Condition you are my joy in the Lord let my bowels be refreshed to hear of your Stedfastness and Growth in the Truth Take heed of propounding ends to your selves in any thing for that leads out of the way of God and gives way to your own Wisdom and so you seek to preserve that Alive which is appointed for Death and so you maintain War against God and know it not and in this condition you can have no Peace while the Enemies are in Arms against your Peace Oh! dear Friends you are in my Heart my Prayer to God for you is that you may be kept blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ blessed for Ever My fellow Prisoner and dear Companion in the Lord Salutes you F. H. all Cease not to Pray for us that we may be kept to his Praise who hath counted us worthy to Suffer for his Name we are well and in great Peace kept in our Father's Love above all we are often brought to stand and wonder how we are kept in the midst of the Fire and not Consumed and the more that the Enemy Rages the more are we kept in Peace within Here are strange Devices used to insnare us to get ought against us true or false but all is ordered by a power the World knows not God is our Strength Rejoice with us all dear Friends and Praise his Name for Evermore for he is worthy for his Mercy endures for Ever JAMES NAYLOR A Prisoner at Appleby in Westmoreland for the Truths sake 1653. To all Dear BRETHREN and FRIENDS in Holderness and in the East Parts of Yorkshire DEAR Friends I Rejoice in you as you are entred into the Love of the Truth and have owned the Voice that calls out of the Darkness that is over all the Earth to set your Faces towards Sion the City of Everlasting Light And now mind your Way and the Light that is given to Guide you in the Way to keep your Eye to the Light that it may lead you through all the Visible things of the World and as you pass through you may stand single in the Mind unto God not turning to the right or left Hand where lies the Temptation nor looking back which lays you open to be Assaulted afresh by those Evils you had once escaped from but keeping the Eye towards the Mark pass on leaving and forgetting what is behind and Treading and Trampling under your Feet what the Enemy shall lay as stumbling blocks in your way which your Carnal Eyes or Ears or Hearts would be closing with for the Temptation lies in the Carnal things and there is the Bondage of the Creature to things that are Corrupt from which Bondage from Sin and Corruption the Lord is now Appeared that in the Light he may Redeem and lead out of it all that will own and follow him and this Light and Redemption is in his Son whom he is about to Exalt in which Exaltation a strange and mighty Work is to be brought to pass whereat all that stand not in his Counsel and Fear and to whom he shall not Reveal his Secrets shall be offended for all that is exalted shall be laid low and debased the Wisdom of the Wise shall come to nought and the Understanding of the Prudent ones shall be hid Riches and Honours shall fall to Dust from whence they came and the Worship of the World shall become Filthiness the Gods of the Heathens shall be Famished with looking for Worship but shall get none and the strongest of them shall not be able to deliver himself for the Lord will bring down all Heights and Mountains into the Valleys for in the Valley of Jehosaphat he will plead with all Flesh which hath scattered the Seed of the Covenant And now dear Friends here is your Peace and Blessedness that you Silence all Flesh and cease from your own Wisdom and give over your Imaginations about the things of God come out of the Love of the World and arise out of all Visible things and prepare to meet the Lord cast off all your Idols that have had your Hearts and put off the stumbling blocks of your Iniquities from before your Faces and give up all that will not that he should Reign over them that his Enemies may be your Enemies for in Judgment and Righteousness is he come out to be Avenged upon the Unrighteous Seed and now stand in the Light that a seperation may be made in you the Precious from the Vile that a true savour may arise that you may know your Calling and Election what is called and what you are to come out of lest you stay in any of that to which the Plagues is for this is the cause of your Suffering not discerning in the pure Wisdom what that Antichrist or exalted Spirit is that is got into the Seat of God and shews himself to be as God whose Kingdom stands in the Wisdom Glory and Riches of the World whereat all that knows not the true God in Spirit ask Counsel therefore dear Friends look not out into the Visible things for there he is ready to present to you false Voices and Visions Lying-wonders to lead out the vain Mind into the Liberty and Boasting of high things in Words without Power but while such speak of Liberty they are in Bondage in Mind to Corrupt and Fading things and while these are Head in the Creature there is not Redemption For the Bonds of Iniquity are unloosed and the pure seed is oppressed and the Plagues must pass upon that Nature therefore sink down into the Sufferings and Death that you may find the Door whereat to Enter for there is a Vale of Tears to pass thorow you shall find your Well-springs in him where you shall drink of the Water of Life and find Refreshment and grow from Strength to Strength till you come up to Sion Stand fast take heed of Words without Life spoken from the Comprehensions for that Feeds not the pure Seed but Feeds the Wisdom which is above and the Itching Ears and so the pure is covered with Earth and the Fowls of the Air is fed and no Fruit is brought forth to Perfection and take heed of that Nature that would know more than God is willing to Reveal for you shall find that unwilling to obey what it knows and take heed of that which desires to appear before Men to be commended for that seldom deserves Praise of God and let a Godly Conversation declare what is within and know one another in Spirit and not in Word and meet often together and wait upon God for his Teaching alone in a Cross to your own Wills for therein is the Secrets of God Revealed Let Love abound in you one towards another without being Partial and I beseech you by the Love of God that you halt not between God and the World but as you Profess that you are not of the World so let your Conversation be out of its Fashions Customs and Traditions and Covetous Practises that it may appear you are marked out for the Lord's and that you are not ashamed to own that which differs and so walk as not to cast an offence on the Gospel that you become not a scorn to Fools but let Wisdom be justified of her Children and take heed of that which would be exalted above others Teaching and Talking of things without Life and you that would be counted somebody let such first learn to wash the Feet of them they would be above and he that would be Greatest let him be Servant to all for it is the Humble and not the High Spirits that are Taught of God and such so walk as their Lives and Practises Teach and Judge all Vain Light and Heighty Spirits and mind how you grow out of the Earth and out of that which is in the Enmity and until you be brought out of the Love of all Visible things and wholly infolded into the Love of God you cannot witness Redemption nor receive the true Joy that ariseth in the Manifestation of the Love for it is only he that is brought up out of the Death to Reign over it whose Heart is come out of the Unrighteous Mammon who is entred into the Kingdom of Righteousness Joy and Peace and as you arise out of the Earthly Bondage you shall witness the glorious Liberty and so come to know your own Measures every one in particular to improve it and not to boast above it in another Man's Line and so you will come to see by what Power you stand in your Warfare how far you are Conquerors and who is your Enemy at present and so be able to give an Account in your selves of your Faith and how you grow from Faith to Faith And dear Friends watch over one another Exâ—ort Reprieve Admonish in pure Love and Meekness of Spirit least you also be Tempted and all know that you are set as a City on a Hill as Signs to this Generation therefore lift up your Light to all the World that all Mouths may be Stopped and Hearts Convinced so that all that see you may see you to be Children of Light and being Judged by you may be ashamed of their deeds of Darkness for great is the work of the Lord and Blessed are they that are found Faithful in it in what is committed to them Farewel dear Hearts and the Lord God Almighty Bless Prosper and Preserve you Pure and Clear unto his Kingdom Amen My Love in the Lord Salutes you all and if my Father please I shall be glad to see your Faces in the Flesh but his Will is my Peace who is Blessed for Evermore Written from Nuby the last Day of the Seventh Month 1653. A Lover of your Souls JAMES NAYLOR The Work of the Lord is great in those Parts and he carries it on with a High Hand having got himself the Victory Praise the Lord with us all that know him who is worthy even him alone for Ever FINIS Printed in the YEAR 1654.
Disobedience for a little moment as a Father to correct yet should not they have sought to aggravate things against me as thou dost For it was a Day of deep Distress and lay sore upon my Soul and the pitiful God saw it who though he was a little displeased yet his Thoughts was not to cast off for ever but extend Mercy as it is at this Day Glory be to his Name from my deliver'd Soul eternally And in that Day there was many Spirits flock'd about me and some whom while my Candle shone upon my Head I ever judged and kept out from me who then got up and acted and spoke several things not in the Light and Truth of God by which they who sought occasion against me then was strengthned to afflict this Body and he that watches for Evil in thee and some others makes use of still against God's Truth and Innocent People whose Mouths the God of my Mercy stop and so finish the Trouble of my Heart as to that thing For my Soul hath long dwelt among Lions even among them that are set on Fire whose Teeth are Spears and Arrows and their Tongues a sharp Sword speaking mischievous things to shed Blood But O Man or Men whatever you be whose Work it is to gather together the Failings of God's People in Time of Temptation or Night of their Tryal and aggravate them and add there to the Wickedness and mischievous Lyes of your own Hearts as thou hast done in thy Book and then come out with those against God's Everlasting Holy Truth it to Reproach I say you are set to work by an Evil Spirit and you do but shew your selves to be Enemies to God and his Children And it is our Sorrow that any of us should give such Spirits occasion to blaspheme and it hath been Trouble of Soul to all the People of God that have ever loved Righteousness when they have thus occasioned the Joy of the Wicked or to feed that Man that watches for Iniquity and feeds on Mischief Yet know this you that are of that Brood God will not cast off his People though he be sometimes provoked to correct them even before their Adversaries which is a Sign to them yet is his Anger but for a moment and his Favour shall return as Streams of Life Then shall the Food be taken out of the Mouth of the Viper and the Prey from between the Teeth of the Devourers and God shall feed them with their own Vomit and the Poyson that hath long lain under their Tongues shall be bitter in their own Bowels Thus will God certainly plead with Zion's Enemies as he bends her Sons for himself and God will make up her Breaches And this hath my Soul seen Jacob's Captivity restored and the Diggers of the Pit are fallen therein Neither hath he smitten him as he smote them that smote him or is he slain according to the Slaughter of them that are slain by him but this is all his Fruit to purge away his Sin So he that had long waited for my failing then got advantage against me yet had I then Power to bear his utmost Envy through Christ Jesus whom I then confessed before Men who then was my support in all and under all and who is over all blessed for ever of all who have proved him in the depth But that which was and is the Sorrow of my Heart is the advantage the Enemy then took against the Name of Christ his Truth and his despised People in that time of Temptation which is that which thou art now pursuing with Hatred and Lyes as that I had a Woman in Bed with me the Night before I suffer'd at Bristol When there was Six or Seven Persons in the Room that Night and a Man to wit Robert Rich in Bed with me But this and several other false things thou hast written in thy Book of which I am clear before the Lord so they touch me not at all nor shall I here mention them against thee in particular But to God alone I look in his time to be cleared from all Offences in his sight who only knows my Heart in this thing in whose Presence I can say that nothing is more odious and burthensome to my Soul than that any of that Glory or Worship which belongs to God or to Christ should be given to Flesh and Blood in my self or others And how it was with me at that Day many talk of but few knows so the Judgment of such I bear Desiring that none in Judging me might have Condemned themselves in God's sight whose Counsels are a great Deep and the End of his Works past finding out till he himself reveal them but in the End he will be justified of all and in all he doth that all Flesh may be silent before him And however my self or any others may be left to themselves to be tryed in the Night yea should any utterly fall or whatever may be acted by any Man or Woman that is not justifiable in God's sight yet in vain dost thou or you gather up Sin or watch for Iniquity to cast upon the Light which Condemns it in every Enlightned Conscience and there will clear himself to be no Author nor Actor therein And I know by the Spirit of Jesus which I have received and which worketh in me that this is not his Work nor his Seed nor in him that loves thy Enemies thou art not but the old Accuser of the Brethren it is that worketh strongly in thee and in the Light which thou Reproaches art thou seen to be the Man that makes Lyes and carries Tales to shed Blood Ezek. 22. 9 12. Another Paper added THere is a Spirit which I feel that delights to do no Evil nor to revenge any Wrong but delights to endure all things in hope to enjoy its own in the End Its hope is to outlive all Wrath and Contention and to weary out all Exaltation and Cruelty or whatever is of Nature contrary to its self It sees to the End of all Temptations As it bears no Evil in it self so it conceives none in Thoughts to any other If it be betrayed it bears it for its Ground and Spring is the Mercies and Forgiveness of God Its Crown is Meekness its Life is Everlasting Love unfeigned and takes its Kingdom with Intreaty and not with Contention and keeps it by Lowliness of Mind In God alone it can rejoice though none else regard it or can own its Life It 's conceived in Sorrow and brought forth without any to pity it nor doth it murmur at Grief and Oppression It never rejoyceth but through Sufferings for with the World's Joy it is murthered I found it alone being forsaken I have Fellowship therein with them who lived in Dens and desolate Places in the Earth who through Death obtained this Resurrection and Eternal Holy Life J. N. London Printed in the Year 1660. TO ALL THE People of the LORD EVERY WHERE Gathered or
precious profers of the Love of God be tendred in vain while you have an Ear open to the World you cannot hear the Voice of God so that you have been made to groan under it How long have you been deceived by it all your time promising Peace Fulness and Satisfaction but have been brought to cry out of Oppression and Deceit and your Cries are come before the Lord of Sabbaths who is your Rest and he is now appeared to Deliver you and set you free from Bondage that you may serve him alone And now take heed of consulting with your Old Master hath the Lord been so Merciful unto you as that he hath set your Faces out of Sodom and Egypt towards the promised Land Oh take heed of looking back lest you be taken Captive and led back again and so you come short of Redemption and your Faith fail you and so you come short of the Promise for Unbelief cannot enter into the Rest but you Dear Friends put on Resolution put on Strength be Valiant for your Freedom cast off every Weight follow your Captain the Lord Jesus Christ who for the joy set before him endured the Cross despised the Shame and so enter'd into Rest and Glory Take heed of halting between God and the World what agreement can there be or what Peace while you are Married to the World Your thoughts turn in thither and you are Adulterated from God who gives you all good things as so many tokens of his Love hereby is the broken Language brought forth and you cannot speak the pure Language of the Land of Rest And while you give way to that in you which leads you to look back to what is behind you you keep your selves in the Wilderness and Darkness and lose your way and know not where you are Grieving the Holy Spirit of the Lord which hath appeared unto you to Guide you But Oh Friends mind your Guide and follow him Arise Shine your Light is come and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon you the Night is far spent the Day is at hand even the Day of Sion's Deliverance Arise come away all you that love her come off from the World and Worldly things come into the Life lie no longer in Death and Dead things Awake thou that Sleepest and stand up from the Dead that Christ may give thee Light Come forth come forth of all Created things witness your Redemption from the World that you are Redeemed from the Earth up to God out of all Kindreds Tongues People and Nations to Reign as Kings and Priests for Ever above the World Sin and Death Triumphing and Treading upon all that would take you Captive This is the Day of your Deliverance own it with the Loss of all Fading Pleasures make it appear to all the World this is the Day you waited for even the Day of your Joy but of the Worlds Sorrow A Day of Blackness and Gloominess a Day of Fear and Trouble to them that Oppress you a Day wherein the Kingdom of Jesus Christ shall be Exalted and all the Kingdoms and Powers of the Earth Shaken a Day wherein the Lord will Avenge the Power of him that is too strong for you Rejoice Rejoice ye Meek of the Earth Shout for Joy ye poor Despised ones whom your Brethren have troden upon and have cast you out and you have been made their Mocking-stock for the Truths sake Sing and Rejoice the Voice of a King is amongst you and he will Marry you to himself in Righteousness Purity and Holiness and will Rejoice over you as a Bridegroom over the Bride and you shall be for a Crown of Glory in the hand of the Lord and a Royal Diadem in the hand of your God O my dear Hearts my desire to God for you all is that you might come to see what unspeakable Riches is laid up for you in Jesus Christ which is hid from all Flesh neither can they see it who live after the Flesh and while they continue their Love to the World and Worldly things they keep out the Manifestation of the Father's Love for their Hearts cannot receive both Now shew your selves Wise Men choose that which is Eternal here is Light and Life tendred you in Jesus Christ freely out of the Father's Love freely receive Life and Love and shew forth Life and Love to God again by giving up to him all you have and all you are for Christ's sake that so you may come to receive all again with Christ who is the fulness of the Father's Love and in him are all good things needful for this Life and that which is to come even the earnest of your Inheritance which none can take from you which being received you shall never hunger more having a Well-spring within even the Witness of Eternal Life and Love and as Christ Appears who is our Life and Love so shall Life and Love Appear Spring Blossom and bring forth Fruit towards God and Man that so being raised with him from Death and Dead Works you may henceforth Live unto God and being brought into Oneness with him and Purity and Holiness you may be one amongst your selves of one Heart and one Mind speaking one and the self same thing and having the same care one for another as for your selves And take heed that there be not in any of you a Principle of Self-love which will lead to Separation and Division casting a stumbling block in the way of the Simple and so they that are Weak may be Defiled and turned back into the World And I beseech you Brethren that you mark them that once set their Faces towards Sion but not being willing to deny the World and take up the Cross have consulted with Flesh and Blood and turned back into Egypt again of such take heed knowing that the same Spirit that hath wrought in them Deceitfully will not cease to work by them to Deceive others to maintain its own Kingdom but you standing fast in the pure Light of Christ shall see whither those Return and the cause of their Returnings and that the end of such is worse than the beginning but there will be such that they who are approved may be made manifest But you my Brethren be ye so far from following such that their falling away may cause you to watch and search by what Power you stand and so a pure fear may be preserved in you by which you may be kept in the way that leads to the Crown which is Immortal For it is he that overcomes that must wear the Crown wherefore faint not nor think any thing hard the Lord calls you unto nothing must Suffer but that which is to Die that your Souls may Live Oh your light Affliction worketh for you a far more exceeding weight of Glory while you keep your Eye to that which is Invisible wherefore give up your selves to his will in all things Stand in the will of God in your present