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Show 436 No CR.OSS, ].!o CROWN. VoL. I. ~1668. ========================= THE C ·o N C L US I 0 N. §. J.HAving finifu'd fo many T~flimon_ier, as my Time would gi\•e me Leave in Favour of thiS Subjetl, Jflo C:t:Oiif, ~ C:COI!m, llo Tenz tlance, No /inpp11te{.r; J\0 Virtue, No Rew~rd_; No lt1orr.ifictttton, No Glo'[;ficatton. I fhall conclude with a !hart Defcnptton ofrhcL1fe and. Wor· n· f the Chrijliam within the Fuft Century, or Hundred Years after c1h~ilt: What S1mpli;ity, what Spirituality, what Holy_ Lov7 _and C~~· munion d1d ip that Ble!fed Age abound among them> 1~ IS ~el\1er'd Ong•· nally bv Pbt!o J11d~tu~, and cited by &febutJ Pampbllll!t tn hts Eccleftaflic~l Philo Judaeus H'ft y. ' That rhofe ChrHtians renounced rhe1r Su~ftance, an~ fcverd Df. the Wor· , ' ~h~~f~lves from all the Cares of this Life; and forf.tkmg the _Cmes, they ~~f ~t;~~~~ , ' J1v'd Solitarily in Fields and Gardens. They accounted thetr Company tufeb. Pam. ' who followed the conrrary Life of Cares and Buftles, ttl unprofitable mul Ecd. H1ft. ' hurtfJJI unto them to the End that wub Earntfl and Fervem Defiret, tbty 1• 2 • c;, 17• ' might imitrlte tbe,; wbl(b led thi.r Prop!Jelf_cal and HetrUen!y Life. In many ' Places fays- he rhis People liveth (for 1t behoveth as well the Grtcta~r ' as the' Barban;nt, to be Partakers of this abfo~ute Goodnefs) but m c Egypt in every Province they abound; and efpec1llly _about .Aitx~nclna. ' From all Parts the better Sort withdrew themfelves mto the Soil and ' Place of thefe Worjh1pptr.r (as they were called) as a moft cornmod10.us ' Place adjoyning to the Lake of Mary, in a Valley very fit, both for Its ' Security, and the Temperance of the Air. They are further reported ~o ' have Meeting~Houfes, where the moll Part of the Day was empl9yed In ' Wor./h1pplltg God: That they were great J!Uegor,zer.r of the Scnpturet, ' making them all Figuranve: That the External Shew of ~ords (orthe c Leuer) refemhlcth the Su perficics oft he Body; and the Ht~den Senfe or - c Und.erfbnding of the Words feem in Place of the Soul; whtch t~ey co~c templare by their beholding N:1mes, JS it were in a Gla!5: ~hat ts, th~u Religion con6ftro not chiefly in Reading tb_e Letter,_ Dtfputtng abom It, .accepting Things in hteraiConjlruE11ons, but tn th~ Thtngs declared, ~f, the Sub fiance it felf, bringing Thmgs nearer to the Mmd,. Soul and Spun, an~ preffing into a more Hidden and He:1venly Senr~; makmg Rel1gton fo co~1 Hfr in the Temperance and Sanfhty of rhe Mmd, and not 1n the or_m BodJ!y Wotfhip, fo much now a Day~ in Repute, fi.tter to pleafe Comcd~r: than Chrilblns. Such WlS the Pr:18:ife of thofe Tu_nes. but now. the is altet'd; People w1ll be Chti!lians, and have thm Worldly M1ndednefs too: But tho' God's Kin~dom fuffer Violence by f~ch,i.et {hall they ne~er enter; the Life of Chr1fi and his Followers _hath m al Ages been ~not ~ Thing; and there is but one Way, one G11tde, one eft; all whtch ar Pure and Holv. d §. 11. But if any (notwithftanding our m:1ny Sober Reafons, an ~U!flC• rous Teflimo,ies from Scripture or the Example or Expenence of Re/rgt'~' Wor!dry;md ProfaneLivingandDyit~g Men, :It Home and AbroJd, o t.e greatefl: Nou Fame and Learning, in the whole World) !hall yet rema.m Lovers and I~itJtors oft he Folly and the Vanity condemn~: If the C~~~ :~nd Groant Sight Jnd Tear.r, and Complaints and mournful Wifhu of fo 1 ny reputed'Grear. n:1y fame Soher Men--:a Orbar. 1 bad.~re Tt1ne j, l 0 tbat 1 might live a Tear longer, I rvollld bve a ftnOer Life! -01 Sat l were a po()r Jean Urick I -All is Vanity in tbH World: - _0 my poor. ()fl 1• rc:hlrber wdt thou go? - 0 tiJat I h•d the Time lfaenr in vom RureaiiOnJ · Ajeriom Life U abOfJe a.U, and fuch like: If, I aJ, this by no me~~:,~~}, VoL. I. . No C R 0 S S, ~ C R Q,W·N. 437 1668. ~ Ch. XXlli prevail, but if yet. they fhlll pn:lce~d to PoUy,. and foHow the vain World, wha.t greater Ev1~ence can th_ey gt\'e. of therr heady Refolutio;n to go on ),,p,oujly, to.defpije God, to difobeybu p,·eupt~, to deny Chrift, tofiorn, n(lt to bt11~ bu C..! oft, to forfall.e rhe Examples oj bzs Servants, to give tbe Lye to the pymg SerlO til S11ymg~ and 1C:Jnjent of ail Ages; to H11rden rbcm{elve~ 11gnifljltbe <.7Jec/u of Confoicncc, to be[~ol ondfporr away their pruio11s Time, 1111d poor lnm1ortal So111J to Wo and Mijrry? In fhort, 'tis plainly to difccr 6 ver, you neither have Reafon to juftifie your felves, nor yet enough of :~J~·. ;. Mod,fly to blufh at your own FoUy; but as thofe that ha\'e loft the Senfc to6.Eph. 4· of one and the other. go on to eat and drink, and rife up to play. In vain •7· 24. 2 therefore is it for you to pretend to fear the God of Heaven, whofe Minds ~im 2• 19 · ~rve. the q.oo •of the P~eafure o~ this ''Vorld: In vain it is to fly, yo11be· 16~t~'9;2• heve m Chrifl, who recetve not his Se/f·Denyi.,g Doflrinc: And to no bet· ret Putpofe will all you do, avail. If he that had loved God <nd his J\'<igb· IJO'!'! a11d tbe Co,Jmmulmcnts/rom hit 10urh, was excluded from being'a DtfCiple, becaufebefold not all, and followed Jif11s; with what Confidence can you call yonr felves Cbrijlinm, who have neirher kept the Command· •ems~ nor yet forf3ken afly TJUng to be fo ? And ifitwas a Bar berwixr Him and the Eternal Life he fO.ught, that (notwithfianding all his other Virtlles) love to .Money, and hia External Poffeffions co11/d nor be parted tQith; what ~all be ~our~nd, who CJnnot_deny your felves many left Tbing~, bu[ areda.1ly rnuluplytng your Invenuons, to pleafc your flefhly Appetites? Cert~tnly, m~ch ~o:e if!~poffible is it to forfake the Greater. Chrift ny· ed his.Lov~, tn b1d~mg h1m for~ake All, beca_ufe he knew (for all his Brags) th.at h1s ~~~d was r~v.cned therern; not rhat tfhe had enjoyed his Po.ffef}ion$ Wtth ChriJ!,an !ndijjerency, tbey might not have been continued ; but what then IS thetr Doom, whofe He:1ns are fo fixed in the V.mities of the World, that they will rathet make them CbJ·ift;a7!, than not tO be Chrifliant in the Ufe of them? But fuch l Cbriflian this Yo1mg Man n\ight have beer\ who had more to fay for himfelf, than the jlri8cfl Phatifee liVing dare pretend to\ yet be uent away forrow/ul from Jej11s. Should I afk yQu; 1ohn;. 1, co jf Ni,odemm did well to come by Night, and be ajha'flftd of the great S· Mej]iab of the World? And if he was not lgnoront when Chtift fpake to oinl of the }{ew B1rrb ? I know you would anfwer me, He did very iO and ait.U very ii,noranr. Bnt flay a while, the Beam is in your own Eyes'; you are teady doubtlefs to condemn Him and the To1mg Man for nor doing _what you not only ref11jero do yo~tr feiVer, hut laugh at other~ for doing. Nay, had fuch Paffager not been writ, :tnd were it not for the Re,•erence fame pre~end for theScripturer, they would both be as Smpid as NicodtmtJJ in theu Anfwers c:o fuch Heavenly Matters, and ready to call it Canti'!_g to fpeak fo, as it is frequent for you, when we fpeak to the f:~me EffeEt, . tho, not the fame Words: Ju!l as the Jews, at what Time 1hey called God theJt Father, they defp1fcd his Son; and when he fpake of Sublime and Heavenly Myfteries, fome cryed He btU a Devil, others He is mad: And moO: of them, Thefe are bard Saying~, f.Vba can bear 1hem? ' §. III. And to you al1, that fport your felves after the Manners of the Titu'.l 1, t6. ~Vorld, let me ~Jy, t~a.t Y<?n are of thofe, who profifs youll.ltoto God, hur zn WorR.r deny h1m; !tvm~ I'll thofe Pltafure~ which flay the ]lljl in your felvu. For tho' you talk of Believing, it is no more th:ln taking it for granted, ~hat there is a God, a Cbri/1, Scripture~, &:c. without farther Concern· tngyour felves to prove the Veriry thereof, to your felves or others, by a fi:rifi and holy Converfation: Which flight 'Vay of Believing is but a light and carelefs Way o£ riddin& your felves of farther Examination; and ra .. thtr throwing them off wah an Jn,onjider,ue Gr11nting of them to be fa, than giving your felves the Trouble of making hetter fntptiry (leaving th:lt 1o your Prieft~, oft Times more ig,torant, and not lefs vain :1nd idle than your felvct) which is fo far from a Gofptl Fdilb, thlr 'tis the lelfi: Refpeft you can fhew to God, Scripturu, &c. and nexr ro which kind of Believing . l5 nothing. under a Denial of Al1. · But if you have hitherto laid aGde .:~TI Te/llptation~, ~tafon :~nd Shnme, at |
