I let Israel go This Sturdy Oak did God visit with Judgment by pouring out of his Plagues upon him and his Land and he brought down his Pride in the Red Sea and he Humbled him by a perpetual Overthrow in the Deep but this Israel whom Pharaoh would not let go that they might hold a Feast unto the Lord in the Wilderness and Sacrifice unto their God them did God deliver out of his hand by a strong Arm and led thorow the Red Sea as upon dry Land making the Waters stand as Walls on the Right hand and on the Left And thus God made Pharach an Example to all that after should be Hard-hearted and refuse to Obey the Lord. And let it never be forgotten that in all these Overthrows God took care for the Righteous for them that loved God and obeyed his Voice and rebelled not against his good Spirit but turned at the Reproofs thereof who sinned not but stood in Awe as Namely Noah that Righteous man him God saved from the Destruction of the old World and delivered just Lot out of the Overthrow of Sodom and Israel his People he redeemed out of the Iron-Furnace and delivered them from Pharaoh that opprest them and pleaded their Cause with the Kings of the Earth and avenged their Wrongs upon them Yet here 's one President more that part of Israel which sinned and obeyed not God's Voice but day by day provoked him to Anger by their Rebellion and Unbelief even them for whom God had wrought such great Salvation God overthrew in the Wilderness and cut them off in his Anger by the Sword the Plague or other Destruction and twenty three thousand fell in one day and God made their Children to wander in the Wilderness Forty Years to bear the Whoredoms of their Fathers till the Carcases of their Fathers were consumed in the Wilderness These God was grieved and displeased with because they rebelled against his Good Spirit which he gave them to instruct and lead them in the Way they should go and this was not all but he sware in his Wrath They should not enter into his Rest So may we well conclude with the Apostle That if God spared not the Angels that sinned nor the Old World that sinned nor the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that sinned nor Pharaoh and his Host that sinned nor that part of Israel that sinned whom God so dearly loved and wrought so great Salvation for but made them Examples for all that after should live Ungodly oh what shall be the End of those that tread under foot the Son of God and count the Blood of the Covenant an Unholy Thing and do despight to the Spirit of Grace and daily crucifie the Son of God afresh spiritually by their Ungodly Lives and Ungodly Conversations For as Sin was the Transgression of the Law so whosoever sinneth rebels against God and Christ and doth do despight to the Spirit of Grace and as he that despised the Law that came by Moses dyed without Mercy so God hath reserved a greater Punishment for him that sins wilfully and turns not at God's Reproof but rebels against his Spirit sets at nought his Counsel and despises his Reproof and hates Knowledge and doth not chuse the Fear of the Lord nor that Light and Grace that inwardly strives with men to turn them from Sin by inwardly checking and reproving them for sin in their Hearts and Consciences and inward Parts and counsels them in their inward Parts to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World such I say must inherit everlasting Flames and have their Portion in the Lake that burns where shall be weeping and wailing and Gnashing of Teeth and that for evermore And let it be observed how God loved the Righteous and preserved them in all Ages who feared God and stood in his Counsel and loved God above all who feared God because they loved him and sinned not but stood in Awe oh how attentive was God's Ear to hear them and how did God open their Hearts to intercede for the Ungodly for their Enemies for them that hated them without a Cause and grudged them their natural Lives that God had given them Oh how was the Lord intreated by them insomuch that the Wicked speeded the better for the Righteous for in the Overthrow of Sodom if there could have been Ten Righteous found God would have spared the whole City for the sakes of Ten Righteous Persons and Zoar was spared for Lot's sake that Just Man It is good and blessed for all to be Righteous for without Righteousness and Holiness none shall see God and without seeing of God there is no enjoying that Kingdom which is not of this World wherein there is Joy and Peace forever Now there is no man of himself can come to be righteous and pure in Heart but Christ must cleanse and purge the Heart and wash it by the inward Washing of Regeneration by sprinkling the Heart from an Evil Conscience by his own Blood and the Heart being thus made pure the Saying of Christ in the fifth of Matthew comes to be fulfilled to all such viz. Blessed is the pure in Heart for they shall see God And in order to bring to this Blessedness God hath laid Help upon one that is mighty to save to take off the Burthen of Sin from the Soul and to give Rest to the Soul that is weary Now most people will confess to this because it is Scripture but it is one thing to confess to it and another thing to know it experimentally and to come truly to Christ It may be an Objection may be in some concerning the Manner of Coming to Christ Unto this I Answer The Manner of coming to Christ is to come to his Light and Grace in the Heart and so to be made new Creatures man must leave Sin and come to a godly Sorrow which worketh a true Repentance never to be repented of to come to know Sin to be a Burden and to feel the weight of it upon the Soul if he will come aright to Christ for these be they that Christ called to come to him saying Come to me all you that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you Rest I will ease you Matt. 11.28 And as thou comest to him he will make thee righteous and pure in Heart that thou mayest see God and be blessed This is that a man cannot do for himself nor no man for him but Christ only So it is those that mourn and groan under the Burden of Sin that are fit to come to Christ not them that take Pleasure in Sin nor them that love Sin and plead they must live in it term of Life that is till they Dye But them that travail as Paul did to be delivered from the Body of Sin c. Rom. 7.24 this is the Way to become New Creatures and these be they that hear the Voice of the Son of God and live as he said My
False Worships which are but Elementary to be melted with fervent heat the Zeal of God is kindled against them and the old Earth by this cometh to be burnt up then cometh the New Earth which John saw wherein dwelleth Righteousness and in such there is known no more Sea for all people being from the Spirit of Truth are in their Minds as unstable as the Waters of the Sea tossed to and fro with every Wind of Doctrine and with every Tempest of the Enemy before they come to be setled by the Power of God but this stability being once known then people come to know a Stay to their Minds and come as the Scripture saith Isa 26.3 Phil. 4.7 to be kept in perfect Peace and to know that Peace which passeth the Understanding of this World which the Wisdom of this World comprehendeth not for they whose Minds are thus preserved the Wicked One toucheth them not 1 John 5.18 although he may come with many Snares and Temptations to insnare and draw aside yet while people are kept by the Spirit of God they are delivered from them all for it is no Sin to be tempted but to enter into the Temptation that is sin then People come to break their Peace with God when the Devil tempts them to do any Wickedness and they give way to it this is making shipwrack of Faith and a Good Conscience as by sad Experience some have done see the 1st Epistle to Timothy the 1st Chapter and the 19th Verse But the way to prevent this is to give way to Christ that he may bear Rule in thy Heart and Mind and that he may order thy Affections and Conversation and bear sway in thee then thou wilt come to know m that said John 14.17 He that is with you shall be in you And they that he spoke to knew his words fulfilled and so spoke by experience that which they were Eye-witnesses of and said that he wrought all their Works in them and for them And I hope there is none that are so mis-led in their Understandings as to say that Work was Sin but altogether to work out Sin for that is the Work which Christ came to do To put an end to Sin in People Dan. 9.24 and to finish Transgression in People and in the room of Sin to bring in Everlasting Righteousness in People for Sin is in People for there is none in the Beasts of the Field but in mankind for the Beasts of the Field keep their places as God created them and do no way displease God but mankind knows not his Owner as the poor Ox and Ass doth as the Prophet said The Ox knows his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib but the People know not the Lord Isa 1.3 In the old Nature no Man nor Woman ever knew God but as they came to be changed and Born again and so to put on the New Man Christ Jesus the Old man being put off with his Deeds which is Sin then Christ is known as he said Lo said he 2 Cor. ch 6. ver 16. I will dwell in man and walk in man I will be their God and they shall be my People To know this is Eternal Life but God dwelleth not in Sinners but in them that are pure in Heart for 't is the pure in Heart that see God and so come to be acquainted with God here all People that are acquainted with God by this acquaintance come to know how it s with them as to their inward condition and how it stands with their inward man in the sight of God and by the guiding of Gods Spirit all things in man and woman are kept in good order and by this come to have Power over Sin and in such there is no need to cry out for want of Power for God gives Power to them that come to him by Jesus Christ who hath all Power in Heaven and in Earth in his Hand and God's love is Universal to all People and desires not the Destruction of any but rather they would turn from their Wickedness and live Here you may see according to the Scripture of Truth that it is Sin and Wickedness that is the cause of Death to the Soul for you may read in the holy Scriptures that God hath promised that whosoever will turn from their Wickedness and from their Abominations which they had committed and come to him In quity shall not be their Ruin such shall not Perish but have Life Everlasting these are terms of Salvation that God hath promised the Kingdom of Heaven upon that People may lay down their Heads in Peace when they are to go hence never to be seen more in this World And man must know Wickedness done away in this Life For as the Tree falleth to the North or to the South so it lieth and as Death leaveth People so Judgment will find them and there is no Repentance in the Grave nor calling the time once spent back again nor no Remission of Sin after this Life For no unclean thing shall enter the Kingdom of God And all Sin is Unclean in the sight of God and this is that which Christ is come to destroy that People may be Heirs to a Kingdom which is not of this World And this Paul witnessed when he said He had fought a good Fight he had finished his Course and had kept the Faith and henceforth there was laid up for him a Crown of Glory and not for him only but for all them that feared God and loved his Appearance 2 Tim. 7.8 And this appearance was and is against Sin in the Heart and Paul's fighting was against Sin and Wickedness with Spiritual Weapons which was the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus which was not with Carnal weapons but Spiritual and mighty through God to the pulling down of the strong Holds of Sin and this was not known only by Paul and of the Apostles but by the Righteous in all Ages and Righteous Abel and Enoch and all the Righteous all along to this day they that were made Righteous it was by that Power by which the Apostles witnessed Righteousness which was the Power and Spirit of God and this is near to all that all may be led by it But some have said that It is not now as it was in the Apostles dayes Why is it not now as it was in the Apostles dayes what is changed that it is not now as it was then O say they we cannot do as they did and have Power as they had to live and to stand against Sin and to come to that Perfect State as they did To which I Query thus What was it that made them Righteous or gave them Power over Sin and Death And by what did they War against Sin was it not God that gave them Power over Sin and delivered them from the Evil of this World and what was it by which they did this if not by the Spiritual
Law of God that is written in the Heart and if so then whether the Lords Power Law and Spirit be not the same as it was and whether the Lords Love be not as it was and whether he hath not the same Power to help man as he had I hope all this will be granted and that it was only and alone by the Power and Spirit of God they came to be Righteous and to witness an Overcoming of Sin and by no Self righteousness nor by any other Power and that the Lord's Law Power and Spirit is the same as it was and his Love the same as it was and that God has the same Power to help men as he had And if this be granted that it is so then it seems the Fault is not in God that it is not now as it was in the Apostles dayes and if the Fault be not in God then it is in Man But 't is my Belief and Experienced Knowledge that there be some that are come to witness the same Power over Sin as the Apostles witnessed in their day and I believe that it is with Men and Women that are faithful to God as it was in the Apostles dayes as concerning having Power over Sin and to come to a Perfect State in Christ Jesus But to them that are wallowing in Sin as a Sow in the Mire and to them that are pleading for Sin for term of Life although they may be got under a high Notion of Religion and out of the open Prophaneness of the gross Abominations which are practised in the World yet notwithstanding this while they plead for Sin and live in Sin herein they are striving to uphold the Devil's Kingdom and live in that which Pleaseth the Devil and Displeaseth God for Sin is of the Devil's Kingdom and they that plead for it to wit for Sin are pleading for the Devil's Kingdom and with such I must needs confess it was never with them as with the Apostles in their day and them that followed Christ in the Apostles dayes nor in our dayes and such there were in the Apostles dayes that would not believe and follow Christ and they knew no Power over Sin because they came not to him that gives Power and so came not to be Sons of God because they did not receive him that was come to give Power to become the Sons of God as the Scripture saith which we that are in Scorn called Quakers do believe to be a true Declaration of those things that ought to be believed and have a reverent Esteem of them and they say Christ came to his own but his own received him not but as many as did receive him unto them he gave Power to become the Sons of God John 1.10 11 12. Receiving of him is to yield to the Motions of his good Spirit in them and these be they which come to know that God is not changed nor his Power lessened nor his Love abated but he is the same to Mankind to day as yesterday and forever and as there were some in the Apostles times that would not believe the Doctrine of Christ nor the Apostles so now in our dayes there are many Professors and Prophane that will not believe Christ nor his Doctrine because his Doctrine is against Sin but they cannot abide it and are crying out No Perfection Here neither will they believe that Christ is able to do the Work that the Father sent him to do for he came to put an End to Sin to finish Transgression and to bring in Everlasting Righteousness This is that which they cannot believe and especially they that are got under a Colour of Religion as the Scribes and Pharisees were they ever were the worst against Christ and the Apostles and so they are now adayes For all Religions and Worships are False and Vain except that which Christ set up above Sixteen Hundred Years ago which is in the Spirit and Truth which is the Light of Christ Jesus and the Power of God to Salvation made known to Mankind in the Heart and Conscience as the Scripture saith Rom. 1.19 That which may be known of God is manifest within for God hath shewed it to man that Sin by this may be made known and Righteousness made known the Way of Life and the Way of Death made known that lost Man may not be to seek concerning Salvation this hath the Lord done in Mercy for us that none may miss of that Kingdom which is not of this World and if any miss that it is because of Sin and this must be known to be taken away in this Life if it could have been done away after this Life then Christ needed not have come and suffered for Sin as he did nor the Apostles and Ministers of Christ have prest People so much to Perfection as they did and to make their Calling and Election sure in this Life But this is certain If ever people come to be Heirs to God's Kingdom they must come to have Assurance of it before they go hence else they will miss of their Expectation of having a Rest with God when this Life will End And to know Assurance is to know Sin destroyed and Righteousness set up in the Heart Some may be ready to say How is this possible to be seeing our Mortal Bodies are frail and full of Infirmities and Weakness doth attend us and when we have done all we are Unprofitable Servants It is true all the Service that Man can do it is unprofitable in the sight of God if God lead not unto it all Worship Service and Duty that is done set up and offered to the Lord it being done in Man's Will this is all unprofitable and unaccepted of God it being Man's Will and not the Will of God for while People live in Sin and plead for it and while the Old Nature is standing their Preaching Praying Baptizing and Breaking of Bread Singing and Family Duties it is all vain if Christ move not to it and lead into it the Scripture saith The Prayers of the Wicked are Abomination to the Lord and if their best Service be Abomination to the Lord needs must the rest for all Sin is Abomination at the best and therefore while people live in Sin and plead for the continuation of it they must needs be Wicked and herein I say all is unprofitable as people live in this Condition But there is a State and Condition which is profitable perfect and that Job came to and many more of the People of God in all Ages Generations that knew the Spirit of God to lead and guide them into all Truth this is that Spirit which a Manifestation of is given to every Man to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 and they that came to be led by that Spirit their Prayers avail much and their Works are the Works of Righteousness and this is that which God doth accept of and I hope there is none that will dare to
People this is one of the chief Articles of the Church to Promise and Vow that the Child shall forsake the Devil and all his Works and live so all its Life long this is the first thing they injoyn a Member of their Church in the receiving a Member into their Church as part of their form of Worship and in their Pulpits Preach against it that is against the principal part of their Articles of belief in Baptism inasmuch as they say there is no Perfection here O the Darkness gross Darkness that is over this people the blindness and ignorance they are in concerning their Salvation it is hard to express how they are misled the blind Leaders of the Blind till many a thousand fall into the Ditch But blessed be the Name of the Lord who hath drawn me and many more out of it and hath set our Feet upon a Rock as David said Out of the Miery Clay For all these Performances and their best Duties are but as Mire and Clay in the sight of God and we that were in it as well as others hath the Lord raised up to bear a Living Testimony against this Idolatrous Worship and false Imaginations that others may come to see where they are and come out from amongst them before they fall together into the Pit of Hell where there is never coming out more For the Priests and all other Sect-Masters are blind Leaders of the Blind for do but consider the manner of their proceeding in this matter of Sprinkling of Children and what it doth produce the Priest he sprinkleth Water in the Face of the Child and saith I Baptize thee in the Name of the Father Son and holy Ghost And that they reckon maketh a Christian of the Child to wit a Child of God a Member of Christ and an Inheritor of the Kingdom of God an absolute Delusion and then there they must have some other People good or bad to stand bound for the Child and these they call God-Fathers and God-Mothers as if the God of Heaven and Earth had Fathers and Mothers made of wicked Men and Women for do but mind these people take the Work of God upon them inasmuch as they take upon them to Promise and Vow that the Child shall forsake the Devil and all his Works which is to live without Sin and no less then all the dayes of his Life which is a thing all the World can never do for inasmuch as they promise that the Child shall forsake the Devil and all his Works this doth include all Sin whatsoever for there is no Sin nor never was but is of the Devils work and herein they take that upon them which none can do but God and Christ and therefore Christ is come to destroy Sin to put an End to Sin to finish Transgression and to bring in Everlasting Righteousness for all man's Righteousness is but as filthy Rags and when he hath done all that he can while he is in the old Nature it is all unprofitable And further consider both Priests and People how the Priests Err in compelling people to do that in this case which they are ignorant of and cannot give Answer for what they do and here the Blind are Leaders of the Blind For neither Priests nor People know in this matter what they do for if they did some of them would not do it for when some in obedience to the Lord have asked them why they did do these things which there is no Scripture for they could not well tell what to say some have said The Law of the Nation is for it Others in a blind manner will say That if they should not do it their Children would be Damned because they think that maketh them Christians when few of them know what a Christian is for a Christian is one that walketh like Christ or as Christ would have him and so to be United to Christ Some will Answer and say That it was used in our Fore-Fathers dayes and therefore we will use it It was said In the time of Ignorance the Lord winked but now he hath removed the Clouds of Ignorance and made these things known and hath cleared up the understandings of a Remnant more in this Age than in some Ages past and hath manifested the emptiness barrenness unfruitfulness and unprofitableness of the Traditions of the Ignorant and is calling to Repentance and the People of this Age have as much need of Repenting of this thing of Sprinkling as any one thing for in the manner as it is now used and hath been for some time past it is very wicked and abominable in the sight of God and why may not people as well plead for their Fore-Fathers Drunkenness Swearing Lying and Whoreing as for this For note this one thing when they go to make a Christian as they suppose do but mark them in the Action when they are met together they behave themselves more like People of making Heathens than Christians for it is common for them they take occasion at such times to Feast Play Dance Revel and be drunk at the time when they practise such things And this is their manner of making Christians who make use of those opportunities of their so meeting to commit such Abominations but I would leave to the serious consideration of any sober People whether these Actions and Practices be the way to make Christians O! the horrid Abominations and Pollutions that People do commit in this and almost in all their Duties when they meet together as they say to worship God! the Lord is weary of bearing with it and his Indignation is against them that run into any thing and call it Service and Duty to God when God hath not commanded it nor required it nor his Spirit led them to do it These things are an Abomination to the Lord and Christ is come to judge the World of Sin of Righteousness and of Judgment for people that are got into any Judgment or Righteousness as to Religion and Worship which they are not led and guided into by the Spirit of God although it were a likeness of the true Worship which the People of God in Ages past did do in obedience to the Spirit of God and where things that were accepted of God being done and acted by the holy men of God as they were moved by his holy Spirit were well-pleasing to God in their Day and Time they being but Shadows and Figures of the Substance Christ Jesus which is come and hath put an end to them outward things now is calling of People to worship in the Spirit and in the Truth for Christ said Such the Father seeketh to worship him So now though People may run into these things which were good in their Time and Day as Circumcision was in its day so were other things in their day and time as John's Baptism breaking of Bread and many other things before as the Passover the Brazen Serpent which
for here he makes them believe All is well and so being under a Profession they are willing to believe it but he cannot so easily perswade them that are in open Prophaneness that it is well with them for they have no such Cover for their Sins and therefore Christ said Publicans and Harlots should enter the Kingdom before such Matth. 21.31 And for them that profess the Truth and do not walk in it they shall never enter the Kingdom of God All these fore mentioned things and many more that might be mentioned do hinder many from entering in at the Strait Gate these be the Weights and Burdens which were and are to be laid aside which do easily beset People and it is not applying of Promises as they call it will do it in that Way which Carnal-minded Men do apply them for there is no Promise of coming to the Kingdom of God which Kingdom is not of this World but upon such terms of being born again and so becoming new Creatures and then such come to know the In-side cleansed of Sin by him that hath regenerated them which is the Lord from Heaven the Second Adam the Quickening Spirit for 't is not making clean the Out-side will do and still the In-side to be full of Sin and here many People have been cheated of their Souls in believing of them that have smoothed them up in Sin for when it hath pleased the Lord many times to awaken people out of Sin that have been asleep in Sin and when they are a little awakened and by that Light which then shineth in them come to see Sin appear as it is exceeding sinful and he that shews unto man his Thoughts he it is that sets all in order before them and so people come to see that it is not as it should be with them as concerning their Peace with God and then not knowing what it is that sheweth them how it is with them and that God is so near them neither do they know that that which sheweth them their Sin is able to deliver out of it and to give them Power over it because it is so slighted by their Teachers therefore they sleight it also and under this Trouble of Mind many a poor Creature is under great Distress seeing his Sin is remaining and that the Wages thereof is Death finding no Helper on Earth but wandering in dry places seeking Rest but finding none because they are still reasoning with Flesh and Blood not joyning to that which sheweth them their Sin here they are at a Loss concerning Salvation and in this State and Condition many are going from one Profession to another there inquiring of one Teacher or another What they must do to be eased of their Troubled Mind and come to some Satisfaction concerning their poor Souls then these blind Teachers begin to turn them to Wrong Wayes herein cometh Destruction upon many a poor Soul being led by the blind Leaders of the Blind into many Crooked and By Wayes which lead to Destruction and here one he bids them apply the Promises another he cryes out Go into the Water another turning them to the Bread and Wine and another to worship Images which can neither hear speak or see So here they are turning People to Outward Things when the chief cause lies within and cannot be purged out by these outward things but only by the Power of God Man may make clean the Out-side but the In side must be cleansed by God and if the In-side be clean then the Out-side also will be clean the Out-side may be clean and painted and the In-side full of Rottenness and in this State and Condition the Dawbers with Untempered Morter dawb over peoples Wounds but could never cure them I am not speaking against those Outward Means which the Lord calleth any into but for People to run into any thing which they are not called to though it may be in Pretence of Service and Worship to God this never did not will ease any of their Burden of Sin which they groan under but it is Christ alone that must do it it must be upon his own Terms and not as Man would have it but there are many Lo Heres turning people to Outward Things and not to Christ's Appearance within one crying Lo here is Christ and another Lo there he is in this or the other Outward Observation But what said Christ of such that spoke after this manner Go not after them said he that shall say Lo here is Christ or Lo there he is go not forth believe them not for that which may be known of God is near which is called the Word which is in the Heart and in the Mouth and this is that which shews unto Man his Sin and also able to take it away for he is come to put an End to Sin and to finish Transgression so to bring in Everlasting Righteousness this is the Work which he came to do which all the blind Guides can never do and this is he which bringeth that Peace and Wisdom which passeth all Understandings of Men. And further Christ said to the Jews The Kingdom of Heaven is within you But observe instead of turning People to this inward Principle which Christ told People of the Blind Guides are altogether turning People unto outward things and so here setting them to make clean the Out-side of the Cup and Platter and People are cheated of their Souls for one is crying The Mass-Book is the Way to come to Heaven and Praying to dead Saints and Worshipping of Images others crying Dipping and Bread and Wine is the Way and another crying The Church-Faith is the Way another steps up and saith His Directory is the Way and there is another saying The Common Prayer-Book is the Way so here are many Wayes set up by the Invention of Man in the fallen state so leading many Thousands of poor People into these outward things and not keeping to that or being turned to that which searcheth the Heart and tryeth the Reins and for want of this come to lose their Souls Rest and Happiness with God for 't is not the making clean the Out-side will do but them that are cleansed within these are them which God delights in it is the Pure in Heart that see God here every one cometh to know how it is with them for God is with the Pure in Heart and by him people come to know the Way which leadeth to Everlasting Life and this is he that we say is the Way to come to that Kingdom which is not of this World where no Mortal Man ever came to and the Scripture directeth people to him and bears Testimony of him which we whom the World in Scorn calls Quakers do faithfully believe is true and though we have been belyed and falsly accused in that matter we desire the Lord may forgive them that have been guilty of that thing in saying we Deny the Scriptures for there are no