of the Land of Egypt for before that time the Lord had not given to Man and Woman his outward Sabbath-day to keep neither in the Old World nor after in Abraham's time nor in Isaac's nor in Jacob's time until the Jews came out of Egypt to Mount Sina in the Wilderness And then there the Lord gave the Law and his Sabbath as a Sign in the Old Covenant of Christ the Eternal Rest in the New Covenant and they that believe do enter into Christ their Rest. Adam the first Man is the Root from whence we all spring naturally And Christ is called the last or second Adam because he is the Beginning and Root of all them that are spiritual The first Adam was made a living Soul And Christ the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit Christ by the Grace of God tasted death for every Man that they might all come into Favour with God and that every Tongue should Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father I writ also a Paper there Concerning the Two Seeds distinguishing the Seed wherein the Blessing is received from the Seed which the Curse remains upon Of that Paper the following is a Copy THE Lord said to Abraham In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Gen. 22.18 And thy Seed shall be as the Stars of Heaven and as the Sand which is upon the Sea-shore and as the Dust of the Earth that cannot be numbred Chap. 13.16 and 15.5 and 22.17 Now in this Seed all Nations and Families of the Earth are blessed but not in the Seed of Evil Doers and of Falshood nor in the Seed of the Adulterer and the Whore Isa 1.4 and 57.3 4. for the Seed of the Wicked shall be cut off 1687. Kingston saith the Lord Psal 37.28 The Lord said to David That his Seed should endure for ever Psal 89.36 And again it is said Psal 102.28 The Children of thy Servants shall continue and their Seed shall be established before thee Now ye may see that here is a Distinction betwixt the Two Seeds for the Seed of Evil Doers and of the Adulterer and Whore and of the Wicked shall be Cut off and so it is not blessed But Christ bruises the Head of the Serpent and his Seed which he soweth in them that do disobey and transgress God's Command and rebel against God's good Spirit This Wicked Seed of the Serpent is Curst and is an Enemy to the Seed in whom all are blessed But Christ bruises the Head of this cursed Seed of Enmity and destroys the Devil and his Works and in his Seed are all blessed and all are in Unity in this Seed And all the Children of the Seed are the Children of the Kingdom of God and of Christ and are blessed with faithful Abraham and who are of the saving divine precious Faith are of Abraham and walk in the Steps of the Seed and Faith of Abraham and are blessed with him yea all Nations and all the Families of the Earth And the Lord said to Abraham Thy Seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them Four hundred years and that Nation whom they shall serve will I judge and afterwards shall they to wit God's Seed come out with great Substance Gen. 15.13 14. Here ye may see That which Afflicts God's Seed he will judge and did judge for he did destroy the First-birth of Pharaoh and overthrew him and his Host And an holy Man said Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a Seed or Remnant we had been as Sodom c. that is destroyed and burnt But in the Seed which destroys the Devil and his Works and bruises the Head of the Serpent and his Seed are all Nations and Families of the Earth blessed Christ according to the flesh was of Abraham and of David for he took not on him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham in which Seed all Nations and Families of the Earth are blessed And so they that are of his Seed are of the Generation of Christ and so are Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone Now all Nations and Families of the Earth must be in this holy Seed if they have the Blessings and are blessed And out of the Mouth of this Seed's Seed shall not God's Word depart but shall Remain and abide in the Mouth of this Seed's Seed in which they are blessed Isa 59.21 So it is not the First-birth's talking of the Words of Christ the Seed in whose Mouth the Word of God doth not abide that makes an outward Profession like the Jews that did kill and persecute the Prophets and crucified Christ the Seed and Substance of the Law and Prophets which the Jews professed in words but they denied Christ the Seed and Life And all the Christians so called that do profess the Scriptures in Words and are not in the Seed Christ they are in the Confusion and are like the Jews And so neither Jews nor Christians are blessed except they be in Christ the Seed of Life But though Christ is said to be of the Seed of David and of Abraham as his Generation is declared by Matthew and Luke yet Christ was not born of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God For he was Conceived by the Holy Ghost and not by the Will of Man but by the Will of God born of the Virgin and supposed to be the Son of Joseph but was the Son of God and his Name was called Jesus because he should save his People from their sins and Emanuel God with us And Christ took not upon him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham as I said before and so was made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh and declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead Rom. 1.4 So the Generation of Christ is a Mystery And Christ saw his Seed or Word to grow up in his Disciples And Christ in you the hope of Glory the Apostle calls The Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations but now is made manifest to the Saints or sanctified Ones Col. 1.26 27. Whom we preach warning every Man and teaching every Man in all Wisdom that we may present every Man perfect in Christ Jesus v. 28. For in Christ the second Adam all are made perfect and compleat and in Adam in the Fall all are deformed and made imperfect So out of Christ all Mankind are Imperfect and Deformed Let them paint and dress themselves with the Sheep's Clothing and with the Form of Godliness of the Prophets and Christ's and his Apostles Words never so much yet if Christ be not in them they are Uncompleat Imperfect Deformed Reprobates But the Apostle tells the Church of Christ Ye are compleat in Christ which is the Head of all
Reformation So that this People did not only in words more than equally press Repentance Conversion and Holiness but did it knowingly and experimentally and directed those to whom they preach'd to a sufficient Principle and told them where it is and by what Tokens they might know it and which way they might experience the Power and Efficacy of it to their Soul's Happiness Which is more then Theory and Speculations upon which most other Ministries depend for here is certainly a bottom upon which Man may boldly appear before God in the great Day of Account V. They reached to the Inward State and Condition of People which is an Evidence of the Virtue of their Principle and of their Ministring from it and not their own Imaginations Glosses or Comments upon Scripture For nothing reaches the Heart but what is from the Heart or pierces the Conscience but what comes from a living Conscience Insomuch as it hath often happened where People have under Secrecy revealed their State or Condition to some choice Friends for Advice or Ease they have been so particularly directed in the Ministry of this People that they have challenged their Friends with discovering their Secrets and telling the Preachers their Cases Yea the very Thoughts and Purposes of the hearts of many have been so plainly detected that they have like Nathaniel cryed out of this inward appearance of Christ Thou art the Son of God thou art the King of Israel And those that have embraced this Divine Principle have found this Mark of its Truth and Divinity that the Woman of Samaria did of Christ when in the Flesh to be the Messiah viz. It had told them all that ever they did showed them their insides the most inward secrets of their Hearts and laid Judgment to the Line and Righteousness to the Plummet of which Thousands can at this day give in their Witness So that nothing has been affirmed by this People of the Power and Virtue of this Heavenly Principle that such as have turned to it have not found true and more and that one half had not been told to them of what they have seen of the Power Purity Wisdom Mercy and Goodness of God herein VI. The Accomplishments with which this Principle fitted even some of the meanest of this People for their Work and Service Furnishing some of them with an Extraordinary Vnderstanding in Divine Things and an admirable Fluency and Taking way of expression which gave occasion to some to wonder saying of them as of their Master is not this such a Mechanick's Son how came he by this Learning As from thence others took occasion to suspect and insinuate they were Jesuites in Disguise who have had the Reputation of learned Men for an Age past though there was not the least ground of Truth for any such Reflection VII That they rise Low and Dispised and Hated as the Primitive Christians did and not by the help of Worldly Wisdom or Power as former Reformations in part did But in all things it may be said this People were brought forth in the Cross in a Contradiction to the Ways Worship Fashion and Customs of this World yea against Wind and Tide that so no Flesh might Glory before God They could have no design to themselves in this Work thus to expose themselves to Scorn and Abuse to spend and be spent Leaving Wife and Children House and Land and all that can be accounted dear to Men with their lives in their Hands being daily in Jeopardy to declare this Primitive Message 1 Jo. 1.5 revived in their Spirits by the good Spirit and Power of God viz. That God is Light and in him is no darkness at all and that he has sent his Son a Light into the World to enlighten all Men in order to Salvation and that they that say they have Fellowship with God and are his Children and People and yet walk in Darkness viz. in Disobedience to the Light in their Consciences and after the Vanity of this World they lie and do not the Truth But that all such as love the Light and bring their Deeds to it and walk in the Light as God is Light the blood of Jesus Christ his Son should cleanse them from all Sin VIII Their known great Constancy and Patience in Suffering for their Testimony in all the Branches of it and that sometimes unto Death by Beatings Bruisings long and crowded Imprisonments and Noisom Dungeons Four of them in New England Dying by the Hands of the Executioner purely for Preaching amongst that People besides Banishments and Excessive Plunders and Sequestrations of their Goods and Estates almost in all parts not easily to be expressed and less to be endured but by those that have the support of a good and glorious Cause refusing Deliverance by any indirect ways or means as often as it was offered to them IX That they did not only not show any disposition to Revenge when it was at any time in their Power but forgave their cruel Enemies shewing Mercy to those that had none for them X. Their Plainness with those in Authority not unlike the Antient Prophets not fearing to tell them to their Faces of their Private and Publick Sins and their Prophecies to them of their Afflictions and Downfall when in the Top of their Glory also of some National Judgments as of the Plague and Fire of London in express Terms and likewise particular ones to divers Persecutions which accordingly overtook them and which were very remarkable in the Places where they dwelt and in time they may be made publick for the Glory of God Thus Reader thou seest this People in their Rise Principles Ministry and Progress both their General and Particular Testimony by which thou maist be informed how and upon what foot they Sprung and became so considerable a People It remains next that I shew also their Care Conduct and Discipline as a Christian and Reformed Society that they might be found living up to their own Principles and Profession And this the rather because they have hardly suffered more in their Character from the Vnjust Charge of Error than by the false Imputation of Disorder Which Calumny indeed has not failed to follow all the true steps that were ever made to Reformation and under which Reproach none suffered more than the Primitive Christians themselves that were the Honour of Christianity and the great Lights and Examples of their own and succeeding Ages This People encreasing daily both in Town and Country an Holy Care fell upon some of the Elders among them for the Benefit and Service of the Church And the first Business in their View after the Example of the Primitive Saints was the Exercise of Charity to supply the Necessities of the Poor and answer the like Occasions Wherefore Collections were early and liberally made for that and divers other Services in the Church and intrusted with Faithful Men fearing God and of good Report who were not weary in
naturally led into So that what is an evil to One is so to All and what is Vertuous Honest and of good Report to One is so to All from the Sense and Savour of the one Vniversal Principle which is common to all and which the disaffected profess to be the Root of all True Christian Fellowship and that Spirit into which the People of God drink and come to be Spiritually Minded and of one Heart and one Soul Some weakly mistook good Order in the Government of Church Affairs for Discipline in Worship and that it was so prest or recommended by Him and other Brethren And they were ready to reflect the same things that Dissenters had very reasonably objected upon the National Churches that have coercively pressed Conformity to their Respective Creeds and Worships Whereas these things related wholly to Conversation and the Outward and as I may say Civil part of the Church that Men should walk up to the Principles of their Belief and not be wanting in Care and Charity But though some have stumbled and fallen through Mistakes and an unreasonable Obstinancy even to a Prejudice yet blessed be God the Generality have returned to their First Love and seen the Work of the Enemy that looses no Opportunity or Advantage by which he may check or hinder the Work of God and disquiet the Peace of his Church and chill the Love of his People to the Truth and one to another and there is hope of divers that are yet at a Distance In all these Occasions though there was no Person the Discontented struck so sharply at as this Good Man he bore all their Weakness and Prejudice and returned not Reflection for Reflection but forgave them their weak and bitter Speeches praying for them that they might have a Sense of their hurt and see the Subtilty of the Enemy to Rend and Devide and return into their First Love that thought no Ill. And truly I must say that though God had visibly cloathed him with a Divine Preference and Authority and indeed his very Presence exprest a Religious Majesty yet he never abused it but held his Place in the Church of God with great Meakness and a most engaging Humility and Moderation For upon all Occasions like his blessed Master he was a Servant to all holding and exercising his Eldership in the Invisible Power that had gathered them with Reverence to the Head and Care over the Body And was received only in that Spirit and Power of Christ as the First and Chief Elder in this Age who as he was therefore worthy of double Honour so for the same Reason it was given by the Faithful of this day because his Authority was inward and not outward and that he got it and kept it by the Love of God and Power of an Endless Life I write my Knowledge and not Report and my Witness is True having been with him for Weeks and Months together on divers Occasions and those of the nearest and most exercising Nature and that by Night and by Day by Sea and by Land in this and in Foreign Countrys And I can say I never saw him out of his Place or not a Match for every Service or Occasion For in all things he acquitted himself like a Man yea a strong Man a New and Heavenly minded Man A Divine and a Naturalist and all of God Almighty's making I have been surprised at his Questions and Answers in Natural things that whilst he was Ignorant of useless and Sophistical Science he had in him the Foundation of useful and commendable Knowledge and cherisht it every where Civil beyond all Forms of Breeding in his Behaviour Very Temperate eating Little and sleeping Less though a Bulky Person Thus he Lived and Sojourned among us and as he lived so he died feeling the same Eternal Power that had raised and preserved him in his last Moments So full of assurance was he that he Triumpht over Death and so even to the last as if Death were hardly worth Notice or a Mention Recommending to some with him the Dispatch and Dispersion of an Epistle just before Written to the Churches of Christ throughout the World and his own Books but above all Friends and of all Friends those in Ireland and America twice over Saying mind poor Friends in Ireland and America And to some that came in and enquired how he found himself he answered Never heed the Lord's Power is over all Weakness and Death the Seed reigns Blessed be the Lord Which was about Four or Five Hours before his Departure out of this World He was at the great Meeting near Lombard-street on the First day of the Week and it was the Third following about Ten at Night when he left us being at the House of H. Goldney in the same Court. In a good Old Age he went after having lived to see his Childrens Children to many Generations in the Truth He had the Comfort of a short Illness and the Blessing of a clear Sense to the last and we may truly say with a Man of God of Old that being Dead he yet Speaketh and though absent in Body he is Present in Spirit neither Time nor Place being able to interrupt the Communion of Saints or dissolve the Fellowships of the Spirits of the Just His Works praise him because they are to the Praise of him that worked by him for which his Memorial is and shall be Blessed I have done as to this part of my Preface when I have left this short Epitaph to his Name Many Sons have done virtuously in this Day but Dear George thou Excellest them All. And now Friends you that profess to walk in the way this Blessed Man was sent of God to turn us into suffer I beseech you the word of Exhortation as well Fathers as Children and Elders as Young Men. The Glory of this Day and Foundation of the Hope that has not made us ashamed since we were a People you know is that Blessed Principle of Light and Life of Christ which we Profess and Direct all People to as the great Instrument and Agent of Man's Conversion to God It was by this we were first Touched and effectually enlightned as to our Inward State which put us upon the Consideration of our Latter End causing us to set the Lord before our Eyes and to Number our Days that we might apply our Hearts to Wisdom In that Day we judged not after the Sight of the Eye or after the Hearing of the Ear but according to the Light and Sense this Blessed Principle gave us we judged and acted in reference to Things and Persons our selves and others yea towards God our Maker For being quickned by it in our Inward Man we could easily discern the difference of things and feel what was Right and what was Wrong and what was Fit and what not both in reference to Religion and Civil Concerns That being the ground of the Fellowship of all Saints it was in
to go to Meetings and Exercise an ordinary Charity in the Church and an honest Behaviour in the World and limit your selves within those Bounds feeling little or no concern upon your Spirits for the Glory of the Lord in the prospirity of his Truth in the Earth more than to be glad that others succeed in such Service Arise ye in the Name and Power of the Lord Jesus Behold how white the Fields are unto Harvest in this and other Nations and how few Able and Faithful Labourers there are to work therein Your Country Folks Neighbours and Kindred want to know the Lord and his Truth and to Walk in it Does nothing lie at your Door upon their Account Search and see and loose no time I beseech you for the Lord is at Hand I do not Judge you there is one that Judgeth all Men and his Judgment is true You have mightily increased in your outward Substance may you equally increase in your inward Riches and do good with both while you have a day to do Good Your Enemies would once have taken what you had from you for his Names Sake in whom you have believed wherefore he has given you much of the World in the Face of your Enemies But Oh let it be your Servant and not your Master your Diversion rather than your Business Let the Lord be chiefly in your Eye and ponder your Ways and see if God has nothing more for you to do and if you find your selves short in your Account with him then wait for his Preparation and be ready to receive the word of Command and be not weary of well doing when you have put your Hand to the Plow and assuredly you shall Reap if you faint not the Fruit of your Heavenly Labour in God's Everlasting Kingdom And you Young Convinced Ones be you Entreated and Exhorted to a Diligent and Chast waiting upon God in the way of his Blessed Manifestation and appearance of himself to you Look not out but within Let not anothers Liberty be your Snare Neither Act by Imitation but Sense and Feeling of God's Power in your selves Crush not the tender Buddings of it in your Souls nor over run in your desires and your warmness of Affections the Holy and Gentle Motions of It. Remember it is a still Voice that Speaks to us in this Day and that it is not to be heard in the Noises and Hurries of the Mind but is distinctly understood in a retired Frame Jesus loved and chose out Solitudes often going to Mountains to Gardens and Sea-sides to avoid Crowds and Hurries to shew his Disciples it was good to be Solitary and sit loose to the World Two Enemies lie near your States Imagination and Liberty but the plain practical Living Holy Truth that has convinced you will preserve you if you mind it in your selves and bring all Thoughts Imaginations and Affections to the Test of it to see if they are wrought in God or of the Enemy or your own selves So will a true Tast Discerning and Judgment be preserved to you of what you should do and leave undone And in your diligence and Faithfulness in this way you will come to inherit Substance and Christ the Eternal Wisdom will fill your Treasury And when you are Converted as well as Convinced then confirm your Brethren and be ready to every good Word and Work that the Lord shall call you to that you may be to his Praise who has chosen you to be partakers with the Saints in Light of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken an Inheritance incorruptible in Eternal Habitations And now as for you that are the Children of God's People a Great Concern is upon my Spirit for your good and often are my Knees Bowed to the God of your Fathers for you that you may come to be partakers of the same Divine Life and Power that has been the Glory of this Day that a Generation you may be to God an Holy Nation and a Peculiar People Zealous of Good Works when all our Heads are laid in the Dust Oh you Young Men and Women let it not suffice you that you are the Children of the People of the Lord you must also be born again if you will inherit the Kingdom of God Your Fathers are but such after the Flesh and could but beget you into the likeness of the first Adam but you must be begotten into the likeness of the second Adam by a Spiritual Generation And therefore look carefully about you Oh ye Children of the Children of God Consider your Standing and see what you are in Relation to this Divine Kindred Family and Birth Have you obeyed the Light and received and walked in the Spirit that is the incorruptible Seed of the Word and Kingdom of God of which you must be born again God is no respecter of Persons The Father cannot save or answer for the Child the Child for the Father but in the Sin thou Sinnest thou shalt die and in the Righteousness thou doest through Christ Jesus thou shalt live for it is the Willing and Obedient that shall eat the Good of the Land Be not deceived God is not mocked such as all Nations and People Sow such they shall reap at the hand of the just God And then your many and great Priviledges above the Children of other People will add weight in the scale against you if you choose not the way of the Lord. For you have had Line upon Line and Precept upon Precept and not only good Doctrine but good Example and which is more you have been turned to and acquainted with a Principle in your selves which others have been ignorant of and you know you may be as Good as you please without the Fear of Frowns and Blows or being turned out of doors and forsaken of Father and Mother for God's Sake and his Holy Religion as has been the Case of some of your Fathers in the day they first entred into this Holy Path And if you after hearing and seeing the Wonders that God has wrought in the deliverance and perservation of them through a Sea of Troubles and the manifold Temporal as well as spiritual Blessings that he has filled them with in the sight of their Enemies you should neglect and turn your backs upon so great and so near a Salvation you would not only be most ungreatful Children to God and them but must expect that God will call the Children of those that knew him not to take the Crown out of your Hands and that your lot will be a dreadful Judgment at the hand of the Lord. But Oh that it may never be so with any of you The Lord forbid saith my Soul Wherefore Oh ye Young Men and Women look to the Rock of your Fathers chuse the God of your Fathers There is no other God but him no other Light but his no other Grace but his nor Spirit but his to Convince you Quicken and Comfort you to Lead Guide and
until they were Consumed one of another who had turned against and judged that which God had wrought in them and shewed unto them So shortly after God overthrew them and turned them upside down and brought the King over them who were often surmising that the Quakers Met together to bring in King Charles when as Friends did not concern themselves with the outward Powers or Government But at last the Lord brought him in and many of them when they saw he would be brought in Voted for the bringing him in So with Heart and Voice praise the Name of the Lord to whom it doth belong who over all hath the Supremacy 1658. Reading and who will Rock the Nations for he is over them Now I had a Sight and Sense of the King 's Return a good while before and so had some others I writ to Oliver several times and let him know that while he was persecuting God's People they whom he accounted his Enemies were preparing to come upon him And when some forward Spirits that came amongst us would have bought Somerset-House that we might have Meetings in it I forbad them to do so For I did then foresee the King 's Coming in again Besides there came a Woman to me in the Strand who had a Prophecy concerning King Charles 's coming in three Years before he came and she told me she must go to him to declare it I advised her to wait upon the Lord and keep it to her self For if it should be known that she went on such a Message they would look upon it to be Treason But she said She must go and tell him that he should be brought into England again I saw her Prophecy was true and that a great Stroke must come upon them in Power For they that had then gotten Possession were so exceeding high and such great Persecution was acted by them who called themselves Saints that they would take from Friends their Copyhold-Lands because they could not Swear in their Courts And sometimes when we laid these Sufferings before Oliver Cromwel he would not believe it Wherefore Thomas Aldam and Anthony Pearson were moved to go through all the Goals in England and to get Copies of Friends Commitments under the Goalers Hands that they might lay the Weight of Friends Sufferings upon Oliver Cromwel And when he would not give Order for the Releasing of them Thomas Aldam was moved to take his Cap from off his Head and to Rend it in pieces before him and to say unto him So shall thy Government be Rent from Thee and thy House Another Friend also a Woman was moved to go to the Parliament that was envious against Friends with a Pitcher in her hand which she brake into pieces before them and told them So should they be broken to pieces Which came to pass shortly after And in my great Suffering and Travel of Spirit for the Nation being grievously burdened and almost choked with their Hypocrisie Treachery and Falsness I saw God would bring that a top of them which they had been a top of and that all must be brought down to that which did Convince them before they could get over that bad Spirit within and without For it is the pure Invisible Spirit that doth and only can work down all Deceit in People Now while I was under that sore Travel at Reading by reason of Grief and Sorrow of Mind and the great Exercise that was upon my Spirit my Countenance was alter'd and I looked poor and thin and there came a Company of Vnclean Spirits to me and told me The Plagues of God were upon me But I told them It was the same Spirit spake that in them that said so of Christ when he was stricken and smitten they hid their Face from him But when I had travelled with the Witness of God which they had quenched and had gotten through with it and over all that Hypocrisie which the Outside-Professors were run into and saw how that would be brought down and turned under and that Life would rise over it I came to have Ease and the Light Power and Spirit shined over all And then having Recovered and got through my Travels and Sufferings my Body and Face swelled when I came abroad into the Air and then the bad Spirits said I was grown fat and they Envied at that also So I saw that no Condition nor State would please that Spirit of theirs But the Lord preserved me by his Power and Spirit through and over all London and in the Lord's Power I came to London again Now was there a great Pudder made about the Image or Effigies of Oliver Cromwel lying in State Men standing and sounding with Trumpets over his Image after he was dead At this my Spirit was greatly grieved and the Lord I found was highly offended Then did I write the following Lines unto them and sent among them to Reprove their Wickedness and warn them to Repent Oh Friends what are ye doing and what mean ye to sound before aâ— Image Will not all sober People think ye are like mad People Oh how am I grieved with your Abominations Oh how am I wearied My Soul is wearied with â—ou saith the Lord Will I not be avenged of you think ye for yâ—ur Abominations Oh how have ye plucked down and set up On how are your Hearts made whole and not Rent And how are ye turned to Fooleries Which things in times past ye stood over Therefore how have â—e left my Dread saith the Lord O! Therefore Fear and Repent lest the Snare and the Pit take you all The great Day of the Lord is come upon all your Abominations and the swift Hand of the Lord is turned against them all The sober People in the Nations stand amazed at your Doings and are ashamed as if ye would bring in Popery G. F. About this time great Stirs were in the Nation the Minds of People being unsetled and much Plotting and Contriving there was by the several Factions to carry on their several Interests And a great Care being upon me lest any Young or Raw People that might sometimes come amongst us should be drawn into that Snare I was moved to give forth the following Epistle as a Warning unto all such All Friends every where keep out of Plots and Busling and the Arm of Flesh for all that is amongst Adam's Sons in the Fall where they are destroying Mens Lives like Dogs and Beasts and Swine goaring renting and biting one another and destroying one another and wrestling with Flesh and Blood From whence arise Wars and Killing but from the Lusts Now all this is in Adam in the Fall out of Adam that never fell in whom there is Peace and Life Ye are called to Peace therefore follow it and that Peace is in Christ not in Adam in the Fall All that pretend to fight for Christ they are deceived for his Kingdom is not of this World therefore his Servants
together in the Name of Jesus and Serving and Worshipping God their Creator No they must not Breathe in their Natural Air neither Natural nor Spiritual in your Dominions I pray where had you these Commands from neither from Christ nor his Apostles And do not you profess the Scriptures of the New Testament to be your Rule but I pray you what Scripture have you for this your practice It is good for you to be Humble and do Justly and love Mercy and Call home your Banished and Love them and Cherish them yea though they were your Enemies you are to obey the Command of Christ and Love them I wonder how you and your Wives and Families can sleep quietly in your Beds that do such Cruel Actions without thinking the Lord may do to you the same Yout cannot be without Sense and Feeling except you be given over to Reprobation without Sense and Feeling and your Consciences seared with a hot Iron But Christian Charity doth hope that you are not all in that state but that there may be some Relenting or Consideration of your Actions among some of you either according to the Law of God or his Gospel From him that desires your Temporal and Eternal Good and Salvation and not Destruction Amen Middlesex the 28th of the 2d Month 1688. G. F. Peter Thou may'st Translate this into High-Dutch and send them and you may print it if you will and spread it abroad and Translate that part of the Letter that is to Friends into High-Dutch and send to them Having stay'd in the Country about Three Weeks 1689. London Yearly-Meeting I return'd to London a little before the Yearly-Meeting which was in the Third Month this Year and was a very Solemn Weighty Meeting the Lord as formerly visiting his People and honouring the Assembly with his glorious Presence to the great Satisfaction and Comfort of Friends After the Business of the Meeting was over it was upon me to add a few Lines to the Epistle which went from the Meeting to Friends after this manner Dear Friends and Brethren WHO have known the Lord's Eternal Arm and Power that hath preserved you upon the heavenly Rock and Foundation and hath built your House upon it you have known many Winds Tempests and Storms that have risen out of that Sea where the Beast rose and many raging Storms that have risen by Apostates of several sorts but the Seed that bruises the Serpent's head and is the Foundation of God's People stands sure And therefore Dear Friends and Brethren though there be great Shakings in the World the Lord's Power is over all and his Kingdom cannot be shaken And therefore all ye Children of God Children of the Light and Heirs of his Kingdom a Joyful Peaceable Habitation keep in keeping out of all the Heats Contentions and Disputes about things below And Lay hand on no man nor no thing suddenly lest they should be puffed up with that which fades and so come to loss but mind the Lord's Power that keeps open your heavenly Eye to see things present and to come and in that ye will see and handle the Word of Life And Dear Friends every where Have power over your own Spirits As God hath blessed you with his Outward things have a care of Trusting in them or falling into Difference one with another about these Outward Things that are below which will pass away But all live in the Love of God and in that live in peace with God and one with another And follow the Works of Charity and overcome the Evil with the Good to all For what Good have all the Tinklers done with their Cymbals and sounding Brass They always bred Confusion and never did Good in any Age Tinkling with their Cymbals and sounding with their Brass to draw out the Simple to follow them And therefore it is good for all the Children of God to keep in their Possessions of Life and in the Love of God that is Everlasting And as for all the Tumults of the World and the Apostates from the Truth the Lord's Power is over them all and Christ reigns and the Lord saith No Weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper Isa 54.17 And now Friends you are not unsensible how many Weapons have been formed against us who are the Sons and Daughters of God and the Lord hath restrained them according to his Promise they have not prospered And the Lord said Every Tongue that shall rise up in Judgment against thee thou shalt Condemn so God hath given such a Power to his Children to Condemn all the Tongues that shall rise up in Judgment against them and this is the Heritage of the Servants of the Lord Their Righteousness is of me saith the Lord. And you are not unsensible of the many Tongues that have risen up against us in Judgment yea of Apostates and Prophane But in and with the Truth and the Power of God according to the Promise of God Every Tongue that riseth against thee thou shalt Condemn So it is not one Tongue only thou shalt Condemn but Every Tongue that shall rise up in Judgment against thee thou shalt Condemn So the Lord giveth this Power to his Servants and Children to judge the Evil Tongues and he doth restrain the Weapons formed against them so that they shall not prosper against his Children that he hath begotten Praises and Honour be to his holy Name for ever Amen G. F. Soon after this Meeting was over the Yearly Meeting began at York which because of the Largeness of that County and for the Conveniency of Friends in the Northern parts had for some Years been held there And inasmuch as there had been some Hurt done in that place as some Division made there by some that were gone out of the Vnity of Friends It was upon me to write a few Lines to Friends of that Meeting to Exhort them to keep in the pure heavenly Love which brings into and keeps in the true Unity And that which I writ was thus Dear Friends and Brethren in Christ Jesus WHom the Lord by his Eternal Arm and Power hath preserved to this day all walk in the Power and Spirit of God that is over all in Love and Vnity For Love overcomes and builds up and unites all the Members of Christ to him the Head for Love keeps out of all strife and is of God And Love and Charity never fails but keeps the Mind above all outward things or strife about outward things and is that which overcomes Evil and casts out all false Fears And it is of God and unites all the hearts of his People together in the heavenly Joy Concord and Unity The God of Love preserve you all and settle and establish you in Christ Jesus your Life and Salvation in whom ye have all Peace with God And so Walk in him that ye may be ordered in his peaceable heavenly Wisdom to the Glory of God and the Comfort one of another
who is set on the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens in his New Testament and New Covenant is a Minister of the Sanctuary and true Tabernacle which the Lord hath pitcht and not Man And therefore all the Lambs and Sheep of Christ must feel this holy Minister in their Temple and Sanctuary who ministers spiritual holy and heavenly things to them in their Sanctuary and Tabernacle For all the Tabernacles and Sanctuaries that are built or pitcht by Man Men make Ministers for them and such Ministers are of Men and by Men with their worldly Sanctuaries and Tabernacles of Mens pitching by Mens hands And now all Dear Friends and Brethren every where that are the Flock of Christ Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us Therefore let us all keep this heavenly Feast of our Passover in his New Testament and Covenant not with Old Leaven neither of Malice nor Wickedness but let all that be purged out with the sour old leavened Bread that all may become a new Lump and so keep this heavenly Feast of Christ our heavenly Passover with the unleavened Bread mark with the unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth My desires are that all the Flock of Christ every where may keep this heavenly Feast of Christ our heavenly Passover with his heavenly unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth Amen G. F. I stay'd in Town between Three Weeks and a Month after the Yearly-Meeting was over and then went into the Country first to Tottenham-High-Cross Tottenham-High-Cross Ford-green Enfield where was a Meeting on the First-day of the Week which I was at and then went to Edward Man's House at Ford-Green near Winchmore-Hill and on the First-day following went from thence to the Meeting at Enfield where the Lord gave me many precious Openings to declare to the People Afterwards moving to and fro amongst Friends thereabouts I visited the Meetings at Chess-hunt Chess-hunt Waltham-Abbey Enfield Tottenham Winchmore-hill Hartford Waltham-Abbey Enfield Tottenham and Winchmore-hill frequently the Lord being with me and opening many deep and weighty Truths divine and heavenly Mysteries to his People through me to their great Refreshment and my Joy After some time I went to Hartford to visit the Friends there and was at their Meeting on a First-day And having something more particular upon me to the Ancient Friends of that place I had a Meeting with some of them the next day and imparted to them what the Lord had given me for them Ware Then passing thence to Ware I made a little stay amongst Friends there and was at their Meeting After which returning Edmunton Tottenham London amongst Friends about Edmunton-side and Tottenham and taking Meetings as I went I came back to London in the end of the Seventh Month. I remained now at London 1690. London till the beginning of the Ninth Month being continually exercised in the Work of the Lord either in Publick Meetings opening the Way of Truth to People and building up and establishing Friends therein or in other Services relating to the Church of God For the Parliament now sitting and having a Bill before them concerning Oaths and another concerning Clandestine Marriages several Friends did attend the House to see to get those Bills so worded that they might not be hurtful to Friends In this Service I also assisted attending on the Parliament and discoursing the Matter with several of the Members Having stay'd more than a Month in London and much spent my self in these Services I went out of Town to Tottenham Tottenham Ford-Green and sometime after to Ford-Green near London at which Places I continued several Weeks visiting Friends Meetings round about there at Tottenham Enfield and Winchmore-Hill Tottenham Enfield Winchmore-hill In this time several things came upon me to Write whereof One was an Epistle to Friends in the Ministry and was as followeth ALL Friends in the Ministry every where Ford-Green to whom God hath given a Gift of the Ministry and who use to Travel up and down in the Gift of the Ministry Do not hide your Talent nor put your Light under a Bushel Nor Cumber your selves nor entangle your selves with the Affairs of this World For the natural Soldiers are not to Cumber themselves with the World much less the Soldiers of Christ who are not of this World but are to mind the Riches and Glory of the World that is Everlasting And therefore stir up the Gift of God in you and Improve it and do not sit down Demas-like and embrace this present World that will have an end lest ye become Idolaters But be valiant for God's Truth upon the Earth and spread it abroad in the Day-light of Christ you who have sought the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof and have received it and preached it which stands in Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost As Able Ministers of the Spirit sow to the Spirit that of the Spirit ye may reap Life Everlasting And go on in the Spirit plowing with it in the purifying Hope and threshing with the Power and Spirit of God the Wheat out of the Chaff of Corruption in the same Hope For he that looks back from the spiritual Plow into the World is not fit for the Spiritual and Everlasting Kingdom of God and then he is not like to press into it as the Faithful do Therefore you that are awakened and are come to Righteousness and to the Knowledge of the Truth keep your selves awakened in it then the Enemy cannot sow his Tares in your Field for Truth and Righteousness is over him and before he was So my desires are that all may fulfil their Ministry that the Lord Jesus Christ hath committed to them and then by the Blood or Life and Testimony of Jesus you will overcome the Enemy that opposes it within and without And all you that do preach the Truth do it as it is in Jesus in Love And all that are Believers in Jesus 1690. Ford-Green and receivers of him he gives them Power to become the Sons of God and so Joint-heirs with Christ whom he calleth Brethren and he gives them the Water of Life which shall be a Well in them springing as a River up to Eternal Life that they may water the spiritual Plants of the living God So that all may be spiritual Planters and spiritual Waterers and may see with the spiritual Eye the Everlasting Eternal God over all to give the Increase who is the Infinite Fountain So my desires are that you may be kept our of all the beggarly Elements of the World which is below the spiritual Region to Christ the Head and may hold him who bruiseth the Head of Enmity and was before it was So that ye may all be united together in love in your Head Christ and be ordered by his heavenly gentle peaceable Wisdom to the Glory of God For all that be in Christ are in love peace
and Vnity and in him they are strong and in a full Perswasion and in him who is the First and Last they are in a heavenly Resolution and Confidence for God's Everlasting Honour and Glory Amen From him who is Translated into the Kingdom of his Dear Son with all his Saints a heavenly Salutation And salute ye one another with a holy Kiss of Charity that never faileth G. F. Ford Green the 25th of the 9th Month 1690. Another Epistle I writ soon after more particularly to the Friends in the Ministry that were gone into America which was thus DEar Friends and Brethren that are Ministers and Exhorters and Admonishers that are gone into America and the Islands there-aways Stir up the Gift of God in you and the pure Mind and improve your Talents that ye may be the Light of the World a City set upon an Hill that cannot be hid and let your Light shine among the Indians and the Blacks and the Whites that ye may answer the Truth in them and bring them to their Standard and Ensign that God hath set up Christ Jesus For from the Rising of the Sun to the Going down of the same God's Name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every Temple or sanctified Heart Incense shall be offered up to God's Name And have Salt in your selves that ye may be the Salt of the Earth that ye may salt it that it may be preserved from Corruption and Putrefaction so that all Sacrifices offered up to the Lord may be salted and seasoned and be a good Savour to God And all grow in the Faith and Grace of Christ that ye may not be like Dwarfs for a Dwarf shall not come near to Offer upon God's Altar though he may eat of God's Bread that he may grow by it And Friends Be not negligent but keep up your Negroes-Meetings and your Family-Meetings and have Meetings with the Indian Kings 1690. Tottenham and their Councils and Subjects every where and with others and bring them all to the Baptizing and Circumcising Spirit by which they may know God and serve and worship him And all take heed of sitting down in the Earth and having your Minds in the earthly Things Coveting and Striving for the Earth for to be carnally minded brings death and Covetousness is Idolatry There is too much Strife and Contention about that Idol which makes too many go out of the Sense and Fear of God so that some have lost Morality and Humanity and the true Christian Charity O therefore be awakened to Righteousness and keep awakened for the Enemy soweth his Tares while Men and Women sleep in Carelesness and Security Therefore so many slothful Ones go in their filthy Rags and have not the fine Linnen the Righteousness of Christ but are stragling and plowing with their Ox and their Ass in their woollen and linnen Garments mixt Stuff feeding upon Torn food and that dieth of it self and drinking of the dregs of their old Bottle and eating the sour leavened Bread which makes their hearts burn one against another But all are to keep the Feast of Christ our Passover with the unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth And this unleavened Bread of Life from Heaven makes all Hearts and Souls glad and joyful and lightsome and cheerful to serve and love God and to love and serve one another in the peaceable Truth and to keep in the Vnity of God's Spirit which is the Bond of the Lord of Lords and the King of all Kings his Peace In this Love and Peace God Almighty keep and preserve all his People and make them valiant for his Truth upon the Earth to spread it abroad both in Doctrine and good Life and Conversation Amen All the Members of Christ have need one of another For the Foot hath need of the Hand and the Hand hath need of the Foot The Ear hath need of the Eye and the Eye of the Ear. So that all the Members are serviceable in the Body which Christ is the Head of and the Head sees their Service Therefore let none despise the least Member And have a Care to keep down that greedy earthly Mind that raveneth and coveteth after the Riches and Things of this World lest ye fall into the low Region like the Gentiles or Heathen and so lose the Kingdom of God that is Everlasting But seek that first and God knows what things ye have need of who takes care for all both in Heaven and in the Earth Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable Gifts both Temporal and Spiritual Tottenham the 11th of the 10th Month 1690. G. F. Not long after this I returned to London and was almost daily with Friends at Meetings 1690. London And when I had been near Two Weeks in Town The sense of the great Hardships and sore Sufferings that Friends had been and were under in Ireland coming with great weight upon me I was moved to write the following Epistle as a Word of Consolation unto them DEar Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ whom the Lord by his Eternal Arm and Power hath upheld through your great Sufferings Exercises Trials and Hardships more I believe then can be uttered up and down that Nation which I am very sensible of and the rest of the faithful Friends that have been Partakers with you in your Sufferings and cannot but suffer with the Lord's People that suffer And my Confidence hath been in the Lord that he would and will support you in all your Sufferings and that he would preserve all the Faithful in his Wisdom that they would give no just Occasion to one nor other to make them suffer And therefore if that you did suffer wrongfully or unjustly the righteous God would assist you and uphold you and reward them according to their Works that opprest or wronged you And now my desire is unto the Lord that in the same holy and heavenly Wisdom of God ye may all be preserved to the End of your days to the Glory of God minding God Almighty's supporting Hand and Power who is God Al-sufficient to strengthen help and refresh in time of Need. And let none forget the Lord's Mercies and Kindnesses which endure for ever but always live in the sense of them And truly Friends when I consider the thing It is the great Mercy of the Lord that ye have not been all swallowed up seeing with what Spirits ye have been compassed about But the Lord carrieth his Lambs in his Arms and they are as tender to him as the Apple of his Eye And his Power is his Hedge about his Vineyard of heavenly Plants And therefore it is good for all his Children to be given up to the Lord with their Minds and Souls Hearts and Spirits who is a faithful Keeper that never slumbers nor sleeps but is able to preserve and keep you and to save to the utmost and none can hurt so much as an hair of your Heads except he suffer