most is highest exalted so every one is exalted above another and there is nothing but Tyranny Cruelty and Oppression among you you sous and daughters of Babylon and in her was found the Blood of the Prophets and of the Saiuts and all that were slain upon the Earth The Merchants of Babylon are your Teachers who draw you from your Guide which is the pure Light of Christ in you to seek the Kingdom of God in observations without you contrary to the mind of Christ The Kingdom of God comes not with Observations neither shall they say Lo here or Lo there for behold the Kingdom of God is within you But these your Merchants have no Scripture for their Merchandize which they sell to you enslaved Captives for so many hundreds in the year and is paid in the Nation or elsewhere for these observations they tell you you must observe or else you cannot come to the Kingdom of Heaven though they are contrary to the Scriptures as are practised by them there is no Scripture that witnesseth their call to the Ministry by humane wisdom Not many great not many noble not many wise after the flesh There is no Scripture which testifies of any that Jesus Christ sent forth that made a bargain with the people for so much a year as thâ—…se do that profess themselves to be sent of Christ This is the call of the Ministers of Christ Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ neither of man nor by man but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ I send you forth saith Jesus Christ as Lambs among Wolves Into what Town or City ye enter enquire who is worthy and if they receive you there abide eating such things as are set before you the Labourer is worthy of his meat freely ye have received freely minister Those whom Jesus Christ commits the Word of Eternal Life unto and calls them forth to declare it unto others the Love of Jesus Christ which is sealed up to their Souls through his own Blood constrains them to give up themselves to death in witnessing forth the eternal Life they enjoy in Christ as it was it is The Love of Christ constrainetâ—… 〈◊〉 tâ—… preach the Gospel saith Paul But these your Merchants are they which have forsaken the right way and are gone astray following the way of Balaaâ—… the Son of Bâ—…sor who loved the wages of unrighteousness And as there is no Scripture for their Call to the Ministry by their human learning nor making bargains with the people for so much in the year So there is no Scripture for these observations they call Ordinances of God as they are Practised by them There is no Scripture that Christ or any that he sent forth did take a Child and sprinkle water on its Face and said in so doing They Baptized it into the Church of Christ Suffer little Children to come unto me saith Christ and forbid them not for such is the Kingdom of God whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little Child shall not enter therein He sets the Child as a Type and a Figure to shew forth to every one that they must become as a little Child depending upon the will of God before they enter into the Kingdom of God He took them up into his Arms and put his Hands on them and blessed them but that he sprinkled water on their Faces and said He Baptized them into his Church there is no such Scripture Another observation your Teachers tell you you must observe is hearing these studied Sermons in taking a part of Scripture and adding to it their wisdom call it The Word of God which is contrary to the Scriptures but they say They have Christ for an Example There was delivered to him the Book of the Prophet I saiah when he had opened the Book â—…oe found where it was written The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to Preach the Gospâ—…l unto the Poor he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted to Preach Deliverance to the Captives And recovering of the Sight of the blind and to set at liberty them that are bruised to Preach the acceptable year of the Lord And he closed the Book and sate down And he began to say unto them This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears And all bare him witness and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth He was the substance of the prophecy which was then fulfill'd in him This is no ground for any to take the Saints words and to add to them their wisdom and call that the Word of God The Prophet that hath a Dream let him tell a Dream he that hath my Word let him speak my Word faithfully What is the Chaff to the Wheat saith the Lord is not my Word like a fire and like a hammer saith the Lord that breaks the Rocks in pieces all to whom the Word of the Lord is committed can witness it to be as a fire within them and as an hammer that breaks the Rocks in pieces subjecting all in the heart under the Power of it self so it alone rules and guides him that he is what he speaks that if he had never seen any thing that the Saints have declared without him he had known what is manifest in him and he to whom the Word is thus made manifest is a true Minister of Christ who is called to speak the Word faithfully But these that call themselves your Teachers and make bargains with you for so much by the year they never witnessed the word of the Lord in them as a fire and like a hammer that breaketh the Rocks in pieces so they never had any thing to have spoken of the Lord but as they have stoln it from the Testimony of the Saints so they speak a divination of their own Brain a Riddle to their own Hearts and whilst they speak to others themselves are Cast-aways And the Lord testifies against them Behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that steal my Word every one from his Neighbour Behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that use their tongue and say He saith Behold I am against them that Prophesie false Droams saith the Lord and do tell them and cause my People to err by their Lyes and by their Lightness yet I sent them not nor commanded them therefore they shall not profit the People as all saith the Lord And this fruit is made manifest of the Ministry that hath been in England Another Observation your Teachers bid you observe which is contrary to Scripture as it is practised by them in singing of David's Psalms in meeter taking David's words who was a man after God's own heart and putting words into the mouthes of poor ignorant People to sing that which they never knew and so cause them to blaspheme the name of God saying Let us sing to the Praise and Glory of God as O Lord I am not puft
him foolishness and madness This is the Wiâ—…dom of God and the children thereof judged and condemned by man in his day And how can it be otherwise How can the wisdom of men but judge that as foolishness whose beauty and excellency is hid from its eye But this is because the wisdom of man is out of its place not subjected to the Wisdom of God but exalted above it therefore as a Curse unto it is it suffered to lift up it self in its conceitfulness against and so to persecute the pure Wisdom of God and the birth thereof that it might fall and be broken and snared and taken and its day deservedly come to an end and be shut up in the shadows and chambers of eternal darkness But what Ear of Man can hear this Surely none that is whole in the line of Man's wisdom reason and understanding but that alone which is bruised broken and in some measure dashed to pieces by the inroads of a divine Life and Nature This iâ—… the leading of that Life which hath broken it and in the shinings of the Light eternal upon it and into it may be enabled to take up the Cross to the natural part and to die that Death with Christ which preserves from the second Death with the misery thereof Happy is he who knows and hearkens to the Perswasions of God's Spirit who is born of God and taught to wait upon him and worship him in Spirit who receives his Religion from the Ligâ—… of Faith into the renewed Nature and Mind and not from the Reason of Man into the natural understanding which is easily corrupted and cannot be kept pure but alone by the indwelling of the Principle of Eternal Life in it For though such may suffer very deeply in this World from the men of this world as the Subjects and Servants to the Principle of Life have done in all Ages and Generations yet their Principle will bear them out in which God will appear to strengthen and refresh their spirits and carry them up above all their Sufferings in the Patience Meekness and Faith of the Lamb And keeping to their Principle they cannot be overcome but must either live or die Conquerors according to the will and good pleasure of Him who ordereth and disposeth of all things well and bringeth good out of every evil in despite of all the Powers of Darkness And he that overcometh whether by life or death in the Lamb's Spirit shall wear the Lambs Crown sit down in that perfect Rest in the Kingdom of the Father which will give the hearts of all his Children full Satisfaction In which assured hope Life stirring in our bosoms and quickning our hearts with Love unto our God and Zeal for his Truth we can freely give up all that is near and dear unto us in this World and lay down our heads in inward Peace â—…n the midst of the greatest outward Persecution and Trouble Even so O Lord thy Will be done concerning this Generation of thy People whom thou hast begotten to thy Self and brought forth by thy mighty Power to testifie to thy Truth in this present day Dispose of them as it pleaseth Thee and let not their Faith in thee nor thy Faithfulness to them fail but let them be a Praise to thy Name throughout all Generations and tendered by Thee as the First fruits of thine Appearance in the Glorious Light of the Everlasting Day after this great long thick and dark Night of Apostacy from the Life and Spirit of the Apostles hath so long ecclipsed and covered the brightness of thy Beauty from the fight of the Earth Isaac Pennington A Declaration to all the World of our Faith and what we Believe who are called QUAKERS Also what Ministers and Magistrates we own and what and whom we deny Concerning God Christ and the Spirit FIrst That there is only one true God who is a Spirit and his Presence filleth Heaven and Earth he is Eternal and Everlasting the Creator Preserver of all things that Heaven and Earth and all things therein by him were framed and brought forth and all things remain unto this day by his Power and whatsoeveâ—… he willeth in Heaven and Earth he brings to pass by his Word and Power And we believe That this God only is and ought to be feared loved obeyed and worshipped by all Creatures and no other thing besides him in Heaven and Earth and we believe that his Worship and Obedience and Care and Love is to be given in Spirit even iâ—… what his own Spirit moveth and leadeth his people unto And we believe his True Worship required and accepted of him is not by the tradition of men in outward observances or set days or places but he is worshipped only in Spirit and Truth without respect of times places or things and that none can worship him in righteousness but his Children who are born of his Spirit and are led and guided thereby And we believe that this God hath given his Son Christ Jesus into the World a free Gift unto the whole World and that every man that cometh into the World is lighted by him that every man may believe and be saved And we believe That he is given into the World and no Nation Country or People excepted but to all mankind he is given of God and hath enlightened them And every man through the world that believeth in and receiveth Christ who is the Wisdom and Power of the Father shall be saved with eternal Salvation And every one that believes not in him shall be damned and shall possess everlasting misery And we believe That Salvation Justification and Sanctification is only in Him wrought by him and no other for there is no other Name given under Heaven but him alone by which Salvation is and we believe all that receive him and believe in him are reconciled to God and are made alive to God to live to him in all things and do receive the forgiveness of Sins and are set free from all unrighteousness and from the body of Sin and Death and have the witness of the Spirit in them and the Spirit of the Father they have received and it witnesseth in them of the Father and of the Son and of the things that belong to their peace and it is the Earnest of the Inheritance and the Seal of the Promise of Eternal Life and by it are the deep things of God revealed to mankind and by it the Father and the Son dwell in the Saints and by it they have fellowship one with another and the Father Son and Spirit are one And this we faithfully believe Again concerning Christ we believe Thaâ—… he is one with the Father and was with the Father before the World was and what the Father worketh is by the Son for he is the Arm of Gods Salvation and the very Power and Wisdom of the Creator and was is and is to come without beginning or end And we
believe That all the Prophets gave Testimony of him and that he was made manifest in Judea and Jerusalem and did the Work of the Father and was persecuted of the Jews and was crucified by his Enemies and that he was buried and rose again according to the Scriptures And we believe He is now ascended on high exalted at the right hand of the Father for evâ—… and that he is gloâ—…ified with the same gloâ—…y that he had before the world was and that even the same that came down from Heaven is ascended up to Heaven and the same that descended is he that ascended And we believe Even he that was dead is alive and lives for evermore and that he cometh and shall come again to judge the whole world with righteousness and all people with equity and shall give to every man according to his deeds at the day of Judgment when all shall arise to condemnation or justification he that hath done good shall receive Life and he that hath done evil everlasting Condemnation And we believe He is to be waited for in Spirit to be known after the Spirit as he was before the World was and that is the knowledge unto Eternal Life which all that believe in him do receive he subdues death destroys him that hath the power of it restoreth from Death to Life and quickeneth by his Spirit all that the Father hath given him and we believe such he justifieth and sanctifiâ—…th and such are taught of him but he condemns all that believe not and continue in unbelief and are not taught of him And this we faithfully believe And we believe That unto all People upon the face of the whole Earth is a time and day of Visitation given that they may return and be saved by Jesus Christ who is given of the Father to call the worst of men to repentance and the most ungodly of sinners are convinced by him of their ungodly deeds that they may believe and be converted and saved And we believe Herein is the love of God manifested to all mankind and that none wert shut out by him before they were born into the world but unto all men is a visitation given and they that perish it is because they do not believe in Christ and Destruction is of a mans self but Salvation is of God through believing in his Son who takes away sin and reneweth into his ownImage that they may become Heirs with him And we believe That there is a Crown of eternal Glory and an Inheritance of eternal Life to be enjoy'd for evermore by all that believe are chosen of God and that there is an everlasting Misery and Destruction to be possessed by all that believe not but continue in the state of Reprobation and are not changed from the ways of sin and death but walk after the ways of their own hearts lusts fulfilling the will of the flesh in the evil of this world and follow not Christ the Light of the world that they may be saved and we believe upon all such the Wrath of God abides and that they have no part in the Inheritance of God And we believe That it is only he that is born again of the Spirit and that walks after the Spirit who is changed from Death unto Life and who is redeemed out of the world and all its ways such only must inherit the Kingdom of God and they only have right thereunto and none besides even they that are washed and cleans'd from all unrighteousness by the Blood of Jesus by which their sins are remitted for his Blood cleanseth them from all Unrighteousness and Sin yea all such that walk and abide in the Light which Jesus Christ hath enlightned the World withal And we believe That the Saints upon Earth may receive forgiveness of Sins and may be perfectly freed from the body of sin death and in Christ may be perfect and without Sin and may have Victory over all Temptations by Faith in Jesus Christ And we believe Every Saint that is call'd of God ought to press after Perfection and to overcome the Devil and all his Temptations upon Earth and we believe they that faithfully wait for it shall obtain it and shall be presented without sin in the Image of the Father and such walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit and are in Covenant with God and their Sins are blotted out and remembred no more for they cease to commit sin being born of the Seed of God And we believe the Goâ—…pel of Christ is the Power of God unto Salvation and that it ought to be preached freely unto all People Christ to be held forth to all Mankind by the Ministry sent of him And we believe this Ministry is receiv'd by the gift of the holy Ghost and all they that receive it are lawfully called to the Ministry and they may preach the Gospel of Christ freely as they have received it freely and this Ministry is not of man but of God and is made powerful to the converting of sinners and to the bringing of People to God and to the knowledge of his ways And we do not believe that any man is a Minister of Christ without the gift of the holy Ghost or that the Gospel can be received by natural Larning or Education And we believe such as preach for hire and have hire for preaching are not the lawfully called Ministers of the Gospel of Christ such as are proud and high-minded and covetous men who do not profit the people at all such as have run and never were sent of Christ who calls by his Spirit into the Work of the Ministry and as every one hath received the Gift of that Spirit so he may administer to others Concerning Rulers and Governors we believe That there ought to be Rulers and Governors in every Nation City Country or Town and they ought to be such men as fear God and hate every evil way who will judge for God and not for man and will judge Righteously Equally and Justly and will give true and sound Judgment unto all men without bribery or respect of Persons not regarding the Rich above the Poor but being a Praise unto all that do well a terror to all evil doers having knowledge in the pure Law of God and themselves continually exercised therein And we believe That every Law of man ought to be grounded upon the Law of God pure Reason and Equity being the Foundation thereof that Gods witness in every man may answer to it and the Law ought to be known unto all People before Transgression be charged or punished in any man And we believe That every Transgression ought to be punished according to its nature that the punishment exceed not the greatness of the Transgression neither ought Transgressors to escape unpunished neither ought any upon false suspicion or jealousies be caused to suffer without the Testiâ—…ony of true men or the
broad way to destruction whatever thou be whether a Teacher of others or a Professor of what thou comprehendest to be Truth from the Letter of the Scripture under what Form Name or Title soever thou be thou art a dead Man and a dead Woman and the wrath of God abides on thee though thou see it not Rom. 7. 9. there Paul witnesseth I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandment came Sin revived and I dyed Friends every one in particular deal justly with your hearts see what you can witness of your death with Christ by the powerful Word of Truth which enlightens the Conscience and condemns Sin in the flesh for every one would ascend with Christ to be partakers of the Life and Glory with him but he becomes a stumbling stone to be Baptized with him unto his Sufferings and Death to descend with him into Hell this thou must witness before ever thou comest to sit with him in heavenly places for it is they and they alone that shall reign with him who suffer with him and they that are dead shall live with him It is the dead that hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live Arise thou that sleepest in the dust of the Earth securely in thy serpentine wisdome thy Mind feeding upon the dust of the Earth created objects which will perish Arise stand up to Judgment that Christ may give thee Life This is required of thee O man To do Justly love Mercy and to walk Humbly with thy God Examine thy heart and deal justly with thy own Soul There is a Light in thy Conscience which Light is of Christ minding it it will let thee see the Mystery of Iniquity that lodgeth in thy heart which is deceitful and desperately wicked and this Light in thy Conscience which discovers unto thee the evil of thine heart is of the Eternal Word of God and was from the beginning according as it is written in the outward Testimony of the Truth In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word is God and the same was in the beginning with God all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made in him was Life and the Lifo was the Light of men And the Light shineth in Darkness and the Darkness comprehendeth it not Every one arise out of your earthly wisdom and mind the Light in thy Conscience and wait on the Power of the Lord in it and it will bring thee to Judgment before the Throne of the Lamb where the righâ—…teous Law will be opened in thy heart that will cry through thy earthly heart for Righteousness and Judgment and the Book will be opened in thee where thou shalt see all written that thou hast done in the body and shalt give an account for every idle word and receive thy reward for what thou hast done and thy reward is wrath and Condemnation which will pass upon thee from the presence of the Lamb for thy disob dience and breaking of the righteous Law that goes out of the mouth of the Lamb 't will turn every way and meet thee cut thee down and cast thee into Hell where there is weeping and wailing for want of the presence of God and thou canst do nothing to pacific the Wrath of God which is gone out against thee Now wouldâ—…t thou hide thy self as Adam did when he appears in thy heart thy fig-leav'd garment of prayers tears form outward observations according to thy comprehension of the Letter will not cover thy nakedness it served to cover thy nakedness from the sight of men but now when the Lord appears in thy heart thou canst not stand before him Now comes Cain in thee to be driven from the Face of God to be a fugitive and a Vagabond in the Earth not withstanding all his Sacrifices and Esau in thee reprobated never to have the blessing though he seek it with tears and the Bond woman and herâ—…son cast out and the first Adam now slain with the sharp Sword that goeth out of the mouth of the Lamb and art made to give up thy soul to God whose it is to do with thee what he will if he destroy thee forever he may and if he save thee from Eternal Death it is his free Love Now art thou Baptized with Christ into his Sufferings and Death where thou liest sealed down under the Eternal Judgment of God and there perishest forever for any Power or help thou hast in thy self and this is the Administration of Moses where thou liest condemned forever under the righteous Law without any help or hope until the Administration of the Prophets that prophesie of a Christ that hath satisfied the righteous Law of God for thee who art lost and condemned under the Power of the Law of Moses And now there is a secret hope raised up in thy Soul and thou lookest up from under the condemning Power of Moses for a Saviour And the prophets are until John and of all that were horn of Women there was not one greater then John for he is a burning and shining Light that lets thee fee the filthiness of thy heart and the Law shines in its purity to condemn the Earthly man in thee bu the strengthens the hope in thee that was raised up by the Prophets to see the beauty and excellency of Jesus Christ which ravished thy lost condemned Soul that thou art willing to sell all for him the Scripture now being fulfilled in thee who witnesseth this from the days of John even until now The Kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force now is every Mountain and Hill laid low in thee and crooked wayes made straight and the rough way in thee made smooth and thou waitest in the Wilderness and lost condition of thy self for the Salvation of God to be manifest to thee in Jesus Christ and in the appointed time of the Father the Son of Man comes to thy soul as a thief in the night as the lightening from the East to the West so is his appearance in thee and causeth thy â—…ead soul to hear his voice which witnesseth to it eternal life freely through his own Blood and thy soul hears his voice and by the Word of his Power is made to live and is sealed up by the Holy Spirit of promise the Spirit of God bearing witness with thy spirit that thou art his child Now comest thou to witness the second Adam to be a quickening Spirit and Isaac the promised Seed to be Heir forever And that the wages of Sin is Death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life And that by Grace thou are saved through Faith in the Lord Jesus not of works left any should boast and he that hath Hope in him purifieth himself as he is pure and the Love of Christ constrains thee now who canâ—…t witness this work of Regeneration manifest in
THE PRINCIPLES OF TRUTH Being A DECLARATION OF OUR FAITH Who are call'd QUAKERS Whereby all that want PEACE with GOD may Return into their First Estate through the Operation of the LIGHT and Power of God in the great Work of REGENERATION Written by E.B. J.C. W.D. H.S. I.P. and A.P. Truth's Principles OR Those things about Doctrine and Worship which are most Surely Believed and Received among the People of God called QUAKERS MAny are the Reports that are abroad concerning this People not only as to their Practices and Deportments but also as to other Doctrines and Beliefs The former time having in a great measure resolv'd and worn out as being the Refuge of Lyes for the Ignorant Unrighteous to flee unto but that stormy and wintry Appearance is well nigh over and gone because the Sun is so far risen and the true Light so shineth that most begin to see that those Reports were but Lyes and Scandals raised as Fig leaves to cover the Nakedness of other Professions that begun so manifestly to appear through the Light that shined in these Peoples Lives and Conversations But though the first be gone yet the later sticks with many as not knowing what they hold as to Doctrine some saying They deny the Scripture and the Resurrection of the Body and all Ordinances with the Man Christ and his Death Sufferings and Imputation of his Righteousness and Faith in his Blood c. Wherefore for the Satisfaction of all that would willingly be resolv'd and know the Truth as it is in Jesus I have written this short Account of their Faith Belief and if it were possible to stop the Mouthes of the clamorous Tongues before the Sentence be given against them by some signal Stroke of the Lord from Heaven which he will undoubtedly in his appointed Time reveal and make manifest to the trembling of all hearts concerned therein and tinglong of all Ears that shall hear thereof when it shall be said to them The holy shall be holy still and he that is filthy let him be filthy still Rev. 22. 11. We believe That the God of all Grace has given a measure of Grace or some Manifestation of his Spirit and Light thereof unto all men according unto these Scriptures Jo. 1. 9. Tit. 2. 11. 1 Cor. 12. 7. Neh. 9. 20. and Experiences of all men who at some time or other do feel something in their Hearts and Consciences that doth lust against the Flesh and the Flesh against it and that these two are contrary the one to the other one lasting after Evil which is Evil and the other after Good which is Good the one Carnal the other Spiritual the one from Earth the other from Heaven Gal. 5. 16 17. We believe By this Gift Grace and Inspiration of the Almighty man only can come to know the true God truly what he is how he works in the Hearts and Consciences of People to regnerate them and make them bear his Image according to 1 Cor. 3. 19 20. 21. Luke 10. 21. and Experiences of all that ever were regenerated and born again We believe That all the Errors and Mistakes about God and the things relating to his Kingdom sprang and arose from men's wandring from this gift of God into their own Imaginations whereby though they thought themselves wise yet they became Fools err'd their foolish hearts being darkned according to Rom. 1. 21. not knowing the Scriptures nor the Power of God as it is written Mat. 22. 29. We believe and know That this Gift and Grace of God appears in and unto all men that all may be without Excuse accusing for the Evil and excusing for the Good according to Rom. 2. 15 16. shewing unto man what is good and reproving of him in his own Conscience for the evil whether Thoughts Words or Deeds and that this Reproof of Instruction is the Way of Life Prov. 6. 23. We believe That as the true God and eternal Life is known only by the Light of this Gift and Grace according unto the Scriptures from which Light and Spirit of God came the Scriptures both from the old new Testament as it is written 2 Pet. 1. 21. so can they only be read as truly to be believ'd fulfill'd and practised in the Light and Power of the same all that are out of this Spirit must needs be ignorant and unlearn'd in the Apostle's Sense who wrest the Scriptures to their own Destruction as it is written for Peter and John were unlearn'd men outwardly not knowing Letters but inwardly read in the knowledge of this Light and Spirit of God and wrestâ—…d not the Scriptures Acts 4. 13. 2 Pet. 3. 16. We believe according to the Scripture 2 Cor. 4. 3. That wheresoever the Power of God is not known within there the Gospel is hid and unknown unto them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them that believe not lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them and God should heal them because it is only by the Light of Christ the Power of God that the Creature comes truly to see himself in his lost and undone Estate from which Sight ariseth the true Sence in the Heart of the Creature that makes him cry out of his Wretchedness by reason of the Body of Sin and Death which necessitates him to look out for a Saviour whom God manifests in and by the same Light that shines in the heart on purpose to give the sight of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ God's Image whereby God heals the Soul and therefore doth the Devil the God of the World strive so much by the Gift of the Pleasures Profits Vanities and Lusts that are in the World which he presents to men and women now as he did to Christ in the days of his Flesh when he shewed to him all the World with its Glory which Glory is the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of the Life whatever may make this Life happy as it were in the things that may pride it or lift it up to sit as a Queen And as Man and Woman take and receive the Gifts from the God of this World their Minds are blinded because they believe not in the Light which shews thee the Vanities of all the Gifts of the God of this World which Gifts the Devil knows if they be received will so blind the Minds of them that receive them that they will not come to be sensible in the true Light of their lost conditions so as to cry unto God from the deep true Senceâ—… for then God out of the Depths of his Love and Mercy could not but Heal them And therefore lest the true Light should shine into them to give them the sensible Knowledge of themselves and God should Heal them the Devil as God of
the World by the things of the World endeavours to blind the mind not the Brain-Knowledge but the Heart Fâ—…eling Sence within in the mind lest the Light within should so shine as God should heal them all the Buslings of Satan with his Gifts are but to blind the Mind within lest God should heal the Soul that complains to him from the true Sight and Sence of his Misery as in himself By this Grace and Gift within we believe That to Us though in the World there be Lords many Gods many there is but ONE GOD the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ witnessed within man only by the Spirit of Truth that manifests both the Father and the Son and yet these Three are One and agree in One and he that honours the Father honours the Son that proceeds from him and he that denies the Spirit denies both the Father and the Son and is Antichrist but he that believes in the Spirit and is led by it is the Son of God Rom. 8. 14. As many as are the Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God We believe The Scriptures bear witness unto and testifie of Christ but they say The Witness of God is greater then them The Spirit it self bearing witness with our Spirits that we are the Sons of God For it is not the Scriptures without the Spirit nor the Spirit contrary to the Scriptures but the Spirit 's discovering the Will of God in the Heart oâ—… opening of the Scrlpâ—…ures in its own Time and Way and not in or by the Will of Man but as it self pleaseth who searcheth all even the deep things of God and manifests them unto the Soul which gives the Perfect Sound and Saving Knowledge for said Christ The Spirit shall take of mine shew them unto you And as Holy Men gave forth the Scriptures 2 Pet. 1. 21. so Holy Men and they only come truly to understand them and not proud and ungodly men because their Hearts and Lives do not answer the Hearts Lives of those that gave them forth as Face answers Face in a Glass And this we believe to be the Reason why so long Preaching by men of corrupt Minds who have and do handle the Word deceitfully for Selfish Ends and filthy Lucre sake hath brought forth so little Fruit and been to so little Purpose except to their Purses and Bellies for had they believed and therefore spoaken and stood in God's Counsel they should have profited their Hearers Jer. 23. 21 22 23 to the end Through this Gift we believe That Christ Jesus the Son of God was manifest in the Flesh in the Fulness of time And this we know by the same Spirit by which our Fathers believed he should come and Abraham saw his Day by the same we do believe he is come and do see his Day as also by the Prophet and Apostles Writing which two-fold Cord is not easily broken We believe also according to the Scriptures of Truth That this same Jesus hath God highly exalted and given him a Name above every Name that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have Everlasting Life and that there is not another Name whereby any can be saved than this Name of Jesus Christ nor is Remission of Sins to be preached by any other Name But as we do not believe that the outward Letters and Syllables are that Name that is to be bowed to by the outward Knee no more then the Letters or Syllables in the words God or Spirit seeing the Scripture faith Unto God who is a Spirit every Knee shall bow Isa. 45. 93. But the Name which saves is the Power and Arm of God that brings Salvation from Sin and makes every Soul that names it to depart from Iniquity This is that Name which was preached and which is preached through Faith in which Name Remission of Sin is obtained Therefore was the outward word Jesus given him as his outward Name Thou shalt call his Name JESUS for he shall save his People from their Sins mark for he shall save c. So that which saves is the Name which is to be believed in which is that Arm of God that brings Salvation when no Eye pities neither is there any Help the Power of God that then saves is that Grace that comes from the Fulness of Christ the Saviour And without this Virtue Christ and Jesus are but empty Names 1 Cor. 12. 3. No man can say that Jesus is the LORD but by the Holy Ghost We believe also That this Jesus dyed for or because of Sin and rose again for the Justification of those that believe in him as well as to manifest to all the World that he was the Son of God and that he thereby spoiled Principalities and Power and triumphed over them openly and led Captivity captive in his own Person yet we believe and know by his Grace in our Hearts that as his Name Jesus without Virtue and Power is but an empty Word so his Dying without man's Conformity to his Death or being planted into the Likeness thereof or being crucified with Christ as saith the Scripture Rom. 6. 2 3 4 5 6. Gal. 2. 20. will not profit man as to the Salvation of his Soul no more then the naming of his outward Name Jesus doth at this day make People to depart from Iniquity For we believe and are â—…ure that man must dye inwardly as well as Christ dy'd outwardly and must be put to Death in his Flesh as Christ was in his for he that is in the Flesh cannot please God Rom. 8. 8. Neither ceaese froâ—… Sin but he that is dead is freed from Sin Rom. 6. 7. And yet man 's dying unto Sin and the Root and Principle of it in himself is so far from making void Christ's Death in his own Person that it establisheth it to all those Ends and Purposes for which it was intended of the Father As the Cures which the Physitian doth manifest and establish his Skill and Ability so doth man's dying unto Sin and Self and living unto God manifest and establish the Virtue and Power of Christ's Death for as man manifests his being risen with Christ by his seeking the things that are above Col. 3. 1 2. so doth he manifest his Knowledge of the Death of Christ by his being crucified with Christ and bearing about in his Body the Dying of the Lord Jesus For as it is not an outward Belief gather'd from the Letter that will change the Heart and Life though the Judgment and Opinion it may so it is not a Belief from the History or Letter only that can give man a saving Knowledge of the Death of Christ but he must have the same Glory and Power of the Father in measure working in him there to beget Faith in his Heart thaâ—… he may believe unto Salvation from his own Filthiness and Righteousâ—…ess as well as confess with his Mouth Rom. 10. and must have that
Spirit in him quickning his mortal Body as well as to believe that it was in Christ and raised up him from the Dead Rom. 8. 11. And this man whoever he be Bound or Fâ—…ee that thus believes the Death of Christ and itâ—… Satisfaction to God as well as its Usefulness to man cannot make it void nor divide it and its Virtue upon the Soul that thus knows it but will say Here is a dying man witnessing the Death of Christ and nevertheless the same man living with Christ and concluding if Christ had not dyed man must have perished in his Sin This being the Way found out by God to recover him whereby he knows Christ and him crucified and what the preaching of the Cross of Christ is which is Foolishness to them that perish but to them that are saved the Wisdom of God and the Power of God 1 Cor. 1. 81. By this Gift of God in our Hearts we further believe That Christ Jesus rose again froâ—… the Dead according to the Scriptures and sits at God's Right Hand in a Glorious Body And we believe that our low Estates and humble Bodies shall be made like unto his glorious Body through the Working of his Mighty Power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself and that this Mortality shall put on Immortality For though we believe that Christ Jesus hath lighted every man with his Light whereby man may come to know himself lost and undone as before is said yet therefore is not every man saved though the Grace that appears to all men is sufficient in it self but some have the Grace of God bestowed upon them in vain not likeing to retain God in their Knowledge though something within them shews them what is good But they reject the Counsel of God within or against themselves to their own Destruction Luke 7. 30. see the Mergant and yet it doth not follow that the Grace is insufficient of it self no more then it follows that Christ's Death is insufficient because he tasted Death for every man and yet every man is not saved Neither doth Regeneration or the believing in the Light of Christ within make void the Death and Sufferings of Christ without at Jerusalem no more then believing the Scripture testimony without concerning Christ's Death makes void the Work of Regenertaion and Mortification within but as the Apostle saith in another Case so I say in this For as the Man is not without the Woman neither is the Woman without the Man in the Lord even so is not the Death Sufferings of Christ without at Jerusalem to be made void and of none effect by any thing within neither doth the Light within make that of none effect without but both in the Lord answers his Will For though there is and may be a Knowledge and Belief of what Christ did and Suffered without the Gates in his own Body upon the Tree and yet Sin alive in the Heart and the Work of Regeneration not known yet it can't be so where the Light within is believed on and obeyed so as to have its perfect Work in the Heart to regenerate and make all things new and to be of God this man can never make void what Christ hath done and suffered without And yet this New Birth or Christ formed within and dwelling in the Heart by Faith doth not limit or confine Christ to be only within and not without also but both within and without according to the Good Pleasure of the Father to reveal and make him known for he fills all things and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him and yet is he at God's Right Hand far above all Heavens in a glorious Body And we also believe the Resurrection of the Just Unjust the One to Salvation and the Other to Condemnation according unto the Judgment of the great Day and then shall every Seed have its own Body according to 1 Cor. 15. 36 37. which we verily believe For if the Dead rise not we are of all men most miserable But because we dare not be so foolishly inquisitive as to say With what Bodies shall they arise therefore do some say We deny both the Resurrection of the Body of Christ and of all that are or shall be dead But this also is false for every man shall be raised in his own Order but Christ the First Fruits 1 Cor. 15. 23. And we believe they shall be raised with the same Bodies so far as a Natural Spiritual Corruptible and Incorruptible Terrestrial and Celestial can be the same We further believe according unto the Sâ—…riptures concerning Faith That this Faith is only true which is God's Gift and has Christ Jesus the Power of God for its Author and Object and is distinguished from the Dead Faith by its Fruits For though in Description and Definition they may carry a Resemblance yet in Nature are as different as a Living Man is from a Dead which wants not Form or Shape but Life Power So saith the Apostle James As the Body without a Spirit is dead so is Faith without Works even so is that Faith which stands in the Wisdom of Words and not in the Power of God by the one man is kept in Captivity to the World and the things of it but by the other he hath Victory over the World 1 Joh. 5 4. and the Seal and Witness thereof in his own Heart whereby it is purified and God is seen for the Pure in Heart see God Mat. 5. 8. This Faith differs men now and their Worships as it did Cain and Abel For By Faith Abel offered up a more excellent Sacrifice then Cain Hebr. 11. By this Living Faith Abel saw beyond the Sacrifice unto Christ the First Born of God beyond the Firstling of the Flock which he offered and therefore God had Respect unto Abâ—…l and his Offering but God rejected Cain and his Offering though he had Faith to believe it to be his Duty yet sticking in the Form and not flying on the Wing of Faith unto Christ the One Offering he missed the Mark as all have done ever since that have gone in Cain's Way of Worshipping as well as Killing men about Worship But we believe that Faith to be only true and saving that flyes over Self Righteousness as well as Filthiness unto the Fountain of Life in Christ which Faith hath nothing of man in it but is as the Breath of Life by which the Soul lives nor a bare Assent of the Truth of a Proposition in â—…he natural Understanding but the Soul's cleaving unto God out of a Naturalness between Christ and the Soul and so live rather by Relation then bare Cerdit or desperate Adventure and Hazard not looking at its doing to commend it but God's Love and Bounty in Christ the Light to receive it and yet Holiness is its Delight he can no more live out of it then the Fish upon the dry Land We believe That this Faith
so we do believe and therefore we speak And such Preaching and Speaking in Faith as well as Praying in Faith is acceptable unto God as his worship and not otherwise And we further believe by the same Spirit that the sum of all Religion according to the Truth and signification of the word Religion is Man not at liberty in his will but bound again unto God by his having given to him by the Light of Christ within the true sight and knowledge of himself as in himself as lost and undone forever and from this Sight a true sense to arise upon and remain with him from whence spring unutterable groans and cryes unto God under the weight of the burthen and wretchedness by reason of the body of Sin and Death and then when there was none to help or pitty in this state then is Mercy shewed in Christ the Arm of God which is revealed as an help neither seen nor known where how or when to come at it or meet with it And this begets in the heart of that man or woman in and unto whom it is thus revealed thanks and praises unto God for this Gift and Revelation of his Son in this needful time whom the Soul sees to be the Gist of Eternal Love And we believe and know upon this Love and Faithfulness of God is founded built and established the Everlasting Covenant whereby not only all men may be saved for its ability but some shall be saved because for its Prevalency which is not like to the Covenant hâ—… made with our Fathers And although all mankind is not saved yet it is not because either of in sufficiency in this Covenant or because of the weakness of the Grace that appears in and unto all men but because of mans will loving death and chusing his own delusions whereby his destruction is of himself and God clear of his Blood in the free tender of his Grace Gift and striving of the Spirit within him For we know assuredly according to the Scriptures of Truth and experience of all souls that ever were truly converted to God that though by Grace man is saved not of himself but by the free Gift yet as the old world did and those rebellious Jews spoken of Acts 7. who as did their Fathers so did they always resist the Holy Ghost so do men now And yet in the tender of this Grace and striving of his spirit the Lord is a God so hiding himself in the mannagement of this striving and Ministration of his Spirit as if it wholly depended upon mans choice and consenting that mans will as to him is as it were free in rejecting or accepting Life and Death being set before him whereby in the wisdom of God the propensity of his Name as it came out of the hands of his Maker hath an advantage by this dealing of God to put forth it self so that man is as free in the choice as he is in the refusal of the tender of Mercy and Help and that with an equal indifferency as it appears to him in this state notwithstanding afterwards in the further growth in this Grace and knowledge of Christ he sees clearly and convincingly that the Grace that wrought hiddenly from his sight and knowledge in the first working tender and ministration of God towards him gained his consent through its own prevalency in the Love of God by which sight and sence self comes to be abhorred and the free Love so admired that he knows from first to last all was of Grace and that free that self is not able to challenge any thing as due from what it had done but all of gift and yet as before with such an equal indifferency on mans account so that God may and will appear to be just both in condemning and saving and the Justifier freely of all that believe in Jesus the Light of the world Therefore let all take heed how they dislike this Ministration of God and striving of his Spirit in their Hearts Consciences under colour and pretence of its in sufficiency and therefore they will not come to him because his drivings and strivings are not so strong as they would have them to be looking for such an overpowering and irresistibleness as they are not able to withstand and gainsay left such perish through a willful neglect and for want of stretching out their hand when the Lord holds out his and so they perish in the ditch with a vain expectation of further Power or cry in their mouthes Lord have mercy upon us and so with the Sluggard while they cry Yet a little more slumber and folding of the hands to sleep their Garden is over-grown with weeds and their backs cloathed with rags and they beg in harvest whilst others that have sown in tears not fainting do in due time reap in joy and not despising the crums that fell from the table nor the day of small things Witness the presence of their Beloved come down into his Garden and walking among the Liâ—…ies Let these thing be truly considered pondered and weighed in the true Ballance of Light and Righteousness lest any Soul perish through the false weight and measure so shall my soul rejoyce that any have escaped the Net of the Fowler through the discovery of the true Light and God have all the Glory unto whom alone it belongs and man ashamed confounded his â—…th stopped and he laid in the dust forever and then shall my end be answered in writting these things John Crook Concerning Perswasions in Matters of Religion THere is the Natural man and the Spiritual man and there are the Perswasions of each in and about matter of Religion There is the perswasion of Reason and the perswasion of Faith The perswasion of Reason is that Belief which man receives into his mind or heart from the exercise of the Reasoning Faculty this perswasion in maters of Religion is but mans Opinion or Judgment which how certain or infallible soever it appears to him yet may be shaken by a demonstration or evidence of a higher kind of nature The perswasion of Faith is that Belief which the new Creature receives into the renewing Mind from the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit which openeth and manifesteth the things of the Spirit unto that mind which is begotten and renewed by it And this perswasion is certain and infallible however it may be struck at and battered by the reasonings of the wise Earthly part even in that very man whose heart is thus perswaded by the Light of the Spirit of God concerning the things of Gods Kingdom Now the lowest perswasion of Faith is higher and of a more noble nature then the highest perswasion of Reason because Faith is of an higher Principle and of a deeper nature and ground then mans Reason is But this because it appears not in mans sphear but rather out of it and is contrary to the line and reach of his wisdom is accounted by