<!DOCTYPE ETS PUBLIC "-//UMDLPS//DTD EEBOPROOF 2.0//EN">
<ETS>
<TEMPHEAD>
<REVDESCR>
<CHANGE>
<DATE>2011-03-08</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Simon Charles</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
</RESPSTMT>
<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed.</ITEM>
</CHANGE>
</REVDESCR>
</TEMPHEAD>
<EEBO>
<IDG S="marc" R="OX" ID="A91430">
<STC T="W">P475</STC>
<STC T="T">E584_3</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99865394</BIBNO>
<VID>117634</VID>
</IDG>
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>The COPY of a LETTER Written by Mr. <HI>Thomas Parker,</HI> Pa&s;tor of the Church of <HI>Newbury</HI> in NEW-ENGLAND, TO His Si&s;ter, M^r^s <HI>Elizabeth Avery,</HI> Sometimes of <HI>Newbury</HI> in the County of BERKS, Touching &s;undry OPINIONS BY HER Profe&s;&s;ed and Maintained.</P>
<P><TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
<OPENER><DATELINE><DATE><HI>Novemb.</HI> 22. 1649.</DATE></DATELINE></OPENER>
<P><HI>Imprimatur</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>JOHN DOWNAME.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT></P>
<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed by <HI>John Field</HI> for <HI>Edmund Paxton,</HI> at <HI>Pauls-Chain,</HI> over again&s;t the <HI>Ca&s;tle</HI> Tavern, near the <HI>Doctors Commons.</HI> 1650.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>The Epi&s;tle to the Reader.</HEAD>
<P>BE&s;ides this en&s;uing Letter, I have al&s;o received other Letters to my dear Friend M^r^s <HI>Avery</HI> (which for &s;undry Rea&s;ons are not Printed) from Mr. <HI>Cotton,</HI> Mr. <HI>VVil&s;on,</HI> and Mr. <HI>Noyes;</HI> all which bear the like a&s;pect as this Letter doth, in oppo&s;ition to her Opinions herein Refuted; That (if &s;o be the will of God) &s;he may be reduced to her former Faith and Pro|fe&s;sion, from which &s;he is &s;o &s;trangely turned away. I forbear to acquaint the Reader with the tran&s;cendent worth of the Reverend Author of this Letter; partly, becau&s;e I know it will be unac|ceptable to him, and unnece&s;&s;ary, in re|&s;pect
<PB REF="3">of them that have any knowledge of him; and partly, becau&s;e I am un|willing to follow the Devils method in the&s;e days of Error, who by rai&s;ing an admiration of mens per&s;ons in the hearts of the &s;imple, di&s;po&s;eth them to a pre&s;ent compliance with their perni|cious Doctrines: Such flattery is be|low the gravity of a &s;pirit e&s;tabli&s;hed in the Faith of Chri&s;t, who&s;e Genius it is, not to glory in Man, fora&s;much as <HI>whether Paul, or Apollo, or Ce|phas, all is yours,</HI> 1 Cor. 3.21,22.</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Benjamin Woodbridge.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="5" REF="3">
<HEAD>To my very loving Si&s;ter, M^r^s <HI>Elizabeth Avery.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>LOving Si&s;ter,</HI> for yet you are my Si&s;ter ac|cording to the fle&s;h, and I am not yet with|out hope, but that you are my Si&s;ter accord|ing to the Spirit; for it is po&s;&s;ible, that God may bring you back again from your Heretical Opini|ons. The Lord of his mercy grant, That what I &s;hall now write, may be acceptable unto you, and may be effectually prevalent for your &s;ea&s;onable re|duction, that you may not dye away in this lament|able Belief. You will not come to Ordinances, nor willingly joyn in private Prayer with your own Husband, but onely to conde&s;cend to his infirmities; for you &s;ay you are above Ordinances, above the Word and Sacraments, yea above the Blood of Chri&s;t him&s;elf, living as a glorified Saint, and taught immediately by the Spirit. Who would have thought or dreamed, that &s;uch expre&s;&s;ions &s;hould have ever come out of the mouth of Si&s;ter <HI>Avery?</HI> What will you make your &s;elf to be? What, higher then <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and any of the Prophets, above the holy Apo&s;tles and Primitive Saints, which all were under Ordinances? What, higher then <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> him&s;elf, who &s;ubjected him&s;elf to Ordinan|ces while he was upon the Earth? <NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 2.</NOTE> Did not Chri&s;t, when he a&s;cended up on high, in&s;titute Ordinances
<PB N="6" REF="4">
for this end, that by them his Saints and Churches, and all of them without exception, &s;hould be build|ed up until his &s;econd coming? <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 4.</NOTE> Surely then, if you will not be at Ordinances, publique and pri|vate, you for&s;ake the way of Chri&s;t, and with|draw your &s;elf from the way and means of Edifi|cation by him, and Communion with him by the Spirit: And what maner of Chri&s;tian will you make your &s;elf to be? For all the Saints and Churches, from the Apo&s;tles until this time, have con&s;tantly &s;ubjected them&s;elves to the Ordinances of Chri&s;t, as Hi&s;tories do &s;hew, and the Prophe&s;ies in the <HI>Re|velation.</HI> What can you &s;ay, to prove that Chri&s;t will bring forth Chri&s;tians in this age, differing from all that went before? You go the very ready way to exclude your &s;elf from the &s;heepfold, and from among the &s;heep of Chri&s;t, when you do exclude your &s;elf from Ordinances, and from the com|mon way and path of all Saints; yea, and the glo|rious Church of <HI>New-Jeru&s;alem,</HI> to be rai&s;ed up in the la&s;t time, is &s;aid to be builded upon the Foun|dation of the twelve Apo&s;tles, namely, upon their Doctrine, and in way of the holy Ordinances in|&s;tituted by them. You cannot po&s;&s;ibly &s;ay, That you are above the glorious Church of <HI>New-Jeru|&s;alem;</HI> who&s;e glory here, is the height of grace up|on the earth. But it is marvellous that you are not afraid to &s;ay, That <HI>you have more of the Spirit then the Apo&s;tles:</HI> Be not offended that I tell you, This is a horrible delu&s;ion of Satan, and <HI>Luciferian</HI> pride: Why do you not then dictate Oracles immediately from Heaven? Why do you not infallibly Prophe|&s;ie
<PB N="7" REF="4">
of the Times? Why do you not work Miracles as they did? Did any of the holy Martyrs ever &s;ay &s;o, or think and do as you? The time was when you honored the memory of them, and could hum|ble your &s;elf to their imitation. But that is above the re&s;t, That <HI>you are above the Blood of Chri&s;t:</HI> Surely Satan, the cunning hunter of &s;ouls, doth la|bor to divide you from Chri&s;t, and from his Blood, that you &s;hould have no &s;hare at all in him, when he moveth you to conceive, and utter &s;uch things: Saints are never above the Blood of Chri&s;t; they are kept and maintained by his Blood, even in their glorified e&s;tate, as well as thereby promoted there|unto: And if the Blood of Chri&s;t doth not keep you here on earth, and wa&s;h you daily, and further you on in the way of all Grace, and in oppo&s;ition to Sin and Satan, you &s;hall certainly never enjoy his pre&s;ence and communion in the world to come. To put the Blood of Chri&s;t out of the honor of employment, and not to depend upon it, is a fearful way to be utterly rejected: Chri&s;t of his mercy pre|&s;erve you, dear Si&s;ter. But I may &s;ay with <HI>I&s;aiah, Stand and wonder, they are drunken, but not with wine;</HI> Is any &s;uch language to be found in any cor|ner of the Scripture? or did any of the Apo&s;tles ever &s;ay they were above the Blood of Chri&s;t? would they not have defied &s;uch a &s;peech?</P>
<P>But unto all this you adde, That <HI>Chri&s;t hath no humane body;</HI> and that <HI>he &s;hall not appear to the world any more in a vi&s;ible maner;</HI> that <HI>his &s;econd coming is his coming in his Saints, whereby they are taken up into the nature of God, and are as truly Chri&s;t, as
<PB N="8" REF="5">
Chri&s;t him&s;elf, and partake in the fulne&s;s of the Godhead no le&s;s then Chri&s;t;</HI> yea, <HI>that they are one with God, their very Being is God:</HI> Dreadful to think upon, much more to &s;peak, or write, or medi|tate upon; Who hath bewitched you, that you &s;hould fall into &s;uch Errors? Hardly any in the world, which have known you in former time, would have thought or dreamed, that you &s;hould ever have faln &s;o deeply from your Faith: If this be your New Light, God pre&s;erve me, and all good people from it. But you will &s;ay, <HI>I am in darkne&s;s, and you in light, and that I am no meet Judge;</HI> The time was you would not &s;o &s;ay: But if you que&s;tion it now, how &s;hall it be tryed? Is not the Scripture to be our Rule? <HI>To the Law and to the Te&s;timony, if they &s;peak not according to the word, it is becau&s;e there is no light in them,</HI> I&s;a. 8.20. And doth not all Scri|pture plainly affirm, and the Churches, and Mar|tyrs, and Witne&s;&s;es of Truth all along affirm, That Chri&s;t hath a true humane body? He could not pro|perly ari&s;e nor a&s;cend, but in his fle&s;h; and is he not for ever <HI>God revealed in the fle&s;h?</HI> 1 Tim. 3.16. and after his Glorification, is he not called <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 2.5.</NOTE><HI>The man Chri&s;t Je&s;us?</HI> and the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 13.5,6.</NOTE><HI>Tabernacle of God,</HI> by rea&s;on of the fle&s;h, <HI>Rev.</HI> 13.5,6. and <HI>in whom the Godhead is &s;aid to dwell bodily?</HI> for the &s;ame cau&s;e, <HI>Col.</HI> 1. is he not &s;aid to have <HI>a life given him for ever and ever?</HI> I&s;a. 53.10. P&s;al. 21.4. Rev. 1.18. And if he had not carried his real body into Heaven, he would have left it in the Grave behinde, he would not have eaten and drunken in it, for to &s;hew the reality of his body, and that he was no &s;pirit, as the Di&s;ciples
<PB N="9" REF="5">
imagined; he would not have offered his body to be handled, the print of the nails to be felt, for the proof of the truth, and reality thereof: And that he &s;hall vi&s;ibly appear again unto the world, it ap|peareth, Becau&s;e the &s;ame body he carried up, with the &s;ame he mu&s;t return again to Judgement; <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;a. 110.1. Acts 3.</NOTE> and therefore it is &s;aid, <HI>Acts</HI> 17.31. <HI>He hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world, by that</HI> MAN <HI>whom he hath ordained.</HI> It is a &s;ick and irk&s;om la|bor, to multiply places about a point &s;o clear. But what Scripture or Rea&s;on hath &s;hewed you, That <HI>his &s;econd coming is his coming in his Saints,</HI> a my|&s;tical coming: The plain words of Scripture are ever again&s;t you, neither can they be applied other|wi&s;e, then by making them a no&s;e of wax; <HI>This Je|&s;us whom you have &s;een going into heaven, &s;hall &s;o come as ye have &s;een,</HI> Acts 1. <HI>I &s;aw a white throne, and one &s;ate thereon,</HI> Rev. 20.11. <HI>Behold, he cometh with clouds,</HI> Rev. 1. Matth. 24. &amp; 25. If you turn the&s;e things into Allegories, nothing can be certain. And, would not Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles have told us &s;o in &s;ome place or other, if this coming were onely figurative? adde, That if this be figurative, other things annexed are al&s;o figurative, and nothing plain; and this were to make a chaos and confu&s;ion of the Scriptures: It grieveth me to &s;pend time, when matters are &s;o evident. Of like nature is that which you gro&s;ly hold, that <HI>There is no Re&s;urrection of the body;</HI> Read 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15. <HI>Dan.</HI> 12.2. <HI>Rev.</HI> 20.12,13,14. It irketh me to write in &s;uch ca&s;es.</P>
<P>Whereas you &s;ay, <HI>The Saints are Chri&s;t, one with God, their Being God;</HI> What godly ear can hear
<PB N="10" REF="6">
&s;uch things, without defiance and abomination: If Saints are &s;o, if you are &s;o, then are you without &s;in, as Chri&s;t, Omnipotent, Omni&s;cient, Infinite, to be wor&s;hipped and adored as God and Chri&s;t is. I will &s;pit at this, and &s;ay no more.</P>
<P>I under&s;tand al&s;o, that you can determine of the holy Scriptures, that <HI>much of them is written with a humane &s;pirit,</HI> can take or take not for Scripture, or meaning of Scripture, onely by the Rule of an apprehen&s;ion and Revelation of the Spirit, which you &s;uppo&s;e your &s;elf to be guided by, and to have more of then the Apo&s;tles had. The &s;ame Spi|rit which told you, that <HI>much of the Scripture was written with a humane Spirit,</HI> may haply tell you at another time, that <HI>all the Scripture is written with a humane Spirit, that there is no certainty therein;</HI> yield to one, yield to all: But we know that the Pro|phets and Apo&s;tles did all write, as guided by the Spirit of God, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1. <HI>ult.</HI> 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3. <HI>Joh.</HI> 17. <HI>Rev.</HI> 21. <HI>He that receiveth you, receiveth me,</HI> John 13.</P>
<P>Now over and above all this, there are other hor|rid things in your Book, which I have not &s;een, and Satan hath been let loo&s;e to &s;hut you up, and to im|pri&s;on you in your mon&s;trous Here&s;ies, by gates and bars, and to fetter and chain you up, that all means might be fru&s;trate, whereby we might have hope to bring you forth: For if any thing from Scripture or Rea&s;on is brought again&s;t your Opinions, which you cannot an&s;wer, you can &s;hift it off with this, <HI>That you do not &s;o apprehend;</HI> thinking your appre|hen&s;ion to be infallible, and above Rea&s;on or Scri|pture: How came you by &s;uch an apprehen&s;ion?
<PB N="11" REF="6">
By what means came you to know that it is infalli|bly directed, or may you not be praefident, in think|ing it to be &s;o, when it is not? But &s;urely, no Saint or Martyr &s;ince the Apo&s;tles, ever challenged to them&s;elves &s;uch an apprehen&s;ion, for ought I finde: And we are all commanded to regulate our appre|hen&s;ions by the Scripture, and not to judge the Scriptures by ungrounded apprehen&s;ions: <HI>Thy word is a light unto my paths,</HI> P&s;al. 119. 2 Pet. 2. Mat. 4. for otherwi&s;e any Heretique may ju&s;tifie him&s;elf by his apprehen&s;ion, and there would be no way to confute Error. The Apo&s;tles them&s;elves, though infallibly directed, yet would &s;ubject their Doctrine to the tryal of the Scripture, as in the <HI>Bereans,</HI> and prove it unto others by the Scripture, <HI>Rom.</HI> 9. <HI>Gal.</HI> 4. Furthermore, in the&s;e days we cannot tell, That our apprehen&s;ions are guided by the Spirit, but by the light of Scripture: You will &s;ay, <HI>It is &s;o with you, but how will you prove it to your &s;elf or others? why may it not be the Spirit of Satan, which you think to be the Spirit of God?</HI> I dare be bold to &s;ay, It is the Spirit of Satan, and not of God, that &s;o di|recteth apprehen&s;ions, as not under the direction of the Word.</P>
<P>Dear Si&s;ter, with whom I have had &s;weet commu|nion in the ways of God, let us not now part at la&s;t, divided in Faith, Eternally divided: Were you not in the Faith before you fell into the&s;e Opinions? and did you not then write unto me, that you had full A&s;&s;urance? Is all then lo&s;t, and nothing that was before, that you have changed your Faith and your Religion? Is the Doctrine of your Reverend
<PB N="12" REF="7">
Father, and of Dr. <HI>Twi&s;&s;e,</HI> and the Doctrine of the holy Martyrs, now at la&s;t di&s;covered to be Error, whom the <HI>Apocalyps</HI> doth expre&s;ly &s;tile the <HI>Witne&s;|&s;es of Truth?</HI> Whither will you run, dear Si&s;ter, from your Parents, Friends, Church, Chri&s;t, God, and life Eternal? Have you no more &s;trength, but at the fir&s;t a&s;&s;ault to yield the Bucklers, and to give over your Faith, &s;o long profe&s;&s;ed, at the fir&s;t pu&s;h? If you had not Rea&s;on enough your &s;elf, yet why did you not fir&s;t enquire of tho&s;e that might have holpen you? I would rather a hundred times you had peri&s;hed by the Sword, then have thus faln, di&s;ho|nored God and your Profe&s;&s;ion, and weakened the people of the Lord, and &s;hamed all your Friends, and laid up trea&s;ures of Correction for your Po&s;te|rity, and put your &s;elf in a &s;u&s;pitious way, at lea&s;t, of lo&s;ing the heavenly Inheritance; Let me tell you plainly, I doubt there was &s;ome grievous &s;in at bot|tom, as the Pride of Women, or Spiritual Pride, or &s;omething el&s;e, that God hath &s;uffered you &s;o hor|ribly to fall away: Search your &s;elf, pray, repent, humble your &s;elf, and turn betime. The in&s;truments I know not who they were; but I dare &s;ay, That in this particular they were me&s;&s;engers of Satan; they might pretend to you &s;ingular Sanctity, and deceive you, by carrying them&s;elves as if they dropped down from Heaven, and came out of the bo&s;om of God: But all is not Gold that gli&s;tereth; both you and they, by rea&s;on of joys and ravi&s;hments concei|ved in the Spirit, may think your &s;elves to be in the arms of God, and yet at la&s;t you may finde your &s;elves in the very arms of the Devil, who knoweth
<PB N="13" REF="7">
how <HI>to transform him&s;elf into an Angel of light,</HI> being cunning to deceive. I could give Examples to declare this; I &s;hould rather rejoyce to hear, that you were a mourner, poor in Spirit, and hungring and thir&s;ting after Righteou&s;ne&s;s, &s;o &s;hould I know you to be in the very ready way to the Kingdom of Glory, <HI>Matth.</HI> 5. This is the &s;tate of Chri&s;tians here on earth, even tho&s;e that have the mo&s;t A&s;&s;u|rance: The more Grace, the better they think of others, the meaner of them&s;elves; aba&s;ing them|&s;elves for the remnants of &s;in they finde behinde, and mourning after more holines in way of mortificatio~. They which are not in an humbling way, are not in the way of Heaven. O Si&s;ter! you &s;eem to be lifted up, as if you were a godde&s;s, and as if all &s;hould bow unto you, as &s;ingularly beloved above others, yea as Chri&s;t him&s;elf, and as one with God: What pride was ever to be matched with your pride? What will be your end, if you humble not your &s;elf betime? Your &s;tate requireth &s;harp and ha&s;ty Remedies; bear with me therefore, that I &s;har|pen my &s;tile, to pull you out of the fire, wherein you are already flaming.</P>
<P>Your affectation and writing of A&s;&s;urance did not formerly &s;o well &s;avor, and your printing of a Book, beyond the cu&s;tom of your Sex, doth rankly &s;mell; but the exaltation of your &s;elf in the way of your Opinions, is above all: God will never tolerate pride in his beloved ones be &s;ure, and therefore I fear &s;ome afterclaps. Hear me, dear Si&s;ter, renounce, ca&s;t off the Ma&s;ters and Fomentors of your Here&s;ies, never re|ceive their Letters any more, never an&s;wer them,
<PB N="14" REF="8">
never admit them unto hou&s;e, &s;end unto them, That you will never have to do with them any more: Think not that you are the better for your joys, or more directed then others are; but onely &s;o far as you finde your heart to be humbly upon God in Chri&s;t, as the chiefe&s;t thing, in the way of his Truth, and in the way of all his Commandments, accord|ing to the &s;incerity of Evangelical endeavor. Your heart may be upon your own advancement above others, and not on God, unle&s;s you look unto it. Your new Ma&s;ters and Companions in Here&s;ie, &s;peak fairly to you, and flatter you, and advance, and &s;et you up on high, &amp; this is plea&s;ing to the fle&s;h; and when you are entangled in their Net, you are un|willing to di&s;plea&s;e them, they are as clo&s;e unto you as the Ivy to the wall, and you cannot ea&s;ily be &s;e|perated. <HI>A man that flattereth his neighbor, layeth a &s;nare for his feet,</HI> Prov. 29.5. O Si&s;ter, fly far from the hou&s;e and corner of the&s;e men and wo|men, that lie in wait for your poor &s;oul! Do you not plainly &s;ee, that Satan is loo&s;ed in the&s;e times, and that there are many Here&s;ies &s;cattered among&s;t Profe&s;&s;ors, which you your &s;elf do di&s;allow? why do you not &s;u&s;pect your &s;elf? I have endeavored, from the love of you, and from the de&s;ire of the welfare of your &s;oul, to put my one eye unto the work, and to write the&s;e lines unto you; the Lord God onely can give &s;ucce&s;s: And I pray our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, That you may be turned, otherwi&s;e you &s;eem to be in a &s;u&s;pitious way, and in great dan|ger to be a lo&s;t woman, a lo&s;t Si&s;ter, and lo&s;t eter|nally.<NOTE N="(a)" PLACE="marg">Here (as yet appeareth by his Letter) he had conclu|ded; but upon &s;econd thoughts pro|ceeds.</NOTE></P>
<P><PB N="15" REF="8">
I cannot tell how to make an end, it is a bu&s;ine&s;s of &s;uch importance that I am about, and your Spi|ritual welfare is &s;o much de&s;ired. I cannot yet but comfortably hope, That God will bring you back again unto the Truth; I will therefore an&s;wer &s;ome Objections to facilitate your return.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, you may think, that <HI>It was not likely that God &s;hould ca&s;t you into Error all this while, &s;eeing you had immediately before &s;o much communion with him, and love unto him.</HI> But had not your Father and others as much love to God as you, and as much experience of his goodne&s;s, whom he did never ca&s;t into &s;uch Opinions? And if you had &s;uch experi|ence of Gods goodne&s;s, and communion with him in the time of your former Faith, why have you then revolted from that Faith, which God by his Spirit hath &s;o much witne&s;&s;ed unto? But Si&s;ter, you are a weak woman, and ignorant of the wiles of Satan, and may ea&s;ily be lifted up; &s;o that al|though I do hope that you had &s;ome true commu|nion with God, yet I do believe that it was exceed|ingly mixed with Spiritual pride, for which God hath been angry with you, and hath given you up to Here&s;ies, as was &s;aid before. Some Chri&s;tians, by rea&s;on of their joys and raptures, have gotten lofty eyes, and eye-lids, highly lifted up above their brethren, cen&s;uring them, &s;lighting, contemning them in compari&s;on of them&s;elves, which it may be have more true and real grace, in way of Humility and Mortification then they: They rejoyce not humbly, but in a proud &s;ingularity of communion and enlargements above others, and &s;eem to them|&s;elves
<PB N="16" REF="9">
as Angels, in compari&s;on of others, great in their own conceits, not mourners in the &s;en&s;e of their own filthine&s;s and indigency, nor thinking others better then them&s;elves. This God hateth and ab|horreth in all Chri&s;tians, and will &s;urely puni&s;h it; humble therefore your &s;elf for this &s;in, and any o|ther, and be &s;ure that God in the way of returning will accept you. And indeed my hope is, That God hath &s;uffered you to fall, that he might do you infi|nite good thereby, and bring you nearer, and more purely to him&s;elf then ever before, by purging your Spiritual pride, and making you the more humble all your life after; which God grant, for his tender Mercies &s;ake in Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>It will be grievous to you to renounce that Society which hath furthered you in your new and horrid Opinions, crept in within you, and engaged you, and as it were adored you.</HI> But dear Si&s;ter, have you &s;o much re&s;pect to your new up&s;tart friends, and it may be with who&s;e &s;pirits you were never through|ly acquainted, as for their &s;akes to neglect your old and &s;ure friends, your Father, Mother, Husband, Brothers, Si&s;ter, Uncles, and all the re&s;t? But if they are in Error, as I have &s;hewed them to be, will you follow them to Hell? I pray you harden your face again&s;t them as bra&s;s, and &s;et your countenance as iron; and be not &s;o weak, and childi&s;h, and flexible, as to yield to your own de&s;truction: &s;ay as that worthy Convert did, unto his following old &s;ociety, when he turning, &s;aid, <HI>Ego non &s;um Ego,</HI> I am not the man that I was.</P>
<P>Thirdly, this will be another block in the way,
<PB N="17" REF="9">
<HI>That your Opinions are in print.</HI> But Si&s;ter, (alas, alas) by rea&s;on of your Book, you are (as I am credibly informed) printed by Name in the Catalogue of the Heretiques of this time, as one of the infamous A|po&s;tates: Redeem your name and credit among&s;t Saints, which now is lo&s;t, by prote&s;ting again&s;t that horrid Book, and by humbling your &s;elf for an at|tempt above your gifts and Sex.</P>
<P>Fourthly, there is yet another block or hindrance to your return, which I doubt will be &s;tronger then any before-mentioned, whereby Satan hath you as it were in chains of iron, and hopeth &s;o to hold you, that you &s;hall never be able to get out: But yet the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t is able to break the fetters of iron, and chains of bra&s;s; and therefore hoping in his Mercy, I will &s;ay &s;omething: Satan will tell you, dear Si&s;ter, That <HI>Your Opinions are up|on your Con&s;cience, and you have given way unto them upon Con&s;cience, and you have had long, and &s;weet, and heavenly raptures in the way of them, and have put off thereby all your former doubts, and fears, and &s;ervility: Will you deny your Opinions &s;o long pro|fe&s;&s;ed? will you go again&s;t your Con&s;cience therein, at lea&s;t with a doubting Con&s;cience? will you return to your former fears and &s;laveries, and call again your &s;tate into que&s;tion? Will you now become a creeper, who were in way of your Opinions advanced unto Hea|ven? yea, Will you now become meaner and lower then the meaner &s;ort of Chri&s;tians, by profe&s;sing your &s;elf to have all this while been mi&s;carried and mi&s;guided by an evil Spirit?</HI> O Si&s;ter, you have gone by fancy
<PB N="18" REF="10">
and not by Rea&s;on, by an ungrounded apprehen&s;ion and not by Scripture, by a Con&s;cience without a Rule, made by Conceit, and not by the Word of God; ground your con&s;cience by the word, and har|den your Spirit like &s;teel, to break that con&s;cience that hath been grounded upon vanity, upon conceit, and fancy and imagination, upon which you did not ground your con&s;cience before you fell, neither your worthy Father, nor any of the holy Martyrs, which are &s;urely gone to Heaven, as the <HI>Apocalyps</HI> doth te&s;tifie. All Scriptures are evidently again&s;t you, and the profe&s;&s;ion of all the Church before you: If Satan hath made his pills of death &s;weet unto you, and hath covered them with delight, and made you vainly to believe, That it is God and Chri&s;t that dwelleth in you, working &s;uch heavenly refre&s;hments, will you take them down unto your de&s;truction? The longer you have yielded, &s;o much the more ha&s;ty be to break off, le&s;t you be confirm|ed in a pernicious way: Fear not to return to the truth; it is better to go in way of truth with &s;ome doubts and fears, then in way of Here&s;ie to peri&s;h: And the more low and mean Chri&s;tian you &s;hall be in your own eyes, the higher &s;hall you be in the eyes of God, and of all good Chri&s;tians. Some ha&s;te too fa&s;t in putting off their fears; let God put them off in way of truth and Scripture, or not at all: It is often be&s;t for Chri&s;tians to be under &s;ome fears, that they may be humble, that they may fight, and overcome, and be crowned; that in way of Morti|fication, <HI>they may make their Calling and Election
<PB N="19" REF="10">
&s;ure;</HI> and if you &s;hall return, all Saints will meet you, and rejoyce with you, yea the Angels will rejoyce for you, and Chri&s;t him&s;elf, <HI>For this my childe was dead, but &s;he is alive again; &s;he was lo&s;t, but &s;he is found again.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, Satan may &s;ay unto you, that <HI>If you &s;hall renounce your Opinions, you &s;hall have no ground to &s;tand upon, you &s;hall ju&s;tly que&s;tion whether you had ever Grace or no, you &s;hall de&s;pair.</HI> But Si&s;ter, you had well-grounded A&s;&s;urance before you fell into the&s;e Errors; I am witne&s;s my &s;elf thereof, to whom you writ to that effect. A Saint may fall, and gro&s;ly be deceived for a time, onely he &s;hall return again; he may not be dead, but a&s;leep onely: So I do per|&s;wade my &s;elf of you, though I have written &s;ome|what roughly, to awaken you the more. O that I might hear that you were returned; you have no cau&s;e to de&s;pair, but onely to be humbled: and this I hope is the onely end of the Divine permi&s;&s;ion. Return to your former Principles, dear Si&s;ter, with confe&s;&s;ion and repentance, therein live and dye, and I doubt not but that you &s;hall live with Chri&s;t for ever; but if you never had grace, yet there is no cau&s;e of de&s;pairing, fora&s;much as grace is freely of|fered at all times to them that do come in by Faith and true Repentance, through the blood of Chri&s;t; onely it mu&s;t be &s;uch a Faith, and &s;uch a Repen|tance, whereby we cleave to God in Chri&s;t, as the chiefe&s;t good, and in the way of &s;incere endeavor of all Obedience, and of for&s;aking every oppo&s;ite thing.</P>
<P><PB N="20" REF="11">
You cannot now but take &s;o large a Letter, from a Brother, &s;o defective and weak in &s;ight, and &s;o much otherwi&s;e employed, to be an Argument of great de&s;ire of the welfare of your &s;oul, and of the importance and nece&s;&s;ity of your condition. The Lord God grant, for Chri&s;ts &s;ake, that my labor may not be in vain. Salute all my friends as named, my dear Brother your Husband; thanking you for all kindene&s;&s;es, I re&s;t,</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><DATE><HI>Newbury, Novem.</HI> 1648.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED><HI>Your loving Brother,</HI> THO: PARKER.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="11">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
