of Israel Who can declare his Mercy to the Afflicted or utter his Bowels of Compassion to the Spirits in Prison What Tongue can declare the unsearchableness of his Way of Life or make known the Infiniteness of that which passeth Knowledge He hath been a Father to the Fatherless he hath given Light and Life to them that sate in Darkness and in the shadow of Death he is found of them that sought him not he spreadeth forth his Arms to gather them that asked not for him he giveth Gifts to the Rebellious and he is grieved with those that receive not the Tenders of his Love and complaineth from the grief of his Soul when Israel will have none of him He delighteth not in the Death of the Wicked but waiteth long for their Return If Israel backslide yet afterwards return with true Repentance forsaking the Evil he sheweth Mercy even to the Prodigal and he heals the Backslidings and loves them freely that none may say their Destruction is from him nor that he appointed them thereunto nor charge him with Injustice in the day of his Judgments when the Just shall arise to the Resurrection of Life and the Unjust to the Resurrection of Condemnation forever that every Moath may be stopped and every one stand Guilty before the Throne of his Judgment and every Tongue confess to God That he is Righteous in all his Wayes and that all his Judgments are Just and True And out of his Fatherly Pity from the freeness of his Love hath he visited many of you even with a Message of Life and Salvation by the Word of his Power making known that unto you which hath been hid from Ages and Generations and is yet hid from all Ishmaels Princes and Nimrods Builders yea even from all the Wise and Prudent of the Earth even that is he revealing to many of you who are willing to become Fools and suffer the loss of all for his sake who saves the Soul and that not for any Works of Righteousness which you have done but of his own free Love through the Power of his Immortal Word is he begetting Sons and Daughters to himself that he alone might be honoured who worketh all their Works in them that his Workmanship all such might be created a new in Christ Jesus unto good Works in them to walk in Newness of Life bringing forth Fruits unto God who with the Light of his Son in whom he is well pleased hath convinced many of you of the Evil of your Ways and the Blindness you were in when you were Children of Wrath even as others and his Light of Life hath shined in you to let you see the want of a Saviour and feel the burden of your Sins that the Word of Repentance you all might receive and come to be led by him whom God the Father hath sealed for a Covenant of his Eternal Love and sent for a Light to be a Leader to the House of Joseph and a Deliverer to the House of Israel and to inherit the Gentiles and possess the utmost parts of the Heathen that the Brightness of his Power might shine over all the World and the sound of his Voice be heard to the utmost parts of the Earth that the Outcasts of the Earth might be brought to the one Fold and the Seed of Abraham be gathered from the four Corners of the Earth that Redemption might be known from under the Shadow of Death and that the blind which have Eyes and the deaf which have Ears might come forth to the Light of the Son who looseth the Tongue of the Stammerer that it may speak plain that those who Err in Judgment might learn the Doctrine of the Son of the Father's Love who comes to lead the blind by a way they know not and lead them in Paths that they have not known and with Weeping and with Supplication doth he lead them that walk in the strait and narrow Path of Life where those that abide in the Fear shall not stumble but walk in the Uprightness of Innocency through the Power of the Father's Love continuing in the way of Holiness where only the Ransomed of the Lord do walk the which Way of Holiness the Lord God hath made known to many which reached unto your Hearts whereby it was at the present made soft and tender and you received the Truth with love rejoycing that you came to find the way to Eternal Peace and many began to say one to another This is the Way let us to walk in it and for a time many walked in Humility and pure dear and tender Love began to spring up in you one to another and the Enemies of your Souls began to be subject to you and the tenders of God's Love was over you to do you good at your latter end but behold before you came to the Land of Rest the Lord tryed you by suffering the Enemy to present Hardship Straits and many Difficulties to come on the other hand to present the Glory of the World and the Favour of great Men and some the Enemy draws forth their Minds from the Strait and narrow Way into carnal Liberty and Ease in the Flesh and so to contain an Easier way whereby the simplicity in many is betrayed into the Power of the man of Sin who worketh strongly to keep his hold in one Deceiveableness or another to keep in Bondage the Life of the JUST to keep his Head from being bruised by the Power of the Seed of the Promise which under the Subtilty in many hath cryed for Vengeance upon the Head of that which Murders the Just and when times of Tryal come by Judgment and Famine and Want have come upon others then have they started aside like a broken Bow and caused th Offence of the Cross to cease and then hath Unbelief come in and the Enemy caused Questionings of the living Truth and Consultations about the Way of Life and such grew weary of their Tryal like their Fore-fathers in the Wilderness even letting the Enemy draw back their Hearts to the Flesh Pots of Aegypt which God by his mighty Power had redeemed them from and was leading them by the right Hand and in the narrow Way that they should go And others the Enemy who still seeketh to devour the begotten of God hath drawn forth their Minds into a sottish careless Condition not regarding the stirrings of Gods Spirit with them by the Light of his Son in their Hearts and so not minding that his Spirit will not alwayes strive with them and having seen before the straitness of the Way the Enemy will work by all Subtilty to keep such from it and from the Meetings and Society of them that in the strait Way abide keeping them still from the Cross which would be his Death and the Life of that which would give Peace and Victory over him and all his Wiles And others coming to see that they are come so far so that they need not Words
Law of God and if you have ought against us you should come and declare it before our faces or let us have liberty to speak when the Lord moves any of us to come to you but fill ye up the measure of your Fathers the chief Priests Scribes and Pharisees in whose steps ye are found read Mat. 23. who denyed Christ the Light and called him a Deceiver and one that had a Devil and the Carpenter's Son and stirred up the Rulers and the rude People to Crucifie him and they themselves gave their Voice against him whom they had hired Judas to betray and after his Resurrection they hired Souldiers for large Money to declare Lyes of his Disciples and him who was just and afterwards were Enemies to his Innocent Lambs who had waited in Obedience to Christ the Light and so received that Spirit of Truth whom the World cannot receive by which they were endued with Power to go forth into the Towns Villages and Synagogues declaring against the false Worships even of Priests and People though they had Latin Greek and Hebrew and Moses preached among them every Sabbath day yet were they in the false Worship and deniers of Christ the Light of the World and his Ministers and Servants who were foolish and contemptible in their Eyes as we are this day in the Eyes of you who are in the ways of your Fathers consulting with the Rulers against such as come in the Name of the Lord to declare against your Oppression and unjust Practices and such are brought by you and your Hearers to suffer Imprisonment and loss of Goods if not Death it self even by â—tn and those that you have been long teaching and are of â—ght Church as it is called by whom the Church in God doth â— not as is witnessed in Devon-Goal wherein many of the Serva ever the living God have been kept Prisoners who have not Truth the Law of God nor Man and this is done by thosne Light taught no better by you Priests of Devonshire Is â—aâ—ed by you to your Ministry to bring forth such Fruits in the generality of your Hearers Did they ever imprison any for Conscience-sake who were taught by the Ministry of Christ the Light to deny Ungodliness And are not your Hearers in Ungodliness the which we bear Testimony against and all Ungodliness Therefore we suffer this day by the Seed of Evil Doers who have taken many of the Servants of God in the High-ways as they were going to visit the Members of Christ in Prison and took twenty Shillings from one of them who was going to relieve the Members of Christ in Prison and sent him to Prison also Another had ten Shillings taken from him and others had their Writings and other things taken from them Some others were put out of your Synagogues brought before Magistrates and sent to Prison and one dyed in Prison and this is done by you and your Hearers ye Priests of Devonshire Is it not a shame to your Ministry to bring forth no better Fruits in this your Gospel Profession and the Fruits of your Gospel-Hearers to lay wait as he that setteth Snares and set a Trap to catch men Jer. 5. 26. to the end and send them to Prison for going to visit Prisoners whose Relief from them was taken Was ever the like heard of in the days of the Prophets or Apostles Who but those that are as blind as you will follow you any longer For now as every simple man may see the Fruit of your Ministry which hath plainly appeared in most Towns and Ports of Devonshire at Tiverton they that depart from Evil are made a Prey of and many Abuses they receive and the Abusers not punished but some that have been abused were also cast into Prison and they who came to visit them were also persecuted and they that came in the Name of the Lord were there persecuted put out of the Synagogues and imprisoned At Tarington the Servants of the Lord that preached Repentance and that came for the good of 〈◊〉 were Evil intreated and Snares laid for them and 〈…〉 and the Priest of Tarington said That Paul was a 〈…〉 that it was his Duty to Swear This hs affirmed more than 〈…〉 At Plymouth the Servants of the Lord several times 〈…〉 inhumane Persecutions the like hath been seldom heard 〈…〉 by those that are called Christians 〈…〉 might be said and other places named with the Fruits that your Ministry hath brought forth but in this you may be known by your Fruits to all that love the Light of Christ who saith of the false Prophets By their Fruits ye shall know them And now is Christ the Light come to deliver his Flock from your Mouthes and he will bring back the lost and gather home the scattered that have been long devoured by you the many Pastors who have not brought home to Christ the Light the lost Sheep but with Force and with Cruelty have your ruled over them who have been scattered by you Shepherds that cannot understand Isa 56. 11. who feed the subtilty in your Hearers and not the simplicity neither have you ministred to the Spirit in Prison nor yet received your Ministry from him that opens the Prison Door And row your day is come the Hireling must fly into the Holes and yet shall you not be hid And now your carnal Preaching through your carnal Imaginations and Conceivings from the Letter which killeth to a carnal People for carnal Ends in carnal idol Temples high Places of beastly Worship This you are now seeking to uphold with carnal Weapons in the hands of carnal Men and Magistrates who send the Lambs of Christ into Prisons and all this will avail you no more than it did avail the chief Priests your Fathers who took counsel together how to take Jesus Christ the Light by subtilty and kill him and gave their Voice against him And are not you giving your Voices against Christ the Light caâ—â—ing it Natural as they call'd him the Carpenter's Son But fill ye up the measure of your Fathers ye blind Guides of Devonshire that upon you at whose hand the Blood of Souls will be required may come the Curses spoken of in Mal. 2. 1 2. For now is Christ the Light made manifest the second Priesthood who is made a Minister not after a carnal Commandment but after the Power of an Endless Life even him that is the Light and the true Shepherd that teacheth all to profit the Everlasting High Priest that leadeth up to God who committed all Power unto him that is the Light of the World which whoso believeth in and obeyeth shall not abide in Darkness as you and your Hearers do who are ever learning but never come to the knowledge of the Truth which makes Free But such as follow him who is the Light the Way the Truth the Life the Corner Stone refused by you for to you he is a stone of stumbling even he that is the Rock
said You have we aried me with your Sacrifices And so say I to you now you have wearied the Lord with your Words and yet many are saying Wherein have we we aried him I say in this have you wearied the Lord in that you say such as do Evil are Good in the sight of God Mal. 2. 17. Therefore thus I declare unto you who are yet in your Sins meeting together in the Idol Temples Your Service is not the Service of the true God neither is your Worship that which the Lord accepteth for he accepteth none but the Worship in Spirit and in Truth not in one high Place or other but your Worship is in some High-Place Idol-Temple or Steeple-House where all manner of Viperous Beasts are round and unsanctified Persons meet together who commit all Abominations and live in all manner of Filthiness and yet lean upon the Lord and say Is not the Lord among us no Evil shall come unto us Whereas they are an evil and an adulterous Generation adulterated from the Spirit of Truth in which the true Worship stands and are ignorantly worshipping in a Temple made with Hands in which God dwellcth not neither is his Power there received to overcome the Sin and so the People are wearying themselves for very Vanity and travelling to bring forth Death and labouring for that which profits not neither do they come to meet the Lord in the way of his Judgments nor find the Path of Life where the Unclean can never come neither yet do they know the Bread of Life nor drink his Blood that cleanseth from all Sin nor come to be translated into the Kingdom of the Son of God but remain in that Ground which was eursed by reason of man's Rebellion Gen. 3. 17. Heb. 6. 8. which Ground being not removed with the mighty Power of God the Blessing cannot be received nor the Understanding opened to know and receive that which the Natural Man perceiveth not the Eyes of their Minds being darkened through the Ignorance that is in them the Vail being over the Heart when that is read every day of their Worship which discovers Sin but makes nothing Perfect which Worshippers did and do Crucifie him that comes to take away the Sin But now he is come who hath forever perfected those that are sanctified and he that sanctisieth and they who are sanctified are all of one But they that are not sanctified are not of the one but are in the many Opinions in the Lusts of Ignorance and Wayes of Unrighteousness being not come to the one Faith which purifieth the Heart nor to know the one Baptism one Church one Way one Truth one God the Father of him who is the one Light which lightneth every man that cometh into the Wâ—rld of the which Light which is but one there is given a measure to every one of you which Light shineth in Darkness though not by it comprehended which Light will let you see that you your selves are out of God's Covenant in the World's Worship not reconciled to God upholding Idol Temples and Heathenish Customs with Bells and such things which the People of God never used but did and do deny forever and exhort you and all others to leave worshipping the Beast or upholding that which is not the true Worship of the true God practised by men of Sin in Steeple-Houses every First-Day Wherefore all People every where leave your Idolatry which you have learned and received by Tradition from the former Papists and Heathen who worship the Work of their own Hands and bow down to their own Inventions as you long have done and for this many Hundred Years have been learning and yet are not come to the Truth neither to believe in it but remain in Unbelief and Ignorance and your long time of Ignorance God winked at Acts 17. 30. But now Light is come in which God is calling to you and all men every where to Repent and forsake your Idolatrous Worship which by you a sinful Generation is practised in a Steeple-house one day in seven and Catn's Nature remaining in the inward parts from the which Idolatry all that sear the Lord God of Abraham are now to come from the Uncleanness of that Worship which is upheld by the Heathen for verily the Hand of the Lord God Almighty is stretched sorth against it and them Wherefore all People turn your Minds to the Lord God of Life who dwelleth in his People and not in Temples made with Hands and hath given to every one of you a measure of the true Light of his Son which Light in you will let you see your secret Sins and will teach you and shew you plainly of the Father if you love it and come to be led by it to do God's will so may you come to worship the Lord God of Life in Spirit and in Truth with the Children of the Light and of the Day which hath dawned upon many who need not any man teach them but are all taught of the Lord Glory and Honour and Everlasting Praises to his blessed Name forever and ever Amen Given forth as a Testimony against all Idolatry and Heathenish-Worship from the true Love of God the Father in pity to the Souls of them who have Eyes and see not and Ears and hear not that they may come forth of Darkness to follow Christ Jesus the Light of the World who is bringing the Blind by a Way that they know not Isa 42. 16. Therefore is this to go abroad among all People and read in Steeple-Houses Streets Market-places private Meetings and Families that all may consider what they have been doing in the dark Ezek. 8. 12. By a Servant of the Living God a Sufferer for the Testimony of his Name in the Common Goal and House of Correction at Winchester Humphery Smith The 4th Moneth 1658. Man driven out of the Earth and Darkness By the Light Life and Mighty Hand of GOD Wherein plain and simple Truths are brought to light that so the cause of Stumbling may be taken from before the Eyes of both Rulers and all sorts of Professors in Herefordshire c. Also something related of the Wonderful Power of God in the Work of Redemption and Restroration With a plain Self-denyal by him that takes up the daily Cross Behold the Lord worketh wonderfully every Morning he bringeth his Judgments to light he hath brought me back from the Grave and saved my Soul from Hell and set my feet upon a Rock THE Living Truth of the Lord God which he hath revealed in me by the mighty Operation of his Word of Life which living eternal Truth being my Life and shall last for evermore and be as a Standard of the Most High lifted up to all the scattered weary Souls that they may flow unto it and have it to be unto them a place of Refuge and Defence to fly unto in the day of Distress and by it come to be made Free and in it
with the Indignation of the Lord and overcome with the Power of his Might Many Woes could I from the Lord declare and much of his Judgment make known unto you yea many Lines might I write and unfold the Mysteries of his Power which from your Eyes are hid and long hath my Soul mourned in secret for you and because of the fierce Terrors of the Lord which you cannot escape mine Eyes have been filled with Tears and my Heart with Sorrow and that for you O ye blind scornful and rebellious Men that rule this County The Lord God will bring Shame upon you and your Names shall Rot and be left for an evil Savour for the Generations to come Better had it been for you if the Womb had been your Grave or that you had had a Milstone hanged about your Necks and cast into the depth of the Sea before you had writ an Line or made one Order or had a hand against one of the Friends of Christ who follow him that makes an end of sin whom one day you shall see to be of the Seed whom God hath chosen who being born of the Spirit are now unto you as the Wind of which you hear a sound but know not whence they come neither whither they go whom you keep in your filthy Prison to force them to bow to you like Haman but take heed how long you provoke the Lord therein and consider what it is in you which you would have us please bow or submit unto by speaking such words as may satisfie that Will in you which unjustly cast and keeps us in Prison And now behold the Lord God hath tryed you and you are found Enemies to his suffering Seed and Fighters against God and your Hypocrisie is made manifest and the Infamy of your Unrighteousness is spread over the Nation and Gods Witness in the hearts of Thousands will judge of your Actions to be Unjust and Unreasonable and to the Children of Light your insides are discovered and your end is seen and your secret intents neither can your Devices be hid nor any shelter cover you for the Light is come that makes all things manifest and the secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him Be ye now therefore awakened and instructed O ye Rulers of the Earth and let your Minds be turned to the Light in you and strive no longer with God who is Light for that which may be known of God is manifest in you And did you not first strive and fight against his Witness in you you would not fight with your carnal Weapons and carnal Prisons against his Messengers and Servants who fear before him and fear not them that kill or imprison the Body till death of whose Servants and Messengers you shall know that I am one in the day of your Calamity and Destruction the which that you might escape in Soberness and Meekness have I this many Moneths dealt with you writing reasonable and plain things unto you that you might in meekness come to hear the Cry of the Oppressed both within and without but if you hear not earthly things but in that be unreasonable and unfaithful in the unrighteous Mamoâ— who shall commit unto you the greater Riches or open unto you the Mysteries of the things of God who with things that are not is bringing to nought things that are and with the things that you despise is he overturning the Counsels of the Mighty and that which confounds the Wisdom of the VVise and brings to nothing the Understanding of the Prudent and overturns the Devices of the Wicked even in that is my Life and in that which terrifies troubles torments and condemns the World do I rest in Peace with God for evermore and remain A Friend to the whole Creation and to the Souls of all Mankind who of men am numbred amongst Transgressors in a filthy Prison and place unfit for men at Winchester this 24th of the 8th Moneth 1658. To the Enemies of Equity Truth and Peace I am only known by the Name Humphry Smith To them who have lately believed in the Light and are waiting to receive the Life THE Day of Gods Everlasting Love is come and with his Mighty Power is he risen to gather all them in the Light of his Son that long have sate in Darkness and in the Shadow of Death upon whom the Day is now Dawning wherein the Outcasts of Israel shall be gathered and the Captives that long have groaned may now come to know Deliverance for with plentious Redemption is the Lord visiting his People and he is coming near unto his own and seeking them that are afar off and lifting up a Standard for the Standard for the Strangers to flow unto and many shall return unto the Lord and People shall be gathered to the God of their Salvation and he will pour out his Spirit upon the Humble and fill the Meek with the Riches of his Love Multitudes of People shall come unto Sion and the Poor of the Flock to the City of the great King for Light is breaking forth as the Morning and Righteousness as the Sun at Noon therefore shall the Mourning Seed be comforted and that which groaned in Captivity lift up the Head that the Prisoner may spring forth of Bondage and the longing Soul be satisfied and Judgment come upon the Wicked and Terror upon the Loftiness of man the Rebellious brought down to the Dust and that which boweth not unto the Light with it is condemned forever that through the Condemnation the Seed may spring which long in Death hath lain and is now to be raised up by the Arm of God's Almighty Power which now comes to be revealed unto them who believe the Voice of the true Spirit which is in the midst whom all are to hear and obey his voice who comes out from God and leads them that believe in and obey him up unto God again and he is the only Way unto the Father by whom the Redemption comes who is arising in the Hearts of the Children of Light whereby they come to know Light shine out of Darkness giving them the Knowledge of God which Knowledge they never learned from all the Teachers of the World which Teachers are themselves in that Ground in which the Knowledge of God cannot be received and that which they have not received themselves they cannot teach others therefore you have not received the Knowledge of God from them after which Knowledge something in you hath long groaned which is now to be satisfied from him in whom the Fullness of God doth dwell who is the Light of which you have received in which you are to wait to receive the Promise of the Father that your Souls may be refreshed in the Bosom of his Love and feel God's Mercies showered down as the early Rain in the time of Drought that your tender Desires may not wither nor your breathing Spirits faint in the way but may with chearfulness
these things for they that sung and danced in the Wilderness forgot the mighty Power of the Lord which brought them out of Bondage therefore they got into the carnal Liberty like many others at this day before they come to the true Rest and these were in the false Worship who Worship that which the carnal Eye might perceive and these had lost the true Guide And when they were in their singing and dancing they knew not what was become of him who was the Minister of the Law that discovers sin but though they who danced saw him not for a time but began to dispise him yet in a time unexpected he came upon them in the Fierceness of his Anger who executed the judgments of the Lord upon those vain Dancers with whom he was grieved who was in the Church in the Wilderness and is the holy One in the midst who with a suddain slaughter destroyed these Dancers whose voice of singing was not because of Mastry neither was their Voice the voice of the Cry of the Oppressed and these were Idolaters whose Hearts were uncircumcised and knew not the Wayes of God who therefore condemned them with an utter Overthrow that they perished in the Wilderness where they thus sinned after they had seen the Deliverances of the Lord as many of the Rulers and People of England have done who have forgotten their Leader to whom these are left for an Example of whom there were about thirty Thousand slain for their Singing Dancing and False Worship Exod. 32. 1 Cor. 9. And Herod had Dancing before him and she that danced and he that was pleased with Dancing caused his Head to be taken off that directed to him that is the Light and preached the Lamb that takes away the Sin and their carnal Nature and so this murders that which is to prepare the Way of the Lord and they took off his Head and murthered him who was a burning and a shining Light and slew him that preached Repentance and so the Dancers and the Rulers of the Earth who were pleased with Dancing and Musick murther that in them which calls to Repentance and are ready to murder such as preach Repentance to them And whilst there is a delighting in Dancing and Musick that which calleth to Repentance is in Bondage for John was in Prison when Herod was pleased with the Dancing and there is not a greater Prophet than he that preacheth Repentance and he that proclaims the Way of the Lord was in Prison and she that danced desired his Death and he that caused him to be beheaded was a King a great one in the Earth who was pleased with Dancing and was a Swearer out of Christs Doctrine for he promised with an Oath What soever she would ask who danced before him then nothing would satisfie the Dancer but the Death of him who preached Repentance and he was an Observer of Days and kept the day of his Birth with Dancing It was his Birth-day the day of his Birth in which he was brought forth who was a Swearer the Swearers delight in dancing that caused his head to be taken off who warned them that had the Oracles of God To fly from the Wrath to come and said They were a Generation of Vipers who had the Scriptures and came also to his Baptism and brought not forth fruits meet for Repentance these are the Vipers And so that which is to lead unto Christ doth suffer in Bondage and is murthered and the Head or first Appearance of it taken off upon that day which the Birth of that is brought forth which is pleased with the Dancing not like Job Jeremiah and delights in the Musick and that which exerciseth the mind of the Creature in the dancing desireth the Death and Murthering of that in Prison which is to call to Repentance above all other things yea there is nothing then so much desired as the Killing and Overcoming of that which is cast into Prison by him that delights in the Musick Matth. 14. And when them in Israel who had Harps the Musitioners them who delighted in Musick were carried Captive into Babylon the Land of Confusion in which Land Nimrod the mighty One in the Earth went hunting before the Lord and by the River of Babylon they sate down and wept who were before the Musitioners with their Harps these went into Captivity because of the Sin and hanged their Harps upon the Willowes and sate down Mourning by the Rivers of Babylon and that which delighted in the Musick caused the Captivity and leads into Bondage that which should come to Liberty whereby Sorrow Weeping and Mourning comes in the End for the Songs of the Temple is to be turned into Howling and their Delight in the Musick was turned into Weeping and they led captive from Zion who were come to the land of Promise and there took Liberty in these fleshly Delights Psalm 137. The Mind that hath Wisdom may read this And it was the King of Babylon who said Is not this great Babylon that I have built by the Might of my Power for the Honour of my Majesty that set up the golden Image to be Worshipped at the hearing of all kind of Musick and he also was a great man in the Earth a great King the King of Babylon a mighty One in Confusion who commanded the Magicians the Astrologers and Sorcerers and Caldeans and ruled over them and all them that dwelt in the Earth and he sent Greetings of Peace to People Nations and Languages that dwelt in all the Earth but he that is the Light comes not to send Peace on the Earth and the Angel cryed Wo Wo Wo to the Inhabitants of the Earth but he that was King over Nations in the Earth had many Instruments of Musick even all kinds of Musick and he that delighted in the Musick set up the Golden Image and by his command they that heard the Musick were presently to fall down and Worship the great Golden Image like the Children of Israel who set up the Golden Calf and these were Idolaters and in the false Worship and that which delighted in all kinds of Musick was in the Enmity to the Righteous Seed and sought to murther them who denyed the Musick and false Worship and therein such appear to be of Cain the Murtherer and of Lemach the Man-slayer And these great Ones in the Earth who had all kinds of Musick were in Babylon and these were the persecutors and such persecute now whose Rage was exceeding great against the Servants of the living God who to him were faithful though in Babylon and regarded not their Musick neither feared their great threatning Words nor yet obey their strict Command neither would they keep their Decrees nor take much care to Answer them in that matter nor bow before their Image though made with Gold nor Worship any other God than he that dwells in his People though they were in the Land of captivity among them in the
Power of the most Infinite God of Life over all that which at first in divine Wisdom was subjected under man who then bore the Image of the Immortal God of Power and live in the Glorious state of Peace and Quietness out of Wrath Envy and Trouble and that man may be brought into that Noble state of Uprightness and come to be directed and guided with that by which the may be renowned forever and leave the Memorial of his Righteousness for a sweet favour unto many Generations to come Therefore all ye Wise and Prudent Ancient and Honourable Devout Zealous and Religious Ones let all your Minds be turned from the Varieties of Conceptions in the vain Imaginations and the vain Thoughts of the dark Mind which leadeth forth into the carnal Conceivings of things without the pure Substance of the one Immortal Life which in man lies hid from all that carnal Wisdom which naturally ruleth in man who is fallen from the Dominion and Life of the God of Wisdom whose delight is to dwell in his People and reveal in them his secrets and make known unto them by that which searcheth the Heart the unsearchable Riches of the Mysteries of his Will instructing them as a tender Father in the Perfect Way of Life that unto them who feel his Power an Eternal Inheritance he may give and at last receive them in the Arms of his Love with him to reign in the Light of endless Glory forever Wherefore let all Tongues be silent and let every Evil Motion be denyed and the passage of every Vain Thought be stopt and let Dread and Fear Possess him that hath done Evil and let the inward parts be searched with the Light of Life which is in the Heart of every one of you and let your Minds be wholly turned from all the visible carnal fading Glory to the Light of Truth in you which being by you loved will lead you into Meekness and into true Humility which leadeth to and goeth before Eternal Honour and bringeth to be Honourable in his Power who ruleth in the Hearts of Emperors and Kings who fear before him and he only who searcheth the Heart is to be sought after above all things and the operation of his mighty Power is to be felt in the inward parts judging that which hath kept man from the knowledge of his Life and condemning and overturning that which hath hindred man from the sense of the feeling thereof in him the which being turned unto and loved followed and obeyed will bring Judgment upon that in you all which hath long kept you from the Dominion of pure divine Glory and Love in the Slavery of sleshly worldly Glory which hath more and more begotten you into that which lusteth after the Beauty which is to perish with them that dye in it Now therefore awake ye all to Righteousness stand in awe and sin not commune with your own Hearts and be still and in the cool of the day and quietness of your Mind listen ye then to the voice of the Word in your Hearts and prize and tender that which moveth in you against that which is Evil and come to be guided by that in you which is Light which cometh from him who is the God of Love whose love is already shed abroad in the Hearts of many which constraineth them to wait in his Light to receive his Power and further Discoveries of his Will who willeth that all men should be saved from Eternal Death and Damnation and not dye under the horrible Terrors of his Fierce Wrath nor perish in the Darkness of Unbelief and Rebellion against that Power which made man at first Upright and now from a fatherly pity doth call after all Mankind that they may return from Evil and come unto him and be saved from Wrath to come and find plenteous Redemption in the Life of his Power and be gathered into the Comliness of his Love and translated into the Kingdom of his Immortality and reign with him who sitteth upon the Throne of unspeakable Glory ruling in and over all the Kingdoms of men For behold the Day-star of the Morning is risen and his Glitterings are enlightning the Dark parts of the World and unto all Nations is it arising to declare in the Hearts of many the springing forth of the day of Judgment upon the vail and night of Darkness which hath long covered that from man by which all Mankind might come to see the Fountain of endless Love which now through Judgment by the brightness of the Light is brought near unto all People whose Hearts are open to receive it and the Light of the Morning-Star which ariseth in the Hearts of the beloved chosen Seed is bringing to Judgment the hidden things of Dishonesty and in secret reproving the Double-mindedness of man that Deceit Defraud and Hypocrisie out of him may be cleansed and the ground of all Vanity Tyranny and Lust discovered and removed that Death upon Death with Judgment through the Light may come that by the Light Life and Immortality may come forth and arise in the strength of immortal Power breaking through that which separated man from Unity Peace and Truth that unto it all Nations may become subject and by the force of its Lowliness be drawn together to the Hill of Holiness and rest together in the heavenly Felicity upon the Mount of Refuge forever For the Son of Righteousness is risen with Healings in his Wings and an overshadowing Power is with him and they that come to the Fruit of his Love are filled with Peace to their Souls and so come to that which may be received in the Heart and which is given to heal all Nations and spring up in the midst of them as a Tree of Life whose Fruit shall never fail World without End And this glorious Light of Life and Power of Love is springing forth of Darkness in the Hearts of Thousands in the Northern parts of the World and is shining forth in the brightness of Righteousness towards the utmost parts of the South and unto all Kindreds upon the Face of the Earth reaching from the East to the West to declare and give the knowledge of Immortal Power which in the Hearts of the humble harmless and single-minded may be felt and received if they rebel not against the Light in the Conscience nor remain in the strength of their own carnal Knowledge but be willing to come out of all that which they must dye unto or perish with and leave all that which never brought them to the Enjoyment of everlasting Rest to their Souls Now therefore all ye tall Cedars of the Earth whose Heads are lifted up on high above others and whose Minds are exalted above the Principle of Meekness in your selves this are you all to know even that Power of Eternal Life which is to rule in and over you And see that by greatness of your Honour and and Glory in this present World your Hearts be
of him who is the Light of the World unto whom all the Prophets gave Testimony Isaiah who witnessed the Son born and the Child given Isa 9. 6. by whose stripes he came to be healed he preached the Light and said The Light was come and the Gentiles should come to his Light and Kings to the Brightness of his rising and he also prcached the Light to be everlasting Isa 60. 1 2 3 19 20. so that Kings and Gentiles shall come unto him that is the Light who is Gods Wisdom that is from Everlasting Prov. 8. 23. who is given for a Light to the Gentiles and in him they trust And Isaiah said Come ye let us walk in the Light of the Lord Isa 2. 5. And the Disciples called him Lord who is the Light And David's servants were careful that the Light of Israel might not be quenched by his going forth to War Mark That which leads forth to War quenches the Light 2 Sam. 21. 17. And Job did not deny but the Light was given to him that was in Misery and to the man whose Way was hid Job 3. 20 23. And David preached him who is given for a Light unto the Gentiles to be Salvation to the ends of the Earth and said The Lord is my Light and my Salvation Psal 27. 1. And in thy Light we shall see Light Psal 36. 9. And Light is sown for the Righteous Psal 97. 11. And he that came of David said Truly Light is sweet Eccles 11. 7. And when he came of whom the Prophets prophesied who is the only Prophet and High-priest and the end of the Prophets and the Law and that Priest hood which was made by a Law he being come preached himself to be the Light of the World and said While you have the Light believe in the Light John 8. ch 12. And John who was a Minister of Christ preached the Light and said it was the Life of man John 1. and Light is come into the World John 3. 16. And Peter preached the Light shining in a dark place And the Ministers of Christ who were Eye-witnesses of his Glory said The Light shined in Darkness and God commanded the Light to shine out of Darkness and some witnessed that they were made partakers of the Inheritance with the Saints in Light And many more Proofs might be brought from the Scriptures of Truth as a Cloud of Witnesses to prove that we who preach declare and bear witness to the Light do not therein preach a new Doctrine nor another Gospel but the same with all the holy men of God and that which we have heard and seen which was from the beginning which Message is this even the Light which Light in the World in the Heart is the Corner-stone which is the sure Foundation and other Foundation can no man lay than he that is the Light that is already laid And this is the true Prophet which all are to hear and the Children of the Light do hear know and obey his Voice and stranger they will not hear but him by whom God speaks for God in times Past spoke unto our Fathers at sundry times and in divers manners but in these last dayes he hath spoken unto us by his Son who is the Light whose Name is called the Word of God Rev. 19. 13. which Word was hid in Davids Heart of whom Christ came who is the Light and the Word which was a Light unto Davids feet and a Lanthorn to his steps and so David called him Lord who is the Light and the Word nigh who is in the midst and preacheth Peace to them that believe in follow and obey him that is the Light and the Light is the Condemnation of all them that hate it and every one that doth Evil hates the Light but the Light is the Condemnation of all whose Deeds are Evil and every one that loves the Light wherewith he is enlightned brings his deeds to it and by it the hidden things of Darkness are made manifest and waiting in that which it doth make manifest to be Evil so Christ the Light comes to destroy the Works of the Devil and make an end of Sin and reconciles up unto God who hath given him a Light of the Gentiles and a Covenant to be salvation to the Ends of the Earth and this is he that lighteth every man that comes into the World which World God so loved that he gave his Son a Light into it that all men through him might believe and be saved from Wrath to come and so it s the Will of him that sent him who is the Light that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth which Truth brings Freedom to the Seed whereby it comes to have Peace with God being redeemed from the Bondage of Corruption and set at Liberty from under the shadow of Death wherein many long have walked whose feet now comes to be guided into the Way of Everlasting Peace where the Children of the Light do rest together And this is he who hath wrought Redemption with his own Power and redeemed out of the Captivity and opened the Prison Door and preached Peace to the Spirit that was in Prison in the dayes of Noah when the old World was destroyed and brought the Flood upon the Ungodly yet saved the Seed in the midst of the Storm and raging Waves and by him even he that is the Light is Captivity led captive and that which ruled over is brought to be a Servant under and when the Word of the Lord came to the Rock it opened and much of living Water issued forth abundantly whereby the Thirsty came to be satisfied and clothing from him who is the Light doth daily come and the Rayment that never waxeth old he clothes with the Armour of Light and is as a Sun and a Shield from him the Spiritual Weapons come and he teaches the Hands to War and the Fingers to Fight so that the strong Holds are broken down and every Thought comes to be subjected and when he leads through the sufferings like a Lamb so is he followed and when he arises up to speak with Authority and not as the Scribes then is he obeyed who then utters his Voice like a man of War and lifts up his Voice like a Trumpet crying aloud unto all them that are Thirsty and proclaming the Woes unto all them who wear the false Coverings and by him are his Enemies confounded and Judges led away fools and Princes laid in the dust And at him do the Kings of the Earth shut their Mouthes and before him shall they all bow for with the Sword of his Lips doth he slay the Wicked and his slain are many and shall be more for no Flesh shall stand before him who is now come to plead and make War in Righteousness and now are his Enemies flying unto their strong Holds and fenced Cities but his Salvation is stronger than Walls or Bulwarks and that all
prosper even as Kings whose Armies are swift to the Battel their faces are as an Adamant and their Countenances firce and terrible the found of their Voice is dreadful and the noise of their Appearance Astonish the Heathen the Earth before them is full of its Fruit behind them its a desolate Wilderness they spare not the Antient nor the Honourable neither have they respect to the Persons of men they even smile at Destruction when its coming and they are prepared for all your Oppressions VVherefore now gather your selves together O ye Potsherds of the Earth and stand up all you that thirst for blood assemble your selves together all ye Persecutors let your Counsels come up from Hell and let the depth of the Powers of darkness shew forth it self in the utmost of its strength and with it combine ye all together and stand up in the Power of your King which is the Angel of the Bottomless Pit who is head among in and over all you who thrist for the blood of the Innocent Now come and draw near in the very height of your Father's VVrath and behold we meet you in the Infiniteness of our Fathers Love and stand you together in the depth of your secret Subtilty and behold we abide in the pure VVisdom of the most High Stand ye up for the Glory and Honour of the World and we abide faithful for the Glory of the Lord our Maker And this I say plainly unto you that your long Tyranny will never weary out the patience we have received neither can you inflict more punishment than the Lord hath enabled us to bear and as your Wrath is incrased our Humility is increased much more and as you are filled and moved with Envy we are much more filled and overcome with the Power of the Fathers Life and though you contrive ways to ensnare the Innocent we take no thought aforehand to deliver our selves for Self we have denyed and we have given up our Bodies and Souls a living Sacrifice unto God to do or suffer his Will And him that kills the Body we fear not much less those that can but Whip or Imprison but for a few Moneths for our Life you cannot reach neither can you disturb their Rest whom the Lord hath crowned with Honour who out of the World are redeemed and bought with the price of Blood most precious but are become his to follow him whither-ever he leads them though it be through Tryals great Tribulations Bonds and long Imprisonments these things cannot move them who are brought to rest in the Defarts and sleep in the Woods yea and there is none can make them afraid with all their Threats unrighteous Laws Bonds Bridewels long unjust Imprisonments or Death it self And this Honour hath the Saints and herein do they rejoyce for evermore in that they are counted worthy to suffer for his Names sake who was made perfect through sufferings and and thereby overcame all the Powers of Darkness whereby Principalities and Powers are spoiled forever and through sufferings are we made more than Conquerers over all our Enemies whose Day will have an end whose Cruelty will cease whose Tyranny will be rewarded upon their own Heads and their Memorial will Rot forever but the faithfulness of the Faithful shall never be taken from him nor the innocency of the Harmless shall never be forgotten neither shall they ever want strength to stand in the day of Battel nor courage and boldness to endure when the Enemies of the Lord arise in Opposition against the brightness of the rising of the Power of the Lamb of God who is come to take away the Sin of the World even him who is the Light and the Heir against whom with one consent the Rulers of the Earth the Hireling Priests with all the Prophane and Unclean and all them of all Opinions in the World are joyning together in one Combination as with one Mind conspiring in their Enmity to slay and murder the Heir that is come to make an end of Sin Who saith I am the Light H. S. To all that want Peace with God To the Sheep every where not brought Home To the Thirsty Breathing Soul and to the Seed though in Captivity among and in the midst of all Professors Greetings of Love Mercy and Peace from God the Father of the Living VVHere the Bowels are not shut up nor the Heart darkned and where that doth not bear rule which stoppeth the Ear and closeth the Eye and where Prejudice and Rebellion against the Light with the Wisdom of the Flesh through that knowledge which puffeth up hath not wholly eaten up devoured got over and wholly overcome that tender Principle which once moved in the Heart towards that being of the living Substance There may my words take entrance and unto such who feel that which breathes to God and who are willing to be satisfied concerning the living Truth of his Son and who would receive the Truth if they knew it and do yet more desire after the Power of God than all the Temporal things that are seen and who are yet come no further than the reading of the Law the Priests the Tythes nor that Religion that makes nothing perfect and who are come no further than the outward Baptism Shadow or Figure or such things which are to be left behind Hâ—b 6. or who are come no further than the Supper or the Death and so not yet saved by his Life nor drunk of that which saveth and is to cleanse from all that which separateth from God after whom and the incomes of his Love Immortal whosoever truly desireth and is willing to receive the Power of his Life and come in Covenant with the Lord Such may lend me an Ear a little and you are them who may receive some benefit hereby for behold I write in plainness of the things of God my heart being enlarged with abundance of his Peace in which there is good will towards men that you might come to draw near to the Witness the Testimony whereof is within the vail which vail is over the heart 2 Cor. 3. 15 and is not done away but as you come to be in him who is given for a witness Isa 55. 4. by believing in the Light John 12. 36. and so to have the witness in you 1 John 5. 10. and you to be in it and that you may come to participate of Gods Indwellings and feel the Oyl which will last forever therefore I proceed thus How can I but look back a little with an Eye of Pity over those who yet are where once I was when the Darkness was over the Earth and the Cloud of Error compassed me as well as others surely I cannot now be so unmindful of them that are yet lost as not to have compassion upon the Out-casts of Israel or to conceal from them these things of so great concernment but rather as the Lord of my Life hath opened to me will I reach
with Humility forever the little Child is you to lead in the peaceable Path of the Fathers love that you all as Lambs may follow him whose Power saveth from Sin in him trust compassed about with the Walls of Salvation and feeling the everlasting strength you all to preserve in the Power of his Might his Blessing to receive unto the Seed that you in it and by it may be fruitful unto God forever For dear Friends the Father is well-pleased in him who is meek and lowly in the Heart and in obedience unto him through the leadings of his Spirit of Power in which the Father's Love is manifest which leadeth in the low Ground where the safe way of everlasting Peace is known where all things are quiet and still where the small still Voice is heard whereby the Dead come to live in the powerfull Life of the Fathers Love which compasseth about the Seed as a Wall of everlasting Strength which is made perfect in Weakness and to the Weak is only to be known that the Weak then may say I am strong feeling Strength ministered forth from that which is begotten of the Father which never was comprehended by the Earthly Wisdom which is all scattered as the Smoke before the Wind when he ariseth who hath long been as a Servant and is now to be served that he may be Lord over all who is as a Man of Sorrows and leadeth through the Suffering state that by the Obedience of Faith through the Power of the Cross which crucifies and brings to the Death that which is to dye that the Vail may be rent the way into the Holiest of all made manifest and that received into the new Ground which abideth forever even that which now Comforteth the weary Soul and Satisfieth the longing Spirit and Replenisheth the dry and barren Land with the Rivers of the Valley and the Springs of the Desart that the Meek in the Earth may Rejoyce forever and through the Earth may grow as a Lilly in Summer For plainly it s the Poor that receive the Gospel and the Meek of the Earth that shall inherit Substance and its the Lowly that will abide forever and the Seed of the Shepherd that shall be set on the Throne and he that is low shall never fall neither shall his Footsteps at all be moved he leads the Creature in the Fathers fear and guideth the Tongue in Wisdom and it s him alone that all are to wait for to receive and continue in even him that is acquainted with grief who never openeth his Mouth in Perverness but speaks Life in Wisdom through the Power of the Father's love which overpowereth the Soul as an overflowing River of Oyl which makes all well and heals the grieved Spirit which none ever comes to find but such as alone walk with him who humbled himself to the Death of the Cross and became as a Servant though he was Lord over all in him there is Safety for he is the Rock and the sure hiding Place even out of the sight of the World and from the Tempters power for the Devil hath nothing in him who is meek and low in whose Mouth there is found no Guils And this is he that hath been long set at nought whose Tenders of Love constrains Obedience to himself because of the Beauty that is in him which from them is hid over whom the Vail is through which they cannot see the Comliness of his Love Oh all ye Lovers and Followers of Truth and Righteousness come ye all and sink down in your Minds unto him whose love springeth forth of the low Ground as a Well-spring of Life issuing forth abundantly as through a Rock that is hid under the Earth thence cometh Life to the Humble and there may you drink with me of the Cup of Blessings for from the Root of Jesse and the Foundation the Branch which is low doth spring forth the Life to the satisfying of every Branch and truly in him there is Life indeed and with him there is no want Who can desire another than he or who can complain that dwells in him where the Unclean doth never come where all things are at Peace and Rest is enjoyed forever Oh let none turn aside from him nor climb up above the measure of his humble Life nor reach beyond the Power of his Breathings forth neither grieve ye him through the unkindness of your forward Wills but love him as the Life of your Souls and prise him above all that can be spoken and tender his Love as the Apple of thine Eye that he to thee may be forever the Prince of Eternal Peace and the Power of thy Strength and the Blessing of thy Life that thou never mayst want Food nor Rayment nor want a shelter in the hour of Temptation nor look for another to help in the time of need And so my dear Lambs in him keep for evermore for it s he that comes out from God and keepeth them in perfect Peace who in his lowly Spirit abide from thence to feel the Fathers Love arise with it to love and tender one another So to that which is of my Fathers Life in you all I desire to be known and in it with you to have Fellowship forever which is more than â—â— to be declared by a multitude of Words or written in many or long Epistles the bowels of my Fathers love from the measure of his own Life in me is to his Image and that which is begotten of him in you all So the Life of the Power of the Lamb of God be with you all and the Blessing of the God of Love and Peace preserve you in all Humility of mind that the begotten of the Father through the Power of his Love may increase and grow up unto him who is the Life of my Soul who is blessed for evermore Amen H. S. Winchester-Bridewell To such in whose Hearts the Spirit of the Lord is beginning to move his Truth to declare YOu whom the mighty God of Power hath found in a Desart Wilderness polluted in your Blood without help or strength of your own whose Nakedness did once â—ppear and you in it stood guilty before the Bar of Gods Justice receiving the Condemnation due from him who then said unto you Live and since in the measure of that Word upon the Lord have waited to receive that which was promised of him who is the Father of the faithful This I say unto you the thing is great that you are come unto and entering upon to speak in the Name of the mighty God and to publish the Message of the most High to declare the Word of the Lord among the Heathen and minister Life to the Spirits in Prison to stand Witnesses for God to the People and to be as Guides and Examples to the Tribes of Israel Oh! how can you but be overcome with the dread of the Lord and filled with the Power of his Love How can your
truly come from the one state into the other by having a little Water poured on their faces and by the speaking of these words viz. I Baptize thee in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen It being done by a man who himself at another time will confess with his own Mouth That he is with the rest a miserable Sinner And how can an old miserable Sinner make a young Child thus happy XXV Whether all Children so sprinkled or the most Seâ— Caâ—◠〈◊〉 part of them were made Members of Christ Children of God and Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven If not whether it be not pity that so many thousand Children should be taught and trained up to speak that which is untrue whilst they are so young in saying they were made so when they were not and likewise to be deceived thereby all the dayes of their lives If they were made so how shall a reasonable man be perswaded from any good reason of Scripture-proof that they are afterwards dismembred from Christ separated from God and dis-inherited out of the Kingdom of Heaven And when did Christ lose his Members or God his regenerate Children or his Kingdom the Inheritors thereof XXVI How can such make others the Members of Christ who are not so themselves And whether Christ hath any miserable Members And if miserable Sinners pretend to take upon them to make others the Members of Christ and receive Wages for it and yet do it not whether such are not plain Deceivers XXVII Whether the Priests that say they are miserable Siâ—â—ers and miserable Offendors be really so or not if not are not they miserable Lyars in so saying If they be whether they that are miserable Sinners and miserable Offendors can make others so free from all sin and misery as the Members of Christ in whom is No Sin who were as miserable as themselves if they were born in Original Sin and in the Wrath of God XXVIII Whether Children were not first taught their duty towards God before their duty towards their Neighbour And whether all such are not still in the first place to obey God and secondly to love their Neighbour as themselves And so whether Obedience to God is not still to be preferred before obedience to man though his Neighbour If not why were they so taught If it be why then do the Teachers now seek to cause them to obey man in Swearing and many other things rather than Christ who said Swear not at all Mat. 5. James 5. XXIX Whether Children are not taught among other things to hurt no body by word or deed to bear no Malice in the heart to rule the Hands the Tongue the Body and the Desire in not coveting any man's Goods If this be right so to do why do not the Priests themselves do it and instruct all Magistrates and People in the like and suffer them that do so and encourage them also to continue in the same If this be not right why did the Priests teach it us when we were young and whether be the Priests covetous yea or nay XXX Whether Children were not taught that they could do little of themselves nor walk in the Commandments of God nor serve him without his special Grace and after in another place that the Geace was inward and Spiritual If so whether God's special Grace which is inward is not much more than the Letter which is outward If it be not why were those words written in the outward Letter XXXI Again if none can walk in the Commands of God nor serve him without his special Grace which is inward then what manner of walking or service is theirs who of late have denyed the Grace which is inward and them that are led by it which Grace the Bishop in the Confirmation prayeth to the Lord to defend Children with And if nothing can be done of ones self without this Grace and that this Grace doth defend and the Apostle saith bringeth Salvation and by Grace ye are saved and the Catechism saith this Grace is inward and spiritual and also why are so many persecuted this day for receiving this Grace and power by it which is inward who walk in the Commands of God and serving him XXXII Whether Children were not taught that this See Bishopping inward and spiritual Grace was a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness If so then whether shall People esteem those Common-Prayer-men to be rightest who directed to the inward and spiritual Grace to bring unto a death unto sin and a new birth unto Righteousness or these men who direct unto the Letter without or a Steeple-house or any thing else that is outward and visible seeing the others directed to that which is inward and spiritual which the Apostle said saved them and whether the same doth not save now or whether the Grace of God hath not the same sufficiency in it self as it had in the dayes of the Apostles or in the dayes of the late Reformers of the Common-Prayer And whether those which have received this inward Grace may not thereby increase in the same and in the Spirit more and more according to that in the laying on of hands XXXIII If you will grant the Apostles words to be true See Maâ—â—imony that the man was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the Transgression 1 Tim. 2. 14. then whether this be not dark work or works of darkness to cause the man to worship the woman seeing they were both deceived and in the Transgression and so instead of worshipping God make him worship the deceived Transgressor XXXIV If you will grant that man was not deceived but the Woman who was first in the Transgression Then wherefore is it that Man being first deceived by the Woman must now also worship the Woman And whether this be God's Ordinance or not And did not God ordain that Man should rule over the Woman Gen. 3. 16. And why then did man ordain that man should worship the woman And when did God ever ordain that man should worship that which he had set him to rule over If you will grant that when Peter did only contradict Christ in words Christ esteemed him as a Devil saying Get thee behind me Satan Mat. 16. 22 23. Then whether all the women you marry do not more contradict Christ both in Words and Actions than Peter then did and so in as bad or a worse state than Peter then was And if so then whether that man which is caused to worship such a woman or a woman in such a state do not therein worship one that was deceived by the Devil XXXVI But whether doth the man worship the woman yea or nay If he doth is it not evil to worship the Creature or any thing else but God alone If he doth not why must he speak that Lye and so thereby serve the Devil and â—o be constrained to worship the
out of the Covenant And this know assuredly That many may see that which is afar off and not feel the Life of what they see and so are many high Professors in the World who change from one Opinion to another and are all yet but fruitless Trees which are to be cut down and rooted up And many there are who call him that is the Light Lord and Master but to the Light are not obedient in Self-denial nor taking up the daily Cross which is the Power of God and crucifies unto the World and so the first Man of the World being not crucified nor put off the new Man is not received and so little more is witnessed by many who profess Truth without the Life than was in the time of other Forms for if the Death be not known the Resurrection of the Just received and the Dead raised then is all in vain And this is not known by any but such who know the Judgments of the Lord set up in the Heart and the Cup of Astonishment to the Adulterous Seed which comes of the will of the Flesh and cannot lay down the Life for the Friend Wherefore I say wait to know the Birth that is Immortal and feel that born up which never yet was raised in them over whom the Vail yet is that the free Birth may be known and the Seed whom God hath appointed the blessing unto from under death redeemed that by the powerful risings thereof the understanding may be opened with that which was before Forms were that to it you may come which giveth Life unto the Soul and know a Saviour born of the barren Womb and a Deliverer brought forth in the place where he hath not been known and the Plant to spring out of that ground which is yet dry that it may be overshadowed with the loveliness of its spreading forth that a way may be opened in the Wilderness and the humble exalted in the Valley and so come to learn of that which is yet little and low and take heed of taking counsel of the Serpent whose subtilty will soon lead forth from the Simplicity neither cover your selves with any thing before the Righteousness of God which is perfect be received but love that which comes from the man of Sorrows who comes to break the peace of all them who walk not in the Everlasting Way of Life Let all them who are out of it search their Hearts with the Light And take heed of that which is high froward or strong in the Will for we are weak which is not brought to the Cross for there is the first Birth from the wrong grounds which will speak and act that which it lives not in neither is able to confirm it in Faithfulness to the Death and Loss of all for things may be true in themselves and that which is out of the Truth may speak of it yet such vain Talkers cannot suffer to Death for what they speak For that which cometh forth first is strong in the Earthly and would live forever and have the Blessing and would rule over the meek thing in the particular and in others having a secret desire to be admired being far unwilling to take a Servants place but certainly it is the meek humble suffering Seed which in many is yet oppress'd that is to last forever who through Death comes into the Dominion Therefore sink down out of the airy Comprehension and Subtilty above the Life and first come to suffer with that which is meek and low if ever you intend with it to reign in that Peace and Life which from all that without the Vail is hid and in silence watch and be sober to see him come which saves the Soul and clothes it with his own Righteousness that you be not found without a Covering of the Spirit Power and Life among the foolish Virgins for few there be that find the Way of Life and abide therein And I knowing the Terror of the Lord that will certainly come upon all them who dye out of his Covenant therefore I Warn all People every where as the Lord enlargeth me to wait to feel the powerful Word of Repentance and with the Light to make diligent search into the ground and foundation of all Professions Words and Actions For the Lord will make inquisition for the Blood of the Just and reward the Double-minded according to the intents of their hearts the Gaul whereof will be rent with the Power of his Might which will sweep away the refuge of Lyes and confound your Divinations in the head of that knowledge above the seed and a day of Desolation must come Sword and Famine must you know and the Earth to be removed and your Heavens shaken that the poor may come to receive the glad Tidings of the Gospel which is the Power of God for the fat and the strong are for judgment both within and without and they are still sent away empty but the poor are they which are to be satisfied not the rich high wise strong mighty prudent Diviners and Orthodox men and zealous Professors and liscentious Libertines as they are called who profess a Saviour to come and some would have a King to reign hereafter but they are not agreed how nor when nor where their King shall reign whom they imagine shall come but are found Despisers not Lovers nor Faithful Followers of him that is come the Glory of whose KINGDOM is already shining over the World and is established in Righteousness who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is our Head our Law-giver and our King and we do not look for another as the Drunkards of Ephriam do who are drunk but not with Wine and stagger at Noon-day and must be dashed one against another and broken to pieces as the Potsherds of the Earth who are looking for a King to come and know not the King who is already come who is the Light to which they will not bow though it in secret doth them reprove and shew us plainly of the Father and lets them see their Disobedience To it now therefore bow and bend for plainly the Lord God who is Light will not alwayes strive by the Light of his Son in your hearts And this know That as I tender the least honest desires that are begotten in any after the living Truth of God yet I am to deal plainly with all and clear my Conscience of all who are covered with their own Conceivings and in Words and Writing to warn all in the Spirit of Truth and Meekness as the Lord moveth me in faithfulness to declare against that which yet in any bears rule over the Seed which by Judgment must be overturned and all the Judgments of the Lord are true Wherefore ye that are willing to come out of Temptations into that where the foolish Virgins cannot enter wait in the fear of the Lord to feel his Work within whilst the day of Salvation lasteth lest thick
done it away with the same Power whereby before he came so to serve man under the Sin as to help him from under it and so to bring man with himself in his Power as it suffered by the Sin out of the Sin and out of that Power which captivated under or into the committing of Sin so to the end of it with Christ over it to live and reign forever as it is received in that way manner and operation which at first it doth come and shew forth it self in the Power of its sufferings whose Power and Virtue therein at first is known And so such who know Him in his suffering-state He permitteth chuseth and electeth to live and reign with him in his Ruling-state And so he that hath power to Reign hath power to Suffer and so to Suffer that he may Reign the exercise of whose power in his Suffering is in order to his Reigning and such as feel know and receive his Power first enabling them with him to suffer they with the same are brought to the end of sin and sinning by which the suffering came upon the Just for the Unjust and as man to this is joyned in his sufferings its Power worketh man's Redemption and so not of man or brings man back from under that power which held in the Transgression and Separation from the Bridegroom of the Soul and takes away that which captivates it and so breaks the Wall which stood between the desired Liberty and the present Bondage and so brings the true and lasting Peace and so both receive each other and are made one in each other and not otherwise It is certainly so And that man which truly suffered with it reigns with it who was joyned to it in its suffering till it came to reign and then to submit unto it and serve it in its Motions Leadings Rulings and Governings in the power of its Love which winneth the heart so to do as the chaste Wife to the Husband so with it in the Power of it man comes to reign over that which was both contrary to it and to the upright hearted man until all its Enemies are put under it and so under the man that is one with it and whose Life is in it being truly joyned to it of the Lord then not to be put asunder and so loving of it and in all things submitting to it more than the true chaste Virgin to the Husband living in the Power and the Power living in man and so both becoming one in Sufferings one in Tryals one in Tribulations one in Afflictions one in Joy one in Peace one in Liberty one in Captivity one in Riches one in Poverty And so truly one partaking with each other in all states unseparable may well in some measure be termed The Marriage of the Lamb which is come and more of it may be known and the Virgin being thus and more fully espoused to the undefiled unspotted of God they are thus far made one and she becomes the Daughter of the Husbands Father the King of Kings or the Adopted Child of God And thus the undefiled One of God and the Virgin of Sion becomes one in the unspeakable Unity which Unity being felt both as one preceive me and my Lines are understood and my Words received in Love And this is written and sent forth among all Friends who desire to hear of me and who have known me in the invisible Truth and such to whom the Lord hath made me serviceable in the precious things of the Kingdom of God which is of Peace and Righteousness where my Rest is that hereby they may hear from me and know that I remain in the labour of the Gospel which is very great and in the Fellowship of the Saints Your Brother in the unexpressible Love of the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour Humphery Smith From Cogshall in Essex in which parts very many of late have received the precious Truth the 12th of the 5th Moneth 1661. This is to all dear Friends who keep faithful in their measures to the end My dear Friends THe Father is well pleased in him who is meek and lowly in the heart and in Obedience unto him through the leadings of his Spirit of Power in which the Father's love is manifest which leads in the low Ground where the safe Way of everlasting Peace is known where all things are quiet and still where the small still Voice is heard whereby the dead come to live in the Powerful Life of the Fathers Love which compasseth about the seed as a Wall of everlasting Defence whereby there is boldness and courage comes in to Jacob the worm that it s then able to stand in that everlasting strength which is made perfect in weakness and to the weak â—â— only to be known that the weak then may say I am strong feeling strength ministred forth from that which is begotten of the Father wâ—ich never was comprehended by the earthly Wisdom which is all scattered as the smoke before the Wind when he ariseth that was laid in the Earth who hath long been as a Servant and is now to be served that he may be Lord over all who is a Man of Sorrows and leads through the suffering state that by the Obedience of Faith through the Power of the Cross which crucifies and brings to the death that which is to dye that the Vail may be rent and the way into the holiest of all made manisest and that received in the new ground which abideth forever even that which comforteth the weary Soul and satisfieth the longing Spirit and replenishâ—th the dry and barren Land with the Rivers of the Valley and the springs of the Desart that the meek in the Earth may rejoyce forever and through the Earth may grow as a Lilly in Summer For painly its the poor that receive the Gospel and the meek of the Earth that shall in her it Substance and it is the thing that is low that will last forever and that shall be set on the Throne and he that is low shall never fall neither shall his Footsteps at all be moved he leads the creature in the Father's fear and guideth the Tongue in Wisdom and its him alone that all are to wait for to receive and continue in even him that is acquainted with Grief who never openeth his Mouth in perversness but speaks Life in Wisdom through the Power of the Fathers Love which overpowers the Soul as an overflowing River of Oyl which makes all well and heals the grieved Spirit which none ever comes to find but such who alone walk with him who humbled himself to the Death of the Cross and became as a Servant though he was Lord over all in him there is safety for he is the Rock and the sure hiding-place even out of the sight of the World and from the Tempters power for the Devil hath nothing in him who is meek and low in whose mouth there is found no
guile this is he that hath been long set at naught whose tenders of Love constrain Obedience to himself because of the beauty that is in him which from them is hid over whom the Vail is through which they cannot see the Comliness of his Love I rest in the Fathers will your Souls Friend H. S. FRiends the Lord is with us and the God of Heaven is on our side and the Lord is our Defence who hath spoken Life and Peace to my Soul behold he will be with us forever and the holy Arm of his precious dreadful strength shall no Nation under Heaven prevail against dwell all in the Power of God and the blessing of the God of Heaven will be upon you all forever THe Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul and he then Prophesied but after for his disobedience he lost the Kingdom and was afraid of the shame before the People and the Kingdom is rent from such who disobey the Lord though they were among the Prophets like Saul who afterwards went to the Witch And the Witchcraft is near to all such as stand not in the Counsel of God to cause the People to hear his Word and not their own whose Word feeds not the flesh above the seed but is as a Hammer to break the Rocks in pieces and it kills and makes alive and opens a way through the Earth for the Prisoner of Hope to come forth And the Spirit came upon Balaam who was reproved by the dumb Ass that he was exalted above and resisted and he durst not go beyond the Word of the Lord he durst not go beyond that which was quick and powerful in the heart nor over-reach it to do more or less for the gaining of half a Kingdom in the Earthly And such as exceed Balaam therein may expect to be cut down also by the true seed as he was and so to fall among the rest of the Enemies of the Israel of God who is dreadful in Power And the Spirit came upon Jephthah who after offered his own Daughter for a Sacrifice and the Spirit came upon Sampson and yet he not standing in wisdom was bettrayed of his strength by a Daughter of the Philistines who also afterwards put out his eyes And so the Spirit may come up in some and yet afterwards they lose that with which they should see and some there are that use their tongues as in the Name of the Lord upon whom the Spirit never came mark that And Caiphas the High Priest prophesied and he spake not of himself and yet he was an enemy to Christ the Power of God and such as are got up high like high Priests above the measure of the Man of sorrows speak from self or flesh and are in that by which he that is the Light doth suffer and the power is resisted and the seed in others oppressed and they not brought to the Living Minister within the vail that abides a Priest forever but are in that which will dye And many might be named upon whom the Spirit came And Judas also had obtained part of the Ministry â—ut now consider the Spirit resteth upon the branch of the Root even the seed it self for the Spirit came upon many but it rested and relieth upon the se ed only even the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanâ—ing and counsel and might and knowledge and of the sear of the Lord in the fear of the Lord which is a fountain of Life which Life all are to feel and not be kept from by words without it but to feel that which comes from it and favour that that Jacobs Tent all may know which who so dwell in are blessed against whom there is no enchantment and where the Witch-craft cannot enter which leads from the strait and narrow way to the Spirit and Life into a liberty to that which is fleshly where that is kept alive which the word in the heart as a hammer and a sword should have broken and cut down for Paul was grieved with such who at first could almost have pluckt out their own eyes for him and after sought occasion against him and themselves to be made perfect in the flesh and all flesh as grass is to be cut down with the Sword of the Lamb and where the flesh is above the Spirit suffers by it and the vail is thickned which keeps from the Unity and out of the Life and Power of God H. S. THe Lord God of Heaven preserve all every where in the Love Long-suffering Forbearance Meekness and Gentelness out of the Strife or Self-seeking for suerly Wo will come upon that Spirit where-ever the Lord finds it and even the Lord knoweth the desires of my heart in true Simplicity hath been That his Righteous Judgments might pass betimes upon every appear ance thereof in my self and all others and I believe that God will never prosper it in any therefore my Exhortation in the Everlasting Love of the God of Heaven is That you all every where live in true Brotherly Love remember Joseph's Advice to his Brethren That they fall not out by the way The heavenly God of Power and Life and Virtue keep ye out of all this in the Life of Wisdom and Meekness where Strife shall never inhabit nor Death enter within the walls of Zion in which their dwellings are who keep themselves undefiled and remain in the fear of God to whom I commit you all and to the Power of the Word of his saving Grace praying to the Lord for you that evermore you may continue in the Love of Christ Your Freind and Brother Humphry Smith To the meek and open hearted Lambs and Flock of Heaven in meekness of Love with Greetings of Peace from the Seat of Infinite Mercy â—endred unto and sent to be read among them all who live in the humble State THere was a time of Blackness and Darkness which covered all flesh and the Guilt of Sin was upon all Consciences and Hardness of Heart possessed every Vessel and the Minds of all was astray from God and their Souls in the bonds of Iniquity in the day when none was able to deliver his brother O! who can utter the distress and the Languishing state which the Sheep then scattered were in O! the secret Groans of the Out-casts of Israel which God hath now gathered Why should it be forgotten Who could pluck their Feet then out of the Snare or deliver their Souls from Death had not the Lord in mercy looked down from Heaven surely many had sunk in the Pit of Misery and never come to see the Light of the Morning for the which the Bowels of the humble yearned in secret and the Sights were deep in the Solitary Place And then did the Lord in the Bowels of his Mercy let open his Ear and for his own Names-sake had regard unto the Complaint of the poor and needy and he caused Light to break out of Darkness and Truth to spring from its secret
which teacheth to deny Ungodliness should stand and remain And how wonderfully hath the Lord preserved his whole flock unto this day even so that with true gladness of Heart in living Praises it might truly be said That no Weapon formed against Gods Israel hath to this day yet ever prospered though no man hath appeared either in Field or Court on their behalf nor visible hand appeared for the defence of the flock of Heaven O! where is that Lamb of the fold who now stands in the Covenant of Redemption that cannot breath forth the Praises of God in the heart-breaking Power of his Love and the sensible feeling of his tender unspeakable Mercies Behold O friends the goodness of God is unutterable yea I have not words to express it and such that feel it may taste of it and drink of the fulness thereof beyond the narrowness of my broken speech and let such draw near unto me and let lose that which bindeth and closeth up in the Bowels that we may meet at the entrance of Wiâ—dom's Gate and live one with another and one in another so as the World did never â—now neither in their nature shall eveâ— understand for my heart is filled with Love and my dweling is enlarged with bouâ—dless Borders of Peace and my Life streams forth in meekness Behold there is none can stop it where the seed springs up as a Lilly and where the dawning of the day is witnessed where undefiled Love which cannot think Evil hath its resting-place and where the true simplicity of meekness remains Even there my Lines are read my Words are heard my Mind is Known my Language understood my Love received and even my Life takes entrance What shall I say I am with near or in the midst of aâ— the Innocent Lambs by the virtue of that Power and inviâ—â—ble Spirit which filleth all in all and in silence with you could â— long rest where the World should neither know nor yet perceive me the same Bread which I receive in the invisible Power break unto or disperce among the Lambs of God who can feed upon no other Even so the same is it which my Soul at present doth live yea behold I live who once was dead and my Life is hid among the rest with Christ in him from whence the heavenly Food and the Souls-saving and hearts-satisfying Power doth come And this is to stir up your Minds and to put you in remembrance of the Lords dealing with you and his large Loving-kindness towards you and his effectual work of Love in you that you may never forget him nor be unmindful of his fatherly Pity towards us all when we were all in our low estate and that you may feel the Revivings of his virtue and the Inlivenings of his power and the quicknings of his Spirit That you may grow therein and wax fruitful to God and come to be seated and established in the Land of Life blessed from Heaven with much more fruitful increase than the Land of Goshan That the fruit of Lebanon may be known and the Rose of Sharon and your selves as the Cedars that are full of Sap and your Life as the Vine that never wanteth Nourishment whose Fruit aboundeth to the glading of the Vine-Dresser that the Lord may rejoyce over his Heritage and delight himself in the midst of Zion and be glorified in his People and admired of all them that believe THe Lord God of Heaven preserve all every where in the Love Long-suffering Forbearance Meekness Gentleness out of the Strife or Self-seeking for surely Wo will come upon that Spirit wherever the Lord finds it and even the Lord knoweth the desires of my Heart in true simplicity hath been That his righteous Judgments might pass betimes upon every appearance thereof in my self Neither do I believe that God will ever prosper it in any nor any with it Therefore my Exhortation in the Everlasting Love of the God of Heaven is That you all every where live in true Brotherly Love and remember Joseph's advice to his Brethren That they fall not out by the way The Heavenly God of Power and Life and Virtue keep you out of all this in the Life of Wisdom and Meekness where Strife shall never inhabit nor Death enter within the Walls of Zion in which their dwelling is who keep themselves undefill'd and remain in the fear of God to whom I commit you all and to the Power of the Word of his saving Grace praying to the Lord for you That evermore you may continue in the Love of Christ From the feeling and refreshing whereof in the heart this is written unto you by him that in the Truth can serve the least of you being your Friend Humphry Smith ANd Friends this is a time of quietness and stillness or a time for you so to be and there hath been a large time of gathering and for convincing and now the Lord is proving and trying them that are gathered And after this time blessed and thrice happy shall they be that are found faithful in it and worthy to be Crowned with Heavenly Honour and to be further employed in Gods service and to remain as Pillars among the Flock of Heaven and as Lights to invite others home to the dwelling of God And now should all Friends be kept in Wisdom and take heed what words they use among men or concerning any men though they do contrive against us Had the Lord left us where they are and set them where he hath placed us then might we have been this day as ignorant of the Way of Peace towards Enemies and of the Path of Innocency and Righteousness as they now are but the Lord hath shewed us Mercy And I say the God of Heaven forgive them and defend us And all that dwell in this may come at last to see a time of greater Gathering than ever yet was Oh! my Pen cannot write it And if all were quiet in their own measures and little at all were moved in that measure either to write print or speak at this time waiting singly upon God Oh! he would plead for us and he alone would help us and keep us as in his Arms until the Indignation were over-past And this I write that you might know of my continual confidence in the Lord if he had or did not at this time raise up or make use of any of us to help him or to be workers together with him But a Remnant he hath whose hearts he enlargeth with prayer and some of them with strong inward desires and groans and some with utterance to declare the good will of God unto others in your Assemblies and some steadfastly to believe in God that he will never leave us and all this ascends up before the Lord even as one sacrifice And he that hath heard and had mercy on us when we were not his People and turned not back our complaints in that day O! how shall he now forget
this in you you may overcome the World which is let in the heart And was not he that is the Light and the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World And hath not the World such a Foundation in you and such a growth and stature over you that you cannot see to the end of it nor believe to the overcoming of it And is it not therefore that you are joyned to that by which the Lamb is slain so that his Grave is with the Rich and his Burial with the Wicked read and understand And doth not the Blood of the slain Cry from the ground against you Did you never hear the the oppressed Cry Did you never feel a seed in you cry aloud for Life though it lies in the Death Did you never know the house of Mourning nor feel him near who is a man of Sorrows Are you quite dead and past feeling Nay nay there is many of you are not so far hardened nor yet so much given up however the time hath been that you all might have known this thing I declare of which belongs to your peace you that have the Scriptures and are talking of the place of holy Worship take heed hearken and hear a little He that makes an end of sin is come near unto you he who remains a Priest forever Mourneth over you and your day of visitation is come yea behold the Lamb the meek harmless unspotted beloved of God comes meekly though esteemed not able to save himself yet behold it s the King of Glory crowned with Immortality forever who rides meekly in Righteousness and gentle in the Father's Wisdom yea the Heir is come resist him not lest the thing which belongs to your Everlasting peace be hid from your Eyes for evermore and you left desolate only having the Scriptures of Truth but not the Truth in the inward parts where the knowledge of it makes free For behold the Prince of Everlasting Peace I proclaim unto you even the Word by which the World was made by which Word all things are upheld and the Word of Reconciliation reconcileth the heart Mark it s the Heart of the parents to the Children and the Children to the parents that the Earth may not be smitten with a Curse and who so have received that Word so as it comes to be ingrafted into them thereby their hearts come to be reconciled one to another and have Love Unity and Peace with all those Things Persons and Creatures which were at first made and are upheld by the Power of that Word to which he that is come of him it s written In Famine he shall redeem thee from Death and in War from the Power of the Sword and thou shalt be hid from the Scourge of the Tongue neither shalt thou be afraid of Destruction when it cometh at destruction and famine thou shalt laugh neither shalt thou be afraid of the beast of the Earth for thou shalt be at league with the stones of the field and the beasts of the field shall be in league with thee and thou shalt know that thy Tabernacle shall be in peace and thou shalt visit thy habitation and shalt not sin And you that are far off from coming to read this within may search the Scriptures and read it there of a seed that shall be great as the off-spring that shall be as the Grass of the Earth for Number so shall they be multiplied in whose Mouthes there is found no guile are Children that will not Lye that are come to him who is the Prince of Peace that makes an end of sin and is the Word before the sin and the Covenant of God the Everlasting Father who proclaims Liberty to the captive and is the one thing needful in the which all things are reconciled to God and in him to one another whether things in Heaven or in Earth or under the Earth whereby comes Peace in the receiving and submission unto that Word of Power by which all things were made and are upheld and the Light of that word is that which is become unto us both Rest and Joy and Life and Peace And this is that which is ministred into every Creature and this we have heard in secret and proclaim on the House tops and this is to be preached unto all Nations that by it he that is above all through all and in all may come to be known which is the Gospel of the Kingdom and this I proclaim unto you and publish within your borders and make mention of his Name within your Gates that the Life of Immortal Peace there you might feel and this is it which you have long resisted as your Fathers did and when you have rebelled against this like them before that also rebelled against the Light Job 24. 13. And having resisted it in your selves then you rise up against us who believe in the Light John 12. 39. and when you have even murthered the witness in your selves then you seek to destroy us who bear witness that he is come who reproves the World of sin and the World is set in the Heart and the Light is come into the World and that which reproveth for sin is in you though by reason of sin it is wounded and often overcome and with that which is wounded in you we mourn and with that which sometimes troubles you we have Peace and that in you is our Friend and pleads for us against you whom you refuse to hear and that which you are most afraid of we love and embrace and that which would break your hearts hath broke ours and that in you which is to kill the Life you live is that which hath brought us from Death to Life by which we now live for that which was alive is dead and that which was dead is alive and the first born is slain and the seed is come forth from under Deaths Bond but you that are Rich and think you need nothing in whom Wickedness is found are the grave Isaiah in which that is buried as a dead thing which should save from Death and give power over the Grave and bring peace for evermore And if that in you arise not to give you Life and Peace and so fellowship with us whose Life is in it yet do we with it rejoyce in its Righteous Judgments and have fellowship with it as it ariseth to judge and condemn you for your disobeying and contemning of it for absolutely if you will not let it now arise to mortifie the Lust and bring down the Life which is in the strength of your wills and so to give you peace then will it arise hereafter to judge and condemn you when you shall not be able any longer to resist nor overcome the strength of its dreadful power in executing Judgment upon the Transgressor To Friends at Ailsbury Prison and in them parts DEar and well-beloved Friends who continue true Followers of the Lamb of God in faithful Sufferings for
hindred you and doth hinder from the Life and Virtue of it in your own Hearts this all to leave behind you forever and to give it away freely and as freely willing as a man would part with Dross for Gold and present mortal Honour for immortal Renown forever for behold the Glory of the World passeth away and all the Beauty thereof shall be as a fading Flower when it is fully ripe the strength thereof shall melt away like Wax before the Jealousie of our God and Aegypt shall be judged and Babylon confounded and the strength of the Oppressor brought down and the Lord will weaken the power of the Heathen and all the Earth shall know that he is the same God of Power and righteous Judgments as ever in the day when he cometh in the dread of his Power to assemble the Heathen to Judgment and to pour forth Floods of Indignation upon the Wicked when Anguish shall enter the dwellings of the Ungodly and intolerable perplexity seize upon the Consciences of the Unfaithful when the Hypocrite shall no longer cover himself nor the Adversaries of Sion rejoyce against her when the Lord shall reach forth his Hand and scatter his open Enemies as in the day of slaughter and consume the Bryars of the Earth as with endless Burnings and unquenchable Flames in the strength of his Fury when he pleadeth by the Fire of his Jealousie and the Sword of his Mouth with all the Wicked Ungodly and Unfaithful ones who make Flesh their Arm and depart from the Word of the living God in their Hearts which then they shall know to be Powerful against all Unrighteousness and quick in executing Judgments accordingly Oh! happy is the Man that then shall know a Refuge and blessed shall the People be whose God is then the Lord and full well will it be for them who then know a hiding place Then shall Sion alone rejoyce and Jerusalem be glad forever and only the redeemed of the Lord shall walk in the Paths of his Judgments and in the midst of devouring and consuming Fire which to them shall be as a Wall for everlasting defence round about them and as precious healing Oyl of Joy and Gladness in the midst and as pure Oyntment poured out into the Wounds of the broken-hearted Light shall shine forever in their Habitations and Wisdom shall be found in them like as in Daniel the Servant of God in the dayes of Old and only the Faithful shall stand and the Upright-hearted shall endure and God will keep his little Ones and the Weak shall be strengthened by him and the Poor of the Flock shall be comforted and the Feeble among men shall receive strength from God as the Morning and renewing of virtue as the dawning of the day and the Lambs of the Fold shall be kept and only Gods People shall stand yea they shall stand and the Gates of Hell with all the powers of darkness shall never prevail against them the Lord hath spoken it whose Words shall stand forever which shall seal it unto the Heritage of God and the Dross must be purged away and the Unbelieving must stand behind and the Careless will stagger at the Promises and they that seek themselves shall have Self enough but Self shall never help them in that day neither shall their own Wisdom stand them instead neither yet their Righteousness in the Day of God's Controversie when the great Oaks shall fall and the lofty Cedars shall bow to the Dirt when no covering at all shall hide but that which is put upon men by the Power of God's dwelling Spirit in the Heart of every individual by the virtue thereof and not otherwise And this moreover I say to every particularly unto you who were late astray from God and lately were convinced of the precious Truth of his Son that in the Name and Power of the Lord God of Heaven and Earth from him to you was I sent and that more chiefly to gather the Out-casts than to feed the Lambs who were already gathered and rather to call home the lost Sheep than to nourish them that were already brought home and to call Sinners to Repentance and for the opening the Hearts Understanding and Eyes of those who though they truly desired had not clearly understood the secret things of the hidden Wisdom of the Almighty And truly my Love was to Sinners and the true affections and breathing of my Soul for the Prodigals in them parts which were most chiefly my Message from God at that time and my Service of Love unto the Souls of such in them parts and to publish the Name of the Almighty in the great Congregations and surely my own Brethren even the gathered Flock of God attended in much patience whilst I thus performed my Service of love to you neither did I turn my Face from you to them nor with-held from you the Counsel of God in truth neither was I negligent in the Service to do you good neither yet sparing of my strength nor with-holding my Speech when God gave utterance but rather can truly say I could even have been spent for you in the discharge of my Conscience to the Lord my strength And now this is that which my Heart desireth of you and my Soul desireth for you That you all and every of whose Hearts then God touched with the feeling of his Love by the power of his Immortal Word through me his weak Earthen Vessel that you all may obey the Call and Visitation of God in the requiring of his Light in your own Hearts thereby willingly to depart from the wayes of the Wicked the professions of the Hypocrites and the paths of Ungodly men and to stand no long in the way of Sinners nor regard the counsel of them who hate the Light and Truth in the inward parts and to come out from amongst them that are unclean who live still more and more in that which pollutes them who live in their Sins professing God and serving the Devil until they have finished their Sins which then bringeth forth Death and he that dyeth in his Sins not believing in the Light which makes an end of sin cannot come where Christ is And so the Tree falling there it lieth and as Death leaveth Judgment findeth and as Judgment findeth so shall the Reward according to the deeds be And then shall every man stand or fall to his own Master the Servants of the Devil to their Master and the Servants of God to their Master and there is no more Masters but them two and no man can serve both though Thousands profess the one and serve the other who in that day must give an account whom they have served and not whom they have professed for they who professed God and served the Devil were Hypocrites and so are unto this day of whom the World is full And blessed are they who by the living Power of the Soul-saving Grace of God are truly redeemed out of the