THREE LETTERS To the Author of a BOOK, Entitled The Lord's Day Vindicated, OR, The First Day of the Week the Christian SABBATH. TOGETHER WITH ANIMADVERSIONS On a Railing PAMPHLET, Entitled The Sauciness of a Seducer Rebuked, OR, The Pride and Folly of an Ignorant Scribbler made Manifest. BY Edmund Elys, a Servant of JESUS CHRIST. 1 John, 1. 5. This 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. LONDON, Printed for T. Northcott, in George-Yard, near Lombardstreet. 1694. Three LETTERS, etc. SIR, THE Love of Christ constrains me, to Admonish you to give Satisfaction to the World, for the Vast Scandal you have given, in Publishing such an Impious Conceit, viz. That JESUS CHRIST did Not Make the World. This you could never have done, if you had not Fallen from the Profession of the Faith of the Church of England; I Believe in one Lord JESUS CHRIST, By Whom All things were made. Does not our Blessed Lord JESUS CHRIST say, Before Abraham was, I AM? He IS Before Abraham, He IS Before All Worlds. I pray God to give you Understanding in All things. Octob. 27.— 92. Your most hearty Wellwisher, F. F. SIR, I Shall not say one word in Answer to your Personal Reflections. Our Dispute may be Reduced to a very Narrow Compass. If these words, JESUS CHRIST, According to the Holy Scriptures, do not Signify the HUMAN NATURE ALONE, but THE ETERNAL PERSON of Our Blessed Saviour; Then it must needs be Impious to Say, That JESUS CHRIST did Not Make the World. But these words do not Signify the Humane Nature Alone, etc. I am Your Sincere Wellwisher, E. E. SIR, I Deny that these words, JESUS CHRIST, in all places in the Holy Scripture, Signify Both Natures Hypostatically United: they always Signify the Eternal Person that has Assumed the Humane Nature; but sometimes they Signify this Blessed Person, as Praexistent to His Incarnation. Which I Prove by these Texts of Scripture: 1 Cor. 10. 4, 9 1 Tim. 1. 15. You may say, if you please, that 'tis Nonsense to say that Jesus Christ, as Such, viz. as the words Signify Both Natures Hypostatically United, Created the World: But yet I say still you are Guilty of a Great Fault, (and I Hope in time your own Conscience will Testify the same to you,) in saying, that The Lord Christ did Not Make the World: For HE, or that Person, whom the Holy Scripture calls Christ, As The Lord, Created All things in Heaven, and in Earth. I sincerely Wish you All Happiness, and remain, Your Servant in the Demonstration of the Truth, E. F. Animadversions, etc. THE Sauciness of a Seducer Rebuked, Pag. 6. J. N. And therefore I desire thee, Reader, to keep thy Mind near to the Light of Jesus Christ, in thy own Heart, and Conscience; that so thou mayest understand what thou readest. Anonymus. After a small Blunder, the for thee, out comes the rare Catholicon, with which these Q●●●ks do greater wonders, than ever did Puntaeus with his Balsam, or Ointment, and that is the Light Within. Reader, if thou canst but get Joseph Nott, to spare thee a few Ounces of this choice Medicine, called Light Within, prise it above Aurum potabile, or the Philosopher's Stone. But if he will not part with any of it, follow my Directions and thou mayest obtain it thyself. Strip thyself of Lace, Ribbons, and all other Babylonish-Garments, etc. I shall say little of This, but that I Abhor it, as Open Blasphemy: For most certainly there is no Other GOD, but He who is The Light Within. To Scoff thus at The Light within, plainly shows that the Scoffer is under the Power of Darkness; that He most Shamefully, and Dangerously Errs, not Knowing the Scriptures, nor the POWER of God. The Light Within is Indeed the Only True Catholicon: If Our Self-Will do not Hinder its Operation, It will most certainly Cure All our Diseases, and make us at length Fully, and Perfectly to Partake of the only True, and Eternal Felicity. Pag. 12. It seems convenient, that I should Animadvert upon what I find in this Page, before I say any thing of what I Observe in some of the precedent Pages.: Rare edifying Discourse, says the Man in the Dark, Christ is the only Rule. The Gift of God's Spirit in our Hearts is the Rule. And the Light of Jesus is the Rule. And all these are one, and the same Rule. There is no difference (if you believe these acute, and subtle Doctors) between Christ, and the Light Within. Christ, and the Spirit, are one, and are in every Man's Heart: and yet they pretend to own the Doctrine of the Trinity. Answ. They hold indeed, that Christ, and the Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, are One in Essence, and are in Every Man's Heart, Converting, or Convincing him in order to his Conversion; or, (in proportion to the Repugnancy he makes against the Divine Illumination) Tormenting him, etc. as I have said in a Letter to a very Learned Man of Our own Communion. What does the man mean, by saying, And yet they pretend to own the Doctrine of the Trinity? Would he have us Believe, that the Doctrine of the Trinity is Inconsistent with this Assertion, that Christ and the Spirit are One, and are in Every Man's Heart? If The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost, be The Only True God, is not Christ and the Spirit One? If GOD be The ONE ABSOLUTELY INFINITE, He Is In All Creatures, and in a Peculiar Manner in All Rational Souls. When we say, CHRIST is the Rule; our Meaning is, that He is the Grand Exemplar, or Pattern; that by the Idea, Image, or Manifestation, which He Gives us of The Only True GOD, The ONE Infinite in All Perfection; we are to Form All our Notions or Conceptions in Reference to our Duty both towards GOD, and towards Men: and to Order, and Regulate our Wills, and All our Affections. I shall leave it to any Sincere Christian, to Judge, whether this Anonymus be not Guilty of much Profaneness, in producing these Serious, and Truly Christian Expressions, in such a way of Scorn and Derision. Pag. 7. J. N. For the great Mystery, which hath been hid from Ages, and from Generations, is Christ Within, the Hope of Glory. Col. 1. 26, 27. Anonymus. In these Verses, (which Joseph Nott, for reasons best known to himself, hath altered and curtailed, &c. Answ. Joseph Nott's words are not by him pretended to be a Text of Scripture, but are produced as an Evangelical Assertion, Grounded on Col. 1. 26, 27. The next Clause, saith Anonymus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being, as Saint Peter saith of some things in Saint Paul's Epistles, hard to be understood; this Prefacer being unlearned, and unstable, hath wrested it, as he doth also other Scriptures, to uphold his Error. Being Ignorant of the Original, he thinks which refers to Mystery; whereas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being of the Masculine Gender, hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for his Antecedent. Answ. This is not one of those things hard to be understood, that St. Peter speaks of: For 'tis Easy to be Understood by All those that will not Shut the Eyes of their Understanding against the Sense of what the Holy Ghost in the Scripture Declares concerning Our Blessed Lord, viz. that He Is The True Light; and concerning Sin, that it is Darkness, etc. Can our Souls be Saved from Darkness, but only By The Light Within? As Christ is Within, Purifying our Hearts by the Operation of His Holy Spirit, so He is the Hope of Glory; that is to say, His PERSON being the Brightness of the Glory of the Father of Lights, is the Supreme or Principal Object of Our Hope; since we Believe, that in the Full Enjoyment of Him, we shall Enjoy (to the Utmost of our Capacity) the Fullness of All Wisdom, Power, and Glory. But, saith Anonymus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Being of the Masculine Gender, hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for his Antecedent. Answ. This is a silly Cavil: For 'tis Evident, that by the Riches of the Glory of this Mystery, we are to understand this Mystery that abounds in the Riches of Glory. Without Controversy, says this same Apostle, Great is the Mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the Flesh, etc. God manifest in the Fesh, is CHRIST; who, as He is In Us, Englihtning our Minds with his Truth, and Enflaming our Hearts with his Love, is the Hope of Glory. Pag. 8. J. N. Therefore to the Spirit of God in thine own Heart, I do recommend thee, as unto that which will give a true discerning, and right understanding of the things of God, as it is harkened unto, and obeyed. Anonymus. But I advise thee, Joseph, and as many of thy Friends as shall read these Lines, to Search the Scriptures, and not to Trust your own Hearts, until you have examined them by the Light of God's Word. Answ. We must not Trust our own Hearts, either before or after Examination: we must only Trust the Spirit of God in our own Hearts. That Word, says he, meaning the Holy Scripture, if harkened unto, and obeyed, will discover to you what the Spirit is, which you are under the conduct and influence of. Answ. The Spirit of God in our Hearts, if Harkened unto, and Obeyed, will Teach us how to make a Right Use of the Holy Scriptures, the Words which the Same Spirit Suggested to the Holy Prophets, and Apostles. It cannot be properly said, that we are to Obey Writings, but the Holy GOD, by the Dictates of whose Infinitely-Wise Spirit those Writings were composed, to Reveal the Will of GOD. I am Sure, that Joseph Nott will concur with Me in this Assertion, That the Only way to Know, as we Ought to Know, any Truth Contained in the Holy Scriptures, is to Comply with the SPIRIT of Truth in our own Hearts, Inclining us to a Sincere and Effectual Abhorrence of All KNOWN Sin, and to the Performance of All KNOWN Duty both towards God, and towards Men. Sect. 3. The Anonymus Slanders J. N. in these words: Joseph Nott' s Scurvy Commendation of Holy Scripture. I Challenge any man living, to Invalidate any of Joseph Nott's Scripture-Testimonies, that Our Lord Jesus Christ Made the World. Pag. 17. The Divine Nature of our Redeemer Made the World. Answ. The Divine Nature, as Abstract from the Person of Jesus Christ, did not Make the World; but the Person, who had the Divine Nature from Everlasting, and in Time Took on Him the Humane Nature: this Ever-Blessed and Glorious Person Made the World. Jesus Christ does not Signify the Human Nature Alone, but the Eternal Person, with Reference to His Assumption of The Human Nature, either Actual, or in the Divine Decree: In respect of which the Spirit of Truth calls Him the Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the World. So that to Say, that Jesus Christ did not Make the World, is Contrary to the Christian Faith: And I do most heartily Congratulate to this Honest-meaning Quaker (as they call him) J. N. the Zeal he hath shown, in Publishing His Detestation, and Disproof of it. Pag. 14. He was not Actually Jesus, till After His Incarnation. Answ. From hence it would follow, That None were Saved Before His Incarnation; or else, That they had Another Saviour. Pag. 19 Consult thyself, and thou shalt see, Noll's Porter had more Light than thee. I shall make no farther Reflection on this Pamphlet for the present, but only this, That the Author of it Shall give an Account of His Railing, His Heresy, and His Blasphemy, to Him that is Ready to Judge the Quick and the Dead. As for those words in the Title-Page of this Malicious Pamphlet, to which Doctor H. More's Name is Subscribed, I must give this Testimony to the World, in Justice to the People called Quakers: That Dr. More (my most Dear and Honoured Friend) Declared to Me so Tender an Affection for Them in the Year 1679, that I doubt not but if He were now Living, He would fully Accord with Me in what I Write in their Defence. I desire the Learned Reader to peruse Pag. 748. of Tom. II. of His Philosophical Writings, where he shall find these words: G. P. quidem (that is, Guilielmus Penn) in libro suo qui inscribitur, Nulla Crux, Nulla Corona, Argumentum de Vitâ Futurâ, Beataque Animae Immortalitate ita urget, ut vix in ullum Authorem incidas qui eam rem majori cum Zelo, animique vehementiâ inculcet. What I have here Written, I have Written, as in the Sight of Our Blessed LORD, who Searcheth the Heart, and Trieth the Reins; and shall bring every Work into Judgement, with every Secret thing, whether it be Good, or whether it be Evil. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. This Divine Song, which I made in the Year 1666, I now Publish, as a Testimony of my Peculiar Affection to All persons throughout the World, who do not hold the Truth in unrighteousness; but firmly and steadfastly Resolve, by the Grace of Almighty God, to Lay down their Lives, rather than incur the Gild of any KNOWN Sin of Commission, or Omission. I. O Foolish Mortals, what is it ye Love! There's nought Without you should your Spirit Move: That Glorious Spark should Evermore Incline To that Great LIGHT, which Ev'ry-where doth Shine. II. In Every Creature that ye See, or Hear, Ye may Perceive this Boundless LIGHT Appear: But 'tis most Seen in each Immortal Soul; For there this SUN, as in its Orb, doth roll. III. Those empty things which subtle Fools Acquire, Do but Enlarge their Souls Tormenting Fire: Fame, Wealth, and Pleasure, never can Relieve Those who for Want of Real Good do Grieve. IV. O then, my Soul, Be sure Thou still Despise whate'er does not Extend Beyond the Skies: For Thou art Great, and nought can ever prove Thy True Delight, but Boundless LIGHT, and LOVE. FINIS.