Isaac Crewdson

“ He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: He that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son."
Now what is "the record which God hath given of his Son?" Is it not the whole written revelation of the Spirit of God, concerning Jesus Christ our Lord, as the one appointed way to eternal life? ”

“ Resurrection of the Body.
"The body returns to the dust,—to the bosom of its mother earth, and there it lies in eternal quiet—and it is not accountable to God; for it is not in bones to think, or flesh to reason." ”

“ In reviewing such subtle delusions, we cannot enough adore the wisdom and goodness of God, in addressing to our understanding a written revelation of his will, which we are bound to receive as the gracious message of God to us, to teach us the mind of the Spirit, as our sole appeal and ultimate rule of faith and duty, and as a guide to the Christian Church to the end of time. ”

“ But after rejecting the authority of the revelation of the Spirit in Holy Scripture, the atonement made for sin by Jesus Christ is boldly denied; and transgressors against the righteous law of an infinitely pure and holy God, are invited to risk the safety of the never dying soul on the deistical notion furnished by Satan, from the perversion of Scriptural truth, (and therefore the more subtle and dangerous) that all men in the world, believers and unbelievers, are in possession of a principle, independent of the Gospel, sufficient for them to secure the favour of God, and eternal life! ”

“ The Scripture lays the foundation of the Christian life, not in Quietism, but in believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.—"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." But though it is a plain doctrine, that our good works are not the ground of our acceptance with God; the Scripture, nevertheless, cogently exhorts the believer to good works,—the genuine fruit and evidence of true faith ”

“ But through the instrumentality of man, both in preaching the Gospel and spreading his written revelation, the Holy Spirit is still pleased to work, for the conversion of kingdoms, and nations, and tongues, and people: so that, to this day we have, on a large scale, a practical comment on the words of our Lord, "Go ye and teach all nations;" and on the words of the Apostle, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God?" ”

“ When we speak to the natives [Indians] of our country, we have reason to suppose that they have a higher sense of this divine light of God in the soul, than the professors of Christianity generally have. They appeal to it in all cases respecting the soul. They appeal to it abundantly, as I have witnessed among those with whom I have had converse; especially those who have never had intercourse with any, except their own nation.—The religion of Christ and the Gospel is one in all the nations of the earth. ”

“ In contemplating that desolating heresy, which, in the United States of America, has lately swept thousands after thousands of our small section of the Christian Church, into the gulf of Hicksism and Deism,—a heresy, in proportion to our numbers, probably unparalleled in extent in the history of the Church of Christ,—it may be useful to bring before the view of our Society in this country, some of the errors that have led to such fatal results. ”

“ Quietude sometimes delusive.
"Is it possible that by our own exertions, we could bring ourselves into this quiet? No! by no ability of our own could we effect it. Then have we not reason to attribute to Almighty God this quietude and stillness; which I consider a very great mercy." p. 147.
How easy is it for man to delude himself, when he does not take the Scripture for his guide! What is meant by "this quiet?" Can the "peace of God" be experienced by any but the regenerate; and can they be "renewed in the spirit of their minds," who believe not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? ”

“ To the words of the Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia, which in the "Declaration" set forth the danger of the first steps in this insidious course, we cannot but often recur, whilst contemplating this awful delusion, which under the persuasion of following the light within, and professing a recurrence to first principles, goes even to the denying of the Lord who bought us.
To the sincere desire, that there may be a recurring to first principles, every true Christian must respond; but how dangerous is it to suppose, that they are any where to be found except in the "oracles of God." ”

“ The name of Jesus is nothing but the power of God, and the wisdom of God. And that it is so, we find from abundance of testimonies in the Inspired Writings: but the translators were not inspired men, for they declared against inspiration. Here then, as we have been told, we must come to a revelation in our hearts, to assure us what is right or wrong; [2] and the Scriptures in their fullest extent, can go no farther than to recommend us to God, the one thing needful. And no true minister ever attempted any further, than to recommend to this light and spirit of God. ”

“ Or, if we unhappily flatter ourselves, that we have the knowledge of the will of God, independently of the written revelation by which it has pleased him to convey it, we lay ourselves open to the delusion of the Devil; who, in the guise of an angel of light, may then readily prevail upon us to receive as the truth of God, whatever suggestions most comport with our particular bent of mind. ”

“ Now we see that all the holy men of old, have signified this to us in plain terms.—'Cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed.' All these are required, for till we do every thing in our power, by every means put in our hands, we shall not find support from God.—Then, not till then:—'Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.'—What bounty! ”

“ What do we know of God, beyond that which he has been pleased to reveal to us in the Scriptures? The proud curiosity of man is not gratified by having it declared to him, in what manner God deals with those, to whom his testimonies have not been given: nor has it pleased God to shew us, the reason why men are employed to open the eyes of their fellow men, and diffuse the knowledge of salvation,—to sow, to plant, and to water,—rather than that this knowledge should be communicated immediately from himself. ”

“ Here again we learn the great and deep wisdom of Almighty Goodness and Mercy, that he does not make one law for all men. But the divine life makes a rule in every mind, and gives a law that will counteract all the evil propensities of the mind. ”

“ For when they are sincere, the sincerity of the heart will plead for them. But when they come into the true Christian state, they will see that it is impossible for any written book to be the rule of faith and practice, for the letter killeth, and never yet made one true Christian. Don't you suppose now that Jesus Christ, that was the greatest teacher that ever was on earth, could have written better Scripture than all that was ever written, or can be written? ”

“ The inefficacy of all human means, without divine aid, is admitted by all true Christians; but that human means are employed and made effectual, through divine aid, in bringing men to the knowledge of God, and of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, is written as with a sunbeam in the inspired pages of the Gospel revelation. ”

“ We must come back to this passive point, this childlike state;—we must come back and settle down in a state of passivity* to the divine will,—in a state of innocency; and when we have made acknowledgement of all our sins, when we have suffered just repentance for our offences, and the displeasure which we have incurred, we shall see and experience goodness and mercy of a gracious God.—He that repents, though guilty of the greatest sins, they are forgiven him; because the Almighty never asks pay, but only that we should give up our will. ”

“ The great deception appears to have originated in the assumption, that we are authorised to expect to be taught the true knowledge of God and of his salvation,—our duty to him, and to our fellow-men, immediately by the Spirit, independently of his revelation through the Scriptures,—an assumption which is unsupported by Scripture, contradicted by fact, and one which renders its votaries a prey to many fatal delusions. ”

“ We believe it right to bear our decided testimony against such principles, as tending to destroy all faith in the fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion, and to break asunder the bands of civil and religious society. ”

“ And when we come to this principle, this gift of grace, this light, there is no necessity for us to be careful about what we will believe, and what we wont believe; because nothing can give us a true belief but this light. ”

“ You must know this for yourselves, as nothing which you read in the Scriptures can give you a sense of his saving and almighty power.—Now, the only begotten, is what the power of God begets in the soul, by the soul uniting with the visitations of divine love, it becomes like a union,—the soul submits and yields itself up to God, and the revelation of his power, and thus it becomes wedded to him as its heavenly husband. ”

“ If we have been made partakers of the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ, let us, whilst acknowledging that God is righteous in all his ways, earnestly seek to diffuse that blessed Gospel, from which we receive such incalculable benefit in this life, and such bright hopes with regard to that which is to come. ”

“ Prayer.
Some will get so into the popular current, that they will go to work the work of God, by the help and command of man. And I have known some say to a brother, pray! Now, what presumption! It is taking the seat of God immediately, and presuming to be God, and to be exalted above all that is called God, and worshipped. '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," and not man. Should man undertake to do a single thing in God's work, without the command of God? ”

“ It may be further observed, that a most important distinction exists, between the law written merely in the memory, and the law written in the heart; for a man may perfectly remember a law which he dislikes, and which harasses him, but which, nevertheless, he refuses to obey. Is it, therefore, proper, to recommend men indiscriminately, whether believers or unbelievers, to obey the law written in their hearts? This may perhaps appear more obvious if we consider the two following questions. 1st,—Did the Lord Jesus Christ, or his Apostles, ever give this indiscriminate recommendation? ”

“ It is only by gathering to this light that we can gain a place in his favour, and by endeavouring that all our actions should proceed from the movings of this life in the immortal soul—and as this comes to be our case we gain reconciliation with the Father. ”

“ Besides the palpable errors we have enumerated, Elias Hicks and his adherents deny that mankind sustain any loss through the fall of Adam, asserting that children come into the world precisely in the condition he did.—"Belief," with them, "is no virtue, and unbelief no crime:" and however at times they may make high pretensions to the divine light, it is evident that the guide which they follow is their own benighted reason. ”

“ We are not surprised that persons holding the opinions which they do, relating to the great truths of Christian redemption, should undervalue and endeavour to destroy the authority of the Holy Scriptures. For so long as they are admitted to be a test of doctrine all their pretended revelations which contradict the testimony of the Sacred Record, are properly condemned as "unsound and spurious." ”

“ And what encouragement my friends we receive through this medium, when we are brought by the light into a feeling of unity with our great pattern, Jesus Christ, and with God our Creator, O see how we come up into an equality with him. ”