers. 12 15. How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard how shall they hear without a Preacher This he answers Verse 18. saying But I say have they not heard yes verily their Sound went forth into all the Earth and their Words unto the End of the World insinuating that this Divine Preacher hath sounded in the Ears and Hearts of all men for of the outward Apostles that saying was not true neither then nor many hundred years after yea for ought we know there may be yet great and spacious Nations and Kingdoms who never have heard of Christ nor his Apostles as outwardly This Inward and Powerful Word of God is yet more fully described in the Epistle to the Hebrews c. 4. v. 12 13. For the Word of God is quick and sharper than any two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the heart The Virtues of this Spiritual Word are here enumerated It is Quick because it Searches and Tries the hearts of all no man's Heart is Exempt from it for the Apostle gives this Reason of its being so in the following Verse Before whom all things are manifest But all things are naked and opened unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do and there is not any Creature that is not manifest in his sight Though this ultimately and mediately be Refer'd to God yet nearly and immediately it relates to the Word or Light which as hath been before proved is in the hearts of all else it had been Improper to have brought it in here The Apostle shews And every Thought and Intent of the heart how every Intent and Thought of the heart is discerned by the Word of God because all things are naked before God which imports nothing else but it is in and by this Word whereby God sees and discerns man's Thoughts and so must needs be in all men because the Apostle saith There is no Creature that is not manifest in his sight The Faithful Witness This then is that faithful Witness and Messenger of God that bears Witness for God and for his Righteousness in the hearts of all men for he hath not left man without a Witness Acts 14.17 and he is said to be given for a Witness to the people Isa. 55.4 And as this Word beareth Witness for God so it is not placed in men only to Condemn them for as he is given for a Witness so saith the Prophet he is given for a Leader and a Commander A Leader and Commander The Light is given that all through it may believe Joh 1.7 For Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by this Word of God which is placed in man's Heart both to be a Witness for God and to be a Mean to bring man to God through Faith and Repentance It is therefore powerful that it may divide betwixt the Soul and the Spirit It is like a Two-edged-sword A Two-edged Sword that it may cut off Iniquity from him and separate betwixt the precious and the vile And because man's heart is cold and hard like Iron naturally therefore hath God placed this Word in him which is said to be like a Fire A Fire and a Hammer and like a Hammer Jer. 23.29 that like as by the heat of the Fire the Iron of its own nature Cold is warmed and by the strength of the Hammer is softned and framed according to the mind of the Worker so the Cold and Hard heart of man is by the vertue and powerfulness of this Word of God near and in the heart as it resists not warmed and softned and receiveth a Heavenly and Coelestial Impression and Image The most part of the Fathers have spoken at large touching this Word Seed and Light and Saving Voice calling
touching those who according to the common Opinion of Protestants have been Converted whom albeit they confess they persist always in some Misdeeds and sometimes in hainous Sins as is manifest in David's Adultery and Murder yet they assert to be perfectly and wholly Justified How comes he then so often to Complain to Expostulate so much throughout the whole Scripture with such as our Adversaries Confess to be Justified telling them That their sins separate betwixt him and them Isa. 59.2 For where there is a perfect and full Reconciliation there is no Separation Yea from this Doctrine it necessarily follows either that such for whom Christ died and whom he hath thus Reconciled never Sin or that when they do so they are still Reconciled and their Sins make not the least Separation from God yea that they are Justified in their Sins From whence also would follow this Abominable Consequence That the good Works and greatest Sins of such are alike in the sight of God seeing neither the one serves to Justify them nor the other to break their Reconciliation which occasions great Security and opens a door to every lewd Practice †Proof III. Thirdly This would make void the whole practical Doctrine of the Gospel and make Faith it self Needless For if Faith and Repentance and the other Conditions called for throughout the Gospel be a Qualification upon our part necessary to be performed then before this be performed by us we are either fully reconciled to God or but in a Capacity of being Reconciled to God he being ready to Reconcile and Justify us as these Conditions are performed Which latter if granted is according to the Truth we profess And if we are already perfectly Reconciled and Justified before these Conditions are performed which Conditions are of that Nature that they cannot be performed at one time but are to be done all one's life time then can they not be said to be absolutely Needful Which is contrary to the very express Testimony of Scripture which is acknowledged by all Christians For * Hebr. 11.6 John 3.18 Luke 13.3 Apoc. 2.5 Rom. 8.13 without Faith it is Impossible to please God They that believe not are Condemn'd already because they believe not in the Only begotten Son of God Except ye Repent ye cannot be Saved For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die And of those that were Converted I will Remove your Candlestick from you unless ye Repent Should I mention all the Scriptures that positively and evidently prove this I might transcribe much of all the Doctrinal Part of the Bible For since Christ said It is finished and did finish his Work sixteen hundred years ago and upwards if he so fully perfected Redemption then and did then actually Reconcile every one that is to be Saved not simply opening a Door of Mercy for them A Door of Mercy opened by Christ upon Repentance offering the Sacrifice of his Body by which they may obtain Remission of their Sins when they Repent and Communicating unto them a measure of his Grace by which they may see their sins and be able to Repent but really make them to be Reputed as Just The Antinomians Opinion of Reconciliation and Justification either before they believe as say the Antinomians or after they have Assented to the Truth of the History of Christ or are sprinkled with the Baptism of Water while nevertheless they are actually Vnjust so that no part of their Redemption is to be wrought by him now as to their Reconciliation and Justification then the whole doctrinal Part of the Bible is useless and of no profit in vain were the Apostles sent forth to preach Repentance and Remission of Sins and in vain do all the Preachers bestow their labour spend their lungs and give forth Writings yea much more in vain do the people spend their money which they give them for preaching seeing it is all but Actum agere but a vain and uneffectual Essay to do that which is already perfectly done without them Proof IV But lastly To pretermit their humane Labours as not worth the disputing whether they be needful or not since as we shall hereafter shew themselves Confess the Best of them is Sinful this also makes void the present Intercession of Christ for men What shall become of that great Article of Faith Christ's daily making Intercession for us by which we Affirm That he sits at the right hand of God daily making Intercession for us and for which end the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered For Christ maketh not Intercession for those that are not in a possibility of Salvation that is absurd Our Adversaries will not admit that he prayed for the World at all and to pray for those that are already Reconciled and perfectly Justified is to no purpose To pray for Remission of Sins is yet more Needless if all be Remitted past present and to come Indeed there is not any solid Solving of this but by acknowledging according to the Truth that Christ by his Death removed the Wrath of God so far as to obtain Remission of sins for as many as Receive that Grace and Light that he communicates unto them and hath purchased for them by his Blood which as they believe in they come to know Remission of sins past and power to save them from sin and to wipe it away so often as they may fall into it by unwatchfulness or weakness if applying themselves to this Grace they truly Repent For to as many as receive him he gives power to become the sons of God So none are sons none are justified none reconciled until they thus receive him in that little Seed in their hearts and life Eternal is offered to those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek glory honour and immortality For if the righteous man depart from his righteousness his righteousness shall be remembred no more And therefore on the other part none are longer Sons of God and justified than they patiently continue in righteousness and well-doing And therefore Christ lives always making Intercession during the day of every man's Visitation that they may be Converted and when men are in some measure Converted he makes Intercession that they may Continue and go-on and not faint nor go back again Much more might be said to Confirm this Truth but I go on to take notice of the Common Objections against it which are the Arguments made use of to propagate the Errors Contrary to it § VI. The First and Chief is drawn from that saying of the Apostle before-mentioned 2 Cor. 5.18 19. God hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not Imputing their Trespasses unto them Object 1 From hence they seek to Infer That Christ fully perfected the Work of Reconciliation while he was on Earth I Answer If by Reconciliation be understood the Removing of Wrath
Legal Acceptation As first in that of 1 Cor. 6.11 But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified as I before have proved which also many Protestants are forced to acknowledge Neither diffide we saith Thysius because of the most great and strict Connexion Thysius Disp. de Just. Thes. 3. that Justification doth sometimes seem also to Comprehend Sanctification as a Consequence as in Rom. 8.30 Tit. 3.7 1 Cor. 6.11 And such sometimes were ye Zanchius in cap. 2. ad Eph. ver 4. loc de Just. but ye are washed c. Zanchius having spoken concerning this sense of Justification adds saying There is another signification of the word viz. for a man from Unjust to be made Just even as sanctified signifies from unholy to be made holy In which signification the Apostle said in the place above-cited And such were some of you c. that is of unclean ye are made holy and of unjust ye are made just by the Holy Spirit for Christ's sake in whom ye have believed Of this signification is that Rev. 22.11 Let him that is just be just still that is really from just become more just even as from unjust he became just And according to this signification the Fathers and especially Augustine have Interpreted this word H. Bullinger Thus far he H. Bullinger on the same place 1 Cor. 6. speaketh thus By divers words saith he the Apostle signifies the same thing when he saith ye are washed ye are sanctified ye are justified Proof II Secondly In that Excellent Saying of the Apostle so much observed Rom. 8.30 Whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified This is commonly called the Golden Chain as being acknowledged to Comprehend the Method and Order of Salvation And therefore if Justified were not understood here in its proper signification of being made just Sanctification would be excluded out of this Chain Righteousness the only Medium by which from our Calling we pass to Glorification And truly it is very worthy of observation that the Apostle in this succinct and compendious Account makes the word Justified to comprehend all betwixt Calling and Glorifying thereby clearly insinuating that the being really Righteous is that only Medium by which from our Calling we pass to Glorification All for the most part do acknowledge the word to be so taken in this place and not only so but most of those who oppose are forced to acknowledge that as this is the most proper so the most common Signification of it thus divers famous Protestants do acknowledge We are not saith D. Chamierus such Impertinent Esteemers of words as to be ignorant nor yet such importunate Sophists as to deny that the words of Justification and Sanctification do infer one another yea we know that the Saints are chiefly for this Reason so called D. Chamier Tom. 3. de Sanct. l. 10. c. 1. because that in Christ they have received Remission of Sins and we read in the Revelation Let him that is just be just still which cannot be understood except of the fruit of Inherent Righteousness Nor do we deny but perhaps in other places they may be promiscuously taken especially by the Father I take saith Beza the name of Justification largely Beza in cap. 3. ad Tit. vers 7. so as it comprehends whatsoever we acquire from Christ as well by Imputation as by the Efficacy of the Spirit in sanctifying us So likewise is the word of Justification taken Rom. 8.30 Melanchthon saith Melancht in Apol. Confes. Aug. that to be justified by Faith signifies in Scripture not only to be pronounced Just but also of Unrighteous to be made Righteous Also some Chief Protestants though not so clearly yet in part hinted at our Doctrine whereby we ascribe unto the Death of Christ Remission of Sins and the work of Justification unto the Grace of the Spirit acquired by his Death Boraeus in Gen. c. 15. ad verb Credidit Abraham Deo pag. 161. Martinus Boraeus explaining that place of the Apostle Rom. 4.25 Who was given for our sins and rose again for our Justification saith There are two things beheld in Christ which are necessary to our Justification the one is his Death the other is his Arising from the dead By his Death the sins of this World behoved to be Expiated By his Rising from the dead it pleased the same goodness of God to give the Holy Spirit whereby both the Gospel is believed and the Righteousness lost by the fault of the first Adam is restored And afterwards he saith The Apostle expresseth both parts in these words Who was given for our sins c. In his Death is beheld the Satisfaction for sin in his Resurrection the Gift of the Holy Spirit by which our Justification is perfected And again the same man saith elsewhere Idem lib. 3. Reg. cap. 9. v. 4. pag. 681. Both these kinds of Righteousness are therefore contained in Justification neither can the one be separate from the other So that in the Definition of Justification the Merit of the Blood of Christ is included both with the Remission of sins and with the gift of the Holy Spirit of Justification and Regeneration Martinus Bucerus saith Seeing by one sin of Adam the world was lost Bucerus in Rom. 4. ad ver 16. the Grace of Christ hath not only abolished that one sin and death which came by it but hath together taken away those infinite sins and also led into full Justification as many as are of Christ so that God now not only Remits unto them Adam 's sin and their own but also gives them therewith the Spirit of a solid and perfect Righteousness Righteousness a Conformity to the Image of the First-begotten which renders us Conform unto the Image of the First-Begotten And upon these words by Jesus Christ he saith We always judge that the whole benefit of Christ tends to this that we might be strong through the Gift of Righteousness being rightly and orderly adorned with all virtue that is restored to the Image of God And lastly William Forbes our Country-man W. Forbes in Considerat Modest. de Just. lib. 2. Sect 8. Bishop of Edinburgh saith Whensoever the Scripture makes mention of the Justification before God as speaketh Paul and from him besides others Augustin it appears that the word Justify necessarily signifies not only to pronounce Just in a Law sense but also really and inherently to make Just because that God doth otherways justify a wicked man than Earthly Judges For he when he Justifies a wicked or unjust man How God justifies the Wicked doth indeed pronounce him as these also do but by pronouncing him Just because his Judgment is according to Truth he also makes him really of Unjust to become Just. And again the same man upon the same occasion answering the more rigid Protestants who say That God first justifies and
this is that other saying of the same Apostle Gal. 4.19 My little Children of whom I travel in Birth again until Christ be formed in you and therefore the Apostle terms this Christ within the Hope of Glory Col. 1.27 28. Now that which is the hope of glory can be no other than that which we immediately and most nearly Rely upon for our Justification and that whereby we are really and truly made Just. And as we do not hereby deny but the Original and Fundamental Cause of our Justification is the love of God manifested in the Appearance of Jesus Christ in the flesh who by his life death Christ by his Death and Sufferings has open'd a way for our Reconciliation sufferings and obedience made a way for our Reconciliation and became a Sacrifice for the Remission of sins that are past and purchased unto us this Seed and Grace from which this Birth arises and in which Jesus Christ is inwardly Received formed and brought forth in us in his own pure and holy Image of Righteousness by which our Souls live unto God and are cloathed with him and have put him on even as the Scripture speaks Eph. 4.23 24 Gal. 3.27 We stand Justified and Saved in and by him and by his Spirit and Grace Rom. 3.24 1 Cor. 6.11 Tit. 3.7 So again reciprocally we are hereby made partakers of the fulness of his Merits and his cleansing Blood is near to wash away every Sin and Infirmity and to heal all our back-slidings as often as we turn towards him by unfeigned Repentance and become Renewed by his Spirit Those then that find him thus Raised and Ruling in them have a true ground of Hope to believe that they are Justified by his Blood But let not any deceive themselves so as to foster themselves in a vain Hope and Confidence that by the Death and Sufferings of Christ they are Justified so long as sin lies at their door Gen. 4.7 Iniquity prevails and they remain yet Vnrenewed and Vnregenerate lest it be said unto them I know you not Let that saying of Christ be remembred Not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter but he that doth the Will of my Father Matth. 7.21 To which let these excellent sayings of the beloved Disciple be added Little Children let no man deceive you he that doth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous He that committeth sin is of the Devil because if our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things 1 John 3.7 and 20. Many famous Protestants bear witness to this inward Justification by Christ inwardly Revealed and Formed in man Borhaeus in Gen. pag. 162. As 1. M. Borhaeus In the Imputation saith he wherein Christ is Ascribed and Imputed to believers for Righteousness the Merit of his Blood and the Holy Ghost given unto us by virtue of his Merits are equally Included And so it shall be Confessed The Testimonies of Famous Protestants of Inward Justification that Christ is our Righteousness as well from his Merit Satisfaction and Remission of sins obtained by him as from the Gifts of the Spirit of Righteousness And if we do this we shall consider the whole Christ proposed to us for our Salvation and not any single part of him The same man p. 169. In our Justification then Christ is considered who breaths and lives in us to wit by his Spirit put-on by us concerning which putting-on the Apostle saith Ye have put on Christ. And again p. 171. We endeavour to Treat in Justification not of part of Christ but him wholly in so far as he is our Righteousness every way And a little after As then blessed Paul in our Justification when he saith Whom he Justified them he Glorified comprehends all things which pertain to our being Reconciled to God the Father and our Renewing which fits us for attaining unto Glory such as Faith Righteousness Christ and the Gift of Righteousness exhibited by him whereby we are Regenerated to the fulfilling of the Justification which the Law requires so we also will have all things comprehended in this cause which are contained in the Recovery of Righteousness and and Innocency And p. 181. The Form saith he of our Justification is the Divine Righteousness it self by which we are formed just and good This is Jesus Christ who is esteemed our Righteousness partly from the Forgiveness of sins and partly from the Renewing and the Restoring of that Integrity which was lost by the fault of the first Adam so that this New and Heavenly Adam being put-on by us of which the Apostle saith Ye have put on Christ ye have put him on I say as the Form so the Righteousness Wisdom and Life of God So also affirmeth Claudius Alberius Inuncunanus Inuncunanus see his Orat. Apodict Lausaniae Excus 1587. Orat. 2. p. 86 87. Zuinglius also in his Epistle to the Princes of Germany as cited by Himmelius Zuinglius c. 7. p. 60. saith That the Sanctification of the Spirit is true Justification Essius which alone suffices to Justify Essius upon 1 Cor. 6.11 saith Lest Christian Righteousness should be thought to consist in the Washing alone that is in the Remission of Sins he addeth the other Degree or part but ye are sanctified that is Ye have attain'd to Purity so that ye are now truly holy before God Lastly expressing the sum of the Benefit received in one word which includes both the parts But ye are Justified the Apostle adds in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ that is by his Merits and in the Spirit of our God that is the Holy Spirit proceeding from God and communicated to us by Christ. And lastly R. Baxter R. Baxter a famous English Preacher who yet liveth in his Book called Aphorisms of Justification p. 80. saith That some ignorant Wretches gnash their Teeth at this Doctrine as if it were flat Popery not understanding the nature of the Righteousness of the New Covenant which is all out of Christ in our selves thô wrought by the Power of the Spirit of Christ in us § IX The Third thing proposed to be considered is Concerning Good Position III Works their necessity to Justification I suppose there is enough said before to clear us from any Imputation of being Popish in this matter Good Works But if it be queried Whether we have not said or will not affirm Quest. that a man is Justified by Works I answer I hope none need neither ought to take Offence Answ. if in this matter we use the plain language of the Holy Scripture which saith expresly in Answer hereunto James 2.24 Ye see then That Works are necessary to Justification how that by Works a man is Justified and not by Faith only I shall not offer to prove the Truth of this saying since what is said in this Chapter by the Apostle is sufficient to Convince any man that will read and
believe it I shall only from this derive this one Argument If no man can be Justified without Faith and no Faith be living Arg. nor yet available to Justification without Works Then Works are necessary to Justification But the First is true Therefore also the Last For this Truth is so apparent and evident in the Scriptures that for the proof of it we might transcribe most of the Precepts of the Gospel I shall Instance a few which of themselves do so clearly Assert the thing in Question that they need no Commentary nor further Demonstration And then I shall answer the Objections made against this which indeed are the Arguments used for the Contrary Opinion Hebr. 12.14 Not the Sayers but the Doers are blessed Without holiness no man shall see God Matth. 7.21 Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in heaven Joh. 13.17 If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them 1 Cor. 7.19 Circumcision is nothing and Vncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the Commandments of God Rev. 22.14 Blessed are they that do his Commandments that they may have right to the Tree of Life and through the Gates may enter into the City And many more that might be Instanced From all which I thus Argue If those only can Enter into the Kingdom Arg. that do the Will of the Father If those be accounted only the Wise builders and happy that do the sayings of Christ If no Observations avail but only the keeping of the Commandments and if they be blessed that do the Commandments and thereby have right to the Tree of Life and Entrance through the Gate into the City Then Works are absolutely necessary to Salvation and Justification But the First is true And therefore also the Last The Consequence of the Antecedent is so clear and evident that I think no man of sound Reason will call for a proof of it § X. * Object 1. But they Object that Works are not necessary to Justification First Because of that saying of Christ Luke 17.10 When ye shall have done all these things that are Commanded you say We are unprofitable servants c. Answer As to God we are indeed Vnprofitable for he needeth nothing neither can we Add any thing unto him Unprofitable Servants but as to our selves we are not Vnprofitable else it might be said that it is not profitable for a man to keep God's Commandments Answ. which is most Absurd and would Contradict Christ's Doctrine throughout God needeth nothing Doth not Christ Matth. 5. through all those Beatitudes pronounce men blessed for their purity for their meekness for their peaceableness c And is not then that for which Christ pronounceth men blessed profitable unto them Moreover Matth. 25.21 23. doth not Christ pronounce the men good and faithful servants Those that had improved their Talents were called Good and Faithful Servants that Improved their Talents Was not their doing of that then profitable unto them And vers 30. it is said of him that hid his Talent and did not Improve it Cast ye the Vnprofitable servant into utter darkness If then their not improving of the Talent made the man Vnprofitable and he was therefore cast into utter darkness it will follow by the Rule of Contraries so far at least that the Improving made the other profitable seeing if our Adversaries will allow us to believe Christ's words this is made a Reason and so at least a Cause Instrumental of their Acceptance Well done good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful over a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things Enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. Object 2 Secondly They object those sayings of the Apostle where he excludes the deeds of the Law from Justification as first Rom. 3.20 Because by the deeds of the Law there shall be no flesh justified in his sight and v. 28. Therefore we conclude that a man is Justified by Faith without the deeds of the Law Answ. We have shewn already what place we give to Works even to Answ. 1 the best of Works in Justification and how we ascribe its Immediate and Formal Cause to the Worker brought forth in us The Works of the Gospel or Grace distinguish't from the Works of the Law but not to the Works But in answer to this Objection I say There is a great difference betwixt the works of the Law and those of Grace or of the Gospel The first are excluded the second not but are necessary The first are those which are performed in man's own will and by his strength in a conformity to the outward Law and Letter and therefore are man's own Imperfect Works or works of the Law which makes nothing perfect And to this belong all the Ceremonies Purifications Washings and Traditions of the Jews The second are the works of the Spirit of Grace in the heart wrought in Conformity to the Inward and Spiritual Law which Works are not wrought in man's Will nor by his power and ability but in and by the Power and Spirit of Christ in us and therefore are pure and perfect in their kind as shall hereafter be proved and may be called Christ's Works for that he is the Immediate Author and Worker of them Such Works we affirm absolutely Necessary to Justification so that a man cannot be Justified without them and all Faith without them is dead and useless as the Apostle James saith Now that such a Distinction is to be admitted and that the Works excluded by the Apostle in the matter of Justification are of the first kind will appear if we consider the Occasion of the Apostle mentioning this as well here as throughout in his Epistle to the Galatians where he speaks of this matter and to this purpose at large which was this That whereas many of the Gentiles that were not of the Race nor Seed of Abraham as concerning the flesh were come to be Converted to the Christian Faith and believe in him some of those that were of the Jewish Proselytes thought to subject the faithful and believing Gentiles to the Legal Ceremonies and Observations as necessary to their Justification The Occasion of the Apostles speaking of the Works of the Law which are Excluded This gave the Apostle Paul occasion at length in his Epistle to the Romans Galatians and elsewhere to shew the Vse and Tendency of the Law and of its Works and to Contradistinguish them from the Faith of Christ and Righteousness thereof shewing how the former was Ceased and become Ineffectual the other Remaining and yet Necessary And that the Works excluded by the Apostle are of this kind of Works of the Law appears by the whole strain of his Epistle to the Galatians Chap. 1 2 3 4. For after in Chap. 4. he upbraideth them for their returning unto the Observation of days
by our selves For should we so Conclude then it would follow that we should throw away all Holiness and Righteousness since that which is filthy Rags and as a menstruous Garment ought to be thrown away yea it would follow that all the fruits of the Spirit mentioned Gal. 4. were as filthy Rags whereas on the contrary some of the Works of the Saints are said to have a Sweat savour in the nostrils of the Lord are said to be an Ornament of great price in the sight of God are said to Prevail with him and to be Acceptable to him which filthy Rags and a menstruous Garment cannot be Yea many famous Protestants have acknowledged that this place is not therefore so to be understood Calvin's and others their sense concerning Isa. 64 6. of our Righteousness Calvin upon this place saith That it is used to be cited by some that they may prove there is so little Merit in our Works that they are before God filthy and defiled but this seems to me to be different from the Prophet's Mind saith he seeing he speaks not here of all Mankind Musculus upon this place saith Musculus That it was usual for this people to presume much of their legal Righteousness as if thereby they were made Clean nevertheless they had no more Cleanness than the unclean Garment of a man Others expone this place concerning all the Righteousness of our flesh that Opinion indeed is true Yet I think that the Prophet did rather accommodate these sayings to the Impurity of that people in legal Terms The Author commonly supposed Bertius speaking concerning the True Sense of Chap. 7. of the Epistle to the Romans Bertius Epistolae praefixae dissert ann hath a Digression touching this of Isaiah saying This place is commonly corrupted by a pernicious wresting for it is still alledged as if the meaning thereof inferred the most Excellent Works of the best Christians c. Ja. Coret Apolog. Impress Paris ann 1597· pag. 78. James Coret a French Minister in the Church of Basil in his Apology concerning Justification against Alescales saith Nevertheless according to the Counsel of certain good men I must admonish the Reader that it never come into our minds to abuse that saying of Isa. 64.6 against good Works in which it is said that all our Righteousness are as filthy Rags as if we would have that which is good in our good Works and proceedeth from the Holy Spirit to be esteemed as a filthy and unclean thing § XII As to the other part That seeing the best of men are still Impure and Imperfect therefore their Works must be so It is to beg the Answ. 2 question and depends upon a Proposition denied and which is to be discussed at further length in the next Proposition But though we should suppose a man not throughly perfect in all respects yet will not that hinder but good and perfect Works in their kind may be brought forth in them by the Spirit of Christ Neither doth the Example of Water going through an unclean Pipe hit the matter because though Water may be capable to be tinctured with Vncleanness yet the Spirit of God cannot whom we assert to be the Immediate Author of those Works that avail in Justification and therefore Jesus Christ his Works in his Children are pure and perfect and he worketh in and through that pure thing of his own forming and creating in them Moreover if this did hold according to our Adversaries supposition That no man ever was or can be perfect it would follow that the very Miracles and Works of the Apostles which Christ wrought in them Were the Miracles and Works of the Apostles wrought by the power of Christ in them Impure and Imperfect and they wrought in and by the Power Spirit and Grace of Christ were also Impure and Imperfect such as their Converting of the Nations to the Christian Faith their gathering of the Churches their writing of the Holy Scriptures yea and their Offering up and Sacrificing of their Lives for the Testimony of Jesus What may our Adversaries think of this Argument whereby it will follow that the Holy Scriptures whose Perfection and Excellency they seem so much to magnify are proved to be Impure and Imperfect because they came through Impure and Imperfect Vessels It appears by the Confessions of Protestants that the Fathers did frequently attribute unto Works of this kind that Instrumental Work which we have spoken of in Justification albeit some ignorant persons cry out that it is Popery and also divers and that famous Protestants do of themselves Confess it Amandus Polanus in his Symphonia Catholica Am. Polanus c. 27. de Remissione Peccatorum Our Doctrine of Justification and Works is not Popery p. 651. places this These as the Common Opinion of Protestants most agreeable to the Doctrine of the Fathers We obtain the Remission of Sins by Repentance Confession Prayers and Tears proceeding from Faith but do not Merit to speak properly and therefore we obtain Remission of Sins not by the Merit of our Repentance and Prayers but by the Mercy and Goodness of God Gentiletus Ex. Impressi Genev. 151◠Innocentius Gentiletus a Lawyer of great fame among Protestants in his Examen of the Council of Trent p. 66 67. of Justification having before spoken of Faith and Works adds these words But seeing the one cannot be without the other we call them both conjunctly Instrumental Causes Zanchius Zanchius in his 5. Book de Naturâ Dei saith We do not simply deny that good Works are the Cause of Salvation to wit the Instrumental rather than the Efficient Cause which they call sine quâ non And afterwards Good Works are the Instrumental Cause of the possession of Life Eternal for by these as by a means and a lawful way G. Ames in Medullâ S. Theologiae l. 2. c. 1. Thes. 30. God leads unto the possession of Life Eternal G. Amesius saith That our Obedience albeit it be not the Principal and Meritorious Cause of Life Eternal is nevertheless a Cause in some respect administring helping and advancing towards the possession of the Life R. Baxter Also R. Baxter in the Book above cited p. 155. saith That we are Justified by Works in the same kind of Causality as by Faith to wit as being both Causes sine quâ non or Conditions of the New Covenant on our part requisite to Justification And p. 195. he saith It is needless to teach any Scholar who hath read the writings of Papists how this Doctrine differs from them Of the Merit and Reward of Works But lastly because it is fit here to say something of the Merit and Reward of Works I shall add something in this place of our Sense and Belief concerning that matter We are far from thinking or believing that man Merits any thing by his Works from God all being of Free Grace and therefore do we
and always have denied that Popish Notion of Meritum ex Condigno Nevertheless we cannot deny but that God out of his Infinite goodness wherewith he hath loved mankind after he Communicates to him his holy Grace and Spirit doth according to his own Will Recompence and Reward the good Works of his Children and therefore this Merit of Congruity or Reward God Rewards the good Words of his Children in so far as the Scripture is plain and positive for it we may not deny neither wholly Reject the Word in so far as the Scripture makes use of it For the same Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies Merit is also in those places where the Translators express it Worth or Worthy as Matth. 3.8 1 Thess. 2.12 2 Thess. 1.5 8. concerning which R. Baxter saith in the above cited Book p. 8. But in a larger sense as Promise is an Obligation and the thing Promised is said to be Debt so the Performers of the Conditions are called Worthy and that which they Perform Merit although properly all be of Grace and not of Debt Also those who are called the Fathers of the Church frequently used this word of Merit whose sayings concerning this matter I think not needful to insert because it is not doubted but evident that many Protestants are not averse from this word in the sense that we use it The Apology for the Augustan Confession Art 20. hath these words We agree that Works are truly Meritorious not of Remission of Sins or Justification but they are Meritorious of â—ther rewards Corporal and Spiritual which are indeed as well in this life as after this life And further Seeing Works Prop. 8 are a certain fulfilling of the Law they are rightly said to be Meritorious it is rightly said that a Reward is due to them In the Acts of the Conference of Oldenburgh the Electoral Divines p. 110. 265. say Conference of Oldenburgh In this sense our Churches also are not Averse from the word Merit used by the Fathers neither therefore do they defend the Popish Doctrine of Merit G. Vossius G. Vossius of the word Merit in his Theological These concerning the Merits of Good Works saith We have not adventured to condemn the word Merit wholly as being that which both many of the Ancients use and also the Reformed Churches have used in their Confessions Now that God judgeth and accepteth men according to their Works is beyond doubt to those that seriously will read and consider these Scriptures Matth. 17.26 Rom. 2.6 7 10. 2 Cor. 5.10 James 1.25 Hebr. 10.35 1 Pet. 1.17 Rev. 22.12 § XIII And to conclude this Theam let none be so bold as to mock God supposing themselves Justified and Accepted in the sight of God by virtue of Christ's Death and Sufferings while they remain unsanctified and unjustified in their own hearts and polluted in their sins left their Hope prove that of the Hypocrite which perisheth Neither let any foolishly Imagine Job 8.13 that they can by their own Works or by the performance of any Ceremonies or Traditions or by the giving of Gold or Money or by afflicting their Bodies in Will-worship and voluntary Humility or foolishly striving to Conform their Way to the ouward Letter of the Law flatter themselves that they Merit before God or draw a Debt upon him The Hope of the Hypocrite shall perish but Grace is to the Humble or that any man or men have power to make such kind of things Effectual to their Justification lest they be found foolish Boasters and Strangers to Christ and his Righteousness indeed But blessed for ever are they that having truly had a sense of their own Vnworthiness and Sinfulness and having seen all their own Endeavours and Performances fruitless and vain and beheld their own Emptiness and the vanity of their vain Hopes Faith and Confidence while they remained inwardly pricked pursued and condemned by God's Holy Witness in their hearts and so having applied themselves thereto and suffered his Grace to work in them are become chang'd and renew'd in the spirit of their minds past from death to Life and know Jesus arisen in them working both the Will and the Deed and so having put on the Lord Jesus Christ in Effect are Cloathed with him partake of his Righteousness and Nature such can draw near to the Lord with Boldness and know their Acceptance in and by him in whom and in as many as are found in him the Father is well-pleased PROPOSITION VIII Concerning Perfection In whom this Pure and Holy Birth is fully brought forth the body of Death and Sin comes to be Crucified and Removed and their Hearts united and subjected to the Truth so as not to obey any Suggestions or Temptations of the Evil one to be free from Actual Sinning and Transgressing of the Law of God and in that respect perfect yet doth this Perfection still admit of a Growth and there remaineth always in some part a Possibility of Sinning where the mind doth not most diligently and watchfully Attend unto the Lord. § I. SInce we have placed Justification in the Revelation of Jesus Christ formed and brought forth in the heart there working his Works of Righteousness and bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit The question is How far he may prevail in us while we are in this life or we over our Soul's Enemies in and by his strength Those that plead for Justification wholly without them meerly by Imputative Righteousness denying the Necessity of being cloathed with real and inward Righteousness do consequently affirm These are the words of the Westminster larger Catechism That it is Impossible for a man even the best of men to be Free of Sin in this life which they say no man ever was but on the contrary that none can neither of himself nor by any Grace received in this life O wicked Saying against the power of God's Grace keep the Commandments of God perfectly but that every man doth break the Commandments in thought word and deed Whence they also affirm as was a little before observed That the very best Actions of the Saints their prayers their worships are impure and polluted Whether it is possible to keep the Commandments of God We on the contrary though we freely acknowledge this of the Natural Fall'n Man in his first state whatever his profession or pretence may be so long as he is Vnconverted and Vnregenerate yet we do believe that those in whom Christ comes to be formed and the New Part I Man brought forth and born of the Incorruptible Seed as that Birth and man in Vnion therewith naturally doth the Will of God so it is possible so far to keep to it Controversy stated as not to be found daily Transgressors of the Law of God And for the more clear Stating of the Controversy let it be considered § II. First That we place not this possibility in Man 's own Will
expressed by the Apostle Eph. 5.25 26 27. Even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word That he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish Now if Christ hath really thus answered the thing he Came for then the Members of this Church are not always sinning in thought word and deed or there is no difference betwixt being sanctified and unsanctified clean and unclean holy and unholy being daily blemished with sin and being without blemish § VI. Fourthly This Doctrine renders the Work of the Ministry the Proof IV Preaching of the Word the Writing of the Scriptures and the Prayers of the holy men altogether Vseless and Ineffectual As to the first Eph. 4.11 Pastors and Teachers are said to be given for the perfection of Saints c. till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto a measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Now if there be a Necessity of sinning daily and in all things then there can be no perfection for such as do so cannot be esteemed perfect And if for Effectuating this perfection in the Saints the Ministry be appointed and disposed of God Pastors Teachers and Scriptures are given for the Perfecting of the Saints do not such as deny the possibility hereof render the Ministry Vseless and of no profit seeing there can be no other true Vse assigned but to lead people out of sin into righteousness If so be these Ministers assure us that we need never expect to be delivered from it do not they render their own Work needless what needs Preaching against sin for the reproving of which all preaching is if it can never be forsaken Our Adversaries are Exalters of the Scriptures in words much crying up their usefulness and perfection Now the Apostle tells us 2 Tim. 3.17 that the Scriptures are for making the man of God perfect and if this be denied to be Attainable in this life then the Scriptures are of no profit For in the other life we shall not have use for them It renders the Prayers of the Saints altogether Vseless seeing themselves do Confess they ought to pray daily that God would deliver them from evil and free them from sin by the help of his Spirit and Grace while in this world But though we might suppose this Absurdity to follow that their Prayers are without Faith yet were not that so much if it did not infer the like upon the holy Apostles who prayed earnestly for this End and therefore no doubt believed it Attainable Col 4.12 Labouring fervently for you in prayers that ye may stand perfect c. 1 Thess. 3.13 5.23 c. Proof V § VII But Fifthly This Doctrine is Contrary to Common Reason and Sense For the Two opposite Principles whereof the one Rules in the Children of Darkness Darkness and Light Sin and Righteousness Inconsistent together the other in the Children of Light are Sin and Righteousness And as they are respectively leavened and acted by them so they are accounted either as Reprobated or Justified seeing it is Abomination in the sight * Prov. 17.15 of God either to Justify the Wicked or Condemn the Just. Now to say that men cannot be so leavened with the one as to be delivered from the other is in plain words to affirm that Sin and Righteousness are Consistent and that a man may be truly termed Righteous though he be daily sinning in every thing he doth And then what difference betwixt Good and Evil Is not this to fall into that great abomination of Putting Light for darkness and calling good evil and evil good since they say The very best Actions of God's Children are defiled and polluted and that Those that sin daily in thought word and deed are good men and women the Saints and holy Servants of the Holy Pure God Can there be any thing more repugnant than this to Common Reason Since the Subject is still denominated from that Accident that doth most Influence it As a Wall is called White when there is much Whiteness and black when there is much blackness and such like But when there is more Vnrighteousness in a man than Righteousness that man ought rather to be denominated unrighteous than righteous If all daily sin where is the Righteous man then spoken of in Scripture Then surely if every man sin daily in thought word and deed and that in his Sins there is no Righteousness at all and that all his Righteous Actions are polluted and mixed with sin then there is in every man more Vnrighteousness than Righteousness and so no man ought to be called Righteous no man can be said to be sanctified or washed Where are then the Children of God Where are the purified ones where are they who were sometimes Vnholy but now Holy That sometimes were Darkness but now are Light in the Lord There can none such be found then at this rate except that Vnrighteousness be esteemed so And is not this to fall into that abomination above-mentioned of Justifying the Vngodly This certainly lands in that horrid Blasphemy of the Ranters that affirm There is no difference betwixt good and evil and that all is one in the sight of God I could shew many more Gross Absurdities Evil Consequences and manifest Contradictions plied in this sinful Doctrine but this may suffice at present by which also in a good measure The Blasphemy of the Ranters or Libertines the probation of the Truth we affirm is Advanced Yet nevertheless for the further Evidencing of it I shall proceed to the second thing proposed by me to wit To prove this from several Testimonies of the Holy Scriptures § VIII And first I prove it from the peremptory positive Command of Sect. II Christ and his Apostles seeing this is a Maxime ingraven in every man's Proof I heart naturally That no man is bound to that which is Impossible Since then Christ and his Apostles have commanded us to keep all the Commandments and to be perfect in this respect it is possible for us so to do Be ye Perfect c. Keâ—p my Commandments Now that this is thus Commanded without any Commentary or Consequence is evidently apparent from these plain Testimonies Matth. 5.48 7.21 John 13.17 1 Cor. 7.19 2 Cor. 13.11 1 John 2.3 4 5 6. 3.2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. These Scriptures intimate a positive Command for it they declare the Absolute Necessity of it and therefore as if they had purposely been written to answer the Objections of our Opposers they shew the Folly of those that will esteem themselves Children or Friends of God while they do otherwise Secondly It is Possible because we receive the Gospel and Law thereof
from which there is no falling away Condition is Attainable because we are Exhorted to it and as hath been proved before the Scripture never proposeth to us things Impossible Such an Exhortation we have from the Apostle 2 Pet. 1.10 Wherefore the rather Brethren give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure And though there be a Condition here proposed yet since we have already proved that it is possible to fulfil this Condition then also the Promise annexed thereunto may be attained And since where Assurance is wanting there is still a place left for Doubtings and Despairs if we should affirm it never attainable then should there never be a place known by the Saints in this World wherein they might be free of Doubting and Despair Which as it is most Absurd in it self so it 's Contrary to the manifest Experience of Thousands Thirdly God hath given to many of his Saints and Children and is ready to give unto all a full and certain Assurance A Certain Assurance and Establishment given of God to many of his Saints and Children that they are his and that no power shall be able to pluck them out of his hand But this Assurance would be no Assurance if those who are so Assured were not Established and Confirmed beyond all Doubt and Hesitation If so then surely there is no possibility for such to miss of that which God hath Assured them of And that there is such Assurance attainable in this life the Scripture abundantly declareth both in general and as to particular persons As first Rev. 3.12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out c. which containeth a general Promise unto all Hence the Apostle speaks of some that are sealed 2 Cor. 1.22 Who hath also sealed us and given the Earnest of his Spirit in our hearts wherefore the Spirit so sealing is called the Earnest or Pledge of our Inheritance Eph. 1.13 In whom ye were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise And therefore the Apostle Paul not only in that of the Romans above-noted declareth himself to have Attained that Condition but 2 Tim. 4.7 he affirmeth in these words I have fought a good fight c. which also many good men have and do witness And therefore as there can be nothing more manifest than that which the manifest Experience of this time sheweth and therein is found agreeable to the Experience of former times so we see there have been both of old and of late that have turned the Grace of God into Wantonness and have fall'n from their Faith and Integrity thence we may safely conclude such a falling away possible We also see that some of old and of late have Attained a certain Assurance some time before they departed that they should Inherit Eternal Life and have accordingly died in that good hope Of and concerning whom the Spirit of God Testified that they are saved Wherefore we also see that such a State is Attainable in this life from which there is not a Falling away For seeing the Spirit of God did so Testify it was not possible that they should perish concerning whom he who cannot lie thus bare Witness PROPOSITION X. Concerning the Ministry Prop. 10 As by this Light or Gift of God all true Knowledge in things Spiritual is received and revealed so by the same as it is manifested and received in the heart by the strength and power thereof every true Minister of the Gospel is ordained prepared and supplied in the Work of the Ministry and by the leading moving and drawing hereof ought every Evangelist and Christian Pastor to be led and ordered in his labour and work of the Gospel both as to the place Where as to the persons to whom and as to the time wherein he is to Minister Moreover who have this Authority may and ought to preach the Gospel though without Humane Commission or Literature as on the other hand who want the Authority of this Divine Gift however Learned or Athorized by the Commission of Men and Churches are to be esteemed but as Deceivers and not true Ministers of the Gospel The Gospel to be preach'd freely Matth. 10.8 Also who have received this holy and unspotted Gift as they have freely received it so are they freely to give it without hire or bargaining far less to use it as a Trade to get money by yet if God hath called any one from their Emploiments or Trades by which they acquire their Livelihood it may be lawful for such according to the liberty which they feel given them in the Lord to receive such Temporals to wit what may be needful for them for Meat and Cloathing as are given them freely and cordially by those to whom they have Communicated Spirituals § I. HItherto I have treated of those things which relate to the Christian Faith and Christians as they stand each in his private and particular Condition and how and what way every man may be a Christian indeed and so abide Now I come in order to speak of those things that relate to Christians as they are stated in a Joint-Fellowship and Communion and come under a Visible and Outward Society which Society is called the Church of God The Church of God is the Spiritual Body of Christ. and in Scripture compared to a Body and therefore named the Body of Christ. As then in the Natural Body there be divers Members all concurring to the common end of preserving and confirming the whole Body so in this Spiritual and Mystical Body there are also divers Members according to the different measures of Grace and of the Spirit diversly administred unto each Member and from this Diversity ariseth that distinction of persons in the visible Society of Christians as of Apostles Pastors Evangelists Ministers c. That which in this Proposition is proposed is What makes or constitutes any a Minister of the Church what his Qualifications ought to be and how he ought to behave himself But because it may seem somewhat preposterous to speak of the distinct Offices of the Church until something be said concerning the Church in general though nothing positively be said of it in the Proposition yet as here implied I shall briefly premise something thereof and then proceed to the particular Members of it § II. It is not in the least my design to meddle with those tedious and many Controversies wherewith the Papists and Protestants do Tear one another concerning this thing but only according to the Truth manifested to me and Revealed in me by the Testimony of the Spirit according to that proportion of Wisdom given me briefly to hold forth as a necessary Introduction both to this matter of the Ministry and of Worship which followeth those things which I together with my Brethren do believe concerning the Church The Church then according to the Grammatical signification of the word as it is used in
and is one great reason why a dry dead barren lifeless spiritless Ministry which leavens the people into the same death doth so much abound and is so much over-spreading even the Protestant Nations that their Preachings and Worships as well as whole Conversation is not to be discerned from Popish by any fresh living zeal or lively Power of the Spirit accompanying it but meerly by the difference of some Notions and Opinions Object § XII Some unwise and unwary Protestants do sometimes Object to us That if we have such an immediate Call as we lay claim to we ought to Confirm it by Miracles Answ. But this being an Objection once and again objected to the primitive Protestants by the Papists we need but in short return the Answer to it that they did to the Papists Whether Miracles be now necessary to Confirm the Gospel John Baptist and divers Prophets did none to wit That we need not Miracles because we preach no new Gospel but that which is already Confirmed by all the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles and that we offer nothing but that which we are ready and able to Confirm by the Testimony of the Scriptures which both already acknowledge to be true And that John the Baptist and divers of the Prophets did none that we hear of and yet were both immediately and extraordinarily sent This is the Common Protestant Answer therefore may suffice in this place though if need were I could say more to this purpose but that I study Brevity § XIII There is also another sort of Protestants to wit The English Independents The Constitution of the Independent Church who differing from the Calvinistical Presbyterians and denying the Necessity of this Succession or the Authority of any National Church take another way affirming That such as have the benefit of the Scriptures any Company of People agreeing in the Principles of Truth as they find them there declared may Constitute among themselves a Church without the Authority of any other and may Chuse to themselves a Pastor who by the Church thus Constitute and Consenting is Authorized requiring only the Assistance and Concurrence of the Pastors of the Neighbouring Churches if any be not so much as absolutely Necessary to Authorize as Decent for Order's sake Also they go so far as to affirm That in a Church so Constitute Gifted Brethren any gifted Brother as they call them if he find himself qualified thereto may Instruct Exhort and Preach in the Church though as not having the Pastoral Office he cannot Administer that they Call their Sacraments To this I Answer That this was a good step out of the Babylonish Darkness and no doubt did proceed from a Real Discovery of the Truth and from the sense of a great Abuse of the promiscuous National gatherings Also this Preaching of the Gifted Brethren as they called them did proceed at first from certain Their Loss and Decay lively Touches and Movings of the Spirit of God upon many But alas because they went not forward that is much decayed among them and the Motions of God's Spirit begin to be denied and rejected among them now as much as by others The Scripture gives no Call to persons Individual But as to their pretended Call from the Scripture I Answer The Scripture gives a meer declaration of true things but no Call to particular Persons so that though I believe the things there written to be true and deny the Errors which I find there Testified against yet as to these things which may be my particular duty I am still to seek And therefore I can never be Resolved in the Scripture whether I such a one by name ought to be a Minister And for the Resolving this doubt I must needs recur to the Inward and Immediate Testimony of the Spirit as in the Proposition concerning the Scriptures more at large is shewen § XIV From all this then we do firmly Conclude that not only in a general Apostasy it is needful men be extraordinarily Called and Raised up by the Spirit of God but that even when several Assemblies or Churches are gathered by the Power of God not only into the belief of the Principles of Truth so as to deny Errors and Heresies but also into the Life Spirit and Power of Christianity so as to be the Body and House of Christ indeed and a fit Spouse for him that he who gathers them doth also for the preserving them in a lively fresh and powerful Condition raise up and move among them by the inward immediate Operation of his own Spirit Ministers and Teachers to Instruct and Teach and Watch over them True Ministers Qualifications Call and Title who being thus Called are Manifest in the hearts of their Brethren and their Call is thus verified in them who by the feeling of that life and power that passeth through them being inwardly built up by them daily in the most holy Faith become the Seals of their Apostleship And this is answerable to another saying of the same Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 13.3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me which to you wards is not weak but is mighty in you So this is that which gives a true substantial Call and Title to a Minister whereby he is a Real Successor of the Virtue Life and Power that was in the Apostles and not of the bare Name Their Laying on of hands a Mock of God and Man a Keeping up the Shadow whilst Substance is a-wanting and to such Ministers we think the outward Ceremony or Ordination or laying on of hands not necessary neither can we see the Vse of it seeing our Adversaries who use it acknowledge that the Virtue and Power of Communicating the Holy Ghost by it is Ceased among them And is it not then foolish and ridiculous for them by an Apish Imitation to keep up the Shadow where the Substance is wanting And may not they by the same Rule where they see blind and lame men in Imitation of Christ and his Apostles bid them see and walk yea is it not in them a mocking of God and Men to put-on their hands and bid men Receive the Holy Ghost while they believe the thing Impossible and Confess that that Ceremony hath no real Effect Having thus far spoken of the Call I shall proceed next to treat of the Qualifications and Work of a true Minister § XV. As I have placed the True Call of a Minister in the Motion of Quest. II this Holy Spirit so is the power life and virtue thereof The Quâ—lifications of a Minister and the pure Grace of God that comes therefrom the Chief and most Necessary Qualification without which he can no ways perform his Duty neither acceptably to God nor beneficially to men Our Adversaries in this case affirm that three things go to the making up of a Minister viz. 1. Natural Parts § I. Philosophy and School-Divinity will never
he hath not Can ungodly men that are not gracious themselves be good stewards of the manifold Grace of God Good stewardship of what of God's abounding Grace which is the Ability and Stewardship received And therefore in the following verses he makes an Exclusive limitation of such as are not thus furnished saying If any man speak let him speak as the Oracles of God and if any man Minister let him do it as of the Ability that God giveth which is as much as if he had said They that cannot thus speak and thus Minister ought not to do it for this If denotes a necessary Condition Now what this Ability is is manifest by the former words to wit the Gift received and the Grace whereof they are Stewards as by the immediate Context and dependency of the words doth appear neither can it be understood of a meer Natural Ability because man in this condition is said not to know the things of God and so he cannot Minister them to others And the following words shew this also in that he immediately subjoineth That God in all things may be glorified but surely God is not glorified but greatly dishonoured when Natural Men from their meer natural Ability meddle in Spiritual things which they neither know nor understand Fourthly That Grace is a most Necessary Qualification for a Minister Proof IV appears by these Qualifications which the Apostle expresly requires 1 Tim 3.2 Tit. 1. c. where he saith A Bishop must be blameless vigilant sober of good behaviour apt to teach patient a lover of good men just holy temperate as the steward of God holding fast the faithful Word as he hath been taught Upon the other hand He must neither be given to wine nor a striker nor covetous nor proud nor self-willed nor soon angry Now I ask If it be not Impossible that a man can have all these above-named Vertues How can a Bishop have these Vertues without the Grace of God and be free of all these Evils without the Grace of God If then these Vertues for the producing of which in a man Grace is absolutely necessary be necessary to make a true Minister of the Church of Christ according to the Apostles judgment surely Grace must be necessary also Concerning this thing a Learned Man and well-skilled in Antiquity about the time of the Reformation writeth thus * Whatsoever is done in the Church without the Ministry of God's Spirit is vain and wicked Whatsoever is done in the Church either for Ornament or Edification of Religion whether in chusing Magistrates or instituting Ministers of the Church except it be done by the Ministry of God's Spirit which is as it were the Soul of the Church it is vain and wicked For whoever hath not been called by the Spirit of God to the great Office of God and Dignity of Apostleship as Aaron was and hath not entred in by the door which is Christ but hath otherways risen in the Church by the Window by the favours of men c. truly such a one is not the Vicar of Christ and the Apostles but a Thief and a Robber and the Vicar of Judas Iscariot †Who is Judas Iscariot's Vicar and Simon the Samaritan Hence it was so strictly appointed concerning the Election of Prelates which holy Dionysius calls the Sacrament of Nomination that the Bishops and Apostles who should Oversee the service of the Church should be men of most intire manners and life powerful in sound doctrine to give a reason for all things So also * Franciscus Lambertus Avenionensis in his Book concerning Prophecy Learning Tongues and the Spirit of Prophecy Argentorat excus anno 1516 de prov cap 24. another about the same time writeth thus Therefore it can never be that by the Tongues or Learning any can give a sound Judgment concerning the Holy Scriptures and the Truth of God Lastly saith he the sheep of Christ seek nothing but the voice of Christ which he knoweth by the holy Spirit wherewith he is filled he regards not Learning Tongues or any outward thing so as therefore to believe this or that to be the Voice of Christ his true shepherd he knoweth that there is need of no other thing but the Testimony of the Spirit of God Object 1 § XVII Against this Absolute Necessity of Grace they Object That if all Ministers had the Saving Grace of God then all Ministers should be Saved seeing none can fall away from or lose Saving Grace Answ. But this Objection is built upon a false Hypothesis purely denied by us and we have in the former Proposition concerning Perseverance already Refuted it Object 2 Secondly It may be objected to us That since we affirm that every man hath a measure of True and Saving Grace there needs no singular Qualification neither to a Christian nor Minister for seeing every man hath this Grace then no man needs forbear to be a Minister for want of Grace Answ. I answer We have above shewn that there is Necessary to the making a Minister a special and particular Call from the Spirit of God which is something besides the Vniversal Dispensation of Grace to all according to that of the Apostle Hebr. 5.4 No man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is Called of God as was Aaron Moreover we understand by Grace as a Qualification to a Minister All have God's Grace which calls to Righteousness but all are not so leaven'd in its Nature to bring forth fruits a blameless holy life not the meer measure of Light as it is given to Reprove and Call him to Righteousness but we understand Grace as it hath Converted the Soul and Operateth powerfully in it as hereafter concerning the Work of Ministers will further appear So we understand not men simply as having Grace in them as a Seed which we indeed affirm all have in a measure but we understand men that are gracious leavened by it into the Nature thereof so as thereby to bring forth these good fruits of a blameless Conversation and of Justice holiness patience and temperance which the Apostle requires as Necessary in a true Christian Bishop and Minister Object 3 Secondly They ‖ So Nic. Arnoldus sect 32. upon These 4. object the Example of the false Prophets of the Pharisees and of Judas But first As to the false Prophets there can nothing be more foolish and ridiculous as if because there were false Prophets truly false without the Grace of God therefore Grace is not necessary to a true Christian Minister Answ. Indeed if they had proved that true Prophets wanted this Grace The false not the true Prophets want the Grace of God they had said something but what have false Prophets common with true Ministers but that they pretend falsly that which they have not And because false Prophets want true Grace will it therefore follow that true Prophets ought not to have it that they may be true
preceeding the Reformation Before the Reformation the Prayers of the people were performed in the Latine Tongue the Knowledge of the Tongues being about that time until it was even then Restored by Erasmus and some others almost lost and Extinct And this Barbarity was so much the more Abominable that the whole Worship and Prayers of the people was in the Latine Tongue and among that vast Number of Priests Monks and Friars scarce one of a Thousand understood his Breviary or that Mass that he daily read and repeated the Scriptures being not only to the people but to the greater part of the Clergy even as to the Literal Knowledge of it as a Sealed Book I shall not at all discommend the Zeal that the first Reformers had against this Babylonish Darkness The Zeal and Endeavours of the first Reformers commended nor their pious Endeavours to Translate the Holy Scriptures but I do truly believe according to their Knowledge that they did it Candidly and therefore to answer the just desires of those that desire to Read them and for other very good Reasons as maintaining a Commerce and Vnderstanding among divers Nations by these Common Languages and other of that kind The Knowledge of Languages Commendable and Schools necessary we judge it Necessary and Commendable there be Publick Schools for the Teaching and Instructing Youth as are inclinable thereunto in the Languages All although that Papal Ignorance deserved justly to be abhorred and abominated we see nevertheless that the True Reformation consists not in that Knowledge because although since that time the Papists stirred up through Emulation of the Protestants have more applied themselves unto Literature and it now more flourisheth in their Vniversities and Cloysters than before especially in the Ignatian or Jesuitick Sect they are as far now as ever from a True Reformation and more obdured in their pernicious Doctrines The Papists Literature and Knowledge especially the Jesuites But all this will not make this a Necessary Qualification to a Minister far less a more necessary Qualification than the Grace of God and his Spirit because the Spirit and Grace of God can make up this Want in the most-Rustick and Ignorant but this Knowledge can no ways make up the Want of the Spirit in the most-Learned and Eloquent For all that The Spirit is the truest Interpreter of the Scriptures whether from the Original Languages or without them which man by his own Industry Learning and Knowledge in the Languages can Interpret of the Scriptures or find out is nothing without the Spirit he cannot be certain of it and may still miss of the sense of it but a poor man that knoweth not a Letter when he heareth the Scriptures read by the same Spirit he can say this is true and by the same Spirit he can understand open and interpret it if need be yea he finding his Condition to answer the Condition and Experience of the Saints of old knoweth and possesseth the Truths there delivered because they are sealed and witnessed in his own heart by the same Spirit And this we have plentiful Experience of in many of those Illiterate Men whom God hath raised up to be Ministers in his Church in this day so that some such by his Spirit have Corrected some of the Errors of the Translators as in the Third Proposition concerning the Scriptures I before observed Yea I know my self a poor Shoo-maker that cannot Read a word A poor Shoo-maker that could not read refutes a Professor of Divinity 's false Assertions from Scripture who being Assaulted with a false Citation of Scripture from a publick Professor of Divinity before the Magistrate of a City when he had been taken preaching to some few that came to hear him I say I know such a one and he yet liveth who though the Professor who also is esteemed a Learned Man constantly Asserted his saying to be a Scripture-Sentence yet affirmed not through any certain Letter-Knowledge he had of it but from the most certain Evidence of the Spirit in himself that the Professor lied and that the Spirit of God never said any such thing as the other affirmed and the Bible being brought it was found as the poor Shoo-maker had said § XX. The second part of their Literature is Logick and Philosophy 2. The Logick and Philosophy not needful to a Preacher an Art so little needful to a true Minister that if one that comes to be a true Minister hath had it it is safest for him to forget and lose it for it is the Root and Ground of all Contention and Debate and the way to make a thing a great deal Darker than Clearer For under the pretence of Regulating man's Reason into a certain Order and Rules that he may find out as they pretend the Truth it leads into such a Labyrinth of Contention as is far more fit to make a Sceptick than a Christian far less a Minister of Christ yea it often hinders man from a clear Vnderstanding of things that his own Reason would give him and therefore through its manifold Rules and divers Inventions it often gives occasion for a man that hath little Reason foolishly to speak much to no purpose Seeing a man that is not very Wise may notwithstanding be a perfect Logician and then if ye would make a man a fool to purpose that is not very Wise do but teach him Logick and Philosophy and whereas before he might have been fit for something he shall then be good for nothing but to speak Non-sense for these Notions will so swim in his head that they will make him extreamly Busie about nothing The Vse The Use of Logick is to see its Emptiness that Wise men and solid make of it is To see the EMPTINESS thereof therefore saith one It is an Art of Contention and Darkness by which all other Sciences are rendered more obscure and harder to be understood * Inst. If it be urged That thereby the Truth may be Maintained and Confirmed and Hereticks Confuted I answer The Truth in men truly Rational needeth not the Help thereof and such as are obstinate this will not Convince for by this they may learn twenty Tricks and Distinctions how to shut out the Truth and the Truth proceeding from an honest heart Answ. and spoken forth from the Vertue and Spirit of God will have more Influence and take sooner and more effectually than by a Thousand Demonstrations of Logick As that * Lucae Osiandri Epit. Hâ—st Eccles. lib. 2. cap. 5. Cent. 4. Heathen Philosopher acknowledged who disputing with the Christian †An Heathen-Philosopher disputing with the Bishops in the Council of Nice was Converted to the Christian Faith by an Ignorant Old Man whom they could not Bishops in the Council of Nice was so subtile that he could not be overcome by them but yet by a few words spoken by a simple old Rustick was presently Convinced by him
who covet no man's silver gold or garments who seek no man's goods but seek them and the Salvation of their Souls whose hands supply their own necessities working honestly for Bread to themselves and their Families And if at any time they be called of God so as the Work of the Lord hinder them from the use of their Trades take what is freely given them by such to whom they have communicated Spirituals and having Food and Raiment are therewith content Such were the holy Prophets and Apostles as appears from Matth. 10.8 Act. 20.33 34 35. 1 Tim. 6.8 5. But the Ministers our Adversaries plead for are such as not having freely received will not freely give but are Covetous doing that which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake as to preach for Hire and divine for Money and look for their gain from their Quarter and prepare War against such as put not into their Mouths c. Greedy dogs which can never have enough Shepherds who feed themselves and not the flock eating the fat and cloathing themselves with the Wool making Merchandize of Souls and following the Way of Balaam that loved the Wages of Vnrighteousness Such were the false Prophets and Apostles Isa. 56.11 Ezech. 34.2 3 8. Mic. 3.5 11. Tit. 1.10 11. 2 Pet. 2. verses 1 2 3 14 15. And in a word We are for a holy Spiritual pure and living Ministry True Ministers Life and Qualification where the Ministers are both called qualified and ordered acted and influenced in all the steps of their Ministry by the Spirit of God which being wanting we judge they Cease to be the Ministers of Christ. But they judging this Life Grace and Spirit no Essential part of their Ministry are therefore for the upholding of an humane carnal dry barren fruitless and dead Ministry of which alas we have seen the fruits in the most part of their Churches of whom that saying of the Lord is certainly verified Jer. 23.32 I sent them not nor commanded them therefore they shall not profit this people at all saith the LORD PROPOSITION XI Prop. 11 Concerning Worship All true and acceptable Worship to God is offered in the inward and immediate moving and drawing of his own Spirit What the true Worship is that is Acceptable to God which is neither limited to places times nor persons For though we be to worship him always and that we are continually to Fear before him yet as to the outward signification thereof in Prayers Praises or Preachings we ought not to do it in our own will where and when we will but where and when we are moved thereunto by the stirring and secret Inspiration of the Spirit of God in our hearts How to be performed which God heareth and accepteth of and is never wanting to move us thereunto when need is of which he himself is the alone proper Judge All other Worship then both praises prayers or preachings Superstition and Will-worship which man sets about in his own Will and at his own Appointment which he can both begin and end at his pleasure do or leave undone as himself seeth meet whether they be a prescribed Form as a Liturgy c. or prayers conceived extempore by the natural strength and faculty of the mind they are all but Superstitions Will-Worship and abominable Idolatry in the sight of God Idolatry which are now to be denied and rejected and separated from in this day of his Spiritual Arising However it might have pleased him who winked at the Times of Ignorance with a respect to the Simplicity and Integrity of some and of his own innocent Seed which lay as it were buried in the hearts of men under that Mass of Superstition to blow upon the dead and dry bones and to raise some Breathings of his own and Answer them and that until the Day should more clearly dawn and break forth § I. THE Duty of man towards God lieth chiefly in these Two Generals 1. In an holy Conformity to the pure Law and Light of God so as both to forsake the evil and be found in the practice of these perpetual and moral precepts of righteousness and equity And 2. In rendering that Reverence Honour and Adoration to God that he requires and demands of us which is comprehended under Worship Of the former we have already spoken as also of the different Relations of Christians as they are distinguished by the several measures of Grace received and given to every one and in that respect have their several Offices in the body of Christ which is the Church Now I come to speak of Worship or of those Acts whether private or publick general or particular whereby man renders to God that part of his Duty which relates immediately to him And as Obedience is better than Sacrifice so neither is any Sacrifice acceptable but that which is done according to the Will of him to whom it is offered But men finding it Easier to sacrifice in their own wills than obey God's Will have heaped up Sacrifices without Obedience and thinking to deceive God as they do one another True Worship and Duty to God-ward Corrupted give him a shew of Reverence Honour and Worship while they are both inwardly estranged and alienated from his holy and righteous life and wholly strangers to the pure Breathings of his Spirit in which the acceptable Sacrifice and Worship is only offered up Hence it is that there is not any thing relating to Man's Duty towards God which among all sorts of people hath been more Vitiated and in which the Devil hath more prevailed than in abusing man's mind concerning this thing and as among many others so among those called Christians nothing hath been more out of order and more Corrupted as some Papists and all Protestants do acknowledge As I freely Approve whatsoever the Protestants have Reformed from Papists in this respect so I meddle not at this time with their Controversies about it only it suffices me with them to deny as no part of the true Worship of God that abominable Superstition and Idolatry the Popish Mass The Popish Mass Idolatry deny'd with all their Trumpery the Adoration of Saints and Angels the Veneration of Relicks the Visitation of Sepulchres and all these other superstitious Ceremonies Confraternities and endless Pilgrimages of the Romish Synagogue Which all may suffice to Evince to Protestants that Anti-Christ hath wrought more in this than in any other part of the Christian Religion and so it concerns them narrowly to Consider whether herein they have made a clear and perfect Reformation If Protestants have made a perfect Reformation as to which stands the Controversie betwixt them and us For we find many of the branches lopped off by them but the Root yet remaining to wit a Worship acted in and from man's will and spirit and not by and from the Spirit of God for the true Christian and Spiritual Worship of God hath been so
readily to Wait that he might Answer the King when he speaks and have his Eye upon him to observe the least Motions and Inclinations of his Will and to do accordingly would be still deafening him with Discourse though it were in praises of him and running to and fro without any particular and immediate Order to do things that perhaps might be good in themselves or might have been Commanded at other times to others Would the Kings of the Earth accept of such Servants or Service Since then we are Commanded to Wait upon God diligently and in so doing it is promised that our Strength shall be renewed this Waiting cannot be performed but by a Silence To Wait in Silence or Cessation of the natural part on our side since God manifests himself not to the outward man or senses so much as to the inward to wit to the Soul and Spirit If the Soul be still thinking and working in her own Will The thinking busie Soul excludes the Voice of God and busily exercised in her own Imaginations though the matters as in themselves may be good concerning God yet thereby she incapacitates her self from discerning the still small Voice of the Spirit and so hurts her self greatly in that she neglects her Chief Business of Waiting upon the Lord. Nothing less than if I should busie my self crying out and speaking of a Business while in the mean time I neglect to hear one who is quietly Whispering into my Ear and informing me in these things which are most needful for me to hear and know concerning that Business And since it is the Chief Work of a Christian to know the natural Will in its own proper motions Crucified that God may both move in the Act and in the Will the Lord chiefly regards this profound Subjection and Self-denial For some men please themselves as much and gratify their own sensual Wills and Humours in high and curious Speculations of Religion Religious Speculations affecting a Name and Reputation that way or because those things by Custom or other ways are become pleasant and habitual to them though not a whit more Regenerated or inwardly Sanctified in their Spirits Sensual Recreations as others gratify their Lusts in Actions of Sensuality and therefore both are alike hurtful to men and sinful in the sight of God it being nothing but the meer Fruit and Effect of man's natural and unrenewed Will and Spirit Yea should one as many no doubt do from a sense of sin and fear of punishment seek to terrify themselves from Sin by multiplying thoughts of Death Hell and Judgment and by presenting to their Imaginations the Happiness and Joys of Heaven The Thoughts of Death and Hell to keep out sin are Fig-leaves and also by multiplying Prayers and other Religious Performances as these things could never deliver him from one Iniquity without the secret and inward Power of God's Spirit and Grace so would they signifie no more than the Fig-leaves wherewith Adam thought to cover his Nakedness And seeing it is only the Product of man's own natural Will proceeding from a Self-Love and seeking to save himself and not arising purely from that Divine Seed of Righteousness which is given of God to all for Grace and Salvation it is Rejected of God and no ways acceptable unto him since the natural man as natural while he stands in that State is with all his Arts Parts and Actings Reprobated by him This great Duty then of Waiting upon God must needs be exercised in man's denying self both inwardly and outwardly Denial of ones self in a still and meer dependence upon God in abstracting from all the Workings Imaginations and Speculations of his own mind that being emptied as it were of himself and so throughly Crucified to the natural products thereof he may be fit to Receive the Lord who will have no Copartner nor Corrival of his Glory and Power And man being thus stated the little Seed of Righteousness which God hath planted in his Soul and Christ hath purchased for him even the measure of Grace and Life which is burthened and crucified by man's natural thoughts and imaginations receives a place to arise and becometh a holy Birth and geniture in man The Holy Birth and is that Divine Air in and by which man's Soul and Spirit comes to be leavened And by Waiting therein he comes to be accepted in the sight of God to stand in his presence hear his Voice and observe the Motions of his Holy Spirit And so man's place is to Wait in this and as hereby there are any Objects presented to his mind concerning God or things relating to Religion his Soul may be exercised in them without hurt and to the great profit both of himself and others because those things have their rise not from his own Will but from God's Spirit And therefore as in the arisings and movings of this his mind is still to be exercised in thinking and meditating so also in the more obvious acts of preaching and praying No Quakers are against a Meditating Mind From Nature's Thoughts all Errors rise we find And so it may hence appear we are not against Meditation as some have sought falsly to infer from our Doctrine but we are against the thoughts and imaginations of the natural man in his own Will from which all Errors and Heresies concerning the Christian Religion in the whole World have proceeded But if it please God at any time when one or more are Waiting upon him not to present such Objects as gives them occasion to exercise their Minds in Thoughts and Imaginations but purely to keep them in this holy Dependence and as they persist therein to cause his secret Refreshment and the pure Incomes of his holy Life to flow in upon them then they have good reason to be Content because by this as we know by good and blessed Experience the Soul is more strengthened renewed and confirmed in the love of God and armed against the Power of sin than any ways else The Soul Renew'd by what the holy Life of God this being a Foretaste of that real and sensible Enjoyment of God which the Saints in Heaven daily possess which God frequently affords to his Children here for their Comfort and Encouragement especially when they are Assembled together to Wait upon him § XI For there are Two contrary Powers or Spirits to wit Whatever Man does Act without the power of God is not Accepted the Power and Spirit of this World in which the Prince of Darkness bears rule and over as many as are acted by it and work from it and the Power or Spirit of God in which God worketh and beareth rule and over as many as Act in and from it So whatever be the things that a man thinketh of or acteth in however Spiritual or Religious as to the notion or form of them so long as he acteth and moveth in the natural and corrupt
time since to meet at set times and places seems to be an Outward Observation and Ceremony contrary to what ye at other times Assert Answ. I Answer first To meet at set times and places is not any Religious Act or part of Worship in it self but only an outward Coveniency necessary for our seeing one another Publick Meetings their Vse and its Reason Asserted so long as we are cloathed with this outward Tabernacle and therefore our Meeting at set times and places is not a part of our Worship but a preparatory Accommodation of our outward man in order to a publick visible Worship since we set not about the Visible Acts of Worship when we Meet together until we be led thereunto by the Spirit of God Secondly God hath seen meet so long as his Children are in this World to make use of the outward Senses not only as a means to Convey Spiritual Life as by speaking praying praising c. which cannot be done to mutual Edification but when we hear and see one another but also for to entertain an outward visible Testimony for his Name in the World He causeth the Inward Life which is also many times not conveyed by the outward Senses the more to abound when his Children Assemble themselves diligently together to Wait upon him that as Iron sharpeneth Iron so the seeing of the Face one of another Prov. 27. v. 17. when both are inwardly gathered unto the Life giveth occasion for the Life secretly to arise and pass from Vessel to Vessel And as many Candles lighted and put in one place do greatly augment the light and make it more to shine forth so when many are gathered together into the same Life there is more of the Glory of God and his Power appears to the Refreshment of each Individual for that he partakes not only of the Light and Life raised in himself but in all the rest And therefore Christ hath particularly promised a Blessing to such as Assemble together in his Name seeing he will be in the midst of them Matth. 18.20 and the Author to the Hebrews doth precisely prohibit the Neglect of this Duty as being of very dangerous and dreadful Consequence in these words Heb. 10.24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works Assembling of our selves is not to be neglected not forsaking the Assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sins And therefore the Lord hath shewn that he hath a particular Respect to such as thus Assemble themselves together because that thereby a publick Testimony for him is upheld in the Earth and his Name is thereby glorified and therefore such as are right in their Spirits are naturally drawn to keep the Meetings of God's People and never want a Spiritual Influence to lead them thereunto And if any do it in a meer Customary Way they will no doubt suffer Condemnation for it Yet cannot the Appointing of Places and Times be accounted a Ceremony and Observation done in man's Will in the Worship of God seeing none can say that it is an Act of Worship but only a meer presenting of our Persons in order to it as is above-said Which that it was practised by the Primitive Church and Saints all our Adversaries do acknowledge Lastly some object That this manner of Worship in Silence is not to Object 3 be found in all the Scripture I Answer We make not Silence to be the sole matter of our Worship Answ. since as I have above said there are many Meetings In Waiting for the Spirits Guidance Selence is supposed which are seldom if ever altogether Silent some or other are still moved either to preach pray and praise and so in this our Meetings cannot be but like the Meetings of the Primitive Churches recorded in Scripture since our Adversaries confess that they did preach and pray by the Spirit And then what Absurdity is it to suppose that at some times the Spirit did not move them to these outward Acts and that then they were Silent since we may well conclude they did not speak until they were moved and so no doubt had sometimes Silence Act. 2.1 before the Spirit came upon them it is said They were all with one accord in one place and then it is said The Spirit suddenly came upon them but no mention is made of any one speaking at that time and I would willingly know what Absurdity our Adversaries can infer should we conclude they were a while Silent But if it be urged Inst. That a whole Silent Meeting cannot be found in Scripture I Answer Supposing such a thing were not recorded Answ. it will not therefore follow that it is not lawful seeing it naturally followeth from other Scripture-Precepts as we have proved this doth For seeing the Scripture commands to Meet together and when Met Silent Meetings are proved from Scripture and Reason the Scripture prohibits prayers or preachings but as the Spirit moveth thereunto if people Meet together and the Spirit move not to such Acts it will necessarily follow that they must be Silent But further there might have been many such things among the Saints of Old though not recorded in Scripture and yet we have enough in Scripture signifying that such things were For Job sate silent seven days with his Friends together Here was a Long Silent Meeting See also Ezra c. 9.4 and Ezechiel c. 1.14 and 20.1 Thus having shewn the Excellency of this Worship proved it from Scripture and Reason and answered the Objections which are commonly made against it which though it might suffice to the Explanation and Probation of our Proposition yet I shall add something more particularly of Preaching Praying and Singing and so proceed to the following Proposition I. What reaching is with Protestants and Papists A studied Talk an hour or two § XVIII Preaching as it 's used both among Papists and Protestants is for One Man to take some Place or Verse of Scripture and thereon speak for an hour or two what he hath studied and premeditated in his Closet and gathered together from his own Inventions or from the Writings and Observations of others and then having got it by heart as a School-boy doth his Lesson he brings it forth and repeats it before the People And how much the fertiler and stronger a Man's Invention is and the more industrious and laborious he is in Collecting such Observations and can utter them with the Excellency of Speech and Humane Eloquence so much the more is he accounted an Able and Excellent Preacher To this we Oppose that when the Saints are met together and every one gathered to the Gift and Grace of God in themselves True Preaching by the Spirit he that Ministreth being acted thereunto by the arising of the Grace in himself ought to speak forth
draw unto Prayer that so it may be done acceptably Eph. 6 1â— For since we are to Pray always in the Spirit and cannot Pray of our selves without it Acceptably This Watching must be for this end recommended to us as preceeding Prayer that we may Watch and Wait for the seasonable time to Pray which is when the Spirit moves thereunto Secondly II. We know not how to Pray but as the Spirit helps This Necessity of the Spirit 's Moving and Concurrence appears abundantly from that of the Apostle Paul Rom. 8.26 27. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the Mind of the Spirit because he maketh Intercession for the Saints according to the Will of God Which first holds forth the Incapacity of Men as of themselves to Pray or Call upon God in their own Wills even such as have received the Faith of Christ and are in measure sanctified by it as was the Churcb of Rome to whom the Apostle then wrote Secondly It holds forth that which can only help and assist Men to Pray to wit the Spirit as that without which they cannot do it acceptably to God nor beneficially to their own Souls Thirdly The Manner and Way of the Spirit 's Intercession With sighs and groans which are unutterable And Fourthly That God receiveth graciously the Prayers of such as are presented and offered unto himself by the Spirit knowing it to be according to his Will Now it cannot be conceived but this Order of Prayer thus asserted by the Apostle is most consistent with those other Testimonies of Scripture commending and recommending to us the Vse of Prayer From which I thus argue Arg. If Man know not how to pray neither can do it without the help of the Spirit then it is to no purpose for him but altogether unprofitable to pray without it But the first is true Therefore also the last III. Pray always â—n the Spirit and Watching thereunto Thirdly This Necessity of the Spirit to true Prayer appears from Eph. 6. verse 18. and Jude ver 20. where the Apostle commands to Pray always in the Spirit and Watching thereunto which is as much as if he had said that we were never to Pray without the Spirit or Watching thereunto And Jude sheweth us that such Prayers as are in the Holy Ghost only tend to the Building up of our selves in our most holy Faith Fourthly The Apostle Paul saith expresly 1 Cor. 12.3 That no man can say IV. Man cannot call Christ Lord but by the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost If then Jesus cannot be thus rightly Named but by the Holy Ghost far less can he be acceptably Called upon Hence the same Apostle declares 1 Cor. 14.15 That he will Pray with the Spirit c. A clear Evidence that it was none of his Method to Pray without it V. God will not hear the Prayer of the Wicked But Fifthly All Prayer without the Spirit is Abomination such as are the Prayers of the Wicked Prov. 28.9 And the Confidence that the Saints have that God will hear them is if they Ask any thing according to his Will 1 John 5. verse 14 So if the Prayer be not according to his Will there is no ground of Confidence that he will hear Now our Adversaries will acknowledge that Prayers without the Spirit are not according to the Will of God and therefore such as Pray without it have no ground to expect an Answer For indeed to bid a Man Pray without the Spirit is all one as to bid one See without Eyes Work without Hands or Go without Feet And to desire a Man to fall to Prayer ere the Spirit in some measure less or more Move him thereunto is to desire a Man to See before he Open his Eyes or to Walk before he Rise up or to Work with his Hands before he Move them VI. All Sacrifice is Sin not offer'd by the Spirit § XXIII But lastly From this false Opinion of Praying without the Spirit and not judging it Necessary to be Waited for as that which may be felt to Move us thereunto hath proceeded all the Superstition and Idolatry that is among those called Christians and those many Abominations wherewith the Lord is provoked and his Spirit grieved so that many deceive themselves now as the Jews did of old thinking it sufficient if they pay their daily Sacrifices and offer their customary Oblations from thence thinking all is well and creating a false peace to themselves as the Whore in the Proverbs because they have Offered up their Sacrifices of Morning and Evening-Prayers And therefore it 's manifest that their constant Vse of things doth not a whit influence their Lives and Conversations Prov. 7.14 but they remain for the most part as bad as ever Yea it is frequent both among Papists and Protestants for them first to Leap as it were out of their vain light and profane Conversations at their set Hours and Seasons and fall to their Customory Devotion and then when it is scarce finished and the Words to God scarce out the former profane Talk comes after it so that the same Wicked Profane Spirit of this World acts them in both If there be any such thing as Vain Oblations or Prayers that are Abomination which God heareth not as is certain there are and the Scripture testifies Isa. 66.3 Jer. 14.12 certainly such Prayers as are acted in Man's Will and by his own Strength without God's Spirit must be of that number § XXIV Let this suffice for Probation Now I shall proceed to Answer their Objections when I have said something concerning Joining in Prayer with others Those that Pray together with one accord Concerning Joining in Prayer with others use not only to Concur in their Spirits but also in the Gesture of their Body which we also willingly approve of It becometh those who approach before God to Pray that they do it with bowed Knees and with their Heads uncovered which is our practice But here ariseth a Controversy Whether it be lawful to Join with Object I others by those External Signs of Reverence albeit not in Heart who Pray formally neither Waiting for the Motion of the Spirit nor judging it necessary We Answer Not at all Answ. And for our Testimony in this thing we have suffered not a little For when it hath fall'n out that either Accidentally or to witness against their Worship How with Idolaters we cannot Join in Prayer we have been present during the same and have not found it lawful for us to Bow with them thereunto they have often persecuted us not only with Reproaches but also with Strokes and cruel Beatings For this Cause they use to accuse us of Pride Profanity and Madness
Observations and Ceremonies of their own To which they were so devoted that they were still apt to prefer them before the Command of God and that under the Notion of Zeal and Piety This we see abundantly in the Example of the Pharisees The Pharisees the Chiefest Sect among the Jews the Chiefest Sect among the Jews whom Christ so frequently reproves for making void the Commandments of God by their Traditions Matth. 15.6 9 c. This Complaint may at this day be no less justly made as to many bearing the Name of Christians who have introduced many things of this kind partly borrowed from the Jews Many things in Christendom are borrow'd from the Jews and Gentiles which they more tenaciously stick to and more earnestly contend for than for the weightier Points of Christianity because that Self yet alive and ruling in them loves their own Inventions better than God's Commands But if they can by any means stretch any Scripture-practice or Conditional precept or permission fitted to the Weakness or Capacity of some or appropriate to some particular Dispensation to give some Colour for any of these their Inventions they do then so tenaciously stick to them and so obstinately and obstreperously plead for them that they will not patiently hear the most-solid Christian Reasons against them Which Zeal if they would but seriously Examine it they would find to be but the prejudice of Education and the Love of Self more than of God or his Pure Worship Of Sacraments so many Controversies This is verified concerning those things which are called Sacraments about which they are very ignorant in Religious Controversies who understand not how much Debate Contention Jangling and Quarrelling there has been among those called Christians So that I may safely say the Controversy about them to wit about their Number Nature Vertue Efficacy Administration and other things hath been more than about any other Doctrine of Christ whether as betwixt Papists and Protestants or among Protestants betwixt themselves And how great prejudice these Controversies have brought to Christians is very obvious whereas the things contended for among them are for the most part but Empty Shadows and meer Out-side things as I hope hereafter to make appear to the patient and unprejudicate Reader § II. That which comes first under Observation is the Name Sacrament which is strange that Christians should stick to and Contend so much for since it is not to be found in all the Scripture but was borrowed from the Military Oaths among the Heathens from whom the Christians The Name of Sacrament not found in Scripture is borrow'd from the Heathens when they began to Apostatize did borrow many superstitious Terms and Observations that they might thereby Ingratiate themselves and the more easily gain the Heathens to their Religion which practice though perhaps intended by them for good yet as being the fruit of Humane Policy and not according to God's Wisdom has had very pernicious Consequences I see not how any whether Papists or Protestants especially the latter can in reason quarrel with us for denying this Term which it seems the Spirit of God saw not meet to inspire the Pen-men of the Scriptures to leave unto us But if it be said That it is not the Name but the Thing they Contend Object 1 for I Answer Let the Name then as not being Scriptural be laid aside and we shall see at first Entrance Answ. how much Benefit will redound by laying aside this Traditional Term and betaking us to plainness of Scripture-Language For presently the great Contest about the Number of them will evanish seeing there is no Term used in Scripture that can be made use of whether we call them Institutions Ordinances Precepts Commandments Appointments or Laws c. that would afford ground for such a Debate since neither Papists will affirm that there are only Seven or Protestants only Two of any of these forementioned If it be said That this Controversy arises from the Definition of the Thing Object 2 as well as from the Name Answ. It will be found otherwise For whatever way we take their Definition of a Sacrament whether as an outward visible Sign whereby inward Grace is conferred The Definition of Sacraments agrees to many other things or only signified This Definition will agree to many things which neither Papists nor Protestants will acknowledge to be Sacraments If they be expressed under the Name of Sealing Ordinances as some do I could never see neither by Reason nor Scripture how this Title could be appropriate to them more than to any other Christian Religious Performance for that must needs properly be a Sealing Ordinance which makes the persons receiving it infallibly certain of the Promise What Sealing Ordinance doth mean or Thing sealed to them Object 3 If it be said It is so to them that are faithful I Answer So is praying and preaching and doing of every good work Seeing the partaking or performing of the one gives not to any a more certain Title to Heaven Answ. yea in some respect not so much there is no Reason to call them so more than the other Besides we find not any thing called the Seal and Pledge of our Inheritance but the Spirit of God it is by that we are said to be sealed Eph. 1.14 4.30 which is also termed the Earnest of our Inheritance 2 Cor. 1.22 and not by outward Water or Eating and Drinking which as the Wickedest of Men may partake of so many that do do notwithstanding it go to Perdition The outward Washing doth not cleanse the Heart For it is not outward Washing with Water that maketh the Heart clean by which Men are fitted for Heaven And as that which goeth into the mouth doth not defile a man because it is put forth again and so goeth to the Dung-hill neither doth any thing which Man eateth purify him or fit him for Heaven What is said here in general may serve for an Introduction not only to this Proposition but also to the other concerning the Supper Of these Sacraments so called Baptism is always first numbered which is the Subject of the present Proposition in whose Explanation I shall first demonstrate and prove Our Judgment and then Answer the Objections and Refute the Sentiments of our Opposers As to the first part these things following which are briefly comprehended Part I in the Proposition come to be proposed and proved § III. First That there is but one Baptism as well as but One Lord Prop. I One Faith c. Secondly That this one Baptism which is the Baptism of Christ is Prop. II not a washing with or dipping in Water but a being baptized by the Spirit Thirdly That the Baptism of John was but a Figure of this and therefore Prop. III as the Figure to give place to the Substance which though it be to continue yet the other is Ceased As for the first viz. That there is
but one Baptism there needs no other Prop. I Proof than the Words of the Text Eph. 4.5 One Lord one Faith one Baptism where the Apostle positively and plainly affirms One Baptism prov'd that as there is but One Body One Spirit One Faith One God c. so there is but One Baptism As to what is commonly alledged by way of Explanation upon the Object 1 Text That the Baptism of Water and of the Spirit make up this One Baptism by vertue of the Sacramental Vnion I Answer This Exposition hath taken place Answ. not because grounded upon the Testimony of the Scripture but because it wrests the Scripture to make it suit to their Principle of Water-Baptism Whether Two Baptisms do make up the One and so there needs no other Reply but to deny it as being repugnant to the plain words of the Text which saith not That there are Two Baptisms to wit one of Water the other of the Spirit which do make up the One Baptism but plainly that there is One Baptism as there is One Faith and One God Now there goeth not Two Faiths nor Two Gods nor Two Spirits nor Two Bodies whereof the one is Outward and Elementary and the other Spiritual and pure to the making up of the One Faith the One God the One Body and the One Spirit so neither ought there to go Two Baptisms to make up the One Baptism But Secondly If it be said The Baptism is but One whereof Water is the one part to wit the Sign and the Spirit the thing signified the Object 2 other I Answer This yet more confirmeth our Doctrine Answ. For if Water be only the Sign it is not the Matter of the One Baptism as shall further hereafter by its Definition in Scripture appear and we are to take the One Baptism for the Matter of it not for the Sign or Figure and Type If Water be the Type the Substance must remain that went before Even as where Christ is called the One Offering in Scripture though he was Typified by many Sacrifices and Offerings under the Law we understand only by the One Offering his Offering himself upon the Cross whereof though those many Offerings were Signs and Types yet we say not that they go together with that Offering of Christ to make up the One Offering so neither though Water-Baptism was a Sign of Christ's Baptism will it follow that it goeth now to make up the Baptism of Christ. If any should be so Absurd as to affirm That this One Baptism here were the Baptism of Water and not of the Spirit that were foolishly to contradict the positive Testimony of the Scripture which saith the contrary as by what followeth will more amply appear Secondly That this One Baptism which is the Baptism of Christ is not a Washing with Water appears first from the Testimony of John the proper and peculiar Administrator of Water-Baptism Matth. 3.11 I indeed baptize you with Water unto Repentance but he that cometh after Prop. II me is mightier than I whose shooes I am not worthy to bear he shall baptize Proof I you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire Here John mentions two manners of Baptisings That had John's Baptism had not therefore Christ's and two different Baptisms the one with Water and the other with the Spirit the one whereof he was the Minister of the other whereof Christ was the Minister of and such as were baptized with the first were not therefore baptized with the second I indeed baptize you but he shall baptize you Though in the present time they were baptized with the Baptism of Water yet they were not as yet but were to be baptized with the Baptism of Christ. From all which I thus Argue If those that were baptized with the Baptism of Water were not therefore Arg. 1 baptized with the Baptism of Christ Then the Baptism of Water is not the Baptism of Christ. But the first is true Therefore also the last And again If he that truly and really administred the Baptism of Water did notwithstanding Arg. 2 declare That he neither could nor did baptize with the Baptism of Christ Then the Baptism of Water is not the Baptism of Christ. But the first is true Therefore c. And indeed to understand it otherwise would make John's Words void of good sense For if their Baptisms had been all one why should he have so precisely Contradistinguished them Why should he have said that those whom he had already baptized should yet be baptized by another Baptism Object If it be urged That Baptism with Water was the one part and that with the Spirit the other part or Effect only of the former One Baptism is no Part nor Effect of the other I Answer This Exposition contradicts the plain words of the Text. For he saith not I baptize you with Water and he that cometh after shall produce the Effects of this my Baptism in you by the Spirit c. or he shall accomplish this Baptism in you but he shall Baptize you So then if we understand the word truly and properly when he saith I Baptize you as consenting that thereby is really signified that he did baptize with the Baptism of Water we must needs unless we offer Violence to the Text understand the other part of the sentence the same way that where he adds presently But he shall baptize you c. that he understood it of their being truly to be baptized with another Baptism than what he did baptize with Else it had been Non-sense for him thus to have Contradistinguished them Proof II Secondly This is further confirmed by the Saying of Christ himself Acts 1.4 5. Who were 〈…〉 But wait for the promise of the Father which saith he ye have heard of me For John truly baptized with Water but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence There can scarce Two places of Scripture run more parallel than this doth with the former a little before mentioned and therefore concludeth the same way as did the other For Christ there grants fully that John compleated his Baptism as to the matter and substance of it John saith he truly baptized with Water which is as much as if he had said John did truly and fully Administer the Baptism of Water But ye shall be Baptized with c. This sheweth that they were to be Baptized with some other Baptism than the Baptism of Water and that although they were formerly Baptized with the Baptism of Water yet not with that of Christ which they were to be Baptiz'd with Thirdly Peter observes the same distinction Acts 11.16 Then remembred Proof III I the word of the Lord how that he said The Baptism with the Holy Ghost and that with Water differ John indeed Baptized with Water but ye shall be Baptized with the Holy Ghost The Apostle makes this Application upon the Holy Ghost's falling upon them whence
I Answer So was he also Circumcised it will not follow from thence that Circumcision is to Continue For it behoved Christ to fulfil all righteousness Why Christ was baptized by John not only the Ministry of John but the Law also therefore did he observe the Jewish Feasts and Rites and kept the Passover it will not then follow that Christians ought to do so now And therefore Christ Mat. 3.15 gives John this reason of his being baptized desiring him to Suffer it to be so now whereby he sufficiently intimates that he intended not thereby to Perpetuate it as an Ordinance to his Disciples Secondly they Object Matth. 28.19 Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father Object II and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Answ. This is the great Objection and upon which they build the Whole Superstructure Whereunto the first general and sound Answer is by granting the whole but putting them to prove that Water is here meant since the Text is silent of it What Baptism Christ doth mean in Matth. 28 And though in reason it be sufficient upon our part that we Concede the whole expressed in the place but deny that it is by Water which is an Addition to the Text yet I shall premise some Reasons why we do so and then consider the Reasons alledged by those that will have Water to be here understood The First is a Maxime yielded to by all that Arg. I We ought not to go from the literal signification of the Text except some urgent necessity force us thereunto But no urgent Necessity in this place forceth us thereunto Therefore we ought not to go from it Secondly That Baptism which Christ commanded his Apostles was Arg. II the one Baptism id est his own Baptism But the one Baptism which is Christ's Baptism is not with Water as we have already proved Therefore the Baptism commanded by Christ to his Apostles was not Water-baptism Thirdly That Baptism which Christ commanded his Apostles was such that as many as were therewith baptized did put on Christ But this is not true of Water-baptism Therefore c. Fourthly The Baptism commanded by Christ to his Apostles was not Arg. IV John's Baptism But Baptism with Water was John's Baptism Therefore c. But First they alledge That Christ's Baptism though a Baptism with Allegation I Water did differ from John 's because John only baptized with Water unto Repentance but Christ commands his Disciples to baptize in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost reckoning that in this Form there lieth a great difference betwixt the Baptism of John and that of Christ. I Answer as to that John's Baptism was unto Repentance Answ. the Difference lieth not there because so is Christ's also For our Adversaries will not deny but that Adult Persons that are baptized ought ere they be admitted to it to Repent and Confess their Sins yea and that Infants with a respect to and consideration of their Baptism ought to Repent and Confess So that the difference lieth not here since this of Repentance and Confession agrees as well to Christ's as to John's Baptism But in this our Adversaries are divided for Calvin will have Christ's and John's to be all one Inst. lib. 4. cap. 15. Sect. 7 8. Yet they do differ and the difference is in that the one is by Water the other not c. Secondly As to what Christ saith in commanding them to baptize in the Name of the Father Son and Spirit I confess that states the Difference and it is great but that lies not only in admitting Water-Baptism in this different Form by a bare expressing of these words for as the Text saith no such thing neither do I see how it can be inferred from it For the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is into the Name Of the Name of the Lord how taken in Scripture now the Name of the Lord is often taken in Scripture for something else than a bare sound of words or literal Expression even for his Vertue and Power as may appear from Psal. 54.3 Cant. 1.3 Prov. 18.10 and in many more Now that the Apostles were by their Ministry to baptize the Nations into this Name Vertue and Power and that they did so is evident by these Testimonies of Paul above mentioned where he saith That as many of them as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ The Baptism into the Name what it is this must have been a baptizing into the Name i. e. Power and Vertue and not a meer formal Expression of words adjoined with Water-baptism because as hath been above observed it doth not follow as a natural or necessary Consequence of it I would have those who desire to have their Faith built upon no other foundation than the Testimony of God's Spirit and Scriptures of Truth throughly to Consider whether there can be any thing further alledged for this Interpretation than what the prejudice of Education and influence of Tradition hath imposed perhaps it may stumble the unwary and inconsiderate Reader as if the very Character of Christianity were abolished to tell him plainly that this Scripture is not to be understood of baptizing with Water and that this form of baptizing in the Name of Father Son and Spirit hath no warrant from Matth. 28 c. For which Whether Christ did prescribe a Form of Baptism in Matth. 28 besides the Reason taken from the Signification of the Name as being the Vertue and Power above expressed let it be considered that if that had been a Form prescribed by Christ to his Apostles then surely they would have made use of that Form in the administring of Water-baptism to such as they baptized with Water but tho' particular mention be made in divers places of the Acts Who were baptized and how and tho' it be particularly expressed that they baptized such and such as Acts 2.41 8.12 13 38 9.18 10.48 16.15 18.8 yet there is not a word of this Form And in two places Acts 8.16 19.5 it is said of some that they were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus by which it yet more appears that either the Author of this History hath been very defective who having so often occasion to mention this yet omitteth so substantial a part of Baptism which were to accuse the Holy Ghost by whose guidance Luke wrote it or else that the Apostle did no ways understand that Christ by his Commission Matth. 28. did injoin them such a Form of Water baptism seeing they did not use it And therefore it is safer to conclude that what they did in administring Water-baptism they did not by vertue of that Commission else they would have so used it for our Adversaries I suppose would judge it great a Heresy to Administer Water-baptism without that or only in the Name of Jesus without mention of Father or Spirit as it is expresly said
to affirm instead of them For after he has spoken much and at last Concluded That the Body of Christ is there and that the Saints must needs partake thereof at last he lands in these words Sect. 32. But if it be asked me J. Calvin's Faith of Christ his Flesh and Blood Uncertain how it is I shall not be ashamed to confess that it is a Secret too high for me to comprehend in my Spirit or explain in Words Here he deals very ingenuously and yet who would have thought that such a Man would have been brought to this Strait in the Confirming of his Opinion considering but a little before in the same Chapter Sect. 15. he accuseth the School-men among the Papists and I Confess truly In that they neither Vnderstand The like the Papists nor Explain to others how Christ is in the Eucharist which shortly after he Confesseth himself he cannot do If then the School-men among the Papists do neither Vnderstand nor yet can Explain to others their Doctrine in this matter nor Calvin can Comprehend it in his Spirit which I judge is as much as not to understand it nor Express it in Words and then surely he cannot Explain it to others then no Certainty is to be had from either of them There have been great Endeavours used for Reconcilement in this matter both betwixt Papists and Lutherans Lutherans and Calvinists yea and Calvinists and Papists but all to no purpose and many Forms and Manners of Expressions drawn up to which all might yield which in the end proved in vain seeing every one understood them and interpreted them their own way and so they did thereby but Equivocate and Deceive one another The Reason of all this Contention is because they all wanted a clear Vnderstanding of the Mystery and were doting about the Shadow and the Externals For both the Ground and Matter of their Contest lies in things extrinsick from and unnecessary to the main Matter Satan busies people in outward Signs Shadows and Forms whilst they neglect the Substance and this hath been often the Policy of Satan to busy people and amuse them with outward Signs Shadows and Forms making them Contend about that while in the mean time the Substance is neglected Yea and in Contending for these Shadows he stirs them up to the practice of Malice Heat Revenge and other Vices by which he establisheth his Kingdom of Darkness among them and ruins the Life of Christianity for there has been more Animosity and Heat about this one Particular and more Blood-shed and Contention than about any other And surely they are little acquainted with the State of Protestants Affairs What hath been hurtful to the Reformation who know not that their Contentions about this have been more hurtful to the Reformation than all the Opposition they met with from their common Adversaries Now all these uncertain and absurd Opinions and the Contentions therefrom arising have proceeded from their all agreeing in Two General Errors concerning this thing Which being denied and receded from as they are by us there would be an Easie Way made for Reconciliation and we should all meet in the one Spiritual and true Vnderstanding of this Mystery and as the Contentions so would also the Absurdities which follow from all the Three forementioned Opinions Cease and fall to the ground The First of these Errors is Two Errors the ground of the Contentions about the Supper in making the Communion or Participation of the Body Flesh and Blood of Christ to relate to that outward Body Vessel or Temple that was born of the Virgin Mary and walked and suffered in Judea whereas it should relate to the Spiritual Body Flesh and Blood of Christ even that Heavenly and Celestial Light and Life which was the Food and Nourishment of the Regenerate in all Ages as we have already proved The Second Error is In tying this Participation of the Body and Blood of Christ to that Ceremony used by him with his Disciples in the breaking of bread c. as if it had only a Relation thereto or were only enjoyed in the use of that Ceremony which it neither hath nor is For this is that Bread which Christ in his Prayer teaches to call for terming it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the supersubstantial Bread as the Greek hath it and which the Soul partakes of without any relation or necessary respect to this Ceremony as shall be hereafter proved more at length These Two Errors being thus laid aside and the Contentions arising therefrom buried all are agreed in the main Positions viz. First That the body flesh and blood of Christ is necessary for the nourishing of the Soul Believers Souls do really feed upon the Flesh and Blood of Christ. Secondly That the Souls of believers do really and truly partake and feed upon the body flesh and blood of Christ. But while Men are not content with the Spirituality of this Mystery going in their own Wills and according to their own Inventions to strain and wrest the Scriptures for to Tie this Spiritual Communion of the flesh and blood of Christ to outward Bread and Wine and such like Carnal Ordinances no wonder if by their carnal Apprehensions they run into Heaps and Confusion But because it hath been generally supposed that the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ had some special relation to the Ceremony of breaking Bread I shall first Refute that Opinion and then proceed to consider the Nature and Vse of that Ceremony and whether it be now necessary to Continue answering the Reasons and Objections of such as plead its Continuance as a necessary and standing Ordinance of Jesus Christ. § V. First it must be understood that I speak of a Necessary and Peculiar Relation otherwise I. That the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ has no special Relation to the Ceremony of breaking Bread neither by Nature nor Precept than in a general Respect for forasmuch as our Communion with Christ is and ought to be our greatest and chiefest work we ought to do all other things with a Respect to God and our Fellowship with him but a special and necessary Respect or Relation is such as where the two things are so tied and united together either of their own Nature or by the Command of God that the one cannot be enjoyed or at least is not except very extraordinarily without the other Thus Salvation hath a necessary respect to Holiness because without Holiness no Man shall see God And the Eating of the flesh and blood of Christ hath a necessary respect to our having Life because if we eat not his flesh and drink not his blood we cannot have Life and our Feeling of God's Presence hath a necessary respect to our being sound Meeting in his Name by Divine Precept because he has promised Where two or three are Met together in his Name he will be in the midst
Man as to a more noble or certain Rule and Touchstone For this Divine Revelation and inward Illumination is that which is evident and clear of it self forcing by its own Evidence and Clearness the well-disposed Vnderstanding to Assent irresistibly moving the same thereunto even as the Common Principles of Natural Truths move and incline the Mind to a Natural Assent R. B People this is that which we Affirm and which these Young-Men are about to Dispute against as false Notwithstanding that A. Shir. had thus offered himself first to dispute yet I. L. Intruding himself put him to Silence beginning as followeth I. L. That which is not to be believed as the Rule of Faith is not to be the Rule of Faith But The Spirit is not to be believed as the Rule of Faith Therefore The Spirit is not to be the Rule of Faith R. B. Having Repeated the Argument I deny the Minor or second Proposition I. L. I prove it That which hath not a sufficient Evidence to evidence it self to be a Rule is not to be a Rule But The Spirit in the Quakers hath not a sufficient Evidence whereby to evidence it self to be a Rule Therefore The Spirit in the Quakers is not to be our Rule R. B. Having Repeated the Argument I distinguish that Second Proposition If thou meanest any Spirit in the Quakers which they peculiarly assume to themselves as Quakers or say they have as aâ—part of themselves or of Man's Nature we Concede that such have no Evidence neither do we say that any such Spirit is to be our Rule But if thou meanest that Vniversal Spirit of God a Manifestation whereof is given to every one to profit withal we affirm it hath a sufficient Evidence in us and in all Men. I. L. I urge that Distinction If the Spirit hath a sufficient Evidence either this Evidence is from your own Declaration or some other But It is neither from your own Declaration nor from some other Therefore It hath not a sufficient Evidence R. B. It is from both J. L. What is it then R. B. That it teacheth us to deny Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World This is an Evidence to all Men. J. L. I prove that is not a sufficient Evidence thus That is not a sufficient Evidence which Hereticks may pretend unto as a sufficient ground for their Heresie But Hereticks may pretend this as a sufficient ground for their Heresie Therefore It is not a sufficient Evidence R. B. I Answer this first by a Retortion this is the same Argument upon the matter which the Jesuit Dempster used against your Master viz. John Menzies For the Jesuit pressing him to assign a ground for the Protestant Religion which Hereticks could not pretend unto J. M. named the Scripture and the Jesuit further urged that Hereticks could and did pretend unto the Scriptures Now what Evidence can ye give from the Scriptures which we cannot give Yea and greater from the Spirit that Hereticks cannot justly lay claim to Stud. With one voice We will not have Retortions R. B. Praeses Read the Articles which contain a particular provision for Retortions as being lawful if not insisted too much on So the fifth Article above-mentioned was read G. K. I offer to Answer directly to his Argument without Retortion though I pass not from the Retortion for it stands over your heads which ye will never get over Then I say we have a two-fold Evidence which no Heretick can justly lay claim to The one is the inward Evidence of the Spirit of God by its own immediate Testimony in our hearts The other is the Testimony of the Scriptures which I affirm in the Name of the People called Quakers is the best external and outward Evidence and Rule that can be given And my Reason why we have the Testimony of the Scriptures as an Evidence that we have the Inspiration of the Spirit is this All Men have a measure of the Inspiration of the Spirit of God according to the Scriptures Testimony That Christ the true Light inlightneth every Man that cometh into the World and that a Manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Man to profit withal But this universal Illumination or Manifestation is Inspired and if all Men be in measure Inspired then consequently we who are Men are Inspired J. L. I prove ye have not the Testimony of the Scriptures for a sufficient Evidence That which is fallacious is not a sufficient Evidence But The Scriptures Testimony according to the Quakers without the indwelling of the Spirit is fallacious Therefore The Scriptures Testimony is not a sufficient Evidence R. B. Having Repeated the Argument I deny the 2 d Proposition G. K. The Argument is wrong in its Structure and vitious as consisting of four Terms which no right Syllogism should have Stud. I appeal to all Loâ—icians if when any thing is Subsumed in a Syllogism which is neither in the first Proposition nor in the Conclusion whether that Syllogism hath not four Terms Is it not in Forma For it hath not four Terms G. K. It hath four Terms and this I offer to prove before either your Masters or any other judicious Logicians in any Vniversity of this Nation I say it hath four Terms because it subsumes that in the second Proposition which was not in the first Proposition At this the Students fell a laughing and so provoked the People to lightness Al. Skein one of the Praeses's I am sorry to see those who profess to study Divinity behave themselves so lightly and so far from Seriousness in such weighty matters as concern the Truths of God G. K. I am ready still to prove that the Syllogism hath four Terms But this being not so proper here for this Auditory proceed ye to prove the second Proposition which R. B. hath denied J. L. I prove the Second Proposition That which may beguile a Man is fallacious But According to the Quakers the Scriptures may beguile a Man without the indwelling of the Spirit Therefore According to the Quakers the Scriptures are fallacious G. K. This Argument is also wrong in the Structure having four Terms R. B. But waving that I deny thy second Proposition For the Scripture cannot beguile any Man although Men may or have beguiled themselves by a wrong use of it A. Shir. Take notice People The Quakers say The Scriptures cannot beguile you R. B. Speak lowder yet for we do and have constantly Affirmed it And we hope it will help to clear us of those Mis-representations as if we despised or spake evil of the Scriptures G. K. I would my words could reach from the one end of the World to the other when I say The Scriptures cannot beguile any Man for the Scripture is innocent and a true Testimony in it self but Men do beguile themselves oft by making perverse Glosses upon the Scriptures The Scripture cannot be fallacious because
according to you it is your Principal Rule of Faith and if we can prove from your own Principal Rule that we are Inspired then the Scriptures Testimony is not Fallacious else your Principal Rule would be Fallacious Stud. But that is not according to your Principle G. K. But it is an Argument ad Hominem which ye know is lawful And besides though we do not acknowledge them to be the Principal Rule of our Faith yet we Affirm that they are a true Testimony and the best outward Testimony and Rule in the World And besides there is a Manifestation of the Spirit in many where there is not an in-dwelling of the Spirit and by this Manifestation of the Spirit all men may understand the Scriptures as they do improve it Stud. We will go to another Argument R. B. People take notice this Argument is left upon this Point that according to the Quakers Principle these Young-men say The Scriptures may beguile People which we utterly deny as proved or that can be proved Al. Shirreffe I argue against the latter part of the second Thesis where ye affirm That Inward Immediate Revelations are necessary to the building up of true Faith We confess that Subjective Revelation is necessary but we deny that Objective Revelation is necessary which ye Affirm G. K. Explain what ye mean by Subjective and Objective Revelation that the People may understand according to the Articles A. Sh. I explain it from this Scripture Luke 24.17 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself Here is the Objective Revelation to wit the Scriptures so that they needed not any new Objective Revelation but only that which was before but needed a Subjective Revelation or Divine Illumination to make them understand the Objective Revelation to wit the Scriptures G. K. That is not a sufficient Explanation of Objective and Subjective Revelation therefore I desire to be heard that I may open it more sufficiently according as is provided in the Articles of Agreement Objective Revelation or the Object of our Faith is twofold to wit first the Material Object secondly the Formal Object Stud. Do the People understand this G. K. I shall explain it to them for it is necessary to the matter in hand The Material Object is that which is to be believed the Formal Object is that for which principally we are to believe or the principal Motive of Credibility Now to apply I say The Scriptures are the Material Object or a part of the Material Object of our Faith but not the Formal Object of our Faith Al. Shir. I prosecute my Argument against such Objective Revelations as being necessary to Faith G. K. We confess the Scriptures are sufficient to move us to an Historical Faith and that to a more excellent degree of Historical Faith than any other Histories in the World because it hath more excellent outward Motives of Credibility as the Consent of all Ages since they were written and of all Christians however differing among themselves c. but they are not sufficient to beget in us a Saving Faith without Inward Objective Revelation Al. Shir. I prove such Inward Objective Revelations are not necessary to beget Saving Faith by this Argument If there be no such Seed in Men as the Quakers maintain then there are no such Revelations as the Quakers maintain But there is no such Seed in Men as the Quakers maintain Therefore there are no such Revelations c. R. B. After he had repeated the Argument I deny that second Proposition Al. Shir. I prove it If there be no such Seed in Men as a substantial living Principle distinct from the Soul that can be heard seen savoured tasted and felt then there is no such Seed in Men as the Quakers maintain But the first is true Therefore the last And then the said Alexander Shirreffe read a passage at length out of G. K. his Book of Immediate Revelation page 6 7. That the Seed was such a living substantial Principle and that in the Seed these Revelations were only received R. B. This is a Digression from the Matter and a passing from the Theses which should have been the Subject of this Day 's Debate to G. K. his Book of Immediate Revelation G. K. I must now appear to defend my Book and Apologize to R. B. because I am necessitated to put my Hand in another's Harvest Therefore I distinguish upon the Word Such in the first Proposition If by Such thou meanest a Substantial Principle c. I say that is altogether Extrinsick to the Subject of the Debate and besides it will engage us into the greatest Nicities and Obscurities of Philosophy and School-Divinity that is not proper for this Auditory But if by Such thou meanest an Vniversal Principle of God's Saving Grace in Men whereby they are capacitated both to know and do the Will of God I Affirm and am ready to maintain there is such a Principle in all Men. Al. Shir. But I prove That that Seed in Men is not of a Substance or Substantial Principle G. K. I am ready to defend That it is a Substantial Principle But that belonging to the Second Proposition we ought not to come to it before the Distinction of the First Proposition be discussed Here the Students made a great Noise and G. K. appealed to the Praeses And. Thomson Who answered discreetly That G. K. did not refuse to defend That the Seed of God was a Substantial Principle but this was not its proper Place until the Distinction of the former Proposition be discussed Al. Shir. I shall wave the Word Substantial c. and I offer to prove That there is not a Seed of God in Men as the Quakers Affirm If there be such a Seed it is either Created or Uncreated But it is neither Created nor Uncreated Chuse you whether G. K. After he had repeated the Argument I distinguish the Word Seed as being either a Concrete Term or an Abstract Term. J. L. Doth the People understand this Distinction G. K. I hope ye understand it and I shall explain it to them who understand it not A Concrete Term comprehendeth two things the one in Recto as they say the other in Obliquo that is to say the one hath the other belonging to it As Merciful is a Concrete Term which is as much as to say One that hath Mercifulness in him and so Mercifulness is the Abstract which signifieth that one thing belonging to the Concrete Now to Apply If we understand Seed as the Concrete it is both Vncreated and Created for it is God himself discovering himself to the Creatures Capacity in his Work of Manifestation which Work is Created but he who doth manifest himself in that Manifestation is Vncreated And because he manifests himself at first in a low and small degree unto the Soul therefore he in that Manifestation is compared unto a Seed even as
did the Scripture deceive thee when thou preachedst upon that Text Why mournest thou for Saul If thou sayst Thou only here mis-understood the Place and mis-applyedst it yet is the Scripture for all that True and Certain May not the same be said if one pretending the Spirit to be the Rule should fall in the like Error that the Spirit were not to be blamed or thence termed uncertain But the Man that mistook the Voice thereof or took his own Imaginations instead of it as thou didst thy Mis-apprehensions for the Sense of that Scripture If thou canst extricate thy self out of these Difficulties so as to satisfie me or any other Rational and Indifferent Person I may seriously say to thee according to the Proved Eris mihi magnus Apollo and really thou may'st not be without Hopes of making a Proselyte But if it appear to all Judicious and Unprejudicate Persons That John Menzies's Arguments against the Quakers are no other than the Jesuit's against him and whatever way he can defend himself against the Jesuit's so the Quakers can do against him and impugn and straiten him the same way so that his Argument is like the Viper's-Brood that destroys him that brings it forth I say if this appear what may Candid Persons judge of John Menzies's Honesty that has asserted in Print That Quakerism is Popery under a Disguise and the Papists and Quakers are one The State of the Controversie in the first Place then both upon our Part and Yours is in Thesi and not in Hypothesi That is Not Whether or not we be truly ruled by the Spirit or can give an Evidence of it more than Whether ye be truly led by the Scriptures or can give any Evidence that ye are but Whether we do well in saying The Spirit is the Principal Rule of Faith For though divers Sects now to wit Lutherans Calvinists Episcopalians Presbyterians Independents Anabaptists Antinomians Arminians c. do all quarrel one another each laying Claim to be led by the Scripture and denying it of the other yet do they all agree in this That the Scripture is the only Rule Will it therefore follow That the Scripture is not the Rule or Certain because none of these can give a Certain Evidence convincing their respective Opposers that they are led by it So on the other Hand though such as affirm the Spirit to be the Principal Rule cannot give any Evidence to convince their Opposers that they are led by it it will not follow that it is not the Rule or that they err in Affirming it so to be A POSTSCRIPT AS the Apostle Paul said concerning the Spirit of God That there are diversities of Operations but one Spirit and one Body of Christ which is his Church so I may say concerning Antichrist and his Spirit and Body The Body of Antichrist is but one having many Members and the Spirit of Antichrist is but one in the Root though in different Operations and Appearances And what is this Body of Antichrist but all these whether Papists or others though pretending to Reformation under whatsoever Designation as Episcopal Presbyterian Independent Anabaptist or any else who oppose the Spirit of Christ in his Spiritual Appearances and Operations in the Body of Christ which is his Church A manifest Instance of the Truth of this I my self of late have been an Ear and Eye witness of For not many Months ago I had occasion at London both to see with my Eyes and hear with my Ears how the People called Anabaptists some of their Chief Teachers opposed denied slighted and by all Means their Earthly and Devilish Wisdom could invent laboured to make of none effect the Inward Evidence of the Spirit of God in his People alledging openly in the Faces of Thousands That whoever could not give an Evidence to their Adversaries that they were Inspired with the Spirit of God such as no Hereticks could pretend to were no Christians but deceivers So these Anabaptists lately argued against us at London in an open Assembly And so now since in my own Native Country within these few Days I have seen the same Spirit to appear in Men professedly very much differing from Anabaptists and slighting them as a sort of Hereticks yet one with them in the Ground and in this particular Work and Service also to carry on the great Design of Antichrist These are some Masters of Arts Students of Divinity as they call themselves in the University of Aberdeen who openly in the hearing of divers Hundreds of People some whereof were Sober and Judicious did oppose the inward Evidence of the Spirit of God in his People as not being a sufficient Evidence unto them unless they could give an Evidence of it unto others even their very Adversaries that they were Inspired and so if we the People called Quakers could not give an Evidence of this unto these our Opposers we were but Deceivers After it had been shewn them That Papists and Jesuits used the same Argument against all the Protestants that indeed did more militate against them out of the Papists Quiver than out of these our Adversaries Quiver against us I produced the Testimony of the Scripture as the best and most Convincing outward Evidence that could be given as a Witness to the Doctrine and Principle of Immediate Revelation and Inspiration of the Spirit of God owned by us as being in all Men in some Measure and consequently in us This is I say not the best and most principal Evidence nor the greatest that we have unto our selves or unto one another who are gathered into the same Faith Spirit and Power for that is the Immediate Evidence of the Spirit in our Hearts which witnesseth both to our selves and to one another that we are the Children of God but it is I mean the Scripture the Greatest Outward and Visible Evidence that can be given unto our Adversaries who in Words own the Scriptures as their only Rule and chiefest Evidences And in doing so I followed the Example of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who while he reasoned against the Jews who professed to own the Scriptures but denied him he brought a Testimony for himself out of the Scriptures which they in Words owned as their Rule Search said he or Ye search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have Eternal Life and these are they which testify of me Now though Christ his own immediate Testimony should have been received as greater than any of his Servants such as Moses and the Prophets were yet he used this as an Argument against them as bringing them to their own Rule And said he Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for Moses wrote of me And he said again I have a greater Testimony than that of John and yet John was the greatest of all the Prophets So in like manner we say We have a greater Testimony to Christ Jesus by his Spirit and Power Revealed in us than the
Testimony of Moses and the Prophets even than John who was the greatest But when we produce the Testimony of Moses and the Prophets and Apostles as an Evidence to the Truth of what we affirm I say it should be received by our Adversaries who own the Scriptures as their Chief and Only Rule For either they should Receive it or not Receive it if they should Receive it then they are faulty who in the late Dispute at Aberdeen did refuse to Receive the Evidence of the Scriptures as from us only because we say We have a greater to wit that of the Spirit within us although we own the Scripture as the greatest Visible and outward Evidence that we can give to our Adversaries If they should not Receive the Scripture-Evidence and Testimony as from us because we say we have a Greater to wit that of Christ himself immediately in us by his Spirit then they must needs also say for the same Reason That the Jews ought not to receive the Testimony of the Scriptures as an Evidence for Christ because he said He had a Greater And certainly he had a greater though they would not receive it nor could not as they stood in their Prejudice and Malice wherewith they were filled against him who did not receive him Now this I say with Freedom and Boldness of Spirit to all those whether Papists Anabaptists Prelatical or Presbyterian Professors who with one Mouth require of us an Evidence that we are Inspired or have a Measure of the Inspiration of the Spirit of God and Christ in us I offer unto all of you the Scriptures for an Evidence of this Truth viz. That the Quakers so called have a Measure of the Inspiration of the Spirit of God and Christ in them For according to the Scriptures-Testimony Christ the true Light enlighteneth every Man that cometh into the World and his Illumination is his Inspiration I profess sincerely in God's Fear That the Scriptures-Testimony is to me as full and plain and Convincing to prove this Truth viz. That an Illumination Manifestation and Inspiration of the Spirit of God is given to every Man is in every Man as to prove this Truth That Christ who according to the Flesh was born of the Virgin Mary was the promised Messiah Now if we can prove from Scripture That all Men have in them a Measure of this Divine Illumination and Inspiration by the Spirit of Christ we have gained our Point which is That we have also a Measure of the same in us for ALL MEN doth comprehend Vs called Quakers as well as other Men I see not what our Adversaries can with any Colour Object against this Evidence from Scripture but this That they will deny that the Scripture bears Testimony to this Vniversal Illumination or Inspiration of the Spirit of God in Men. But this brings the Matter of the Debate from being Personal to be Doctrinal and so puts us upon equal Terms at least with all our Adversaries especially Prelatical Anabaptist and Presbyterian and Independent Opposers whatsoever who say The Scriptures are their chief and only Rule And though our Adversaries say The Scripture doth not testifie to that Universal Inspiration of the Spirit of Christ in Men that moveth us not more than when the Jews denied That the Scriptures bore Testimony to him that was born of the Virgin Mary to be the Christ. We are able by the help of God to prove from Scripture the Truth of this Doctrine of Divine Illumination and Inspiration in all Men and consequently in the Quakers as much as they or any professing Christianity upon Earth can prove any Principle or Doctrine of their Faith Secondly We are able and do offer by the Grace of God against all our Opposers whatsoever to prove from the Scriptures-Testimony That this Universal Inspiration and Illumination of Christ by his Spirit in Men is a sufficient Evidence of Truth and Rule of Faith and Life in all Men and consequently in us called Quakers Thirdly that this Divine Inspiration and Illumination where it is not wilfully resisted and rejected but regarded and attended is a Greater Evidence than the Scripture is and witnessed by the Scriptures Fourthly and yet the Scripture is the Greatest Visible and Outward Evidence that either we or they can give of their Rule I shall conclude with a reasonable Demand to these Young-Men Masters of Arts their Masters and Teachers which is this Whether they own these Assertions Affirmations and Arguments of their Scholars in the late Dispute as followeth viz. That whatever is of God is God That the Scriptures according to the Quakers are Fallacious and can beguile us That the Baptism with the Holy Ghost is ceased And the rest of their Discourse inserted in this foregoing Treatise If Yea Let them declare so much to the People who are greatly stumbled at these their Expressions even divers of their own Church If Nay then let them publickly Reprove and Disown those Words otherwise not only we but many others will say Ye have both taught and allowed them so to Affirm G. K. Quakerism Confirmed OR A VINDICATION Of the Chief DOCTRINES and PRINCIPLES Of the PEOPLE called QUAKERS FROM THE Arguments and Objections of the Students of Divinity so called of Aberdeen in their Book entituled QVAKERISM CANVASED BY ROBERT BARCLAY AND GEORGE KEITH 2 Tim. 3.9 But they shall proceed no further for their Folly shall be manifest to all Men c. London Printed for Tho. Northcott 1691. Friendly Reader 1676. HAD we not more Regarded the Interest of the Truth for whose sake we can shun no Abasement than the Significancy of those with whom we have this Rencountre we should have rather chused to be silent than Answer them they being of so small Reputation among their own that neither Teachers nor People will hold themselves Accomptable for any of their Positions and seem zealous to have it believed they would not bestow Time to Read it nor yet hold themselves obliged to Approve it However since we certainly know That in the Second Part of their Book to which this Reply is they have scraped together most of the Chief Arguments used against us and borrowed not a little from G. M's Manuscripts with whose Work that yet appears not we have been these seven Years menaced Which like the Materials of a Building managed by Unskilful Workmen though they be by them very confusedly put together yet being the chief Things can be said against us we have throughly handled for the Reader 's Satisfaction which may be Serviceable to the Truth without Respect to the Insignificancy of those against whom it is written As for the first Part of their Book we have also Answered it but distinct from this it consisting of many Particularities of Matters of Fact which perhaps might have proved tedious to many Readers that may by This be Edified and think it of no great Consequence that the Students are proved Liars which even many
without any real Proof For it is a Truth That no Scripture-Truth can be savingly believed but by the Illumination of the Spirit which is Objective In Paragraph 28. they think to evade G. K. his Argument That we have Inspiration because all Men have it that then Papists Mahumetans Pagans and Men bodily possessed have Inspiration which we do affirm viz. That these have it so far as to Convince them and is sufficient to be a Law of Condemnation and render them without Excuse for their Sin and this all Men have not only within their Day but after their Day of Visitation is expired But as to their imposed Glosses and Senses which they say their Divines have already vindicated on these Scriptures cited by G. K. for Vniversal Grace and Inspiration as they refer us to their Divines so we refer them to our Friends and our Books where their silly and weak Reasons are answered against this Gospel-Truth As for the Word EVERY we acknowledge it is not taken always Vniversally but seeing it is taken so most frequently it lieth on them to prove that it is otherwise taken in the Places cited Before we close the Answer to this Subsection Revelations self-evident we propose further unto the Reader these Two Considerations 1. That when we say Inward Divine Revelations in the Seed are self-evident we do not mean it always in respect of the Material Objects of things Revealed but in respect of the Formal Object or Revelation it self 2. Although we affirm That the Illumination and Influence of the Spirit in Men's Hearts is both Effective and Objective yet we do not affirm That they are two distinct Things but one and the same thing under different Respects so that we do not plead for another Influence than that which in Words they seem to grant But we say it is a more Excellent Thing than they acknowledge it to be as being in it self perceptible and having a self-Evidence whereas they will have it only a Medium incognitum a thing altogether undiscernible and in-evident of it self so as to convince or satisfy the Understanding that it is of God And thus according to our Adversaries Sense and upon their Principle this Inward Illumination of the Spirit may be said to be Fallacious for want of Evidence seeing according to their own Argument That which hath not a sufficient Evidence is fallacious But whereas the Students in their Account grant in Words That the Soul hath Spiritual Sensations and that the Work of Grace may be felt This Confession destroyeth their whole Superstructure For if the Work of Grace can be felt or is perceptible then it is Objective for whatever is perceptible is objective And seeing they grant That the Soul hath Spiritual Sensations we ask them What are the Objects of the Sensations Are they only Words and Letters or Things such as God himself in his heavenly Refreshings Waterings and Bedewings If the first it is most unreasonable for it would make the Spiritual Senses to fall short of the Natural seeing the Natural Senses reach beyond Words to Natural Things themselves If the Second they must needs with us acknowledge inward objective Revelations for by them we understand no other thing but as God and the things of His Kingdom are felt in us by way of Object SECTION II. Where the Students Chief Argument against the Spirit 's being the Rule is proved to be one upon the Matter with that the Jesuit Dempster used against their Master J. M. and the same way answered and their Weak Endeavours to evite it Examined and Refuted THere hath enough been said heretofore to demonstrate the Fallacies in the Form of their Arguments in which also it resembled the Jesuits which to avoid Repetition we shall now omit Their Medium against us is That we cannot give an Evidence of our being led by the Spirit but that which may be as good an Evidence for Hereticks Hereticks Pretences to the Spirit For thus they word it in their Account alledging We wronged them in saying They used the Words which Hereticks may pretend to yet abstracting from this false Charge we shall take it as they now express it being indeed Equivalent To prove that it may be as good an Evidence for Hereticks they make J. L. argue thus Other Hereticks declare and say they have the Spirit of God teaching them as well as you Therefore if your saying you were so taught were a sufficient Evidence c. Then their declaring c. Now let the Reader judge whether this Argument amounts to any thing more then that That is not a sufficient Evidence to the Quakers which other Hereticks may pretend to Thus the Students dispute against the Quakers let us hear how the Jesuit disputes against J. M. their Master Pap. Lucifug pag. 3. after the Jesuit hath repeated his Argument he adds May it please the Answerer of this Syllogism to remember That the Ground or Principle which he shall produce to prove the Truth of his Religion must have this Property that it cannot serve nor be assumed to prove a false Religion as the Grounds and Principles that one produceth to prove that he is an Honest Man must have this Property that it cannot serve nor be assumed to prove a Knave to be an honest Man c. Let the judicious Reader consider whether there be any material difference betwixt these two Argumentations But to proceed and shew that their Arguments are no better than the Jesuits against their Master and our Answers no worse than their Master 's against the Jesuit we shall place them together J. M. Answereth the Jesuit thus pag. 5. of his Pap. Lucifugus The true Religion hath sufficient grounds in it self to manifest it self to be the true Religion if it meet with a well disposed Intellect For to use your own Similitude an honest Man may have ground enough to shew a distinction betwixt him and a Knave albeit a Fool cannot discern it so the true Religion may have ground enough to prove it self True which the false Religion hath not though an Infidel or Heretick whose foolish mind is darkned Rom. 1.21 cannot take it up Our Answer to the Students as themselves acknowledge it pag. 59. is J. M 's Answer to the Jesuit compared with ours That the Evidence of the Spirit cannot be assigned but to the well-disposed Vnderstanding this they call a pitiful Subterfuge alledging that then this Evidence can only be assigned to such as are of the Quaker's mind but not to others and that any Heretick in the World may deny Evidences upon the same account Now let the judicious Reader determine whether if this Answer be a pitiful Subterfuge the Students with the same Breath do not declare their Master 's to the Jesuit to be the same And when they write next let them shew the difference which they have not yet done In answer to this Retortion they alledge pag. 67. That R. B. said their
are Men that solemnly profess they have abstained from Personal Criminations but seeing they have belied the Apostle Paul as is above observed G. K. may take it patiently to be treated at this Rate by Men of such Circumstances But if they think to infer it because G. K. doth plead for the Liberty and Priviledge of Women they might as well plead That G. K. is too much addicted to a Perfect Holiness because he doth plead for it or that the Students are too much addicted to sin since they plead for the Continuance of it for Term of Life They are little less than inraged that G. K. should have alledged the Testimony of Augustine and Bernard interpreting this Place of the Flesh and therefore they labour like Men in a Sweat for a whole Page against this to no purpose the only Reason of G. K's citing them being because some of their Preachers cried out against this Allegory as a horrid abusive thing in some Quakers to shew them it is none of the Quakers Coining but already used by Men by themselves applauded and commended Upon this they ask Have not some of our Antagonists been observed to make a Welchman's hose of the first Chapter of Genesis If they mean us let them prove we have so done as we have already proved they have again they ask Have not some Quakers been bold to aver that there was never any such real Tree as the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil If they have let them instance and prove by whom it was spoken and writ and then they shall have an Answer As they proceed they give an egregious Specimen of their Folly alledging That if it did hold Womens Speaking in the Church Lawful as G. K. affirms that Women are not allowed to speak by Permission then a fortiori it is unlawful for them to speak by Commandment Who but the Students would talk at this rate As if a Commandment might not authorise a Man to do that which a bare Permission will not G. K's Arguments drawn from their own allowing Whores to speak and Women to sing they call Quibbles because they cannot answer which they Reply to only by Questions Do they allow Whores Authoritative Preaching affirming Women may sing Very well whether it be Authoritative or not whatsoever way they speak they keep not Silence and so the Apostle's Words are not taken strictly and literally which gains us the Cause and shews our Doctrine is no more directly against the Apostle's Words than their own Besides from this it followeth by the Students Confession that Women may as lawfully speak in the Church as the Licentiate Students whom the Presbytery permits to speak in the Church before they are Ordained They pass our chief Objection very overly drawn from 1 Cor. 11.5 where the Apostle gives direct Rules how Women should behave themselves in their publick Praying and Preaching alledging There are Rules given in Scripture concerning things that were never lawful but only permitted c. as of Polygamy under the Law But they should have remembred that these are Rules given by the Apostle to the Christian Church of Corinth And seeing the Students suppose That the Apostle gave directions to the Church of Corinth not only of things that belong not to them now but which are not lawful for them a Doctrine we question if their Masters will approve of or of the Consequence of which themselves are aware it remains for them to prove That these Two Rules forbidding Womens Speaking belong to us or is not of the number of these useless Rules more than that other concerning the manner of their Preaching So we hope this Solution it Impugned and desire they may be sure not to forget to bring us this Reason when they write next SECTION IV. Concerning the Necessity of Immediate Revelations to the Building up of True Faith containing an Answer to the Students second Section from pag. 78. to pag. 92. IN their stating the Controversy they say These Inward Revelations are not subjective Revelations or Divine Illuminations This is false for as we have above shewed one and the same Illumination that is Effective or Subjective is also Objective and the Objective is Effective Again they say The Question is not if Immediate Objective Revelations be possible or be sometimes made to some de facto This Concession will overthrow much of all their own Work For if they admit that any Person in our Time hath Immediate Objective Revelations admit Peter or John their former Argument will as much militate against this Real Immediate Immediate Objective Revelation asserted Objective Revelation granted by them as against those which they do not grant Seeing pag. 7. at the Letter A they say Suppose that the Spirit Reveal the Objects of Faith immediately none will deny that he is a Rule or rather Ruler to them who have him so A good Concession but which quite undoes their own Cause For now let us apply their former Argument against this Real Objective Revelation granted by them as thus We ought to believe That as the Rule of Faith of which there can be no Evidence given But There can be no Evidence in the World given of the Spirit that is in Peter and John Therefore c. Again if Peter and John say they can give an Evidence of the Spirit of God in them to wit their own Declaration in Life and Power as also the Immediate Testimony of the Spirit or the Scriptures-Testimony let us Apply in the last place their Argument used against us and see if it will not be as good against Peter and John whom they grant de facto according to their Hypothesis to have Immediate Objective Revelation The Argument is this That which as really agrees to Enthusiast Hereticks as to them can be no Evidence But That Evidence to wit their own Declaration and Saying that both they and their Adversaries have the Immediate Testimony of the Spirit witnessing to the Truth of it would as really agree to Enthusiast Hereticks Therefore c. Yea not only might they thus Argue against any Mens having Immediate Objective Revelation in our days but against the Prophets and Apostles having it seeing the Argument might every way be as strong against their having it as against our having it especially at such times as they wrought no outward Miracles in the sight of the People to whom they were sent as oft they did not When the Lord sent Jonas to preach to the Ninivites he wrought no Miracle in their sight Now let us put the Students in the Ninivites place and we shall find they could Argue as stoutly and hardily against Jonas as now they do against any Quaker They could tell him He could give no Evidence of the Spirit of God in him giving any such Message as for his Declaration it would not suffice because his saying he had the Spirit would be as good a ground for any other Enthusiast Heretick
painted Bread or a Discourse of Bread cannot satisfie the Natural Tast and Appetite A Discourse of Bread satisfies not the Hungry no more can the Scripture-Words satisfie the Tast and Appetite of the Soul They cite 2 Tim. 3.15 16 17. to prove That the Scriptures of Old and New Testmament are the Principal Compleat and Infallible Rule of Faith and Manners But this place doth not say that they are so The Scripture we grant but deny their Consequence Which is meerly begged without a Proof They Confess pag. 90. That the Scriptures are not sufficient every way so as to exclude the Inward Efficiency of the Spirit and the Concurrence of other Causes Very well Enough to overthrow their whole Argument Inward Revelation both Effective and Objective For among other Causes Divine Inspiration is a Main For indeed the inward Efficiency of the Spirit is that Objective Revelation which we plead for only they deny it to be Objective whereas we say it is both Effective and Objective As if a Man should grant that the Light and Heat of the Fire doth both enlighten us and warm us but deny that either that Light or Heat of the Fire is Objective to our discerning or perceptible by themselves which were ridiculous And as Ridiculous is their Conceit of an Influence of the Spirit that is meerly Effective and not Objective That the Books of the Old and New Testament are called the Scripture by way of Eminency we deny not although the Name is given at Times to other Writings nor doth this refute G. K. his Translation of that Scripture 2 Tim. 3.16 which is confirmed by the Syriack which hath it thus In Scriptura enim quae per Spiritum scripta est utilitas est ad doctrinam c. i. e. For in the Scripture which is written by the Spirit there is profit All Scripture given by Inspiration c. Controverted But their Reason from the Conjunction and is both Foolish and Blasphemous For if the Words be rendered thus All Scripture given by Inspiration is and profitable is no more Non-sense than divers other Places in the Scripture where the Conjunction and seemeth to be Redundant As in that Place Joh. 8.25 where the Greek hath it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. The beginning or from the beginning the same which and * Or also I speak unto you Now if the Conjunction and render not this Place Non-sense no more doth it render that in Timothy But the Students Ignorance renders them rather Blasphemers and their Arguments Blasphemous against the Words of Christ. Moreover the Conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may signifie a strong Affirmation as to say even truly indeed as both our English Translation hath it Joh. 8.25 and Schrevelius in his Greek Lexicon doth render it And thus the Words have good Sense All Scripture or Writing given by Inspiration is even or indeed profitable And whereas they say None but a Quaker or Jesuit would so interpret the Place They declare their Malice and Ignorance For William Tindall that famous Protestant Martyr in his Translation of the Bible for which the Papists burnt him did Translate it as G. K. doth whom we think the Students dare not Accuse as a Jesuit That he was a Quaker in so far as he held divers of our Principles Condemned by the Students we shall not deny As for us we bless the Lord Unprofitable Nicities of the Letter-Mongers reprehended our Faith stands not on such a small Nicity as the want of an is or the redundancy of an and let them look to that whose Faith knoweth no other Foundation but the Letter It doth nothing hurt our Faith nor lessen the due Esteem of the Scripture to us if peradventure an is hath been lost or an and hath crept into the Text since the Original Copies were lost This we know and can prove That the Scripture cannot profit any Man to Salvation without the Illumination or Inspiration of the Spirit which is both Effective and Objective and which our Adversaries grant at least to be Effective And if they make one Exception why may not we make another Or if they say the Spirit is necessary one Way why may not we say It is necessary another Way But then the Scriptures say they would not be profitable at all in any Manner or Kind We deny the Consequence For it is profitable yea The Scripture is profitable and necessary in genere objecti materialis i. e as the material Object in Relation to all Historical Truths and divers other Dogmatical and Doctrinal Points which perhaps we would not have known without the Scripture although we had had the Spirit in as large a Measure as Men now have it Again The Scripture is profitable in genere Objecti remoti secundarii i. e. by way of a Remote and Secondary Object and Rule even as in relation to Testimonies of Life and Experience which may be known without the Scripture yet the Scripture is a Secondary Confirmation and Help even in that Case as a Card or Map of a Land is unto a Traveller that travels through the Land it self and seeth the High Ways who will not throw away his Card The Map compared with the Land in Possession because he sees the Land it self but will both delight and profit himself to Compare them both together Other great and weighty Uses we could give but these suffice to serve as Instances against their Weak and Sorry Argumentation Their last Argument is from Joh. 12.48 The Word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day But how prove they That this is the Letter of the Scripture much of which was not then writ And although this Word were not Christ himself yet it may be an Inward Testimony spoken by Christ in Men's Hearts Here they meerly beg and prove not But 2. Suppose it were the Scripture or Written Law as that cited by them Rom. 2.12 it will only follow That the Scripture is a Secondary Law or Rule which we willingly grant and that by it Men who have the Scriptures shall be judged but not by them only For if the Gentiles who have not the written Law shall be judged by the Law in the Conscience so shall these also who have both Inward and Outward be judged by both and consequently their Damnation shall be greater SECTION V. Of Worship being an Answer unto their Third Section concerning Inspirations to Duty IN their stating the Controversy in this particular they grosly prevaricate in divers things As where they say N. 2. The Question is not only about Duty on the Matter videlicet The Act of Prayers Prayer without the Spirit not acceptable c. as separated from the right manner viz. Sincerity and Truth whereas indeed the Question betwixt them and us is about Prayer as separated from the Right Manner viz. Sincerity and Truth For they say God requires Men to
some Extraordinary Degree of Faith or the Faith of Miracles so the Discerning must be some Extraordinary Degree or as in Relation to Miracles seeing there were Spirits of Devils that wrought false Miracles And such a Discerning as to that we do not plead for as Common to all but that a Discerning of Spirits so far as to discern betwixt them who were Godly and VVicked and who were Ministers of the Spirit and who not was Common to all we prove Because it is promised as a General Priviledge Mal. 3.18 Then shall ye return and Discern between the righteous and the wicked c. again all are commanded To Try the Spirits 1 Joh. 4.1 Therefore all have a measure of Discerning whereby to try them otherwise they were required to doe an Impossible thing which is Absurd If it be said He giveth a Rule whereby to try them viz. Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh is of God ver 2. To this we answer The Rule is one thing the Discerning is another and differ as the Object and the Eye Now the Eye is as much required to see as the Object Therefore all need a Spiritual Eye to apply the Rule in a suitable manner The Spiritual Eye sees and discerns the true Confessor from the false so as to know who do truly confess Christ come in the Flesh. For John cannot mean a bare Verbal Confession because Antichrist himself may have that therefore he meaneth a True living Confession in Life and Power which no Hypocrite can have Having thus answered all their Arguments we shall conclude this Particular with one Argument against them one part of which is their own Confession They who can be certainly known and discerned to be Impious and Vnholy ought not to be admitted into the Ministry But Impious and Vnholy men can be certainly known to be Impious and Vnholy Therefore they ought not c. The first Proposition is proved and sufficiently confirmed from their own Confession That None ought to be Admitted but who in the judgment of Charity are to be esteemed truly Pious Therefore they who cannot be so Esteemed ought not to be Admitted But if they be certainly known to be Impious they cannot be so Esteemed therefore c. The Assumption is proved above partly by Arguments and partly by the Refutation of what they have said against it Divine Inspiration In the Second Part they Dispute Against an Immediate Enthusiastick Call as they call it by way of Inspiration being necessary and for the necessity of a Mediate and Outward Call And because we plead for the blessed Inspiration of the Spirit of God they call us Enthusiastical Impostors and if the Apostles themselves and Primitive Christians were now living they would give them the same Name For we plead for no other Inspiration but that which was given unto those Holy men But seeing they use the word Enthusiasm so much in a way of Reproach it is fit that it be opened Let them tell us then if they mean any other thing by it than true Divine Inspiration If they mean another it concerns us not Enthusiasm its proper Signification for we plead for no other But if they mean that as the word properly signifies being derived from a word that signifies God within as the best Greek Dictionaries shew they should not Reproach us with that which was the Glory of the Primitive Christians and by which the Scriptures were writ to wit Divine Inspiration And here they tell us of an Inward Call which consists in the Disposition of the Soul but they will not have it to be an Inspiration But if by this Disposition they mean any spiritual or supernatural Gift they must needs acknowledge that it is an Inspiration at least in the general sense For how can it be Spiritual unless it be Inspired Is not every good thing that is spiritually good from the Spirit Surely the National Confession of Faith published in Knox's time doth expresly say That Faith is the Inspiration of God But if they say they deny not Subjective but Objective Inspiration we put them to prove this unnatural Division and Separation As if there were Inspiration in Mens Souls that is not Objective which we altogether deny But as to this Inward Call The Call of Ministers we ask them If it hath not in it the Nature of a Command so that he who hath it is bound to obey it If they say Not Then a man may lawfully Disobey it and Resist it although it be of God If they say It is a Command then it is Objective for it is the nature of all real and true Commands to be Objective Again If by Disposition they mean the meer Qualification that enables a Man to be a Preacher how can that be a Call Seeing a Man may be fit or able for an Office that hath not a Call thereunto being already in another Office that he is fit for also So that they bewray gross Ignorance in confounding the Ability and the Gall which are distinct things And here they require of us to prove our Immediate Call by Miracles or any extraordinary thing which can only be from God and so cannot agree to false Teachers And it having been told them by R. B. that the Papists made the same Objection against the first Reformers they call this an Impertinent Pratling but for all the disparity they shew the Impertinent Pratling falls upon themselves They confess The first Reformers had an extraordinary Call in respect of their Heroick Gifts First Reformer's Call yet they also had a mediate Call They owned the holy Scriptures for their principal Rule and Preached no other Gospel c. To this we answer that all of them had a mediate Call is a meer Alledgance without any proof yea the History of the Reformation sheweth the Contrary Again it is abundantly Evident out of their own Writings that the most Eminent of them did lay no weight upon that Outward Call which some of them had from the Popish Church but did plead that seeing the Visible Succession of the Church and Ministry was interrupted by the Apostacy that they needed no Outward Call but did betake themselves to the Extraordinary Sadeel de Voc. Min. See for this Sadeel de Legit. Vocatione Ministrorum and when they used any Argument of a Mediate Call it was but by way of Arg. ad Hominem As now if any of us called Quakers had ever had the Mediate Call from the National Churches as some in England indeed had namely S. F. who was a Parish Priest Nor will it prove that the first Reformers had an Extraordinary Call because they owned the Scriptures as their principal Rule and preached no other Gospel otherwise all the National Preachers now would have an Extraordinary Call because they pretend to own the Scriptures as their principal Rule and to preach no other Gospel Yea The Scriptures an
Words as he will draw Consequences at pleasure and make to himself what Monsters best please his Fancy or like his Humour best to batter And yet he cannot find in it by all his Perverting enough to make us so black as he would have us so that he is often times Constrain'd to Fish for this by citing the Writings of some that have writ against us and brings us up some of their Old Thread bare Calumnys long ago answered by us In which his Injustice shall be afterwards observed And so he being thus furnished can the more easily Abuse especially while he is almost secure that the generality of those he writes to are such as will not Call in Question as to the Truth of it what is said by one Esteemed by them A pretious and gracious Minister and Sufferer for the good Cause to boot But blessed be God! the Number of such Implicite Believers groweth daily less and many that had wont to do other-wise begin to love to see with their own Eyes and not to pin their Faith so much upon the Clergy's Sleeve as they had used formerly to do For this cause had I had to do only with the more Judicious and Learned who could have well understood the Latine Edition I should have thought my self the less Concerned to have said any thing to this Answer But knowing that his may come to the hands of many and may be Read by them who do not understand Latine and that not a few who do understand it love rather to Read and Consider things in their own Language this made me hasten an English Edition not one Sheet whereof was Committed to the Press several weeks after J. B's Book came out And now it being abroad as to those who are diligent and judicious and willing seriously to Compare as to the Argumentative part I should not to be much concerned to Answer him judging the English Edition with all such a sufficient Reply to this pretended Examination However J. B's singing a Triumph before the Conquest he often times sings a Triumph to himself saying in many places What will our Quaker say now Contrary to the Rules of Sobriety and to what the Scripture teaches him saying Let not him boast that puts on his Armour but he that takes it off besides what his Brother in a most fawning flattering manner adds in his Postscript To which something may be said hereafter But because too many out of Malice Prejudice and Ignorance may be too apt to Credit him I resolve here to take notice of his gross Perversions and Abuses upon every Thesis and of his most Vnreasonable and Brutish Railing Which being subjected to the Reader 's View will give him a great In-sight in the matter and let him see what kind of Man this is and what kind of Work it is that comes from him And likewise in respect he Insults very much I may labour to Allay it in taking notice of his Chiefest Arguments that are any ways to the purpose This I know will satisfy the Moderate and Judicious who bring not along with them an Vnderstanding already Prepossessed but are willing patiently to hear both Parties and then make a Judgment accordingly And as for others who are wholly prepossessed with Malice and Prejudice and have no Ears to hear but according to the Author of the Postscript his Advice Avoid the least of that kind as Poison I say as for such I wish the Lord open their Eyes and give them a Heart more Just and Equal I shall not be much concerned if my Writing have no great Influence upon them at present ¶ 3. But if any Strange that so small a Treatise as this may seem to be should Answer so great a Bulk the considering of these particulars following will easily remove that Wonder 1. If we Consider how much is taken up in meer Railing The Railing Expressions of J. B's a great part of his Book of which few Pages are found free and sometimes takes up near the whole Page besides that almost every Paragraph ends with a Dish of this Desert saying O what Hell-hatched Heresies these abominable Quakers maintain And the like Besides many little Sentences such as This is an Answer fit for a Quaker This is like the Quakers Non-sense I see the Quakers can dream waking and such like Stuff I need not set down Pages to prove this for as thou wilt find a Specimen of it in the first half side to the Reader so indeed thou'lt scarce open the Book but thou wilt meet with it So that I may safely say to speak within bounds there are 20 Sheets if it were all put together that are meer Railing either by way of Admiration Detestation or Execration which have nothing of Argumentation neither from Scripture nor Reason but the meer strong Affirmo of the Assertor All which albeit I may Remark it as I go on I think not my self concerned to Answer nor do I Conceive will any sober Man judge I am and my Answer thereto as now to the Bulk of it so may perhaps prove not much more all along than The Lord Rebuke that Railing Spirit in thee J. B. and if it may stand with his Will Redeem thee from it that thou mayst learn Sobriety of that Grace of God thou so much Fightest against It is a Trade I love not nor do I skill or think to learn it I will readily grant him both the Preference and Victory in this Art of Billings-gate Rhetorick or to speak yet more plain to all our Scots Capacities of Rail-Wives Oratory So I say Let all this Railing in his Book be laid aside And whereas he would Insinuate in several places as if there were much Railing in my Apology saying I Rage and such like Expressions How great an Abuse this is I leave to the Judgment of the Intelligent Reader 2. If all his Excursions be laid aside wherein he runneth out often times into long Homilies by way of Explanation of their Judgment J. B. 's Excursions and tedious Preachments descanting upon the several Opinions of their Divines as he calls them in which he often-times not only bestows several Pages but sometimes divers Sheets as in its place may be observed In all which Tedious Preachments some whereof are may be Shives of Old Rusty Sermons that have been lying by him I think my self no more concerned than if the Man had writ a great Volumn of their Divinity which I should not perhaps have bestowed the pains to Read far less lookt upon it as my business to Answer it 3. If all his Citations out of Hicks Faldo and others that have written against us all which are long ago Answered His other Helps and Irrational Proofs though not heeded by him were laid aside which is not only most Impertinent but likewise Vnjust as shall be after more particularly observed and likewise his long Citations out of the Westminster Confession of Faith and larger
to be written by the Spirit both which I deny and he has not so much as offer'd to prove and therefore his Argument if I should go no further can Conclude nothing Next his Minor to wit That all pretending to Immediate Revelation have been led by a Spirit of Error is not at all proved by him For albeit it might be said of all those Old Sects named by him and of the German Enthusiasts yet that is not sufficient Proof unless he can make it appear that there was never any other but were so also which yet remains for him to Prove and will trouble him to Effect For to Affirm there were never any because he has never heard nor read of them were an Argument a great deal more Ridiculous than Rational And for his Challenging me to shew them albeit the Instance of the Quakers be enough to spoil all his Argument as will after appear yet by his good Leave I am not bound Affirmanti incumbit probatio And that this Answer is sufficient I have the Testimony of his Learned Brother John Menzies Professor of Divinity at Aberdeen in his Book Intituled Papismus Lucifugus where he Answers the Jesuit's Minor the same way and proveth it to be Sufficient And surely he has not taken notice that by this he has Condemned as led by a Spirit of Error all the Primitive Protestant-Martyrs that Prophesied at any time such as John Huss and George Wishart our Country-Man and many others by reason of whose Prophesying J. B. and his Brethren have valued their Cause J. B's condemning the Primitive Martyrs as led by a Spirit of Error since these Prophecies were said by them to proceed from Inward and Immediate Revelation and so they pretended to it albeit not as the ground of their Faith and Obedience in all matters of Doctrine and Worship yet as the ground of that Faith by which they believed these Revelations to proceed from God and not from the Devil and of that Obedience by which they published and declared these things Moreover he Overturns all by the last Instance which he gives to prove it to wit That the Quakers who pretend to Immediate Revelations are led by a Spirit of Error For Proof of which we have only his bare Affirmation and yet till this be proved his Objection is naught For indeed this is a rare way of debating with an Adversary to make use of an Argument by which he must be Concluded already as Erroneous in order to Convince him that he is such If this be not as they say To put the Plough before the Oxen I know not what can be said to be so For J. B's Argument to make it plain amounts to this J. B's Argument against Immediate Revelation If the Quakers be led by a Spirit of Error Then the Quakers Err in affirming Inward and Immediate Revelation to be the Ground and Foundation of true Faith But The Quakers are led by a Spirit of Error Therefore c. Which is just as if I should Argue thus If J. B. be a Knave a manifest Lyar and Calumniator Then he is not a true Minister of Christ nor fit to write in Religious matters But J. B. is such Therefore c. Is not this a notable way of Arguing and a quick Way to dispatch Controversies What saith Robert Macquair Doth not this well become his singularly Acute solidly Learned and truly gracious Author Postscript pag. 559. The next thing to be considered is His Stating the Controversy Where according to his Custom he all along beggs the Question For having writ down his Opinion and taken it for granted without offering to prove it he goes on and builds thereon without more difficulty as if it were not to be further questioned This appears in pag. 20.28.29.30.34.35.36.37.40.43.44 in which places he states his Opinion of the Immediate Revelation of the Spirit What J. B. will have Revelation by the Spirit to be as not being such as presents any Truths to be believed objectively but only in removing the Vail of the Eye of the Vnderstanding and spiritually Illuminating the Mind and Working effectually upon the Heart to embrace and receive the Truth already Revealed and Proposed in the Scriptures Now for not using this Distinction and holding Revelation in this his sense he greatly blames me as jumbling things together and darkning and pre-judging the Reader and bestows upon me ever and anon many Railing Words with the Repetition of which I will not trouble the Reader And yet notwithstanding this Accusation in Contradiction of himself he cites me pag. 42. and 28. taking notice of this very Distinction as used by some and also Refuting it Surely the Man must have miserably forgot himself and will verify the Proverb Lyars should have good Memories Next Since he judges I Err in not holding this manner of Revelation and that he builds all his Superstructure upon it as the Truth he should have offer'd to prove it to be such For since he saith They willingly grant to these Scriptures noted by me As many as are led by the Spirit of God c. Rom. 8.9 14. together with 1 Joh. 2.27 Joh. 6.45 Joh. 14.16 17. By which Scriptures he cannot deny but the manner of the Apostles being led as well as of all Christians is Included since some of them were directed to the Apostles particularly In all which there is no ground for his Distinction and Assertion It is not said The Comforter that I will send shall lead you the Apostles immediately by proposing Truth to be believed objectively to you and this shall be accounted Extraordinary but after you it shall only lead other Christians by Illuminating their Understandings and that shall be the Ordinary Leading And since then it is a Rule granted by all that we must hold to the plain Words of Scripture unless an Vrgent Necessity force us to the Contrary he should shew us where this Necessity lies and prove his Assertion to be the true and genuine Meaning of the Words and that we ought not to take them as we do according to their plain and naked Signification and Import For I would willingly hear any ground from Scripture of this Nature of Extraordinary and Ordinary Revelations as pertinent to this Debate For albeit Things Extraordinary may be Reveal'd to some and not to others that only respects the Things Revealed not the manner of Revelation For a Man telling me Extraordinary things and Ordinary albeit the things may differ in their Nature yet neither my manner of Hearing nor his of Speaking do thence necessarilly differ ¶ But perhaps the Man doth Apprehend that what he saith pag. 20.30.31.40.44.45 is some Proof of his Assertion which if he do the Reader may easily observe his Mistake where he would Insinuate As if the manner of Immediate Revelation by the Spirit asserted by me rendred all other Means Mediate Instruction not Inconsistent with Immediate Revelation even those of Teaching
no doubt with them will deny That Immediate Revelation now is since they positively say That it is Ceased and James Durham whom I. B. applauds as a Reverend Brother and Pastor of the Church hath most absurdly affirmed in his Treatise upon the Revelation That when John finished that Book God spake his last words to his Church ¶ 7. When he cometh pag. 28. to my Proposition Asserting That these Revelations were of old the Formal Object of Faith he beginneth to Inquire and Conjecture what I mean by the Formal Object and upon that he bestows the following page For answering then his Scruples in that matter I say In a Divine Revelation two things are to be considered 1. The thing Revealed and 2. The Revelation The Thing Revealed is indeed the Material Object The Revelation is the Formal Object In which may be considered not only The Manner of the Revelation The Material and Formal Object of Faith distinguished that is the Voice or Speech of God unto the Soul or his Imprinting in the Soul by a Divine Manifestation the things Revealed but also God himself so Operating both which to wit Deus loquens id est God speaking is the Formal Object of Faith He himself his Veracity is the Original Ground of our Faith His Voice Holy Influence and Manifestation by which he Expresseth himself gives us the Certainty and Assurance that it is He and is very distinguishable by those of a Spiritual Discerning from the most subtile Appearance and Transformations of the Devil since Christ saith My Sheep hear my Voice and will not hear that of a Stranger Even as the Voice and Appearance of two Men of the most contrary and different Humours Statures and Complexions are different and distinguishable by a Man of a sharp Sight to whom those Men are well known But of this I wrote more largly in my Letter to a certain Ambassadour printed the last Year at Roterdam at the End of the Letter written to the Ambassadours of Nimmegen whereto I refer him for further Satisfaction But I wholy deny the Consequence deduced by him that if God's Veracity because it is God that speaketh and commandeth be the formal Object of Faith therefore it is all one whether it be Mediate or Immediate Since albeit that be the Original Ground yet the Immediate Revelation is necessary that we may certainly know that it is he For what avails it me to believe That all that God Commands is True and ought to be Obeyed if I do not certainly know the things I believe as Truth do come from him And the Question is Whether certain Knowledge can be had without Immediate Revelation And therefore to this his Question in the following page 30. What was the formal Object of the Faith of the People to whom the Patriarchs and Prophets said Thus saith the LORD I answer The Inward Testimony of the Spirit in their Heart assuring them That the things spoken were from the Lord and not the Divinations of the Mens Brains that spake them and therefore inclining their Hearts to receive and acknowledge these things as the Commands of God unto them Since as J. B. Confesseth They were not to believe them because spoken by those Men but because of the Authority of God It must be that which wrought this Perswasion and Assurance in them was the formal Object of their Faith as the things spoken were the Material Even as the Light serves by way of formal Object to make us see what is proposed unto us ¶ 8. Pag. 31 and 32. he acknowledgeth That Divine and Inward Revelations need not be tried by the Scripture as a more Noble Rule by him who hath such a Revelation but by those to whom he delivers it And then giveth the Instance of the Beraeans being Commended To which I shall willingly Assent judging no Man that delivers or declares a Revelation to another ought to be offended that he Try it by the Scripture which no true Revelation can Contradict The Spirit of God in the Heart to try Revelations by is a more noble Rule than the Scriptures But that such may not also Try it by the Testimony of the Spirit of God in their Hearts I cannot deny and that it is the More Noble Rule as being most Vniversal Since some Divine Revelations such as Prophecies of Contingent Truths or things to come cannot be Tried by the Scriptures as was that of George Wishart concerning the Cardinal's Death For had another taken upon him at that time to Prophesy the quite Contrary I would willingly be informed by what Scripture it could be deduced or known that the one was false or the other true yet who will be so absurd as to deny but that it could by the Immediate Testimony of the Spirit As for his Proof That the Scripture is the most certain Rule taken from those Words 2 Pet. 1.19 20. We have also a more sure Word of Prophecy c. It is but a begging of the Question in supposing that Peter by this understood the Scripture and indeed is most Ridiculous to Affirm For since the Apostle reckons this Word more sure than the Voice they heard with their outward Ears J. B. pleads the Scriptures to be the more sure Word of Prophecy and the Vision they saw with their outward Eyes it were absurd to affirm that the Description or Narration of a thing were more sure than the Immediate Seeing and Hearing it Can any Description I may receive of J. B. however True give me so certain a Knowledge of him as if I saw him and spake with him Yet without any absurdity it may be said That the Inward Word or Testimony of the Spirit in the Heart is more sure in things Spiritual than any thing that is objected to or conveyed by the outward Senses as that Vision was of which the Apostle there speaks since the Inward and Spiritual Senses are the most proper and adequate Means of conveying Spiritual Things to the Soul by which the Saints after they have laid down this Body and have no more the Use of the Outward Senses which are seated in it do most surely enjoy the Blessed Vision of God and Fellowship both with him and one another As for that of Isa. 8.20 To the Law and to the Testimony c. and that of Joh. 5.39 Search the Scriptures c. mentioned here by him I shall have occasion to speak of them hereafter It 's true We are not to believe every Spirit but it will not thence follow that the Scripture is a more sure Rule than the Spirit for such a Trial. Pag. 35. he thinks My saying That the Divine Revelation moveth the Vnderstanding well disposed Confirmeth what he saith and spoieth all my Purpose because then Every Revelation pretending to be Divine is not to be submitted to But where did ever I say so What he talks further of this Well-disposed Intellect pag. 36. I spake to in my Answer to
Arnoldus pag. 18 19. to which I refer For I believe All Men in a Day have by the gracious Visitation of God's Love an Vnderstanding well disposed to some Divine Revelations which becomes Disposed for others as these are Received which will after in its place be discussed And some Divine Revelations which are Prophetick of things to come may so far manifest themselves by their Self-Evidence even to Men not Regenerate as to force an Assent as in the Case of Balaam mentioned by him did apper What he saith further pag. 36 and 37. inquiring How and after what manner these Revelations were the Object of the Saints Faith of Old is easily answered by applying it to what is before mentioned in Answer to his Queries and Conjectures of the Formal Object For those of Old that had these Revelations Immediately the Formal Object of their Faith was God manifesting himself and his Will in them to them by such Revelations And those who received and obeyed the things delivered by the Patriarchs and Prophets those things so delivered as he confesseth were not the Formal The Material and Formal Object of FAITH but Material Object of their Faith but the Formal Object was GOD by the secret and inward Testimony of his Spirit perswading them in their Hearts that these things declared to them were really his Command and thence inclining and bowing their Minds to an Assent and Obedience to them And albeit pag. 38. he terms this a Wild Assertion yet he hath but said and not proved it to be so and till he prove he needs no further Refutation Neither is it Non-sense nor yet a destroying of the Cause as with the like proofless Confidence he affirms p. 37. That where Revelations are made by outward Voices or in a manner objected to the outward Senses the Cause or Motive of Credibility is not so much because of what the outward Senses perceive as because of the Inward Testimony of the Spirit assuring the Soul that it is GOD so manifesting himself Which Testimony to answer his Question is distinguishable from what is objected to the outward Senses albeit it go always along with it simul semel as they use to say since he with me accounts it a Serious Truth to say The Devil may delude the External Senses and he can far more easily deceive them than the True Inward and Spiritual Senses of the Soul by Counterfeiting the Inward Testimony of the Spirit Since by that the Apostle saith We know and partake of that which neither Eye hath seen nor Ear heard ¶ 9. Pag. 39. He confesseth with me That the Formal Object of the Saints Faith is always the same But yet that he may say something he spendeth the Paragraph in Railing accusing me As writing Non-sense and being an Ignoramus because I bring Instances which relate to the Material Object which himself Confesseth also to be the same in Substance But by his good Leave for all he is so positive in his Judgment I must shew the Reader his Mistake The Formal Object of Abraham's Faith For those Examples of Abraham and others are adduced by me to shew the one-ness of the Formal Object neither has he shewn that they are Impertinent for that End Since as the Formal Object of Abraham's Faith was God's speaking to him by Divine Revelations so is the same the Formal Object of the Saints now and therein stands the Vnity or Oneness of our Faith with him and not in the Material Object which often differs For to offer up his Son was a part of the Material Object of his Faith which is none of ours now And so for as much as he desires to know of me What was the Material Object of Adam 's Faith before the Fall a Question not to the purpose he must first tell me why he so Magisterially and positively denies Christ to have been the Object of his Faith And then he may have an Answer And whereas he flouts at that Reason That Actions are specified from their objects as Non-sensical he should have proved and shewn Wherein And then I might have Answer'd him He might have Wit enough to know that no man of Reason will be moved by his bare Railing Assertions pag. 40. besides a deal of Railing wherein he accuseth me of Confusion and Darkness He accounts my Arguing for Immediate Revelation from the Revelations the Patriarchs and Prophets had Impertinent to which I Answered before The sum of which is that since these Immediate Revelations were so frequent under the Law Revelations frequent under the Law it must be very absurd to say They are Ceased under the Gospel He himself proveth pag. 41. that under the New there is a more clear Discovery according to that of Paul 2 Cor. 3.18 But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord c. which being brought by him albeit against himself I leave him to Answer In this page and the next 42 he alledgeth the sayings of Christ and his Apostles brought by me and my Arguments thence do prove no more than he Confesseth But whether they prove not all I plead for from thence is left to the Reader 's Judgment Here according to his Custom tho I Condemn the Socinians he will be insinuating that I Agree with them to whose Notions of the Spirit albeit I Assent not yet I desire to know of him That the Spirit is a distinct Person of the Trinity no Proof in Scripture for it in what Scripture he finds these words That the Spirit is a distinct Person of the Trinity For I freely acknowledge according to the Scripture That the Spirit of God proceedeth from the Father and the Son and is God And by what Authority he seeks to obtrude upon others Expressions of the Chief Articles of Faith not to be found in Scripture or to accuse such as will not Accept of them and Assent to them or whether any has reason to think he truly makes the Scripture the Rule of his Faith notwithstanding his pretence when he either will not or can not find words in it to Express the Chief Articles of his Creed ¶ 10. Pag. 43. By a strange Mistake he would have me prove since I make use of these promises of Christ relating to the Spirit I would prove that all have Warrant to write Scripture As if no man could have Immediate Revelation without he write Scripture Whereas himself Confesseth that many of the Patriarchr had it before Moses who yet wrote no Scripture yea and Cain whom I suppose he judgeth to have been no Writer of Scripturs And by the like Mistake pag. 55. He Confesseth all I plead for J. B's Self-Contradiction in granting Revelation and Contradicts all he has been fighting for in affirming That Believers now have free Access to Christ the great Teacher of his People always to get his mind known and Written in their Hearts but not to get Prophetick Revelations
things nor having any Rule for them which he seems to acknowledge is no Argument against their being the Primary and Adequate or Only Rule for that he apprehends no rational Man will think needful to a Compleat Rule Why because General Rules are enough And thence he thinks it would follow That the Quakers must have a new particular Revelation for every Act and Word such as Eating Drinking Walking c. But I deny this Consequence These Acts as simply Considered are Natural and it will not follow because to Spiritual Acts Spiritual Acts and Motions distinguisht from Natural relating to Faith and my Immediate Service towards God I need a Spiritual Motion and Influence of the Spirit that therefore I need such a thing to Natural Acts. If he say These Natural Acts under some Circumstances may be Sin or Duty I Confess then the Revelation of the Spirit is needful For if I be sitting sleeping or eating in one Place when it is the Mind of God I should be Preaching and Praying in another I do sin But how can the Scripture give me a Rule here All that he answers to this p. 76 and 77. resolves into this That all such Doubts may be solved applying the General Rules of Scripture by Christian Wisdom Prudence and Discretion c. But how shall I know that I truly make this Application And to give him his own often-repeated Argument in the Case of Revelation have not some Thought they have made this Application by Christian Prudence when they did not J. B's Christian Prudence so called doubtful and uncertain And not to go further than J. B's own Brethren the Presbyterians yea the Chief and most-Eminent Teachers among them did not some of them judge it Christian Prudence according to the Scripture-Rule to draw near and Adhere to the Remonstrants which others called publick Resolution-men denied Do not some of them think it Christian Prudence to go hear the Bishops Curates which others deny Did not those Chief Men among them as George Hutcheson and others think it Christian Prudence to accept of the Indulgence Anno 1668. in Entring according to the Limitations proposed by the Council to their Places which others especially of the banished Brethren and perhaps himself was highly Offended at whence these Men were termed Council-Curates Other Instances among them I could give But how shall all this be Decided What Scripture-Rules can he Assign that clearly do it Let him answer this distinctly and not pass it over lest he be suspected to Leap where he cannot Step. He confesseth to my Alledging 1 Cor. 12. and Rom. 12. and after a little Railing he tells p. 78. That he that is to Rule is to do it with Diligence c. but that the Scripture saith not that James or Peter should take-on this or that Office By which Confession he destroys all since the Question is How James and Peter knew they should take upon them to Rule This he saith he has shew'n above but how Insufficiently my Reply will Evidence He thinks no less Impertinent p. 78. for me to Argue against their being a Rule as to all things because they do not tell a Man that he has the marks of true Faith upon which knowledge the assurance of Salvation is founded As if I must think the Laws of the Land must prove that R. B. is a Quaker or that if R. B. had murther'd a Man it is a sufficient defence to say The Law doth not name R. B. But such Examples are poor Arguments and do miserably Halt J. B.'s Halting Examples to prove true Faith R. B. Confessing himself to be a Quaker acknowledging every One of their Doctrines is enough to prove him one in the sense of the Law of the Land and the Judge to Condemn him a Murtherer if Convict by Witnesses that he really did the Deed. And both these relate to outward things which can be proved by outward Testimonies for without the Certainty of the Evidence the Judge cannot pronounce his Sentence But is a Man 's own Confessing or Affirming he hath the true marks of Faith enough to prove he has them And what are the Witnesses to Apply the Example of committing the Murther by which a Man shall know he has these Marks And who must Examin the Witnesses and judge of the Certainty or Clearness of their Evidences Must it be the Man that is Accused Who useth that Method Doth not the Man see how miserably his pitiful Example Claudicates ¶ 10. To my Objection against the Scriptures being the Only and Adequat Rule the Example of Deaf Persons Idiots Infants such as cannot Read and are ignorant of the Original Tongues so called all which in some measure less or more are deprived of the Benefit of the Scriptures Deaf Persons c. the Light may Influence which Writings c. cannot so as to Apply them to themselves immediately and effectually for a Rule he asketh Whether if any such Person in a Land should kill a Man or do any thing contrary to the Law would it not punish them and this he Repeats n. 35. in other words Which urgeth nothing but upon Supposition that the Will of God cannot be known otherwise than by the Scripture which Supposition is false and therefore his Argument Concludes nothing Yea himself Confesseth that some things and in particular Murder may be known by the Light of Nature and so overturns his own Argument But he asketh What use can Children or Idiots or Mad men make of the Light within Answ. The Light within being affirmed by us to be a Living Principle that quickens the Soul may Influence such Persons but so cannot any Writings As for his learned Dr. Owen's Book which he Recommends he may find it Answered long ago by Samuel Fisher a Quaker which because the Doctor found too hot to Reply to J. B. that is so busie a Body may supply that Want J. B. Confesses to a Rule obvious to many Doubts But most Rare of all is his Answer p. 80. to my Conclusion That Christ would not leave his own to be led by a Rule obvious to so many Doubts which is And yet we see he hath done it If this be not to beg the Question in the highest Degree the Reader may judge He Confesseth The Spirit is the chief Leader but to seem to come off with some Credit he falleth a Railing upon me for not Distinguishing but Confounding the Spirit 's work and the Scriptures and then bestows many words to prove they are Distinct with a heap of Citations in the next p. 81. All which he might have spared until he had proved first that I denied they were Distinct or shew'n where or when I Confound them What he writes n. 38. and 39. p. 82. is meer Railing as the Reader by looking unto them may observe He flouts there at my Affirming I knew one that could not Read discover an Error in the Version saying But the good
luck was himself was Judge What he would Infer hence I see not unless that their Version is free of Errors which if he will adventure to Affirm his Mistake may be shewn by the Testimony of Learned Men among themselves and his own Correcting it divers times which will after be Observed He saith My speaking soberly of the Scriptures is only out of Policy because the Quakers could not effectuate their point which was to have the Scriptures quite laid by as an Old Almanack But such malitious Lies and Railings need no Answer J. B.'s gross Calumnies denying our using Scripture-Testimonies To this he adds two other gross Calumnies to Conclude his Paragraph That it is the Quakers fixed Opinion that the Scriptures are not to be made use of in their Assemblies it being below them to Expound any Portion of it there or to Adduce any Testimony there-from for Confirmation of their Assertions This can be proved to be a Manifest Vntruth by the Testimony of many that are not Quakers who have been Witnesses of the Contrary The other which he calleth Their Constant Opinion is That when one cometh to hearken to the Light within he hath obtained the whole End of the Scriptures so that they become wholly useless to him This is also a horrid Calumny ¶ 10. In his Examining of what I Assert to be the End and Vsefulness of the Scriptures p. 83.84 he cannot find fault with what I Ascribe to them but that I give them not all and whether I do wrong denying that to them which he would seem to give the former Debate will shew But that he may be here like himself he seeks to Infer from my words most gross and malitious Consequences which are utterly false and till he prove them they need no other Answer but to observe them and deny them which I utterly do Such as That albeit Christ has ordained Pastors J. B's false Insinuations against our Asserting the Vsefulness and Truth of the Scriptures and the Scriptures under the Gospel to make the Man of God perfect yet the Quakers think they may be both laid aside as useless That according to me the Scriptures are not so much as a Subordinare Rule That the Quakers would have all others save themselves to look upon themselves as not concerned in the Scriptures that so they might be the sole Keepers of these Oracles and then he saith they shall quickly know what shall become of them And that the Quakers always suppose that what the Spirit within them saith cannot contradict the Scripture and therefore what they say contrary to the Scripture from the Spirit within must be supposed to be seeming and not real This he Repeats again according to his Custom in the next page If he mean the Spirit of God I hope he will not deny it and if he mean any other Spirit we deny it But he would be fastening that upon us here which may be justly said to them of their Exalting their Confession of Faith above the Scriptures as in the first Section upon his Preface I observed But he hath an Objection which he urgeth p. 67. and by which he thinks to overturn all asking If I believe the Testimony of the Scriptures to be True Yes I do believe them because the Testimony of the Spirit in my heart obligeth me so to do and therefore being perswaded they are True I make use of them though in respect to my self not in the first and primary place but in a secondary next to the Spirit yet as to him I may urge them every way because he accounts them so And as to their Testimony for the Spirit 's being the Principal Leader upon my using of which he founds his Objection albeit since he acknowledgeth it he has the less Reason to Carp at it I believe it from the Scripture-Testimony but not as the primary Ground of my Faith which I derive from the Spirit it self yet as a Ground and that a Very weighty One. As for his other Question Whether I be of the fame mind with other Quakers of whom Mr. Hicks Reporteth I answer That what is there Reported by Hicks is false and I here dare J. B. and his Author Hicks to prove it to have been said by any Quaker which till they can do by good and sufficient Proof they are both to be held as Lying Calumniators SECT V. Wherein his Fifth and Sixth Chapters Intituled by him Of Man's Natural State and Of Original Sin are Considered 1. AFter he has Repeated some of my words he Complains I speak darkly and having given his usual malitious Insinuations that I do it of Design and have some Mysteries under it He takes upon him to endeavour to guess at my Meaning and bestows many Pages to frame one Conjecture after another and then spends many words to Refute these Shadows and Men of Straw of his own making And yet at the end of all he Confesses He doubts whether he has got or hit my Meaning J. B. Confesses himself in the Dark with Trying his uncertain Conjectures And to be sure then he must be as Vncertain that he has Refuted it and therefore knoweth not but all his Reasonings against his own Conjectures are Impertinent For after he hath written one Conjecture and bestows much labour in Refuting it his own words are p. 91. n 5. If this be not his true meaning let us try another Conjecture which shews he knows not whether what he said before was to the purpose Thus he spendeth pag. 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98. in which last Page he is very Angry that I should Condemn the Socinians and Pelagians but the Reason is manifest because he would so willingly have it believed that I am one with them And albeit I could not in Reason be Obliged to say any thing more to these Pages yet that none of these fictitious and false Conjectures may catch any unwary Reader I do freely Affirm that I believe Man fell and was degenerated both as to Soul and Body and I understand the first Adam or Earthly Man to Comprehend both But that there was something in Adam which was no part of his Soul and Body nor yet Constitutive of his being a Man in my Judgment which could not degenerate The Fall of Man and the Breath of lives Spiraculum Vitarum remaining in Adam and which was in Adam by the Fall Reduced to a Seed and could never have been Raised in him again to his Comfort but by a New Visitation of Life which from Christ by the Promise was Administred unto him and is to all Men in a Day for to say the affirming such a Seed remained in Adam when he fell doth Infer his Vnderstanding was not hurt and as he doth p. 94. is a Consequence I deny and remains for him to prove That to believe there was such a thing in Adam which the Scripture calleth Spiraculum vitarum the Breath of
to pervert it as he doth in this Chapter throughout affirming It to be my belief that every Man has Power and Ability moral to lay hold of Salvation and that there is not Requisite thereunto any new Grant of Grace and Divine help to quicken the Man he has a stock from his Mother's Womb which is sufficient This he calls the Proper and Native face of my Doctrine and this he putteth down as my Opinion and charges me with it p. 214. And p. 218. he saith it further Without any Concurrence of Divine Grace pag. 220. he saith I Conclude Man has power to believe and obey the Gospel without the Spirit of God as also the like p. 221. twice And p. 222. he saith I Conclude That the Wicked have power of themselves without the Spirit of Regeneration and Grace to do what is commanded in reference to Life Eternal and further p. 223 224 and 226. he affirmeth the like of me which is utterly false and was never Believed nor Asserted by me And its observable that in all these places where he thus Charges me he doth not so much as once point to any one page in my Apology and not only so but not so much as from the Words or Writings of any other Quaker borrowed from some of his usual Authors which is his most frequent Refuge And therefore the Reader may judge what he builds upon his False Supposition or batters against it falls to the ground without further Refutation After he has branded this Brat of his own begetting p. 214. with Pelagianism Jesuitism Arminianism and Socinianism thence accusing the boldness and confidence of the Quakers and of my self in particular in terming it a New Discovery of ours he endeth this page with a Fit of Railing and beginneth in his next to Wonder how the Heathens can be said to have a day of Visitation The Heathens have a day of Visitation since nothing can be called a day of Visitation in reference to Salvation but what is in and through the Preaching of the Gospel But this Wonder is built upon his Supposition that the Preaching of the Gospel is no where but where there is an outward Administration of it wherein his Mistake will come hereafter to be manifested into which Mistake he falls in the next page and elsewhere in this Chapter where I shall pass it over until I come to speak of it in its proper place To none God denies the Means of Salvation In this page 215. he thinketh that since I Affirm their Doctrine makes God unjust as denying to some the means of Salvation that which I affirm may be likewise so charged because some may think God is not just in not granting to all an equally long Day of Visitation But the Question is not what some may think but whether these Thoughts be built upon Justice and Reason All Men know it is manifest Injustice to punish a Man and torment him for non-performance of that which he that Commands him to perform has by an invincible Necessity barred and hindered him from doing and therefore to suppose this of the most-just God must be a great Error and Abuse But it is no Injustice to punish a Man for not performing that which he had received sufficient Power to do albeit another had received more to say so is like the Labourers whom Christ Reproves in the Parable for murmuring that those that came-in after them received equal Wages with them Matth. 20.12 13 14. That the preaching of the Gospel is not a Mocking of those whose Day of Visitation is Expired as it is to the Reprobates among them I have in the former Section shewen But he asketh here Obdurateness or hardness of Heart when begotten Whether such become obdured before or after their Day of Visitation be expired What if I shall say both though not in the same manner and degree It was before Removeable but not after since albeit simply considered the same and always pardonable yet with a Respect to certain Persons and their Circumstances unpardonable or not pardonable That God permitteth Sin to be in the World I never denied nor accused their Divines for so saying But whereas he saith It is a manifest untruth that I would make the Reader believe they say God doth Impell Men to sin necessarily he seeketh to hide their Doctrine and beguile the simple Reader Calvinistâ— blasphemous Doctrine of God's forcing decreeing Men to Sin Since P. Martyr upon Rom. 1. saith expressly That God forceth the Will of Wicked Men unto great Sins And Piscator saith That the Wicked are absolutely Decreed Necessarily to sin and therefore to sin that they may be justly punished Now these being More Eminent Divines among them than I suppose J. B. presumes for all his Scribbling he is to be Accounted The Reader may judge and by the passages elsewhere cited by me Whether he doth not here most untruly Charge me with an Vntruth That the Sins charged upon the Gentiles were only such as were against the Light of Nature he has affirmed p. 217. but not proved For the great reason of their Condemnation is because What was to be known of God is manifest in them and that this is not only the Light of Nature will after appear If what he urges from Rom. 11. concerning the Jews and the Imprecation those brought upon themselves who said His Blood be upon us and upon our Children hold True we must suppose no Jew since that saying of Paul and Barnabas Act. 13.46 to have been really Converted But how came any of them to be Converted before since that Imprecation was long before Paul and Barnabas spake these Words of their turning to the Gentiles and according to this Reasoning all the Preaching of the Gospel which the Jews have since heard and do hear is in Vain I have sufficiently explained The Day of God's Visitation to Man spoken of what I mean by this Day of God's Visitation to every Man in the explication of the 5 and 6 Theses in my Apology N. 17. And albeit he thiâ—k otherwise as I know I have satisfied many Moderate Readers who are not Quakers so I hope to have satisfied all that are truly Vnprejudicate After he has p. 218. given large Citations to shew their Doctrine out of the Confession of Faith and Catechism and thereafter made a kind of Preachment thereupon he comes at last p. 221. to Examin the Proofs I bring for my Assertion ¶ 2. And first to my Argument drawn from the Reproofs in Scripture to Men for rejecting of God's Visitation and Love he answers That my Proposition is Vniversal and these Complaints and Reproofs only particular and so can prove nothing The like he answereth p. 224. to what I urge from Esai 5.1.2 3 4. where the Vineyard is Expostulated with as likewise Mat. 23.33 Mark 12.1 Luk. 20.9 and p. 225. To what I urge from Mat. 23.37 Luk. 13.34 and 19.41 42. where Christ
they urge from Rom. 3.20 by the Deeds of the Law there shall no Flesh be justified Works of the Moral Law Justify not which I shew is to be understood of Works done and not by the Grace of God he answers That such are no good Works at all But may not a Man do some of the Works which even the Moral Law commands such as not to commit Murder Theft or Adultery without the Grace of God Hath not he confessed as much of some Heathens whom he judgeth not to have had the Grace of God and will he say these Works are not materially good albeit not formally with a respect to any advantage as to Salvation they receive by them And though it should be confessed That all is not always Requisite to be Antecedent to Justification which falls out to be Antecedent to Salvation yet the Question is Whether there be anything absolutely Requisite to be Antecedent to Salvation which is not also absolutely Requisite to be Antecedent to Justification If not then if Works be absolutely necessary or so far as they are absolutely necessary to Salvation they must also be so to Justification If he say other ways then as I observed before full and perfect Justification according to him must not be esteemed sufficient to Salvation J. B. pleads the Works of the Spirit to be Impure Pag. 322. N. 42. He comes to prove the Best Works even those wrought by the Spirit in the Saints to be Impure which before also he had affirmed pag. 307. there he would Infer we say the same of good Works because I affirm That Works done by Man's own Strength are polluted But it will not thence follow we believe Works done by the Grace of God to be such But for this Impurity of good Works he marks Psal. 143.2.130 3. Job 9.16 none of which speak one Word of good Works thus understood Then he mentions Esai 64.6 All our Righteousness is as filthy Rags but silently passeth over how I shew their own Authors as Calvin and Musculus c. affirm this not to be understood of Evangelical Righteousness and himself overturns what he urges from this Works of the Spirit to be pure and undefiled confessed by J. B. affirming That we ought not to call the Work of the Spirit of God in his People Filthy Rags But if they were so they might be so called and yet he overturns it further by confessing Some Works wrought by the Apostles were undefiled then all the Works wrought by the Spirit in the Saints cannot be said to be Impure which is their Assertion And the Instance of Clean Water passing through an Vnclean Pipe doth not hold which is their great probation He will not Contend with what I say about the word Merit neither hath he much against my Conclusion in this matter yet that he may end this Chapter like himself he concludeth it with a gross Lie and Railing saying I affirm A Man may be Regenerated without the least help of the Grace of God J. B's gross Lie which as I wholly abhor so there cannot be a greater Falshood alledged upon me SECT IX Wherein his Fourteenth Chapter Of Perfection is Considered ¶ 1. I Come now to his Fourteenth Chapter Of Perfection where after he has repeated my Eighth Proposition he reckons it Confidence in me to Accuse their Answer in their Larger Catechism of speaking against the Power of Divine Grace which saith That Man is not able by any Grace of God received in this Life to keep the Commands of God But in stead of justifying this Assertion he saith They are not ashamed of it Then he recurreth a little to his Author Hicks according to his Custom and falls a Railing where among other great Charges he accuseth the Quakers of Reproaching Reviling Calumnies Scolding and the like J. B. a Railer exceeding others confessed by his own Party Also pag. 329. speaking of bridling the Tongue But he of all Men should have been silent in this who is such a Railer in the Superlative Degree that some of his own Faith who have Bad enough Thoughts of the Quakers have said that he not only Equals them but Exceeds them in Railing Of his Railing in this Chapter the Reader may further observe pag. 332 345-349 Here as in his former Chapter to enervate the Perfection asserted by me he brings forth his old and often-repeated Calumny as if I asserted This Perfection to proceed meerly from the Light of Nature affirming The Light pleaded for by me p. 227. to be such His false Charges as never came from the Grace of God to be Flesh Blindness Enmity to God Natural Sensual c. affirming that I say Man is Regenerated Sanctified Justified though not one Ray of Divine Illumination hath shined into his Soul nor one Act of Grace has reached either his Intellect Will or Affection to cause this Change The like p. 331. All which is most abominable false and never either believed or asserted by me and therefore all he concludes upon this malitious Assertion falls to the Ground and needs no further Answer Next he bestows much Pains p. 328 329. to shew from the Hebrew and Greek Word that Perfection is sometimes understood of Sincerity and Integrity and Perfection in these Respects he thus Defines In Regeneration the whole Man is changed Perfection defined so that he is now born a New Creature sanctified wholly in Mind Heart Spirit Affections Consciences Memory and Body though but in a small Measure or degree and again Yielding impartial Obedience through the Grace of God unto all God's Precepts waving none But if he will stand by what he here Asserts I will desire no more albeit he falsly say in the following page That all this will not satisfy us For I would desire the next time Breaking the Commands daily c. is not Perfection nor a growing in Grace he would Reconcile this with Breaking the Commands daily in Thought Word and Deed. To prove this he insists in Contradiction to what he said before p. 330. N. 7. and his Proofs are 1 Because in Christ's House there are diverse Sizes and Degrees of Persons as Babes or little Children young Men old Men And this is not denied but the thing he should have proved is that none of those Degrees can be without daily breaking God's Commands His Second Proof is yet more rare Christians are exhorted to grow in Grace to put off the Old Man which is corrupt to put on the New Man to mortify their Members Very good But is To break the Commands daily in Thought Word and Deed the way to grow in Grace to put off the old Man and on the New If this be not to pervert Christianity what can be said to be so If Men can dream waking as he sometimes supposes he has sure been in this Posture when he brought this Proof But he adds That this Perfection rendreth Gospel-Commands useless But
establish their Hearts unblameable in Holiness I say instead of Answering he makes Commentaries upon these places which in themselves are as plain as can be that this is They should walk in Sincerity and always be growing And what if all this be granted it will not follow that it is Impossible Men should be free of Sin here even by the Grace of God And sure where Men are Perfect and Compleat in all the Will of God and Vnblameable in Holiness they are not Sinning daily in Thought Word and Deed. Thus the Reader may judge of this Man's Confidence who saith These Scriptures make against this Imagined Perfection meaning that which is asserted by me Pag. 343. he saith My affirming Men are called Justified or Reprobated in respect of their being leavened with Sin or Righteousness fermenting is a piece of his own Pedantry and none of the Quakers Dialect would prove full Perfection to be Essential to the State of Christianity Therefore I must answer it as well as they who deny that to be Common to all the Regenerate But it seems he has not well understood his own New-Coined English word fermenting for one thing thing is not said to be leavened with another but where it hath much prevailed Every Touch or Tast of a thing doth not leaven him with it that so toucheth or tasteth it as all Men that understand common Language know and so every Sin is not enough to denominate a Man leavened with Sin And so with his own Answer that follows he looseth the Knot he imagined I was Tied by What he adds afterward of fulfilling the Law urges nothing but upon a Supposition of its being fulfilled by the meer strength of Man which I never affirmed That no Man is called Just because of inward Righteousness is but his bare Supposition as for the word Inherent so often repeated by him it is none of mine And to my urging That the Subject is denominated from the Accident he saith A Wall that is more Black than White cannot be called White So J. B.'s breakers of the Commands daily and yet such as have renounced the Works of Darkness Yet that a Wall is called White though the Whiteness be not Perfect But it is not called White if it be more Black than White which was the pinch I urged but slily over-slipt by him and such must be those that break the Commands daily for how such can be said to be more Just than Sinful is more than I can Reconcile either with Scripture or Reason sure the Answer which he gives doth it not To this question Where are then the Children of God and of Light His Reply is with a notable piece of Inconsistent Presbyterian Canting Even where these are who are giving to Christ much work to speak so to wash and make them clean from their daily Pollutions and Defilements and have renounced the Works of Darkness c. I desire to know of him the next time how these can be said to have Renounced the works of Darkness who have need to be washed from their daily defilements To my Argument shewing That Christ's Command to be perfect proves it possible he saith p. 344. That this only proves we should Endeavour after it But for this he addeth no Proof we must rest contented with his meer Affirmation As we must also do throughout the next N. 26. where he confidently Preacheth his own sense of Scripture instead of Answer or Reason and then concludes with a Railing saying I am led by an anti-Evangelical and Diabolical Spirit He saith that Matth. 7.21 and some other places cited by me prove nothing without supposing that no Man shall be saved who ever Sinned but without giving any Reason That the Vnconverted may be by the Grace of God Converted and consequently made Perfect I deny not He saith Rom. 6. speaks only of the Dominion of Sin And what then Doth not every Sin bring him that commits it under the power of that Sin in so far To the Instances of Enoch Noah and others Enoch Noah c. called perfect in Scriptures whom the Scriptures call Perfect he goes about to prove they sometimes Sinned And what then The question is not Whether they always were without Sin but Whether they never were without it and Sinned daily which is his Affirmation Which if they had done they could at no time have been called Perfect As for his other Glosses it will be time to receive them when he proves them it is not enough to make them Authentick with me though Augustin had approved If he will subscribe to all Augustin's glosses of Scripture I may give him a further Answer ¶ 5. Pag. 346. n. 28. He comes to take notice of my Answers to their Arguments and first to my Answer to their arguing from 1 Joh. 1. v. 8. If we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves c. That this will not prove the Apostle includeth more than James c. 3. v. 9 10. He answereth The Apostle is included though not for the present time If it be not for the present time J. B.'s pretended Proofs for Sinning daily then it will not plead for Sinning daily in Thought Word and Deed which is the case in hand Next supposing the Apostle were not Included he saith It is enough that Believers are Included But this he affirms without proof troubling himself and the Reader to prove that those John wrote to were Believers which no body will deny yet though they were Included it will not prove such a continual and daily Sinning as they plead for In answer to my shewing the words are Have not Sin and not Ye Sin not he only proves That they did or may Sin which I deny not And then when I say It may be affirmed of the Seed of Sin he concludes This to be Sinful so as to affect the Man but minds not to prove it and with this manner of begging the Question he concludes this Paragraph pag. 347. To my shewing that in 1 King 8.46 and Eccles. 7.20 there is nothing said of Sinning daily he answers It is express in Ecclesiastes That there is not a just Man upon earth that doth good and Sinneth not clearly Importing that even in their doing good they Sin But that this is clearly Imported he affirmeth but proveth not though there be no Man that Sinneth not it will not follow they Sin daily And for his Alledging That my Answer That it will not thence follow that though there was none that did not sin at that time there are none such now or that it is Impossible there should be such will infer there was none then Regenerate no not Solomon himself What if I should say so understanding Regeneration in the absolute Sense To what I shew from the Hebrew Word that it may be Interpreted not That sinneth not but That may not sin he tells me in sum That it is but Vanity and this he saith is obvious to
every Reader The Apostle's Saying I am Carnal c. made a Plea for Sin by J.B. with his Meaning put without Proof To whom we will then leave it To my affirming That the Apostle is not Rom. 7.14 speaking of himself but personating others in that State after he has told me that Socinians and Arminians say so he tells me The Circumstances of the Text evince the contrary and then gives a kind of a Preachment upon the Place which I shall accept as a Declaration of his Sense but must wait the next time to have him prove it He saith The Apostle doth not Contradict this Chap. 6.2 That the Apostle doth not Contradict himself is without doubt to me but he must endeavour to Reconcile the Meaning he gives to the Apostle's Words when he has leisure He saith Paul in a respect was a Carnal Man but unless he prove him to have been so in respect of sinning at that time he saith nothing To my urging Rom. 8.35 where the Apostle saith Nothing shall separate him because where Sin is Continued there is a Separation He denieth that where Sin is striven and wrestled against it maketh a Separation but the matter is How he proveth that those who strive and wrestle aganst Sin do daily commit Sin And until he do this he but begs the Question To prove the Impossibility of being free from sinning daily from the Examples of Noah's and David's Sins he useth this Argument J. B ' s. Argument for sinning daily in Thought Word and Deed If these Men whom the Spirit of God stileth Perfect and Men according to God's Heart have had their Failings and these Failings are Registrated for our use Then we have no Scripture-Warrant for such a Pefection here as is not attended with Sin he should have said as doth not admit a sinning daily in Thought Word and Deed if he would have concluded according to the State of the Question But the former is true Therefore c. Refuted But I deny the Consequence of this Proposition or the Connexion of the Major Besides the Argument is defective divers ways if he had stated and then proved it That if such whom the Scripture call Perfect did break the Commands daily in Thought Word and Deed then he had argued to the purpose And for their Failings being recorded to our use it cannot infer the Necessity of our sinning daily unless he will be so absurd as to say that they are therefore Recorded that we may Imitate their Failings and not avoid them In fine let him cause his Argument conclude in the Term of the Question to wit That every Man notwithstanding any Grace received must sin daily in Thought Word and Deed and prove his Propositions and he shall not want either an Acknowledgment or an Answer And lastly to conclude this Chapter he saith I should rather have cited the old Begardi than the Fathers and the old Alumbrados who had the same Opinion and Practices suitible But if their Opinion was That Men may be free from Sin The old Begardi and Alumbrados mentioned by J. B. to have the same Opinion of Perfection and their Practices suitable sure then they were perfect and if so deserve more to be followed than J. B. or his Brethren whose Principle and Practice as himself confesseth is for Sin and daily continuing in it against any Perfection except such as can admit of Sin For To be Breaking the Commands daily in Thought Word and Deed is Essential to his Christianity SECT X. Wherein his Fifteenth Chapter Of Perseverance is Considered ¶ 1. IN this Chapter of Perseverance it would seem the Man fancieth he hat got into the Pulpit for he Affirms as if all that read him were bound to believe without further Inquiry For after he has Introduced himself with his old Accusation of Pelagianism he Concludeth This Doctrine of the possibility of Falling from Grace to depend upon Free will and ushereth in a long Invective against this as maintained by me upon the Supposition of his old reiterated Calumny That I asserted All the Regeneration of the Saints to proceed only from the Light of Nature without the effectual Operation of the Spirit of Grace which how false it is hath above been shewn He giveth us a large Citation out of their Confession of Faith with an Account thence deduced or Explanation thereupon In what respect they hold Perseverance Wherein if he will hold to the first Asserted by him to wit That they assert not the Perseverance of any that are not truly Regenerated we are Agreed for in that Sense I never did deny it And then he gives Eight Considerations for their Doctrine all which conclude nothing but upon the Supposition of the Truth of their former Principles especially of Election and Absolute Reprobation so that it is but a begging of the Question as his very Eighth Consideration shews pag. 356. N. 14. to wit That the affirming this Doctrine to wit That there may be a falling away from beginnings of true and saving Grace will give a Blow unto many Articles of their Faith But can this have any Weight to Convince such as do not believe these Articles of their Faith It seems then it is not for me or any Quaker that this is written so we are the less concerned to trouble our selves with it ¶ 2. At last he comes pag. 357. N. 15. to Examin my Arguments And first to what I urge from Jud. vers 4. where it is spoken of some That turned the Grace of God into Wantonness he saith This is not understood of the true Grace of God but External Grace such as is that Tit. 2.12 which teacheth to deny Vngodliness But for this he gives no Proof Next it seems to him The Grace of God that teacheth to deny ungodliness mentioned Tit. 2. v. 12. is not the true Grace of God Where learned he this or how proveth he it He saith To understand the Faith which some are said to have made shipwrack of 1 Tim. 1.19 to be true and saving Faith is contrary to 2 Tim. 2.17 and other Places J. B. Asserts That the Grace of God that teaches to deny Vngodliness is not the True Grace and the falling from Faith a falling only from the Doctrine of Faith where the Doctrine of Faith is spoken of thence he concludes It was only the Doctrine of Faith they fell from But this is a Conclusion fit only for Credulous Persons and proveth nothing unless he will argue because in some Places the Doctrine of Faith is spoken of therefore where ever Faith is spoken of it must be understood of the Doctrine of Faith and not of true and saving Faith which were most Absurd He saith to Heb. 6.4 5. The Words are not Absolute but Conditional if they fall away but such a Condition importeth the thing supposed to be possible being given for a Caution He adds There is nothing there that is necessarily to be
understood of true and saving Grace but let him Inform according to Scripture How any Man can come to tast of the Heavenly Gift and of the Powers of the Life to come and be made partaker of the Holy Ghost without true and saving Grace For what he adds to this being built upon the Supposition of Election I refer it to what is abovesaid upon this Subject He Concludes Vossius's Testimony to be false in saying That this was the Common Opinion of the Ancients But if so little Credit be to be given him he did not well that made so much use of him to prove what was Pelagius's Doctrine as he has done throughout this Treatise For John Owen's Citations I have neither Accommodation nor Time at present to Examine them it is enough to me that this is Contrary to Scripture though all these he mentions had said so To prove That Men may have a good Conscience and yet want true Faith he bringeth Paul's Words Acts 23. v. 1. where speaking of himself while a Pharisee he saith He lived in all good Conscience before God c. but that will not meet this Case Those 1 Tim. 1.19 who are said to Make shipwrack of a good Conscience are such who believed the true Doctrine of Faith in Christ A Man may live in good Conscience to other Principles while Ignorant of the true Faith in Christ. as himself before acknowledgeth Now albeit a Man may be said to live in good Conscience to other Principles while Ignorant of this yet he should prove How a Man can be said to have a good Conscience with respect to the true Faith of Christ held by him and yet without saving or true Grace With Railing he tells me pag. 358. N. 18. that Phil. 1.6 and 1 Pet. 1.5 speak of God's beginning and perfecting the Condition And what then yet God doth not this against our Wills it is with a respect to our performing the Conditions on our part which yet we cannot do without him Then he goes about to prove That Paul could not fall in answer to my saying from 1 Cor. 9.27 That Paul supposeth a possibility that he might become a Reprobate But if the Reader Consider how I bring that in my Apology he will find he had no reason for this Cavil for I alledged it only to Reprove those that are too too secure shewing where Sin was there was always a Ground of Jealousy Since the Apostle did reckon it needful to keep under his Body to subdue Sin that he might not become a Reprobate Which since the Apostle did but upon this Supposition if he did not keep under his Body suppose possible others had no Reason to presume SECT XI Wherein his Sixteenth Chapter Of the Church his Seventeenth Of the Ministerial Call his Eighteen Nineteen and Twenty First Of their Qualifications Office and Maintenance and his Twentieth Of Womens Preaching is considered ¶ 1. HIs Chapter of the Church is soon dispatched for it contains scarce any thing but Perversions and Railing For after he has given a large Citation out of their Confession of Faith and then added some Enlargements of his own and some little nibbling Cavils to what I say of No Salvation being without the Church pag 361. he goes on with his old reiterated Calumny That I suppose Men may be made Members of the Catholick Church by the Light of Nature which is utterly false And upon this false Supposition is built his N. 5. pag. 362. as also what he saith pag. 364. But N. 4. he screws this to a greater Pitch of Falshood affirming J. B.'s gross Calumny That our Faith and Principles are only taught by the Light of Nature That what I say of a Particular Church gathered together in the Faith of the true Principles and Doctrines of Christ by the Spirit of God and Testimony of some of his Ministers is that these are Persons only taught by the Light of Nature and by such Ministers as preach nothing of the Gospel Against a Man thus desperately resolved and determined to Lie and Calumniate there can be no Guard bu sure all sober Readers will abhor such Dealing What I speak of a Church in this Respect is only of such as have the Advantage of the outward Knowledge of Christ as my Words afterwards shew where I say Such were the Churches gathered by the Apostles of which the Scripture makes mention And therefore what he Objects That cannot be done by Pagans is wholly Impertinent and doth but verify the grosness of his Calumny which he endeavours to inculcate as a Truth to his Reader pag. 363. as if what I say further of the things requisite to be a Member of this Particular Church were a third Sort and not a more particular Description of the former Which the Reader may easily observe by looking to the Place to be a meer Fetch of his to afford himself some matter of Cavil Which imagining he has got he fills up the Paragraph with gross Lies and Railing saying That the Quakers believe not the Holy Truths set down in the Scriptures because they oppose and contradict them J. B.'s further Lies against us of the Scriptures of Christ and our Faith That they believe not in nor make Profâ—ssion of Jesus Christ Revealed in the New Testament because they oppose him and all his Institutions That Faith according to them is not wrought by the Spirit of God but that Nature can sweetly and naturally Incline yea Compel thereunto All which are Gross Calumnies And then he concludeth saying And thus we have Run round and are again where we began which is very true for he began with Calumnies and having run round the same way his Work Resolves in them Pag. 364. He affirmeth Men may be Members of the visible Church and consequently ought to be reputed such who are ungodly and without holiness and offereth to make it good if I will form a Dispute upon it but I leave him as to this to Dispute with his Learned Dr. Owen whose Works he has Applauded in this Treatise and whom his Postscript-Brother R. M. has in his Preface to this J. B.'s Book highly Commended as a Gracious Man As for his Silly Argument that from the Apostle's saying Act. 2.39 The Promise is unto you and to your Children and 1 Cor. 7.14 it follows Men become Members of the Church by Birth I leave him to debate it with his great Author Thomas Hicks who will tell him if he be Consonant to his own Principles it is a Babylonish Invention But J. B. hath here unawares Contradicted himself for if these Scriptures prove Men become Members of the Church by Birth then the Sprinkling them with Water sometime after they are born or their Baby-Baptism J. B. shuts out their Baby-Baptism from making them Church-Members is not necessary to make them Members of the Church and they are to be accounted such without it He saith I am mistaken when I say
Substance was wanting the Work of Antichrist was erected in the dark Night of Apostacy he concludes that then according to me Christ and his Apostles wrought the Work of Antichrist and Mystery of Iniquity accusing me thence of Blasphemy But who can be so blind as not to see this manifest Perversion And again pag. 390. he saith I will that every Man According as his own Spirit falsly called the Spirit of God moveth him setting to this Work meaning that of the Ministry Which is a false Calumny never said by me who deny all false Motions of Man's own Spirit however called False Motions are denyed And pag. 391. he saith That Malice prompteth me to Charge them with owning the distinction of Clergy and Laity though I know they do not Where the Man supposeth that what I write is only written against the Presbyterians while he cannot but know that I write against others since in his first Chapter he charges we with Writing against all the Christian World So it is his Malice to say I Charge them with it if any of those I write to be guilty of it it is enough albeit I doubt whether the Presbyterians can free themselves of it ¶ 5. Having thus far discovered his Perversions I come to the main Business Pag. 388. he saith They plead not for shadows but own the Ordinances as Christ hath appointed to remain and continue for the perfecting of the Saints c. Eph. 4. 11 12 13. And pag. 389. N. 6. he asketh Whether the Primitive Church was not Instituted by Christ and gathered by God in whose Assemblies he was Ruler and Governour asking Were there no distinct Officers particular individual Persons set apart for the Work of the Ministry in the Apostles Days And p. 391. N. 7. he argueth against my Saying That these mentioned 1 Cor. 12.28 29. and Rom. 12.6 were not distinct Officers but only different Operations of the same Spirit And against this also he pleadeth p. 393. N. 11. and p. 394. To all which I answer distinctly and particularly J. B. his Plea for a Defective Number of Officers from Scripture That they can plead nothing from Eph. 4. unless their Church had all the Officers there mentioned which it has not yea and which themselves affirm are Ceased Such as Prophets Apostles which are said to be given for the Work of the Ministry and perfecting of the Saints nothing less than the other And by what Authority do they then Turn these by and plead so tenaciously for the other Let him give a Reason for this next and by the same we shall Answer what he urges from this But he must remember it is not enough for him barely to say These were extraordinary and are ceased and the other ordinary and remain but he must prove it by plain Scripture or else be justly Rejected as but begging the Question As he doth pag. 394. where he supposeth there were only 13 Apostles or perhaps 14. if Barnabas be accounted one since he confesseth the Word signifies One Sent and therefore whoever is Sent is properly an Apostle Thus also will his other Argument return upon his own Head for since such as he saith were settled and ordained in the Church by Christ and his Apostles how come they to walk so contrary to Christ's Order as to want yea and to judge such unnecessary in their Church And as for all the Scriptures cited by him to shew the distinction of such Church-Officers from other Members they are not to the purpose against me who deny not but Members were to be distinguished but yet that proves not that any Member was barred from these Exercises when called by the Spirit thereto which is the thing in question As for his saying That the Apostle is speaking of the Church 1 Cor. 12. as an Organical Body if he means the Apostle is Comparing the Church to a Body to which it answers in many respects I deny not but if he say that it answers in all I leave him to prove it however then if we make Application of it as the Apostle illustrateth it their Church will prove a very lame one for in this Body as J. B. himself observes the Apostle names Apostles and Prophets J. B.'s defective Church if wanting Eyes and Ears must needs be Blind and Deaf and if we may suppose that these as being the most Eminent are the Chiefest Members as the Eyes and Ears of the Body their Church that wanteth these must be Blind and Deaf And whereas he would make my saying That the Apostle meaned here different Operations Ridiculous he but sheweth his own Folly for if the Apostle point at different Offices they will not only want Apostles Prophets and Evangelists but a great many more For the Apostle nameth also verse 28. Miracles Gifts of Healing Helps Governments Diversities of Tongues c. These then must all be distinct Offices also how come they to want them in their Church or how can they plead for these they have more than for such as are placed nothing less by way of distinct Officers than they Yea all the several Titles enumerated by him pag. 390. will prove the same way distinct Officers and how came they to Cashier all these and reduce them to so few a number By what Authority and Scripture-warrant do they this But I would Inquire at him what an Office is if it be not an Operation of the Spirit more particularly working in some Persons under such a designation And this is proved by the Coincidency of these Offices in one Person which he confesseth That some are thence more particularly called to the Work of the Ministry I acknowledge and he observes it That God will move none to violate the Order established in his House I deny not God violates not Order ye may all Prophesy not only Prophets but that to move some at times to speak is a violation of that Order I deny since the Apostle saith to the contrary 1 Cor. 14.31 We may all Prophesy In answer to which he supposeth this is Restricted to Prophets but the Text saith All not All Prophets albeit it were no absurdity to suppose All the Lord's People to be Prophets in this sense as well as they are said to be Kings and Priests and the words following shew it That all may Learn and all may be Comforted for it were Non-sense to understand this with a Restriction And therefore his bare asserting That this contradicts the plain Scope of the place is no Argument for Men of Reason who resolve not to build their Faith upon his meer say so Pag. 395. he thinketh My acknowledging That some are more particularly called to the Work of the Ministry than others is not enough because they are not to Exhort but when moved by the Spirit and others when moved may as well as they so there is no difference That Ministers ought not to Preach or Exhort without the Spirit 's
it is not he that speaketh but the Spirit in him for this savoureth not of a Christian Spirit to seek to draw an Absurdity or make a Mock of that which is no other than Christ's Express Words Matth. 10.20 Mark 13.3 And indeed what he saith in this page N. 9. in answer to these Scriptures seemeth rather a Mock at Christ and his Apostles than any Answer asking me If I know not that Christ gave them their Preaching with them telling them what they should say And as ye go preach saying The Kingdom of God is at Hand And a little after he saith They had their Sermon taught them before-hand But dare he say That Christ's Words before-mentioned were therefore false This he must say or else prove nothing Or will he say that the Apostles in all that Progress said nothing but these seven Words The Kingdom of God is at Hand For according to him this was all they said which they had learned afore-hand and not as the Holy Ghost taught them in that Hour what to say albeit it be Christ's Express Words Luke 12.12 Pag. 447. to my Argument that according to their Doctrine the Devil himself ought to be heard seeing he knoweth the Notion of Truth and excelleth many of them in Learning and Eloquence he answers Why doth the Man thus speak Vntruth Do we say that every one though he were the Devil if he speak Truth should be heard Do they not say That Men ought to be heard and accounted as Ministers albeit void of the true Grace of God if having the formality of the outward Call And to prove this do not they bring the Example of Judas whom Christ called a Devil And they suppose him to have been such even when sent by Christ and deserved to be heard as his Apostle Let him consider then how he can shun what I have affirmed And albeit the Devil may speak without Study J. B. argues for acquiring the Gift of Preaching by outward Study of the Letter yet he cannot be said to Speak by the Spirit of God which is the thing we affirm needful to Gospel-Preaching And for his last Argument pag. 448. That since extraordinary Gifts Ceased there hath been no ordinary way of Preaching but by ordinary Gifts studied and acquired It is but a bare begging of the Question and the same upon the Matter with his new-enforced Objection which I answered towards the beginning of my Third Section of Immediate Revelation ¶ 4. I come now to his Twenty fourth Chapter of Prayer And as to his first Paragraph there needs no Debate for except some Railing intermixed I own what is asserted in it as to the Necessity of Prayer and its being through Christ as Mediator In the next he alledgeth I speak untruly in saying That the Acts of their Religion are produced by the Strength of the Natural Will for they can pray when they please But how truly this is affirmed concerning them will after appear Albeit in opposition to it after citing a passage out of the Larger Catechism J. B. owns the Spirit necessary to Prayer he saith They own the Influences of the Spirit as alsolutely necessary to this Duty Which if he would hold to there needed no further Debate I should agree to it For he doth untruly state the Question when he saith a little after That the Motions and Inspirations I plead for are extraordinary which is false and never said by me And therefore his building on it is in vain as well here as pag. 452-457-459 461. where he insinuates That I judge not the gracious and ordinary Influences of the Spirit a sufficient Warrant to pray which is false What he saith pag. 451. of the Necessity of Prayer at some times and of the Scriptures mentioning Prayers being made three times a day I deny not nor is it to the purpose The Question is Whether any can pray acceptably without the Spirit We see he hath granted they cannot then the thing to be proved is Whether the general Command authorized any to set about it albeit in a manner which is granted will not avail and is unacceptable So the matter resolves in Examining what he can say from Scripture or other ways to prove this And that there may be no Mistake let it be considered that I deny not the General Obligation to pray upon all so that they Who do not pray do sin who do not pray sin albeit they be not sensible of the Spirit 's Help enabling them to do it But that the way to avoid this Sin is not to Commit another to pray without the Spirit but to Wait for the Spirit that they may pray acceeptably seeing without it though they should use words of Prayer it would be no fulfilling of the Command And first then to what he argueth pag. 452. from the Reiterated Commands of God to pray I answer That God's Command lays upon Man an Obligation to pray I deny not but God commands no Man to pray unacceptably God Commands the right Performance of Prayer and this he has confessed cannot be without the Spirit therefore God commands no Prayer without the Spirit God Commands no Prayer without the Spirit neither is the Command answered or fulfilled by such as pray without it To this he Objecteth pag. 453 and 458. That the same Moral Duties might be shifted until the Spirit lead to them and also Natural Acts of Sleeping Eating c. which are Abomination in the Wicked And yet to go round he accuseth me p. 454 albeit falsly of saying Men may pray without the Grace of God Which by this Objection is his own Faith since he will not deny but Men may Sleep and Eat without the Grace of God But to this Objection I answered in my Apology shewing the difference betwixt these Acts and Acts of Worship which he grants pag. 461. And albeit I confess which he urgeth here that these profit not the Man at all as with respect to God's Favour when done without the Spirit yet they really fulfil the Matter of the thing Commanded in relation to our Neighbours and to our selves in Eating Drinking Sleeping else it would be Self-Murder But in Prayer the matter is not fulfilled without the Spirit which relateth only to God to whom every Prayer without the Spirit is an Evil Savour and not in any true and proper Sense a Prayer for Prayer as to the material Part cannot be performed without the Spirit He confesseth according to their Catechism That the Spirit is needful to know what to pray for which is the material part but the necessity of the Spirit as to these other things is only as to the formal part The formal part of Nature's Acts directed by the Spirit or right manner And this pleading for Praying from these Natural Acts shews how he Contradicts himself in saying It is untrue that they are for Prayer without the Spirit for if they be not this Argument were
Impertinent which is As these ought to be done without the Spirit so ought the other And yet he more manifestly Contradicts this pag. 456. saying That God requireth not Men to feel the Influences of the Spirit as a preparation to Prayer yea that Men ought to pray even when and because they feel they want them For if it be true that he said before That these Influences are necessary to the right performance of Prayer either Men ought to perform Prayer wrong or this must be a manifest Contradiction But since this manner of Prayer is owned really in their Praying at set times whether they have the Spirit 's Influence or not it shews I spake no Vntruth of them and that his saying so was untruly said by him And hence also the Man's Impudence may be seen pag. 460. in saying I am a liar in affirming they profess they may pray without the Spirit and have their set times But the thing I say is Professors limit themselves to pray at set Times without Waiting for the Spirit That they limit themselves so as to lay a Necessity upon themselves to pray at set Times as before and after Sermon and before and after Meat and this he cannot deny Or if he should their Vniversal Practice would declare him a Liar And if they pray at set Times and that professedly without Waiting for the Spirit 's Influence yea when they are sensible they Want it do not they profess to pray without the Spirit What he saith here and elswhere that this was the Opinion of Swenkfeldius and the Familists is not to the purpose For what we believe in this we do it as being the Truth and not with respect to such of whose Belief we take no notice so as to make it any Ground for our Faith And to shew how Impertinent this Classing us with others is to render us odious upon every occasion I may tell him here once for all That even as to this very thing of Prayer he agrees against us with Papists Socinians Pelagians Episcopalians Independents Anabaptists Lutherans Arminians Antinomians yea and with Pagans Turks and Jews all which affirm with him That Men may and ought to pray at certain Times and upon certain Occasions albeit not having any present Motions or Influence of the Spirit of God so to do J. B. pleading for Prayer forgets to Pray for but not to Rail against such he accounts his Enemies ¶ 5. What he saith here in several Places of Introversion I refer to what is said before to avoid Repetition It might have been thought that in this Chapter of Prayer and where he urges it so much from the general Command that he would have minded it would have been more suitable to pray for such as he may account his Enemies and even Hereticks than Rail at them but the Treating upon this Subject has had no such Inference with him And therefore he is sure to keep here his Old Style of Railing which the Reader may observe pag. 452-456-459 460 461. He hath divers little Cavils and Quibbles in this Chapter which I willingly omit as not concerning the Weight of the Question only to give the Reader a Tast of them I shall note one or two Pag. 455. upon these Words sub degustationem he fancieth The Quakers hold a State of Prayer distinct both from Publick and Private But if he had not been very Critical and ready to Catch albeit he omits more weighty things he had not troubled himself with this which is an Error either of the Transcriber or Printer for it is in my Copy ad cibum meaning the Prayers before and after Meat and that the other Word doth also signify The next is his asking What I mean by Ejaculations emitted to Man's self Ejaculations quibbled at by J. B. allowed in Scripture and this he saith looks like a piece of Quaker Idolatry This shews the Man's eagerness to stretch every thing to make an Accusation for by this I intended nothing but to express such Prayers as Men make unheard of others And if this be a piece of Quakers Idolatry it is such as he must account the Apostle Paul guilty of as well as I whole words are 1 Cor. 14. v. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sibi ipsi loquatur let him speak to himself as both Arias Montanus Beza translate it as well as the English And that this is understood of Prayer see from verse 24. So the furious Man may see whither his Malice hath driven him He forgetteth not also in this Chapter his old Calumny and therefore hath it here oftner than once that As all the rest so the Prayers of the Quakers as well as Preparations thereunto come only from that Light of Nature as pag. 455 456 457. and hence he accuseth me of Pelagianism A Man can no more Pray without the Spirit than he can see without Eyes p. 459. for saying That to Command a Man to pray without the Spirit is to command him to see without Eyes and work without Hands because Pelagius said that whatever God commanded us to do he gave us sufficient Strenghth to do it But if Pelagius said so he understood it of an Ability without the Spirit of God for which the Ancients condemned him Whereas my very Assertion here is in as opposite Terms to that as any thing can be since I argue that a Man can no more pray without the Spirit than he can see without Eyes And indeed all this Man 's Reasoning in this Chapter savors strongly of Pelagianism where he pleads throughout for Mens setting about Spiritual duties without the Spirit yea pag. 463. he saith That the Divine Indulgence towards such as have begun to pray without the Spirit and afterwards have found it assisting them in their Prayer is a strong inducement and encouragement to them For this agrees exactly to the Semipelagian principle Facienti quod in se est Deus non denegat gratiam i. e. God will not deny Grace to such as do what they can And indeed this allowing Men to perform Spiritual duties without the allowance of the Spirit as this Man doth pleading for it and reckoning the contrary Absurd pag. 453. is Compleat Pelagianism and doth clearly import that Man by the working of Nature can acquire the Spirit and can do something in order to obtaining the Spirit of himself before he have it J. B. with Pelagians plead for a Prayer from Nature's Law and Light and thence this Man pleads so much pag. 451. for the general Vse of Prayer from the Light and Law of Nature Let him Reconcile this if he can with his other Doctrines and Clear himself of Pelagianism And it is so much the more considerable that he has fall'n into this Pit of which he so often falsly accuseth me as also pag. 461. He asketh again pag. 460. Why we come to their places of Worship if our Conscience be hurt in joining with them and thence
keep off the Chief Matter And yet the Grosness of Thomas Hicks's Dealing was so discovered that some of his own Way and others who are not Quakers did publickly yea The Grosness of T. Hicks his Dealing discovered and abhorred in Print by others and in Print declare their Abhorrency of his Forgeries As appears by a Book written at that time Intituled The twelve Pagan Principles Considered upon which Thomas Hicks undertakes to Vnchristian the Quakers and another Intituled Quakerism no Paganism and another The Christian a Quaker the Quaker a Christian all written upon that accasion by Men that were no Quakers Yea Th. Hicks's Abuses and Lies were so far from doing us hurt that they were Instrumental to bring among us a young Independent Preacher of good Repute An Independent Preacher embracing Truth and well received and heard among them who has told my self That the Reading of Hicks's Dialogues and seeing his gross Lies and Abuses gave the first Rise to his searching after and embracing the Truth And when Th. Hicks and his Complices were further pursued by the Answer to their pretended Narration of these Debates Intituled Forgery no Christianity written by Thomas Elwood and another Paper Intituled A Fresh Pursuit by the same hand wherein he arraigneth the said Hicks and his Complices of Falshood Lying Forgery and requires them to make them good or else abide under the Just Condemnation of so manifest Guilt which they were glad to do and have not so much as peeped out now these three Years since the last of these Transactions until now this Vomit of which all sober Men are ashamed and from which the Authors have shamefully shrunk is licked up by John Brown and is become the Chief Authority of his Tract J. B. has used the Lies Forgeries and Abuses of a Shameless Anabaptist against the Quakers Will it savour well in the Mouths of sober Professors that the Chief Gun that J. B. useth against the Quakers are the Lies Forgeries and Abuses of a shameless Anabaptist Certainly when J. Brown considers these things he will if Malice hath not altogether blinded him find that he has too suddenly laid Hands upon his Brother Hicks ere he well minded the Consequence of it and that so great an Infusion of Hicks his Anabaptistical Durt which takes the best share of not a few pages of his Book will make the rest to stink albeit it were more cleanly Stuff than it is And for Faldo's Books out of which he copieth not a little in this Chapter he may find them both answered by W. P. the one called Quakerism a new Nick-name to old Christianity and the other The Invalidity of John Faldo 's Vindication in which pag. 430 431 432 433. he may find a List of John Faldo's Miscarriages in citing Assertions said by Quakers without telling the Books and of Books without Parts Chapters and Page of these Books falsly cited of Passages clipt and maimed and others perverted by Additions and which makes up above 70. to which John Faldo hath never had Face yet to Answer So that this Man may see what kind of Authority he has made use of and how his Proofs are bottomed And lastly of our full Belief of Future States Of future States and of the Resurrection and of the Resurrection he may find a large account in a book called The Christian Quaker and his Divine Testimony Vindicated by W. Pen and G. Whitehead printed in the Year 1674. from page 146 of the Second Part to the End SECT XVIII Wherein Robert Macquare his Postscript is Considered ¶ 1. AS to R. M. C. his Postscript which I come now to in the last Place I shall not need to be large it being a Compound and Heap of most Abusive and Vnreasonable Railing against me and my Friends on the one Hand Rob. Macquare's most abusive Railing against us and our Doctrine and a most fawning manifest piece of nauseating and shameless Flattery to his Brother J. Brown on the other In the very Entry he brands our Doctrine as the Devil 's and our selves as his Ministers and Amanuenses and a little after he Exclaimeth thus O what horrid what Hell-hatched bold Blasphemies this black Brood belcheth forth And for me in particular pag. 559 560. in a few Lines he calls me both a Turk and a Devil and what more his Railing Spirit affords him To all which I shall only say the worst I wish him is heartily to desire the Lord to forgive him as by the Strength of his Grace I freely do As to his Brother J. Brown he accounts him singularly Acute solidly Learned and truely Gracious so that he conceits if the Devil who he supposeth drew me on to write had his Dictates again he would bury or burn them R. M.'s Shameless Flatteries of J. B. Thence he highly Exalts the great depth of this his little Presbyterian David as he calls him in the shining Light and sharpness of his Examen Sober Men will blush to read such shameless Flattery And truly this Presbyterian Prince looks liker Cursing Shimei than little David and he himself looks like the daring Philistine who thus Commends him proclaiming a Defiance in his Name as if no solid Answer could be given But such Crying of Triumph before-hand will have small weight with Men of Reason His jeering Quibble at my Words in my Book of Vniversal Love where I speak overly of the Felicity of my Vnderstanding shews he wanted Matter but not Malice Many modest Men will be found to have said as much of themselves The Author glories not in Natural Endowments Neither did I that as a thing by which I would have any to measure now either me or my Writings The greatest Natural Vnderstanding wherein I confess my self freely to be Inferior to many availeth but little yea often hurteth to the Chief thing needful to wit Regeneration which is by Grace and not by Nature and therein I desire to Glory His petty Remark upon Barclaii Argenis is both Childish and Malitious he must know That the Quakers and my self do both Abhor and Condemn such Books And truly my Love to my Name is not so great that I would have that Exempted and therefore I could freely give my Vote that all Romances were burnt And he will find it hard to prove That such are used by any of us whileas I know some who passed and yet go for Pious and Elect Ladies among them that bestowed no small share of their Time in Reading them And Preachers may be found Eminent enough whose Closets are well stored with most approved Romances and some being Challenged even of Note among the Presbyterians by some serious Professors for their reading of them did Justify it as that whereby they were helped in their Pulpits to give their Sermons a better Lustre So he may see these Books are of more use to his Brethren than us Presbyterian Preachers read Romances to give their
thee this will at what Time thou shalt appoint Receive from thee and Transmit to me thy Letter that at last the Truth may appear where it is And that the whole matter may the more clearly be understood it will be fit in the first Place To propose thy Argument whereby thou Opposest the Immediate Revelation of GOD in the Saints thence concluding thou hast fully overturned the Foundation of the People called Quakers Which Argument of thine is H. P's Objection against Immediate Revelation stated by way of Argument That since as thou Judgest the Being and Substance of the Christian Religion consisteth in the Knowledge of and Faith concerning the Birth Life Death Resurrection and Ascension of Christ Jesus thou considerest the Substance of the Christian Religion as a Contingent Truth which Contingent Truth is matter of Fact Whence thou reasonest That Matter of Fact cannot be known but by the Relation of another or by the perception of the outward Senses because there are naturally in our Souls no Idea's of Contingent Truths such as are concerning Necessary Truths To wit That GOD is and that the Whole is greater than the Part. And since it may without absurdity be said That GOD cannot make a Contingent Truth to become a Necessary Truth neither can GOD reveal Contingent Truths or Matters of Fact but as Contingent Truths are Revealed But Matters of Fact are not revealed but by the outward Senses From whence thou Concludest That Men are not even obliged to believe GOD producing any Revelation in the Soul concerning Matter of Fact whether of a thing done or to be done unless there be added some Miracles obvious to the outward senses by which the Soul may be Ascertained that that Revelation cometh from G0D And this thou endeavourest also to prove from the Scripture The Proofs of the Argument Rom. 10. where the Apostle saith Faith cometh by Hearing And because the Apostle speaketh afterwards of those who were sent in the Plural Number thence thou concludest That to be spoken of outward Preaching by the Ministry of Men And since the Apostle uses a Question saying How shall they believe unless they hear Thou gatherest from the Induction and Connexion of the Text that the Apostle treats only of outward Hearing thence Concluding That without outward Hearing Faith cannot be produced And therefore that there can be no Immediate Revelation by the simple operation of the Spirit in the Mind unless there be somewhat proposed to the Outward Senses Before I proceed to a direct Answer to this Argument some things are necessary to be premised First then That is falsly supposed The Christian Religion consists not in the Historical Knowledg of Christ. That the Essence of the Christian Religion consists in the Historical Faith and Knowledge of the Birth Death Life Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. That Faith and Historical Knowledge is indeed a part of the Christian Religion but not such an Essential Part as that without which the Christian Religion cannot consist but an Integral Part which goes to the Compleating of the Christian Religion as the Hands or Feet of a Man are Integral Parts of a Man without which nevertheless a Man may exist but not an Intire and Compleat Man Secondly The Historical Knowledg of Christ is not commonly manifested to us but by the Holy Scripture If by Immediate Revelation be understood such a Revelation of GOD as begets in our Souls an Historical Faith and Knowledge of the Birth of Christ in the Flesh without the Means of the Holy Scripture we do not contend for such a Revelation as commonly given or to be expected by us or any other Christians For albeit many other Evangelical Truths be manifested to us by the Immediate Manifestation of God not using the Scripture as the Means yet the Historical Knowledge of Christ is not commonly manifested to us nor to any others but by the Holy Scripture as the Means and that by way of a Material Object Even as when we see the Person of Peter or Paul to our visive Faculty Immediately yet not without the Medium of that Person concurring as a Material Object to produce that Sight while the Light of the Sun concurs as the formal Object of that Vision or Sight So that when we Livingly and Spiritually know the History of the Birth of Christ in the Flesh the Inward Revelation or Illumination of GOD which is like the Sun 's Light proceeding from the Divine Sun doth shine into the Eye of the Mind and by Its Influence moves the Mind to Assent unto the Historical Truth of CHRIST's Birth Life c. in the Reading or Hearing the Scripture or Meditating therein Thirdly * God can manifest the Historical Truth of Christ to our Minds without the Scripture Nevertheless we do firmly Assert That GOD can most easily clearly and certainly manifest to our Minds the Historical Truths of CHRIST's Birth c. when it so pleaseth Him even without the Scripture or any other outward Mean And because this Argument seems to be formed against the possibility of such a Revelation therefore I shall proceed to discuss it But first thou may'st mind that the Prophets who foretold CHRIST's Coming in the Flesh and being to be born of a Virgin and afterwards to suffer Death did know these Truths of Fact by the Inward Inspiration of GOD without Outward Means For which see 1 Pet. 1.10 11. Now that which hath been may be Fourthly This Argument doth at most Conclude that we cannot know Naturally any Truth of Fact A Contingent Truth may be known by a Supernatural Knowledge but by the Relation of another without us or by the perception of the outward Senses because there are naturally in our Minds no Idea's concerning Contingent Truths and every Truth of Fact is a Contingent Truth as there are of necessary Truths This then proveth that we cannot naturally know any Contingent Truth but by the Relation of another or perception of the outward Senses But that hindereth not but we may know a Contingent Truth by a Supernatural Knowledge GOD supplying the place of an outward Relator who is so true that he may and ought to be believed sith GOD is the Fountain of Truth The Form of Revelation is the voice of God inwardly speaking to the Mind of Man Fifthly When GOD doth make known unto Men any Matter of Fact by Divine Immediate Revelation or Inspiration GOD speaking as to the Ear of the Heart of the Inward Man or as by his Finger writing it therein two things are to be considered in such an Immediate Revelation 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Materiale The Matter of Fact or thing Revealed which is Contingent 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Formale The Form or Mode how the Revelation is made which Form is an Inward Divine and Supernatural Revelation which is the Voice or Speech of GOD inwardly speaking to the Ear of the Inward Man or Mind of Man
every Object is to have its proper Sense so must we judge of inward and spiritual Objects which have their proper Sense whereby they are to be perceived And tell me how God doth manifest his Will concerning Matters of Fact when he sends his Angels to men since Angels as is commonly received have not outward Senses or at least not so gross ones as ours are Yea when Men die and appear before the Tribunal of GOD whether unto Eternal Life or Death how can they know this having laid down their Bodies and therewith their outward Senses And nevertheless this Truth of GOD is a Truth of Fact as is the Historical Truth of Christ's Birth in the Flesh. And which is yet more near How Good Men know they are with God in Favor how do good and holy Men even in this Life most certainly know that they are in Favour and Grace with GOD No Outward Revelation doth make this known unto them but The Spirit as saith the Apostle beareth witness with our Spirits that we are the Children of GOD. For the meer Testimony of a humane Conscience without the Inward Testimony of the holy Spirit cannot beget in us a firm and immoveable Testimony of our Sonship because the Heart of Man is deceitful and if the Tistimony thereof were true at most it is but a Humane Testimony which begetteth in us only an Humane Faith But that Faith by which holy Men believe they are the Sons of GOD is a Divine Faith which leans upon a Divine Testimony of the holy Spirit witnessing in them that they are the Sons of GOD. Moreover when a good Man feels in himself that undeclarable Joy of the holy Spirit concerning which the holy Scripture speaks year 1686 and which is the common Priviledge of the Saints how or whence feels he this Joy Truly this Argument concludes no less against this Heavenly Spiritual Joy which is begotten in the Souls of the Saints by the holy Spirit then it does against the Immediate Revelation of G0D for there is no natural Idea in Men of this spiritual Joy else meer natural Men yea such as are profane and ungodly would feel it as much as the Godly How Profane Men do feel the Wrath of God as Fire But because it is a Supernatural thing Therefore it can have no true Idea but what is Supernatural Moreover whence is it that profane Men feel sometimes in themselves the Wrath of GOD as Fire when all things as to the outward go as prosperously with them as with the Godly and oftentimes more prosperously For there is no Natural Idea in Men of this inward Wrath of GOD. There is also an inward Grief oftentimes raised up in Wicked Men from the sense of this Wrath of G0D which very much vexeth and tormenteth their Minds and nevertheless this Grief hath no Natural Idea in us For oftentimes wicked Men feel not this Sorrow for God sometimes is as it were silent while the Wicked sin as in Psalm 50. All which things do most clearly demonstrate that there are in Men Supernatural Idea's of Supernatural Beings which Idea's are nevertheless not perceived by us unless they be stirred up by some Supernatural Operation of GOD which raiseth up in us Supernatural and Spiritual Senses which by their Nature are as distinguishable from the natural Senses whether inward or outward as the natural Senses are distinguished one from another by their specifick Difference Of which Spiritual Senses the Scripture speaks frequently as Heb. 5. and 14. where is spoken of the Spiritual Senses in general by which the spiritual Man hath the discerning of Good and Evil Spiritual Senses discerning good and evil Which Good is of a Spiritual Nature and conduceth to feed in us a Spiritual and Divine Life and the Evil is of that kind by which the spiritual Life is in us hurt to wit Sins whether Carnal or Spiritual All which cannot be discerned but by such who have Spiritual Senses stirred up in them as saith the Apostle In other places the Scripture also speaketh of these Spiritual Senses in particular as of the Spiritual Seeing Psal. 34.9 Of the Spiritual Hearing Psal. 85. and 9. Of Spiritual Tasting Psal. 34.8 Of Spiritual Smelling Cant. 1.3 Of Spiritual Touching Act. 17.8 and in many other places of Scripture we read of those Spiritual Senses in particular Yea it is the Promise of the Gospel that The Glory of GOD shall be seen of holy Men such as are clean of Heart even in this Life Isa. 33.17 Mat. 5.8 Which were fulfilled in the Primitive Christians fee John 1.14 1 John 1.1 2 3 4. 2 Cor. 3.18 and Chap. 4.6 But what is this Vision of GOD and Divine Glory which the Souls of the Saints enjoy in this Life which is only as the Earnest or first Fruits of that more abundant glorious Vision in the Life to come concerning which the Scripture so much declareth which is the highest Happiness of the Immortal Soul For this Argument seemeth to do no less Injury to the Saints than to rob them of this most glorious Treasure both in this Life and that to come For there is in us no Natural Idea of this Divine Glory as there is not of GOD himself which is any ways proportionable unto so great Happiness which the Scripture so much declareth of by which the Godly are Rewarded partly in this Life and plenarily in that which is to Come The Existence of a most perfect Being Asserted We confess indeed there is in all Men as well the Godly as Vngodly some sort of Idea of GOD as of a most perfect Being and that therefore this Proposition There existeth a most perfect Being doth as clearly appear to Human Vnderstanding as that The whole is greater than the part And therefore this Proposition That a most perfect Being existeth ought to be numbred among the Principles that of themselves are manifest But this Idea of GOD is as manifest to Vngodly as to Godly Men yea is as clearly perceived by the Devil as by the most holy Angels For all the Devils know that GOD is but yet how blind is the Devil and all wicked Men as to the Vision of GOD which is the Chief Reward of the Saints There is then either no such Vision of GOD neither in this Life nor in that to come or there is a Supernatural Idea of GOD in us by which we are made capable of this Vision The Supernatural Idea of God differs from the Natural Which Supernatural Idea of GOD differeth much from that Natural Idea of GOD which Cartesius and his Followers so much talk of albeit others long before Cartesius did observe this Natural Idea of GOD and spoke of it But the Happiness of the Saints consists not in Contemplating this Natural Idea of God else the Wicked would be as happy as the Godly yea the very Devil as the most holy Angel Since as is said both the Devil and most Wicked Men
to the Grace given 300. the confining of the Gifts and Graces of God to certain External Forms and Ceremonies is directly opposite to Vniversal Love 703. by the Gift of God all things are possible 398. Gilpin John his Story answered 74. God How he hath always manifested himself 269 unless he speak within the Preacher makes a rustling to no purpose 271 272. None can know him aright unless he receive it of the Holy Ghost 270 271 272. God is to be sought within 272. he is known by Sensation and not by meer Speculation and Syllogistick Demonstrations 271. he is the Fountain Root and Beginning of all good Works and he hath made all things by his Eternal Word 274. God speaking is the Object of Faith 278. among all he hath his own Chosen ones 270. he delights not in the Death of the Wicked see Redemption he hath manifested his Love in sending his Son 367 368 see Justification he rewards the good Works of his Children 386. whether it be possible to keep his Commandments 388. he is the Lord and the only Judge of the Conscience 515 517 he will have a free Exercise 522. his Forbearance and Long-suffering 343 344 223 217. When God hardens 344. what Man does act without his Power is not accepted 453. by Manifestation he cometh forth into the Creatures and yet is still in himself 580. whom to know is Eternal Life 115. God's Voice is known by a Spiritual and Supernatural Sense 898 God is Light 65 115 161. There is in all Men a Supernatural Idea of God as of a most perfect being 900. his Glory and Beauty makes all the Glory of this World as Dross and Dung 902. his Condescension to the Weak 35. of all things Sin is most contrary to his Nature 320. whose Riches and Bounty lead Men to Repentance 791. who speaks inwardly to the Mind of Man 896. Godliness from a tender Age the Happiness of few and why 677. Good that which is good for one to do may be sinful to another 300. the Good in all ought to be Commended 682 and the Evil not to be encouraged 683. Gospel see Redemption the Truths of it are as Lies in the Mouths of Profane and Carnal Men 276 284 285. the Nature of it is explained 285 286. It is distinguished from the Law and is more excellent than it 386 287 298. see Covenant Law whether any ought to preach it in this or that Place is not found in Scripture 299 416 417. its Works are distinguished from the Works of the Law 382. how it is to be propagated and of its Propagation 517. The Worship of it is inward 484. it is an inward Power 349 350. Evil under the Gospel not to be resisted 665. its most excellent Dispensation is to be like Christ 664 The Gospel of Salvation is brought nigh unto all 125. which is the Power of God 126. a new Revelation of the good old Gospel and Doctrines 308. this Gospel is made a Mock and Illusion by the false Doctrine of Absolute Reprobation 319 321 322. is preached to every Creature 323. or in every Creature 799. which Gospel is hid in them that are lost 632. a twofold Dispensation of it 664. the preaching of it perverted by our Adversaries 782. the History of the Gospel is necessary 793. yet the Declaration is not the Power or Manifestation of God in Man 799. which Assertion is neither Heathenism nor Jesuttism c. ibid. and Salvation is not impossible without the hearing of the Gospel or outward preaching 805. Government see Church Magistrate Order and Government Asserted in the Church of Christ 193. being appointed by Christ himself and the form thereof 194. the Abuse makes not void the true use ibid. the end thereof 195. being practised by the Apostles and Primitive Christians ibid. 199. the Apostles Doctrine concerning it 196. dissenting Reasonings against it 197. It is no inconsistency or Contradiction to be a Follower of the Grace of God in ones self and to be a Follower of Men in whom the Spirit of God hath the Dominion ibid. in what Cases and how far this Government extends i as to Outwards and Temporals 206 211. ii in Matters Spiritual and purely Conscientious 212 224. It differs from the Oppressing and persecuting principality of the Church of Rome and other Antichristian Assemblies 230 235. Grace the Grace of God can be lost through Disobedience 398 c. Saving Grace see Redemption which is required in the calling and qualifying of a Minister see Minister in some it worketh in a special and prevalent manner that they necessarily obtain Salvation 340 341. Your Grace see Titles Grace is given in order to save 63 64. what it teaches 128. all have Grace sufficient for Salvation 341 578 699. if not resisted works Salvation 801. the Calvinists make Grace an Irresistible Power falsly 803 827 828 834. God's Grace and Love is Universal 164. its Work in the Heart 387 802. concerning falling from Grace 136 138 167. a graceless Man is rendered unfit to receive the new Wine of the Gospel in his unclean Vessel 656. Greeks the Wisdom of the Greeks appeared in their worldly Affairs 764. H. Hai Ebn Yokdan 365 Hands Laying on of Hands 417 511 660 833. Paul wrought with his Hands 652 435 Head Of uncovering the Head in Salutations 531 533 540 543 564 565 874. to put off the Hat one to another not commanded by Christ 3. is one of the Corrupt Customs of the World ibid. not warranted to Man by Scripture but to God 60. and Salutations commanded by Christ are owned by the Quakers 2 3. who don 't consist in taking off the Hat and bowing of the Body 874 see Honor Salutations Hearing Inward and outward Hearing distinguished 603 803 804. Faith comes not by outward Hearing 904 905. see Infants Heart the Heart is Deceitful and Wicked 30 312 314. Obdurateness and Hardness of Heart when begotten 789. Hardness of Heart and blindness justly reprovable and all the Enormities following thereupon 242. man cannot procure to himself tenderness of Heart in his own will 338 Heathens Albeit they were Ignorant of the History yet they were sensible of the Loss by the Fall 361. some Heathens would not Swear 555. Heathenish Ceremonies were brought into the Christian Religion 492. Heathen-Philosophers Divine Knowledge 361 362. they declared that Inward Concupiscence is sin 604. the Gospel held forth to them 327. and Christ was given as a Light to inlighten the Gentiles 358. Concerning the Heathens Book of Nature 630 631. Salvation is possible to them in the most barbarous places 700 803 804. they having a Day of Visitation through the Gospel 788. Those that deny the Inward Principle of Grace and Light given to all Men are forged to urge the same against an Heathen because he doth not acknowledge any Scripture or Tradition 700 701. See Gentiles Pagans Heathen-Persecution see Persecution Hebrew The various Lections of the Hebrew Character of the Bible 303. Henry
The worldly Peace-Contrivers Rule is not Equity but the power of Parties 610 711 712 Pelagians 311. how we differ from them 339 341 492. see Light of Nature Pelagius deemeth That no Man gets an evil Seed from Adam and ascribes all to the Will and Nature of Men He said that Man could attain unto a State of not sinning by his meer natural Strength without the Grace of God 398 Perfection Concerning Perfection or freedom from Sin 91 99 132 136 166 167. Perfection evicted 28 37 620. Persecution upon the account of Religion 523 529. see Magistrate Violent Persecutions upon the account of Religious Principles rather confirm than drive the persecuted from the Belief of those Principles 687. The Lutherans and Calvinists united in the Doctrine and Practice of Persecution even practise the same against one another 690. Pressing after and seeking to establish a National Church tends to promote Persecution 691. the Principle of Persecution preached up and practised by the Church of Rome 689. Severity see 865. Perseverance The Grace of God may be lost through Disobedience 388 401. yet such a stability may in this Life be attained from which there cannot be a total Apostasy 380 398 400 405 406. Concerning Perseverance or falling from Grace 136 138 167 Peter whether he was at Rome 289. he was ignorant of Aristotle's Logick 305. there were of old divers Opinions concerning his Second Epistle 297. Pharaoh 778 Pharisees 475. Philosopher an Heathen-Philosopher was brought to the Christian Faith by an Illiterate Rustick 424. a Philosopher converted his Testimony concerning the Old Man's Words 644. a Philosopher troubled for being Commended by a Profligate Person 672. Philosophers whence called 362. Philosophy 417 424 Phisicks ibid. Plays whether it be lawful to use them 531 533 545 548. 565 Polycarpus the Disciple or John 289 Power The Power of God being Inwardly felt to give Victory over Sin in some serious Inquirers was the Cause of their Uniting and agreeing unanimously to the universal Preaching up of this Power which is the True Church's first and chiefest Principle and most agreeable to the universal Love of God 697 Pray To pray for Remission of Sins 397 398. concerning the Lord's Prayer 450. to Pray without the Spirit is to offend God 453. concerning the Prayer of the Will in Silence 458 see Worship Prayer The Prayers of the People were in the Latine Tongue 422. Prayers performed without the Assistance of the Spirit are not acceptable to God 44 45. Mental Prayer the Cause and Spring of Vocal Prayer 643. is sometimes of more Force than Vocal Prayer 648 all that are Faithful who have no natural Defect may Pray Vocally at Times 645. Preacher see Minister Preaching what it is termed the Preaching of the Word 426 431. see Worship it is a permanent Institution 485. it is learned as another Trade 431. no Preaching is profitable but that which comes from the Immediate Teachings of God's Spirit 28 861 868 871 Predestinated God hath after a special manner Predestinated some to Salvation of whom the places of Scripture which some abuse be understood their Objections are easily solved 341. Presbyterians Scots Presbyterians the severest of that Sect they derive their Pedigree from Geneva but surpass it in Zeal 678. Presbyterians Complyance 758. a Presbyterian Preacher's Prayer to the Devil 708. a twofold Will in God vindicated by the Presbyterians 777. see 861 873 878 Priest Under the Law God spake immediately to the High-Priest 277 286 Priests see Minister of the Law 408 409 421 442 Pride 885 Princes the Courts of Princes the Scenes of greatest Wickedness 708 564. Principles Departing through Unbelief from the Fundamental Principles of a Society implieth self-ejection from being a Member of that Society whether in Spiritual or Temporal Matters 214. proved by Scripture ibid. that those that abide faithful in the firm Belief of those Principles and Doctrines upon which their Society was outwardly grounded have Power to exclude those that separate from them by asserting False and Contradictory Principles 215. The Doctrines and Principles which are the outward Bonds and Terms of Society are nothing else but the Product of Truth 's Power and Virtue upon the Heart 241. a good Principle is a ready way to lead People into good Practices 27 Profession An outward Profession is necessary that any be a Member of a particular Christian Church 404 Prophecy and to Prophesy what it signifies 416 417. of the Liberty of Prophesying 439. Prophecy 277 750 Prophets Some Prophets did not Miracles 416 417. Sam. Rutherford explains 1 Cor. 14.30 to be meant of Pastors and not extraordinary Prophets 104. J. Calvin affirms that in his Day God raised up Prophets and Evangelists 89. concerning Prophets 604 645 667. Protestants the Rule of their Faith 289. they are forced ultimately to recur unto the immediate inward Revelations of the Holy Spirit 293. what difference betwixt the execrable Deeds of those of Munster and theirs 288 290. they make Philosophy the Handmaid of Divinity 305. they affirm John Huss prophesied of the Reformation that was to be 309. whether they did not throw themselves into many Errors while they were expecting a greater Light 380. they opposed the Papists not without good Cause in the Doctrine of Justification but they soon ran into another Extream 365 366. they say that the best Works of the Saints are defiled 370. whether there be any difference betwixt them and the Papists in Superstitions and Manners and what it is 405 406. what they think of the Call of a Minister 409 416. it is lamentable that they betake themselves to Judas for a Patron to their Ministers and Ministry 421. their Zeal and Endeavours are praised 422. of their School-divinity 425. of the Apostles and Evangelists of this Time 430. whom they exclude from the Ministry 430 431. that they preach to none until they be first sure of so much a Year 433. the more moderate of them exclaim against the excessive Revenues of the Clergy 435. though they had forsaken the Bishop of Rome yet they would not part with old Benefices 436. they will not labour 437. whether they have made a perfect Reformation in Worship 440 441. their Worship can easily be stopped 455. they have given great Scandal to the Reformation 470 they deny Water Baptism to be absolutely necessary to Salvation 480. of Water-Baptism 491 392. of the Flesh and Blood of Christ 407 409. they use not Washing of Feet 489. how they did vindicate Liberty of Conscience 524. some affirm that wicked Kings and Magistrates ought to be deposed yea killed 5.24 how they Meet when they have not the Consent of the Magistrate 529 530. of Oaths and Swearing 550 551. according to the Episcopalian and Presbyterian Principles and Practices no Man can be a Member of the State but first they must be a Member of the Church 691. the Protestants to their Shame have recourse to their old Abdicated Father the Pope for a Title to their
their Worship can easily be stopped 455. the Practice of the Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants of Holland doth shew how void they are of Christian Love and Charity 691 Reprobation see also Redemption What absolute Reprobation is described 319. its Doctrine is horrible impious and Blasphemous 319.323 325. it is also so called by Lucas Osiander 328. it is a new Doctrine Augustin laid the first foundation thereof which Dominicus Calvin and the Synod of Doâ—t maintained 320.328.329 also Luther whom not-withstanding the Lutherans afterwards deserted 328 329. It is injurious to God and makes him the Author of sin proved by the Sayings of Calvin Beza Zanchius Paraeus Martin Zuinglius and Piscator 320 321. It makes the Preaching of the Gospel a meer Mock and Illusion 322. It makes the coming of Christ and his propitiatory Sacrifice to have been a Testimony of God's Wrath 322 323. It is injurious to Mankind and makes his Condition worse than the Condition of Devils Beasts Jews under Pharaoh and the same which the Poets applyed to Tantalus 323 324. Who espouse the precise Decree of Reprobation declare themselves Strangers to the Universal Love of God 694 695. the precise Decree of Reprobation is inconsistent with the Universal Love of God 694. the Presbyterian Doctrine of Reprobation makes God the Author of Sin 777. the same Doctrine makes the Gospel a meer mock 778. it is injurious to Christ's propitiatory Sacrifice ibid. it puts Devils in a better condition than Men 779 Resurrection 159 160 172. Revelation God always manifested himself by the Revelations of the Spirit 268 275 376 293. they are made several ways 268. they have been always the formal object of faith and so remain 269 276 284 and that not only Subjectively but also Objectively 284 287. they are simply necessary unto true faith 269 288 294. they are not uncertain 294 296. yea it is horrible Sacriledge to accuse them of uncertainty 283. The Examples of the Anabaptists of Munster do not a whit weaken this Doctrine 288 291 292 294. they can never contradict the Holy Scripture nor sound Reason 269 292 305 306. they are evident and clear of them selves nor need they anothers Testimony 269.293.294 they are the only sure certain and unmoveable foundation of all Christian faith 294 295. Carnal Christians Judge them nothing necessary yea they are hissed out by the most part of Men 269. of old none were esteemed Christians save those that had the Spirit of Christ but now a days he is termed an Heretick who affirms that he is led by it 269 270. The Testimony of some concerning the necessity of these Revelations 270 272 283 284. by whose and what desires they have been brought out of use 330. Divine Revelations the priviledge of all true Christians 607. the inward efficiency of the Spirit is that objective Revelation pleaded for 632. no true Revelation can contradict the Scripture 743. how and after what manner these Revelations were the object of the Saints faith of old 744. of the necessity of immediate Revelation to the building up of true faith 623 632. the distinction of subjective and objective Revelation unnatural 658. it is in the Power of God to Reveal himself when how and so long as he pleaseth 750. what Revelations are contrary to the Scriptures are to be rejected 752. Heer Paets his Argument against immediate Revelations discussed 894. Revelations seem to carnal Christians nothing necessary yea some are apt to flout at them as Ridiculous 269. immediate Revelations and Teaching of the Spirit asserted 28. Revenge see War 555 556 Rogers W. Rogers his Letter shewing his Satisfaction with R. B's Sense and meaning in his Book of Government 247 Rule of Faith and Manners see Scripture Concerning the Rule and Guide of Christians 116 161. whatever Difficulties happen in saying the Spirit is the Christian's Rule whereby to be ordered in Life and Conversation the same will occur in saying The Scripture is the Rule 591 592 Rustick The poor Rustick's Answer given to the proud Prelate 414. he brought a Philosopher to the Christian Faith 423 424. S. Sabbath 443. the outward Sabbath abolished together with the New-moons and other Feasts of the Jews 38. Sabbath or Rest is not an outward Day 38 40 Sacraments of their Number Nature c. how much Contention there hath been and that the Word Sacrament is not found in Scripture but borrowed from the Heathens 476 492. its Definition will agree to many other things 475. whether they confer Grace 513. the most Wicked may both minister and partake of these outward Elementary things called Sacraments as the most holy and sincere 704 855 864 Salvation Without the Church there is no Salvation 404. Salvation not only supposed but concluded possible to all men 700. the Lutherans Calvinists and Arminians hold that there can be no Salvation without the explicit Knowledge of Christ and Benefit of the Scriptures 692. those that hold this Opinion cannot justly pretend to Universal Love 693. Salvation chiefly depends upon the Inward Work of Grace 802. the want of outward Preaching doth not destroy the possibility of Salvation 80 Salutations 531 874. see Titles Samaria The Woman of Samaria 501 Sanctification see Justification Saxony The Elector of Saxony of the Scandal he gave to the Reformation by being present at the Mass 471 Schism 188 222.188 Sceptick 423 471. School Without the School of Christ nothing is learned but meer Talk and Shadow of Knowledg 270 272. Whether publick Schools be necessary 423 Schools and Universities 885. Sciences 834 838 Scriptures of Truth whence they proceeded and what they contain 295. they are a Declaration of the Fountain and not the Fountain it self 296. they are not to be esteemed the adequate Primary Rule of Faith Manners but a Secondary Subordinate to the Spirit and why 296 309 416. their certainty is only known by the Spirit 296 297 405. they testify that the Spirit is given to the Saints for a Guide 296 303 304 306 308. their Authority depends not upon the Church or Council nor upon their intrinsick Vertue but upon the Spirit nor is it subjected to the corrupt Reason of Men but to the Spirit 296 304. the Testimonies of Calvin the French Churches the Synod of Dort and the Divines of Great Britain at Westminster concerning this thing 296 297. the Contentions of those that seek the certainty of the Scriptures from something else than the Spirit 296 297. divers Opinions of the Fathers so called concerning some Books 296 298. concerning the taking away and the corruption of some places the Translation Transcription and various Lections of the Hebrew Character and of the Greek Books The Interpretation of the Septuagint concerning the Hebrew Books and of admitting or rejecting some Books 302 304. of their difficulty in their Explanation 305. Augustin's Judgment concerning the Authors of the Canonick Books and concerning the Transcription and Interpretation 303. the use of them is very profitable and comfortable
297 304. there is no necessity of Believing the Scripture to be a filled up Canon 308. many Canonick Books through the Injury of Time lost ibid. whether it can be proved by Scripture that any Book is Canonical 208 209. they were sometimes as a Sealed Book 422. to understand them there is need of the Help and Revelation of the Holy Spirit 271 272. no Man can make himself a Doctor of them but the Holy Spirit 271. Noah and Job were Preachers of Righteousness before the Scriptures were written 703. the Knowledge of the Scriptures to be of great Advantage is owned 7 117 162 700. the Synod of Paris their Opinion concerning the Scripture's certainty viz. to be by the Inward Testimony and Perswasion of the Holy Spirit 72 see 116 162. the Scriptures cannot beguile Men but Men may beguile themselves by a wrong use of them 577. the Scriptures the best Outward Rule in the World ibid. Scriptures are a Clear and Perfect Copy as to all Essentials of Christian Religion 603. that the Scriptures are a sufficient objective Revelation of all things necessary to Salvation is denied 631. the Scriptures are the Words of God 747. a Secondary Rule 754. that Supposition is false which supposes the Will of God can be only known by the Scriptures 759. John Calvin's Testimony concerning the Scriptures and the Spirit 72. to understand the Scriptures we need the Help and Revelation of the Holy Spirit Hierom 271. the Scriptures though they do declare the Mind of God are therefore not his Word which came from God immediately to the Prophets by which the Scriptures came which Word is ceased Professors say 14. the Canon of the Scripture not compleated 735 750. they are not the means of knowing God in Spirit 887 889 903. see Gifts Scriptures explained Gen. 2.17 p. 762. Isai. 8.20 p. 755 756 Prov. 10.11 p. 644. John 1.9 p. 797. 1 Cor. 11.5 p. 839. 2 Tim. 3.16 p. 755. 2 Pet. 1.19 20. p. 743. Jam. 1.25 p. 757. 1 John 4.1 p. 658. Sect The Ignatian Sect loveth Literature 423. they call those that are sent unto India Apostles 430. the Definition of a Sect 696 698. those cannot pretend to Universal Love who confine all Spiritual and Temporal Blessings to their Sect 691. one Mark of a Sect is when People seek to Advance and Propagate their Way in the Strength of their own Spirits c. 698. those whose Unity arises from Notions and Opinions do derive their Names and Designations from the first Authors Inventors and Fomenters of those Opinions 698 699. Security among hypocritical Professors 47. Seed of Righteousness 452. the Seed of Sin see Sin Redemption The Seed a distinct Principle from the Soul 795 579 580. Self-denial 451 Semi-pelagians their Axiom Facienti quod in se est Deus non 〈◊〉 gratiam 328. Sense supernatural 657 897 〈…〉 904 905. Servant Whether it be lawfu◠〈◊〉 I am your humble Servant 538. Servetus 527. Shoemaker he disputes with the Professor 423 424. Silence see Worship Silence and an inward turning of the Mind necessary to the entring upon Worship 845. Simon Magus 431. Sin see Adam Justification It shall not have Dominion over the Saints 298. the Seed of Sin is transmitted from Adam unto all Men but it is Imputed to none no not to Infants except they actually join with it by Sinning 310 311 315 318. Augustin's Testimony concerning Infants 768. and this Seed is often called Death 318. Original Sin of this Phrase the Scripture makes no mention 318. by virtue of the Sacrifice of Christ we have Remission of Sins 335 367. forgiveness of Sin among the Papists 365. a Freedom from actual Sin is obtained both when and how and that many have attained unto it 388 398. every Sin weakens a Man in his Spiritual Condition but doth not destroy him altogether 389. it is one thing not to sin another thing not to have Sin 395. whatsoever is not done through the Power of God is Sin 445. the fear of God remaining upon the Heart Sin is shut out 28. continuance in Sin ecclipses and takes away the Sense of God's Favour ibid. 884. Singing of Psalms and Musick 473. Society see Religion Principles Socinians see Natural Light their rashness is reproved 281. they think Reason is the chief Rule and Guide of their Faith ibid. 289. albeit many have abused Reason yet they do not say that any ought not to use it and how ill they argue against the Inward and Immediate Revelations of the Holy Spirit 288 290. yet they are forced ultimately to recur unto them 394. they exalt too much their Natural Power and what they think of the saving Light 354. their Worship can easily be stopped 337. they exalt Self or Nature 699. their scanty Confession does not reach to Universal Love 693. Son of God see Christ Knowledge Revelation Soul The Soul hath its Senses as well as the Body 272. by what it is strengthened and fed 453 499. Spirit The Holy Spirit see Knowledge Communion Revelation Scriptures Unless the Spirit sit upon the Heart of the Hearer in vain is the Discourse of the Doctor 271 279. the Spirit of God knoweth the things of God 275. without the Spirit none can say that Jesus is the Lord 272 275. he rested upon the seventy Elders and others 277. he abideth with us for ever 280. he teacheth and bringeth all things to remembrance and leads into all Truth 280 281 284 286 296. he differs from the Scriptures 280. He is God 281. he dwelleth in the Saints 281 284. without the Spiâ—â—â—â—â—ristianity is no Christianity 282 297. whatsoever is to be desired in the Christian Faith is ascribed to him 28â— 281. by this Spirit we are turned unto God and we Triumph in the midst of persecutions 282. he quickens c. 282.283 an observable Testimony of Calvin concerning the Spirit 282 284 296 297. it is the Fountain and Origin of all Truth and right Reason 292 293. it gives the Belief of the Scriptures which may satisfy our Consciences 296. his Testimony is more excellent than all Reason ibid. he is the chief and principal Guide 301. he reasoneth with and striveth in Men 342. those that are led by the Spirit love the Scriptures 304 405. he is as it were the Soul of the Church and what is done without him is vain and impious 423. he is the Spirit of Order and not of Disorder 427. such as the Spirit sets a part to the Ministry are heard of their Brethren 428. it is the Earnest of our Inheritance 444. to be led by the Spirit of God is a Priviledge common to all Christians and members of the Church if Obedience thereunto be yielded 703. all have the Spirit in a certain Day some to reprove some bringing forth of Fruits 8. the Spirâ—t calls invites and draws but men resist his Drawings 8. J. Calvin preferreth the Testimony of the Spirit before all other Evidences 15 16. what proceeds not from the Spirit of God
indeed That he was a Devil from the Beginning but they have not proved it It is said expressly of him That he fell from his Ministry by Transgression we read not that he was Degraded his Office any other way but simply by his Transgression which was his betraying Christ. Again it is written of him Let his habitation be desolate and let no man dwell therein and his Bishoprick let another take Psal. 109. But they who plead for a Graceless Minister would put another in Judas Habitation and so would hold up a Ministry of Covetous Men as he was who to satisfy their Covetousness will betray Christ. For suppose that a Man have all other Qualifications requisite Holiness requisite in a Preacher and yet be openly and notoriously a Wicked Man he may plead his Right to be Admitted and if Admitted to be Continued to be a Minister What Ground have his Brethren out of Scripture to depose him according to the Students Argument which is indeed the General Argument of the Clergy as they are called seeing he hath all the Essentials of a Minister If they say Paul requireth That a Bishop or Deacon be found Blameless not covetous but vigilant sober c. then it will follow as much that he that is not really Pious ought not to be Admitted as he that is not seemingly Pious For the Apostle doth not say he must be seemingly so but simply that he must be so And indeed to expound all these Qualifications of a seeming and no real Holiness is to mock the Scripture For they might as well say that seeming Holiness only and not real is required indispensably of us in Order to Salvation for the Scripture as positively requireth Holiness unto the Function of a Bishop as it doth require it unto Salvation There is yet another thing which they have to prove concerning Judas viz. that Christ sent him to preach the Gospel He sent him indeed to work Miracles heal the Sick and to say The Kingdom of God is at hand that is to say the Gospel-Dispensation is approaching but that Judas was a Minister of the Gospel which is the Power of God unto Salvation we require them to prove For it was after his Removal that Christ sent the Apostles to preach the Gospel Their third Reason is That the Efficay of the words depends not upon the worthiness of the Preachers The Efficacy of the Word preached 1 Cor. 3.7 We grant the Antecedent but deny the Consequence For although it depend not upon the Worthiness of the Preacher yet it may and doth require Holiness as a Qualification indispensably necessary in him even as they grant themselves that none are Justified without Faith yet they deny that the Efficacy of Justification depends upon the Worthiness of him that believeth And the Efficacy of good Wine depends not upon the Worthiness of the Vessel that bears it yet none will put good Wine in a leaky Vessel or unfit And indeed as Vnfit as a leaky Vnclean Vessel is to receive good Wine a Graceless Man is as Vnfit to receive the Dispensation of the Gospel which is compared to New Wine in the Scripture And said Christ No Man putteth new Wine into old Bottles for indeed the Ministration of the Gospel is a Ministration of Life and Grace and none can Minister that which they have not Their Fourth Argument depends upon a Proposition which they lay down and offer to prove but fall short in viz. That they cannot know who have true Grace This we deny For if they would believe in the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightned them they should receive the Anointing and by it their Eyes should be opened to know who are Gracious and who not But let us see how they prove it 1. Say they We cannot know it Immediately That is granted 2. Nor can we know it by their Outward Works unless it be out of the judgment of Charity which may deceive us for all the works which a Godly Man can do may likewise be performed as to the outward The Fruits of the Spirit are a Savour of Life which Hypocrites have not by Hypocrites To this we Answer If by Outward Works they mean such as come under the outward Observation of the meer outward and bodily Senses we grant but there are Works which are the Fruits of the Spirit which although they remain in the Souls of Holy men yet send forth a savour of that Life and Spirit or Spiritual Principle that is the Root of them through the outward VVorks and Conversation which can and do reach unto the Spiritual Senses of others where they are And this Savour and Manifestation of Life can no Hypocrite have but it is an Infallible Evidence of Sanctification in measure where it is and where the Sanctification is greatest the Savour or Manifestation of Life is there greatest also According unto this Paul said 2 Cor. 2 15 16. c. 3.3 VVe are a good Savour c. and Paul said of the Corinthians That they were the Epistle of Christ John said of the Saints That the Name of God and of the Lamb shall be in their Foreheads Many other Testimonies could be brought to prove this we shall only add that of Christ He that believeth in me out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of Living Water So here is an Evidence that no Hypocrite can have Now what are these Rivers but the Influences of the Spirit And seeing they are said to flow out they may be discerned by others It is true the Natural Senses cannot discern them but the Spiritual Senses can and seeing Natural and Spiritual Senses discerning their proper Objects the Students grant Spiritual Senses if they grant them to be True and Real they must grant also Spiritual Sensible Objects which may be as certainly apprehended and discerned by our Spiritual Senses although the Objects themselves be without us as natural Objects without us may be apprehended by the Natural Senses 3. Nor can we know it say they by Revelation But how prove they it They only suppose they have proved already that there is no such thing but how VVeak and Impertinent their Proofs are is above shewed But here note that by Revelation is sufficiently understood the Revelation or Discovery which the Fruits of the Spirit or Spiritual Life give forth in Holy men one to another for as the Savour of some Sweet Ointment is a sufficient Revelation of it to the Sense of the natural Smell so the Spiritual Savour of the Spiritual Oyntment is such to the Spiritual Smell Lastly Whereas they say The Gift of discerning Spirits was never Common to all This we deny nor doth that Scripture cited by them prove it 1 Cor. 12.10 Otherwise they might as well say The Discerning of Spirits is Common to all true Christians That Faith was not Common to all true Christians because it is said To another Faith But as by Faith here must be understood