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Show 5So J67J· ~ Ch.XV!II. The Chriftian Quaker, and hiJ VoL.!. as a Keeper of the Law of the Spirit of Life, which is to be made iuherent- 1 y /. u!l; 1igh teous, or holy, . a. n the firft Senfe, fince :11\ have finned, no Man can be )Unified by t~e law lte has tranfg.reffed: Therefore that great fa,•our and Mer~y of Rem1f~ fion, Pardon and Forgivenefs, was only then generally preac:hr _Jn the Name of Jefus, which fuch :.s believed in hrs _M~lfage, fhoutd obt:un • . Thus by the Work of tlieLaw fh1ll no Flefh be JU!lmed, becaufe all/h7 RJghreou!nefs Man is capable of, c.mnot make. Satu}rrfl,zon for any [nr.zghuoufnc(s be bath committed i jince wbat he dmly doth, u bur wbtlt be dally owr;. lfut frill fuch as keep rhe taw are ju!lified: For that a Man fhould be condemned both for Tranfgrefling' and keeping the Law too, would be very hard. What {h:~ll we fay then, but that _Tuftification in the firfi Senfe, fince .Adam's DJyto this, hath been God's free LO\•e up~n Repen~:1nc7; and above all th:tt by Chriit's vifible Appearance and Suffermg, and tn h1s N:~me Was R;mi.!fian, Pardon, or Forgivenejr preac.ht, or held forth to the whole World upon their believing therein, more emm~nt~y than ever. . . . But in the laftScnfe, no Man c:1n be JUfi:J~ed~ but as he !S ~tade ;uft, _and is found aOuallydaing the Will of God: That_Ju{hfies~ tha.r ts 1t wh1ch gn:cs Acceptance with and Accefs to God. In this Senfe lt vvas the Apoftle fa.td, Such a1 are the Doers of the Law, jhall he juf!ifod, and n?t f:om the Gui!t of what they formerly did againft it, by thetr aher keep1ng It; for tha~ 11 the free Love of God alone, upon rh.e Repeman~c of the Creature; whtch hath been in all former Ages, but never fo em_Jn~ntly peld fonh to the Worm as by the Coming of our Lord Jefus Chn!lm rho Flefh. So rhat rhus far we can approach the hone{l~r SoJt 6f Profeffors _of Religion, or rather, we were herein never ~t ~ bJ{tan~e fr-7m them, VlZ. Tbat 1Uen may be reconciled, and in a Senft Juftified, wln!e Stn_ moy nor be rota!Jy deftroyed: That is, God upon their repenting of pafi S1~s, tho' not rh~n 1tearlypurgcd.from the Ground of Evil,_ may~ and we be~1eve, doth :emrt, pardon, or forgive former 0./fencer, and lS thus far reconc1le4 ; that IS,. he ceafeth to be angry, or at a Diftance from them, as when they wem on m ~ State of Difobedience to the Light. Yet for ever we muftaffirm, th:n .. no :Man or Woman can be made a Child of God·,. but as the 1\_'ew Bu·rh, Regt· lterarion, and the divine a,d !Jelivtxly Image, comes. to be w~tneffed througb the purring off the-Old .Man and hir Deed.r, and ~emg b~fuzed .bY the ho· Iy Ghojl and Fire, into the o11e holy Body, of wh1ch Chni, thetmmaculate Lamb of God is lfc.dilnil"Lord. So rhat all rhofe who apply to them· felves, or ot~rs the Promifes due to this -St:ite, unro that before menuoned, heal themf;I ves or others deuitftJlly ; ~l}d God will jud~e for. thofe Things. So let all Peopfe confider with Sobnety .and Moder:mon, .tf the Things we :Hrert are not mofi agreea~lc to tbe Scnp~ure, and that Lrght qf Truth, which is in their own Confc1ences-, unto whtch we moil- of all de- Hri~~ ~or~=~~i~:tli[~~ Go6d, the Coming and Sujfcring1 of that b.leiTOO Manhood brought unto the World, For~ ha.vi~g been ena_bled fo effeftuatly, to perform t:hc Will of God living~ and havlllg_ fo patt~ntly fu~ered the wm of wicked Men, dyipg, therein. freely ofF~rmg up hiS moft, mno~ent Li~e for the World, he cenaiA\Y obtame~ exceedm_g great and p_rtctOIH c;TJfrr, whtch as every Man comes to believe m th.e Ltght wherewnh Chnft Je· fus hath enlightened him, Jnd to be Jed by 11, he !hall Jfturedly feela p>r· tftblar Benefit to himfdf, accruing from that general One, proi-ured by Chri!l, who folaid down his Life for the World. lo 010rt, as we C:J.nnot but ac~nowledge him a Saviou' in th~t very Ma_: nifeftation, or ComiMgin that prepared Body, who appeared io extrfOtdl· narily to vifh the World with his tnarvellous Ligh~ ::tn~ Truth, a-nd t1' turn their Minds from Error and Darknefs, and who act~o~Jlly coil\'~rted and reclaim'd many,and endued his Follo\\lers wirh his own heavenly ~1ght, Life and Power, whereby to fupply his elttcrior Abfcnce with a moft hvely, piercing and effellual.Minifi.rv, for the comp~eating o~ the ~eft, from Gen:· IOltion to Generation~ fomufi we needs attribute tillS, chu:Hy, t~ th~·i~.'~ V~>L. I. vine Light, Life and Power, that through rbe Manhood, of bot.h Lord an& Servants., Chmed fonh and revealed H feifto the Salvation of the World. N.or are we ye!, as hath been ofceo hinted (to fpeak ftrictly) to afcribe tb~ J?41"t~fPiar S!tlva_non of every Matt".r Soul, to thto appearonce of tb11r fame Li ht m AatMre, m eaher l:ord or Serv3m1 albeit many were reacht into th~ir very Hearts and Confcnences at r~ar_ Time, and great and mighty Thin were gener.rll~ prqcured, and Chr1ft Jn that ManifeftadQn became the A~ tkor of Salvation unt? many; bur rather, as he is the Light of Men indi· 'VIdMuUy., both then dtd, and !low dorh appear, in 1he Hearu nnd Confcien-tll of Mtn, unto ~h~ awakemng ?f whom~ and turning their Minds from the DarkneG: of Tradltlon, Formahty and Sin, which had and doth overcall: and darken the Soul, unto that ble1fed Light in Men, that thereby (01 ttJ tb~m_) fuffer.ed, _and doth yet fuffer, fo great and tedious an Eclipfe · 1 fay th~S ~l t~e Efficient Caufe of Salvation, and all other exteriour Vifi~ations, Muuftn<s. of Alliftance, though from rhe fame Light, are in Refpe<l of theLtg~r 1n every lingle ~an or.Woman butinflruntrntt~l, and Secondary. _In thts Senfe then,, Man. IS only a Saviour inftrumentally, bur Chri!l both wah R~ference to hts bodtly Appearance, and in the Minifiry of hisSer ... \'an~s, JS the m11j1 ex:el/ent Means, and the only E.foi:ienr Cakfe ofSar.· v:mo~, a~ revealed and obeyed in the Confciences of Men. So that the Q.ue~hon ts n~t wbether .tuaker.r deny any Benefit to redound by Chrifi's Bo.d.tly Suffenngs? But wh~th.cr th~ ProfeH:ors aJiow and acknowledge the .M.nm .of the Work..,tG the Dtvme Life and ligb1 ? · In fhor~, he .was th~ general S4viour in that eminent Appelrlnce at Je· ~ufaltm, In wh1ch. he drd fo many q_reat and good Things for Mankind~ lnd IS an dfeEt,ual Sa VIou~ ro e~ery paruc_!llar Per~-on, as we find him in 011r Hear! r,· an holy L}!.bt; ftuwmg Sm, reprovrng for it, nnd converting from it1 into Bhoen:~l hisa~~~:.f the Light, Chriit Jefus, to be Fle!h of hH Fle(h, anci Thus ha_ve I declared, accorc;ling. to my Underffanding, grounded upon my ~eru11ce, and that lUJJmrnatron God has given me, in Love and Mc>o deratto~, the ve~y Truth, Weight and Tendency, of the outward Coming of Chnlt, and hiS deep Sufferings by and for the World: And alfo the NatureofhJS Inward Coming into theSouis of Men to expel the Dark· nefs that lodged there, and give unto them the Light of Life. In both Whtch Refpc8:s, I confefs him to be the Saviour of rhe World in General' ~nd the Saviou~ of each Man in pttrticutar: Bur that the Benefit according t.o Men fr?.m hrm,. as the ljl:eneral Saviour, is only known and received by ~ Ch. XVlJL, .. fut~ as. Wltnefs h1m 3 particular Saviour, and this I will abide by .• For Cbnfi lJl Mt111 becometh the Hope of Glory, and Man's being changed in• 1 Cor. 3; 11.! 10 the fame Image, from Glory to Glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord is the Salvation and PerfeOioR of every true Chriftian. ' C H f,. P XIX. Tb~tt Cbrifl ii 1be Lig~t, or t~e Ligh1 is. Cbrlji, proved from Scripture, an3. fo conc!JJde.J; 11orwnhjlanlmg two OhJ eOionr, w"biob are[11Uy 4nfwered. TR:t! whic.h remains to CO~ pleat our fcriptura,l Difcourfe of the divine L~ghr •. JS to pronounce tt that which our Enemies defpife to call it and don t1a latlc u~derva_lue bot~ us and it, becaufe we do 1 I m·ean Cbrijl ~ot th:u the. A1a~ife/latton of L1ghr in every Confcience is rhe imire C,hrift., t ut that.Chnft, the _'Word-Goc!, js thac Light of Rigbuoufneji, 1Xlhi~hli.ghr tl. 0~ A1en 1. for wh1ch the Scnptnre is moft exprefs in that fo \Veil known ~it httle beheved_) Paffoge, delivered to us, by the beloYed Difciple, wlto fi.knew what }\1s Lord was, and ftood .in no Need of any of theiilnformbtlon. ho~ .to denOminate, or rightly charaaer him; alrhou~h they and B~ ~rs lmphcnly tccufe him ofWeakncfs, Obfcurity, nay Error, if not :l phemy too; who make it an this (and if it were poffible more) in a pool Ch: XIX. ~ |
