it from the voice of Strangers and no more to follow Strangers but to return unto the Lord with all your Hearts and to submit your selves unto him in all humbleness and lowliness as the Light teacheth and that you may all come to know your own measures and abilities which God hath given you for he giveth to every one according to their abilities and that you may all keep down to your own measures and none of you to be exalted above his measure but all there to wait to see the Wisdom of God revealed in you that so you may grow in Wisdom and Power and Strength and Might in the knowledge of God who reneweth their strength that wait upon him So here is your Power and Strength to resist Temptations All to wait in the Light which comes from Christ unto whom all Power is given For in the Light you will see Temptations as they arise and waiting in the Light ye will receive Power from him from whom the Light comes to withstand the Temptations and to overcome the Tempter as he overcame who is gone before even Christ Jesus the Word of God who was before the World was who overcame the World he is the same that ever he was he changeth not and they that believe in him and wait in his Light they receive Power to overcome the World and them he redeems out of the World and they are not conformable to the Fashions and Customs and Wayes of the World but they are transformed by the renewing of their minds and their minds and affections are set upon Heavenly things so as you wait in the Light you will see the worlds Words and Fashions and VVayes all to be burdensom to the seed of God and if you love the Light you will know and find that Power present by which you will be made able and willing to cast off every weight and burden as they are seen with the Light and giving up in obedience to the Light keeping in the Cross you will find peace in your measures and you will see the Lord present to water and refresh that of himself in you and to cut off and purge out whatâ—oever oppresseth and hinders the growth of his own Plant in you and so you will become fruitful in your places and measures unto the Lord and he will take delight in you and feed you with food convenient according to your growth and necessities and he will be your God and you shall be his People and Sheep of his Pasture and you shall grow into the Covenant and he will take away you stony hearts and give you new hearts and write his Law therein and you shall know his Teachings Heb. 8.10 11 12. and he will be merciful unto you and forgive all your iniquities and you shall know the Blood of the Covenant which shall cleanse you from all sin 1 Joh. 1.7 and you shall know the Son and he shall make you free Joh. 8.32 36. and he will reveal the Father unto you and you shall be no more barren nor unfruitful but the VVilderness shall become a fruitful Place and the barren Land a fruitful Field and the parched ground shall become a place of pleasant Springs Isa 35. and the Lord God and the Lamb will take delight in your Feasts and make their abode with you These things will the Lord in his time accomplish and ye shall know them and be witnesses of them if you will indeed hearken unto his Voice and obey it and keep his Covenant and return unto him with all your Hearts and submit your selves to the Light of his Son in all your Consciences and then you shall be hid in the Day of the fierce VVrath of the Almighty which he is bringing upon the heads of the ungodly for although he hath long forborn them yet the cry of his Elect is not forgotten Luke 18.7 for now his long sufferings towards them shall be turned unto their everlasting contempt for even now is he arising to take vengeance upon the Oppressors of his righteous Seed and wo unto all those that are found in the Army of the Dragon for he shall be taken with the false Prophet and all those that have received the mark of the Beast and they all shall be cast into the Lake that burneth for ever this is the second Death Rev. 20.14 15. and this is the Portion and Reward of all those that are found fighting against the Lamb therefore you that are warned of the destruction which is speedily to come upon those that have cast the Law of God behind their backs and crucified the Son of God and are yet fighting against his Kingdom the Light in their Consciences condemns them eternally Stay not but come out from among them lest partaking of their sins ye also partake of their plagues Rev. 18.4 which are their due and now to be brought upon them take heed that you delay not for the Judgement hasteth greatly but if you refuse to hearken unto the Counsel of the Lord and resolve to go on in your own wills and imaginations and reject the Light of his Son in your Consciences which he hath given you to lead you out of your own wills and imaginations and so give your strength unto Strangers then will those desires which are yet in you towards the living God soon dye and you will grow more dark and wax stronger in your imaginations and you will become enemies even to the very appearance of Truth and your hearts will become hard and you will be found guilty of the blood of the Son of God and you will wax worse and worse 2 Tim. 3.13 and so you will grow fit for the Plagues and Judgements of the righteous God and the blood of his Son will cry for vengeance against you as Abels did against Cain Gen. 4.10 and the Lord will hear the cry thereof and will pour forth his Judgements upon you and then shall the Light in all your Consciences arise and witness to the Judgements of God that they are just and it shall let you see that you were warned of your destruction often times by it and that â—ou had a time given you to repent in Rev. 2.21 and then you shall be made to confess that your destruction is of your selves So in love to your souls I have written this in which your present condition which is miserable is plainly declared unto you and the way to come out of it by Christ Jesus the Light and the Priests who have long deceived many of you are here laid open in plainness and such as act in their own imaginations by imitating those who dwelt in the Life of what they professed also what you have gathered and gained all this time you have been making a Profession of God is here declared and the end thereof and what you shall attain unto if you will diligently hearken unto the Voice of God and obey the Light of his Son in all your
Consciences and where your Power is to obey is here shewed unto you So here is Life and Death set before you Deut. 30.19 now if you yet refuse to hear you shall not be able to plead ignorance in the day when God calls you to an account for I have cleared my Conscience unto you in the sight of God and am clear of your Blood Ezek. 33.9 and am witnessed by the Light of Christ in all your Consciences which Light is your Teacher if you love it but your condemnation eternally if you hate and reject it Therefore whilst you have time prize it and despise not the day of your visitation but to day if you will hear the Voice of the Son of God come down to the Light in all your Consciences which reproves you for sin and shews you the loss that ye are yet in and wait in it and harden not your hearts nor despise the long sufferings of God neither linger through sloathfulness any longer lest he give you up wholly to your own wills and vile affections and lusts Psal 81.11 12. which lead you into wickedness and perverseness and so God overtake you there and bring his Judgements upon you and you perish with the wicked in your stubbornness and Rebellion So hear fear and do no more presumptuously From me who am a sufferer for the innocent Seeds sake who labours and waits in the power of the living God for its deliverance out of Bondage and Captivity G. F. Unto you the Officers and Soldiers of the Armies in England Scotland and Ireland REmember how at the beginning of the late Wars in these Nations that many of you were of the lowest of the People according to the account of men and you were poor and contemptible in the eyes of your Enemies who disdained and scorned you and thought soon to have made a prey upon you But I bear you Record that then many of you had a zeal for God and against his Enemies and according to your knowledge some of you acted faithfully for a time and then some of you had a desire to grow in the knowledge of God and to act for him and some of you were come so far as to see the Priests to be Enemies to the Truth and such as deceived the People and your Zeal waxed hot against them and their Idolatry so that you robbed them of their abominable Attire which they had caused the deceived People to provide them to wear in the time of their Idolatrous Worship and some of you did help to break down their Images and Altars which were in the high places where they worshipped And thus far â—ou did that which was right in the sight of God and you saw that the Priests laid heavy burdens upon the People Mat. 2.3 4. and oppressed them greatly in forcing them by an unjust Law to give them the tenth of their Labours and you saw several Laws which were made and upheld by the wills of Tyrants in these Nations to be contrary to the Law of God And then you Promised and Vowed unto God if he would deliver your Enemies which then were many and great into your hands that then you would take off that great Oppression which by unjust Laws were laid and continued upon the People and that those Laws concerning Oppression and constraining men to Worship contrary to their Consciences should be regulated or disannulled and made of none effect and that all men should have their Liberty to Worship according to what they knew and that none should Tyrannize over the Consciences of their Brethren to compel them otherwise but that all should have their Freedom and Liberty therein These things you Promised and Engaged to do and you caused many People to Engage to be True unto you and to stand firm with you that so you might recover their Liberties and outward Rights and bring them out of Bondage in which they were then held Captives by their Enemies and upon this Account the People furnished you with Money and VVeapons to War against their Oppressors and you cryed then unto the Lord in your Distresses and he was pleased to hear you and he smote your Enemies with Terror and Fear and overthrew all their wicked devices and frustrated all their designs and brought to naught all their mischievous plottings against you neither suffered he them to stand in the day of Battel before you because they trusted in their own strength but he gave them into your hands for a Prey and whom ye would ye slew and whom ye would ye preserved alive and you spoiled them and they became Servants and Bond-men unto you and you ruled over them as it is at this day Thus God by his own Power delivered them into your hands and preserved you in the day of Battel and was seen mightily amongst you and wonderfully delivered you out of their hands and gave you outward rest and ease from your outward Enemies and your Name became a Terror and an Astonishment unto the Nations about when they heard of those Acts which God had wrought by you But now the love of the Lord unto you and the day of your Distress by you is forgotten and your Vows and Promises which you then made unto God and Man are neglected and slighted by you for as great or greater Oppression and Burdens yet remain upon the People as were then and now many of you are possessed of your Enemies Houses and Lands and Goods and some of you are waxen rich through the spoil of your Enemies and the greatness of your Pay and some by doing Violence and so through your Riches and abundance many of you are grown high-minded and proud and many of you through idleness and fulness of the Creature are grown exceeding wanton and lustful and now run on in the common pollutions of the world and some of you are grown exceeding covetous and are become grinders of the faces of the Poor Isa 3.15 and defrauders one of another and many of you now are seeking and contriving in your own Wisdom how to grow greater and to excel others in earthly Riches and Honour and to establish your selves there by the strength of the arm of flesh and some of you are boasting of you strength and valour and stoutness Jer. 9.23 24. and are oftentimes telling how you killed and wounded and took and destroyed your Enemies and this is oft done by you when you are devouring the Creation upon your ungodly lusts and when you are gaming and spending away your precious time in vanity and here you remember not how God by his own Power delivered them into your hands neither give you him the Glory but ascribe it to your own strength and wisdom and boast in the Creature and so forget the Creator and so that simplicity and tenderness that was once in some of you is destroyed and murdered by the lusts of the flesh which are highly exalted in you and that Zeal that was
enâ—oy it and if they do not then the preservation of the People of God you say is lost and all good Government will cease and the People will be made a Prey upon and so the three Nations will be ruined at once and therefore seeing such things are like to come to pass if a Parliament chosen by the People be not upheld some of you have said you will assert their Cause to the last drop of your blood Answ Friends It 's good to be zealously affected in a good Cause and it 's good that the zeal be according to knowledge and it 's precious to have the zeal moderated with the Wisdom of God Therefore I exhort you in that Life and Wisdom which is of Christ my Master who came not to destroy mens lives but to save them that you would mind the Dread and Fear of the Lord God which is the beginning of Wisdom therefore be moderate and in coolness consider these things which I shall declare unto you which in waiting upon the Lord he by his Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding opened in me concerning the chusing of Parliaments by the Voices of the People and I know that you who truly desire the good of God's People and that Mercy and Justice might be established by righteous Laws whereby Equity and Justice might bâ— done unto all without respect of persons may clearly see with God's Witness in you which will answer to my words That you are not like to see your desires fulfilled by a Parliament that 's chosen by the Voices of the People mark the reasons Because the greater part of the People that are admitted to chuse Parliament men are such as do not truly desire the good of God's People whatever they may profess in words therefore it being in their Power to chuse whom they will among themselves as it is because most Voices carry it they will chuse such men as are like minded with themselves that 's plain and according to the Scriptures for the World love their own as saith John and now for proof that the greater part are not such as desire the good of the Lord's People I would have you consider how that the Scripture saith That the flock of Christ is a little flock and Christ saith Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it but broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction and many there be that walk therein and though Israel be as the sand of the Sea yet but a remnant shall be saved Now if ye believe these Scriptures then may you see that a Parliament that is chosen by most voices are not like to act for God and the good of his People and it hath been the complaint of the soberest and honestest men in several Counties when they should have chosen Parliament men that they could not chuse such a man as they judged would act singly for the good of the People of God and the Country because they were over-voted by the wild disaffected People who sometimes have been stirred up by their Priests to vote for such a man as the Priests knew would act for their covetous oppressing self-interest and in some places some great proud men who desired to be in Authority have feasted the People and sent Gifts to them with flatteries thereby striving to get the People to vote for them promising them to stand for their Liberties when it hath been but to serve their own self-ends and thus the People have been deceived and if at any time in some Counties and Places the honest sober People have chosen some honest-men to serve in Parliament yet there being so many in the Parliament that have sought their own Honour and Gain that such men as were honest and would have made just Laws and have acted for Equity and Liberty they have been hindred because what is done in Parliament is done by most voices also and the honest party in the Parliament having been the lesser party have been over-voted also The Light in your Consciences will witness that these things are true And whereas it is said That it is England's Birth-right that the People should chuse their own Law-makers I answer Then many thousands of men in England have been wronged of and kept long from their Birth-right for such as are not Free-men of some Corporations or have not Free-land of their own are not permitted to chuse Parliament men mark that though they be far more honest and understanding men than many that are Free of such Corporations and have such Land so that it 's but a part of the People that must chuse Law-makers And further he that hath Free-land worth forty shillings by the year in several Counties he may give his Voice in several Counties where his Land lyeth for several Parliament men when as he that hath Land but in one County cannot have the same priviledge though he be a far more honest man and he that 's a Free-man of that Corporation that finds a Parliament man or men and hath Free-lands in the Country also he may chuse both in the one and other but he that is not Free of such a Place he may not have the like priviledge though he be more honester than the other And this arose from the same ground that negative Voices arose from and it hath been the Manner and Custom of England to call and chuse many wise men after the flesh and many mighty and Noble men so called to be Parliament men that so we see the calling and chusing of Parliaments in England hath been exactly contrary to God's calling and chusing Read 1 Cor. 1.26 and therefore such Parliaments are not like to act for God and the good of his People but against them But that which God hath called and chosen shall confound and bring to naught the Wise and the Mighty and the Noble things so called of the World and this the Lord will bring to pass that so no flesh may glory in his presence Read 1 Cor. 1.27 28 29. And likewise the chusing of Parliament men according to the Custom of England which is called its Birth-right stands in respect of persons and not in equality for the rich covetous oppressing men who oppress the Poor they have the only power to chuse Law-makers and they will chuse to be sure such as will uphold them in their Oppression and the poor man that is oppressed though he have no power allowed him to chuse yet he must be subject to the Laws which they make who are his Oppressors or else he is accounted a Rebel so what right think ye is the Oppressed like to have when his Oppressors chuse the men that are to be Judges of his Cause and thus the rich men oppress the poor and draw them before their Judgement seats as they did in Jamâ—s his dayes Jam. 2.6 These things being considered ye may see the unequalness and partiality that hath been
of Tythes and forced Maintenance which hath cost some their lives and many a great part of their Estates who for Conscience sake have been made to witness against it Undo every Heavy Burden and break every Yoak and let the Oppressed go free And let Christ Iesus the everlasting King have the preheminence in all things Col. 1.18 for these things the Lord will have to be accomplished and brought to pass and if you will not submit to him in this his work he must and will remove you And this further consider Oh! take heed that none of you upon your Beds or elsewhere devise Cruelty and Oppression and how to avenge your selves upon your Enemies and then when you are assembled together confirm it by a Law because you have power so to do for the Lord abhors that who is appearing to give to all men according to the fruits of their doing and he will not respect any man's person Now if by your Strength you can hinder the Sun from rising and setting in its season and if you be able to stop the Thunder and Lightning from having its operation or to hinder the Wind from blowing and the Rain from descending then may you hinder the Decree of the Lord and by your Strength you may stand in Power and Peace and flourish for a long Season though you serve and avenge your selves to the full and though you rebel against the Lord and oppress his Heritage Lambeth-House the 28th of the 5th Month 1660. Written as moved and given by that eternal Power which only can preserve and deliver the righteous by a Prisoner for the Lord who am given up to his Will in all things G. F. the younger A MESSAGE OF Tender Love Unto such Professors as have attained any true sincerity simplicity and Zeal for God in their Professions Or who after their Backslidings and Apostacy from the former appearances of God unto them are now in this the day of Tryal which is begun brought to feel any fresh Desires and living breathings and thirstings renewed in them towards the Lord. OH ye Professors who have tasted of the Word of God's Grace in any measure and who have formerly had any true Tenderness in you and Zeal for God Oh friends in Bowels of much Tenderness and Love am I drawn forth to write unto you yea my soul breaths mightily to the Lord for you who have now any true hungrings and thirstings renewed in you after his Righteousness and in whose hearts there are any true simple desires retained to know the Will of God and to do it Friends The Eternal Being which giveth being to all his Creatures hath largely manifested his love unto the World in giving his onely begotten to be the Light of the World who doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World that all through him might believe and inasmuch as he in the fulness of time sent forth his onely begotten full of Grace and Truth into the World in a body which he had prepared him therein to do his will which body the onely begotten of the Father freely gave and offered up for a Sacrifice for Sin and so according to his Grace he tasted Death for every man and by his offering himself once for all he hath put an end to all the Sacrifices and Offerings mentioned in the Law which could not make the Comets thereunto perfect nor those that offered them as appertaining to the Conscience So Christ the one Offering is become the Propitiation for the sins of the whole World who wrought Eternal Salvation for all them that obey him And here is the one Offering which perfects for ever them that are sanctified And he having accomplished the Will of the Father in that body which was prepared him of the Father in which he came into the World he again left the World he not being of the World and ascended unto the Father from whence he proceeded and sate down on the Right Hand of the Majesty on High and is now Glorified with the same Glory that he had with the Father before the world began yea the same that descended into the lower parts of the Earth is also the same that ascended far above all Heavens that he might fill all things and being one with the Father and in the Father and the Father in him his presence filleth Heaven and Earth and being the Son in the Father he hath Power as the Father to quicken whomsoever he will that all men might honour the Son as the Father by whom all things were made that were made in whom we live move and have a being and he hath a Name given him above every name to which all things must bow which is called The Word of God or Jesus because he is a Saviour and saveth his People from their Sins This is he that is given to be the Head of the Body which is the Congregation of the Righteous the fulness of him that filleth All in all that he in all things in whom all fulness dwells might have the Preheminence being the express substance of the Father's Glory the very vertue of his Being one with him in Nature and one in Name for as the Father is Divine so the Son is also Divine and as the Father is called the Light so the Son is also called the Light the Father is called The Mighty God so is the Son also Yea the Son's Name is called Wonderful The mighty God the everlasting Father mark that the Prince of Peace of whose Government there shall be no End Now in the Father there is Life and in the Word the Son there is Life and this is one and this Life proceeding from the Father and the Son is that one Eternal Spirit which is not to be limitted Yea God is a Spirit and Christ is the Lord that spirit yea he is the second Adam the Lord from Heaven the quickning Spirit by whom the free gift is come upon all men to justifie them that believe in the Life and he that believeth not he is condemned by the Life which is the Light that doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World so the gift that is come upon the unbeliever that condemns him because he believeth not in the Light but loves the Darkness better Now Friends This is he the Light who giveth you a Being and upholdeth all things by the word of his Power and hath been near unto you ever since ye have had a Being and he hath beheld all your actions yea he hath discerned all your thoughts none of them could be hid from him for he knew them long before This is he that telleth unto man what his thought is and The Lord of Hosts is his Name This is he who hath reproved you and set your sins in order before your eyes Oh! How oft hath he brought you into a sensibleness of your Conditions How oft hath he smitten you for Sin and broken you into Tenderness by his
once in some of you for God and against his Enemies and those unjust Laws which by them were made and upheld is now lost and your ears are not open unto the cry of the Oppressed whom once you promised to set free from their Oppressions but now some of you are become upholders of and pleaders for those Laws and Customs which formerly you cryed against and strengthners and upholders of such as oppress tender Consciences though once you pretended that you fought for the Liberty of Conscience and now by those unjust Laws which you saw to be contrary to the Law of God do many suffer in these Nations some Imprisonment and some the spoyling of their Goods some because they cannot pay the Priests Tythes for if they should they must deny the unchangeable Priest which took not Tythes but abolished the first Priesthood and disannulled the Commandement that gave Tythes unto them that were of the first Priesthood which was a figure of him that was to come but now is he come who is the substance and sum of all Types and Figures even the everlasting High-Priest which changeth not so the first Priesthood is changed and the Law is changed also Heb. 7.12 Therefore they that witness the unchangeable Priest they deny the changeable Priests and for Conscience sake cannot uphold them and some suffer Imprisonment for Declaring and Publishing the everlasting Truth as they are moved of the Lord in the Markets Assemblies and Congregations of the People and some of late time have been Stock'd and Whipp'd and some wounded and despitefully used for the same and some when they have been peaceably met together in the fear of the Lord to wait upon him in their own houses or upon their own ground or some of their Brethrens not being troublesome outwardly to any man they have been then and there abused some have been violently haled away to the Magistrates who without shewing them any Law which they had transgressed hath forth with sent them to Prison and some have been stoned and kicked and buffeted and spitted upon and mocked and some have had their doors and windows broken and they scarce permitted to abide in their own houses And these things have been acted some of them by the Priests and some by the Rulers and Souldiers and rude multtude who are strengthned in such actions and suffered so to act by the other and some of the servants and chosen ones of the Lord have lately been cast some into Prisons holes and dungeons and there have lain until the outward man hath perished and many of the Children of the most high God are yet in Prisons in this Nation for witnessing forth the pure Truth of God and not for the breach of any just Law neither could our Persecutors when we have been brought before them shew any Law which we had transgressed when some of us have demanded this of them that if they had any Law against what we had acted that they should read it to us not withstanding this they have sent us to Prison again and there caused us to be kept and some of late time as they have been going peaceably to visit and relieve the servants of the Lord who are imprisoned in this Nation they have not been permitted but have been stopped by the way and some of them have had their money taken from them and then forthwith they have been sent to Prison and there are kept and some have been Fined and Imprisoned for entertaining or lodging of the Servants and Children of the Lord who have come peaceably and for peace to their houses and some lately hath been presented and money hath been demanded of them because for Conscience sake they could not go to the Steeple-houses to hear the hireling Priests and Deceivers on the first dayes of the weeks Now consider these Practices how contrary they are to the Vows and Engagements which you have made and taken and contrary to the Liberty which once you pretended unto I have not written these things unto you because I am a sufferer for I neither look for help or expect deliverance from you neither are my sufferings wearisome or grievous unto me because I know I suffer in innocency neither do I look for any help or have I any helps in the Earth but these things was I moved to write unto you that you may consider how you have neglected and slighted that which you Promised to do when you were in your distresse and trouble if God delivered you out of them who now hath delivered you and that you may see how you have rewarded evil for the good that the Lord hath done for you and how you have not onely lyed unto Man but unto God So come down to the Light of Christ in all your Consciences unto which Light all the Powers of the Earth must bow and with it search your hearts and try your wayes and it will shew you your back-slidings and the evil of your doings and repent speedily and do your first works and return to your first Integrity and do violence to no man neither accuse any falsly and be content with your Wages and submit your selves unto the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World that with the Light you may see the violent and false Accuser judged and cast out of you that so with the Light which makes manifest your present estate you may be brought out of the Fall and out of the Losse which you are yet in But if you refuse to return unto the Lord who hath so marvelously delivered you out of the hands of your Enemies to pay your Vows to him Verily the living God will arise and set free the oppressed and destroy their oppressors by his own Power and outstretched Arm and not by you neither shall you have the honour of it and he will cast you off and by his own Power will he bring you down and destroy you and root you out Remember how he lately by his Mighty Power brought down and destroyed those that Rebelled against him and even as he cast out them because they oppressed his Righteous Seed so also will he cast out you if you repent not speedily because you have not wholly followed his Counsel to destroy and break down and root out whatsoever did oppresse his People but now he hath given you deliverance and ease from your Enemies you have forgotten the day of your Calamity wherein you cryed unto the Lord for help in which day you were oppressed by your Enemies also and now ye are set down in ease and fulness and regard not the cry of the oppressed but you your selves are become oppressors also so what you did act for God in the time of your trouble shall not be once named or mentioned unto you because you continued not faithful unto the end but in your back-slidings and unrighteousness wherein you have delighted you shall perish and you shall receive
of God the Light by the Gift we are brought to bring forth these fruits which are contrary to those which the Spirit of Error leads the Children of disobedience to bring forth Gal. 5.22 23. For although we the Children of Light are accounted to be in Delusion and Errour Gal. 5.22.23 yet it is but by you who bring forth the Cursed fruits which the Spirit of Errour leads you to bring forth so in the Light Life and Power of God we stand over all false Accusations and Reproaches and Persecutions and in the patience of Gods Lamb we bear them all and our love goes forth to your Souls who wilfully oppose your selves and we declare unto you that the long-sufferings of the Lord towards you is to draw you to Repentance Rom. 2.4 and I have directed you to that which will shew you what you ought to repent of Therefore consider your wayes speedily all you that forget God lest he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you Psal 50.22 for verily this I declare unto you in the presence of the Lord that if you go on and continue in stubbornness and Rebellion against the Pure God and despise his love and reject his counsel and still refuse to hearken to the Light of his Son in your Consciences which reproves you for Sin and is freely given to you to lead you out of Sin unto God if you wilfully do not resist it Mark when the measure of your iniquity is filled up then will he arise upon you at unawares in his fury Wrath Indignation Mat. 24.50.51 and his eye shall not at all pitty you but he will bring his Plagues and Righteous Judgements upon you which shall consume you both root and branch if you will not be gathered in the day of his long patience and forbearance which is the day of your Visitation wherein you may come to know the things belonging to your peace if you do not wilfully resist the Power that is offered and committed unto you But if you resist the Power then the Lords righteous Judgements will assuredly come upon you and you will receive to your selves Condemnation and if you continue in your wickedness until the day of your visitation be past then shall the Light in all your Consciences which hath oftentimes shewed unto you your evil deeds arise and witness to the Judgements of God that they are just Zek. 2.7 so whether you will hear or forbear Remember you are warned in your Life time By a Friend to your Souls and a Lover of the Creation of God GEORGE FOX the Younger A few Queries to such Professors as stumble at the Light the Word the Kingdom and Spirit of God within and tell People that none can be free from Sin in this Life and yet say that they own the Scriptures 1. Qu. ARE not all by Nature Darkness and doth not the Light shine in Darkness yea or nay 2. Qu. Can any come to see themselves to be Darkness but with the Light which shineth in the Darkness yea or nay 3. Qu. Is there any way to come out of Darkness and Death and to receive Life and to be made Children of the Light but by believing in and following of Jesus Christ the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World yea or nay 4. Qu. Must not all be turned from Darkness to Light and from Satan's Power to the Power of God before they can receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified yea or nay 5. Qu. Can any come into the true Faith which purifies the heart and gives victory over the world without which none can please God but by hearing the Word of God yea or nay 6. Qu. And is not Christ the Light the Word of God and is not Christ the Light the Author and Finisher of the true Faith which saves and justifies yea or nay 7. Qu. And is not the Word nigh in the Mouth and in the Heart that men may obey it and do it and is not Christ the Light the Word that Prophet which all that hear him not are to be cut off yea or nay 8. Qu. And is it not Christ the Word which discerns and reveals the thoughts and intents of the heart and is not he the ingrafted Word which is able to save the Soul and is not he the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation and is sufficient which hath appeared unto all men and is not he the Word of God's Grace which is able to build up and keep from falling which People are to be commended unto yea or nay 9. Qu. And is not God Light and is not the shining of him in the hearts of People which gives them the knowledge of himself in the face of Jesus Christ yea or nay 10. Qu. And is not Christ the Light the hope which purifies as God is pure which Anchors and stayes the Soul to be known within are not People tossed like a Ship in a tempest without an Anchor till Christ the Hope be felt within to stay and Anchor them and is not Christ within the Hope a Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations and are not all they in the reprobate state who know not Christ within them yea or nay 11. Qu. And is not God's Kingdom Light and is it not like a little leaven that is hid in Meal and as a grain of Mustard-seed that is sown in the Earth and like a Pearl hid in the Field or like good Seed sown in the Field both on stony thorny high-way and good ground and is not the world the Field where the Seed of the Kingdom is sown and is not the world in mans heart so is not Gods Kingdom within men yea or nay 12. Qu. And is not the manifestation of the Spirit given to every man to profit withal and do any worship the Father of Truth aright but those that worship him in the Spirit and in the Truth and is not the Light the Truth yea or nay 13. Qu. And is not Christ the Light that Word which reconciles to God and is it not he that must open the understandings of men before they can understand the Scriptures and are not People in Errour and in jangling and strife about the Scriptures till Christ the Light the Spirit of Truth the Power of God from whence Scriptures were spoken be known and owned to guide and lead them yea or nay 14. Qu. And is not this the Cause of so many Sects and Opinions and Divisions as are and of such strivings as are about Scriptures and Religions because People know not or own not the Spirit of Truth from whence Scriputures were spoken forth to lead and guide them and is it not like that People should run into Sects and Opinions and Divisions and Strife if they know not or own not the Spirit of Truth to guide and lead them and if the Spirit of Truth were known and owned to
sought not Peoples goods but them and their diligence and care was not to make the Gospel chargeable for having food and rayment they were therewith all content and they received it of such also mark that as did receive them and their Testimony and so oppressed no man But Paul foresaw that after his departure grievous and ravenous Wolves should enter that would not spare Flock and Christ prophesied of them also and these entred before John's departure and he warned the little Children who had the anointing abiding in them to take heed of them for they were the Antichrists and and went from the annointing in the particular and so from those that were in it and then the murthering spirit got up in these and the World went after these who spared not the Flock but killed those that had the Testimony of Jesus which is the spirit of Prophesie and these Antichrists having lost the spirit being ravened from it in their own particulars and having killed those that were made Ministers by the Spirit who had freely received and freely gave then they set up their Schools and Colledges there to make Ministers by the will of man and then made a carnal Law whereby they had Tythes given them for these had not freely received neither would they freely give so Tythes among the Gentiles were set up by the devouring murthering spirit by a Law by which Law they are yet upheld and not by God and they that yet receive the Tythes are found in the devouring murthering spirit many of them who have devoured many Peoples goods in this Nation who could not for Conscience sake pay Tythes and have caused several others to be kept in Prison until Death for the same And this hath been the work of Antichrist who hath the sheeps clothing the good words but inwardly is the ravening Wolf And in this Work many of the Priests of England have been found of late as is manifest by their Fruits and they have the same unjust Law to oppress and destroy the innocent still notwithstanding some of you have pretended and declared much to the contrary long Now many of the Priests when we tell them of this their cruelty and oppression they will say They are Ministers of the Gospel and he that Preacheth the Gospel God hath ordained that he should live of the Gospel Well we say so too That we are Ministers of the Gospel and he that Preacheth the Gospel ought to live of the Gospel which is the Power of God and ought not to have any outward Law to compel any to give him whereon to live So this is that which we who have learned to do unto all men as we would they should do unto us would have That he that Preacheth the Gospel should live of the Gospel and not on that which comes by the force of an outward Law but the Priests Maintenance is contrary to the Maintenance of the Ministers of the Law or Gospel Therefore first let there be no outward Law to hinder or restrain any People from hearing any whom they believe is a Minister of the Gospel nor yer to compell any to hear any one whom they believe is not a Minister of the Gospel for an outward Law can but restain or compel the outward man but the heart none can restrain from Evil nor compel to the good but the Law and Power of God onely in the heart therefore let there be a free Liberty for all people to meet concerning their Worship provided that under pretence of meeting to worship they meet not to Plot for the overthrowing of the outward Governours by an outward Power for if that can be proved and made manifest truly then let such suffer by an outward Law And likewise let there be no Law to compel any one to maintain any Teacher neither let there be any Law to restrain any one from giving any thing to their Teacher for this is but equal so let the People have Liberty herein that so this oppression about the Maintenance of Teachers may cease And then it will soon appear whether these Priests be Ministers of the Gospel and whether their Gospel will maintain them yea or nay But many of the Rulers have said If we should not provide Maintenance for our Ministers then Preaching would soon fall and then many People would become Heathens I answer He that is a Minister of Christ the Power of God which is the everlasting Gospel a necessity is laid upon him to Preach the Gospel and wo be unto him if he Preach not the Gospel And he that is sent forth by Christ is not to take thought what he shall eat or what he shall drink or wherewithal he shall be cloathed for his heavenly Father knoweth that he hath need of all these things and provides them for those that he sends forth without an outward Law to compel it that so they lack not any thing Now that Ministry which the forcing an outward Maintenance for it will cause it to cease mark this Ministry never did any good or service for God nor ever can that is God's Truth unto you at the furthest this Ministry hath but brought People to draw near unto God with their mouths and to appear to honour him with their lips when their hearts have been afar off but this Ministry could never bring any into the true knowledge of God and Christ whom God hath sent and freely given for a Covenant of Light and without this knowledge all People upon the Earth are without the Life Eternal and so are Heathens whatever they profess in words though they may make long Prayers and think to be heard in their much speaking as the Pharisees and Hypocrites did whom Christ call'd Heathens therefore consider what a Ministry you have upheld and do uphold So let that Ministry fall which cannot stand without an outward Law for to compel an outward Maintenance for it for the Lord regards it not but his hand is against it and against that which would uphold it and both must fall together So what is here declared concerning Religion and the Maintenance of Teachers and the like it is in the Equal Royal Law of Liberty which is To love thy neighbour as thy self and to do unto all as we would be done unto And so if the spirit which we are led and guided by who are called in scorn Quakers be not able to prevail over that which we oppose in others as Error then let us be manifested to be in the Error and let us fall onely let there be a fair Tryal and let there not be such beating and haling and tearing and mangling and stocking and imprisoning of the Creatures as hath been for where such things have been acted many have been stopped at that time for speaking the Truth yet notwithstanding the Truth hath prevailed over all and shall prevail And if that can be proved against us truly that we plot at our Meetings or at any other
in chusing of Parliaments according to England's Custom and how unlike it is that a Parliament so chosen should make England a free Nation seeing the great Oppressors of the Land viz. Priests and Lawyers and the great wicked covetous persecuting men are so much concerned in the chusing them so that if Parliaments so chosen should continue the People of the Lord are not like to be set free from their Oppression though Parliaments and Rulers have been made to do many good things by a Power which many of them scarce knew but the Lord hath a further thing yet to do in the Nations than either Protectors or Parliaments would submit unto therefore the Lord hath thrown them by but they had first a day of tryal given them and now is the Lord trying others and if they will not do his Work in breaking every yoke and letting the oppressed go free God will assuredly break them with a greater destruction than came upon those before them Therefore let your moderation be known unto all men for the Lord is at hand and thirst not after blood lest the Lord give ye blood to drink and we know that Kings and Protectors and Parliaments have made fair pretences and have given themselves fine Titles and have pleaded that they had a just right to and a necessity for their Authority and sought to get into the affections of the People by smooth words and large promises to carry on their own design but their hearts were not right before the Lord and therefore he broke them and their Titles and know that the People that fear God they matter not Titles and high Names but they look for righteous actions to be brought forth and many see that a Parliament that was chose by the most voices of the outwardly rich People were not like to act righteously and therefore they are willing to wait to see what the Lord will do by others and we see that People have been in great Blindness in contending for Parliaments so chosen so let this Wisdom be learned and lived in which is better than the strength of fools who oft perish in their passion and folly And now Friends in the Army and Committee that have turned out the Parliament Dread ye the Lord God and mind the equal just noble Principle of God in you which hath stirred against Tyranny and Oppression and make it not your business to declare only for Freedom as some before you did and did not the thing they declared for but in the Fear and Wisdom of the Lord go ye on to act for the good of all his Creatures and seek not your own Honours but singly do the same both for your Friends and Enemies that you would have them do for you if they were in Authority as ye are and until ye come to this ye are not like to prosper the Lord abhorreth the lying flattering double deceitful tongue and heart and the People also have been wearied with fair words because the actions have been wanting that should have accompanied the said words Remember how you have cryed out against the Oppression of a forced Maintenance for Teachers and now ye are tryed and have Power given you to break that Oppression down which some of you I say have desired others to do therefore abuse not your Power but leave the People free to maintain their own Teachers mark The Ministers that Christ sends forth they have no need of you in this particular as to provide Food and Raiment for them for their Heavenly Father knows that they have need of those things and provides it for them without an outward Law to compel it that so they lack not any thing and that Teacher that will not consent to this he serveth not the Lord Jesus but his own Belly and that is his God and such a one can never profit the People and mark if ye should take away Tythes and Command by a Law any other Maintenance from us for Teachers that would be the same Tyranny and Oppression in the nature and ground of it that Tythes were and we must bear our Testimony against it also and our Lives or Estates or both must yet suffer therefore if ye do thus you leave Us in the same Bondage as before And let Laws be provided that are righteous just and equal according to that of God in the Conscience and let such be impowered to execute them that will hear and determine Causes freely according to righteousness and let causes of difference between man and man be heard in every County and when by plain proof of two or three witnesses without transgressing Christ's doctrine it come to be manifested who have done the wrong then let the Executioners of the Law be impowered to cause the party or parties to restore for the wrong that is done according to Equity that so this abominable Oppression about the Law and Lawyers may be broken down and thunder down all ungodly gaming 's and shews whereby the foolish wild People are cheated of their moneys and spend away their precious time to the dishonour of the pure God And let the People of the Lord have their Liberty to speak his Word freely where and when his Spirit leads them and gives them utterance and let the Law take hold on such as would wrong any man's Person or Estate And let the dread of the Lord be upon your Spirits and wait in his Light to receive his Wisdom that therein you may be ordered in the particular and in it order all things to his Glory that ye may remove all that which is standing which is contrary to the Will of God And meddle not to establish Religion and Teachers by an outward Law for verily if ye do ye will be broken let that alone to Christ whose work it is Consider all that went before you of late years that would be medling with such things the Lord broke them to pieces and they were warned in their day as ye are now And let not your many Victories which ye have obtained nor your being preserved in so many overturnings wherein ye have been made instrumental nor your strength courage nor wisdom puff ye up for thus saith the Lord God even as earthen vessels are in the hands of a Potter who hath power to dash them one against another until they be broken or to break them in pieces with another thing that appears more weak than they even so are you in my hand saith the Lord and I can confound your Wisdom and take away your Courage and smite you with faintness and dauntedness of Spirit in the twinkling of an eye therefore seek not your selves for if you do your day shall be but short Remember you of the Army had Power once before to have acted for the good of your Nation but the subtilty in some who sought themselves whom God hath since blasted beguiled you and mark some of you sold your power for Commissions and others
a prey to this Generation Isa 59.14 15. And though several overturnings have been yet is iniquity still at a great height and increaseth exceedingly And what will it advantage a Child to flee from a Bear and joyn to a Lyon Verily the day is come wherein there is no hiding place of safety for the Righteous but purely in the Name of the Lord and blessed are they that alone trust therein For the help of the meek standeth in the Name of the Lord Psal 124.8 Hos 13.9 And happy are they that abide in it for the day will be terrible and dreadful unto all that have not a habitation in the Name of the Lord the King of Saints For Violence and Oppression shall come to the full and then shall the Lord Roar out of his Habitation and he shall strike the Inhabitants of the Earth with Astonishment and Faintness and Deadness of Spirit shall seize upon the mighty men and weakness and fear upon thâ— strong and bold of the Earth for the Lord will appear in his mighty Power to take the Kingdom and to relieve the oppressed and to help the needy and they shall be strong in him Be wise therefore O ye Kings and learn Wisdom ye Iudges and Rulers of the Earth Return unto the Lord and serve him with fear Tremble before the Glory of his Presence and Kisse the Son lest he be angry and you perish by the way For his wroth shall suddenly burn then blessed are all they that trust in Him Read Psal 2. Therefore strive not with the Lord any longer by withholding his Right from Him but give unto him his due and resign up to him and his anointed the things that he doth require for the Lamb must get the victory and he must have the Preheminence in all things yea he must be the Supream Head in all Spiritual things and the only Law-giver to his People yea he with the Higher Power must ordain and send forth Ministers and Labourers into his Church Vineyard and Harvest for he only can fit them for the work and not man and he will take care that they shall not lack any thing Luke 22.35 For the Earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof Psal 24.1 And he will constrain People with his love which is better than outward force to give his Ministers Food and Raiment when they have need thereof and they will be contented there-withal 1 Tim. 6.8 Therefore meddle not with these things any more I warn and exhort you in the Love of God For it belongs not unto you but unto God and Christ who are one and let Christ only be acknowledged to be the defender of the Faith who is able to perform that Office to the full which man is not And let the one Law-giver be minded and owned in man to give forth Laws to punish Transgressors that so the Judgement may be the Lord's and not man's for so it ought to be and he that Ruleth over men must be Just ruling in the Fear of God 2 Sam. 23.3 And they that Fear the Lord and hate Covetousness ought to be Judges and Rulers Exod. 18.21 to see and take care that the Law of God be put in due execution judging righteously without respect to persons Prov. 24.23 doing to all men as they would they should do unto them keeping out of Bribes and Gifts that the eye may not be blinded Exod. 23.6 7 8. And such Rulers as these will the Lord set up and Honour unto whom he will plainly shew his Righteous just Law which he wil have executed upon Transgressors and men shall be subject unto them for Conscience sake and they only shall be a terror to evil doers and encouragers of them that do well and they shall be guarded with Righteousness and the Lord shall bless them with the dew of Heaven and they shall send forth a good savour into the Earth and then shall the Inhabitants of the Earth learn Righteousness For Judgement shall run down as Water and Righteousness as a mighty stream for the Judgments of the Lord shall be rightly executed and self-ends shall be denyed and then shall Praises Dominion Honour and Obedience and all that is the Lord's be yielded unto him the King of Saints And until this come to pass God's Controversie shall not cease But there will be Breaking and Overturning Oppressing and Spoyling and Insnaring one of another and they that come uppermost and will not give unto the Lord his due but set themselves in his Seat whatsoever words they profess or let them appear never so strong in the arm of flesh yet they shall be broken down with dishonour and Plagues and Torments shall be the Portion of the Hypocrite that bows to deceit and Babylon must fall and perish for strong is the Lord which judgeth her Rev. 18.8 And in vain do men seek to establish themselves in that which the Lord is against and wo will be unto them that are found in the State of Capernaum and Edom Read Obediah 3.4 Mat. 11.23 And now ye Rulers Teachers and People remember you are warned and it is in true love to your Souls and Bodies therefore Repent whilst you have time left you that you may be saved though it be so as by fire and speedily resign up to the Lord that which properly belongeth unto Him for verily the day dawneth apace which shall reveal that man of sin more and more who hath set himself in the Seat and stead of God whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his Mouth and abolish and destroy with the Brightness of his coming 2 Thes 2.3 4 5 6 7 8. And the day of the Lord shall even so come as a Thief in the night And when the wicked shall say Peace and safety then shall come upon them sudden destruction even as the travel of a woman with Child which by no means can be escaped 1 Thes 5.2 3. Be still O ye Saints of the most High God keep clear of Babylon take heed of being ensnared dy her cleave not to her flatteries in any wise but follow the Lamb whithersoever he leadeth you and hold fast the Word of his Patience in the true Integrity of your hearts that so ye may stand and endure the Tryal to the end and whatsoever you suffer for the Testimony of God you shall have a full reward for it if you faint not This in the Word of the Lord is unto you Lambeth-House the 28th of the 4th Month 1660. POSTSCRIPT ANd if I could write no more yet this is the Testimony of Truth to the Rulers Teachers and People of this present Age in what Nation soever this may come Mark you must all come to the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who hath enlightned you that with the Light you may come to see what is contrary to the mind and will of God both in your Laws and Governments and in the constitutions thereof and in
emptiness of the water outward and let them see that it is the Baptism inward with the holy Spirit and with Fire which saves and brings to the answer of a good Conscience And that no Form is to be minded any further then the Power is felt to lead into it or then the presence of the Lord is witnessed in it And thus the Lord by his pure Life hath gathered Thousands out of the Forms before mentioned and I do believe that he will yet dayly gather more and more into the Power which is endless Therefore all you who are yet left in any of those forms before mentioned or any other or out of Forms who have retained any thing of the former Tenderness and Smiplicity which was begotten in you by the appearance of the Lord And all you who are brought to see your backslidings and are now brought to feel any true desires and thirsting after God renewed in you my tender love reacheth forth unto you all in the Life Power and love of God wherewith I am loved and in which I am preserved Oh! that I could feel you bound up and established with me in the unchangable Truth of God where satisfaction and Peace is received and where nothing can make afraid Oh! that ye would freely yield your selves obedient servants unto the Righteousness of God which is revealed from Heaven against all unrighteousness of men Mark that is the thing which you must become obedient unto God's Righteousness which appeareth in you against all unrighteousness And all wait in that which moves against Sin for that is the Power of God which you must be turned unto and receive before you can receive the remission of Sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by the Faith which Christ Jesus the Righteousness of God is the Author and finisher of And Friends you must all mind the present manifestation of the Power of God and what it now draweth and leadeth unto For if you should now run into those things wherein you have formerly enjoyed something of the presence and Life of God yet if you feel not the pure Power of the Lord God now drawing you into them deadness will come upon you more and more and the tender desires that are renewed in you towards the Lord will be destroyed Oh! consider this the day of the Lord is far broke forth in Light and Knowledge and he is yet making it brighter and brighter unto them that truly wait upon him yea he is leading them by the hand of his love from one degree of Grace and Faith and Knowledge unto another and changing them from glory to glory And he is powring from vessel to vessel that the dregs may be left by themselves Yea he is sifting and winowing that the Chaff and the dross may be taken away and so the Seed which standeth approved may be made manifest And he is bringing thorow the fire and thorow the fire because the day hasteneth and draweth nigh in which he will make up his Jewels and consume the chaff and the dross Therefore look not back neither be afraid of the rage of man seek not to save your selves by bowing to his Will but look to the Lord who declareth unto you what your thoughts are and gird up the loins oF your minds and watch and be sober and hope to the end all you who through patience and experience are come to know any thing of the true hope which maketh not ashamed And Friends concerning Faith and the Promises of God there hath been much Profession and talk of those things amongst you But now the day is appearing which will try all Professions and every one's work must come to Tryal Therefore consider your Faith and the Ground Author and effects of it For there is a dead Faith and a living Faith and a ground for both Now the living Faith hath Jesus for its Author and the power of God for its Ground and its effects declare it to be the living Faith for it works in them that have it by love unto the purifying of their hearts and it is their victory over the world These were the effects of the living Faith in the Saints of old and it hath the same now as they can witness who have received it Now there is a Faith which stands but in Words not in the Power and this is a dead Faith it cannot work it purifies not the heart it gives not victory over the world nor access to God as the living Faith doth Oh Friends Labour not to content your selves with a dead Faith but wait that you may hear the leaving Word by which the living Faith comes Now a man may declare of the Word of Life as the Scriptures do and many may believe the words to be true and profess the same and yet if they receive not the living Word or VVitness in their own hearts their Faith will prove but a dead Faith and they will have but words for its ground but they that hear the VVords of Truth declared or read them and then feel the living VVord arising in themselves witnessing to the words that they have read or heard that they are true over-powering them to believe the same or if the VVord of Life speaketh to any ones understanding when words outwardly are not spoken and they be over-powered by the Word to believe the same such come indeed to feel and know how the living Faith cometh and is wrought And they come also to see that this Faith stands in the Power of God and not in words and that Jesus who saveth from sin is the Author of it And all that come into this state if they wilfully turn not from the Power they will feel their Faith increased in and by the Power and the effects of it will daily come to be manifest which will be an evidence unto them to prove that it is the living Faith for they will feel it giving them access to God Oh ye Professors I speak what I know and witness and without this Faith you cannot please God And concerning the Promises of God this know The Promises are unto the Seed Not unto Seeds as of many but unto the Seed which is One which is Christ So all that come to have right unto the Promises of God they must come to be of the Seed unto which the Promises are Now it is the Word of Life which begetteth unto God and brings to be of the Seed which is the Heir of the Promises of God Therefore wait in the appearance of the Word of Life that by it you may be begotten into the nature of the incorruptible Seed and become born of it that so you may be made meet to be partakers of the precious Promises Oh that ye would hearken diligently and obey and your Souls should live The Lord's hand of tender love and pitty is stretched forth towards you Oh! be not rebellious any longer lest he cease striving with you