of God brought forth in them and here comes the Life of God which was lost and from which they were lost they being without it to be redeemed in them and so that which was lost comes to be found and saved and the Life of unrighteousness which was exalted in man above all that is of God comes to be destroyed and here comes the lofty to be cast down and him of low degree to be exalted Luke 1. 52. and here comes man to be brought into happiness for as there is no other unhappiness but in the losse of that pure life in which man was created and so the losse of the friendship unity knowledge and peace of God even so there is no other happiness then the finding and the enjoying of that which was lost for as by the losing of that pure Life all men are out of Covenant with God so no man is brought in Covenant with God until that be found which wa lost So that being found which was lost here comes the glorious Church to be redeemed that is without spot or wrinkle or any such thing Eph. 5. 27. of which Christ is the Head with whom God is one and in that pure Life have they fellowship with God and he with them and so they are one in Christ who lighteth every man that cometh into the World as he is oue with the Father and this is the unity and fellowship of the Church of Christ. Now all you that profess God and Christ and say you do hope to be saved by Christ and yet are condemned by his Light in your Consciences tell me What is the ground of your hope seeing the measure of God in your Consciences condemns you with whom God is one By whom then do you think to be justified seeing Christ condemns you for he is the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World and by him is all unrighteousness in the World condemned Iohn 3. 19. and he cannot be reconciled to any unrighteous being because he is one with the Father therefore hath the Fathercommitted all Judgement unto him Iohn 5. 22. because he judgeth righteously he is unchangeable therefore if he condemn you now for sin do not think that he will justifie you hereafter except you forsake your sin that so the purity of his Life may be brought forth in you and so you come to be transformed into his Image Heb. 1. 3. who is the glory of the incorruptible God for holiness hath no union with unholiness 2 Cor. 6. 14 nor purity with impurity nor light with darknesse and therefore the holy eternal God being unchangeable the change must be wrought in you who are unholy by the saving Grace of God which hath appeared unto you all Tit. 2. 11. which is the Light that condemneth sin in the Conscience if ever you come to have unity with him And all they who obey the Light with which they are enlightned they come to find Christ to be the Minister of righteousness Isa. 32. 1. administring the righteous Judgements of God upon the unrighteous nature and so comes all that in man that would not have him to reign to be slain by him and so he cometh who is the Life and Power in the which man was created to have dominion in man over all who is God blessed for ever Now all you that say Though you are sinners yet you hope to be saved because God is merciful and ready to forgive sin and with this hope do comfort your selves and do not seek to depart from sin neither do you believe that you can be freed from sin I tell you your hope shall perish at the appearing of the God of Iacob for how can you be saved by the mercy of God when you refuse to receive it For this is the mercy of God That he hath given his Son a Light in the World that all they who receive him might receive power to become the sons of God Ioh. 1. 12. by which Power they are redeemed from sin and made heirs of Eternal Life and no sinner is heir of Eternal Life but he that sinneth is condemned in his Conscience by the Light of Christ which God in mercy hath given to save from sin all that receive him Now this Light lets you see that you should not lye swear steal defraud or speak evilly c. but you for sake the motions of the Light and do follow the motions of Satan which moves you to act unrighteousness and so you refuse the mercy and saving-Grace of God and you chuse to obey the motions of Satan which lead to act unrighteousness and yet you lean upon the Lord and say you hope he will be merciful to forgive you your sins although you hate to obey his mercy in whom forgiveness of sins is received And thus your hope is the hope of the hypocrite and shall perish for he that hath the true hope purifies himself as God is pure 1 Iohn 3. 3 but you believe you cannot be made pure and so you are reprobate to that Faith which purifies the heart and gives victory over the World 1 Iohn 5. 4. And therefore all you vvho do hope to be saved by your Faith and yet do live in sin and unrighteousness and have not so much Faith as to believe that you shall ever be freed from unrighteousness while you live because the way of Truth you know not what Faith is that which you trust in seeing it is the just that liveth by Faith Heb. 10. 28. and you are unjust Is not your Faith without works Iames 2. 20. and so dead seeing that you believe that your Faith hath not so much power to work that in you which was wrought in the Saints of old by theâ—r Faith which works were these Acts 159 By Faith were theâ—r hearts purified Rom. 5. 1. By Faith were they justified and had peace with God and their Faith gave them victory over the World and this you believe you cannot attain unto while you live and have you now not good reason to question your Faith seeing it worketh not the same effects which was wrought in them who had the true Faith Doth it not appear that your Faith is not the same Faith which they had by which they were justified 2 Cor. 1. 12. and did receive in the testimony of their Conscience that they had walked before God uprightly and holily seeing that the same Light condemneth you in your consciences which justified them and you do believe you shall not be justified before God in your Consciences while you live Now if you have Faith without Works do you think that Faith wil save you except the Works of Faith be brought forth in you Iam. 2. 19. And is not the Devils Faith so good as yours who doth believe and tremble before the just Judgments of God But you having not so much feeling do harden your selves against judgment and doth comfort your selves in your
disobedience And yet wil you say you serve the Lord although you have given your selves over to serve Satan For sin is a Work of the Devil and where the Works are brought forth there is the Worker and you do believe you cannot be freed from sin and have you not then given your selves over to obey Satan Rom. 6. 17. and his servants you are to whom you obey and therefore when Satan moves you to commit sin you obey him because you believe you cannot do otherwise and so your Faith is so far from purifying your hearts that it leads you into impurity And although you are convinced by the Light of God in your Consciences that you should not sin yet you believe not in the Light which if you did it would purifie your hearts but you do believe and follow him who leads you to commit sin and you do not believe that that of God which convinceth you that you should not sin is able to deliver you from sin and so you are the unbelievers who make God a lyar in not believing the testimony which he hath given of his Son 1 Iohn 5. 10. And so to the righteousness of God are you disobedient you being the servants of sin for you cannot serve two Masters if you are servants of sin you are free from righteousness Rom. 6. 20. and are not the servants of Christ for he is not the Minister of sin Gal. 2. 17. but you serve Satan who is the Author of sin and your Faith leads you no further than to serve him and therefore that cannot be the Faith which gives peace with God for there is no peace from God to the wicked Isa. 48. 22. much less to those who believe they shall never be made righteous and so hath made a Covenant with death and Hell to commit sin so long as you live you are not those who do wait for the Saviour to save you from sin but do comfort your selves with your vain imaginations and being ignorant of the righteousness of God which is made manifest in all those who believe in the Light to take away sin You think to be saved by your own righteousnesse in making a profession from the words of the holy men of God although you are unholy and you do believe you shall never be made holy while you live and so you make likenesses and bow down to them although the Scripture which you professe saith Thou shalt not make the likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath nor in the waters under the Earth Exod. 20.4 but you being ignorant of the substance have nothing but the likenesse which you bow unto and say Christ hath commanded you so to do when you have neither heard his voice nor seen his shape but that which you have you have gathered into your imaginations by reading the Scripture and do endeavour to get into a form of godlinesse but the Power you never look for while you live for they that have the power of godliness by it are they redeemed from sin but you believe that cannot be in this life And thus are you strangers to the life of Saints And yet you will own the Name of Christians and say you are baptized in his Name although you believe you shall never be partakers of his Life while you live And so it appears that your Baptism is not the Baptism of Christ for as many as are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death and are made partakers of the resurrection of his Life and are made free from sin Rom. 6. 3 7. but your Baptism cannot free from sin for we see drunkards swearers lyars thieves murderers and such like who are baptized with your baptism and yet remain so and therefore it is an abomination to God and it is a likeness which the Lord forbids who saith Thou shalt not make any likeness and this you have but the substance you never look for while you live and so your hearts being not circumcised by the circumcision of Christ in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh you cannot understand the things of God because you are not buried with him in baptism And yet will you boast of the Lord's Table although you believe you shall never be freed from the Table of Devils while you live for you believe you cannot be freed from sin and he that committeth sin is partaker with Satan and he that takes part with Satan is God's Enemy and is shut out from the Lord's Table And then you take Bread and Wine and eat and drink it and call that the Lord's Supper and say he did so with his Apostles the same night that he was betrayed and this is false for that Bread which he gave his Disciples was his Body Iohn 6. 51. Matth. 26. 26 27 28. Mark 14. 22 23 24 Luke 22. 19. 20. 1 Cor. 11. 23 24. which you are ignorant of who call outward Bread and Wine the Lord's supper for that is not his Body And Christ said The Bread that I will give you is my flesh And when the time drew near that he should go to the Father he brake that bread and gave it them and said Take eat this is my body and after they had eaten he took the Cup and gave it them and said Drink ye all of it this is my Blood which is shed for many for the remission of sins And this was the same that Paul did administer to the Corinthians and the Cup of blessing was the communion of the blood of Christ and the bread which they did break was the communion of the body of Christ and this did God ordain but yours is a likeness which God is against and it must be destroyed And because you read in Scripture that the holy men of God did sing because the Lord had redeemed them therefore you who are unholy have made songs of their words and you sing who never know what Redemption was Moses and the children of Israel did sing because the Lord had redeemed them out of the hands of Pharoah Exod. 15. and that which they spoke in their song in them was truth but if you sing their words and are not partakers of their deliverance are you not lyars Deborah and Barack sung Iudg. 5. because the Lord had delivered them and had destroyed the Enemies of Israel But what rule is this for you to sing who cannot believe that sin which is Israels Enemy can be destroyed in you while you live and they that were redeemed unto God out of Kindreds Tongues and Nations Rev. 14. 3. 15. 3. sung a new song the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb because they were redeemed by him but what caufe have you to sing who are strangers to this redemption and the Apostle said Be not ovâ—rcome with Wine but be filled with the Spirit speaking to your selves in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual
songs making melody in your hearts unto God Eph. 5. 18 19 But what melody is there in your hearts unto God who are strangers to his Spirit and are filled with excess of the Wine of the Fornication of the Whore with which all Nations are become drunk and do believe you cannot be cleansed from it while you live David when he was delivered and did keep the ways of the Lord and had not wickedly departed from his God 2 Sam. 22. 22 23. he declared the wonderful Works of God and did sing to the glory of his Name and you have made songs of his words who depart from God daily and do believe you cannot keep the ways of the Lord and is not this hypocrisie to profess the words of them who were holy seeing you are unholy and strangers to their Life And thus all your singing and all your prayers and all your Ordinances are an abomination to God because they are wrought by that nature which is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be and your hearts are poluted with uncleanness and you are not obedient to the righteousnesse of God Christ Jesus the Light of the World that lighteth every man that cometh into the World which convinceth you of sin in your consciences and beareth witnesse for God against your unrighteousnesse This is he who God hath given to be his salvation to the ends of the Earth Isa. 49. 6. And because you do not obey this Teacher near you therefore you are not saved but you wander up and down many of you from Mountain to Hill to seek a covering but nothing can cover you from his presence for he is near that condemns you and then how can you be justified For they who are not in him and he in them cannot be justified before God And you follow the teachings of men whose minds are corrupt who withstand the Truth as Iannes and Iambres withstood Moses 2 Tim. 3. who creep into Houses and lead silly women captive who are laden with sin and led away with divers lusts always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth Now all you who are led captive under their traditions and ordinances which they teach some for filthy lucre others out of pride being puffed up with knowledge in the Letter are you not those whom the Apostle speaks of who are laden with sin and are you not led away with divers lusts and after you have learned twenty thirty forty or fifty years do you know any more of God than when you first began but still you remain serving your lusts until you are taken away from the Earth And if any come to witnesse redemption through Jesus Christ and do declare against your evil deeds then are you those who are enraged and cries out These are the seducers when you your selves are sinners and so are seduced for there is no other seducing them to commit sin and all sinners are seduced and yet you say of those who witnesse Christ in them redeeming from sin these are the false Prophets that should come in sheeps cloathing for we do not believe say you that any can be freed from sin while he lives and herein you manifest your selves to be the false Prophets you speak of for you cover your selves with the Lambs words and with a profession thereof but you are so far from being partaker of his Life that you believe you cannot attain unto it for where the Lamb of God is made manifest he taketh away sin but where sin hath dominion there is the Lamb of God slain and you do believe sin must have dominion in you while you live and then are you not the Wolves who devoureth the Lambs and yet clothe your selves with the Wool making a profession of Christ and yet are Enemies to his Life for there is no other enmity against God but sin and there is nothing that condemns sin but Christ who lighteth every man that cometh into the World for the Father hath committed all Judgement unto him for he judgeth righteously he will not condemn the righteous neither will he justifie the sinner in his sin but every one who departeth from sin and taketh up his Crosse and followeth him through death he will in no wise cast off But all you who think to be justified because of your outward profession outward Baptism outward Supper outward singing outward praying and yet your inward parts poluted with sin you stink in the nostrils of God because of your hypocrisie to profess the words of those who were holy while you are unholy for God desireth truth in the inward parts Psal. 51. 6. and without holiness none can see God Heb. 12. 14. but you are so far from having truth and holiness in the inward parts that you believe it cannot be attained to and so all your profession is no more than that which the Iews had who crucified the Lord of Life for they professed the words of the holy men of God and so do you but truth and holiness in the inward parts had they not neither have you and he who was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World did they crucifie and so do you for with your sins you cross the true Light which convinceth you of sin and so did they and this is the reason that truth and holiness is not brought forth in your inward parts And thus all the Works by which you think to be justified in your profession are dead Works they being wrought by that nature which crucifies that Life in whose Works God is well-pleased and to repentance from dead Works are you not come but in your dead Works do think to be just fied and therefore are you so ignorant of the Works of Eternal Life which are wrought in all that are justified by Christ Jesus who is the Life eternal and worketh in all that receive him to will and to do Phil. 2. 13. in whose Works the Father is well-pleased and by the power of his working in us are we redeemed from the power of Satan and are made to rejoice in the Lord our Saviour And therefore cease from all false Teachers who cry peace peace where there is no peace Ier. 6. 14. and tell you you shall be justified although in your Consciences you are condemned these are the false Teachers who are against Christ and they preach peace to such whom Christ Jesus condemns by his Light with which he hath lighted every man but against such who are redeemed by Christ and do witnesse them to be lyars they prepare war And they perswade you that you cannot be saved from sin while you live And thus they deny the Power of God to save from sin and would perswade you that the Lord's hand is shortned that it cannot save And thus they delude you until the measure of your iniquity is full and then you must receive a reward according to your works Wrath Tribulation and Anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil But if you turn to the Light with which you are lighted you turn to the true Teacher which will alwayes be present with you to lead you into the pathes of righteousness where is peace eternal and rejoicing in the Testimony of your consciences 2 Cor. 1. 12. and the Law of God will be written in your hearts Heb. 10. 16. by which sin will be condemned in your flesh 1 Pet. 4. 6. and there will the power of God be manifest to destroy sin and thus you will receive the pure water Heb. 10. 22. which purifieth from sin and this is obtained in obeying the Light with which you are lighted for that is truth and is no lye and it manifesteth the thoughts and intents of the heart and therefore they who receive it need not that any man teach them for they are taught by the annointing 1 Iohn 2. 27. and they need not to teach one another saying Know the Lord Iereremiah 31 34. for they following the Light do come to find the Law in their hearts and the Spirit of God in their inward parts by which they know God from the least to the greatest and he that knoweth not this condition but remains learning of men such a one is a stranger to the New Covenant Given forth for the Seeds sake who groan for redemption by one who desires that righteousnesse may be established William Ames THE END * And therefore the mercy of God condemns you because you wil not receive it nor obey it * Because of his disobedience * And therefore you follow it not but reject it and so you despise the Grace of God