in but he that keepeth you reproveth and condemneth and casteth out the Devil and all his works and Workers who abide not in Christ Jesus nor in the Truth wherein we worship the Father who are called of him and faithful and chosen Followers of the Lamb who taketh away our Sin and giveth power over it and overthe Tempter who seeketh to betray the Just One. And from the Eternal God I warn you Every one know a Hiding-place in God the day of great shaking cometh upon the Garden of God the Beast that had a Wound by a Sword whose deadly Wound is healed may live and power may he given him for a Moment to make war against the Lamb and his Followers and Satan may prevail to winnow you and to try you for your Life therefore be armed with the whole Armour of Light which manifesteth the Mystery of Iniquity and the working of spiritual Wickednesses in high places and which defendeth you from his power out of the Snare of the Devil in the Simplicity as it is in Christ Jesus who is our Rock and our Strength by which we overcome the fiery Darts of the Enemy which come against us and dwell in the Truth that you may know the Life which standeth in God with whom there is no shaddow of turning but is the same forever and keepeth Covenant with his own Elect which cannot be overcome of the Devil nor deceived in whom you abiding you cannot sin but are kept from being touched with the Wicked One in the Way and in the Truth and in the Peace of God lively and precious in his sight to serve him in Fear and Faithfulness And if any go out from the Light the Living Way they become as withered Branches to be cut off from the Body no more to have Fellowship in the Body but is reprov'd and judg'd with that which keeps us in the Body And though some go from the Lord yet his Faithfulness endureth forever and his Promise is yea and amen to his own Seed which keep Covenant with him and fulfil his Law of Righteousness and Judgment and he that breaketh Covenant let him be condemned that the Creature may be saved in the Day of the Lord for who draws back such God's Soul hath no Pleasure in them but is oppressed with that and his Soul vexed Therefore all walk in God's Wisdom which is Pure and Peaceable and let not the Name of our God be spoken against through any of you who have been Partakers of the Word of Truth through any Disobedience or ungodly Walking but rather deny your own Liberty then make it an Occasion to the Flesh wherein Satan's strength stands and so God's Blessing you will receive and his Nurishment unto your Souls and will be preserved in Faithfulness not to end in the Flesh you that have begun in the Spirit And this in pure Love towards you all as a Testimony of my Love to the Seed of God in you all was I moved to write as seeing in the Light the Day that cometh upon you of which some may not be aware and I am clear thus far of the Charge committed to me of God towards you and am in the Truth it self which cannot change and am in it your Friend in the Service of the Lord God E. B. This is to go abroad among all Friends in Westmorland and Cumberland and elsewhere among the Flock of God carefully to be Copied over and read in your Meetings A Second General Epistle To all the SAINTS A Servant of the Lord and Minister of Jesus Christ thereunto ordain'd and call'd through the Powerful Operation and Gift of the Holy Ghost unto all his Brethren in the same Life who are born of God and Witnesses of his Power and unto all the Saints and Churches of Christ who have believ'd and receiv'd the sure and faithful Testimony and are call'd with the Heavenly Call to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes who is given to you and received of you a Light a Guide and a Teacher in all the Wayes of God Unto you all that are scatter'd abroad in the World whether in Bonds or at Liberty whether strong Men or Children in Christ unto you all I send Greeting and above all things wish and desire and pray unto the Father for your increase in the Knowledge of him and Faithfulness in all his Wayes and that the Increase of his Government may abound among you and that Grace Mercy and Peace may plentifully be enlarged that nothing may be lacking to you in any thing of that which maketh perfect but that in Christ Jesus you may be compleat and that through him you may receive Power and thereby be strengthned to do all things My dearly Beloved and much longed for in the Fellowship of that Spirit which hath begotten you to be Sons and Daughters of one Father and Heirs and Fellow-members of that Inheritance of Life Peace and Rest which abideth forever Oh how I long to meet you all in this and to find you perfectly settled and established upon the sure Foundation which God hath laid amongst you beyond all Doubts and Fears and Stumblings above the World and all its Temptations and above Hell and Death and all the wayes thereof having all the powers of Darkness subjected under you serving the Lord in righteous and perfect Holiness walking in his Strength and Wisdom shewing forth his Light in the World as his only redeem'd People Oh how is my desire more and more kindled and enlarged towards you all that you may perfectly attain to the Knowledge of the great Mystery of Salvation to wit God dwelling in you I say my desire is That you may know even as you are known and that you may receive him as you are received of him and that you may be a perfect Body growing up together and springing forth in all good Fruits of Truth and Righteousness unto the Father who is glorify'd through bringing forth much Fruit And you very well know that for this End he hath call'd you and in this his appointed Day caused his Glory to shine forth and hath visited and brought us to the knowledge of the hidden Mystery of Eternal Salvation which Mystery hath been seal'd up for many Ages and is kept secret forever from the wisdom of this World but unto us that have believ'd in the Light of the World are they clearly discover'd as at Noon-day being reveal'd to us by the Spirit which worketh in us the Will and Mind of the Father and is powerful and mighty and subdueth and breaketh down the Hardness of Hearts and through the working thereof every high Thought is brought into subjection to Jesus And this same Spirit quickeneth and maketh alive to God and changeth and reneweth into his Image and Likeness and it raiseth up from under the Bondage of Corruption to live to God in all things in newness of Life old things being done away and all things being made new through the working
God who are thus made free whose Sins are remitted and Iniquity covered and the Life rules and reigns and hath overcome Death and Death is swallowed up of Life and this is the Promise of God which must be fulfilled in you that ye may possess the Treasure of God in your Hearts and be Feeling-Witnesses of Immortality your Hands must handle the Word and you must taste and feel and see the Word of Life within you and you must find the Pearl and your own Lamps must have Oyl in them for people have long been running without after men Lo here and Loe there and have been applying the Promises in the wrong nature but now people must turn to the Light of Christ within them for Christ is the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World and this Light must men follow and then they shall not walk in Darkness but shall have the Light of Life and men must walk in the Light and then the Blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin and men must believe in the Light and then they shall be the Children of the Light and then Light shall shine out of Darkness and the Light that shines in their hearts shall give them the Light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So Friends love the Light and walk in the Light for it is the Light within that lets men see whether their Deeds are wrought in God or contrary to him the Light within will let you see of what nature your Works are whether of the corrupt nature or of the Divine Nature for all mens Works are of the one of these and all the Works that spring from the corrupt nature are but Abomination unto God though they appear never so Righteous and that Righteousness which is of Man cannot be justified before the Lord but man must be a Partaker of God's Righteousness of an uncreated Righteousness and that will cover all his Infirmities and in that only can man be presented Righteous unto God So Friends Wait to be Witnesses of this Righteousness that you may be cloathed with it and may be stripped off all your own which is but as filthy Rags and will not hide mans Nakedness but his Righteousness and his Sin must be condemned together and God must be known to work to will and to do in the Creature and this is God's Righteousness for which you must all wait that you may be Heirs of it and Possessors of it unto your Eternal Peace and live in the Fear of the Lord and be not immoderate nor excessive in any thing nor let your hearts be drawn away with the Creatures for then you commit Idolatry and are overcome of this World and you want the Authority of God and are in Bondage unto the Creatures and they defile you and burden you in that state while your Minds are captivated with them So Friends Mind God's Wisdom amongst you that it may lead you in all things and live in Love and Unity one with another and let no Strife be amongst you nor Contention for that will destroy you and eat out true Love and your Hearts will be hardened but bear one with another and be in Patience and Long-suffering one towards another and then the Presence of the Lord will fill your Hearts with Satisfaction and you will be comforted in God and one in another if Love and Unity be amongst you in the Spirit And meet together in the Name and Fear of the Lord and mind the Lord's Presence amongst you mind not words but mind the Presence of the Lord and feel his Power in your hearts and the words that come from the Power will refresh the Seed of God but if any speak words out of the Power the Seed of God will be burdened and will judge such words So every one feed upon the Bread of Life that comes from God and feel the Water of Life springing up in your Hearts that you may grow unto God as Plants of Righteousness and may make your Calling and Election sure So dwell in the Light and take up the daily Cross of Christ and walk not in the Flesh but in the Spirit and so shall the Blessings of the Lord be upon you My dear Love even the same Love wherewith I am loved of my Father doth salute you all and the Seed of God in you that I know and to that am I known who am a Brother and Companion unto all the Faithfull and Upright Edw. Burroughs Let this be coppied over and sent abroad and read in all your Meetings Good Counsel AND ADVICE Rejected by Disobedient Men And the Days of Cromwell's Visitation passed over And also Of Richard Cromwell his Son late Protectors of these Nations And the many Precious Warnings neglected by them and set 〈◊〉 nought which from time to time were given unto them as declared in these following Letters whereby all may see the Kindness of the Lord towards them by his Faithful Invitations to them and their own Apostacy and Carelesness who rejected Warning till the Time and Day of their Visitation is shut up with the Vail of Darkness and Reproach which lies over them and their precious Day of Love is spent and cannot be re-called To the READER FRiend Out of the same Love from whence these were written do I put them to publick view and it was not without much Doubtings and Questioning in my own spirit 〈◊〉 at last having found perfect Freedom and Strength from the Lord knâ—… that I am 〈◊〉 and frâ—â— altogether of other Ends saving then for the Honoâ—â— of the Truth and that all may see that the Dâ—â—nfalls of these â—en were not before sufficient Warnings which makes the Lord free 〈◊〉 his Servant free from what is coâ—â— to pass upon them and even their Fall lies upon their own heads that dispised the Lords Warnings and would none of his Counsel but suffered the Innocent to be oppressed under their Power and relieved not the Heritage of the Lord from her Cruel Enemies though they had Power to do it but 〈◊〉 their own glory and how to be established in greatness in the Earth till that â—he Lord 〈◊〉 cast them â—ut and made them as a Reproach And these things that have come to pass 〈◊〉 them may be as Warnings to all other Rulers that do succeed them and they may 〈◊〉 that the Lord is 〈◊〉 and his Iudgments Righteous and whosoever shall follow their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be Oppressâ—â—s of the Lord's Heritage as they were the Lord shall extend his Iudgments 〈◊〉 them also and their Destruction shall come even like as upon thâ—se before them Therefore let all the Earth be warned I am a Lover of Sion For the hands of the Protector FRIEND MAny Wâ—rnings hast thou had from the Mouth of the Lord his Love hath been towards thee and the glorious Day of his Visitation hath shined over thy head wherein he hath called unto thee to hear
and walks in darkness ignorance and blindness as you do turning the Grace of God into wantonness which same Grace is the Saints Teacher this is the free Grace of God which hath appeared to all men which in all Generations taught the Saints to deny ungodiness and worldly lusts and led them into purity and holiness This Grace do we witness praised praised be the Lord to be led by it which ever was the Saints Leader and through the teaching of this Grace do we deny your Hireling and all such Pharisees and Hypocrites who makes a prey upon the poor people and if you stop not into their mouths they even prepare War against you as the false Prophets of Israel did and daily are we taught by it in the Wayes of God to do his service praised be the only Lord of Glory for ever more who hath gathered us up to himself to be taught alone by his Grace out of the mouth of your Hireling who once made a prey upon us but Eternal Praise and Glory to our God who in his Light hath discovered unto us his nakedness and his shame his hypocrisie and deceit in the Eternal Light of God do we see him and all such to be blind Guides and leads the poor blind people in darkness and ignorance and none is able to come to the true Knowledg of the Eternal Truth in his Ministry for he is no Minister of God but an Antichrist denying Christ to be come in the flesh denying the Light to have enlightened every one as several times he hath done to me but my Father who is Light and Glory hath now made him manifest And in that Light Christ Jesus do I see him to be one who hath run whom God hath not sent therefore doth he not profit you at all nor puts no difference between the precious and the vile in you nor leads you to discern the clean from the unclean the pure from the impure in you but speaks the Divination of his own brain feeding your dark minds and from the Eternal Light made manifest in me from God the Father who is over all and above all do I declare against him and against all Hirelings and greedy dumb Dogs that seeks for their gain from their Quarter as he doth fâ—â—ely do I declare as knowing them to be Deceivers and blind Guids For the simple ones sake among you who are insnared and kept in ignorance by him under his dead dry barren sloathful Ministry Repent ye people who lies in the Captivity of Babylon under your Bahylonish Merchant now is the Lord leading his Sons and Daughters out of Egypt out of bondage and now he that hath led Captive is led into Captivity praised and honoured be the God of Saints for evermore who hath redeemed us out of the mouth of your Idol-shepherd who feeds himself with the fat and who hath enlightened our dead Consciences and hath shined in our hearts in his Eternal Light and of this have I received freely and from this do I let forth freely to the laying open the deceits of your Hireling Now is the Day of your visitation wherein the Saviour of the World stands at the door and knocketh if any open unto him he will come in therefore prize your time and hear the Word of the Lord and lay aside the works of darkness Lying and Swearing Mocking and Scorning and beating of your fellow Servants Wo unto you ye Strikers who hardens your hearts against the Lord and against those who declare to you the wickedness of your wayes the Lord will come when you are not aware and give you your Portion with Hypocrites and Unbeleevers and cast you into utter darkness Repent and turn to the Lord your God with mourning and lamentation and cease from all your former wayes and doings cease from Coveteousness and Opression ye aged people and cease from Lightness Vanity and Pride ye young people and from all your Priests and Steeple-houses for there your Lightness Pride and Vain minds are fed and nourished and the enemies of the Lord are strengthened Dear people there had I once fellowship with you in your Pride Lightness and Vanity and there was once my joy and delight but now am I chosen by the Lord out of all these things praised be him for ever to serve the Lord in declaring against all these abominations in whom they are standing For wo unto the proud and light vain minds who are tripping upon the mountains and whose hearts are not subject to the Lord against all these abominations do I Declare as from the Lord and do advise you as from him to depart out of these abominations for the day is coming when you must be separated from all your lovers a day of darkness and misery therefore prize your time and hearken unto the Light of God within you which reproves you for your filthy and ungodly deeds and words this Light will lead you to God out of all filthiness obeying it this will separate the clean from the unclean in you and will lead you to be taught of God and to have unity with God and with the Saints for it was in the Light that the Saints had unity this Light will lead you out of your hypocritical and deceitful carnal Worships to Worship in Spirit and Truth this Light will lead you to the true Baptism out of your deceitful imitation of a Baptism which your Hireling upholds among you this Light will lead you to the true Church in God out of your formal imagined Church and to the true Communion of Saints and true Singing to God out of your Heathenish Communion and Singing Therefore all ye people mind the Light for the Light hath enlightened every one which is the Saviour and Reedemer of him that loveth it and bringeth his deeds to it but is the Condemnation of him that hateth it and walks not in it therefore all people mind this Light which is of God this will lead you up to God this is the way to the Father and none comes to the Father but by me said he who was and is the Light this Light loving it and walking in it will free you from all the burdens which the Pharisee layes upon you and from all the taxes of Pharaoh's Tax-masters and will lead you into the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God to know him who is invisible and is present every where yet hidden from all dark minds who lives in the imaginations and imitations as you and your Hireling doth If you love this Light and walk in this Light it will bring you to be witnesses of the Scripture and of the Saints Conditions which you are but talkers of this is the Light from which they spoke that spoke the truth of God and from this Light did Isaiah cry who lived in the obedience of it against the greedy dumb dogs that sought for their gain from
thy Law and defends by thy unrighteous power thy power is limited and it shall be taken from thee and thou shalt be overcome and the Lamb shall get the victory and into the pit and lake of fire shall you be turned to have your resting place And thou false Prophet which hath deceived the Nations and scattered the Inhabitants thereof and builded by fraud and daubed with untempered morter thy Judgment is past upon thy head already and the Decree of our God is sealed against thee thy smoke shall ascend for ever and ever and of thy sin there is no forgiveness nor of thy torment no remission Over you do we and shall for ever rejoyce and sing and over your god and your King the Dragon that old Serpent cursed be he and his memorial for ever Ye Lambs of the true Shepherds fold with whom my soul resteth whether ever I behold you outwardly yet my heart is with you and I am one of your fold and I lye down with you under the shadow of the rock upon the Mountain which the beast cannot touch where we are safe from all our enemies and am to you wel known to be read in your hearts in the Record of the Lambs Book of Life and known only to the world by the name of EDWARD BURROUGH Written at Dublin City in Ireland To the Camp of the Lord in England Several Epistles to Friends in LONDON Written in the Year 1655. by E. B. Some of which were subscribed by F. H. who was Fellow-Labourer with him in the Work of the Lord. FRiends of God in the Truth whom the Lord is gathering as desolate Stones to build unto himself a Habitation whom the Lord is bringing back out of Captivity wherein you have been held under the Chains of Darkness in the Land of the shadow of Death the Lord is calling you and chusing you to place his Name in you and to spread forth his glory among you Therefore all dear Friends whose hearts the Lord hath touched by his Love and by his Power be faithful unto God who hath called you and look not out at any thing that is mortal to draw you from the Obedience of the Eternal Light of Jesus Christ which shines clearly in Darkness Resist not the Drawing of the Father but take up the Cross and abide in it daily that your wills may be crucified in which the ground of enmity lodges So all in your own conditions wait in the Fear of the Lord in singleness of heart and in simplicity of mind for the powerful Appearance of the Son of God to be revealed in you to destroy the works of the Devil for where he is not witnessed the works of the Devil stands and the nature of the earthly man in the fall All of you whose minds are turned home to within where the Pearl and the Lost Money is to be found dwell and walk in the pure Fear and Obedience to that of God which is made manifest in you and made known unto you and there will Peace flow in from the Presence of the Lord unto you and refreshment and strength to the Seed and the Pure will live and the Corrupt will die daily Beware every one that have put their hands to the Plow that you look not back at any thing which you have left behind in the World but press on in the strait Way which is the Light which gives no liberty to the fleshly man but which judges and condemns all that hates it and turns from it the Light is the Way that leads to Life and by it as you wait in it the Life will be made manifest which is immortal and your Redemption will be witnessed dwell in the Judgment and in the Burning that the Dross may be consumed and the Pure may be refined and the earthly carnal minds may be confounded and judged The Lord is near unto you wait for his powerful Presence in his own Light to see him and in it to comprehend all the World with all its Profession which leads not to God but keeps in the separation from God your Way is near walking in the Light you will see it and in the Light you will see all the paths and all the wayes of the Harlot which leads into the Chambers of Death look not out at words for that which feeds there is for the Famine but dwell in the Light joyning with the immortal Principle which receives nourishment from the Eternal Fountain which the World knows not nor comprehends as you grow in the Pure and in the Life so you are unknown to the World and your growth will appear by your obedience in the Cross of Christ so take off stumbling at the Cross for such hath no part in the Eternal Inheritance but walk in the Cross which is life to the New-man and death to the Old and so through Death Life is made manifest and the pure Life of God arising in all the World will be trampled upon and denied by you but such amongst you that chuseth the World wrath from God I declare against you and you who knows the way and casts off the Truth and for the love of that which is visible turns from the Truth you cannot escape the Damnation of Hell So all dear and tender hearts abide in the Counsel of God and let not the World overcome your minds but wait for a daily victory over it that so you may with the Saints possess the Eternal Riches and that in you which is carnal and corrupt may be overcome by that which is Eternal and Holy as you abide and walk in the Truth and grow up in the knowledge of the eternal God so our joy will be fulfilled in you and our rejoycing will be encreased by you therefore walk and live in that which God hath made manifest in you which is of himself and the eternal God of Life and Power prosper you and lead you up unto himself to dwell and walk in his Love for evermore Be not troubled at the rage of the World nor at Temptations but stand in the Will of God which hath been declared amongst you that you may all be established and guided by that which is not of this World but by the Principle of Life which is Eternal which judges all the fruits and grounds of Darkness Our love salutes you all who walk in the Truth and our prayers are for you that Life may spring up in you to praise the Lord for ever We are Servants unto you and unto all the Elect Seed of God every where for whose sakes we give our selves to be spent E. B. F. H. To Friends in London ALl Friends whose minds are turned to the Lord by that which is Pure which comes from him who is the Light of the World all mind it that with it your minds may be turned to him from whence it comes out of all the perishing things and out of all the visible to the invisible that so
that you may try every motion and every spirit and may by that which is infallible and errs not comprehend and judge that which is fallible and erring which flourisheth for a time but comes to an end is withered as that in your own Knowledge and Consciences will set to seal who have been strayed and scattered upon the Mountains in the cloudy and dark day but now the Light is breaking forth and the Day begins to appear and all you who abide faithful shall see the Glory of the Lord and shall enjoy him in the Land of the Living End of the Work of God We charge you all in the Lord that you who profess the Truth walk in it and who profess a change to let it appear by putting off the works of Darkness which by the Light are made manifest unto you and testified against by the Witness of God in you for know this that that which liveth in you which is contrary to God witnessed against by the Light of Christ shall be as a Prick in the eye and as a Thorn in the side for ever and Wrath is to be revealed upon him that spareth the best and saveth the fat from Judgment for to the slaughter all must come that Life and Glory may be made manifest and he that looks back by the way is not fit for the Kingdom and he that returns again to the pollutions his latter end is worse then his beginning and the Judgment of God cannot be escaped Therefore wait in the Power of God and stand in the Light which is the Armour against all temptations whereby the Darkness and Death and he that hath the power of Death is overcome and all that love the Light and are guided by it And all dear Friends who have tasted of the Love and Power of God and do witness the renting of the Earth dwell in the Power and pure Fear of the Lord that so all deceit may be kept down and under and take heed of the false Prophet speaking or suffering your minds to run out in the openings and so you will speak that which is opened in the Light and therefore we charge you all in the Presence of the dreadful God of Life and Power that you all wait in silence and wait to have Salt and Savour in your selves to know the Voice of Christ from the voice of the Stranger for till that be known in your selves you are not able to judge and therefore all wait in the Light which is the Eye which sees into the Mysteries of the Kingdom and none to utter a word but what you are Eternally moved unto or else that in every ones Conscience will bear witness against you and therefore be not hasty now when you see things open in your minds dwell in them and run not forth and speak but treasure them up in your hearts and take heed and keep low in the Fear of the Lord God that pride and presumption get not up nor nothing be exalted above that which is pure Dear Friends you are upon us as a great weight and burden lest we should have bestowed our labour in vain but we hope and trust the Lord will preserve you if you stand in obedience to that of God made manifest in you and so you will grow and take heed of striving and contending but judge that every one in your selves that you may all grow up in the pure Life of God And so the everlasting Power of God bless you all and keep you in his everlasting Love and Power and give the victory over your Enemies that you may come to witness eternal Life in you made manifest from God Your Brethren in the Work of the Lord E. B. F. H. To Friends in London DEar Friends in the evelasting Covenant of Life and Peace whom we bear witness of and unto whom we have declared and preached in season and out of season among yea and have often come unto in much weakness and fear and trembling and have not ceased day by day to watch over you lest any should start aside from the Hope of the Gospel which was declared amongst you in much demonstration of Spirit whereby your understandings came to be opened even by the Word of his Power which we directed you to wait in and for and you are Witnesses your selves of the Love and mighty Power of God which was made manifest among you which made the Heathen to rage and confounded the wisdom of the Wise So dear Children of Light of whom we have travelled in pains and great burdens that Christ might be formed in you fulfil ye our joy make our hearts glad in your growth up in him who hath called and spoken to you from Heaven by his Son in the Light and your ears have heard and your eyes have seen and you have been made to understand the Mystery of the Kingdom of God which is a Parable to all the World and sealed and cannot be read but to you who continue and abide in the Grace of God which hath appeared to all men which brings Salvation to all that walk and abide in it and leads to the Enterance and Earnest and the sealing of the Spirit until the time of the finishing transgreson and making an end of sin and so the everlasting Offering be witnessed which perfects for ever them that are Sanctified therfore all Friends whose minds are turn-to the Light and do witness a change in you by the working of the Spirit and now a door of Hope being set open abide in that measure every one and stay your souls upon him who is your Hope and keep low in the Fear to the just Principle of Life that you may have savour and discerning to know the Voice of Christ from the voice of a Stranger in your selves and in others and so grow up in the discerning and comprehend all spirits and judge them by the Light that makes all things manifest and all meet together in your several Meetings and watch one over another and be diligent all in your measure and take heed you neglect not and none be of a careless mind to meet and wait upon the Lord in silence for whose life stands only in words without such we deny for their eyes and ears are without and they would be ever learning and that is the silly woman that is loden with lust And all dear Babes take heed of taking liberty to the flesh nor give no ear nor liberty to the Earth but in the Cross dwell to the carnal and so you will witness the Plant of the Lord watered and a growth in the Immortal and the Seed you will see which is one in all which the Promise is to and all be still and cool and quiet and of a meek spirit that out of boysterousness and eagerness and feignedness and self-love you may be preserved in your measures up to God and if any be moved to speak a few words in your Meetings this we
the one is the Word of God but the other is not and this all sober men confess to though thou dost jangle and twist about it with thy lame Arguments to no purpose at all except to shew thy Weakness and Folly And also No man is justified by Christ's Righteousness until he receives it and as he receives it and this thou shalt one day witness For though Righteousness be in him sufficient to justifie yet by it art thou nor any man justified but in the receiving of it and dwelling in it and this shalt thou confess to be truth in the Day of the Lord and in the mean time let me bear thy false censure in calling this Heresie And also a man may be tempted to sin and there may be evil motions to him yet he not being overcome of the Temptation not consenting to the motion of sin it is no sin unto him neither shall sin be imputed to him if he commits it not but he that commits sin though he profess never so much of Justification yet for his sin shall he be condemned and this shalt thou witness in the day of Iudgment Also That there is a Perfection attainable in this life even to be perfect and without sin in Christ Iesus and this I affirm to be the Truth of the Gospel and that wherein the Faith of God's People stands and though thou madest a twisting and a wrangling against it yet it is too strong for thee and in thy wisdom and thy arguments is thy folly and thy weakness seen and Truth stands over thee and thou canst not it nor me reprehend And also That some of the Scriptures were spoken to the World and not to the Saints this I also have sufficiently proved and thou art not able to detect it and all thy snarling in opposition to these things is confounded and thy Arguments made without effect and all whose eyes are open see thee to be of too short a measure and of too weak a capacity to understand the deep things of God which are hidden from thine Eye and them thou savourest not in that wisdom though thou hast the words yet thou art ignorant of the Life and the Life is in dominion over thee and to it must thou submit and lay down thy Crown And from thee am I hidden in that Life and Truth which I do profess And though I be as a Deceiver yet am I true and though I be slandered and reproached and back-bited by thee yet it is for Christ Iesus's sake and for his Truth 's sake and not as an Evil-doer But Friend learn more Wisdom then to judge a man before thou hearest him or to condemn the matter before thou hearest the Proof of it for by these things thou hast not gain'd a good Report but God condemns thee for it and men see thy shame in it and the burden of it one day shalt thou bear even thou and all that own thee in these things And now thy spirit is try'd and it is found too light and cannot stand in Judgement for it is unsavoury and though seperate from the World in appearance yet is thy spirit of the world and reacheth not the knowledge of the things that are eternal but art imagining in thy mind not being guided by that Spirit which gave forth the Scriptures and so thy knowledge is natural and cannot contain Spiritual Things Therefore Friend come down to God's Witness in thee the Light which shews thee sin and convinces thee of evil that Light is thy Teacher if thou lovest it and thy Condemnation if thou hatest it I have divers particulars against thee at a convenient season to manifest thy Folly and Weakness by them And whatever thou judgest me I am a Friend to thy Soul Edw. Burrough Richard Goodgroom held forth at the Dispute at Draton the 18th day of the 11th Moneth 1657. HE said The Letter was the Word and by the Letter he said he meant the thing contained in the Scriptures And when I said I had the Letter in my hand meaniug my Bible but not the thing signified he said But I had the Thing signified And he said People were justified by Christ excluding the New Birth and the Work of Sanctification and Christ justified Sinners as Sinners that is while Sinners remaining in sin At Justice Fortescue's house in the year 1656. he did deny That any was converted to God by a Light within And then I asked If it was not that same Light that converted which gave the Knowledge of God and they confessed Yea and yet did deny That the Light within converted to God though I shewed them that Scripture 2 Cor. 4. 6. which did confound the Deceit At Uxbridge one time he said Christ needed not to have come to have judged the World for there was sin enough in the World to judge it before he came Then I asked If Sin judged the World and he answered Yea and he said They were in the Covenant of God spoken of Nehem. 9. which turned the Law of God behind their backs E. B. A TESTIMONY Concerning the Estate of the True Church What she hath been and what she is Being given forth from the Motion of the Spirit of the Father COncerning the true State of the Church what she hath been and what she is at this day and concerning her Increase and Decrease through Ages and Generations past And her present State is this Returning again out of the Wilderness where she hath long been fed having a place prepared of God Now the Apostle saw her a Woman cloathed with the Sun covered with the Light of Heaven and with the Glory of God having the Moon under her Feet the Light which was ordain'd to rule the Night Thus she was and this was her state in the dayes of the Apostles when many were converted out of Darkness and renewed to be Members of this Church for her Glory shone through the World and she flourished through Nations and this was her state in the Apostles dayes And she travelled to bring forth the Man-Child Christ Jesus which is the Child and Husband of this Woman which was clothed with the Brightness of the Glory of God the elected Spouse of Christ the Lamb's Wife and his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones having Power and Dominion and treading under all contrary And thus was it with her in Generations past whose Seed spring forth as Branches fruitful and glorious But in process of time it came to pass That this Woman the Spouse of Christ his Body the Wife and Mother of this Man-Child she was bereaved of her Beauty and her Garments were taken away her Seed was made War against and was smitten and overcome and she fled into the Wilderness and there hath sate desolate as a Widdow lamenting the loss of her Children and being deprived of her Husband and the Man-Child which should have ruled the Nations For she hath been fled into the Wilderness and her former Beauty
hearts and it was that Light that gave them the Light of the knowledge of the Glory of God but thou hast discovered thy self to be a Stumbler at the stumbling-stone and hath taken offence at the Light like the Pharisees who professed the Scriptures as the Priests of England do but were ignorant of the Life the end of the words and knew not Christ the Substance but the Stone at which you stumble will break you to pieces and grind you to powder even Christ the Light of the World that lighteth every man that cometh into the World That the Soul is a part or measure of God as they speak and not a part of man but uncreated and so is that Light which is in every one Answ. The Soul is immortal and God is immortal for God breathed into man the Breath of Life and he became a Living Soul as saith the Scripture and the Soul is related to God for what a man works against God it is against his own Soul for all Sin is against God and against a man's own Soul And God who hath all Souls in his hand who is the Creator and gave Life into the Soul that is immortal and can never die though Death hath passed over it and hath reigned over all from Adam till Moses and Christ is the Light of the World that gives Life unto the Soul and he raiseth up the Soul out of Death and Misery and brings the Soul to rejoyce in God its Saviour and Christ is the Souls Bishop its Pastor and Feeder and who knows Christ knows him that was before the World was made and sees to the beginning and to the ending and his Soul rests in God that is over all That the Light in the Heathen who never heard that Iesus Christ died at Jerusalem is the same for the quality of it with that which is in the most godly Person onely there is a difference in the quantity And men are reconciled to God by following of it This Light they say is the sure Word of Prophesie and that it is sufficient to lead out of all Sin unto God Answ. The Testimony of Iohn is that Christ is the Light that lighteth every mâ—n that cometh into the World and if every man then the Heathen who hath not the relation of Christ's Life and his Death at Ierusalem yea and it is the same Light that is in the Heathen the same in nature and kind as it is in the Saints for the Comforter the Spirit of Truth is one in it self and the same though it comforteth the Saints and reproveth the World and the Wicked for their sins And men are reconciled to God by Christ for he was in God reconciling to himself and none are reconciled but who walk in the Light and follows it for who walks in the Light the Blood of Christ cleanseth them 〈◊〉 all Siâ— and they are reconciled and none else And the Word of God is in the Heart as the Scripture saith Deut. 30. Rom. 10. and that is the Word of Prophesie and that Word is sufficient to lead out of all Sin unto God if men believe in Jesus and receiveth him and the Spirit of Truth leadeth into all Truth all that follow it That Christ as man is not in Heaven yea that he hath ceased to be man and conseqâ—…ly to be Mediator and when I told them he should come in the Clouds in like 〈◊〉 as he ascended and that at his coming the Elements melteth one of their 〈◊〉 told me that the Clouds were scattered and the Elements melted in him Answ. Christ Jesus is ascended into Heaven and sits at the right Hand of the Father yea he is ascended far above all Heavens as saith the Scripture But that is utterly false whereas thou sayest we say he ceased to be man that is â—y Lye and so I pass it And we believe according to the Scriptures that 〈◊〉 shall come in like manner as he ascended and at his coming the Elements shall melt And it is not error for a man to say the Clouds are scattered and â—â—e Elements melted in him for Clouds are Darkness and covers the face of the Sun many times as thou mayest behold in the Firmament But Darkness is yet over thy Heart and the Elements are not melted away and therefore thou art in thy Imaginations putting Light for Darkness and Darkness for Light and calling Evil Good and Good Evil. That the Bodies of Men shall never rise again after death and that the day of Iudgement is come already and that now the Saints do judge the World Answ. We do believe the Resurrection according to the Scriptures For if onely in this Life we have Hope we were of all men most miserable And we believe that the Dead shall arise again after death and every one shall receive according to the Deeds done in the Body they that have done Evil shall arise to Eternal Condemnation and they that have done Good to Eternal Salvation in the day of Judgement And the Lord cometh with and in ten thousand of his Saints to judge the World and the Saints upon Earth do receive the Spirit of Judgement and do judge the World even all things for the spiritual Man judgeth all things even in this present Age if thou canst receive it thou mayest They are utterly against Water-Baptism and administring of the Lord's Supper with Bread and Wine because they say they have the Substance of all within Answ. As for Baptism and the Supper of the Lord we do own it and it is practiced of us in the Life and Power of God but as for your Baptism that is to say sprinkling of Infants calling it the Baptism into the Faith and that they are made Members of the Church thereby and that it is a Seal of Regeneration as you say in your Common-Prayer-Book and Directory that we do utterly deny and do say it is no Ordinance of God neither was it ever commanded by him or practiced by his Saints but is an Institution of the Whore of Rome and England received it by a Popish Institution and your practice of it is Idolatry and not any part of the true Worship of God And as for your breaking Bread and drinking Wine in that manner and form as it is practiced in the Church of England among the Unconverted and Unregenerated that we utterly deny also to be of God or to be ever commanded of him or practiced by his Saints and this is neither Heresie nor Error in us but true bearing witness against your Idolatrous Wayes and Practices with which the Nations are deceived whom the Whore causeth to drink her Cup even all people have drunk her Cup and she hath drunk the Blood of them that would not and she hath long sate upon Nations Peoples and Multitudes but now she is made bare and discovered and all you her false Ministers And whereas the Author doth say These are some of the
who are not and therefore may easily proceed in that way to punish such as Hereticks that are not truly so and except ye could affirm and Prove your possession of the infallible spirit ye can no way proceed justly reasonably to deny Liberty of Conscience in the exercise of Religion nor punish and persecute any in that case but if ye do ye do it in ignorance and know not what ye do and may as soon destroy true Christians and Saints as Hereticks for want of infallible judgment to discern who are and who are not and this is a danger ye ought to avoid by allowing the free exercise of Conscience as the Lord perswades every mans heart 15. And lastly also consider what a reproach you are under If such whom ye call Heretick and yet doth not infallibly know that they are such be punished and persecuted and destroyed for their Religion sake who are just and upright men in their Conversing between man and man and unreprovable in their dealings among men whether they err in judgment in spiritual knowledge or not err and such as are Drunkards prophaâ—e persons go at liberty in their stage-playing and gaming and the like even tolerated and unpunished and not prohibited whom all do know and can distinguish who such are when they appear this will render your Government to evil reputation both in this present time and in ages to come and therefore consider it if Drunkards Gamesters and prophane persons have more toleration and liberty in their wayes of open vanity then sober temperate persons in the exercise of their Consciences in Religion which if any such do err in principle which is not infallibly known to you it is only to their own hurt in the sight of God and he onely and not you ought to punish them in that case but prophane persons as a fore-mentioned are easily judged by all to be such and their error inpractise is hurtful to the whole Kingdoms and pertains to you to punish as Dr. Taylor now a Bishop in Ireland hath said his words in this â—ase are worth observing why are we so zealous saith he against those we call Hereticks and yet great friends with Dâ—unkards and Swearers and Fornicators and intemperate and idle persons I am certain a Drunkard is as contrâ—oy to God and lives as contrary to the Laws of Christianity as a Heretick and I am also sure that I Know what Drunkennesse is but I am not sure that such an opinion is heresie c. And these things I do in all meeknesse and due respect both to your places and persons present to your serious considerations that ye may prevent these evil effects that are so destructive unto you and these Kingdoms which absolutely must follow upon not allowing free Liberty of Conscience in the Exercise of Religion if any shall object That to tolerate and allow Liberty of Conscience in Religion is inconsistent with the safety and peace of the King and these Kingdoms I shall be desirous to hear from wise men what such objections are stated by them and wherein they say it is not Congruous with the Happiness and Peace of these Nations to grant and allow the Premises And on such Occasion I should make clearly to appeaâ— the contrary and that it is only consistant with the Peace and Prosperity of these Kingdoms considering them in their present Estate To grant and allow Free Liberty of Conscience as aforesaid in the Exercise of Religion unto all Christian People O! Remember ye Mighty Men of the Kingdom That the Great and Mighty GOD takes notice of all your Doings and accordingly will he reward you in his Dreadful Day which is near to come upon all the World and Wo unto the Wicked in that Day O! Remember that ye your selves not long since were a Suffering People and now you are raised up again and therefore be not too zealous to afflict others especially for the Cases of their Consciences in reference to their Faith and Perswasions about Religion but be Gentle Meek and Long-suffering towards all for that is the way to make Peace and preserve it with all men that will gain the Affections of the Contrary-minded but Force and Rigour will exasperate the more and never truly reconcile differences among men And make no Laws contrary or different to the pure Law of God but let pure Consciences go free without Force or Restraint in the Exercises of Religion and let God have his Prerogative and Lordship in the Exercise of Conscience but let your Authority be extended over the outward man in the matters between man and man to preserve Peace and Right in all outward relation And be Wise and Learned ye Rulers of the Earth and kiss the Son lest he be Angry and ye perish and if his Wrath be kindled but a little blessed are they that trust in him This is your Time and Day happy are ye if it be given to you to do the Work that God requires of you only The 26th of the third Moneth 1661. By a Lover of Truth and Just Government E. B. A DISCOVERY OF Divine Mysteries VVherein is Unfolded Secret THINGS of the KINGDOM of GOD Being a TESTIMONY 1. Concerning Life and Death with their several Fruits and â—…cts Distinguished 2. Concerning the Mystery of God and Godliness and concerning the Mystery of the Devil and Iniquity 3. Concerning True Liberty of Conscience what it is in it self and how obtained And what the True Guide and Rule is of the Exercise of Conscience 4. Concerning the Diversity of Judgments in Religion the Cause and Effect thereof and the Means to bring to Unity All which are Published for the Edification of such as desire to know the TRUTH The PREFACE THE Light of the Day of GOD Almighty is arisen upon us in our Day and the Shinings-forth thereof is with great Clearness and Force even as the Sun at Noon-day and many are come to the Glorious Appearance thereof and to walk in its Light with much Ioyfulness for as the Wise-Man said The Light is Sweet and a Pleasant Thing it is for the Eye to behold the Son And so fully is our Morning-Son now appeared that the Upright in Heart may Walk and not stumble and the Poor in Spirit may Run in the Path of Life and not fall For indeed we may say The NIGHT is spent and the DAY is come therefore let us Walk in the Day and put on the Armour of Light as many as are made the Children thereof And where the Light of this Son is arisen and in whose Hearts it shineth it cannot but give some Testimony through such an one of its own Glory Vertues and Excellency to them that sit yet in Darkness and in the 〈◊〉 of Corruption that they also may 〈◊〉 the same Light and Glory arise on their Tabernacles For 't is the Property of this Spiritual Heavenly Light to shine forth out of Darkness and to give Light to such as have
Separation from GOD being in the State of Enmity against Him till the Lord Jesus Christ the good Shepherd of ISRAEL found you out in the Estate of Darkness and brought you Home from your strayed Condition even unto the Sense and Feeling of his Power and Spirit in you which called you out of the Wayes of Sin and Death and also changed you and regenerated you into the Inheritance of a better Kingdom and Glory than that which is of this World And ye now know Christ Jesus to be your Shepherd his Spirit to teach you his Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification to dwell in you being Partakers of the same through the Eternal LIGHT which once shined in Darkness and the Darkness could not comprehend it but now it is risen in much Glory and Power and Death and darkness is swallowed up of Life and Light and the Fruits thereof subdued These things are True and Faithful unto many let all such Rejoyce and be Glad in the Lord who have thus seen his Day and tasted of his Power and are Witnesses That the Kingdom is come which never fadeth away 2. Consider what the Tender Dealings of God towards you and his Gentle Leadings have been since he hath called you out of your formeâ— strayed Estate Hath not his Light shined upon your Tabernacles with much Clearness perswading your Hearts fully of his WAY and TRUTH Have not your Hearts often been Refreshed and Souls truly Comforted by the Refreshing Presence of the Lord Hath not the Way of Life been made so clear unto you and the way of your Peace so perfectly discovered that no Occasion hath been left of Unbelief or Stumbling unto the Upright in Heart Surely the Lord hath not been wanting to you in any of these things but he hath so reached Home by his Word and Spirit to your Hearts and Consciences with such full Convictions and perswasions in the Wayes of Salvation that no sincere Heart can doubt or waver concerning the Things pertaining to his Soul's Peace and Comfort 〈◊〉 For so Large and Evident hath God's Testimony been unto you even since he first called you by his Grace that no Man having Sense and Experience thereof but must bear witness That the Lord hath been Good Long Suffering full of Mercy and Righteousness towards all that feareth him I am perswaded ye know these things and that the Taste and Vertue of the Lord's Mercies and Power remaineth stedfest in your Remembrance and Enjoyment even his Mercies and Loving-kindness that have been made manifest to you since ye have known the Lord who hath â—â—d you by the Hand as a Father doth his Children and carried you in his Arms of Preservation and born you on his shoulders in all your Afflictions insomuch that through his Power and Wisdom only we are yet alive and the Adversary hath not prevailed against us though his Attempts have often been great to Destroy us 3. Consider what iâ— now your present state and standing How is it with your inward Man In what Life and Strength and Dominion is he Is he â—â—â—ong over all the Corruptible or is he Weak under Corruption Is he in â—â—e growth of a Perfect Man of the Stature of Christ Jesus Is he so begotten and born in you that Life hath swallowed up Death Hath he Victory over the Grave And doth he Raign in you even the New Man the Spiritual Man the Immortal Man Christ iâ— you Is he come in Power and Dominion to dwell with you Deâ—rly â—â—loved mind each particuâ—… in what state you are and what is your present standing to God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye had Faith in God and Love to God and Boldness for God And are ye firâ—ly continued therein Or Is any such Weakened and Decreased in these things Is your Love grown cold and your Zeal lost and your Confidence decayed If it be thus with any their present state is not â—â—ght before the Lord but they must Repent and return to their first Love and return again to the Witness of the Spirit of Christ 〈◊〉 in them that their Strength may be renewed for they only that dwell with the Lord in Faithfulness and abide in Covenant with him 〈◊〉 see his Glory and be fed daily with the Bread that comes down from Heaven and refreâ—… with the Fountain of endless Mercies if so be ye be perfect with the Lord after your inward Man Strong and Lively and Zealous Faithful and constant having a clean Heart and a pure Conscience guiltless and undefiled before God this is to be perfect with the Lord and if ye are thus blessed are you if ye be encreased daily in the Love and Life of the Father if your inward Man grow in the Wisdom and Power and Knowledge of the Creator if ye receive the assurance of Eternal Life in your selves if this be your present State Oh happy People Who is like unto you because ye are saved of the Lord 4. What is the present work of God in your own hearts Ye must alwayes feel the Word of God abiding in you even the Word in the heart hear that Word and do it alwayes and your souls shall live by the Word of God that Word beats down whatsoever tempts and draws from God which would defile you and load your Consciences and vex the Spirit for if any obey the Temptations they become darkned unbelief enters and the fruits of it grows and then there is a falling from the Lord and a departing from his way of Salvation therefore mind the Power and Spirit of Christ in you and be constant and faithful therein that you may be Preserved unto the finishing of the WORK of the Lord in you that at last ye may sit down in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus in places of Peace and Comfort and Assurance for ever where the Lord is enjoyed all in all which you must wait for to be accomplished in you according to the promise and you must witâ—â—â—s the work of Christ in you he must work in you by his Spirit Regeneration Reconâ—…on Sanctification Justification and all good things 〈◊〉 it is not sufficient to profess that Christ in his Person hath 〈◊〉 the works of God but every one in particular must witness at thâ—â— day the work of the Spirit of Christ in his own heart even the Work of Reconciliation and Salvation that ye may in each mans particular receive the Knowledge and Experience of the Lords Work of his Love and Life and Salvation and Redemption in particular for though never so large Testimonies in general should be given to you or received by you concerning Christ Jesus and his Salvation yet the particular feeling of 〈◊〉 Love and Power of the Lord God in your own hearts must you staâ—â— by in the Day oâ— Tryal for that alone can uphold in the Day of Trouâ—… even the Testimony of the Spirit of Christ unto Salvation felt in each particular heart And seeing the Lord hath brought you to the knowledge
how generally we were men of the strictest Sect and of the greatest Zeal in the Performance of outward righteousness and went through and tried all sorts of Teachers and run from Mountain to Mountain and from man to man and from one Form to another as do many to this very day who yet remain ungathered to the Lord and such we were to say no more of us that sought the Lord and desired the knowledge of his Wayes more then any thing beside and for one I may speak who from a Child even a few years old he set his face to seek and find the Saviour and more then Life and Treasure or any mortal Crown sought after with all his heart the one thing that is needful to wit the Knowledge of God And after our long seeking the Lord appeared to us and revealed his glory in us and gave us of his Spirit from Heaven and poured it upon us and gave us of his Wisdom to guide us whereby we saw all the World and the true state of all things the true condition of the Church in her present estate first the Lord brought us by his Power Wisdom and the Word by which all things were made to know and understand and see perfectly that God had given to us every one of us in particular a Light from himself shining in our hearts and consciences which Light Christ his Son the Saviour of the World had lighted every man and all Mankind withal which Light in us we found sufficient to reprove us convince us of every evil deed word and thought and by it in us we come to know good from evil right from wrong and whatsoever is of God and according to him from what is of the Devil and what is contrary to God in motion word and work and this Light gave us to discern between truth and error between every false and right way and it perfectly discovered to us the true state of all things and we thereby came to know man what he was in his creation before transgression and how he was deceived and overcome by the Devil and his estate in transgression and in disobedience and how he is drove and banished from the presence of the Lord and the sorrow and anguish which he is in and to undergo and also by the Light in us we perfectly came to know the way of Restauration and the means to be restored and the state of man being come out of Transgression and restored these things to us were revealed by the Light within us which Christ had given us and lightened us withal what man was before Transgression and what he is in Transgression and what he is being redeemed out of Transgression and also the Light which shineth in every one of us as to it our minds became turned and our hearts inclined the perfect Estate of the Church we came to know her Estate before the Apostles days and in the Apostles dayes and since the dayes of the Apostles and her present Estate we found to be as a Woman who had once been cloathed with the Sun and the Moon under her feet who brought forth him that was to rule the Nations but she was fled into the Wilderness and there sitting desolate in her place that was prepared of God for such a season which season in the very end thereof when the time of her sojourning was towards a full end then were we brought forth if any have an Ear they may hear so that all these things concerning man and concerning the times and seasons and the changing and renewing of times and all things that pertain to Salvation and Redemption and Eternal Life needfull for man to know all this was revealed discovered and made known to us by the Light which was in us which Christ had lighted us withal And we found this Light to be a sufficient Teacher to lead us to Christ from whence this Light came and thereby it gave us to receive Christ and to witness him to dwell in us and through it the new Covenant we came to enter into to be made Heirs of Life and Salvation and in all things we found the Light which we were enlightened withal and all Mankind which is Christ to be alone and only sufficient to bring to Life and eternal Salvation and that all who did own the Light in them which Christ hath enlightened every man withal they needed no man to teach them but the Lord was their Teacher by his Light in their own Consciences and they received the holy Anointing And so we ceased from the teachings of all men and their words and their Worships and their Temples and all their Baptisms and Churches and we ceased from our own Words and Professions and Practises in Religion in times before zealously performed by us through divers Forms and we become Fools for Christ's sake that we might become truely wise and by this Light of Christ in us were we led out of all false Wayes and false Preachings and false Ministers and we met together often and waited upon the Lord in pure Silence from our own words and all mens words and hearkned to the Voice of the Lord and felt his Word in our hearts to burn up and beat down all that was contrary to God and we obeyed the Light of Christ in us and followed the Motions of the Lords pure Spirit and took up the Cross to all Earthly Glories Crowns and Ways and denied our selves our Relations and all that stood in the way betwixt us and the Lord and we chose to suffer with and for the Name of Christ rather then all the pleasures upon Earth or all our former zealous Professions and Practices in Religion without the Power and Spirit of God which the World yet lives in And while waiting upon the Lord in Silence as often we did for many Hours together with our minds and hearts towards him being stayed in the Light of Christ within us from all thoughts fleshly Motions and desires in our diligent waiting and fear of his Name and hearkning to his Word we re-received often the pouring down of the Spirit upon us and the Gift of God's holy eternal Spirit as in the dayes of old and our heart were made glad and our Tongues loosed and our Mouthes opened and we spake with new Tongues as the Lord gave us utterance and as his Spirit led us which was poured down upon us on Sons and Daughters and to us hereby was the deep things of God revealed and things unutterable were known and made manifest and the Glory of the Father was revealed and then begun we to sing Praises to the Lord God Almighty and to the Lamb for ever who had redeemed us to God and brought us out of the Captivity and Bondage of the World and put an end to Sin and Death and all this was by and through and in the Light of Christ within us and much more might be declared hereof that which
our way to the promised Land which belongs to the Saints in Light we would eat our own Bread and Drink our Water and what we needed and keep our Consciences clear in our Generation we must to that which God hath promised and if we cannot have away God will make one for us and that you that set your selves against the Lord in the end shall be sure to know and feel though we shall never lift up carnal Weapon nor draw Sword neither use Bow nor Spear for God hath taught us to love our Enemies and out of these things we are come and to the end of Wars and to be for it yet God's purpose shall be fulfilled and he hath wayes enough to plead the cause of his people and he will do it and wo to all their Enemies And do you cry out of Popery because of cruelty and persecution And will you be found in the same Foot-steps and in the same nature Oh! let it never be said nor thought that ever the Church of God or true Christians did Drink the Blood of the Saints or cast them into prison for that is Babylon the Mother of Harlots that doth so Therefore be informed and warned set not Bryars and Thorns in Battel against the Lord neither stubble before devouring Fire for if you do a Consumption will come upon you and your Name and Memorial shall rot dye wither and melt away as Snailes and Glory shall rest with and upon the Heads of the Sufferers of Christ for ever Reading the 22. of the 12. Moneth 1662. By one who hath chosen rather to Suffer with the People of God called Quakers then to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a season or to be reckoned as a Prince amongst the Uncircumcised Francis Howgil GEORGE WHITEHEAD HIS TESTIMONY AND ACCOUNT Concerning Edward Burroughs ANd as for E. B. our dear Brother and Companion in Travel Suffering and Consolation for the Everlasting Gospel's sake in his day his Testimony lives with us He was a Preacher of Righteousness and one who travelled for the Redemption of the Creature from under the Bondage of Corruption and proclaimed Liberty to the Captives in the Power and Authority of God and therein was a true Witness against Oppression and all the Antichristian Yokes imposed in the Night of Apostacy upon the Persons and Consciences of People and truly and valiantly he held sorth the Liberty of Conscience and vindicated it to the great men of the Earth in things appertaining to God in matters of Religion and Worship against the persecution and compulsion which had its Original and Rise from the Power of the Beast which hath made War against the righteous Seed that men might be left free to the guidance of the infallible Spirit of God which is not to be limitted in these matters and not be compelled nor brought under the corrupt wills of men nor their failible judgements nor invented Forms in these cases And the Name of this Minister of Righteousness is written in the Lambs Book of Life and all the Enemies of his Life can never be able to blot it out nor extinguish his Memorial Oh! the remembrance of his integrity uprightness and sincerity hath deep impression upon my heart and that tender love and affection in God's Truth which he was filled with towards all the upright who are lovers of peace and unity in the Lord is never to be forgotten by us who are yet remaining in the Work of the Lord and the Everlasting Gospel for which he hath left a glorious Testimony the glory of which shall never be extinguished but thousands shall praise the Lord our God because thereof yea even the Seed that 's yet in the lower parts of the Earth where darkness covers it and the child that 's yet unborn in many that 's curiously framed in the Mothers Womb whose Members are written in the Book of God shall glorifie the Lord on his behalf And this Testimony many have already concerning him that though his Body is dead his Spirit liveth in the immortallity of that Life that is immutable and shall never die not wax old and is felt among the Righteous who walk in their integrety and constancy to the Lord. And this faithfull Servant of the Lord and valiant Souldier of the Lamb as in his day was evidently apparent as to live to him was Christ and to die was Gain And though in his time many were the Sâ—fferings and Afflictions which his life went under and his upright spirit suffered by both from his open Enemies and Persecutors in the World because of the valour and courage for the Truth of God and from deceitfull and transforming exalted spirits which burthen the holy Seed but now his Life is caught up above them all and is out of their reach in the transcendent and unspeakable Glory in the Everlasting Habitation and Firmament of God's Power where he hath shined and doth shine among the Stars that have kept their Habitations as one that hath turned many to Righteousness and that hath overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of his Testimony with those holy Prophets and Martyrs who rejoyce over Babylon and her Abominations in whom their blood is found and against whom he was a faithfull Witness and valiant Warrier whose living and absolute Testimony therein God hath blessed made prosperous and will fulfil to the uttermost And though he be ceased from his Labours his Works do follow him which will be had in living remembrance and precious esteem among the Upright when his Persecutors shall be broken and laid low in the desolation and ruin of Babylon and all that continue in Enmity and Deceit and all the deceitfull spirits that have burdened his righteous Soul shall fall and their blossom wither and come to nought And if any of his Persecutors or Oppressors be yet so impenitent and obdurate as to triumph and be elevated in an exalted or prejudiced spirit because of his death and in their exaltation and pride of heart say He was taken away in Judgment or in Wrath. To such in Gods Fear I answer That thousands of the Servants of the Lord are of another perswasion not questioning but it was in God's tender Love as to his own particular that he was removed out of the Earthen Vessel in which he though a man as in the prime of his years endured great Travels in his time for the Truth 's sake and the gathering of many into the Way of the Lord and in which his Travel was the greater when the time of his dissolution drew near to be dissolved because of his Sufferings and the extremity of his Sickness occasioned thereby which many others were pertakers of who suffered Persecution and Imprisonment by unreasonable men in this City of London for the Cause of God and a good Conscience as chiefly for their meeting together singly in the Worship of God But this I testifie in the Lord as in him I have felt that
restored again to serve and worship and glorifie the living God who made Heaven and Earth and all things therein THis is chiefly to go abroad into the dark parts of the World among those called Heathens most especially but its service reacheth to all men and people upon the face of the Earth And out of love unto the Creation and to all People in the World was it written and is it brought forth in publick that all that have ears to hear may hear and it is to be translated into several Languages by any who are moved of the Lord thereunto for of a truth the Lord is risen among us and God hath given the Word from his Mouth and many are they that publish it abroad through the World TO all the Sons and Daughters of Adam in the whole World this is the Word of the Lord God the Power that made you and that made Heaven and Earth and all things therein your State and Condition consider How that you are all drove from God your Maker and from the knowledge of him and of his Wayes which are Life and Peace and are in Darkness Blindness and Ignorance separated from that Power that made you and in the enmity against it and are Enemies to it in all your wayes and words where the sorrow anguish wo and trouble is But the second Adam the Lord from Heaven the Power by whom all things were made who is called Christ Jesus hath lightened every one of you with the true Light which shines in your hearts in darkness to give you the understanding of the knowledge of him that made you and of his Salvation and Redemption and of eternal Life if you love the Light with which you are all lightened And first The Light measureth every mans state in true Judgment and with it you may all see your selves in the state wherein you now stand which is a state separated from God and the state wherein man was created which was blessed Therefore search and consider your State and Condition in him that is the Light of the World of the dust of the Ground were you made and into man was breathed the Breath of Life from the living Power which formed all things and man was made a living Soul and brought forth into the World in the Image and Likeness of the Power that made him every one in particular that be come into the World for Male and Female in the Image of the Creator created he them without sin or evil And man was a noble Plant wholly a right Seed planted with the choicest Vine and placed in Paradise the Garden of the Creator and there was set to bring forth Fruit and to glorifie and honour him by whom man and all Creatures were made for man was made perfect and upright set in the Counsel of his Maker without sin or spot or evil in his sight and was the glory of the Creator and was made for his glory and Power and Wisdom was given unto man to rule and govern in Dominion in Righteousness and in Wisdom over all living Creatures and was Lord over all things and had rule and authority over all the Creation and was Steward over all things which the Creator had made who made all things for man and made them subject unto him to be ordered and governed by him and used to his Glory by whom they were made and in that day when man was in the Counsel of him that made him and was subject to his Will he was blessed above all Creatures and unto him were 〈◊〉 Creatures blessed and not any thing was evil that was made but good in hiâ— Sight that made it and good unto man that was to use it he being brought forâ—â— in the Image of the Creator and had a measure of his Wisdom and his Poweâ— to teach him and to lead him in the exercise of all Creatures and was in perfeâ—â— freedom over all things to rule in the Wisdom of God And this was the staâ—… of man before transgession which state was blessed and not subject to the cuâ—… of misery or sorrow nor trouble nor torment but man disobeyed the Power that made him and went from its Counsel and contrary to its Will and grievâ—… it and vexed it till it became his Enemy to fight against him and to curse him for he had transgressed against it by feeding on that part which he should not with the knowledg of things and so became wise and lost Uprightness and touched that which the Power that made him had forbidden and so his mind and heart adulterated from the Creator into the visible glories pleasures and things which were less then himself and so he became unprofitable to his Maker by transgressing against him and only profitable to himself to feed and nourish and delight and please himself in the outward Creation and forgot the Power that made him and thus being with his mind turned into the Earth there the evil entred and the Devil overcame him with his temptation and the power of the earthly darkness gained dominion over him to sway his affections desires and lusts into vanities of the Earth and he lost his dominion over the Creatures and they gained dominion over him to serve and worship them and to please himself with them who became captive with his mind to be ruled by them in vanity and in evil And thus man became unprofitable to his Maker and unfruitful in the Garden and kept it not undefiled and being turned from the Covenant wherein he was set into his own willing and desiring in the outward Creation the evil defiled him and he became evil and a fruitless Tree that cumbred the Ground and an enmity was placed in him by disobedience and all things became evil to him and the door of all misery and sorrow was opened and let in the curse upon him inwardly and outwardly for he became dead in transgression to the Life and Power and Wisdom of the Creator and every moment was subject to die in this World also And through transgression of the Power that made him he was cast out of the Creator's Garden and out of his Love to labour under the curse in unprofitable Ground and also out of his own dignity and honour and dominion was he cast and became Heir of death and Child of wrath and an Enemy in his mind unto the Creator and an enmity was placed in him against the Power that made him and rebellion in his mind from which all the works of unrighteousness proceed and innocency was lost and man became hurtful to himself and to all Creatures and grieved continually the Power that made him and was drove from the presence and feeling of his Creator into insensableness And in this state unto this day are all ye the Sons and Daughters of the first Adam in the enmity against the Power that made you every moment transgressing it and death reigns over you all and the power of
of trouble and of your need in the day of your Integrity yet trouble and destruction shall come upon you and no help from him shall you find till you return to him with all your hearts and spirits and lay down your own crowns and exalt him the Lord of Glory who is now appearing in Power And further you say In the midst of Such unequalled and signal Mercies how greâ— hath been and is your ingratitude and unfruifulness To which I answer Truely have you spoken to your own shame for your ingratitude and unfruitfulness exceed many that went before you which justly were cut off for the very sins of which you are highly guilty and more may I add unto your confession How great hath been and is your Oppressions aâ—â— Pride and Vain-glory and Self-exaltings and hypocritical Fastings and Confessions with your mouths when your hearts are far from the Lord yea 〈◊〉 your Mercies have been unequalled so your sins cannot be numbred as thouâ—… you sinned that grace might abound or did evil that good might come or toâ—… liberty to your own hearts lusts from your former Mercies and Deliverancâ— received Then further you say Should the Lord say unto you as once he did unto Ephraim Ephraim is joyned to Idols let him alone that same Sentence would be your â—â—sert as insensibility is your crime so it might be too justly made your punishment Answer Yea verily the Lord may say so unto you many of ye Rulers 〈◊〉 England are joyned to Idols let them alone and that same Sentence is your â—…sert but insensibility is not wholly your crime for you have had a day of viâ—tation from the Lord in warning of you by the mouth of his Servants and yâ—â— are not altogether unsensible of your crime of great Oppressions and false Worships and Idol Shepherds Oblations which you are joyned unto and your punishment will justly be the same for the time comes that it shall be Darkness aâ—â— Night upon you and you shall seek the Word of the Lord but shall not 〈◊〉 it for God will smite your Idol Shepherds and break down your Idols Altaâ— of vain Traditions and the Lord will leave you to your selves to wallow iâ— Darkness and in the way of Death and the Servants of the Lord shall leâ— you alone and shall no more weary themselves with seeking to reclaim you And further you say Who hath been melted with Mercy Who hath been broken bâ— Iudgments A sinful Nation A People laden with iniquity A seed of Evil-doâ—â—â— Children that are Corrupters They have forsaken the Lord they have provoked the â—…ly One of Israel to Anger they are gone away backwards Why should ye be stricken 〈◊〉 more ye will revolt more and more And further you say As those sad words do Câ—â—racterise us as filthy as those of Judah so if that sad destruction should also be our doom 〈◊〉 could not but acknowledge the Lord is righteous in all his Wayes Answ. Verily few of you have been melted by Mercies or broken by Judgments but are a sinful Nation a People laden with iniquity a feed of Evil-doers and ye have read your own Character fully for you have forsaken the Lord and are Children that are Corrupters and are gone away backward anâ— provoke the Holy One of Israel to Anger and true it is Why should you he stricken any more or warned For you will revolt and turn aside more and more how truly have you numbred up the sum of your own state even to your shame and confusion of face and to the justifying of the Lord when he in Vengeance appears to judge you and even assuredly that sad denunciation will be your doom and the same Judgments shall overtake you when the Seed is gathered out from among you even desolation of Cities and madness of Prophets and God will smite you together with confusion and you shall not bring forth deliverance in the Land neither shall the Nations have peace in your dayes while you revolt when you are stricken and persecute the Innocent when they warn you And in the day of your recompence you shall indeed confess to your condemnation that the Lord is righteous in all his ways and further you say How deeply have you grieved your God in not mourning as you ought for that profainness and bâ—â—â—â—â—ness that is so ripe amongst you even under such means of knowledge and grace and in not being sensible under nor making a sanctified use of those rebukes you have of late received Answ. Yea you have and do daily even in your set days and times of Fasting deeply grieve the Lord God in not mourning and fasting with a heart prepared to the Lord but even in hypocrisie and even for strife and debate indeed ignorance and prophaneness and barrenness abounds among you and you are ripe therein to be cut down for the fire even the more ye are inexcusable because you have neglected the Messages of the Grace of God and means of knowledge from the Mouth of the Lords despised Servants whom you have persecuted even in cruelty some of them unto death and have imprisoned others unjustly while your false Prophets and Diviners have been set up by you who have daubed you with untempered Morter and you have made your hearts unsensible by heardening your hearts against reproof and rebukes which some of you of late have received the Messengers of which rebukes have been evil and shamefully entreated in your Towns Steeple-houses and High-wayes and elsewhere in your Dominions and how should you but be ignorant and prophane and barren while you cannot receive the Message of Light but stumbles at Christ Jesus the Light of the World and cannot believe in the Light wherewith Christ Jesus hath enlightened every one of you which is the way to knowledge and to receive righteousness into your Souls and therein to be fruitfull to the Lord. And you say Every individual man hath helpâ—d to fill up the mâ—â—sure of their sâ—… First in not improving â—ercâ—â—s so fully as might hâ—…e been to â—is glory from 〈◊〉 they were received I answer Indeed I believe not one of you may be excused in the sight of God but are all guilty in filling up the measure of transgression and even iâ— not improving mercies to the glory of God for had you improved the great mercies of your Deliverance and Conquest over your Enemies the Nations had been in peace and rest before this day but you strove to glorifie your selves and sought a Kingdom of Riches and Honour to your selves and who might be the greatest and the highest to the pleasure of some and to the grief of others and you improved mercies to your selves and not to him that gave them and therefore is your Dominions filled with distractions and fears and troubles are on every side and your Dominions are as broken Vessels that cannot be joyned together but are full of wickedness and false Sects and Idol-worships and in your own Councels are
Heaven and Earth all Nations upon Earth are but as the drop of a Bucket before him and the hearts of all men are in his Hand and by him Kings rule and the Princes of the Earth are at his disposure and you are all weighed in the Ballance of Equity and found too light before the Lord for all flesh hath corrupted its way before him Be awakenened ye that have long slept in Darkness and been at ease in the flesh ye that have had peace in this World and pleasure in the vanity thereof the Lord is coming to make war against you his Trumpet hath sounded and his Sons and Daughters are gone forth to bear witness of his Majesty and Power and Dominion and the Lord hath spoken Who can but prophesie he hath given the Word and many are they that publish it Let your ears be open to Instruction and kick not against the Lord neither harden your hearts against him but make way for him and prepare his Path for he cometh to judge the World in Righteousness and the People with equity and the Testimony of the Light of Jesus in you all shall witness for him your princely Powers must become subject to the Power of the Kingdom of the Most High and your glory must be vailed and darkned before the Glory which â—he Lord is causing to shine forth and we the Servants of the Most High do give you warning of the day of your Visitation which is upon you and all the World for the Lord is now risen who hath long winked at the time of great ignorance but now â—e warns you all to repent therefore bow down ye Stiff-necked and tremble ye Stout-hearted and be abased ye Lofty-looks our King is above you all our dominion is over you all and the line of true Judgment are you all measured with and your wayes are not found perfect in the Sight of the Lord nor your hearts right before him his Kingdom hath not been known in your dominions neither hath his Laws and his Judgments born rule but you have every one been doing that which is right in the sight of your own eyes and the counsels of your hearts have been nought but vanity before the Lord Vain-glory hath abounded among you which the the Lord's Soul hath been burdened by the honours and pleasures of the flesh have been your delight and strife and enmity hath been among you and wars and quarreling and fighting one against another and you have rejoyced in the overthrow one of another and in destroying one another and you have taken pleasure in gaining one anothers dominions you have striven who should have been the greatest and greatly oppressed the Poor you have exalted your selves one against another and drawn up your Armies one in defiance of another and the blood of Thousands have been shed to satisfie the humours of your proud hearts all this hath been evil in the Sight of the Lord and his Spirit hath been grieved and his Soul vexed by all this and he hath forborn till he hath been weary for he hath been dishonoured by all this and his Law hath not born rule and his Judgments have had no place you have been cruel-hearted one towards another and merciless and without pitty and ouy have not done to others as you would be done unto but you have rendred evil for evil and sought occasions of evil one against another and vexed one another through the pride of your hearts therefore now is the Lord risen to make war against you all and to dash you to pieces the Feller comes up amongst you he that will not spare to slay and to devour who will not be afraid of your lofty looks he will spoil you of your Treasure and lay waste your strength all ye Kingdoms of the Earth and your gathering together against him is but as Briers and thorns for he will exalt his own Kingdom over you all and all ye Kings of the Earth shall know that the Kingdom of the most high must rule in your Kingdoms and your Laws shall be changed and the poor shall no more be oppressed for he is come thâ—t proclaims liberty unto the Captives who will remove oppression far away who will change Times and Worships and Ordinances and there shall be no Law but the Law of God nor no light but of the Lamb nor no worship but the Worship in the Spirit and in the Truth for all your Worships which the Nations are full of is nought but vanity and a lye immitations and superstitions brought forth in hypocrisie and not in an upright heart vanity of vanities have abounded both in civil and spiritual affairs The root in which you stand is wholly corrupted and no good fruit springs from it but cursed fruit which must be 〈◊〉 down and cast into the fire ye have been evil and could not bring forth any good you are corrupted and your fruit is of a bitter taste a day of sorrow of lamentation and misery is coming upon you all ye that have been high and lofty and stouthearted fearfulness shall surprise you and the terror of the Lord of Hosts shall compass you about I am moved to salute you all with this as a warning and when it comes to pass remember you have been told ye that know not the Kingdom of the most High ruling men but are saying in your hearts this hath my hand done in a moment shall you be smitten and know there is one above you which must rule for it is his right to rule over all Nations and there shall be no King but Jesus thâ— Aâ—oinâ—eâ— oâ— God â—oâ—â—o Government but the Government of the Lamb there shall be no more war but war against the Dragon who hath stood to devour the Man-child which is now bringing forth and he must rule with his Iron Rod and shall subdue all under his feet We whom God hath warned cannot but warn you of these things which 〈◊〉 come to pass he is coming to separate between the Just and the unjust he will gather from among you that the wicked may be consumed from off the face of the Earth All you Rulers in the World I warn you all take heed how you persecute such as comes to warn you who brings this Message to you lest you add sin to sin till there be no place found for repentance for ye shall all know our God is the true God that made Heaven and Earth before whose presence all â—â—esh must come to Judgment By one who hath measured the Times who is come to the Day that hath made all Things mâ—…ifest EDWARD BURROUCH A General Epistle and Greeting OF THE Fathers Love tâ— all the SAINTS Called and chosen to faithfulness in Christ Jesus the Light of the World in which they believing and their faith standing in his Power many suffer for his Name sake And this is to all such as are found worthy to suffer and is an Exhortation to the strengthning of their
Dwellings and so Unbelief and Doubting and Murmurring and Lustings after evil arise in you and you be perverted from the Worship of the true God and grieve his Righteous Spirit by bowing to Idols and following of other Lovers and so the true God who hath brought you out of Aegypt and made manifest his Power in you be forgotten and the Faith of his Son made Ship-rack of and your latter end be worse then the beginning and the Name of the Lord be dishonoured by you and then wo unto you his Wrath shall suddenly break out against you Wherefore hear and fear and hearken unto the Word of the Lord He hath caused his Light to shine forth and his voice to be heard he hath proclaimed his Name amongst you and hath caused his marvellous Light to approach when you sate in Darkness in the Land of the shadow of death when you were lost he sought you and when you were driven away and scatterred he found you and brought you home when you were in your blood and no eye pittied you he had Mercy upon you and bound you up and healed you when you were dead he said unto you Live and it was so when you were led captive by the Devil under the power of death he broke the Chains and set you free and when there was none to help nor to save his own Arm brought deliverance and salvation and the Way of Life and Peace he set before you And now all this hath his own Arm accomplished that you should be a Praise unto him for evermore now if you walk in the Way which he hath set before you and keep his Covenant which he hath made with you and fulfil his Will and walk in Righteousness in Love and Unity in Meekness Lowliness Humbleness and in Soberness and Watchfulness and in Fear of his Name then shall his Presence never forsake you nor his outstretched Arm cease to defend and preserve you but he shall go before you and be your Reward and he shall be your God and you shall be his People and shall dwell in him and he shall be your Hiding-place and he will be to you a Father and you shall be his Children and his Blessing and Peace shall remain in your Habitations for ever and ever but if any of you turn aside for a thing of naught after vanity and deny the Way of Righteousness and forget the Lord and kick against him and follow the way and counsel of your own hearts and worship other gods and joyn your selves to Strangers and commit Adultery with other Lovers and make the Cross of Christ of none effect and turn from the Light of Christ within you and fulfil your own wills and the desire of your own minds and go out of the fear of the Lord into the liberty of the flesh which is not the Liberty in Christ Jesus and so seek your selves and strive for mastery to be one above another and so surmise evil one against another and the bond of peace be broken and vain contention and strife appear then shall the Rod of God smite you and his Wrath be suddenly kindled against you and you shall not prosper but his Countenance shall be hid and the terrors of the Lord and Lamentations shall possess you and Peace shall flee far from you and such shall be cast out of the Camp of the Lord and shall have no part in the Inheritance but the Blessing shall depart and the Curse shall enter till utter destruction yea and if any of you deny the Lord unto whom his Way is made manifest he will deny you and you shall have no part in him but Vengeance in Flames of Fire will he render upon the Disobedient manifold more then if his Love and Way of Peace had not been made manifest to you and the Light of the World is your condemnation for evermore if you turn from it And in the Presence of the living God I warn you all Believe not that spirit neither follow it which brings any other Message then what hath been declared from the beginning Believe not him which crieth Lo here or Lo there is Christ without you or that draweth from the measure of Christ within you to hearken to or to be taught by any other thing for that spâ—â—â—t is not of the Father which preacheth any other Christ then he that is the Light of the World and lighteâ—â— every man that cometh into the World or bringâ—â—â— any other Message then that God is Light in himself and hath given his Son a Light into the World and this is the true Testimony of the Father and of the Son and he that testifieth any other Message is to be judged and denied he is not a Worshipper of the true God bâ—â— out of the Truth and in the Error and a Deceiver being deceived Again Believe not that spirit neither follow it which ministreth to others that which it hath not learned oâ— the Father but hath the words without the Power and liveth not in the Power of what it ministreth forth in words nor is it what it declareth but is in the outward Shews in the Hypocrisâ—â— and Feignedness and reacheth not the Life of God but vaileth and covereth it and that spirit is not of the Father but is to be denyed and judged and not received nor believed Again Believe not that spirit neither follow it which is at liberty in the flesh and maketh the offence of the Cross to cease which is exalted out of the Fear of the Lord in the liberty of the earthly which crucifieth the Life and darkeneth the Eye and that spirit will boast of Joy and Peace and Experience and Knowledge and speak high words in the airy Wind and that would lead yoâ— out of your conditions to glory above the Cross till you be past feeling of the Life and that spirit begetteth into Feignedness and Hypocrisie and into the Loâ—e of the World which passeth away and beware of that spirit for it is not of the Father but to be condemned Again Believe not that spirit neither follow it which is hasty and forward and rash for that goeth out of God's Counsel and betrayeth the Just and striveth to be greatest and to be above the Weak and despiseth him and would be Master and not a Servant and would rule and not be ruled in the meek and lowly Government of Christ and that spâ—â—it will judge out of thoughts rashly and unsavourly and condemn another in secret in what it self is guilty of beware of that spirit for it is not of God but to be judged with the Life of God Again Believe not that spirit neither follow it which seeks it self to have praise of men and to be accounted and would beget into divisions and would have Parties to it self and respects persons and glories in gifts and knowledge and parts more then in the Giver and admires men more then he that gives the encrease and feeds of the knowledg
thee vain Fashions foolish Customs and all manner of evil hath its abiding in thee yea the very Seat of Satan is established within thy Wall and works of unrighteousness do proceed out of thee into other Nations aboundance of deceitfull Merchandize and of oppressing Merchants who grind the face of the Poor do inhabit thy Borders thy wayes are evil in the sight of the Lord and his Spirit is grieved and his Soâ—â— is vexed from day to day every moment of time Aboundance of Treachery Flattery and Hypocrisie Dissimulation and Double-heartedness possesseth thine Inhabitants from Teachers to People High and Low Rich and Poor you are fulfilling your own wills and seeking your own pleasures and following the counsels of your own hearts and doing that which is right in the sight of your own eyes and your hearts are corrupted before the Lord and the very best of your works are evil and the purest of your wayes are filthy and all your Observations your dayes of Humiliation and Thanksgivings and all your Worships and Sacrifices are abomination in the fight of the Lord for no good fruit can spring forth for your root is not the Vine Christ Jesus who cannot own the Light with which you are enlightened and that makes all your profession vile and not accepted but it is wholly unfruitfull in the Sight of the Lord. Much Profession is in thee of Righteousness and Religion and many Forms and Gatherings of People which are but as so many Images and liknesses of divers sorts which must be overturned and overthrown by the roots You are all measured with the Line of true Judgment and your Buildings cannot stand when the Lord comes to try you and search and try you for your life for though you profess much yet you perform little your knowledg puffs you up and you are not sincere-hearted but loose and unsavory are you in your wayes and words There is much wisdom in thee and many wise men whose wisdom is devillish and it doth not lead to God it must be confounded and trodden down for it profits you not in the Sight of the Lord but in it you are wise to do evil but to do good you have no knowledge and the Lord God is forgotten and his Judgments are not known Vanity vanity hath so stolen away your hearts and after Idols are you run worshipping strange gods and following strange lovers Aboundance of subtilty and craft lodges in thee vain glory excels above measure Pride Idleness and fulness of Bread abounds in thee even as in Sodom unto whom thou art become equal in trangression Whoredom Drunkenness Wrath and Envy Gluttony and Excess spending the Creation upon the lust and all the Works of the flesh which are evâ—â— have their full growth in thee and in evil art thou fully ripe O London Consider and be awakened ye Inhabitants thereof for the Lord is grieved day by day and his Soul is vexed every moment the weight of thy Transgression is upon him thou even makest him to serve with thy sins Hath there been any evil committed by any Nation which is not in thee Hath there been any abomination brought forth which is not in this day to be found in thee Oh what Haughtiness and stretched-out-Necks Oh what Pride and Vain glory appears in thee Even thy Infants are nourished up in vanity and thy old Men are over-grown with craft and deceit thy young Men give their strength to folly and thy Maidens are trimed in wantonness all sorts of People are prophane in their Way Old and Yong Rich and Poor are abounding in evil all seeking their own things and few the things of Gods Kingdom the Way of Truth is even despised and they that depart from iniquity are become a Prey to the mouthes of the Ungodly who are grievously prophane as though the Lord took no notice or as though no day of account was to come so great is the iniquity committed in thee words reacheth not to manifest it What Lying what Swearing what Vain-talking and what Scorning and what Double-dealing appears in thee at every corner What Pride what Wantonness and Wickedness is manifest in all thy Streets Teachers and People are out of the Way given to deceit and to deceiving Oppressors and oppressing one another such is the Devils Power amongst you ruling it cannot easily be overcome so deep is wickedness seated in thee that it cannot easily be plucked up so strong is the lust of the flesh grown in thee that it cannot easily be removed How is the glorious Name of the Lord continually dishonoured and polluted through thy Wickedness which is grown into a numberless sum But the Lord will be avenged on all you his Enemies and will meet you with Judgments Plagues and Vengeance and the Wicked shall not escape And as concerning all thy Profession of God and the Scriptures in a blind Zeal it is but abomination to the Lord and all thy several Sects and Gatherings of People and separate Congregations who are not separated by the Spirit of the Lord they are but like so many molten and carved Images which the Lord will overthrow All thy Offerings and Oblations Preaching Praying and Performances God's Soul hath no pleasure in them but they are a Burden and Weariness to him and though thou washest thy self never so clean and makest thy self never so fair through thy own labour yet cannot thy iniquities be washed away nor thy sin covered for thy iniquities are marked before the Lord and thy sin is written as with a Pen of Iron and as with the point of a Diamond All thy Steeple-House Worship is nought but vanity before the Lord. All thy publique Exercises all thy Saboath keeping all thy set dayes of Humiliation and all thy private Duties and all that ever thou performest unto God are not regarded of him while the hearts of thy People are not aright in his sight and upright before him so the best of thy Sacrifices are but as the cutting off of a Dogs neck and the offering of Swines blood for in thee is found the great Abomination open Prophainness abounds and secret Hypocrisie super-abounds and thou art as abominable in the Eyes of the Lord in thy Hypocritical Profession of Righteousness as thou art in thy open sins In thee is found the Abomination of Israel Mercy and Truth Justice and true Judgment is neglected Do not thy Heads judge for Reward And do not thy Priests preach for Hire And dot not thy Prophets prophesie falsly And do not they divine for money And do not thy People love to have these things so Oh how art thou deceived by thy Teachers led blind by the blind Leaders even they that lead thee cause thee to err and they that should instruct thee teache thee vain things Wo unto them the Lords Wrath is against them How do they make a Prey upon the People How do they feed themselves and cloath themselves each one of them having a Quarter from which
who have done evil against the Lords People as a gift unto them from a Friend OF a truth the Lord is arisen and he hath caused the Light of his countenance to shine forth upon his people his day is dawned and the brightness of his glory is shining forth as the Sun at noon day hâ—… everlasting Arm is stretched forth to lead out of Captivity his oâ—… chosen the days of perfect freedom is approaching he that brings Health Peace and Liberty to all Nations is come and coming who will restore the breaches and subdue all things under himself that he may raign for ever and ever who alone is worthy for he hath all Power in his hand and he bringâ— to pass whatsoever he will that all Men and Nations may fear before him and tremble at his dreadfull Presence who hath power in his hand to change Timâ—… and Laws Orders Decrees and Governments the hearts of all men he câ—… turn what way he listeth and he pulleth down one and setteth up another and whatsoever is in his heart to do his power can bring it to pass who would not fear before him and reverence his Name Who would not be afraid to offend him who giveth unto man Breath and takes it away in a moment all Nations are as the drop of a bucket before his eternal Eye he dwells in the high and holy place and his habitation is high above the World be inhabits eternity forevermore and yet abideth and walketh and dwelleth with the children of men that fear his Name and tremble at his Word he hath been as a stranger as one not known for men have been seperated from him by transgression and have been ignorant of his ways he hath been as one hidden for many ages and hath been worshipped ignorantly and hath winked in the time of ignorance but now he calleth all to repentance every where Blessed are they that wait upon him that they may know him and their souls may live and now the purpose of his heart is to bring in his scattered people into the fold of peace where Christ Jesus is the shepherd and his people shall dwell in safety and shall be a free people to worship him in the Spirit and in the Truth and every yoke of bondage shall be broken and the oppressed shall be set free and Christ shall feign and his Government above shall be established over all the World mans honour shall be laid in the dust the pride of all flesh shall be stained and the Glory thereof shall wither as a flower the loftiness of all flesh shall be laid low and the Lord alone shall be exalted and his people which now are oppressed shall replenish and fill the Earth All corrupt men and Rulers their strength and might shall utterly fail them and men that fear God and love righteousness shall take their place and all things shall be changed and the World shall be turned up-side down But because of this is all the World troubled and the Heathen is on a rage and the people do imagine vain things and men of high degree and low degree and of all sorts have set themselves against the Lord that they might stop the purpose of the most high and their hearts within them burn because of envy and the Devil hath stirred up all sorts of people to work for him and to uphold his kingdom and his power he is come down in great rage knowing that his time is but short and hath filled the hearts of all his servants with despite and ravening envy against the Seed of God The heads of the people they have conspired together against the Lord and against his Truth and have decreed unrighteous decrees that they might pervent the purpose of the most High Many of the Rulers and Judges as members of the beastly power rather than of Jesus Christ have unjustly judged and falsly imprisoned and trodden under foot the meek and upright who fear the Lord and walk in his way even such who have come from under the subjection of the worship and power of the Beast which all the World had wondered after â—ath the Beast raised his force against How many hundreds in this Nation have been imprisoned falsly and suffered grievous abuses unjustly for righteousness sake and not for evil doing as a testimony against this Generation of Judges and people and for a testimony that they are of God who have in paâ—ience born the sufferings and the cruelties of the wicked many have suffered â—he loss of Liberty and riches and some the loss of life for the exercise of a â—ure conscience towards God and for the Kingdom of Jesus many have â—uffered under the power of wicked men for declaring against sin and iniquity 〈◊〉 Townes Steeple-houses or high wayes and for crying against pride and â—anity and idolatry and coveteousness and the wickedness of Rulers Priests â—nd People whose deceits and transgressions hath abounded in this Generation â—nd others have deeply suffered grievous cruelties because they could not swear â—nd respect persons with hat or knee and so were witnesses for the Lord and his Kingdom which stands in righteousness and against the power and kingdom â—f the Beast which stands in iniquity in fainedness and flattering titles and â—isobedience to the Son of God and many hundreds are woful unjust and opâ—ressed sufferers at this day by false imprisonment and spoiling of goods because they cannot pay Tythes that abominable and crying oppression by which the Beast chiefly maintains his false Prophets and because the unchangable Priesthood is witnessed and the changable denied and Christ the Light of the World followed therefore is this suffering laid upon the just and many are sufferers under hard tasks because they cannot maintain the Idol temples and Idol worships and Idol Priests which the power of Antichrist upholds against the Power of the Son of God and against the new Covenant of life where God in Spirit and in Truth is worshipped without respect of places days or men or things and the True Worshippers they Worship God in the Spirit and in the Truth and cannot be subject to days places or things appointed and ordained by the power of men and false prophets and how many unjust fines and false indictments have been most illegally charged upon the Innocent in many Courts and Judicatories through this Nation and all in the defence of the kingdom of the man of sin lest his authority should be abated and the Authority of Christ Jesus exalted many cruelties have been done and injustice acted both by Rulers and People against such which no evil could justly be charged against nor yet the transgression of any just law by any one of them O! horrid grievances and cruel oppressions hath been brought forth in this Nation by such who should have eased the oppressed and set at liberty the captives such who should have judged justly the cause of the Poor and heard the call oâ— the oppressed have turned
is contained in the Old and New Testament of the Scriptures which Oath he is bound to perform before the Lord and unto all men Now it remains to be tried and proved what the Christian Religion is and who they are in these Nations that are of the true reformed Protestant Christian Religion in the purity thereof as it is contained in the Scriptures seeing there are abundance of Sects and diversity of Judgements and many Assemblies and Gatherings of people who are divers in their Wayes in their Practices and in their Form of Religion in these Nations which do all profess the Scriptures and that their Form of Religion is according to the Scriptures but this cannot be but it will be manifest otherwise for the Scriptures which were given forth by the one Spirit of God bears not witness of many true Ways or unto many true Religions but unto one Truth and unto one true Religion and is the Declaration of one way of Life and Salvation by one Jesus Christ and there is no other Name under Heaven given for Salvation And they that believe in him and receive him those are they onely that are of the true Religion who are guided by the Spirit and changed thereby from Death to Life and such have unity with the Father and with the Son and one with another and are not of this World but Heirs of the Kingdom of God and these may own and claim a Title to be defended and preserved in their exercise and Practice of Religion Therefore come all sorts of People and let us try and prove who it is that is of the true Religion and who it is that he is bound to maintain and uphold by his Oath Come I say all Sects and sorts of people and appear to Trial Dare you joyn issue with me in this matter to try your Profession and Practise oâ— Religion whether it be according to the Scriptures in the purity thereof yea or nay for the Lord hath put it into my Heart to lay you all to the Line of true Judgement and to prove you whether you must be upholden and maintained in your Religion yea or nay Come claim your Priviledge if your Profession and Practice in Religion be according to the Scriptures then you may own your right and the benefit of the Protectors Oath but if your Profession and Practice in Religion be otherwise and not according to the Scriptures then you must stand back and defend your selves if you can for the Protector is not bound to maintain and uphold you in your Practice of Religion And with this Argument I shall try you all Whatsoever is professed and practised for Religion for which there is neither command nor president in Scripture is not aecording to the Scripture let this fall where it may this is Truth and therefore all people come to tryal and receive your judgement by this rule And first the true Religion is a walking with God in purity and holiness a performing of good to him and not doing any evil a belief in Christ and receiving of him and a living in him and through the operation of his Spirit to be changed into his Image and the Body of Sin and Death put off and a living to God in all things and not a living to this vain World in any thing but in all things to be guided by the Spirit of Christ This in short is a description of the true Religion and they that are of this Religion shall be saved in the Day of the Lord and in Equity and Righteousness should be protected according to the Oath before-mentioned or else the Oath is not performed in justice but rather broken through transgression And first of all as concerning that profession and practice in Religion which is most general in these Nations I mean such as sprinkle Infants and are sprinkled being Infants professing it to be the Baptism into the Faith of Christ and that it is a seal of the new Covenant and of remission of sins and that thereby people are made capable of union with Christ and that it is a sign of regeneration c. This is practised and professed by many for Religion but this Practice and Doctrine is not according to the Scripture therefore all ye through all these Nations that are made Christians and own your Title in Christianity and a right to fellowship with Christ and that ye are joyned to the Church and become Members of Christ because you were sprinkled when you were Infants and all ye that preach this for Doctrine and practise it for Religion you are not of the true Christian Religion in the Purity thereof as it is contain'd in the Scriptures this I do affirm Therefore stand you by for what you practise and profess there is neither Command nor President in Scripture if you could shew any you are now called and a Necessity is put upon you to make use of your Knowledge if you would be protected in this Common-Wealth in your Practice of Religion Likewise you sing and give to sing David's Psalms in Rhyme and Meeter professing it is to the Glory and Honour of God ye practise this as an Ordinance of God as a part of his Worship and as a part of your Religion but this Practice and Profession also is manifest not to be according to Scriptures because it was never commanded neither is there any President for this Practice in the Scriptures in Gospel Times therefore in this part of your Religion you cannot justly own to be pro tected and maintained because the Protector 's Oath reacheth not to uphold and maintain any such Practices in Religion which are not according to the Scriptures Likewise all ye that meet together to exercise your Religion and to worship God in Temples made with hands set a part by you for that Practice professing them to be Churches of Christ this is not according but contrary to the Scriptures which say God dwells not in Temples made with hands neither did the Saints of old constantly practice any such thing But they were the Persecutors that met in Temples made with hands who cast out and haled the Apostles out of such Temples so that in this Practice you cannot justly own to be protected as not being a Practice in Religion according to Scriptures Likewise All ye whose Ministers preach for Hire and have Hire for preaching so much a Year and so much a Sermon at a Town or a Parish in a settled Place and who take Tythes and compel People to pay Tythes by a Law such are not the Ministers of Christ and ye that uphold such for Ministers of Christ are false in Judgment and blind in Understanding and are not of that Christian Religion which is according to Scriptures in the Purity thereof neither Ministers nor People for the Ministers of Christ never acted any such thing they were the false Prophets and false Apostles that preached for Hire and for Gifts and Rewards neither did
Members of one Head and mind always the Testimony of Truth its self and walk therein and you cannot stumble Have not respect to Persons but to the Truth only for Persons may change but the Truth abides for ever So let not an evil Eye look at Evil when it comes to pass to take occasion thereby against the Truth for then you stumble and fall but I say again have respect only to the pure Testimony of Truth which is sure and cannot err nor alter though man may change and err and that is the Testimony which is held forth for Salvation evon the Testimony of God with whom there is no shaddow of turning Therefore all take heed unto your selves that you give not nor receive any offence against the Lord and against your own souls but know the Seed of God in which stands the Election where the Covenant of God is sure and unalterable and a Birth you must all know to be brought forth in you which must inherit and that is it which is born of the Spirit which doth obtain the Promise it is not that birth which is of the Flesh which works by willing and running and thinking that obtains not the Promise of God neither is Salvation shewed unto it but in Patience and in Long-suffering is the Victory received over all the Powers of Darkness which make war against the Kingdom of God So all Friends dwell in that which lets you see before the World was and that stops and limits all Strife in the mind and gives you victory over it and none must glory in the Flesh for that glory must be confounded but let him that glories glory in the Lord in the Spirit and not in the Flesh And take heed that none of you abuse your liberty which is in Christ Jesus neither turn it into fleshly Bondage and thereby the Just comes to suffer and the fleshly part comes to rule above the Seed of God but dwell in the Cross which suppresseth every high Thought and whatsoever is against God in the first motion and thereby you will be preserved from the Enemy which watcheth for Evil against you and seeks occasion against the Way of the Lord but mind that which keeps you pure for it is the pure in Heart that sees God and it is him that is of clean Hands and of a pure Heart that inherits God's holy Mountain And as concerning all your Afflictions and Sufferings and Tryals and Persecutions and whatsoever is laid upon you by the Lord or by Men I say bear all things patiently and endure all things in Long-suffering these things are but for a moment and they are not worthy to be compared with the Price of God's Inheritance and if you dwell in the Counsel of the Lord all these things will be turned unto your good in all Tryals and Sufferings the Lord's Arm will be revealed and these things must come to pass that Truth may appear in its beauty in Victory over all that which doth oppose it and vengance is the Lord's and he will repay for he doth enquire after our Blood though no man lay it to heart or consider the cause or unjust Sufferings of the Innocent who are become a Prey to the Ungodly and unjust Men till God arise to plead our Cause And all Afflictions and Sufferings are but for to try and prove they are not to confound or destroy the Lord's People and therefore in patience they must be born and the Life of God felt which gives Dominion over all these things And receiving all things as from the Hand of the Lord then in all things your Peace will remain and God's Testimony will witness Peace and acceptance with God And of all Injustice and Abuses and Cruelty acted upon you by any at any time keep account of it and draw it up in short and plain words the occasion and manner of it and at every Quarter Sessions let a true Declaration of all unjust Sufferings be presented in prudency and singleness of heart to the Justices or Grand-Jury by such as are wise and faithful and appeal to the Witness of God in them in such Causes that that of God in all Men may witness for us Let this be done as cause is seen at every Sessions in the Wisdom and Authority of God that in all things Justice and true Judgment may be sought after and in Patience waited for till the Lord alone our King and Judge and Law-giver comes to reign over all his Enemies when all that now suffer for him shall reign with him A Servant to the Churches of Christ E. B. To the Elect and Chosen Seed of God in London TO the Elect and Chosen Seed of God most dear and precious who are redeemed to God and joyned in Covenant with him and have tasted and felt and heard of the Love and Peace of the Father and to all the Faithfull and Called of God who are Partakers of the Power and Presence of an Endless Life in particular unto you the Flock of God in and about London who fear the Lord and wait upon him and over whom he is the chief Shepherd The Salutation in the Father's Love by me a Brother and Companion unto all the Children of Sion and chiefly unto you a Friend in Heart and nothing more desiring for you then your encrease in God and that Grace Peace Love and Fellowship from the infinite Father of Heaven and Earth may be largely encreased and aboundantly multiplied amongst you and in all your hearts that you may shine forth in the Beauty of the Lord and the Garment of Righteousness and Truth may be spread over you all and that the Spirit of Holiness may rest upon you that the fruit thereof may greatly abound in you and spring forth from you whereby the Father who hath begotten you may be glorified through the Nation and among his Saints through the World and my Soul wisheth that the Fear of the Lord be amongst you and his terror upon all your Enemies Amen DEarly Beloved and much desired after in the Lord the Spirit of the Father in upon me to put you in remembrance of these things of the greatest price which belong unto your Peace which have been hid from you in the time of Darkness but now are reveal'd unto you whereof your Eyes have seen your Ears have heard your Hands have handled and your Hearts have perceived and now be not unmindful thereof but take heed unto the precious Treasure of Life Eternal which the Father hath given unto you I mean the Knowledge of himself who is manifest to dwell in you and to walk in you and to lead you and to guide in all his Wayes of Peace and Truth and this is that Treasure more desirable and of greater price then the Glory of the whole Earth yea it is Peace to the soul and Gladness to the heart and Refreshment to the life to feel and witness the Teaching of the Spirit of the Father
is God and Man in one Person Answ. As for the word Trinity it is invented and he hath learnt it out of the Mass-Book or Common-Prayer-Book but we own the Doctrine of the Gospel of Christ that Christ is God and the Spirit is God and there are three that bear record the Father Son and Spirit and these are one but God and the Spirit are not Persons but Infinite Beeings and the Scripture no where in true Translations expresseth God under the Name Person for Person is too Carnal to express God and Christ and the Spirit by but God was in Christ reconciling the World and this we believe and acknowledge according to the Scriptures but for this word Doctrine of the Trinity the Scriptures know no such word but the Truth we own and the Gospel and the Scriptures too They hold that Iesus Christ died onely signally or examplarily and that we are justified by the Suffering of Christ in us and to be healed by his Stripes is to be stripped off or from Sin Answ. Jesus Christ died and rose again and ascended according to the Scriptures this we do believe And Christ was and is the Substance the end of all Signs and Examples yet was he an Example to the Saints and the Apostle exhorted to walk as they had Christ for an example and while he was in the World he did and spoke and acted many things as Parables Signs and Examples the substance of which is to be received in the Saints and known by them through the Spirit and we believe Saints are justified by Christ and through Faith in him which was and is and is to come who is blessed for ever and none are justified by his Death and Suffering and Blood without them but who witness Christ within them for all are Reprobates and to be condemned and cannot be justified that have not Christ in them as thou mayest read Except Christ be in you you are Reprobates and all that believe in Christ and receive him they are healed through his Sufferings and Stripes for he sanctifies them and gives them Remission of Sin and justifies them and in him the Saints are compleat and the New-man the Regenerate is justified and the old-man is in the Degeneration and knows not Christ in him and hath not received him but onely heard of him without him and believes the Relation but this faith doth not justifie for all the false Christians upon Earth have this faith but that Faith alone justifies which gives to receive Christ and him to live in us and to dwell in us by that Faith They utterly renounce the Doctrine of Iustification by the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ or by the obedience he performed or Sufferings he sustained or underwent in his own Person without us Answ. This is partly true and partly a Lye we do indeed renounce the profession of Justification by the Imputation of Christ or his Righteousness performed without men by men while they are in the degenerated estate and unconverted and unreconciled and unborn again for by such profession of Justification many deceive their Souls but yet we say that Righteousness is imputed to us and reckoned unto us who believe in Christ and have received him even the Obedience and Sufferings that he performed without us is ours who have received him within us and witnesseth Christ in us and therefore we are not Reprobates yet we do acknowledge he wrought perfect Righteousness by Obedience and Sufferings without us and that Righteousness is ours by Faith which Faith hath received Christ to dwell in us and he and his Righteousness his Obedience and Sufferings we enjoy in us in Spirit if any can receive it let them for that he wrought Righteousness this is acknowledged but who have a part in this Righteousness that is disputable They wholly renounce the Doctrine of Election and Reprobation and it is one of the great Reasons for which they decry the Ministers because they assert it they say Jacob and Esau are in a man and the good Seed is Jacob which God electeth and the bad Seed is Esau which he reprobates Answ. The Doctrine of Election and Reprobation we do own according to the Scriptures and therefore hast thou belied us and slandered us and art found reproveable and would incense mens minds against us for advantage to thy self but to some in that House we are better known then thou canst report of us and yet thou sayest we say that Iacob and Esau are in a man and the good Seed God electetâ— and the bad he reprobates and thou mayest here see thy confusion and thy ignorance uttered in the self same Lines for thou sayest we renounce the Doctrine of Election and Reprobation and yet sayest we say the good Seed God electetâ— and the bad Seed he reprobateth and this shews what spirit thou art of and how that the spirit of unrighteousness doth possess thee and leads thee to speak without understanding and we further say man being degenerated became reprobated and cast out and all by nature are Children of Wrath and the Children of Wrath are all in the reprobate State and none are elected but who are elected in Christ the Seed of David and so in the first Adam all are reprobated and all that are in the second Adam are elected and the Election and Reprobation stands not in the Persons but in the Seeds and yet the Persons are blessed or cursed in the love or in the displeasure of God according as the Seed of God or the seed of the Serpent lives and dwells and bears rule in the Persons and we do indeed decry and deny you the professed Ministers upon many accounts more then one and we have already and may in time to come shew sufficient Reasons against you both in Doctrine and Practise and other wayes that you are not the Ministers of Christ but the Ministers of Satan generally That Iesus Christ as he is the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of Abraham is in every one and that a measure or part of the Substance that was conceived in the Womb of the Virgin Mary is in every one Answ. Jesus Christ he is the Seed of the Woman and the Seed of Abrahâ—… according to the Flesh and after the Spirit the Son of the Living God and this Christ that was and is and is to come who was dead but is alive and lives for evermore the alone Saviour of the World he hath given a measure of Light and Life unto every man and there is a Light from him that shines in the heart of all men shining in Darkness the Light shines but the Darkness comprehends it not and this was Iohn's Testimony and is our Testimony That Christ enlightneth every man or all Man-kind that cometh into the World for in him was Life and the Life was the Light of men as the Scripture saith and the Apostle preached the Light that shined in peoples
and sober Dealing may be amongst us and the Fear of God And to this we expect thy speedy Answer concerning Time and Place Edward Burroughs Samuel Fisher. The Propositions were writ as short as could be for to stop all Advantages against us that right be taken by our Adversary in case he had met us and agreed to dispute but upon enlargement in Discourse we might have laid open the truth of every on of these Particulars at large to the satisfaction of sober Minds that might have been doubtful hereof and sâ—ewed by the Scriptures the truth of all of them AN Epistle to Friends IN LONDON Dearly beloved Friends and Brethren WHom the Lord hath called with his Heavenly Call and made you Eye-Witnesses and Feeling-Witnesses of his Power and of his Truth my dear Love in the Lord falutes you all for the Lord's sake without respect of Persons and I Greet you with a holy Kiss Dearly Beloved I bare you witness That some of you have loved the Lord above all things and for his Truth the Glory of this World with its Vanities have been denyed by you and now I wish in the Lord the abounding and enlarging of the Love and Life of God in you and amongst you all And my Dear Friends In that the Lord hath blessed you in the Knowledge of the Truth and of his Wayes and called you to serve him and to live unto him and not unto your selves now this remains unto you all to be done by you even that you be Faithful and Careful in the Great Work of the Lord which he is doing amongst you and in the World at this day And first of all See that every one of you stand in God's Counsel and that ye do his Will in all things as the Lord maketh it manifest to you and watch over your own Hearts and keep your selves clear from the Evil of this World I am moved of the Lord to write to you in particular and to warn you in his Name who hath begotten you to himself That you be mighty careful and circumspect in all your wayes and that you walk as Patterns and Examples to all the tender Babes of God in the Flock and that by your wise Conversation and Faithfulness in the Truth the Weak may be strengthened and the Hungry may be filled and they that are of the World who thirst for the Lord may be won into the Truth My God knoweth and ye know also the Care and Burdens which I have had in that Place and seeing I am thus ordered of the Lord at this present I do beseech you all for the Truth 's sake That you unto whom God hath given Grace and Strength and Wisdom and Knowledge that you take the Care upon you to watch with the Flock and over them that are Weak And I say again You must be mighty careful in the Lord that you may walk in all things to his Glory so as there be no turnings back from the Truth by any nor no occasion given to the Heathen to Reproach Truth therefore not any Service of your own must you equal with the Lord's Service But at all times be armed with the Lords Armour to do and to suffer for the Truth And this seems Good unto me in the Fear of the Lord That you in particular do keep a Meeting among your selves once in Three Weeks or a Moneths time as ye see meet that in the Counsel of God you may consider of all things in relation to the Truth and that you may advise one with another in the Fear of the Lord of things amongst you that in good Order all things may be kept And if any Disorderly Persons who profess the Truth be known to any of you let it be presented to all and Two or Three of you as you are moved may in the Fear of the Lord and in his Wisdom reprove such Persons and Things by which in the least Truth is Dishonoured and if such resist Reproof then account them as out of the Body and the Life can have no Fellowship with such but first reprove Offences and Failings in Secret and in much Wisdom also lest you destroy the Righteous with the Wicked And I lay it upon you that you judge nothing but what is for Judgment and when any thing comes before you to be tryed or judged of be tender of the Simplicity and take heed of Rash Judgment and Forward Words be mighty considerate in the Fear of God that nothing be judged wholly in which there is any thing of God but dwell in that which doth discern and distinguish and separate the Precious from the Vile that you may divide Judgment a right in all Causes and the Pure may be Strengthened and the Deceit Confounded For such a thing may be and come to pass which cannot wholly be Justified nor altogether Condemned and in such things in Friends you had need be mighty careful that the Right Way may be spared and the Wicked cut off And if any of you be moved to Minister among the Flock let it be done in the Fear of God and in his Wisdom to the refreshing of the Weak and to the building up the Body and if you do it in the Power of God then you will be answered by the Witness of his Spirit in every one and you and they will feel an Increase from God And if any Minister amongst you with which the Spirit of the Lord hath not Fellowship but is an Offence to the Just bare such in Patience for a season and shew them in Meekness and Love their Fault that they may be restoed rather then cast out And if any amongst you be over-taken with a Fault and found faulty in the sight of the Lord in any Particular reprove and convert and instruct such privately in Meekness and if they rebel and resist then reprove them and let them be judged openly And charge all that in all things they keep to their own Measures of Christ and that they act nothing nor speak nothing without the Leading of his Spirit and that will bind under deceitful spirits And as for those Rebellious and Treacherous and Deceitful Lying spirits amongst you which may trouble you as they have formerly done to the great Dishonour of the Lord I wish they were cut off as for the Truth 's sake yet I exhort you to bear them with Patience and not to heed them nor be troubled at them but account of them as Disorderly and out of the Body and freâ— not in your selves because of the Wicked such things be but for a time but Truth is forever and they that walk therein their Fruits shall never wither And let Friends keep their private Meetings on the First-days with Diligence and none to run abroad without Foar but as they are moved of the Lord and then there will be a Service in it for the Lord and as any of you are moved be faithful to exhort Friends hereunto and with a
God of which you have tasted in a good Measure and in the Meek and Peaceable Spirit of the Lamb be at Peace and in Unity with him and one with another even as Members of one spiritual Body that the Head may be honoured through you and that each Member serve one another in Love and Respect not any exalted above what ought to be nor striving for prehemenence above one another but that each Member may know his Service into which the Lord hath called you for that is a blessed Thing to dwell in Love and Unity and to know and to be known to one another in the Lord and the contrary bringeth the Curse where Strife and Enmity lodgeth that is excluded out of the Body and is of the Kingdom of Death and not of the Lamb but is of the Body of Antichrist and not of his Body who is exalted at God's right Hand And see that you walk in all Wisdom wait that you may be wise and that Wisdom it self may be justified of you by walking therein and then you will answer the divine Principle of Equity in your Enemies and you will cut off that which seeks ' occasion against you and turn backward the slanderous Tongue and confound the Destroyer which seeks occasion every moment Oh how pretious is Wisdom it s a Pearl it s better then Strength or Riches Wisdom is the chief of the Gifts of God it comes from the Fountain and it leads answerable unto him who is the Giver thereof Oh wait for Wisdom that she may possess your Hearts that she may go in and out before you and may be the beginning and end of all your works and so shall your Enemies have no occasion against you but you shall be preserved in perfect Peace for Wisdom is a preserver of Soul and Body even that Wisdom that is from above which is pure and peaceable and leadeth into all the Ways of Peace Truth and Righteousness and take heed that none be led aside into Snares and Temptations of the Wicked and thereby make shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience and the whole Work of God and so lose your Joy and Peace in God and come short of an Immortal Crown to which you are begotten but be faithful to God in all things and deny not your Principle nor the perswasion of God's Spirit in your Consciences in any thing neither for the Love nor Terror of this World for that is honourable to be faithful to a heavenly Principle even whether in death or life to be found walking answerable unto the Will and Mind of God as you have received the knowledge thereof but if any turn aside in the day of Tryal the Lord will have no pleasure in them but his displeasure will be against them unto their Destruction and such shall not be reckoned among the Righteous but they are blotted out of the Book of Life even such who are Hearers and not Doers of the Will of God whose Hypocrisie the Lord will judge in the justness of his Judgments And live in Patience in all Tribulations and in a still and quiet Spirit for the Lord is there his Presence is enjoyed in a still and patient spirit and such receive of his Mercies even of his hidden Manna and heed not the Tribulations that are in this World but mind your Peace that is in Christ that is everlasting and be settled in your minds and fully perswaded to follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes whether in Death or Life and let nothing separate you from that Love of God which you have received not Powers of Darkness neither Love nor Terror of this World but keep in the Dominion of God that his Spirit may be lifted up in you as the Standard even when floods of Temptations and Persecutions ariseth against you which are but for a moment and they will pass away but Truth and Righteousness will remain and cannot be shaked and the Purpose of the Lord is Good unto us and not Evil not to destroy us nor suffer us to perish for we are his and he hath chosen us and he hath placed his Name with us and for his Name sake which we bear he will do great things for us he will visit his Heritage and defend it with his mighty Power and therefore be in Patience concerning all things whatsoever that cometh to pass And the Lord having brought us out of Egypt and often appeared unto us in great Love and Favour and his Eye is over us at this day and he hath not thus far delivered us now to destroy us if we live and walk in the Power of the Lord God and feel his Life and Vertue and heavenly Authority in our own Hearts the Lord will not suffer our Enemies to prevail against us so as utterly to extinguish us from off the Earth though some of us may be tryed far if not to seal our Testmony with Blood but if so it shall hasten the Glory of the Lord and cause it to shine forth abundantly and it will fill up the Measure of Iniquity to the utter destruction of Antichrist and for this cause our Lives are not pretious unto us nor do I desire further to give Testimony by words if the Testimony of our Blood be required for I know though power may be given them over the outward Man yet we have a Life which they cannot touch and a Peace and Victory in the spiritual Kingdom which no man can spoil us of and we are given up already whether to glorifie God in the Body or out of the Body so he is glorified we have our reward for what is our reward but this That we may see the Name of the Lord exalted and but that our Confidence is sure and our Faith and Patience stedfast that we shall behold the Glory of the Lord and his Kingdom and the overthrow of Sathan and Antichrist the Beast and the false Prophet our dayes would be sorrowful and our Life a Death and our Labour and Travels a Vexation and a Grief but our Faith is confirmed by many Witnesses that the Kingdoms of the World must become the Kingdoms of Christ and Mystery Babylon must fall in whom the Soul of the Righteous hath been slain and the Purpose of the Lord must certainly be effected and no man upon the Earth shall prevent it and this is our Faith and therefore our Travels Labours and Affliction are not grievous to us even because the Presence of the Lord is with us And as for me the Salutation of my dearest love is to all the Saints every-where even with that love wherewith I am beloved of the Father do I love all them that are begotten of him but unto you more especially my love is abounding amongst whom I am known in faithful Labour of the Gospel of Christ who never sought yours but you and I hope you have the Witness of me in your own hearts even as I have of you and that in the
in that nature which is to be famished and glories in what hath been done by it as though it had not received power from the Lord and is exalted as though it bare the Root not knowing that it is born of the Root and that spirit spends its Treasure which it received in the Fathers house amongst Harlots and despises the poor and seeks occasion to glory over the weak that it may be renowned beware of that spirit I charge you all for it is not of the Father nor to be followed but to be condemned and resisted unto death Again believe not that spirit neither follow it which preacheth not from the measure of God received and to be manifest to it in you and approved by it only but speaks above the measure and reaches not to the measure of the Grace of God that spirit leads after words and outward shews and cries peace to the Rich and judgment to the Poor and the Word of God is not divided aright but heals up falsly and daubs with untempered morter and cries peace where God speaks war and cries war where God speaks peace and that Spirit is a Deceiver and a Betrayer and feeds but the Ear and not the Life and darkens the Counsel of God by words without knowledge and is not of the Father but of the World and to be denied and condemned Again Believe not that spirit neither follow it which is not subject to rule and order and is not meck and diligent and long suffering but heady and high and untoward seeking occasions against the Just and Watcheth for evil that spirit will not bear reproof but is idle sloathfull and careless and surmising evil and backbiting and conforms in appearance making a fair shew but is not unto God as appearing unto man and that would go and is not called and will not go when it is called and seeks for the praise of men more then God and that is fruitless ground and brings forth Bryars and Thorns in secret which choaks the Seed of God beware of that spirit it is a Lover of this World have no fellowship with it for it is not of the Father but a Deceiver and is to be a denied Again Believe not that spirit neither follow it which is tossed and unsetled and is given to change and is not established with Grace that is an Adulterer and hunâ—s for the precious Life and seeks by flattery to beguile the Innocent that spirit is zealous for a moment but is soon overcome and is stony ground and brings not forth fruit to perfection but withers and its latter end is worse then the beginning That spirit is exalted into presumption in peace and cast into desperation in trouble and the double minde lodgeth in it and it is unstable in all its wayes and is a ground for the Seed of Satan and to it there is no peace from God and beware of that spirit for it is not of the Father but to be condemned Again Believe not that Spirit neither follow it which is more zealous then knowing whose zeal is without true knowledge and stands in that which is corrupted that flourisheth for a moment but cannot endure for ever it hath no root in it self but is furious and passionate and not long-suffering that spirit knows not its self but would devour its Adversaries with bitterness and not gain by long-suffering that is not the spirit of the Father but must be denied in all Again Believe not that spirit which draws back into the World into its lusts and liberty and fashions which passe away that spirit forgets God and draws back for his Soul hath no pleasure in it but is vexed with it where the Cross is made of none effect and the false liberty is walked in which murders the Life that spirit is of the Devil and is to be condemned And now all Friends of God every where who knows him and are known of him whom he hath gathered out of this untoward Generation be diligent in your Callings and keep your Meetings in faithfulness waiting upon the Lord that you all may receive of his fulness to be filled with it and may be nourished up unto himself as trees of righteousness the planting of his own right hand to spread forth his Name and Glory as a people saved by him and to whoâ— there is none like besides And this know and understand that spirit is not of the Father which confesseth not the Son to be come in the Flesh who destroys the works of the Devil and takes away sin and that Spirit believe and follow whiâ—â— condemns sin and destroys it and takes it away and so gives peace with God iâ— your own Consciences and leads you into all Truth and keeps you from all evil and you that witness this the Son you know and the Father you know to dwell with you and in you and this is the first and the last believe in him and follow him and look not for any other and in this the Father of Life and Glory whose Dominion is without beginning and end establish you and preserve you Amen and Amen I a beloved Brother and a Companion unto all the Saints in suffering and in rejoyciâ—â— who have received this Testimony from the Father do with it in this Epistle salute tâ—â— whole Church in the Love of the Father as moved of him by his Eternal Spirit whiâ—â— beareth witness to me that we are of God and the whole World lieth in wickedness 〈◊〉 that all that are of God heareth us And this Testimony I give of the Father 〈◊〉 of the Son and of the Truth and of the Salvation of which I am made a Witness and against all that ever shall deny it or turn from it And this is thus far the 〈◊〉 of my Testimony by the Spirit of the Father not knowing when the time comes it 〈◊〉 be finished and the night may come when no man can work E. B. To all that suffer for the Testimony of Iesus and foâ— his Name sake THe glorious God of Truth hath appeared and made known his Way aâ—â— Truth perfectly in this our day and hath chosen unto himself faithfâ—… Witnesses to testifie of his Name and of his Truth before Rulers and People and hath brought forth a Seed which is not of this World which cannot boâ— to the Devil but is Heir of Gods Inheritance though a Sufferrer in this World under the Powers thereof and many in this Generation who are called and faithfull and chosen bear witness unto the Name of the Lord in Sufferings and Tribulations whom he will honour because they honour him who is exalting his Truth and his People through Sufferings And now all Friends who are called to suffer for the Testimony of Jesus and foâ— the exercise of a pure Conscience which you hold be valiant for the Truth upon Earth and faint not but finish your Testimony with joy for the Lord aâ—â— against all your Enemies and look