Letter to Elizabeth Avery, Text
To my very loving Siſter, Mrs Elizabeth Avery.
LOving Siſter, for yet you are my Siſter according to the fleſh, and I am not yet without hope, but that you are my Siſter according to the Spirit; for it is poſſible, that God may bring you back again from your Heretical Opinions. The Lord of his mercy grant, That what I ſhall now write, may be acceptable unto you, and may be effectually prevalent for your ſeaſonable reduction, that you may not dye away in this lamentable Belief. You will not come to Ordinances, nor willingly joyn in private Prayer with your own Husband, but onelyonly to condeſcend to his infirmities; for you ſay you are above Ordinances, above the Word and Sacraments, yea above the Blood of Chriſt himſelf, living as a glorified Saint, and taught immediately by the Spirit. Who would have thought or dreamed, that ſuch expreſſions ſhould have ever come out of the mouth of Siſter Avery? What will you make your ſelf to be? What, higher then Moſes and any of the Prophets, above the holy Apoſtles and Primitive Saints, which all were under Ordinances? What, higher then Chriſt himſelf, who ſubjected himſelf to Ordinances while he was upon the Earth? Acts 2.Did not Chriſt, when he aſcended up on high, inſtitute Ordinances for this end, that by them his Saints and Churches, and all of them without exception, ſhould be builded up until his ſecond coming? Eph. 4.Surely then, if you will not be at Ordinances, publique and private, you forſake the way of Chriſt, and withdraw your ſelf from the way and means of Edification by him, and Communion with him by the Spirit: And what maner of Chriſtian will you make your ſelf to be? For all the Saints and Churches, from the Apoſtles until this time, have conſtantly ſubjected themſelves to the Ordinances of Chriſt, as Hiſtories do ſhew, and the Propheſies in the Revelation. What can you ſay, to prove that Chriſt will bring forth Chriſtians in this age, differing from all that went before? You go the very ready way to exclude your ſelf from the ſheepfold, and from among the ſheep of Chriſt, when you do exclude your ſelf from Ordinances, and from the common way and path of all Saints; yea, and the glorious Church of New-Jeruſalem, to be raiſed up in the laſt time, is ſaid to be builded upon the Foundation of the twelve Apoſtles, namely, upon their Doctrine, and in way of the holy Ordinances inſtituted by them. You cannot poſſibly ſay, That you are above the glorious Church of New-Jeruſalem; whoſe glory here, is the height of grace upon the earth. But it is marvellous that you are not afraid to ſay, That you have more of the Spirit then the Apoſtles: Be not offended that I tell you, This is a horrible deluſion of Satan, and Luciferian pride: Why do you not then dictate Oracles immediately from Heaven? Why do you not infallibly Propheſie of the Times? Why do you not work Miracles as they did? Did any of the holy Martyrs ever ſay ſo, or think and do as you? The time was when you honored the memory of them, and could humble your ſelf to their imitation. But that is above the reſt, That you are above the Blood of Chriſt: Surely Satan, the cunning hunter of ſouls, doth labor to divide you from Chriſt, and from his Blood, that you ſhould have no ſhare at all in him, when he moveth you to conceive, and utter ſuch things: Saints are never above the Blood of Chriſt; they are kept and maintained by his Blood, even in their glorified eſtate, as well as thereby promoted thereunto: And if the Blood of Chriſt doth not keep you here on earth, and waſh you daily, and further you on in the way of all Grace, and in oppoſition to Sin and Satan, you ſhall certainly never enjoy his preſence and communion in the world to come. To put the Blood of Chriſt out of the honor of employment, and not to depend upon it, is a fearful way to be utterly rejected: Chriſt of his mercy preſerve you, dear Siſter. But I may ſay with Iſaiah, Stand and wonder, they are drunken, but not with wine; Is any ſuch language to be found in any corner of the Scripture? or did any of the Apoſtles ever ſay they were above the Blood of Chriſt? would they not have defied ſuch a ſpeech?
But unto all this you adde, That Chriſt hath no humane body; and that he ſhall not appear to the world any more in a viſible maner; that his ſecond coming is his coming in his Saints, whereby they are taken up into the nature of God, and are as truly Chriſt, as Chriſt himſelf, and partake in the fulneſs of the Godhead no leſs then Chriſt; yea, that they are one with God, their very Being is God: Dreadful to think upon, much more to ſpeak, or write, or meditate upon; Who hath bewitched you, that you ſhould fall into ſuch Errors? Hardly any in the world, which have known you in former time, would have thought or dreamed, that you ſhould ever have faln ſo deeply from your Faith: If this be your New Light, God preſerve me, and all good people from it. But you will ſay, I am in darkneſs, and you in light, and that I am no meet Judge; The time was you would not ſo ſay: But if you queſtion it now, how ſhall it be tryed? Is not the Scripture to be our Rule? To the Law and to the Teſtimony, if they ſpeak not according to the word, it is becauſe there is no light in them, Iſa. 8.20. And doth not all Scripture plainly affirm, and the Churches, and Martyrs, and Witneſſes of Truth all along affirm, That Chriſt hath a true humane body? He could not properly ariſe nor aſcend, but in his fleſh; and is he not for ever God revealed in the fleſh? 1 Tim. 3.16. and after his Glorification, is he not called 1 Tim. 2.5.The man Chriſt Jeſus? and the Rev. 13.5,6.Tabernacle of God, by reaſon of the fleſh, Rev. 13.5,6. and in whom the Godhead is ſaid to dwell bodily? for the ſame cauſe, Col. 1. is he not ſaid to have a life given him for ever and ever? Iſa. 53.10. Pſal. 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 ſhew the reality of his body, and that he was no ſpirit, as the Diſciples 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 ſhall viſibly appear again unto the world, it appeareth, Becauſe the ſame body he carried up, with the ſame he muſt return again to Judgement; Pſa. 110.1. Acts 3.and therefore it is ſaid, Acts 17.31. He hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world, by that MAN whom he hath ordained. It is a ſick and irkſom labor, to multiply places about a point ſo clear. But what Scripture or Reaſon hath ſhewed you, That his ſecond coming is his coming in his Saints, a myſtical coming: The plain words of Scripture are ever againſt you, neither can they be applied otherwiſe, then by making them a noſe of wax; This Jeſus whom you have ſeen going into heaven, ſhall ſo come as ye have ſeen, Acts 1. I ſaw a white throne, and one ſate thereon, Rev. 20.11. Behold, he cometh with clouds, Rev. 1. Matth. 24. & 25. If you turn theſe things into Allegories, nothing can be certain. And, would not Chriſt and his Apoſtles have told us ſo in ſome place or other, if this coming were onelyonly figurative? adde, That if this be figurative, other things annexed are alſo figurative, and nothing plain; and this were to make a chaos and confuſion of the Scriptures: It grieveth me to ſpend time, when matters are ſo evident. Of like nature is that which you groſly hold, that There is no Reſurrection of the body; Read 1 Cor. 15. Dan. 12.2. Rev. 20.12,13,14. It irketh me to write in ſuch caſes.
Whereas you ſay, The Saints are Chriſt, one with God, their Being God; What godly ear can hear ſuch things, without defiance and abomination: If Saints are ſo, if you are ſo, then are you without ſin, as Chriſt, Omnipotent, Omniſcient, Infinite, to be worſhipped and adored as God and Chriſt is. I will ſpit at this, and ſay no more.
I underſtand alſo, that you can determine of the holy Scriptures, that much of them is written with a humane ſpirit, can take or take not for Scripture, or meaning of Scripture, onelyonly by the Rule of an apprehenſion and Revelation of the Spirit, which you ſuppoſe your ſelf to be guided by, and to have more of then the Apoſtles had. The ſame Spirit which told you, that much of the Scripture was written with a humane Spirit, may haply tell you at another time, that all the Scripture is written with a humane Spirit, that there is no certainty therein; yield to one, yield to all: But we know that the Prophets and Apoſtles did all write, as guided by the Spirit of God, 2 Pet. 1. ult. 2 Pet. 3. Joh. 17. Rev. 21. He that receiveth you, receiveth me, John 13.
Now over and above all this, there are other horrid things in your Book, which I have not ſeen, and Satan hath been let looſe to ſhut you up, and to impriſon you in your monſtrous Hereſies, by gates and bars, and to fetter and chain you up, that all means might be fruſtrate, whereby we might have hope to bring you forth: For if any thing from Scripture or Reaſon is brought againſt your Opinions, which you cannot anſwer, you can ſhift it off with this, That you do not ſo apprehend; thinking your apprehenſion to be infallible, and above Reaſon or Scripture: How came you by ſuch an apprehenſion? By what means came you to know that it is infallibly directed, or may you not be praefident, in thinking it to be ſo, when it is not? But ſurely, no Saint or Martyr ſince the Apoſtles, ever challenged to themſelves ſuch an apprehenſion, for ought I finde: And we are all commanded to regulate our apprehenſions by the Scripture, and not to judge the Scriptures by ungrounded apprehenſions: Thy word is a light unto my paths, Pſal. 119. 2 Pet. 2. Mat. 4. for otherwiſe any Heretique may juſtifie himſelf by his apprehenſion, and there would be no way to confute Error. The Apoſtles themſelves, though infallibly directed, yet would ſubject their Doctrine to the tryal of the Scripture, as in the Bereans, and prove it unto others by the Scripture, Rom. 9. Gal. 4. Furthermore, in theſe days we cannot tell, That our apprehenſions are guided by the Spirit, but by the light of Scripture: You will ſay, It is ſo with you, but how will you prove it to your ſelf or others? why may it not be the Spirit of Satan, which you think to be the Spirit of God? I dare be bold to ſay, It is the Spirit of Satan, and not of God, that ſo directeth apprehenſions, as not under the direction of the Word.
Dear Siſter, with whom I have had ſweet communion in the ways of God, let us not now part at laſt, divided in Faith, Eternally divided: Were you not in the Faith before you fell into theſe Opinions? and did you not then write unto me, that you had full Aſſurance? Is all then loſt, and nothing that was before, that you have changed your Faith and your Religion? Is the Doctrine of your Reverend Father, and of Dr. Twiſſe, and the Doctrine of the holy Martyrs, now at laſt diſcovered to be Error, whom the Apocalyps doth expreſly ſtile the Witneſſes of Truth? Whither will you run, dear Siſter, from your Parents, Friends, Church, Chriſt, God, and life Eternal? Have you no more ſtrength, but at the firſt aſſault to yield the Bucklers, and to give over your Faith, ſo long profeſſed, at the firſt puſh? If you had not Reaſon enough your ſelf, yet why did you not firſt enquire of thoſe that might have holpen you? I would rather a hundred times you had periſhed by the Sword, then have thus faln, diſhonored God and your Profeſſion, and weakened the people of the Lord, and ſhamed all your Friends, and laid up treaſures of Correction for your Poſterity, and put your ſelf in a ſuſpitious way, at leaſt, of loſing the heavenly Inheritance; Let me tell you plainly, I doubt there was ſome grievous ſin at bottom, as the Pride of Women, or Spiritual Pride, or ſomething elſe, that God hath ſuffered you ſo horribly to fall away: Search your ſelf, pray, repent, humble your ſelf, and turn betime. The inſtruments I know not who they were; but I dare ſay, That in this particular they were meſſengers of Satan; they might pretend to you ſingular Sanctity, and deceive you, by carrying themſelves as if they dropped down from Heaven, and came out of the boſom of God: But all is not Gold that gliſtereth; both you and they, by reaſon of joys and raviſhments conceived in the Spirit, may think your ſelves to be in the arms of God, and yet at laſt you may finde your ſelves in the very arms of the Devil, who knoweth how to transform himſelf into an Angel of light, being cunning to deceive. I could give Examples to declare this; I ſhould rather rejoyce to hear, that you were a mourner, poor in Spirit, and hungring and thirſting after Righteouſneſs, ſo ſhould I know you to be in the very ready way to the Kingdom of Glory, Matth. 5. This is the ſtate of Chriſtians here on earth, even thoſe that have the moſt Aſſurance: The more Grace, the better they think of others, the meaner of themſelves; abaſing themſelves for the remnants of ſin they finde behinde, and mourning after more holines in way of mortificatiō. They which are not in an humbling way, are not in the way of Heaven. O Siſter! you ſeem to be lifted up, as if you were a goddeſs, and as if all ſhould bow unto you, as ſingularly beloved above others, yea as Chriſt himſelf, 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 ſelf betime? Your ſtate requireth ſharp and haſty Remedies; bear with me therefore, that I ſharpen my ſtile, to pull you out of the fire, wherein you are already flaming.
Your affectation and writing of Aſſurance did not formerly ſo well ſavor, and your printing of a Book, beyond the cuſtom of your Sex, doth rankly ſmell; but the exaltation of your ſelf in the way of your Opinions, is above all: God will never tolerate pride in his beloved ones be ſure, and therefore I fear ſome afterclaps. Hear me, dear Siſter, renounce, caſt off the Maſters and Fomentors of your Hereſies, never receive their Letters any more, never anſwer them, never admit them unto houſe, ſend 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 onelyonly ſo far as you finde your heart to be humbly upon God in Chriſt, as the chiefeſt thing, in the way of his Truth, and in the way of all his Commandments, according to the ſincerity of Evangelical endeavor. Your heart may be upon your own advancement above others, and not on God, unleſs you look unto it. Your new Maſters and Companions in Hereſie, ſpeak fairly to you, and flatter you, and advance, and ſet you up on high, & this is pleaſing to the fleſh; and when you are entangled in their Net, you are unwilling to diſpleaſe them, they are as cloſe unto you as the Ivy to the wall, and you cannot eaſily be ſeperated. A man that flattereth his neighbor, layeth a ſnare for his feet, Prov. 29.5. O Siſter, fly far from the houſe and corner of theſe men and women, that lie in wait for your poor ſoul! Do you not plainly ſee, that Satan is looſed in theſe times, and that there are many Hereſies ſcattered amongſt Profeſſors, which you your ſelf do diſallow? why do you not ſuſpect your ſelf? I have endeavored, from the love of you, and from the deſire of the welfare of your ſoul, to put my one eye unto the work, and to write theſe lines unto you; the Lord God onelyonly can give ſucceſs: And I pray our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, That you may be turned, otherwiſe you ſeem to be in a ſuſpitious way, and in great danger to be a loſt woman, a loſt Siſter, and loſt eternally.(a)Here (as yet appeareth by his Letter) he had concluded; but upon ſecond thoughts proceeds.
I cannot tell how to make an end, it is a buſineſs of ſuch importance that I am about, and your Spiritual welfare is ſo much deſired. I cannot yet but comfortably hope, That God will bring you back again unto the Truth; I will therefore anſwer ſome Objections to facilitate your return.
Firſt, you may think, that It was not likely that God ſhould caſt you into Error all this while, ſeeing you had immediately before ſo much communion with him, and love unto him. But had not your Father and others as much love to God as you, and as much experience of his goodneſs, whom he did never caſt into ſuch Opinions? And if you had ſuch experience of Gods goodneſs, 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 ſo much witneſſed unto? But Siſter, you are a weak woman, and ignorant of the wiles of Satan, and may eaſily be lifted up; ſo that although I do hope that you had ſome true communion with God, yet I do believe that it was exceedingly mixed with Spiritual pride, for which God hath been angry with you, and hath given you up to Hereſies, as was ſaid before. Some Chriſtians, by reaſon of their joys and raptures, have gotten lofty eyes, and eye-lids, highly lifted up above their brethren, cenſuring them, ſlighting, contemning them in compariſon of themſelves, 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 ſingularity of communion and enlargements above others, and ſeem to themſelves as Angels, in compariſon of others, great in their own conceits, not mourners in the ſenſe of their own filthineſs and indigency, nor thinking others better then themſelves. This God hateth and abhorreth in all Chriſtians, and will ſurely puniſh it; humble therefore your ſelf for this ſin, and any other, and be ſure that God in the way of returning will accept you. And indeed my hope is, That God hath ſuffered you to fall, that he might do you infinite good thereby, and bring you nearer, and more purely to himſelf 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 ſake in Chriſt.
Secondly, 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. But dear Siſter, have you ſo much reſpect to your new upſtart friends, and it may be with whoſe ſpirits you were never throughly acquainted, as for their ſakes to neglect your old and ſure friends, your Father, Mother, Husband, Brothers, Siſter, Uncles, and all the reſt? But if they are in Error, as I have ſhewed them to be, will you follow them to Hell? I pray you harden your face againſt them as braſs, and ſet your countenance as iron; and be not ſo weak, and childiſh, and flexible, as to yield to your own deſtruction: ſay as that worthy Convert did, unto his following old ſociety, when he turning, ſaid, Ego non ſum Ego, I am not the man that I was.
Thirdly, this will be another block in the way, That your Opinions are in print. But Siſter, (alas, alas) by reaſon 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 Apoſtates: Redeem your name and credit amongſt Saints, which now is loſt, by proteſting againſt that horrid Book, and by humbling your ſelf for an attempt above your gifts and Sex.
Fourthly, there is yet another block or hindrance to your return, which I doubt will be ſtronger then any before-mentioned, whereby Satan hath you as it were in chains of iron, and hopeth ſo to hold you, that you ſhall never be able to get out: But yet the Lord Jeſus Chriſt is able to break the fetters of iron, and chains of braſs; and therefore hoping in his Mercy, I will ſay ſomething: Satan will tell you, dear Siſter, That Your Opinions are upon your Conſcience, and you have given way unto them upon Conſcience, and you have had long, and ſweet, and heavenly raptures in the way of them, and have put off thereby all your former doubts, and fears, and ſervility: Will you deny your Opinions ſo long profeſſed? will you go againſt your Conſcience therein, at leaſt with a doubting Conſcience? will you return to your former fears and ſlaveries, and call again your ſtate into queſtion? Will you now become a creeper, who were in way of your Opinions advanced unto Heaven? yea, Will you now become meaner and lower then the meaner ſort of Chriſtians, by profeſsing your ſelf to have all this while been miſcarried and miſguided by an evil Spirit? O Siſter, you have gone by fancy and not by Reaſon, by an ungrounded apprehenſion and not by Scripture, by a Conſcience without a Rule, made by Conceit, and not by the Word of God; ground your conſcience by the word, and harden your Spirit like ſteel, to break that conſcience that hath been grounded upon vanity, upon conceit, and fancy and imagination, upon which you did not ground your conſcience before you fell, neither your worthy Father, nor any of the holy Martyrs, which are ſurely gone to Heaven, as the Apocalyps doth teſtifie. All Scriptures are evidently againſt you, and the profeſſion of all the Church before you: If Satan hath made his pills of death ſweet unto you, and hath covered them with delight, and made you vainly to believe, That it is God and Chriſt that dwelleth in you, working ſuch heavenly refreſhments, will you take them down unto your deſtruction? The longer you have yielded, ſo much the more haſty be to break off, leſt you be confirmed in a pernicious way: Fear not to return to the truth; it is better to go in way of truth with ſome doubts and fears, then in way of Hereſie to periſh: And the more low and mean Chriſtian you ſhall be in your own eyes, the higher ſhall you be in the eyes of God, and of all good Chriſtians. Some haſte too faſt in putting off their fears; let God put them off in way of truth and Scripture, or not at all: It is often beſt for Chriſtians to be under ſome fears, that they may be humble, that they may fight, and overcome, and be crowned; that in way of Mortification, they may make their Calling and Election ſure; and if you ſhall return, all Saints will meet you, and rejoyce with you, yea the Angels will rejoyce for you, and Chriſt himſelf, For this my childe was dead, but ſhe is alive again; ſhe was loſt, but ſhe is found again.
Fifthly, Satan may ſay unto you, that If you ſhall renounce your Opinions, you ſhall have no ground to ſtand upon, you ſhall juſtly queſtion whether you had ever Grace or no, you ſhall deſpair. But Siſter, you had well-grounded Aſſurance before you fell into theſe Errors; I am witneſs my ſelf thereof, to whom you writ to that effect. A Saint may fall, and groſly be deceived for a time, onelyonly he ſhall return again; he may not be dead, but aſleep onelyonly: So I do perſwade my ſelf of you, though I have written ſomewhat roughly, to awaken you the more. O that I might hear that you were returned; you have no cauſe to deſpair, but onelyonly to be humbled: and this I hope is the onelyonly end of the Divine permiſſion. Return to your former Principles, dear Siſter, with confeſſion and repentance, therein live and dye, and I doubt not but that you ſhall live with Chriſt for ever; but if you never had grace, yet there is no cauſe of deſpairing, foraſmuch as grace is freely offered at all times to them that do come in by Faith and true Repentance, through the blood of Chriſt; onelyonly it muſt be ſuch a Faith, and ſuch a Repentance, whereby we cleave to God in Chriſt, as the chiefeſt good, and in the way of ſincere endeavor of all Obedience, and of forſaking every oppoſite thing.
You cannot now but take ſo large a Letter, from a Brother, ſo defective and weak in ſight, and ſo much otherwiſe employed, to be an Argument of great deſire of the welfare of your ſoul, and of the importance and neceſſity of your condition. The Lord God grant, for Chriſts ſake, that my labor may not be in vain. Salute all my friends as named, my dear Brother your Husband; thanking you for all kindeneſſes, I reſt,
Newbury, Novem. 1648. Your loving Brother, THO: PARKER.
FINIS.
End of the text · Thomas Parker, Letter to Elizabeth Avery (1650)