TAOTRA Section Five

Title - Preface - Sec. 1 - Sec. 2 - Sec. 3 - Sec. 4 - Sec. 5 - Sec. 6 - Sec. 7 - Sec. 8 - Conclusion

SECTION Fifth.

In what Cases, and how far this Government extends, and first, as to Outwards and Temporals.

I shall begin with that which gave the first Rise of this Order among the Apostles, and I do verily believe have been among the first Occasions that gave the like among us, and that is, The Care of the Poor, of Widdows, and Orphans. Love and Compassion are the great, yea, and the chiefest Mark of Christianity. Hereby shall it be known, saith Christ, that ye are my Disciples, if ye love one another. And James the Apostle Places Religion herein in the first place, Pure Religion (saith he) and Undefiled before God and the Father is, to visit the Fatherless and Widdows in their Afflictions, &c. For this then, as one main End do we meet together that Inquiry may be made, if there be any poor of the Houshould of Faith, that need, that they may be supplied, that the Widdows may be taken Care of, that the Orphans and Fatherless may be bred up and educated: Who will be so unchristian, as to reprove this good Order and Government, and to say, it is needless? but if any will thus object, May not the Spirit lead every one of you to give to them that need? What need meeting about it, and such Formalities?

I answer, The Spirit of God leads us so to do; what can they say to the contrary? nor is this a Practice any ways inconsistent with being inwardly and immediately led by the Spirit; for the Spirit of God doth now lead as well as in the Dayes of old; lead his People into those Things which are orderly, and of a good Report; for he is the God of Order, and not of Confusion, & therefore the Holy Apostles judged it no Inconsistentency with their being led by the Spirit to appoint Men full of the Holy Ghost and of Wisdom over the Business of the poor. Now if to be full of the Holy Ghost be a Qualification needful for this Imployment, surely the nature of their Imployment was not to render this so needful a Qualification useless and ineffectual, as if they were not to be led by it.
Moreover, we see, though they were at that Time all filled with the Spirit, yet there was something wanting before this good Order was established, There was a Murmuring that some Widdows were neglected in the daily Ministration, and we must not suppose the Apostles went about to remedy this Evil that was creeping into the Church without the Counsel of God by his Spirit, or that this Remedy they were led to, was stepping into the Apostacy, neither can it be so said of us, we proceeding upon the like Occasion. XR2955

If then it be thus needful and suitable to the Gospel to relieve the necessities of the poor, that as there was no Beggar to be among Israel of old, so far less now, must there not be Meetings to appoint Contribution in Order to the performing these Things, which is no other but the giving of a general Intimation what the needs are, that every one, as God moves their Heart, and hath prospered them, without Imposition, Force, or Limitation, may give towards these needful Uses, in which Case these Murmurers at our good order in such matters may well think strange at the Apostle. How pressingly? how earnestly doth he reiterate his Desires and Provocations, so to speak, in this Respect to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 16.1,2. and the 8th and 9th Chapters of the 2d epistle throughout!

Now though he testifies to them elsewhere that they are the Temples of the Holy Ghost, and thus the Spirit of God dwells in {Page 39} them, yet ceaseth he not to interact and exhort, yea, and to give them certain Orders in this Matter.

Besides all these Reasons which are sufficient to convince any unprejudicate man, the Secret Approbation of God’s Spirit accompanying us in this Thing, together with the Fruits and Effects of it which hundreds can witness to, whose Needs have been supplied, and themselves helped through divers Difficulties, and the Testimonies of some already; & of many more Orphans and Fatherless Children who have found no want neither of Father nor Mother, or other Relations through the tender Love and Care of Gods People in putting them in Trades and Imployments and giving them all needful Education which will appear ere this Age pass away to those that have an Eye to see, that these are not the meer Doing and Orders of Men, but the Work of him who is appearing in ten Thousands of his Saints to establish, not only truth, but Mercy and Righteousness in the Earth.

And for that End therefore in the second Place this Order reacheth the taking up and composing of Difference as to outward Things, which may fall out betwixt Friend and Friend; for such Things may fall out through the Intricacies of diverse Affairs, where neither hath any positive Intention to injure and defraud his Neighbour, as in many Cases might be instanced; or if through the Workings and Temptations of him, whose Work is to beset the Faithful, and People of the Lord, and to engender, so far as he can, Strife and Division among them, any should step aside, as to offer to wrong, or prejudice his Neightbor; we do boldly aver, as a People gathered together by the Lord unto the same Faith, and distinguished from all others by our Joint Testimony and Sufferings, that we have Power and Authority to decide and remove these things among our selves, without going to others to seek Redress, and this in it self hath so much Reason, that I cannot tell if any that are not wholly prejudicate or obstinate can blame it; for if we be one Mind concerning Faith and religion, and that it be our Joint Interest to bring all others unto the same Truth with us as supposing them to be wrong, what Confidence can we have {Page 40} to think of reclaiming them, if the truth we profess have not Efficacy as to reconcile us among our selves in the Matter of this World, if we be forced to go out to others for Equity and Justice, because we cannot find it among our selves: how can we expect to invite them to come among us, when such Virtues as which still accompany the Truth, are necessarily supposed to be wanting, should we affirm otherwise it were to destroy the truth and Faith we have been and are in the Lord’s Hand building up, and in the Spirit and Practice of such as oppose us herein, hath no less Tendency.

Moreover, besides the Enforcing and Intrinsick Reason of his Thing, we have the Concurrence, Approbation and Comfort of the Apostles Testimony, 1 Cor. 6. Dare any of you having a matter against another go to Law before the Unjust, and not before the Saints? If it be objected, Do you reckon all Unjust that are not of you? Think ye all other People void of Justice?

I answer, Though the Apostle useth this Expression, I am perswaded he did not reckon all others — Unjust that had not received then the Christian Faith; there was no doubt Morall and Just Men among the Heathen, and therefore the same Paul commends the Nobility of Festus, he reckons them there Unjust in Respect of the Saints, or comparatively with them, as such as are not come to the just principle of God in themselves to obey it and follow it, and therefore though he accounts them who are least — esteemed in the Church capable to decide such Matters, yet he supposeth it safe to submit to their Judgment in such Cases, though it were by taking wrong, of suffering wrong, then to go before others to the greater Reproach of the Truth. We hope though many Occasions of this kind have fallen in among us since we have been a People, none have had just occasion to decline our Judgment, and though some should suppose themselves to be wronged, yet if they should go bring their matter before others, we might say, as the Apostle saith in the fore mentioned Chapter, ver. 7. This were thereby a Fault in them, and would evidence a greater Care of some outward Concern, then of the Honour and Interest {Page 41} of Truth, and therefore such as have a tender Regard that Way, would rather suffer what to their Apprehensions may seem wrong; for in matters wherein two Parties are opposite in the Case of Meum and Tuum, it is somewhat hard to please both, except where the Power of Truth, and the Righteous Judgment thereof reaching to that of God in the Conscience, hath brought to a true Acnowledgment, him that hath been mistaken, or in the wrong XR1955, which hath frequently fallen out among us, to the often refreshing and confirming our Souls in the certain Belief, that Christ was fulfilling his Promises among us, In restoring Judges, as at the first, and Counsellors, as in the Beginning.
Now suppose any should be so pettish or humorous, as not to agree in such Matter to the Judgment of his Brethren, and to go before the Unbelievers (for though I reckon them not such Unbelievers as that Heathen of old, because they profess a Faith in God and Christ, yet I may safely say, they are Unbelievers, as to these Principles and Doctrines which we know are the Truth of God, and in that Sense must be Unbelievers as to him that so appealeth to them from his Brethren) I say, such as so do, first commit a certain Hurt and Evil in staining the Honour and Reputation of the Truth they profess, which ought to be dearer to us then our Lives, and even in that outward matter, for which they thus do, they run a hazard, not knowing whether things shall carry as they expect; if they loose, they have a double prejudice, if they gain it is a too dear Rate, even with the Hurt of Truth’s Reputation, which their outward Advantage cannot make up. If then it be unlawful to do evil, that good may come of it, even a Spiritual Good, far less is it lawful to do positive Evil of so deep a Dye, as to bring an Evil Report upon the good Land, and give the Uncircumcised an Occasion to rejoice, out of the Uncertain Hope of an outward Gain it is far better to suffer loss, as the Apostle very well argues in the Place above mentioned XR2436.

Indeed if there be any such, have been, or appear to be of us, as suppose there is not a wise Man among us all, nor an honest Man that is able to judge betwixt his Brethren, We shall not {Page 42} covet to meddle in their Matter, being perswaded that either they or their Cause is naught (though Praises to Go)d among all those that have gone from us, either upon one Account or other I never heard that any were so minded towards us, but the most part of them having let in the Offence of some things or persons, have had this Unanimous Testimony concerning us, that generall we are an honest and upright-hearted People, but what ever Sense our Enemies or Apostates have of us, who look asquint on the Face of Truth, and can see nothing aright in those they love not, or are prejudice against. This we can say in the last Place, besides the Reasons and Scripture above declared, that the good Fruits and Effects which daily abound to the Houshold of Faith, in this as well as the other Parts of the Government of the Lord is establishing among us, doth more & more commend it unto us, and confirmeth our Hearts in the certain Belief of that which we can confidently testifie in good Conscience, that God hath led us hereunto by his Spirit, and we see the Hand of the Lord herein, which in due Time will yet more appear, that as through our faithful Testimony in the Hand of the Lord that Antichristian and Apostatized Generation, the National Ministry hath recieved a deadly Blow by our discovering and witnessing against Forced Maintenance and Tythes, against which we have testified by many cruel Sufferings of all kinds (as our Chronicles shall make known to Generations to come) so that their Kingdom in the Hearts of Thousands begins to totter and loose its Strength, and shall assuredly fall to the Ground, through Truth’s prevailing in the Earth, so on the other Hand, do we by coming to Righteousness and Innocency, weaken the Strength of their Kingdom who judge for Rewards (as well as such preach for Hire) and by not ministering Occasion to those, who have heaped up Riches, and lived in Excess, Lust, and Riot, by feeding and preying upon the Iniquities and contentions of the People; for as Truth and Righteousness prevails in the Earth, by our faithful witnessing and keeping to it, the nations shall come to be eased and disburdened of the deceitful Tribe of Lawyers, as well as Priests, who by their many tricks, and Endless {Page 43} Intricacies have rendered Justice in their Method burdensome to honest Men, and seek not so much to put an End, as to forment Controversies and Contentions, that they themselves may be still fed and upheld, and their Trade kept up. Whereas by Truths Propagation, as many of these Controversies will dye by Mens coming to be less contentious, so when any Difference ariseth, that Saints giving Judgment without Gift or Reward, or running into the Tricks and endless Labyrinths of the Lawyers, will soon compose them, and this is what we are perswaded the Lord is bringing about in our Day, though many do not, and many will not see it, because it is indeed in a Way different and contrary to Man’s Wisdom, who are now despising Christ in his inward Appearance, because of the Meanness of it XR2706, as the Jews of old did him in his outward, yet not withstanding there were some then that did witness and could not be silent, but must testifie that he was come; even so now are there Thousands that can set to their Seal, that he hath now again the second time appeared, and is appearing in Ten Thousands of his Saints, in and among whom (as a first Fruits of many more that shall be gathered) he is restoring the Golden Age, and bringing them into the Holy Order and Government of his own Son, who is ruling, and to rule in the midst of them, setting forth the Counsellors as at the Beginning, and Judges as at the First, and establishing Truth, Mercy, Righteousness and Judgment again in the Earth XR3422, Amen, Haelujah.

Thirdly, these Meetings take Care in the Case of Marriages, that all things be clear, and that there may nothing be done in the Procedure, which afterwards may prove to the Prejudice of Truth or of the Parties concerned, which being an outward Thing that is acknowledge in it self to be lawful, of the greatest Importance a Man or a Woman can perform in this World, and from the Suddain, unwary or disorderly Procedure whereof, very great Snares and Reproaches may be cast both upon the Parties and the Profession owned by them, therefore it doth very fitly among other things when it occurs come to be considered of by the People of God, when met to take Care to preserve all things right and savoury in the Houshould of Faith: {Page 44} We do believe our Adversaries that watch for Evil — against us, would be glad how promiscuously or disorderly we proceed in this weighty Matter, that so they might the more boldly accuse us, as Overturners of all Humane and Christian Order, but God hath not left us without his Counsel and Wisdom in this Thing, nor will he that any should receive Just Occasion against — us his People, and therefore in this weighty Concern, we, who can do nothing against the Truth, but all for and with a Regard to the Truth, have divers testimonies for the Lord, and,

First, That we cannot marry with those that walk not in, and obey not the Truth, as being of another Judgment, or Fellowship, or pretending to it, walk not suitably and answerable thereto.

Secondly, Nor can we go to the Hireling-Priests to uphold their false and usurped Authority, who take upon them to marry People without any Command or President for it from the Law of God.

Lastly, Nor can we suffer any such kind of Marriages to pass among us, which either, as to the Degrees of Consanguinity, or otherwise in it self is unlawful, or from which there may be any just Reflection cast upon our Way. As to the first two, they being Matter of Principles received and believed, it is not my Work here to debate them, only since they are received and owned as such for which we can and have given our sufficient Reasons else where as for our other Principles, we ought to care how any by walking otherwise bring Reproach upon us. Yet not to pass them wholely by, as to the First, Besides the Testimony of the Spirit of God in our Hearts which is the Original Ground of our Faith in all Things, we have the Testimony of the Apostle Paul, 2 Cor. 6.14. Be ye not unequally yoked together, &c. Now if any should think it were much from this Scripture to plead it absolutely unlawful, in any Case to Joyn in Marriage with any (however otherwise Sober) because of their not being one with us in all Things, I shall speak my Judgment: To me it appear so, and to many more who have obtained Mercy, and we think we have the Spirit of God, {Page 45} but whether it be lawful or not, I can say positively, it is not expedient, neither doth it edifie, and as that which is of dangerous Consequence, doth give justly Offence to the Church of Christ, and there no true tender Heart will prefer his private Love to the Good and interest of the whole Body. As for the Second, In that we deny the Priests their assumed Authority and Power to marry, it is that which in no wise we can resile from, nor can we own any in the doing of it, it being a part of our Testimony against the Usurpations of that Generation, who never yet that I ever heard of, could produce any Scripture proof or Example for it, and seeing none can pretend Confidence in the matter (for they themselves confess, that it is no part of the Essence of marriage) if any pretending to be among us should through fear, Interest, or Prejudice to the Truth come under and bow to that Image, have we not Reason to deny such Slavish and Ignoble Spirits, as mind not Truth and its Testimony?

Lastly, Seeing if any walking with us, or going under the same Name, should hastily or disorderly go together, either being within the Degrees of Consanguinity, which the Law of God forbids, or that either party should have been formerly under any Tye or Obligation to others, or any other vast Disproportion which might bring a just Reflection upon us from our Opposers; Can any blame us for taking Care to prevent these Evils, by appointing that such as so design, make known their Intentions to these Churches or Assemblies where they are most known, that if any know just cause of Hinderance, it may be mentioned, and a timous Let put to the Hurt, either by stopping it, if they can be brought to condescend, or by refusing to be Witnesses and Concurrers with them in it, if they will not? for we take not upon us to hinder any to marry otherwise then by Advice, or disconcerning our selves; neither do we judge that such as do marry contrary to our Mind, that therefore their Marriage is null and void in it self, or may be dissolved afterwards, nay, all our meddling is in a holy Care for the Truth, for if the Thing be right, all that we do is to be Witnesses, and if otherwise, that we may say for our {Page 46} Vindication to such as may upbraid us therewith, that we advise otherwise, and did no wayes concur in the Matter, that so they may bear their own Burden, and the Truth and People of God be cleared XR4465.

Now I am confident that our Way herein is so answerable to Reason and Christianity, that none will blame us therefore, except, either such whose irregular and Impatient Lusts cannot suffer a Serious and Christian Examination, and an advised and moderate Procedure, or such who watching for evil against us, are sorry we should proceed so orderly, and would rather we should suffer all manner of Irregularities and Abominations, that they might have more to say against us; but the Solid and Real Reasons we have for our Way herein, and moreover, the Testimony of Gods Spirit in our Hearts doth abundantly confirm us, both against the Folly of the one, and the Envy of the other.

Fourthly, There being nothing more needful then to preserve Men and Women in Righteousness after they are brought into it, and also nothing more certain, than that the great Enemy of Man’s Soul seeks daily how he may draw back again, and catch those who in some measure escaped his Snares, and known Deliverance from them, therefore so we also meet together, that we may receive an opportunity to understand if any have fallen under his Temptations that we may restore them again if possible, or otherwise separate them from us XR4465: Surely if we did not so we might be justly blamed, as such, among whom it were lawful to commit any Evil unreproved, indeed this were to be guilty of that Libertinism, which some have falsly accused us of, and which hath been our Care all along, as became the People of God to avoid, therefore have we sought always to keep the House clean, by faithfully reproving and removing according to the Nature of the Offence, and the Scandal following thereupon; private things privately, & public things publickly: We desire not to propagate Hurt, and defile People’s Minds with telling them such things as tend not to edifie, yet do we not so cover over or smooth over any {Page 47} Wickedness, as not to deal roundly with the Persons guilty, and causing them to take away the scandal in their acknowledgment before all to whose Knowledge it hath come, yet judge we not our selves obliged to tell that is Gath, or publish that in the Streets of Askelon, which makes the Daughter of the Uncircimcised rejoyce, or strengthen Aethists and Ranters in their Obduredness, who feed more upon the Failings of the Saints, then to imitate their true Repentance, and therefore where we find an Unfeigned Returning to the Lord, we desire not to remember that which the Lord hath forgotten, nor yet to throw Offences in the Way of the weak, that they may stumble upon them.

And therefore I conclude, that our Care as to these Things also, is most needful, and a Part of that Order and Government which the Church of Christ never was nor can be without, as doth abundantly appear by the divers Scriptures heretofore mentioned.