THE FOUNDATION OF True Preaching Asserted.  
In Opposition to a Counterfeit Sermon pretended to be Preached before the People called Quakers, in the Park, Southwark, 27th of 9th 1687.  
That all those that feign themselves Ministers of the Gospel Dispensation, may see that all Preaching without the Holy Spirit, and a Real Call by the Grace of God, working in their Hearts, and immediately leading them thereto; is nothing but the mere Notion of their own Brains, and not for the Advancement of Pure Religion.  
By R. S.  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 forever and ever, Amen. 1 Pet. 4.11. 
LONDON, Printed, by Andrew Sowle, in the Year 1687.   

To the READER.  
I Hope that no Person will believe that that Counterfeit Sermon was Preached by any Person that was called a QUAKER, but will think that it was a mere Fiction, as it really was. And the Author, in my hearing Confessed, It was a little Trick, or a Nack, to get Money.  
And therefore in Answering which, I shall not insist on any Particular in his Sermon, but to show the Emptiness and Vanity of all such Preachers and Sermons that are not as the Oracles of God, and from the Ability that God giveth, which is a sufficient Reprove to this and all that Preach without a real Call.  
R. S.   

THE FOUNDATION OF True Preaching Asserted, etc.  
THE Holy Scriptures, and the Histories of the Primitive Times, do abundantly Demonstrate and set forth by what Means and Methods the Gospel of Christ, which is the Power of God to Salvation, made its own way into the World; and how the Preachers thereof were Qualified, and Unassisted by any Secular Power or Interest, Triumphed over all Opposition that was made against it; and at the appearance of which, the Religion of the Gentiles, that was the standing Religion of the Roman Empire many Years together, flunk away into Obscurity, and the Darkness of Pagan Idolatry and Superstition fled away, and as the Light of the Gospel prevailed, the clearer it discovered the Folly and Impiety of their Worship, their Solemn Rites appeared more Trifling, their Sacrifices more Barbarous and Inhuman, their Oracles became Mute and Silent, and the very Priest Ashamed.  
That it was not by Humane Learning, School Divinity, or the Notions of Plato and Aristotle, but by the alone Power and Wisdom of God: And the Preachers of the Gospel being Divinely Inspired by the Holy Ghost, called of God as was Aaron, Qualified by his Grace in their Hearts, as will appear hereafter.  
God who in former Times communicated the Law to the Children of Israel, by the Ministry of Moses, in the Wilderness, from Mount Sinai, after a long Succession of many Ages, for the great Blessing of the Promised Seed, thought meet in his own appointed time to put an end thereto, and to perform the Mercies Promised to the Fathers, and accordingly in or about the Year of the World Four Thousand, and the declining part of the Reign of Augustus, the Empire enjoying a Universal Peace, God sent his dear Son, as an Ambassador from Heaven, to Reconcile the World, and having fulfilled the Law, and the Righteousness thereof, for which he was sent, to put a Period, and to enlarge the Bounds of Salvation, to admit both Jews and Gentiles to the terms of the Gospel, and being the Mediator between God and Man, he Preached the Gospel of Repentance, and the Remission of Sins, to all them that obey his heavenly Message.  
And having approved himself, and the excellency of his Doctrine, by many great and wonderful Signs & Miracles, he gave Commission to his Disciples, and his Power and Presence for their Assistance, in his saying, Math. 28. All Power in Heaven and Earth is given unto me, go ye therefore and Teach all Nations, Baptising them, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in No-men, into the Name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have Commanded you; and lo I am with you always unto the end of the World, Amen. In which there is two things to be considered, first his Command, Go ye Teach, Baptising all Nations into the Name (that is, into the Power and Virtue) but some may say, That the Work to Baptise is Christ's, and not Man's; to wiped off that, I answer, to Baptise with the Spirit, though not wrought without Christ, and his Grace, is many times instrumentally done by Men fitted of God for that purpose, and therefore no Absurdity follows, that to Baptise with the Spirit should be expressed, as the action of the Apostle; for though it be Christ, by his Grace, that gives Spiritual Gifts, yet the Apostle tells of his imparting to them some Spiritual Gifts, Rom. 1.11. And the Corinthians, That he had begotten them through the Gospel, 1 Cor. 4.15. And yet to beget People to the Faith is the Work of Christ, not of Men; to Convert the Heart is properly the Work of Christ, and yet the Spirit ofttimes ascribes it to Men, as being the Instruments; and the Apostle was sent to turn Men from Darkness to Light, from Satan's Power to God, though that be not done without Christ Cooperating by his Grace; and in like manner may Baptising with the Spirit be expressed, as performable by Man, as the Instrument, though the Work of Christ's Grace be needful as the principal Cause; so that it is no absurdity to say, That the Apostles did administer the Baptism of the Spirit.  
Secondly, his Promise, And lo I am with you to the end of the World; which is a lively Demonstration, that the Church and People of Christ shall never want his Presence by his Spirit to Instruct and Assist them, whether to Preach or to Pray, he will be with them; and he tells his Disciples, As my Father sent me, so send I you; here we may see the Apostles had an immediate Call to the Ministry, to Preach the Gospel; yet they were to wait for the Holy Ghost to be poured on them, as a further Commission; and in pursuance of his Command they met at Jerusalem to receive Power from on high, and being met, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with new Tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance: By this Commission the Apostle Peter, and the other Apostles, being filled with the Holy Ghost, as the best Qualification, Preached to both Jews and Gentiles; and afterwards the Apostle Peter visiting, by his Epistle, the scattered Disciples, saith, 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 forever and ever, Amen.  
By which we may see that the true Preachers of the Gospel of Christ, which is the Power of God to Salvation, was not made Ministers thereof by Human Learning, but by the inward Power and Virtue of the Spirit of God in their own hearts drawing them thereunto; such Ministers we own as are called immediately by the Grace of God, but all those that come in without the Call, Moving and Leadings of the Spirit of Christ, come in not by Christ, who is the Door into the Sheepfold, but climb up some other way; and therefore Christ proclaims them Thiefs and Robers, whom the Sheep ought not to hear; such Ministers and Preachers we utterly disown and deny.  
And we may further observe, that these that Minister, must Minister according to the Gift and Grace received; but they that have not such a Gift, cannot Minister according thereunto, and as good Stewards of the Grace of God; but how can a man be a good Steward of that which he hath not; can Ungodly Men and Wicked Preachers, that are not Gracious themselves, but live more like Gentiles then Christians, in that they strive to imitate the one, rather than to live the Life of the other, and think it strange that others run not with them into the same Excess of the Gentiles, which is Lasciviousness, Lust, Excess of Wine, Revile, Banquet, and abominable Idolatry, be good Steward of the manifold Grace of God? 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 Oricles 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, seeing no man ought to take this Honour to himself, but he that was called of God, as was Aaron: For the Particle [If] denotes a Necessary Condition. Now what this Abilyty is doth appear from the former Words, to wit the Gift Received, and the Grace whereof they are Stewards, as by the immediate concern and dependency of the Words doth demonstrate; Neither can it be understood of a mere Natural Ability, or acquired Parts and Laerning, because man in this Posture, in this Natural State and Condition knoweth not the things of God, and so he cannot Minister them to others, of what he is Ignorant himself, and the following Words show and Illustrate this also, in that he immediately Subjoined, That God in all things may be Glorified: But surely God is not Glorified but greatly dishonoured when Wicked men undertake to Preach, notwithstanding their great Learning, and acquire Parts, an● from their mere natural Ability meddle in Spiritual things which they neither Know nor Understand, as saith t●● Apostle, As no Man knoweth the Mind of a Man, but the Spirit of a Man; so no Man knoweth the things of God, but by the Spirit.  
Thus far we may see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ was Preached in the Purity of it without any Mixtures of self Wisdom, Human Learning, School Divinity, or the Notions of Plato or Aristotle; but they that Preached Speak as the Oracles of God, and those that did Minister, did it of the Ability that God had given them, that God in all things might be glorified.  
But When the Power and Life of Religion went down, up went Schools of Learning, and the Philosophy of the Gentiles embraced, and men's Religion was turned into Notions, out of the Heart into the Head, and they forgot the Command of Christ, who said, Observe all things whatsoever I have Commanded you, and lo I am with you to the end the World; but he is not with those that breaks his Commandments, and will have none of his Counsel, nor obey his Doctrine, which was, Abide in me, and I in you; as the Branch cannot bear Fruit of itself, except it abides in the Vine; no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the Vine, ye are the Branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much Fruit; for without me ye can do nothing. If anyman abide not in me, he is cast forth as a Brand, and is Withered.  
So all those that abide not in Christ are cast forth and withered, and in that withered State and Condition they Preach the Figments of their own Brain, being Qualified with Humane Learning, and School Divinity, and the Wisdom which this World teacheth, which the Apostle Paul utterly Rejected and Reproved, Acts 17. both at Athens, (being then the most Famous University in the World) and at Corinth, a famous City of Greece; to the Philosophers and Orators he taught nothing among them, but Christ Crucified; to the Jews a Stumbling-block, and to the Greeks Foolishness, but to them that believe, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God, 1 Cor. 1. And that he made use of to Convert those that were counted the Wits of the World: So in 1 Cor. 2. He plainly Renounces and Rejects the Wisdom of it, saying,  
Vers. 1. And I Brethren when I came to you, came not with excellency of Speech or Wisdom, declaring unto you the Testimony of God.  
2. For I determine not to know any thing among you, but Jesus Christ, and him Crucified.  
3. And I was with you in Weakness, and Fear, and much Trembling.  
4. And my Speech was not with enticing Words of Man's Wisdom, but in demonstration of that Spirit and Power.  
5. That your Faith should not stand in the Wisdom of Man, but in the Power of God.  
6. Howbeit we speak Wisdom among them that are Perfect, yet not the Wisdom of this World, nor of the Prince of this World which comes to naught.  
7. But we speak the Wisdom of God in a Mystery, even the hidden Wisdom.  
V 13. Which things also we speak, not in the Words which Man's Wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth; comparing Spiritual things which Spiritual things.  
By which we may see, that the Apostle made use of no other Philosophy then the Wisdom of Christ, in comparison of which the Wits of Athens, and the Learning of the whole World is but Foolishness, and as Dross and Dung in comparison of the Cross of Christ.  
And in our Age especially God hath determined to show his Power by weak Instruments, which he hath raised up, and hath furnished them with his own Power, Life, and Virtue, though despised, because Mean and Illiterate; and therefore seeing in and amongst them myself with many, others, have found that heavenly Pearl, that giveth Contentment, which is the only Learning, to be sought after, and waited for, forever and ever.  
THE END