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. P. And he opposeth and saith, "It will be the Quakers' fall, because they say there is no other way to bring people to God, but by the light in them,' &c. See page 14.

A. Which is Christ, the way to God from whom it comes, not believing in which is man's condemnation, and so a saving light. For saith God, I will give him for a covenant, for a light to the Gentiles, that he may be my salvation to the ends of the earth;' to wit, the light shall: and all that are not in the light are in the fall, out of the covenant, in the unsaved state, and know not their salvation, as the scripture declareth; so there is death and destruction, talking of the fame of wisdom, and keeping people out of the light.

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P. And he saith, That Christ is not so the light of the world, as he is the light of believers.' See page 14.

A. Christ is the light to the world, as to believers, and he that believeth in it shall not abide in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He that follows the light and believes in it, shall have the light of life, and shall not abide in darkness. He that follows not the light, but hates it, he abides in the darkness and the light condemns him, which the believer walks in, and believes in, and hath the light of life; which light is one and the same, which enlightens every man that comes into the world, believers and unbelievers.

P. He saith, That the scriptures are the rule of the saints;' and he saith, the spirit is the guide to that rule,' &c. See page 15.

A. And so would have the scripture to go before the spirit. Now the spirit was the saints' rule, that led them to speak forth scriptures, and to let them see to what condition they were spoken, and so by that they came to the law of faith; and they were not ministers of the letter, but of the spirit. So in this ye have proved yourselves not to be ministers of the spirit, but of the letter, but the spirit was before the letter

was.

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P. He saith, That the time of perfection will be when Christ comes from heaven, and not before; till then the saints must be warring, waiting, groaning, and mourning,' &c. See page 20. A. And David said, he had seen an end of all perfection,' (contrary to Collier,) and the apostle said, they should hunger no more, nor thirst any more.' And Christ saith, he that eateth his flesh, and drinketh his blood, shall hunger no more, and thirst no more.' He that believeth is entered into his rest, and shall hunger no more, and thirst no more. And the apostles and saints witnessed Christ in them, and the kingdom, while they were upon earth, and the end of groaning and growling which thou art in, that art out of this, and keeps people who are apostatized from the apostle, from the light which is the truth.

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John Deacon's book, called,' A public discovery of a secret deceit.'
His principles follow.

And as for the rest of his lies and slanders in his book, with which it is filled, they will fall upon his own head, and be his sorrow. And all liars upon the earth, that are given up to believe and tell lies, are comprehended with the innocency and truth, by which innocency is preserved, and men shall heap to themselves sorrow by their own lies and inventions.

Nevertheless the scriptures of truth are owned in their place, to the condition that they were spoken to.

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P. HE saith, that the light wherewith every one that cometh into the world is enlightened, is the light of nature, and reason, and sense,' &c. See page 5.

A. Which is contrary to John (i. 9.) who saith, it was the true light by which all things were made;' which as many as received, he gave them 'power to become the sons of God,' which is beyond natural sense and reason.

P. He saith, that the work of faith, and the growth of faith, is by the natural use of ordinances, and calls it deceitful sophistry which denies it,' &c. page 7.

A. Faith is the gift of God, and Christ is the author of it. It cometh not by the natural use of ordinances: the natural man receiveth not the things that be of God,' but faith is the gift of God. And thou art in the sophistry, and in the poison, that sayst, the work and growth of faith, are by the natural use of ordinances.

P. And he speaks of 'a temporal expressive word of God,' &c. See page 8.

A. But the scripture tells us of no such thing as a temporal word, but speaks of the word of God that lives and endures for ever;' and so the other is but his own imagination.

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P. He saith, The Quakers go about to pick forth the right eye of christianity.'

A. Because they hold forth the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, Christ Jesus the covenant of God, which makes all the apostate christians blind. And your right eye must be plucked out that offends; and this the christians shall witness when their eyes are open to see the light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world,' the covenant of God.

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P. He saith, The Quakers were never heard of till of late years,' &c. See page 12.

A. Which is contrary to the scriptures, in which they are spoken of

before Moses, by Moses, by the prophets and by the apostles; and the apostle bids them to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.' And now the great earthquake John speaks of, is coming amongst you false prophets, antichrists, harlots, and apostates from the apostles, compellers to your worship. And now are you comprehended, and with the spirit of God are you judged, who are ignorant of the salvation wrought out with fear and trembling.

P. He calls them subtle deceivers and heretics, that question the word trinity,' and says 'it came from Rome,' &c. See page 13.

A. Which he is justifying, and so he is turning to his teacher the pope, (and the common-prayer-book,) of whom he hath learned it; for the scriptures have not taught it him. And the son and the Father are in unity, and this we own that are called Quakers, and deny you and your pope, and your common-prayer-book, and your false teachers, got up since the days of the apostles.

P. Again he saith, O incomparable hypocritical liars! Is not this the character Paul gives of a false prophet, to speak lies in hypocrisy?' because we preach perfection, &c. See page 16.

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A. It is agreeable to scripture, Christ's doctrine, and the apostles' doctrine, and the life of Christ. 'We are made free from sin,' saith the apostle. And again, As he is, so are we in this present world.' And, As many as are perfect are thus minded,' &c. But this thou calls hypocrisy and lies; and thus thou art out of the apostles' and Christ's doctrine and life, and like a madman ragest against them that are in it, and hast denied thy own work, the work of the ministry, which was 'for the perfecting,' and so art a physician of no value.

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P. He saith, The enjoyment of immortality is not till they have put off the body,' &c. See page 17.

A. Contrary to the apostle's doctrine, who saith, 'immortality was broughtto light through the gospel.' This was when they were upon earth, and the word of God was in them, and Christ was in them, which was immortal.

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P. Again he saith, They shall not have power over death and the grave until the natural death,' &c. See page 17.

A. Contrary to the apostle, who saith, O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory?' And they were passed from death to life;' and he that believes shall never die,' and such have power over death and the grave. They that believe shall never die, they have passed from death to life.

P. He calls them secret deceivers, to grant perfect purity and perfection,' &c. See page 18.

A. Which is contrary to the apostle's doctrine, who brought people VOL. III.

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to perfection, and purity, and holiness, without which none shall see the Lord.' And they were to stir up their pure minds.

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P. He saith, To witness perfect purity is an alluding to an enjoyment of heaven upon earth,' and saith, This is as the world,' &c. See page 19.

A. Which is contrary to the scriptures, which witness the kingdom of heaven to be in the saints, and their conversation in heaven; and thou that bringest to the contrary art a deceiver.

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P. He saith, He dare boldly assert, that the gospel is not first made known by the seeing within, but by hearing tidings without,' &c. A. Contrary to that which they call their original, which saith, the gospel is preached in every creature.' And none come to hear and see the gospel, but with the eye within, that which is oppressed. For the Jews that heard not, and saw not within, stood against the gospel: and Christ said, their ears were stopped, and their eyes were closed;' and so they heard words, but the gospel, the power of God, they could not hear, but stood against Christ; and so none hear but they that hear within; and he only is a preacher of the gospel, which is the power of God, that preacheth to the inward eye.

P. He confesseth, that none of the saints had ever a particular command;' and then again he confesseth they had, and so he is in confusion, page 26. He saith, It is a lie to preach the kingdom of heaven within unbelievers.'

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A. Contrary to Christ's words, who told the Pharisees, the kingdom of God was within them.' Luke xvii. So in confusion, in Babylon; the smoke of the bottomless pit hath blinded his eye, who is got up since the days of the apostles. The foundation hath been lost among these inwardly raveners, which is the light, Christ Jesus, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world, the rock of ages.

P. He saith again, It is a lie to say that any come to the knowledge of the light of God by the light that shines in their hearts,' &c. See page 28.

A. Contrary to the apostle, 2 Cor. iv. who said, the light that shined in their hearts should give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus;' and so he is a messenger of satan, the devil's minister, one that draws from the light that must give people the knowledge: the witness in thy conscience shall answer. P. And again he saith, It is a notorious lie, to say that Christ preached the kingdom of heaven in unbelievers."

A. Contrary to Christ, and contrary to Luke xvii. who said, the kingdom of heaven was in the Pharisees, and so thou art an unlikely man to be a minister of Christ, who art of the letter ignorant, that knows not the kingdom in thyself, that knows it not in the unbelieving Pharisees. P. He saith, The greatest of the apostles were never exempted

from the remnants of sin, and the saints' pilgrimage is a continual warfare to heaven, while they be on this side the grave,' &c.

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A. Which is contrary to the apostle, who said, they were made free from sin;' and said, 'how could they live any longer therein?' And said, their conversation was in heaven, and they sat in heavenly places,' and they witnessed the kingdom wherein was 'joy in the holy ghost.' So this was the end of their pilgrimage then; and thus he shows he is ignorant of the scriptures, and of the apostles' doctrine. And it is not a strange thing that the teachers of the world should cry up imperfection and the body of sin, who are ravened inwardly from the spirit of God by which it is put it off, and gone forth from the apostles' and Christ's doctrine. But those who are come to the spirit of God, which they are ravened from, put off the body of imperfection and sin. And so you have corrupted the earth with your windy doctrine; for what good hath their doctrine done, that teach people they must be in imperfection and in sin while they are upon earth? they can but be so if they never come to teach them. And they are apostatized from the ministers of Christ, whose work was to the perfecting of the saints, ' until they came to the perfect man,' the possibility of which these apostates' work is to deny.

P. He is judging the apostle, and saying, The prick in the flesh which the apostle received, was neither through the want or disability of faith,' &c. See page 34.

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A. Why then did the apostle cry out? answer me that. And the Lord said, His grace should be sufficient for him; and his strength should be made perfect in his weakness,' and is not weakness disability' P. He saith, That no man by that native light inherent in him, had power to believe,' &c. See page 26.

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A. The light which doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world, he calls native,' and 'inherent.' He gives these names to it, which is the light which doth enlighten every man, &c. there is power given in the light to believe. But he that hateth the light, hateth the power, and so the light is his condemnation. The names he gives, as 'native' and 'inherent,' are his own, out of the truth.

P. He saith, The scripture doth not set forth a certain allowance for ministers, but it is left to human prudence,' &c. See page 12.

A. So he is flown from Christ's words and the apostles,' who with the wisdom of God set down the ministers' allowance, and did not leave it to human policy in after ages for maintenance for ministers: for human policy will feed the false prophets, such as the prophets, and Christ, and the apostles declare of in scripture, whose spirits are seen with the spirit that gave forth scripture, gone out into the earth, who were covetous, and so idolaters, ordering with the policy which is human and earthly.

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