Spirit in him quickning his mortal Body as well as to believe that it was in Christ and raised up him from the Dead Rom. 8. 11. And this man whoever he be Bound or Fâ—…ee that thus believes the Death of Christ and itâ—… Satisfaction to God as well as its Usefulness to man cannot make it void nor divide it and its Virtue upon the Soul that thus knows it but will say Here is a dying man witnessing the Death of Christ and nevertheless the same man living with Christ and concluding if Christ had not dyed man must have perished in his Sin This being the Way found out by God to recover him whereby he knows Christ and him crucified and what the preaching of the Cross of Christ is which is Foolishness to them that perish but to them that are saved the Wisdom of God and the Power of God 1 Cor. 1. 81. By this Gift of God in our Hearts we further believe That Christ Jesus rose again froâ—… the Dead according to the Scriptures and sits at God's Right Hand in a Glorious Body And we believe that our low Estates and humble Bodies shall be made like unto his glorious Body through the Working of his Mighty Power whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself and that this Mortality shall put on Immortality For though we believe that Christ Jesus hath lighted every man with his Light whereby man may come to know himself lost and undone as before is said yet therefore is not every man saved though the Grace that appears to all men is sufficient in it self but some have the Grace of God bestowed upon them in vain not likeing to retain God in their Knowledge though something within them shews them what is good But they reject the Counsel of God within or against themselves to their own Destruction Luke 7. 30. see the Mergant and yet it doth not follow that the Grace is insufficient of it self no more then it follows that Christ's Death is insufficient because he tasted Death for every man and yet every man is not saved Neither doth Regeneration or the believing in the Light of Christ within make void the Death and Sufferings of Christ without at Jerusalem no more then believing the Scripture testimony without concerning Christ's Death makes void the Work of Regenertaion and Mortification within but as the Apostle saith in another Case so I say in this For as the Man is not without the Woman neither is the Woman without the Man in the Lord even so is not the Death Sufferings of Christ without at Jerusalem to be made void and of none effect by any thing within neither doth the Light within make that of none effect without but both in the Lord answers his Will For though there is and may be a Knowledge and Belief of what Christ did and Suffered without the Gates in his own Body upon the Tree and yet Sin alive in the Heart and the Work of Regeneration not known yet it can't be so where the Light within is believed on and obeyed so as to have its perfect Work in the Heart to regenerate and make all things new and to be of God this man can never make void what Christ hath done and suffered without And yet this New Birth or Christ formed within and dwelling in the Heart by Faith doth not limit or confine Christ to be only within and not without also but both within and without according to the Good Pleasure of the Father to reveal and make him known for he fills all things and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him and yet is he at God's Right Hand far above all Heavens in a glorious Body And we also believe the Resurrection of the Just Unjust the One to Salvation and the Other to Condemnation according unto the Judgment of the great Day and then shall every Seed have its own Body according to 1 Cor. 15. 36 37. which we verily believe For if the Dead rise not we are of all men most miserable But because we dare not be so foolishly inquisitive as to say With what Bodies shall they arise therefore do some say We deny both the Resurrection of the Body of Christ and of all that are or shall be dead But this also is false for every man shall be raised in his own Order but Christ the First Fruits 1 Cor. 15. 23. And we believe they shall be raised with the same Bodies so far as a Natural Spiritual Corruptible and Incorruptible Terrestrial and Celestial can be the same We further believe according unto the Sâ—…riptures concerning Faith That this Faith is only true which is God's Gift and has Christ Jesus the Power of God for its Author and Object and is distinguished from the Dead Faith by its Fruits For though in Description and Definition they may carry a Resemblance yet in Nature are as different as a Living Man is from a Dead which wants not Form or Shape but Life Power So saith the Apostle James As the Body without a Spirit is dead so is Faith without Works even so is that Faith which stands in the Wisdom of Words and not in the Power of God by the one man is kept in Captivity to the World and the things of it but by the other he hath Victory over the World 1 Joh. 5 4. and the Seal and Witness thereof in his own Heart whereby it is purified and God is seen for the Pure in Heart see God Mat. 5. 8. This Faith differs men now and their Worships as it did Cain and Abel For By Faith Abel offered up a more excellent Sacrifice then Cain Hebr. 11. By this Living Faith Abel saw beyond the Sacrifice unto Christ the First Born of God beyond the Firstling of the Flock which he offered and therefore God had Respect unto Abâ—…l and his Offering but God rejected Cain and his Offering though he had Faith to believe it to be his Duty yet sticking in the Form and not flying on the Wing of Faith unto Christ the One Offering he missed the Mark as all have done ever since that have gone in Cain's Way of Worshipping as well as Killing men about Worship But we believe that Faith to be only true and saving that flyes over Self Righteousness as well as Filthiness unto the Fountain of Life in Christ which Faith hath nothing of man in it but is as the Breath of Life by which the Soul lives nor a bare Assent of the Truth of a Proposition in â—…he natural Understanding but the Soul's cleaving unto God out of a Naturalness between Christ and the Soul and so live rather by Relation then bare Cerdit or desperate Adventure and Hazard not looking at its doing to commend it but God's Love and Bounty in Christ the Light to receive it and yet Holiness is its Delight he can no more live out of it then the Fish upon the dry Land We believe That this Faith
he might read his condition within Therefore despise not the day of small things but mind the Counsel of the Lord Jesus the little Light that shines in thy dark heart look upon the figures the parables The little Leaven which is hid in three measures of meal it changeth the whele lump into the nature of it self So the little Light that shines in thy dark Heart is the powerful Word of Faith which was in the Beginning by which all Things were created and without him was nothing made this Word is Life and the Life is the Light of Men and Light shines in Darkness and the Darkness comprehends it not This Light is the Word of Faith the Apostle exhorted to take heed unto Say not in thy Heart who shall ascend up to Heaven to fetch Christ down or down into the Deep to fetch him up the Word is nigh thee in thy Heart and in thy Mouth and this is the word of Faith which we preach the unctioâ—… of the Holy One given of the Father whereby we need not teach one another but as the Anointing teacheth us which is Truth and no Lye which is the sure Word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well to take heed as unto a Light shining in a dark Place until the Day dawn and the Day-Star arise in your Hearts All People return within give up your selves freely to be guided by that Light that discovers to you the Evil of your Hearts and none be discourâ—…ged because you see an evil Heart but prize the Love of God that discovers it to you and whatever the Light makes manifest to you to be Evil Wait on the Lord for Power and he will give thee Power to obey and in being faithful in a little more will be communicated from the Lord so will the Righteous Law be set up in your Hearts that will cry through your Earthly and Carnal Hearts for Righteousness and Judgment and so will bring yâ—…u to an Account for every idle Word and all Deeds done in the Body Look up unto the Lâ—…rd against whom you have sinned and he will arm you with Power to what he lays upon you with Patience to undergo his Will until all the Powers of the Earth in you be faâ—…ished and slain under his Righteous Judgments then will Judgment be brought forth into Victory that you can no longer live without the loving-Kindness of your Father in Christ Jesus Now is the Parable fulfilled the little Grain of Mustard Seed grown up above all Herbs and the little Leaven hath leavened the whole Lump and the Prodigal starved forever if his Father receive him not freely into his House Thou that canst witness this Condition stand still in the Will of God he will raise up his Seed in thee to trust in his Name and to delight in the Eternal Covenant of Love and Life he hath made with thy Soul in the Lord Jesus Christ and will guide thee by the Word of his power in a Way thou knowest not forth of Babylon where thou wast an enslaved Captive under the Power of the filthy Beast which is thy Will and the Whore the Mother of Witchcrafts which is thy Wisdom which enthrall'd thee under the Powers of Darkness to satisfie the Lust of thy own Heart which led thee to Destruction up to Sion to live by Faith in the Lord Jesus which will purifie thy Heart and set thy Soul free from under the Powers of Darkness into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God where thou shalt sing the Songs of Sion Hallelujahs and Praises for evermore unto the Lord God that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb forever and ever W. D. To all enslaved hard-hearted and unbelieving Jews in this Nation and else-where who are made drunk with the Wisdom of the Whore and bewitched through the Abundance of her Sorceries to put the Day of the Lord afar off looking for Christ's coming in the Spirit as the hard-hearted unbelieving Jews in the letter did for his coming in the Flesh according to the Promise but they limitted the Holy One according to their carnal Wisdom expected his coming in great Pomp and Glory and when he came in that poor despised Way contrary to their Expectations they stumbled at him and would not own him to be their Saviour but rose up against him and put him to Death Mat. 27. I to Vers. 50. BEhold you hard hearted and unbelieving Jews do you not look for Christ coming in the Spirit according to his Promise as they did for his coming in the Flesh but you limit the Holy One as they did expecting Christ to come in Power and Glory according to your own Fancies and so put the Day of the Lord afar off you in rejecting and despiâ—…ng the counsel of Jesus Christ the pure Light in your Conscienees which lets you see every evil Thought Word and Action and cryes behind you This is the Way walk in it but you disobey the Light and hearken to the Counsel of your Hearts as the Jews in the Letter did who put Christ to Death and so you slay the witnesses in Spiritual Sodom and Egypt in your Hearts where our Lord is crucified in not regarding the Counsel of Christ which is that Light that shines in your dark Hearts which knocks at the Door according to his Word I stand at the Door and knock if any Man hear my Voice and open the Door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me Oh! thou enslaved Soul under the Power of Babylon in thee come forth mind the Light in thee which is the sure Word of Prophecy whereunto you do well to take heed as unto a Light shining in a dark Place until the Day dawn and the Day-Star arise in your Hearts stand not out against this secret Counsel of Christ in you leâ—… you perish in your Gain sayings for if his Anger be kindled a little blessed are all they that trust in him All give up give up freely to be guided by the Counsel of the Lord the Light in you believing in his Power that is present with the light he will lead you daily through the Cross in the stâ—…aight Way of his Sufferings and Death where the Old Man will be put off with hiâ—… Deeds and so you shall have right to the Tree of Life and shall enter with him through the Gates into the City New Jerâ—…salem where you shall have Communion with the Father and the Son and an Inheritance with those that are sanctified in Christ Jesus and shall reign as Kings upon the Earth to the Praise Glory of the Riches of the Grace of our Heavenly Father to whom alone be all Power Dominion Honour and Glory forever and ever W. D. A Word from the Lord to all that are waiting on the Lord in Sion and to those that are weeping and are seeking the Lord their God asking the Way to Sion with their Faces thitherwards FEar not ye
him foolishness and madness This is the Wiâ—…dom of God and the children thereof judged and condemned by man in his day And how can it be otherwise How can the wisdom of men but judge that as foolishness whose beauty and excellency is hid from its eye But this is because the wisdom of man is out of its place not subjected to the Wisdom of God but exalted above it therefore as a Curse unto it is it suffered to lift up it self in its conceitfulness against and so to persecute the pure Wisdom of God and the birth thereof that it might fall and be broken and snared and taken and its day deservedly come to an end and be shut up in the shadows and chambers of eternal darkness But what Ear of Man can hear this Surely none that is whole in the line of Man's wisdom reason and understanding but that alone which is bruised broken and in some measure dashed to pieces by the inroads of a divine Life and Nature This iâ—… the leading of that Life which hath broken it and in the shinings of the Light eternal upon it and into it may be enabled to take up the Cross to the natural part and to die that Death with Christ which preserves from the second Death with the misery thereof Happy is he who knows and hearkens to the Perswasions of God's Spirit who is born of God and taught to wait upon him and worship him in Spirit who receives his Religion from the Ligâ—… of Faith into the renewed Nature and Mind and not from the Reason of Man into the natural understanding which is easily corrupted and cannot be kept pure but alone by the indwelling of the Principle of Eternal Life in it For though such may suffer very deeply in this World from the men of this world as the Subjects and Servants to the Principle of Life have done in all Ages and Generations yet their Principle will bear them out in which God will appear to strengthen and refresh their spirits and carry them up above all their Sufferings in the Patience Meekness and Faith of the Lamb And keeping to their Principle they cannot be overcome but must either live or die Conquerors according to the will and good pleasure of Him who ordereth and disposeth of all things well and bringeth good out of every evil in despite of all the Powers of Darkness And he that overcometh whether by life or death in the Lamb's Spirit shall wear the Lambs Crown sit down in that perfect Rest in the Kingdom of the Father which will give the hearts of all his Children full Satisfaction In which assured hope Life stirring in our bosoms and quickning our hearts with Love unto our God and Zeal for his Truth we can freely give up all that is near and dear unto us in this World and lay down our heads in inward Peace â—…n the midst of the greatest outward Persecution and Trouble Even so O Lord thy Will be done concerning this Generation of thy People whom thou hast begotten to thy Self and brought forth by thy mighty Power to testifie to thy Truth in this present day Dispose of them as it pleaseth Thee and let not their Faith in thee nor thy Faithfulness to them fail but let them be a Praise to thy Name throughout all Generations and tendered by Thee as the First fruits of thine Appearance in the Glorious Light of the Everlasting Day after this great long thick and dark Night of Apostacy from the Life and Spirit of the Apostles hath so long ecclipsed and covered the brightness of thy Beauty from the fight of the Earth Isaac Pennington A Declaration to all the World of our Faith and what we Believe who are called QUAKERS Also what Ministers and Magistrates we own and what and whom we deny Concerning God Christ and the Spirit FIrst That there is only one true God who is a Spirit and his Presence filleth Heaven and Earth he is Eternal and Everlasting the Creator Preserver of all things that Heaven and Earth and all things therein by him were framed and brought forth and all things remain unto this day by his Power and whatsoeveâ—… he willeth in Heaven and Earth he brings to pass by his Word and Power And we believe That this God only is and ought to be feared loved obeyed and worshipped by all Creatures and no other thing besides him in Heaven and Earth and we believe that his Worship and Obedience and Care and Love is to be given in Spirit even iâ—… what his own Spirit moveth and leadeth his people unto And we believe his True Worship required and accepted of him is not by the tradition of men in outward observances or set days or places but he is worshipped only in Spirit and Truth without respect of times places or things and that none can worship him in righteousness but his Children who are born of his Spirit and are led and guided thereby And we believe that this God hath given his Son Christ Jesus into the World a free Gift unto the whole World and that every man that cometh into the World is lighted by him that every man may believe and be saved And we believe That he is given into the World and no Nation Country or People excepted but to all mankind he is given of God and hath enlightened them And every man through the world that believeth in and receiveth Christ who is the Wisdom and Power of the Father shall be saved with eternal Salvation And every one that believes not in him shall be damned and shall possess everlasting misery And we believe That Salvation Justification and Sanctification is only in Him wrought by him and no other for there is no other Name given under Heaven but him alone by which Salvation is and we believe all that receive him and believe in him are reconciled to God and are made alive to God to live to him in all things and do receive the forgiveness of Sins and are set free from all unrighteousness and from the body of Sin and Death and have the witness of the Spirit in them and the Spirit of the Father they have received and it witnesseth in them of the Father and of the Son and of the things that belong to their peace and it is the Earnest of the Inheritance and the Seal of the Promise of Eternal Life and by it are the deep things of God revealed to mankind and by it the Father and the Son dwell in the Saints and by it they have fellowship one with another and the Father Son and Spirit are one And this we faithfully believe Again concerning Christ we believe Thaâ—… he is one with the Father and was with the Father before the World was and what the Father worketh is by the Son for he is the Arm of Gods Salvation and the very Power and Wisdom of the Creator and was is and is to come without beginning or end And we
thee to follow him whither soever he goes no more to obey him for life as thou didst when thou wast without seeking him in Forms and Observations but now the love and life thou enjoyst in Christ Jesus constrains thee to deny thy self and take up thâ—… Corss daily and follow him Now art thou come into the beginning to live in the Lord guided by the powerful word of Faith the Light that shines in thy heart which is the Light of the City New Jerusalem to whom thou art come to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth and all that are come to walk in the Light of the City New Jerusalem are the true Israel of God that are taught of God to whom the New and Everlasting Covenant is made according to the Promise of the Lord This is the Covenant I will make with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah after those days saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward Parts and write it in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People And they shall teach no more every man his Neighbour nor every man his Brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them I will be merciful unto their unrighteousness and their Sins and their Iniquities will I remember no more And in this City there is no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it which are borrowed lights outward dispensations and teachings of men for the glory of the Lord God doth lighten it and the Lamb is the Light thereof And the Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the Light of it and the Kings of the Earth bring their glory and honour unto it and there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth neither what soever worketh abomination or maketh a lye but they ever which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day for there shall be no night there for the Lord God giveth them Light and they shall reign for ever and ever Hallelujah to the Highest To all revolted Souls who have departed from the Counsel of the Lord and are made drunk with the Wine of the wrath of the Fornication of the Whore bewitched with the Mother of Witch-craft to return unto spiritual Sodom and Egypt where our Lord is Crucified VVHoever thou art in whom the righteous Law of God Jesus Christ the Light in thee hath cryed through thy Earthly heart for Righteousness Judgment there thou didst stand arraigned before the Throne of the Lamb where the Book was opened in thee written therein all the deeds thou hast done in the body and the Sentence of Wrath and Judgment passed out of the mouth of the Lamb on thee for every idle word and all that thou hast done and in this thy condemned estate thou rannest to and fro to hide thee from the Wrath of the Lamb in reforming thy wayes and strictly observinâ—… that thou wast convinced of to be the will of God but what way soever thou turnedst in thine obedience towards God to get Life thither the flaming Sword turned that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lamb cut thee down and cast thee into Hell where thou layst weeping and wailing under the Wrath of God sealed down under his eternal Judgment for evermore for any help or power thou hadst in thy self until Jesus Christ manifested eternal Love and Mercy freely to thy poor lost condemned Soul and raised thee up to a lively hope and sealed thee up in the Covenant of Life with his own blood Now after the Witnesses have sealed up their Testimony the Beast which is thy will that ascends out of the bottomless pit of thy deceived heart which is deceitful and desperately wicked hath made war against the Witnesses Christ in thee and â—…ain them and they lie dead in the spiritual City of Sodom and Egypt where our Lord is crucified and thou art made drunk with the wine of the wrath of the Fornication of the Whore and bewitched with her witchcrafts who now tells thee whom he loves he loves to the end and to the pure all things are pure thou art no more under the Law but under Grace and all things are alike that when thou disobeyest the pure Law which once had power over thee and yet witnesseth against thee secretly crying in thy heart Use thy Liberty but not as an occasion to the Flesh that regardest not the Counsel of the Lord but hearkenest to the Mother of Harlots in thee and causeth thee to wrest the Scriptures to thy own Destruction and tells thee the Law hath no power over thee that thou art under Grace it is but the Law in thy Members that wars against thâ—… Law in thy mind the acting of the Humanity which acts in its place that the Grace of God may appear more gloriously God sees no sin in thee for it is no more thou but Sin that dwells in thee and the former misery thou wast in under the Wrath of God for the disobeying of the Righteous Law thou now treadst under thy feet and lies slain in spiritual Sodom and Egypt in thy heart yet not put in the grave but lies in thy sight and lets thee see the evil of thy doings and vexes and torments thy earthly and carnal heart in the midst of all thy joy but the Whore in thee tells thee that the former trouble thou wast in was through the ignorance of God but now thou are grown up to a higher stature in Christ to see nothing but Love in whatsoever thou dost now thou knowest nothing but to eat and to drink and to be merry for the Children of the Bride-Chamber cannot mourn while the Bridgroom is with them time was thou didst mourn but it was when the Bridegroom was not with thee but now the Winner is past and Summer come and singing of Birds is heard in thy Land and now wash thy face and anoint thy head with Oyl that thou appear no more before men as thou 〈◊〉 when thou wast a Pharisee Now to be a Friend to Publicans and Sinners and become all to all that thou mayest win some and whatever thou dost it is God that acts thee for thou art not stronger then he to resist him and if he would have it otherways how couldâ—… thou hinder it so it is as it must be and it cannot be other ways Thus the subtil Serpent windâ—… into the mind of man and causes him to wrest the Scriptures to his own destruction to draw back into Perdition Wo wo unto thee thou backslider in heart who chargest God who iâ—… Purity it self to be the Author of Sin and the Actor of thee in all thy silthy and unrighteous walking and hast turned the Grace of God into Wantonness takest liberty to sin because Grace
THE PRINCIPLES OF TRUTH Being A DECLARATION OF OUR FAITH Who are call'd QUAKERS Whereby all that want PEACE with GOD may Return into their First Estate through the Operation of the LIGHT and Power of God in the great Work of REGENERATION Written by E.B. J.C. W.D. H.S. I.P. and A.P. Truth's Principles OR Those things about Doctrine and Worship which are most Surely Believed and Received among the People of God called QUAKERS MAny are the Reports that are abroad concerning this People not only as to their Practices and Deportments but also as to other Doctrines and Beliefs The former time having in a great measure resolv'd and worn out as being the Refuge of Lyes for the Ignorant Unrighteous to flee unto but that stormy and wintry Appearance is well nigh over and gone because the Sun is so far risen and the true Light so shineth that most begin to see that those Reports were but Lyes and Scandals raised as Fig leaves to cover the Nakedness of other Professions that begun so manifestly to appear through the Light that shined in these Peoples Lives and Conversations But though the first be gone yet the later sticks with many as not knowing what they hold as to Doctrine some saying They deny the Scripture and the Resurrection of the Body and all Ordinances with the Man Christ and his Death Sufferings and Imputation of his Righteousness and Faith in his Blood c. Wherefore for the Satisfaction of all that would willingly be resolv'd and know the Truth as it is in Jesus I have written this short Account of their Faith Belief and if it were possible to stop the Mouthes of the clamorous Tongues before the Sentence be given against them by some signal Stroke of the Lord from Heaven which he will undoubtedly in his appointed Time reveal and make manifest to the trembling of all hearts concerned therein and tinglong of all Ears that shall hear thereof when it shall be said to them The holy shall be holy still and he that is filthy let him be filthy still Rev. 22. 11. We believe That the God of all Grace has given a measure of Grace or some Manifestation of his Spirit and Light thereof unto all men according unto these Scriptures Jo. 1. 9. Tit. 2. 11. 1 Cor. 12. 7. Neh. 9. 20. and Experiences of all men who at some time or other do feel something in their Hearts and Consciences that doth lust against the Flesh and the Flesh against it and that these two are contrary the one to the other one lasting after Evil which is Evil and the other after Good which is Good the one Carnal the other Spiritual the one from Earth the other from Heaven Gal. 5. 16 17. We believe By this Gift Grace and Inspiration of the Almighty man only can come to know the true God truly what he is how he works in the Hearts and Consciences of People to regnerate them and make them bear his Image according to 1 Cor. 3. 19 20. 21. Luke 10. 21. and Experiences of all that ever were regenerated and born again We believe That all the Errors and Mistakes about God and the things relating to his Kingdom sprang and arose from men's wandring from this gift of God into their own Imaginations whereby though they thought themselves wise yet they became Fools err'd their foolish hearts being darkned according to Rom. 1. 21. not knowing the Scriptures nor the Power of God as it is written Mat. 22. 29. We believe and know That this Gift and Grace of God appears in and unto all men that all may be without Excuse accusing for the Evil and excusing for the Good according to Rom. 2. 15 16. shewing unto man what is good and reproving of him in his own Conscience for the evil whether Thoughts Words or Deeds and that this Reproof of Instruction is the Way of Life Prov. 6. 23. We believe That as the true God and eternal Life is known only by the Light of this Gift and Grace according unto the Scriptures from which Light and Spirit of God came the Scriptures both from the old new Testament as it is written 2 Pet. 1. 21. so can they only be read as truly to be believ'd fulfill'd and practised in the Light and Power of the same all that are out of this Spirit must needs be ignorant and unlearn'd in the Apostle's Sense who wrest the Scriptures to their own Destruction as it is written for Peter and John were unlearn'd men outwardly not knowing Letters but inwardly read in the knowledge of this Light and Spirit of God and wrestâ—…d not the Scriptures Acts 4. 13. 2 Pet. 3. 16. We believe according to the Scripture 2 Cor. 4. 3. That wheresoever the Power of God is not known within there the Gospel is hid and unknown unto them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them that believe not lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them and God should heal them because it is only by the Light of Christ the Power of God that the Creature comes truly to see himself in his lost and undone Estate from which Sight ariseth the true Sence in the Heart of the Creature that makes him cry out of his Wretchedness by reason of the Body of Sin and Death which necessitates him to look out for a Saviour whom God manifests in and by the same Light that shines in the heart on purpose to give the sight of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ God's Image whereby God heals the Soul and therefore doth the Devil the God of the World strive so much by the Gift of the Pleasures Profits Vanities and Lusts that are in the World which he presents to men and women now as he did to Christ in the days of his Flesh when he shewed to him all the World with its Glory which Glory is the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of the Life whatever may make this Life happy as it were in the things that may pride it or lift it up to sit as a Queen And as Man and Woman take and receive the Gifts from the God of this World their Minds are blinded because they believe not in the Light which shews thee the Vanities of all the Gifts of the God of this World which Gifts the Devil knows if they be received will so blind the Minds of them that receive them that they will not come to be sensible in the true Light of their lost conditions so as to cry unto God from the deep true Senceâ—… for then God out of the Depths of his Love and Mercy could not but Heal them And therefore lest the true Light should shine into them to give them the sensible Knowledge of themselves and God should Heal them the Devil as God of
the World by the things of the World endeavours to blind the mind not the Brain-Knowledge but the Heart Fâ—…eling Sence within in the mind lest the Light within should so shine as God should heal them all the Buslings of Satan with his Gifts are but to blind the Mind within lest God should heal the Soul that complains to him from the true Sight and Sence of his Misery as in himself By this Grace and Gift within we believe That to Us though in the World there be Lords many Gods many there is but ONE GOD the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ witnessed within man only by the Spirit of Truth that manifests both the Father and the Son and yet these Three are One and agree in One and he that honours the Father honours the Son that proceeds from him and he that denies the Spirit denies both the Father and the Son and is Antichrist but he that believes in the Spirit and is led by it is the Son of God Rom. 8. 14. As many as are the Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God We believe The Scriptures bear witness unto and testifie of Christ but they say The Witness of God is greater then them The Spirit it self bearing witness with our Spirits that we are the Sons of God For it is not the Scriptures without the Spirit nor the Spirit contrary to the Scriptures but the Spirit 's discovering the Will of God in the Heart oâ—… opening of the Scrlpâ—…ures in its own Time and Way and not in or by the Will of Man but as it self pleaseth who searcheth all even the deep things of God and manifests them unto the Soul which gives the Perfect Sound and Saving Knowledge for said Christ The Spirit shall take of mine shew them unto you And as Holy Men gave forth the Scriptures 2 Pet. 1. 21. so Holy Men and they only come truly to understand them and not proud and ungodly men because their Hearts and Lives do not answer the Hearts Lives of those that gave them forth as Face answers Face in a Glass And this we believe to be the Reason why so long Preaching by men of corrupt Minds who have and do handle the Word deceitfully for Selfish Ends and filthy Lucre sake hath brought forth so little Fruit and been to so little Purpose except to their Purses and Bellies for had they believed and therefore spoaken and stood in God's Counsel they should have profited their Hearers Jer. 23. 21 22 23 to the end Through this Gift we believe That Christ Jesus the Son of God was manifest in the Flesh in the Fulness of time And this we know by the same Spirit by which our Fathers believed he should come and Abraham saw his Day by the same we do believe he is come and do see his Day as also by the Prophet and Apostles Writing which two-fold Cord is not easily broken We believe also according to the Scriptures of Truth That this same Jesus hath God highly exalted and given him a Name above every Name that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have Everlasting Life and that there is not another Name whereby any can be saved than this Name of Jesus Christ nor is Remission of Sins to be preached by any other Name But as we do not believe that the outward Letters and Syllables are that Name that is to be bowed to by the outward Knee no more then the Letters or Syllables in the words God or Spirit seeing the Scripture faith Unto God who is a Spirit every Knee shall bow Isa. 45. 93. But the Name which saves is the Power and Arm of God that brings Salvation from Sin and makes every Soul that names it to depart from Iniquity This is that Name which was preached and which is preached through Faith in which Name Remission of Sin is obtained Therefore was the outward word Jesus given him as his outward Name Thou shalt call his Name JESUS for he shall save his People from their Sins mark for he shall save c. So that which saves is the Name which is to be believed in which is that Arm of God that brings Salvation when no Eye pities neither is there any Help the Power of God that then saves is that Grace that comes from the Fulness of Christ the Saviour And without this Virtue Christ and Jesus are but empty Names 1 Cor. 12. 3. No man can say that Jesus is the LORD but by the Holy Ghost We believe also That this Jesus dyed for or because of Sin and rose again for the Justification of those that believe in him as well as to manifest to all the World that he was the Son of God and that he thereby spoiled Principalities and Power and triumphed over them openly and led Captivity captive in his own Person yet we believe and know by his Grace in our Hearts that as his Name Jesus without Virtue and Power is but an empty Word so his Dying without man's Conformity to his Death or being planted into the Likeness thereof or being crucified with Christ as saith the Scripture Rom. 6. 2 3 4 5 6. Gal. 2. 20. will not profit man as to the Salvation of his Soul no more then the naming of his outward Name Jesus doth at this day make People to depart from Iniquity For we believe and are â—…ure that man must dye inwardly as well as Christ dy'd outwardly and must be put to Death in his Flesh as Christ was in his for he that is in the Flesh cannot please God Rom. 8. 8. Neither ceaese froâ—… Sin but he that is dead is freed from Sin Rom. 6. 7. And yet man 's dying unto Sin and the Root and Principle of it in himself is so far from making void Christ's Death in his own Person that it establisheth it to all those Ends and Purposes for which it was intended of the Father As the Cures which the Physitian doth manifest and establish his Skill and Ability so doth man's dying unto Sin and Self and living unto God manifest and establish the Virtue and Power of Christ's Death for as man manifests his being risen with Christ by his seeking the things that are above Col. 3. 1 2. so doth he manifest his Knowledge of the Death of Christ by his being crucified with Christ and bearing about in his Body the Dying of the Lord Jesus For as it is not an outward Belief gather'd from the Letter that will change the Heart and Life though the Judgment and Opinion it may so it is not a Belief from the History or Letter only that can give man a saving Knowledge of the Death of Christ but he must have the same Glory and Power of the Father in measure working in him there to beget Faith in his Heart thaâ—… he may believe unto Salvation from his own Filthiness and Righteousâ—…ess as well as confess with his Mouth Rom. 10. and must have that
imposed on them until the time of Reformation but Christ the Substance being come the Shadows flee away And yet where-ever any are commanded now by the same Spirit that commanded the Believers to be Baptized in the days past either for the furtherance of the Gospel or tryal of their Faith we judge them not But this obedience is very rare to be found and we could heartily desire that all would consider seriously whether literal sayings observed only by outward reading hearing by the â—…ar or inward impluses upon the heart by the Divine Power are the motives unto Obedience in this kind And if honesty and uprightness of heart may be heard we believe and know the many dead souls every where notwithstanding their Baptisms will be as so many witnesses against them by their groveling upon the Earth as so many slain and killed men by the Letter while the Spirit's quicknings have not been known in the true Baptism into death For we find by daily experiences that most men and women live like Pharaoh's lean Kine only to eat up the fat and to envy those that are not so lean-soul'd as themselves We believe also That as there is one true saving Baptism so there is one Bread or Body of Christ which all the Saints do feed upon and though they be many as to persons yet their Bread is but one and they all in it but one Bread And this we believe is the flesh that came down from Heaven John 6. 33. Though the outward Jews now as then murmur at him because he said I am the Bread which came down from Heaven ver. 41 42. But Christ ver. 45. to stop their murmuring tells them that the knowledge of this Mystery was only revealed unto them whom God and not man teacheth and no more then are taught of God can set seal and subscribe unto this Truth in Jesus though we believe also that Jesus took outward bread and break it and gave it to the Dâ—…sciples as the Scripture saith and this was a figure of his Body that was to be pierced and broken upon the Tree and a shew to shew forth his Death until he came And we believe he did arise again and appear unto his Disciples and all that believed were together and had All things Common c. And they continued daily with one accord in the Temple breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God and having favour with all the People Acts 2. 44 45 46 47. And we believe that the Apostle in 1 Cor. 11. 20. said true where he said When ye come together therefore in one place this is not to eat the Lords Supper And all that he speaks in that chapâ—…er is not to perpetuate that outward breaking of Bread otherwise then as the Belivers did that were filled with the holy Ghost in singleness of heart as before is said and yet we judge not those who break outward Bread and drink outward Wine being commanded so to do and put in remembrance thereby of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ by the Remember ancer the Spirit of Truth which is appointed by the Father to lead into all Truth But to do it by imitation or tradition only as most do it if not all at this day we know it is not an Offering unto God in Righteousness neither do we believe this to be the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ and yet the eating of the Flesh and drinking of the Blood of Christ we believe man must know and witness or he hath no life in him Joh. 6. 53 54 55. And we believe that many are striving now in their Spirits as the Jews did verse 52. saying How can this man give us his Flesh to eat And not only the Jews but many of his Disciples said This is a hard saying who can hear it Vers. 60. And in vers. 63. he tells them It is the Spirit that quickeneth the Flesh profiteth nothing Thâ—… words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life And he that hears and understands these words that are Spirit and Life will not be offended at what I have spoken of the Flesh and Blood of Christ By the same Spirit and Grace we believe That Prayer is an Ordinance of God when performed by his Spirit in its words and not those which man's wisdom teacheth or without words by sighs and groans which cannot bâ—… uttered and these so often as the Spirit it self pleaseth But the Form without the Spirit whether it be by words of other mens framing or words of man's own Spirit according to his will time and manner this is not the Prayer that prevails with God And we believe that there is none so weak and infirm but this spirit proffers his help at some time or other though man regardeth it not And the more man's mind is gathered within from all visibles the more he comes to be sensible of the Movings and Stirring of this Spirit in its secret cryes unto God answerable to the wants of that man or woman in whom it moves and cryes And by the due watching thereunto we believe and know the Spirit of Prayer and of Adoption that cries unto God comes to be discerned and distinguished from a man 's own spirit and will We believe by the same gift of Grace that there are several Minstrations and several Operations according to 1 Câ—…r 12. and all by the same Spirit as before and after the Law by Moses and after by John the Baptist and Christ and his Apostles and in all these the ministration had acceptance with God through the mannagment of the Spirit and its rejection and dislike of God for the want thereof And by this Spirit were the Scriptures given forth and the Holy men of God did speak prophesie preach and pray as they were moved and for want of it the letter did and doth kill And for the further appearance and pouring out of this Spirit answerable unto the work service that God had for them to do they weâ—…e to wait as Christ commanded his 〈◊〉 to do at Jerusalem to receive the Promise of the Father For by this spirit he that speaks speaks as the Oracle of God And therefore as it was the practice of the People of God in old time to wait for the moving and stirring of this Spirit that they might speak 〈◊〉 it gave them utterance in the evidence and demonstration thereof so do this People called Quakers now and according to its moving in their hearts they minister according to the signification of the Spirit whereby they understand both what and when to speak and when to be silent as also who are they that minister and speak in their own wills above the Cross of Christ which the Apostle was careful always to be in subjection to lest he should make it void by speaking the words which man's wisdom teacheth and therefore as the Saints did
so we do believe and therefore we speak And such Preaching and Speaking in Faith as well as Praying in Faith is acceptable unto God as his worship and not otherwise And we further believe by the same Spirit that the sum of all Religion according to the Truth and signification of the word Religion is Man not at liberty in his will but bound again unto God by his having given to him by the Light of Christ within the true sight and knowledge of himself as in himself as lost and undone forever and from this Sight a true sense to arise upon and remain with him from whence spring unutterable groans and cryes unto God under the weight of the burthen and wretchedness by reason of the body of Sin and Death and then when there was none to help or pitty in this state then is Mercy shewed in Christ the Arm of God which is revealed as an help neither seen nor known where how or when to come at it or meet with it And this begets in the heart of that man or woman in and unto whom it is thus revealed thanks and praises unto God for this Gift and Revelation of his Son in this needful time whom the Soul sees to be the Gist of Eternal Love And we believe and know upon this Love and Faithfulness of God is founded built and established the Everlasting Covenant whereby not only all men may be saved for its ability but some shall be saved because for its Prevalency which is not like to the Covenant hâ—… made with our Fathers And although all mankind is not saved yet it is not because either of in sufficiency in this Covenant or because of the weakness of the Grace that appears in and unto all men but because of mans will loving death and chusing his own delusions whereby his destruction is of himself and God clear of his Blood in the free tender of his Grace Gift and striving of the Spirit within him For we know assuredly according to the Scriptures of Truth and experience of all souls that ever were truly converted to God that though by Grace man is saved not of himself but by the free Gift yet as the old world did and those rebellious Jews spoken of Acts 7. who as did their Fathers so did they always resist the Holy Ghost so do men now And yet in the tender of this Grace and striving of his spirit the Lord is a God so hiding himself in the mannagement of this striving and Ministration of his Spirit as if it wholly depended upon mans choice and consenting that mans will as to him is as it were free in rejecting or accepting Life and Death being set before him whereby in the wisdom of God the propensity of his Name as it came out of the hands of his Maker hath an advantage by this dealing of God to put forth it self so that man is as free in the choice as he is in the refusal of the tender of Mercy and Help and that with an equal indifferency as it appears to him in this state notwithstanding afterwards in the further growth in this Grace and knowledge of Christ he sees clearly and convincingly that the Grace that wrought hiddenly from his sight and knowledge in the first working tender and ministration of God towards him gained his consent through its own prevalency in the Love of God by which sight and sence self comes to be abhorred and the free Love so admired that he knows from first to last all was of Grace and that free that self is not able to challenge any thing as due from what it had done but all of gift and yet as before with such an equal indifferency on mans account so that God may and will appear to be just both in condemning and saving and the Justifier freely of all that believe in Jesus the Light of the world Therefore let all take heed how they dislike this Ministration of God and striving of his Spirit in their Hearts Consciences under colour and pretence of its in sufficiency and therefore they will not come to him because his drivings and strivings are not so strong as they would have them to be looking for such an overpowering and irresistibleness as they are not able to withstand and gainsay left such perish through a willful neglect and for want of stretching out their hand when the Lord holds out his and so they perish in the ditch with a vain expectation of further Power or cry in their mouthes Lord have mercy upon us and so with the Sluggard while they cry Yet a little more slumber and folding of the hands to sleep their Garden is over-grown with weeds and their backs cloathed with rags and they beg in harvest whilst others that have sown in tears not fainting do in due time reap in joy and not despising the crums that fell from the table nor the day of small things Witness the presence of their Beloved come down into his Garden and walking among the Liâ—…ies Let these thing be truly considered pondered and weighed in the true Ballance of Light and Righteousness lest any Soul perish through the false weight and measure so shall my soul rejoyce that any have escaped the Net of the Fowler through the discovery of the true Light and God have all the Glory unto whom alone it belongs and man ashamed confounded his â—…th stopped and he laid in the dust forever and then shall my end be answered in writting these things John Crook Concerning Perswasions in Matters of Religion THere is the Natural man and the Spiritual man and there are the Perswasions of each in and about matter of Religion There is the perswasion of Reason and the perswasion of Faith The perswasion of Reason is that Belief which man receives into his mind or heart from the exercise of the Reasoning Faculty this perswasion in maters of Religion is but mans Opinion or Judgment which how certain or infallible soever it appears to him yet may be shaken by a demonstration or evidence of a higher kind of nature The perswasion of Faith is that Belief which the new Creature receives into the renewing Mind from the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit which openeth and manifesteth the things of the Spirit unto that mind which is begotten and renewed by it And this perswasion is certain and infallible however it may be struck at and battered by the reasonings of the wise Earthly part even in that very man whose heart is thus perswaded by the Light of the Spirit of God concerning the things of Gods Kingdom Now the lowest perswasion of Faith is higher and of a more noble nature then the highest perswasion of Reason because Faith is of an higher Principle and of a deeper nature and ground then mans Reason is But this because it appears not in mans sphear but rather out of it and is contrary to the line and reach of his wisdom is accounted by
rose again for the Justification of those that believe in him who said I am the Light and is sate down at the right hand of God who is a Spirit eternally in the Heavens ascended up out of the sight of them which gazed after that Body which iâ—… gone out of their sight even he Christ the Mystery hid from Ages and Generations now made manifest to destroy the works of the Devil being meek and low in heart he saith Learn of me Then not of the Priests nor any longer of Moses for the Law is the School-master to Christ who being come calleth one from the Custom another from going to bury the dead another from questioning and reasoning what this man or another man should do that he might not stand looking out at others but himself to follow the Light saying Follow thou me And those that followed him when he was upon Earth saw his miracles and heard his Parables and eat of the outward Bread and were filled though many now eat and are not filled and they had his Body among them and they came to the Baptism and the Supper but Christ himself baptized not and when he was upon the Earth he said I go to the Father and I go to prepare a place for you And he said Whither I go ye know and he said before Follow me and except a man deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me he cannot be my Disciple and he said My sheep hear my Voice and they follow me and he entered within the Vail the Vail is over the heart and was made perfect through sufferings and is sate down in the Majesty on high glorified with God the Father and the Father was in him even the fullness of God and that which may be known of God is manifest in thee and he said he had finished the work the Father gave him to do and so the Father's will was accomplished done for which the body was prepared he said Now glorifie 〈◊〉 Father with the same glory which I had with thee from the beginning and he that spake in the body abideth forever who said A body hast thou prepared me which Body being crucified he took up his Life again then those that did know him three dayes before knew him not and he ascended and a cloud received him out of the sight of certain men who never found him unto this day for he remaineth out of the sight of most that profess him and as Lightning in the Clouds of Heaven doth he come again and every eye shall see him that condemneth Sin and the Kingdom of Heaven is within you and yet the blind cannot see nor the deaf hear And this was he that Moses commanded to hear who said he that is with you shall be in you and he that was with or without was to go away and that which was to be received within he said should abide with them forever the spirit of Truth was to lead into all Truth for though the body was prepared to do God's Will yet they by it were not lead into all Truth but sometimes understood it not though he spake Spirit Life and moreover they went away and some fled from the Truth Peter denied him that was the Truth and so such as have got a profession of the Truth without them and not the Spirit within to lead into all Truth such fly in the day of Tryal from that they profess and some deny it rather then suffer with or for it and herein them called Baptists also have not come short and some of them have bowed to the Beast and so it is with many who profess Christ and Truth without them even as with those who understood not the Parables neither could cast out the unclean Spirits so that Christ was and is grieved when he hath been so long with and professed and followed without and yet not come to that Faith which purifies the heart whereby to cast out the unclean within as thou mayst read in thy self And therefore Christ when he was upon Earth did often speak unto them of what was yet to come and I do seldom read to take notice that he did so often Preach and repeat any one thing unto them as that of the Spirit to come saying that it mark the Spirit would lead into all Truth and seeing their weakness and unbelief Mark 16. 14. he by the often repetition thereof did as it were the more chiefly to engage their hearts to wait for and seek after the Incomes of that which should comfort them and abide with them when his body was gone from them whither they could not come and to this one thing doth he direct them in various expressions as of his going to the Father and coming again and saith he I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter even the Spirit of Truth whom the World cannot receive John 14. 16. And many things Jesus did which if they should be all wirtten the World might not contain the Books John 21. 25. And many things he spake unto them Acts 2. 40. And yet there was something to come to be waited for and after to be received which was more then all this for saith he These things have I spoken unto you being yet present with you but the Comforter c. Mark the word but intimateth somethâ—…ng greater or more than what was spoken to them whilest he was with them for saith he He that is with you shall be in you John 14. 17. And said but the Comforter which is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my Name he will teach you all things mark what that is that teacheth all things and bring all things to your Remembrance whatsoever I have said and so that is within which bringeth the words of Spirit and Life to remembrance John 14. 25 26. And having spoken of other things he saith again But when the Comforter comes even the Spirit of Truth John 15. 26. And if I go not away the Comforter will not come but if I depart I will send him unto you John 16. 7. And I have many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them now howbeit when he the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth John 16. 12 13. Here it may be seen that they who followed Christ without and not received the Spirit within could not bear what he had to speak unto them and also it may be seen that when the Spirit was come it would be better with them And much more might be mentioned how Christ foretold what was to come and be received and revealed in that day John 16. 23. When the Spirit should be poured forth according to the Prophets all which plainly declareth and most evidently sets forth how Christ in his Ministry when he was upon Earth did most chiefly direct unto the Ministration of the Spirit of Truth which was then yet
abounds and makest the coming of Christ who came to fulfill the Law to destroy it through the evil of thy heart that when the righteous Law cryes in thee for Purity and condemns thee for thy unrighteous walking then thou fleest to the free Grace in Christ to save thee from the power of the Law but thou shalt find the Law hath Power over the fleshly man as long as he lives and the fleshly man that now guides thee is under the Law until it be destroyed through Faith in Jesu Christ For he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it and the Saints witness it though thou wrest the words of Paul when he declared his condition before he came to the fulness of stature in Christ to thy own destruction I see a Law in my members warring against the Law of my mind bringing me into captivity to the Law of Sin which is in my members but he gave not up himself to be a Servant of â—…in as thou dost it was his Burthen that made him to cry O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this Body of Death And he waited in the Faith until he was freed Rom. 8. 2. For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit He witnessed Christ come in him to fulfill the Law and so do all the Saints now according to their growth Some witness the Law fulfilled in them and others are waiting in the Faith patiently following the Lord daily through the Cross until the Law be fulfilled But thou art departed from the Counsel of the Lord thy God and causest his Name to be evil spoken of and hast made the Hearts of his people sad as they did that the Apostle speaks of For many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are Enemies to the Cross of Christ whose End is Destruction whose God is their Belly whose Glory is their Shame who mind Earthly things These Scriptures are fulfilled in thee which the Apostle mentions And while they promise them Liberty they themselves are the Servants of Corruption for of whom a man is overcome of the same is he brought into Bondage For if after they have escaped the Polution of the World through the Knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again entangled therein and overcome the later End of them is worse with them than the Beginning For it had been better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness then after they have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them But it happened unto â—…hem according to the true Proverb the Dog is turned to his own vomit again the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the Mire And thou mayest read what will be manifest to thee from the Lord For if we sin wilfully after we have received the Knowledge of the Truth there remains no more Sacrifice for Sin but a fearful looking for of Judgment and fâ—…erce Indignation which shall devour the Adversaries He that despised Moses Law dyed without Mercy how much sorer Punishment supposest thou shalt thou be thought worthy of who hast troden under foot the Son of God and hast counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith thou wast Sanctified an unholy thing and hast done despight to the Spirit of Grace and we know him that hath said vengeance belongetâ—… unto me I will recoâ—…pence saith the Lord It is a feareful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God Remember from whence thou art fallen Repent and do thy first work in minding that Light of Jesus Christ in thee before whom thou once stoodst condemned for that thou now livest in Prize the time and give up to be guided by the Counsel of the Lord in thee the Light of thy Conscience that discovers every vain thought wait on the Power that is present with the Light and it will dash Babylons childern against the Stones which is Sin in its conception so will thy carnal mind be brought to the Cross daily and thy heart will be purged with the Spirit of Judgment and the Spirit of Burning Kiss the Son in obeying his Counsel the Light in thee lest thou perish in the way for if his Anger be kindled a little blessed are they that trust in him The Discovery of Mystery Babylon To all enslaved Captives in Babylons's Kingdom who are made drunk with the Wine of â—…he Wâ—…ath of her Fornications and bewitched through the multitude of her Inchantments FRiends Babylon is within you the Mother of Harlots is within you and she bewitcheth you through the abundance of her Sorceries and the Beast is within you that ariseth out of the bottomless Pit of the deceived heart which is deceitful and desperately wicked and the Beast which all the World wonders after is your wills that make war against the Lamb of God in you which is the Light that makes manifest the evil of your hearts and your wisdom is the great Whore that sits upon the Beast that ariseth out of the bottomless Pit of the deceitful heart and she finds out many deceitful inventions to preserve the beastly will alive having a golden Cup in her hand full of the abominations of the Earth and this Golden Cup is your outward professions glorious comprehensions and conceivements of God and Christ imitating what the Saints did in power according as they were moved by the operation of the Spirit of the Most High God and you imitate the Saints practice by your wisdom There is nothing but confusion in the Kingdom of Babylon So come you to be divided into so many particular Forms as Presbyterians Imdependants Anabaptists and divers others that are in outward worships painted over with glorious words and yet you whose wills guide you are painted Beasts bewitched with the Mother of Harlots notwithstanding all your outward professions and glorious observations they are but the golden Cup and within you are full of the Abominations of the Earth as Self-Love Covetousness â—…usts Uncleanness Frowardness Backbiting Slandering Hard-heartedness Cruelty and Oppression Grinding the Faces of the Poor Impatiency and Unbelief and the fear of the Lord is not before your eyes and thus you lie enslaved Captives in the Kingdom of Babylon refreshing your hearts in the Creature enjoyments which will perish some in Father and Mother some in Wife and Children some in House and Land some in Gold and Silver some in the Self Wisdom delighting in themselves some in Honour and Preferment in this World and when there is enjoyment of these visible creatures then there is content and when they are taken away there is trouble the mind alwayes Plotting Contriving and Acting every way to get of the creatures what the heart lusteth after and he that gets the
keeps the â—…ind pure and the Heart clean through the sprinkling of the Heart from an Evil Conscience by the Blood of Jesus which remits the Sin and justisies the Soul through the Virtue of this Blood received into the Heart by this living Faith which receives all its Power and Virtue from Christ in whom it abides as its Root and Object whereby Justification is witnessed from Sin not in Sin Rom. 6. 22. But now being made free from Sin and become Servants unto God you have your Fruit unto Holiness and the End Everlasting Life We believe That Justification and Sanctification are distinguished but not divided for as he that sanctifieth and justifieth is one so do these go together and when the Son hath the greaâ—…t Sence of Justification upon it through the Vertue of the Blood of Jesus by the Living Faith then is it most in Love with Holiness and at the gratest Distance from Sin and Evil and whenever there is a Failing in Sanctification there is also some â—…elipse of Justification in the Eye of the Soul until Faith hath received its Strength again which it lost by Sin 's prevailing For as the farthest clear'st Sight is in the brightest Day so is it with the Soul when it is most in the Brightness and Beauty of Holiness its Justification appears most Glorious and its Union and Communion most sweet and lasting and so like two Twins as they are much of an Age so they are like one to the other And what God hath joyn'd together let no maâ—… put asunder We also by this Light believe That Acceptance with the Father is only in Christ by his Righteousness made ours or imputed unto us not by the Creaturely Skill but by the Applicatory Act of God's Gift of Grace whereby the Soul feels the Difference between Self-applying by its own Faith and God appling by his Spirit and so making Christ unto the Soul Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption So that we bâ—…lieve and are sure that there is a great Difference between Imputaâ—…on as it is the Act of man's Spirit as it is the Act of Free Grace without man's forcing And so we distinguish between Imagination and Imputation between Reckoning or Imputing that is Real and Reckoning or Imputation that is not Real but a Fiction and Imagination in the Creaturely Will and Power And because we are against the latter we are clamoured upon as if we deny'd the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness when it is only unto those who are not made Righteous by it to walk as he also walked For as the Scripture saith it is not he that saith he is Righteous by the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness but he that dâ—…th Rightâ—…ousness is Righteous even as Christ is Righteous 1 Joh. 3. 7. he that believes otherwise is deceived And yet it is not Acts of Righteousness as done by us nor as inherent in us as Acts by which we are accepted of God and justified before him but by Christ the Author and Worker of those Acts in us and for us whereby we know that we are in him and he in us and we hold him as our Head unto whom all things are gathered together in one even in him We further believe That God is only to be Worshipped and not any Likeness that man makes unto himself of God from any View Sight and Knowledge that he hath had of him but in every Act and Service man is to know what substantially as well as whom speculatively or notionally he wopships as it is written John 4. 22. Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship for Salvation is of the Jews And he that thus worships the Father honours the Son by the same Spirit which is one with the Father and the Son in which Spirit only God is worshipped according to the Form of its own chufing and manifesting of himself in and by according unto the Good Pleasure of the Father who is a Spirit and limits man unto the Spirit's Form but allows not man to limit the Spirit unto his Form though it be not of his inventing originally but of the Father Yet Man must no more limit God unto it then he could command God to appear in it at first For as he chose it himself so he hath reserved Liberty to leave it at his Pleasure who works all things after the Counsel of his own Will which be hath purposed in himself that the Gift of the Knowledge of the Mystery of his Will might forever be acknowledged to be of his Grace and for the Riches of the Glory thereof according to Ephes. 1. and man be bound but God free Man bound to wait in the Light for God's Movings but God free to move in whom to what and when he pleaseth Then man is to go when he saith Go and come when he saith Come and such Servants do serve him And then there is no more Curse as in the days of Will Worship and Voluntary Humility but the Throne of God and of the Lamb Col. 2. 18 23. Rev. 22. 3 4. And they shall see his Face and his Name shall be on their Foreheads We believe also That this Worship is spiritual and not carnal in all its Parts and Ordinances and not to be imposed by any outward Force but performed by the inward Leading of God's Holy Spirit according as the Holy Men of God were led and guided in the days past who gave forth the Scriptures all Impsitions of Worship outward being only enjoyn'd under the first Covenant that made nothing perfect until the Time of Reformation spoken of Hebr 9 10. But Christ being come there is an End as well of such Impâ—…sitions as of the Meats and Drinks and divers Baptisms and carnal Ordinances they being all but Temporary and in Order unto an End but all to vail to Christ the sum and substance of all the first pointed at by all and the last ending of all the Amen And he that thus worships God in Christ his Ordinances are spiritual and not carnal and his Faith carries him beyond his Works with righteous Abel and preserves him that he is not drowned in the Form like Cain neither falls he short of the glory of God nor of his assurance of Acceptance with him We believe There is one Baptism necessary to Salvation Ephs. 4. 5. One Lord one Faith one Baptism And this Baptism is Spiritual of which John's Water was but a figure John 1. 31. That he should be made manifest to Israel therefore am I come baptizing with Water saith John and 1 Pet. 3. 21. The like figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save us not the puâ—…ting away the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God by the Râ—…surrection of Jesus Christ This one Spiritual Baptism into the Name of Jesus Christ is that which saves the Water being but a figure that Christ might be manifest to Israel who had divers Baptisms