esteem in the Church 1 Cor. 6. So here it is clear the Church of Christ has a Judgment in the Power and Spirit of God not only to Judge in things that pertain to this life but are also to Judge of things betwixt Brethren without Brother going to Law with Brother before Unbelievers which was a fault and to be Judged if they did so But also the Saints have a Judgment to judge Angels that kept not their Habitations and the World And as in Jude He judged the Angels that kept not their habitations their first state And did not he Judge in Divine Matters here and judged the state of Cain and Balaam and Core and such like Christians that were gotten into their steps and were gone as far as they was though they professed themselves Christians And here again he judged in Divine Matters and of their States and Beings who stood in the Divine Principle and who were fallen from it And the Apostle saith Try the spirits and believe not every spirit 1 John 4. And here again was a Judgment in Divine Matters And he judged such as went out from them which whilst they were with them they had sight of things and openings but when they went from them they went from the Anointing and therefore he exhorts the Saints to keep to the Anointing And such as went from them that had the Anointing came to be the Seducers and false Prophets that went into the World And John had a Judgment to try Sacrifices and distinguished Cains from Abels and by the Spirit of God knew which God accepted and which he did not accept as in 1 John 3.12 And the Apostle Paul judged and tried such Messengers and Apostles and Transformers of themselves like to the Apostles of Christ and would have the Church to try such and have the same Judgment as he had 2 Cor. 11. And the Apostle Peter Judged Ananias and Sapphira and judged the Thoughts of Simon Magus who would have been a worker of Miracles for money and was not all this Judgment in Divine Matters And the Apostle Paul Judged the Preachers of Circumcision both in the Romans and in the Galatians For it was the Faith and Liberty of those Preachers to preach up Circumcision though it was a wrong Faith And here did not the Apostle again Judge in Divine Matters And James Judged in Matters of Faith and manifested the living Faith from the dead one And also he Judged in Matters of Religion the vain Religion from the pure Religion and distinguished them And Paul Judged of the false Brethren that would spy out the liberty of the true to whom he would give no place by subjection no not for an hour that the Truth of the Gospel might continue with the Saints as in Gal. 2. And did not the Apostle here Judge in Divine Matters And he Judged concerning the Matters of the Gospel when some came to pervert them with another Gospel and said The Gospel which I received is not of Man neither was I taught it but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ Gal. 1.12 So here was a Judgment to distinguish the Gospel of Christ from all other Gospels which was Accursed which is after Man and received of Man and taught of Man and not by the Revelation of Jesus Christ Gal. 1. And he had a Judgment to know Who made the Gospel Chargeable and who kept it without Charge And he set up a Judgment in the Church that the Believers should not be unequally yoked and to see when Men had a Communion in the Light and when they had it in the Darkness and when with Christ and when with Baal and with the Believer and Vnbeliever and with the Temple of God and with Idols as in 2 Cor. 6. And did he not set up a clear Judgment here in Divine Matters in the Church And the Apostle Judged such Libertines through their knowledge that could sit at Meat in the Idol-Temple which caused the weak Brother to perish through his knowledge and liberty for whom Christ died Now these it 's like did profess it was their Faith and their Liberty but did not keep in the Unity of the true Faith but went about to destroy it 1 Cor. 8. And Peter he gives Judgment upon the Angels that sinned and were cast down into Hell and the state of the Old World and of Sodom and the state of the false Prophets then amongst them that could speak great swelling words of vanity and whilst they promised themselves liberty they themselves were the Servants of Corruptions And had not Peter here a Judgment in Divine Matters These were such whose work was to bring into bondage and these was like the Dog and Sow that was washed which shews that they had been washed but was turned into the Mire again And the Apostle Paul had a Judgment upon such with their fair words and mens wisdom that deceived the hearts of the simple and upon such as served not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own Bellies and were Enemies to the Cross of Christ And therefore he had a Judgment and Discerning who lived in the Cross of Christ and who did not and exhorted all to live in the Cross of Christ the righteous Power of God that slew all Deceit and the Deeds of the Old Man agreeable to Christ's words He that will be my Disciple must take up my Cross and follow me And was not here a Judgment again in Divine Matters and of such as walk in the Divine Power and such as did not And Christ sets up a Judgment in his seven Churches and commends them that did keep in his Judgment and had tried them which said They were Apostles which might pretend they were sent of God and Christ and were not But the Church of Christ had found them Liars And Christ Commended this Judgment of the Church of Ephesus because they had Not born with them that was evil but had tried those false Apostles And Christ commends this Church for that they had hated the deeds of the Nicholaitans which he also hated And had not these Nicholaitans sprung from Nicholas one of the Deacons and was not these become a Sect of Christians though they might talk and preach of Christ but Christ hated them And likewise Christ saith to the Church of Smyrna I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews but are not but are of the Synagogue of Satan So the Church is to have a Judgment upon these blasphemers and are to distinguish from the Jews in the Spirit and such as are not but of the Synagogue of Satan And to the Church in Pergamos Christ had a few things against them because thou hast there them that hold the Doctrines of Balaam c. And also them that hold the Doctrine of the Nicholaitans which I hate Now these that held the Doctrine of Balaam and the Doctrine of the Nicholaitans were got into the Church and might have lookt upon
and see if they could get a full Discharge for her that she might enjoy her Estate and Liberty without Molestation This was somewhat difficult at first to get but by diligent Attendance on it they at length obtained it the King giving Command to one called Sir John Otway to signifie his Pleasure therein by Letter to the Sheriff and others concerned therein in the Country Which Letter Sarah Fell going down with her Brother and Sister Rous carried with her to Lancaster and by them I writ to my Wife as followeth My Dear Heart in the Truth and Life that changeth not IT was upon me that Mary Lower and Sarah should go to the King concerning thy Imprisonment and to Kirby that the Power of the Lord might appear over them all in thy Deliverance They went and then they thought to have come down but it was upon me to stay them a little longer that they might follow the Business till it was Effected which it now is and is here sent down The late Declaration of mine hath been very serviceable People being generally satisfied with it So no more but my Love in the Holy Seed G. F. The Declaration here mentioned was a Printed Sheet writ upon occasion of a New Persecution stirred up For by that time I was got back out of Leicestershire to London a fresh Storm was Risen occasioned as it was thought by that Tumultuous Meeting in a Steeple-house in Wiltshire or Gloucestershire mentioned a little before where a Contest happening between a Presbyterian-Priest and the Priest of the Parish with their Hearers on either side the Common-Prayer-Book was Cut to pieces and other great Disorders committed 1670. London From which it was said some Members of Parliament took Advantage to get that Act passed against Seditious Conventicles which soon after came forth and was turned against us who of all People were free from Sedition and Tumult Whereupon I writ the Declaration before mentioned shewing from the Preamble and Terms of the said Act That we were not such a People nor our Meetings such Meetings as were described in that Act. Beside that Declaration I writ also another short Paper on the occasion of that Act against Meetings opening our Case to the Magistrates as followeth O Friends Consider this Act which limits us to Five that but Five may Meet Is this To do as ye would be done by Would ye be so served your selves We own Christ Jesus as well as you both his Coming Death and Resurrection and if we be Contrary-minded to you in some things is not this the Apostle's Exhortation to Wait till God hath Revealed it Doth not he say What is not of Faith is Sin And seeing we have not Faith in things which ye would have us to do would it not be Sin in us if we should do contrary to our Faith And why should any Man have Power â—ver any other Man's Faith seeing Christ is the Author of it When the Apostles did preach in the Name of Jesus and great Multitudes heard them and the Rulers forbad them to speak any more in that Name did not they bid them Judge Whether it were better to obey God or Man Would not this Act have taken hold of the Twelve Apostles and Seventy Disciples for they Met often together And if there had been an Act or Law made then That not above Five should have met with Christ would not that have been an hindring him from Meeting with his Disciples And do ye think that he who is the Wisdom of God or his Disciples would have obeyed it If such a Law had been made in the Apostles days That not above Five might have met together who had been different-minded from either the Jews or the Gentiles Do ye think the Churches of Christ at Corinth Philippi Ephesus Thessalonica or the rest of the Gathered Churches would have Obeyed it O therefore consider For we are Christians and partake of the Nature and Life of Christ. And strive not to Limit the Holy One for God's Power cannot be limited and is not to be quenched And do unto all men as ye would have them do unto you for that is the Law and the Prophets This is from those who wish you all well and desire your Everlasting Good and Prosperity who are called Quakers who seek the Peace and Good of all People though they do Afflict us and cause us to suffer G. F. Now as I had endeavoured to soften the Magistrates and to take off the Sharpness of their Edge in the Execution of the Act so it was upon me to write a few Lines to Friends To strengthen and encourage them to stand fast in their Testimony and bear with Christian Patience and Content the Suffering that was coming upon them This I did in the following Epistle ALL my Dear Friends Keep in the Faith of God above all outward things and in his Power that hath given you Dominion over all The same Power of God is still with you to deliver you as formerly for God and his Power is the same and his Seed is over all and before all and will be when that which makes to suffer is gone And so be of good Faith in that which Changeth not for whatsoever any doth against the Truth it will come upon themselves and fall as a Milstone on their Heads And if so be that the Lord do suffer you to be Tried let all be given up and look at the Lord and his Power which is over the whole World and will be when the World is gone And in the Lord's Power and Truth Rejoice Friends over that which makes to suffer in the Seed which was before it was for the Life and Truth and the Power of God is over all And all keep in that and if ye do suffer in that it is to the Lord. Friends the Lord hath blessed you in Outward Things and now the Lord may Try you Whether your Minds be in the Outward Things or with the Lord that gave you them Therefore keep in the Seed by which all Outward Things were made and which is over them all What! shall not I pray and speak to God with my Face towards Heavenly Jerusalem according to my wonted Time And let not any one 's Dalilah shave his Head lest such lose their Strength neither Rest in its Lap lest the Philistines be upon you For your Rest is in Christ Jesus therefore Rest not in any thing else London the 12th of the 2d Month 1670. G. F. On the First Day of the Week next after the Act came in force I went to the Meeting at Grace-Church-Street Gracious-Street-Meeting where I expected the Storm was most likely to begin When I came there I found the Street full of People and a Guard set to keep Friends out of their Meeting-house I went thereupon to the other Passage that goes out of Lombard-Street and there also I found a Guard but the Court was full of People
that of Angels as the Scriptures of the Old Testament do in many places express as to Abraham Jacob c. The next was that of the Law by Moses which was also delivered by Angels as the Apostle tells us This Dispensation was much outward and suited to a low and servil State called therefore that of a School-Master to point out and prepare that People to look and long for the Messiah who would deliver them from the servitude of a Ceremonious and imperfect Dispensation by knowing the Realities of those Misterious Representations in themselves In this time the Law was written on Stone the Temple built with Hands attended with an outward Priest-hood and External Rites and Ceremonies that were Shadows of the Good Things that were to come and were only to serve till the Seed came or the more excellent and general manifestation of Christ to whom was the Promise and to all Men only in him in whom it was Yea and Amen even Life from Death Immortality and Eternal Life This the Prophets foresaw and comforted the believing Jews in the certainty of it which was the Top of the Mosaical Dispensation and which ended in John's Ministry the Forerunner of the Messiah as John's was finished in him the Fullness of all And God that at sundry Times and in divers manners had spoken to the Fathers by his Servants the Prophets Spoak then by his Son Chrâ—st Jesus Who is Heir of all things being the Gospel-Day which is the Dispensation of Sonship Bringing in thereby a nearer Testament and a better hope even the beginning of the Glory of the latter days and of the Restitution of all things yea the Restoration of the Kingdom unto Israel Now the Spirit that was more sparingly communicated in former Dispensations began to be Poured forth upon all Flesh according to the Prophet Joel and the Light that shined in Darkness or but dimly before the most gracious God caused to Shine out of Darkness and the Day-star began to arise in the Hearts of Believers giving unto them the knowledge of God in the Face or Appearance of his Son Christ Jesus Now the Poor in Spirit the Meek the true Mourners the Hungry and Thirsty after Righteousness the Peace-makers the Pure in Heart the Merciful and the Persecuted came more especially in Remembrance before the Lord and were sought out and blessed by Israel's true Shepherd Old Jerusalem with her Children grew out of Date and the New Jerusalem into Request the Mother of the Sons of the Gospel-Day Wherefore no more at Old Jerusalem nor at the Mountain of Samaria will God be worshipped above other places for behold he is declared and preached a Spirit and he will be known as such and worshipped in the Spirit and in the Truth He will come nearer then of old time and he will write his Law in the Heart and put his Fear and Spirit in the inward parts according to his promise Then Signs Types and Shadows flew away the Day having discovered their Insufficiency in not reaching to the inside of the Cup to the cleansing of the Conscience and all Elementary services were expired in and and by him that is the substance of all And to this Great and Blessed End of the Dispensation of the Son of God did the Apostles Testifie whom he had chosen and anointed by his Spirit to turn the Jews from their Prejudice and Superstition and the Gentiles from their Vanity and Idolatry to Christ's Light and Spirit that shined in them that they might be quickned from the Sins and Trespasses in which they were Dead to serve the Living God in the Newness of the Spirit of Life and walk as Children of the Light and of the Day even the Day of Holiness For such put on Christ the Light of the World and make no more Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof So that the Light Spirit and Grace that comes by Christ and appears in Man was what the Apostles ministred from and turned Peoples Minds unto and in which they gathered and built up the Churches of Christ in their Day For which cause they advised them not to quench the Spirit but wait for the Spirit and Speak by the Spirit and Pray by the Spirit and Walk in the Spirit too as that which approved them the truly begotten Children of God born not of Flesh and Blood or of the will of Man but of the will of God by doing his will and denying their own by drinking of Christ's Cup and being Baptized with his Baptism of Self-denial The Way and Path that all the Heirs of Life have trod to Blessedness But alas even in the Apostles Days those bright Stars of the first Magnitude of the Gospel Light some Clouds foretelling an Eclipse of this Primitive Glory began to appear and several of them gave early Caution of it to the Christians of their Time that even then there was and yet would be more and more a falling away from the Power of Godliness and the Purity of that Spiritual Dispensation by such as sought to make a fair shew in the Flesh but with whom the offence of the Cross ceased Yet with this comfortable Conclusion that they saw beyond it a more glorious Time than ever to the true Church Their sight was true and what they foretold to the Churches gathered by them in the Name and Power of Jesus came so to pass For Christians degenerated a-pace into outsides as Days and Meats and divers other Cerimonies And which was worse they fell into Strife and Contention about them separating one from another then Envying and as they had Power Persecuting one another to the shame and scandal of their common Christianity and grievous stumbling and offence of the Heathen among whom the Lord had so long and so marvellously preserved them And having got at last the Worldly Power into their Hands by Kings and Emperors embracing the Christian Profession they changed what they could the Kingdom of Christ which is not of this World into a Worldly Kingdom or at least stiled the Worldly Kingdom that was in their Hands the Kingdom of Christ and so they became Worldly and not true Christians Then Humane Inventions and Novelties both in Doctrine and Worship crowded fast into the Church a Door being opened thereunto by the Grossness and Carnality that appeared then among the generality of Christians who had long since left the Guidance of God's meek and heavenly Spirit and given themselves up to Superstition Will-worship and Voluntary Humility And as Superstition is Blind so it is Heady and Furious for all must stoop to its blind and boundless Zeal or Perish by it In the Name of the Spirit persecuting the very appearance of the Spirit of God in others and opposing that in them which they resisted in themselves viz. the Light Grace and Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ but always under the Notion of Innovation Heresie Schism or some such plausible Name Though Christianity
Vnconsecrated Bread and VVine in a safe Place with a sure VVatch upon it and let Trial thus be made VVhether the Consecrated Bread and VVine would not lose its Goodness and the Bread grow dry and mouldy and the VVine turn dead and sour as well and as soon as that which was Vnconsecrated By this means said I the Truth of this matter may be made manifest And if the Consecrated Bread and VVine change not but retain their Savour and Goodness this may be a Means to draw many to your Church If they change decay and lose their Goodness then ought you to confess and forsake your Error and shed no more Blood about it for much Blood hath been shed about these things as in Queen Mary's Days To this the Jesuit made this Reply Take said he a piece of New Cloth and cut it into two pieces and make two Garments of it and put one of them upon King David 's Back and the other upon a Beggar 's and the one Garment shall wear away as well as the other Is this thy Answer said I Yes said he Then said I by this the Company may all be satisfied that your Consecrated Bread and VVine is not Christ Have ye told People so long that the Consecrated Bread and VVine was Immortal and Divine and that it was the very and real Body and Blood of Christ and dost thou now say it will wear away or decay as well as the other I must tell thee Christ remains the same to day as yesterday and never decays but is the Saints heavenly Food in all Generations through which they have Life He replied no more to this being willing to let it fall for the People that were present saw his Error and that he could not defend it Then I asked him Why their Church did persecute and put People to Death for Religion He replied It was not the Church did it but the Magistrates I asked him Whether those Magistrates were not counted and called Believers and Christians He said Yes Why then said I Are they not Members of your Church Yes said he Then I left it to the People to judge from his own Concessions Whether the Church of Rome doth not persecute and put People to Death for Religion Thus we parted and his Subtilty was comprehended by Simplicity Now during the Time that I was at London I had many Services lay upon me for it was a Time of much Suffering And I was moved to write to O. Cromwell and lay before him the Sufferings of Friends both in this Nation and in Ireland There was also a Talk about this time of making Cromwel King Whereupon I was moved to go to him and warned him against the same and of divers Dangers which if he did not avoid I told him He would bring a Shame and Ruin upon himself and his Posterity He seemed to take well what I said to him and thanked me Yet afterwards I was moved to write unto him more fully concerning that matter About this time the Lady Claypool so called was sick and much troubled in Mind and could receive no Comfort from any that came to her which when I heard of I was moved to write unto her this following Letter Friend BE Still and Cool in thy own Mind and Spirit from thy own Thoughts and then thou wilt feel the Principle of God to turn thy Mind to the Lord God from whom Life comes whereby thou mayest receive his Strength and Power to allay all Blustrings Storms and Tempests That is it which works up into Patience into Innocency into Soberness into Stilness into Stayedness into Quietness up to God with his Power Therefore mind that is the Word of the Lord God unto thee that the Authority of God thou mayst feel and thy Faith in that to work down that which troubles thee For that is it which keeps Peace and brings up the Witness in thee which hath been transgressed to feel after God with his Power and Life who is a God of Order and Peace When thou art in the Transgression of the Life of God in thy own particular the Mind flies up in the Air and the Creature is led into the Night and Nature goes out of its Course and an old Garment goes on and an uppermost Clothing and thy Nature being led out of its Course it comes to be all on a Fire in the Transgression and that defaceth the Glory of the First Body Therefore be still a while from thy own Thoughts searching seeking Desires and Imaginations and be stayed in the Principle of God in thee that it may raise thy Mind up to God and stay it upon God and thou wilt find Strength from him and find him to be a God at hand a present Help in the time of Trouble and of Need. And thou being come to the Principle of God which hath been transgressed it will keep thee humble and the humble God will teach his way which is Peace and such he doth Exalt Now as the Principle of God in thee hath been transgressed come to it that it may keep thy Mind down low to the Lord God and deny thy self and from thy own Will that is the Earthly thou must be kept Then thou wilt feel the Power of God which will bring Nature into its Course and give thee to see the Glory of the First Body And there the Wisdom of God will be received which is Christ by which all things were made and Created to be thereby preserved and ordered to God's Glory There thou wilt come to receive and feel the Physician of Value who cloaths People in their right Mind whereby they may serve God and do his Will For all Distractions Unruliness and Confusion is in the Transgression which Transgression must be brought down before the Principle of God which hath been Transgressed against be lifted up whereby the Mind may be seasoned and stilled and a right understanding of the Lord may be received whereby his Blessings enter and are felt over all that is contrary in the Power of the Lord God which raises up the Principle of God within and gives a feeling after God and in time gives Dominion Therefore keep in the Fear of the Lord God that is the Word of the Lord God unto thee for all these things happen to thee for thy Good and for the Good of those concerned for thee to make you know your selves and your own Weakness and that ye may know the Lord's Strength and Power and may trust in him Therefore Let the time that is past be sufficient to every one who in any thing hath been lifted up in Transgression out of the Power of the Lord For he can bring down and abase the Mighty and lay them in the Dust of the Earth Therefore all keep low in his Fear that thereby ye may receive the Secrets of God and his Wisdom and may know the Shadow of the Almighty and sit under it in all Tempests and Storms
whom she went but could not obtain what she desired for he said The King could not Release me otherwise than by a Pardon And I was not free to receive a Pardon knowing I had not done Evil. And if I would have been freed by a Pardon I needed not have lain so long for the King was willing to have given me a Pardon long before and told Thomas Moore that I need not scruple being Released by a Pardon for many a Man that was as Innocent as a Child had had a Pardon granted him Yet I could not Consent to have one For I had rather have lain in Prison all my Days than have come out in any way dishonourable to Truth Wherefore I chose to have the Validity of my Indictment Tried before the Judges And thereupon having first had the Opinion of a Counsellor upon it one Thomas Corbet of London whom Richard Davis of Welchpool was well acquainted with and recommended to me an Habeas Corpus was sent down to Worcester to bring me up once more to the King's-Bench-Bar for the Trial of the Errors in my Indictment The Vnder-Sheriff set forward with me on the Fourth Day of the Twelfth Month there being with us in the Coach the Clerk of the Peace and some others The Clerk had been my Enemy all along and now sought to Ensnare me in Discourse but I saw and shunned him He asked me What I would do with the Errors in the Indictment I told him They should be Tried and every Action should Crown it self He quarrelled with me for calling their Ministers Priests I asked him ' If the Law did not call them so Then he asked me What I thought of the Church of England Was there no Christians among them I said They are all called so and there are many tender People amongst them London We came to London on the Eighth of the Twelfth Month and on the Eleventh I was brought before the Four Judges at the King's-Bench King's-Bench-Bar where Counsellor Corbet pleaded my Cause He started a New Plea for he told the Judges That they could not Imprison any Man upon a Premunire Whereupon the Chief Justice Hales said Mr. Corbet You should have come sooner at the beginning of the Term with this Plea He Answered We could not get a Copy of the Return and of the Indictment The Judge replied You should have told us and we would have forced them to have made a Return sooner Then said Judge Wild Mr. Corbet you go upon General Terms and if it be so as you say we have Committed many Errors at the Old Baily and in other Courts Corbet was positive that by Law they could not Imprison upon a Premunire The Judge said There is Summons in the Statute Yes said Corbet but Summons is not Imprisonment for Summons is in Order to a Trial. Well said the Judge We must have time to look in our Books and consult the Statutes So the Hearing was put off till the next Day The next Day they chose rather to let this Plea fall and begin with the Errors of the Indictment and when they came to be opened they were so many and gross that the Judges were all of Opinion That the Indictment was quash'd and void and that I ought to have my Liberty There were that Day several Great Men Lords and others who had the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy tendered unto them in open Court just before my Trial came on and some of my Adversaries moved the Judges that the Oaths might be Tendered again to me telling them I was a dangerous Man to be at Liberty But Judge Hales who was then Chief-Justice of England 1674. King's-Bench-Bar said He had indeed heard some such Reports of me but he had also heard many more good Reports of me and so he and the rest of the Judges ordered me to be freed by Proclamation Thus after I had suffered Imprisonment a Year and almost Two Months for nothing I was fairly set at Liberty upon a Trial of the Errors in my Indictment without receiving any Pardon or coming under any Obligation or Engagement at all and the Lord 's Everlasting Power went over all to his Glory and Praise and to the magnifying of his Name for ever Amen Counsellor Corbet who pleaded for me got great Fame by it for many of the Lawyers came to him and told him He had brought that to Light which had not been known before as to the not Imprisoning upon a Premunire And after the Trial a Judge said to them You have attained a great deal of Honour by Pleading George Fox 's Cause so in Court During the time of my Imprisonment in Worcester notwithstanding my Ilness and Want of Health and my being so often hurried to and fro to London and back again I writ several Books for the Press one whereof was called A Warning to England Another was To the Jews proving by the Prophets that the Messiah is come Another Concerning Inspiration Revelation and Prophecy Another Against all vain Disputes Another For all Bishops and Ministers to trie themselves by the Scriptures Another To such as say We love none but our selves Another Entituled Our Testimony concerning Christ. And another little Book concerning Swearing being the first of those Two that were given to the Parliament Besides these I writ many Papers and Epistles to Friends to Encourage and strengthen them in their Services for God which some who had made Profession of Truth but had given way to a Seducing Spirit and were departed from the Vnity and Fellowship of the Gospel in which Friends stand endeavoured to Discourage them from especially in their diligent and watchful Care for the well-ordering and managing the Affairs of the Church of Christ Which may be read amongst the rest of my Epistles London Now after I was set at Liberty I visited the Friends in London and having for some time been very Weak and not yet well recovered I went down to Kingston for a little Season Kingston But I did not stay long there London but having visited the Friends there I returned to London again and writ a Paper to the Parliament and sent several Books to them And a great Book against Swearing had been delivered to them a little before the Reasonableness whereof had so much Influence upon many of them that it was thought they would have done something towards our Relief therein if they had sate longer I staid in and near London London-Yearly-Meeting until the Yearly Meeting came on to which Friends came up from most Parts of the Nation and some from beyond the Seas and a glorious Meeting we had in the Everlasting Power of God After this Meeting was over the Parliament being also risen who had done nothing for nor against Friends I was Clear of my Service for the Lord at London And having taken my Leave of Friends there and had a Glorious Meeting with some of them
at John Elson's in the Morning before I came away I set forward from thence with my Wife and her Daughter Susan by Coach for I was not able to travel on Horse-back towards the North 1675. Highgate Dunstable Newport-Pagnel Northampton Cossel many Friends accompanying us as far as High-Gate and some to Dunstable where we lodged that Night Afterwards travelling on we visited Friends and were visited by them at Newport-Pagnell Northampton and Cossel where amongst other Friends that came to see us there came a Woman and brought her Daughter for me to see how Well she was putting me in mind That when I was there before she had brought her to me much troubled with the Disease called the King 's Evil and had then desired me to Pray for her Which I did and she grew Well upon it praised be the Lord From Cossel we went on by John Simcock's and William Gandy's to Warrington and Preston and so to Lancaster Warrington Preston Friends visiting us and we them as we went I had not been at Lancaster Lancaster since I was carried Prisoner from thence by the Vnder-Sheriff and Jailer towards Scarborough-Castle in Yorkshire and now I found the Town full of People for it was both the Fair-time there and the Trained-Bands were met there also upon a General Muster There were also many Friends in Town from several parts of the County because the Quarterly Meeting for the County was to be there the next Day I staid Two Nights and a Day at Lancaster and visited Friends both at their Mens and Womens-Meetings which were very full large and peaceable for the Lord's Power was over all and none meddled with us Here met us Thomas Lower and his Wife with Sarah Fell James Lancaster and Leonard Fell and the next Day after the Meeting being the Twenty Fifth of the Fourth Month we went over the Sands with several other Friendâ— Over the Sands and came safe to Swarthmore After I had been a while at Swarthmore Swarthmore several Friends from divers places and parts of the Nation came to visit me and some out of Scotland by whom I understood that there were Four young Students of Aberdeen Convinced there this Year at a Dispute held there by Robert Barclay and George Keith with some of the Scholars of that Vniversity Among others of the Neighbourhood that came to Visit me Col. Kirby was one who had been one of my great Persecutors but now he said he came to bid me Welcome into the Country and carried himself at this time in Appearance very lovingly Yet before I went from Swarthmore he sent for the Constables of Vlverstone and ordered them to come up to me and to tell me That we must have no more Meetings at Swarthmore for if we had they were commanded by him to break them up and they were to come the next First-Day after That Day we had a very precious Meeting there and the Lord's Presence was wonderful amongst us and the Constables did not come to disturb us but the Meetings have been quiet since and have encreased The Ilness I got in my Imprisonment at Worcester had so much weakned me that it was long before I recovered my Natural Strength again For which Reason and for that I had many things lay upon me to Write both for publick and private Service I did not stir much abroad during the Time that I now staid in the North but when Friends were not with me spent pretty much time in writing Books and Papers for Truth 's Service For while I was at Swarthmore I gave forth several Books to be Printed viz. 1675. Swarthmore One Concerning Swearing Another shewing That none are Successors to the Prophets and Apostles but who succeed them in the same Power and Holy Ghost that they were in Another shewing That Possession is above Profession and how the Professors now do persecute Christ in Spirit as the professing Jews did persecute him outwardly in the Days of his Flesh Another little Book To the Magistrates of Dantzick Another called Cain against Abel or An Answer to the New-England mens Laws Another To Friends at Mevis concerning Watching Another A General Epistle to all Friends in Amâ—rica Another Concerning Caesar 's Due and God 's Due c. Another Concerning Ordering of Families Another Entituled The Spiritual Man judgeth all things Another Concerning the Higher Power Besides these I writ several Epistles to Friends both here in England and beyond the Seas and Answers to divers Papers concerning the Running out of some who opposed the Order of the Gospel and had stirred up a great deal of Strife and Contention in Westmorland Wherefore I was moved to write a few Lines particularly to Friends there directed thus This is for Friends in Westmorland ALL live in the Power of God and in his Light and Spirit which did first Convince you that in it ye may keep in the ancient Vnity and in the Humility and in the Fear of the Lord and his gentle and peaceable Wisdom which is Easie to be intreated That in the same Power Light and Spirit of God ye may all be serviceable in your Mens and Womens-Meetings in the Possession of the Gospel-Order which Gospel the Power of God hath brought Life and Immortality to light that in this ye may see over him that hath darkned you And in this Power the Glorious Gospel no Apostates can come for the Power of God was before the Apostates were or the Fall of Man and Woman was or the Devil either and will be when he is gone Therefore praise God in his Glorious Gospel in which you have an Eternal Fellowship in the Everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ which is not of Man nor by Man And therefore all Friends in Westmorland keep in the Power of God which will and must preserve and cover you if ye be preserved Therefore let your Faith stand in the Power of God and not in the Wisdom of Mens Words lest ye fall for in God's Power ye have Peace Life and Vnity and for want of keeping in God's Power and in his Righteousness and Holy Ghost is all this Strife come among you G F. I also writ the following General Epistle to Friends at the Yearly Meeting in London 1676. Swarthmore My Dear Friends and Brethren WHom the Lord hath preserved by his Eternal Power to this Day over and through many Troubles Storms and Tempests and Prisons and therefore let every one's Faith stand in the Power of God which is over the Devil and before he was So your Faith standing in the Invisible Power of God it stands in that which does not change and the Faith that Christ Jesus the Power of God is the Author of it must stand in the Power of God So then it stands in that which is over all in which they are established And this the Apostle brought the Church and the true Christians to And so ought all the true Christians Faith
purifies our hearts and brings us to have Access to God without which we cannot please him by which Faith all the Just lives as the Scripture declares And so that which we desire of Thee O King is that we may have the Liberty of our Consciences to serve and worship God and to pray unto him in our Meetings together in the Name of Jesus as he Commands with a promise that he will be in the midst of them The King we do hope cannot but say that this Duty and Service is due to God and Christ and we give Caesar his due and pay our Tribute and Custom equal with our Neighbour according to our proportion And we never read in all the Scriptures of the New Testament That ever Christ or his Disciples did Banish or Imprison any that were not of their Faith or Religion and would not hear them or gave any such Command but on the Contrary Let the Tares and the Wheat grow together till the harvest and the harvest is the end of the World And then Christ will send his Angels to sever the Wheat from the Tares c. And also he Rebuked such that would have had fire to come down from Heaven to consume such that would not receive Christ and told them That they did not know what Spirit they were of he came not to destroy mens lives but to save them And therefore we desire the King to consider how much Persecution has been in Christendom since the Apostles days concerning Religion And Christ said They should go into Everlasting punishment that did not visit him in Prison then what will become of them that Imprison him in his Members where he is Manifest And now none can say that the World is ended And therefore how will all Christendom answer the dreadful and terrible God at his Day of Judgment that have persecuted one another about Religion before the end of the World under a pretence of plucking up Tares which is not their Work but the Angels at the end of the World And Christ Commands men to Love one another and to Love Enemies and by this they should be known to be his Disciples And therefore Oh! 1677. London that all Christendom had lived in Peace andVnity that they might by their Moderation have Judged both Turks and Jews and let all have their Liberty that do own God and Jesus and Walk as becomes the glorious Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ And so our desires are that the Lord God of Heaven may soften the King 's heart to all tender Consciences that do fear the Lord and are afraid of disobeying him And now we intreat the King to read over some of the Noble Expressions of several Kings and others concerning Liberty of Conscience and especially Stephanus King of Poland his sayings viz. It belongeth not to me to Reform the Consciences I have always gladly given that over to God which belongeth to him and so shall I do now and also for the future I will suffer the Weeds to grow till the time of harvest for I know that the Number of Believers are but small Therefore said he when some were proceeding in Persecution I am King of the People not of their Consciences He also affirmed that Religion was not to be planted with Fire and Sword Chron. Liberty of Religion Part. 2. Also a Book wrote in French by W. M. Anno 1576. hath this Sentence viz. Those Princes that have ruled by Gentleness and Clemency added to Justice and have exercised Moderation and Meekness towards their Subjects always prospered and reigned long but on the Contrary those Princes that have been Cruel Unjust Prejudiced and Oppressors of their Subjects have soon fall'n they and their Estates into danger or total ruin Veritus saith Seeing Christ is a Lamb whom you profess to be your Head and Captain then it behoveth you to be Sheep and to use the same Weapons which he made use of for he will not be a Shepherd of Wolves and Wild-beasts but only of Sheep Wherefore if you lose the Nature of Sheep said he and be changed into Wolves and Wild-beasts and use fleshly Weapons then will you exclude your selves out of his Calling and forsake his Banner and then will he not be your Captain c. And also we find it asserted by King James in his Speech to the Parliament in the Year 1609. That it is a pure Rule in Divinity that God never planted his Church with Violence of Blood And furthermore he said It was usually the Condition of Christians to be persecuted but not to persecute And also King Charles in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 61. said in his Prayer to God Thou seest how much Cruelty amongst Christians is acted under the Colour of Religion as if we could not be Christians unless we crucified one another And pag. 28. Make them at length seriously to Consider that nothing violent nor injurious can be Religious Pag. 70. Nor is it so proper to hew out Religious Reformation by the Sword as to polish them by fair and equal Disputations among those that are most Concerned in the Differences whom not force but reason must Convince And pag. 66. Take heed that outward Circumstances and Formalities in Religion devour not all And pag. 91 92. 1678. London In point of true Conscientious tenderness I have so often declared how little I desire my Laws and Scepter should intrench on God's Soverainity who is the only King of Conscience Pag. 123. Nor do I desire any man should be further subject unto me then all of us may be subject unto God Pag. 200. O thou Soveraign of our Souls the only Commander of our Consciences Pag. 346. In his Meditations on Death It is indeed a sad state to have his Enemies to be his Accusers Parties and Judges The Prince of Orange testified Anno 1579. That it was impossible the Land should be kept in Peace except there was a free Toleration in the Exercise of Religion And further Where hast thou read in thy day said Menno in the Writing of the Apostles that Christ or the Apostles ever cried out to the Magistrate for their power against them that would not hear their Doctrine nor obey their Words I know certainly said he that where a Magistrate shall banish with the Sword there is not the right Knowledge Spiritual Word nor Church of Christ it is Invocare Brachium Seculare to Invoke the Secular Arm. It is not Christian-like but Tyrannical said D. Philipson to banish and persecute People about Faith and Religion and they that so do are certainly of the Pharisaical Generation who resisted the Holy Ghost Erasmus said That though they take our Monies and Goods they cannot therefore hurt our Salvation they afflict us much with Prisons but they do not thereby separate us from God In de Krydges wrede fol. 63. Lucernus said He that Commandeth any thing wherewith he bindeth the Conscience this is an Antichrist In
the praise and glory of God and by the word of his Grace your words may be gracious and in your Lives and Conversations ye may shew forth Righteousness Holiness and Godliness That so God Almighty may be glorified in you all and through you all who is above all blessed and praised for ever Amen London the 11th of the 4th Month 1685. G. F. Several other Letters also I writ at this time to Friends in divers Forreign Countries from whom I had received Letters about the Affairs of Truth Which when I had dispatched the Yearly-Meeting being over and the Country-Friends for the most part gone out of Town I got a little way out of Town also being much spent with the Heat of the Weather South-street Throngs in Meetings and continual Business I went at first but to South-street where I abode some days And among other Services that I had there a great sense entred me of the Growth and Increase of Pride Vanity and Excess in Apparel and that not only amongst the People of the World but too much also amongst some that came among us and seem'd to make a Profession of the Truth And in the sense I had of the Evil thereof it came upon me to give forth the following Paper as a Reproof and Check thereunto THE Apostle Peter saith in 1 Pet. 3. of the Womens Adorning Let it not be mark Let it not be this is a positive Prohibition that outward adorning of plaiting the Hair and of wearing of Gold or of putting on of Apparel But let it be the hidden Man of the heart in that which is not corruptible even the Ornament of a meek and quiet Spirit which is in the sight of God of a great price for after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves Here ye may see what is the Ornament of the holy Women 1685. South-street which was in the sight of God of a great price and which the holy Women who trusted in God adorned themselves with But the unholy Women that trust not in God their Ornament is not a meek and a quiet Spirit They adorn themselves with plaiting the Hair and putting on of Apparel and wearing of Gold which is forbidden by the Apostle in his general Epistle to the Church of Christ the true Christians And the Apostle Paul saith 1 Tim. 2.9 10. In like manner also that Women adorn themselves in modest Apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety not with broidered Hair or Gold or Pearls or costly Array but which becometh Women professing Godliness with good Works Now here ye may see what the Women were not to Adorn themselves with who professed Godliness They were not to adorn themselves with broidered Hair nor Gold nor Pearls nor costly Array for this was not looked upon to be modest Apparel for holy Women that profest Godliness and good Works But this Adorning or Apparel is for the immodest and unshamefaced and unsober Women that profess not Godliness neither follow those good Works that God commands And therefore it doth not become Men and Women who profess true Christianity and Godliness to be adorned with Gold or Chains or Pearls or costly Array with broidered Hair for these things are for the Lust of the Eye the Lust of the Flesh and Pride of Life which is not of the Father And therefore all the holy Men and Women are to mind that which is more precious than Gold who are Redeemed not with corruptible things as Silver and Gold from your vain Conversation but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot Therefore as obedient Children to God not fashioning your selves according to your former Lusts in your Ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of Conversation 1 Pet. 1.14 15. Christ saith The Life is more than Meat and the Body is more than Raiment Luke 12.23 I read of a Moral-wise Philosopher who meeting a Woman with her Neck and Breast bare laid his hand upon her and said Woman wilt thou sell this Flesh and she replying No. Then pray said he shut up your Shop meaning her bare Breasts and Neck So they were looked upon as Harlots that went with their Necks Breasts and Backs bare and not Civil People even among the Moral Heathens Therefore they that profess the Knowledge of true Christianity should be ashamed of such things You may see a Book written by the very Papists and another by Baxter the Presbyterian against bare Breasts and bare Backs and them that shewed their Flesh Vncovered They that were but in an outward Profession did declare against such things and therefore they which are in the Possession of Truth and true Christianity should be ashamed of such things Read I pray you the Third of Isaiah and there you may see how that holy Prophet was grieved with the foolish Womens vain Attire and how he was sent by the Lord to reprove them And envious persecuting Jezabel her Attired Head and Bravery like a painted Harlot out of the Truth did not keep her from the Judgments of God when the Lord stirred up Jehu against her Doth not Pride go before a Fall and a haughty Mind before Destruction And God resisteth the Proud and giveth Grace to the Humble And Solomon saith The Lord will destroy the House of the Proud Prov. 15.25 For the Day of the Lord shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty c. and he shall be brought low Isa 2.12 and Mal. 4. Therefore take heed of calling the Proud happy for The Lord will scatter the Proud in the Imaginations of their own hearts and exalt them of low degree And you may read in the Revelations Chap. 17.4 and 18.16 of the false Church how she was outwardly decked but full of Abomination and came to a Downfal at last And therefore it is good for all that profess the Truth to use this World as not abusing it for the fashion of this World passeth away but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever The Lord taketh pleasure in his People he will beautifie the Meek with Salvation Psal 149.4 Therefore all that know the Truth as it is in Jesus are to be beautified and cloathed with this Salvation which Salvation is a strong Wall or a Bulwark against that Spirit that would lead you down into the Fall from God or into those things which the fallen Man and Woman delight in and beautifie or adorn themselves with And therefore all that profess the Truth be circumspect sincere and fervent following the Lord Jesus Christ who is not of this World in whom ye have Life and Peace with God South-street the 24th of the 4th Month 1685. G. F. After I had been some weeks in the Country at Southstreet and at and about Enfield in which time I had several Meetings with Friends I returned to London Enfield London And
together in the heavenly places in him And so are clothed with Christ Jesus the Sun who is the Mountain that filleth the whole Earth with his Divine Power and Light And so all his People see him and feel him both by Sea and Land so he is in all places of the Earth felt and seen of all his And Christ Jesus saith to the outward Professors the Jews I am from above ye are from below or beneath ye are of this World to wit that is beneath And so their Religions Worships Ways Teachers Faiths Beliefs and Creeds are made of Men and are below and of this World that changeth like the Moon and ye may see their Religions Ways Worships and Teachers they are all changeable like the Moon but Christ the Sun with which the Church is clothed doth not change nor his Church for they are spiritually minded and their Way Worship and Religion is spiritual from Christ who is from above and not of this World For Christ hath redeemed you from the World and their changeable Rudiments and Elements and old things and their changeable Teachers and from their changeable Faiths and Beliefs For Christ is the Author and Finisher of his Churches Faith who is from above and saith Believe in the Light that ye may become Children of the Light And it is given them not only to believe but to suffer for his Name So this Faith and Belief is above all Faiths and Beliefs which change like the Moon And God's People are an holy Nation a peculiar People a spiritual Houshold and Royal Priesthood offering up spiritual Sacrifice to God by Jesus Christ and are zealous of righteous godly good works and their Zeal is for that which is of God against the Evil which is not of God And Christ took upon him the Seed of Abraham he doth not say the corrupt Seed of the Gentiles So according to the Flesh he was of the holy Seed of Abraham and of David and his holy Body and Blood was an Offering and a Sacrifice for the Sins of the whole World as a Lamb without blemish whose Flesh saw no Corruption And so by the one Offering of himself in the New Testament and New Covenant he has put an end to all the Offerings and Sacrifices amongst the Jews in the Old Testament And Christ the holy Seed was crucified dead and buried according to the Flesh and raised again the third day and his Flesh saw no Corruption Though he was crucified in the Flesh yet quickned again by the Spirit and is alive and liveth for evermore and hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given to him and reigneth over all and is the One Mediator betwixt God and Man even the Man Christ Jesus And Christ said He gave his flesh for the life of the World And the Apostle saith His Flesh saw no Corruption So that which saw no Corruption he gave for the life of the corrupt World to bring them out of Corruption And Christ said again He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath eternal life for my Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed And he that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him And he that eats not his Flesh and drinks not his Blood which is the life of the Flesh hath not Eternal Life Now as the Apostle saith All died in Adam Then all are dead Now all coming spiritually to eat the Flesh of Christ the second Adam and drink his Blood his Blood and Flesh gives all the Dead in Adam life and quickens them out of their sins and trespasses in which they were dead and so they come to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus and so are living Members of the Church of Christ that he is the Head of and are clothed with the Sun the Sun of Righteousness the Son of God that never changes and have the changeable Moon under their feet and all changeable worldly things and inventions and works of mens hands and do see the People how that they do change from one Worship to another and from one Religion to another and from one Way to another and one Church to another and yet their hearts are not changed And the Letter of Scripture is read by the Christians like the Jews but the Mystery is hid They have the Sheeps-clothing the outside but are inwardly ravened from the Spirit which should bring them into the Lamb's and Sheep's Nature The Scripture saith All the Vncircumcised must go down into the Pit And therefore all must be Circumcised with the Spirit of God which puts off the Body of Death and Sins of the Flesh that came into Man and Woman by their Disobedience and transgressing of God's Commands I say all must be Circumcised with the Spirit which puts off the Body of Death and Sins of the Flesh before they come up into Christ their Rest that never fell and be clothed with him the Sun of Righteousness G. F. Kingston Towards the latter End of this Year I went down to Kingston to visit Friends there and stay'd some time at my Son Rouse's near Kingston While I Was there I writ a Paper concerning the Falling away foretold by the Apostle Paul 2 Thess 2.3 Which Paper was as followeth THE Apostle saith that there must be a Falling away first before the Wicked one and Man of sin the Son of Perdition be Revealed which betrayeth Christ within as the Son of Perdition betrayed Christ without And they that betray Christ within crucifie to themselves Christ afresh and put him to open shame Before the Apostles deceased this Man of Sin and Son of Perdition was revealed for they saw the Antichrist come and false Prophets and false Apostles and Deceivers come having a Form of Godliness but denied the Power thereof They saw the Wolves dressed in the Sheep's Clothing and such as went in Cain's Corah's and Balaam's way and Jezabel's and the Whore of Babylon the Whore of Confusion the Mother of Harlots and such as were Enemies to the Cross of Christ that served not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own Bellies These Christ saw should come and said If it were possible they should deceive the Elect and commanded his Followers not to go after them And the Apostle said Turn away from such and Christ and his Apostles warned the Church of Christ of such And now in this day of Christ and his Gospel after the long Night of Apostacy from the Light and Grace and Truth and Life and Spirit of Christ Jesus the Son of Perdition the wicked One the Man of Sin is revealed again and the inwardly ravening Wolves in Sheeps clothing and the Spirit of Cain Corah Balaam Jezabel the Antichrists false Prophets and false Apostles and such as are Enemies to the Cross of Christ who serve not the Lord Jesus but their own Bellies and crucifie Christ to themselves and put him to open shame This Spirit have we seen in
the Jews Therefore also said the Wisdom of God I will send them Prophets and Apostles and some of them they shall slay and persecute that the blood of all the Prophets which was shed from the Foundation of the World may be required of this Generation from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the Altar and the Temple Verily I say unto you it shall be required of this Generation Luke 11.49 50 51. And Christ said to the Jews Behold your Houses shall be left unto you desolate Matth. 23.34 c. And Christ told his Disciples that the Temple at Jerusalem should be thrown down and there should not be one stone left upon another that should not be thrown down Matth. 24.2 And Christ said to his Disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many thâ—ngs of the Jews Elders and Chief Priests and be killed and be raised again the third day Matth. 16.21 And Christ said When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with Armies then know the desolation thereof is nigh And he foretold that the Jews should fall by the Edge of the Sword and should be led away Captive into all Nations and Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles Luke 21.20 24. Here ye may see how Jerusalem was often warned by Christ and how often he would have Gathered them but they would not before they were scattered over or into all Nations and their Houses left desolate and their Temple and Jerusalem besieged with Armies and destroyed and thrown down And though the Disciples and Apostles of Christ did Meet with the Elders and Church at Jerusalem after Christ was risen yet Eusebius reporteth in his Ecclesiastical History That the Christians at Jerusalem had a Vision or a Revelation to depart out of Jerusalem And they being fore-warned also by Christ that When they should see Jerusalem compassed with Armies its Desolation was nigh and that the Temple should be thrown down and not one stone left upon another 'T is said that the Christians did depart out of bloody Jerusalem before it and the Temple were destroyed by Titus the Emperour who besieged it with his Armies who was of the Gentiles and destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem as Christ had fore-spoken to his Disciples because of the Wickedness of the Jews and the Innocent Blood that they had shed in it And so the Lord called his People out of bloody Jerusalem before he destroyed it And it is said that Titus did destroy the Temple and Jerusalem about Two and forty years after they had Câ—ucified Christ and he was risen again and that with so great a destruction that the Jews never did build again the City Jerusalem nor the Temple as Sodom was never built again nor the Cities of the Old World But the Jews for above these Thousand years have been and are a scattered People in all Nations to this day and Christ whom they Crucified and his Doctrine is preached and set over them and the Gentiles whom they hated have Received and do Receive him and his Doctrine and do praise God for it through Jâ—sus Christ Amen And God called his People out of Egypt after he had poured out his Ten Plagues upon the Egyptians when he had destroyed the First Birth of Egypt then the Lord brought his People out of Egypt And after the Lord had clearly brought his People out of Egypt then the Lord destroyed Pharaoh and all his Hosts and Chariots And John saith that he heard a Voice saying Come out of her my People to wit out of Babylon the false Church that ye be not Partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues for her sins have reached to Heaven and God hath remembred her Iniquities Rev. 18.4 5. Here ye may see that God did call his People out of spiritual Babylon before the Lord destroyed her and cast her down to be utterly burnt with fire ver 8 9. and 21. Was not Nebuchadnezzar's Empire thrown down and ended by Cyrus and Darius who were of the Seed of the Medes before Cyrus and Darius gave forth their Proclamations for all the Jews to go into their own Land out of Babylons Captivity And was there not a Prophecy of Cyrus That he should subdue Nations and that the Lord would loose the Loins of Kings before him and break in pieces the Gates of Brass and cut in sunder the Barrs of Iron and open the two-leav'd Gates and that the Gates should not be shut And the Lord said This is for Jacob my Servant's sake and for Israel mine Elect Isai 45. And was not this fulfilled in Cyrus's and Darius's time For did not then the Jews go out of Captivity into their own Land Ezra 1.2 3 4. and ch 6.1 and 12. and Isa 44.28 and 45.13 And was not this Prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled when the Children of Israel came out of Babylon And were not the Assyrians that carried away the Ten Tribes subdued and the Babylonians that carried away the Two Tribes were they not subdued in the days of Cyrus and Darius in whose days the Loins of Kings were loosed and the two-leav'd Gates of Brass and Iron were opened and so had not Israel and Jacob their Liberty by them in their days to go into their own Land And here in England was it not observed that most of the honest and sober People were turned out of the Army and their Commissions Offices and Places taken from them because they could not join with Others in their Cruelty and Persecuting And Others laid down their Commissions themselves and came out from amongst those Persecutors before they were overthrown and brought to Confusion All that are Wise see these things and learn by such Examples and Way-marks to shun such Bogs And the Righteous are safe that do keep in Christ their everlasting Sanctuary that changes not in whom they have Rest and Peace with God Amen Kingston the 29th of the 12th Month 1686 7. G. F While I was at Kingston one day as I was meditating on the Things of God some particular Observations arose in my mind concerning the first and the second or last Adam As that THE First Man Adam was made on the Sixth day of the Week and Christ the Second Adam was Crucified on the Sixth day of the Week The first Adam was betrayed by the Serpent in the Garden of Eden And Christ our Saviour the second Adam was betrayed by Judas in a Garden near Jerusalem Christ arose from the dead on the First-day of the Week and they that do believe on him are entred into Christ their Rest The Christians do Meet together to worship God on the First-day of the Week and on the First day of the Week it was that God said Let there be Light and there was Light The Jews Rest was on the Seventh-day of the Week which was given to the Jews as a Sign of the Eternal Rest of the Lord sanctifying them after they came out
themselves to be high Christians and took a great Liberty to go into Balaam's Doctrine and Nicholas's Doctrine which was hated by Christ but the Church was to keep a Spiritual and Divine Judgment upon the Heads of all these And to the Church of Thyatira saith Christ I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest the woman Jezabel to teach which seduces my people c. So here was a Suffering which should have been a Judgment by Christ's Spirit upon that Jezabel which was erred from his Spirit and so from Christ and such as these were high Preachers And is not the Church to beware of suffering such now lest they come under the Reproof of Christ for not passing to Judgment against the false Teacher and Seducer And the Church of Sardis that had a name to live but was dead and their works were not found perfect before God Therefore here is a Judgment to be set up in the Church to Judge all Imperfect Works and such as would have a Name but not the Nature or a name to live but are dead And therefore the Living must be in Christ of all Christ's Church living Members and live to his Name Though this Church had a few Names that had not defiled their Garments that did walk in White But such as had a Name to live but are dead whilst they are in the dead state they cannot walk in White nor Judge in Divine Matters And behold saith Christ I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews but are not but do lie behold I will make them to come and to worship before my feet And to the Church of Laodicea that was neither hot nor cold but lukewarm I would thou wert either cold or hot I will spew thee out of my mouth because thou said'st thou wast rich and wanted nothing when they were wretched miserable poor blind and naked Now this was for want of living in the Power and Spirit of Christ these could talk of high Experiences and great Injoyments but was naked miserable and blind So lived not in the Power and Spirit and Light and Righteousness of Christ by which they might be cloathed and have the Eternal Riches So the Church of Christ had a spiritual Judgment given to them that are faithful in his Power and Spirit and Light to Judge of Temporal things and the things of this Life and to Judge of Eternal and Divine things and States and of Angels and Wicked men and such as goes from Truth and of the states of Election and Reprobation yea and of the Devils who is out of Truth being in Christ Jesus who is the First and Last from whom they have the Eternal Judgment to Judge Eternal Spiritual and Divine things And this Word of Power and Wisdom by which all things were made and by which all things are upheld in this Word of Wisdom to order all things to God's Glory and to Judge of all things in Righteousness And the Apostle Judged and set up a Judgment in the Church of Gifts of Prophecies of Mysteries of Faith and of giving the Body to be burnt and of giving Goods to the Poor and of speaking with Tongues of Men and Angels And yet if they had not Love all this was nothing but as a sounding Brass and tinkling Cymbal Therefore they are to be tried by the Fruits of the good Spirit which is Love So here the Apostle not only Judged himself in Divine Matters but set up a Judgment in the Church in those Spiritual and Divine Matters And the Apostle James here Judges of Fountains and of the Fig-trees and of the Wisdom below and of the Wisdom from above and the Fruits of both Jam. 3. And Paul Judged in Divine Matters when he said The Spirit spake expresly that in the latter times some should depart from the Faith 1 Tim. 4. And he Judged in Divine Matters when he judged all those Teachers that was high-minded and had got the Form of Godliness but denied the Power and termed them like unto Jannes and Jambrâ—s which withstood Moses coming out of outward Egypt as these with their Form of Godliness opposes Christ and his Power that brings them out of spiritual Egypt now And was not he a Judge here in Divine Matters who judged such as had gotten the Form of Godliness but denied the Divine Power 2 Tim 3. And when the Apostle said The Priesthood of Aaron was changed and the Law was changed and the Commandment disanulled that gave them their Tithes did not he Judge here in Divine and Spiritual Matters and was not the Law spiritual which served till the Seed came And did not the Apostle Judge in Divine and Spiritual Matters in the Sixth of the Hebrews where he saith Let us go on to perfection not laying again the foundation of Repentance from dead works and of Faith towards God and of the Doctrine of Baptisms and of laying on of Hands and of the Resurrection of the Dead and of Eternal Judgment and this will we do if God permit c. And so does not the Apostle Judge of such here That it was impossible for those who was once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift and were partakers of the Holy Ghost and had tasted of the good Word of God and of the power of the World to come if they shall fall away to renew them again unto Repentance seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame Hebr. 6. And was not these Spiritual Eternal and Divine Matters and States that the Apostle Judged of and have not the Saints the same Judgment given unto them in the same Spirit Now has not the Apostles and the Church a Spiritual Judgment to Judge of Prophets Mysteries Faith Apostles Angels World and the Devil and is not this Judgment given them of God in Divine Matters besides the Judgment given them in Matters pertaining unto this Life And had not they Judgment to discern the true Gospel from the false and all such as had a Profession of the Form and did not live in the power and such as spoke the things of God in the words that Man's wisdom did teach which things of God were not to be spoken in the wisdom which Man's words taught but in the Word which the Holy Ghost taught And therefore did not the Apostle exhort to know the Power and their Faith to stand in the Power of God for the Kingdom of God stood not in Word but in Power And had not all the Prophets a Divine Judgment to Judge in Divine Matters as see Jeremiah when he Judged the Prophets And Ezekiel Judged all such as came with a pretence of the Word of the Lord using their Tongues and saying Thus saith the Lord when the Lord never spoke unto them as in Jeremiah the 23th and in Ezekiel the 13th and in many other places might be Instanced And did not he judge Hananiah who prophesied