to love their Masters and Mistresses and to be faithful and diligent in their Master's Service and Business and then their Masters and Overseers would love them and deal kindly and gently with them And that they should not beat their Wives nor the Wives their Husbands neither should the Men have many Wives And that they should not Steal nor be Drunk nor commit Adultery nor Fornication nor Curse nor Swear nor Lie nor give bad Words to one another nor to any one else For there is something in them that tells them they should not practise those nor any other Evils But if they notwithstanding should do them then we let them know There are but Two Ways the one that leads to Heaven where the Righteous go and the other that leads to Hell where the Wicked and Debauched Whoremongers and Adulterers Murderers and Liars go To the one the Lord will say Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World but to the other he will say Depart ye Cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels So the Wicked go into everlasting Punishment but the Righteous into Life Eternal Matth. 25. Now consider Friends It is no Transgression for a Master of a Family to instruct his Family himself or for some others to do it in his behalf but rather it is a very great Duty incumbent upon them Abraham and Joshua did so of the first we read the Lord said Gen. 18.19 I know that Abraham will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the Way of the Lord to do Justice and Judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham the things that he hath spoken of him And the latter we read said Josh 24.15 Chuse ye this day whom ye will serve But as for me and my House we will serve the Lord. We do declare that we do esteem it a Duty incumbent on us to Pray with and for to Teach Instruct and Admonish those in and belonging to our Families this being a Command of the Lord the Disobedience whereunto will provoke the Lord's Displeasure as may be seen in Jer. 10.25 Pour out thy Fury upon the Heathen that know thee not and upon the Families that call not upon thy Name Now Negroes Tawnies Indians make up a very great part of the Families in this Island for whom an Account will be required by him who comes to Judge both Quick and Dead at the great Day of Judgment when every one shall be Rewarded according to the Deeds done in the Body whether they be good or whether they be evil At that Day I say of the Resurrection both of the Good and of the Bad of the Just and the Vnjust when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking Vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord and from the Glory of his Power when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe in that day 2 Thess 1.8 c. See also 2 Pet. 3.3 c. This wicked Slander of our endeavouring to make the Negroes Rebell our Adversaries took occasion to raise from our having had some Meetings with and amongst the Negroes For both I and other Friends had several Meetings with them in several Plantations wherein we exhorted them to Justice Sobriety Temperance Chastity and Piety and to be subject to their Masters and Governours Which was altogether contrary to what our envious Adversaries maliciously suggested against us As I had been to visit the Governour as soon as I was well able after I came thither so sometime after when I was at Thomas Rouse's the Governour came thither to see me carrying himself very courteously Having now been Three Months or more in Barbados and in that time having visited Friends throughly settled Meetings and dispatched that Service for which the Lord brought me thither I felt my Spirit clear of that Island and Drawings to Jamaica Which when I had communicated to Friends I acquainted the Governour also and divers of his Council That I intended shortly to leave the Island and go to Jamaica which I did that as my Coming thither was open and publick so my Departure also might be But before I left the Island I writ the following Letter to my Wife that she might understand both how it was with me and how I proceeded in my Travels My Dear Heart TO whom is my Love and to all the Children in the Seed of Life that changeth not but is over all blessed be the Lord for ever I have gone under great Sufferings in my Body and Spirit beyond Words but the God of Heaven be praised his Truth is over all I am now well and if the Lord permit within a few days I pass from Barbados towards Jamaica and I do think to stay but little there I desire that ye may be all kept free in the Seed of Life out of all Cumbrances Friends are generally well Remember me to Friends that enquire after me So no more but my Love in the Seed and Life that changeth not Barbados the 6th of the 11th Month 1671. G. F. I set Sail from Barbados to Jamaica on the Eighth Day of the Eleventh Month 1671. Robert Widders William Edmundson At Sea Solomon Eccles and Elizabeth Hooton going with me James Lancaster John Cartwright and George Pattison were gone thither some time before and Thomas Briggs and John Stubbs remained yet longer in Barbados with whom were John Rouse and William Baily We had a quick and easie Passage to Jamaica JAMAICA where we met with our Friends James Lancaster John Cartwright and George Pattison again who had been labouring there in the Service of Truth into which we forthwith entred with them travelling up and down through the Island which is large And a brave Country it is though the People are many of them debauched and wicked We had much Service there for there was a great Convincement 1671. Jamaica and many received the Truth some of which were People of Account in the World We had many Meetings there which were large and very quiet For indeed the People were Civil to us so that not a Mouth was opened against us I was twice with the Governour and some other of the Magistrates who all carried themselves lovingly towards me About a Week after we landed in Jamaica Elizabeth Hooton who went with us from England to Barbados and from Barbados thither being a Woman of a great Age and who had travelled much in Truth 's Service and suffered much for it departed this Life She was well the Day before she died and departed in Peace like a Lamb bearing Testimony to Truth at her Departure When we had been about Seven Weeks in Jamaica and had brought
where Friends had never had any Meeting before And the Meeting was very large for the Country generally came in and People came also from Connecticut and other parts round about There were amongst them four Justices of the Peace and most of these People were such as had never heard Friends before but they were mightily affected with the Meeting and a great Desire there is after the Truth amongst that People So that our Meeting was of very good Service blessed be the Lord for ever The Justice at whose House the Meeting was and another Justice of that Country invited me to come again but I was then clear of those parts and was going off towards Shelter-Island But John Burnyeate and John Cartwright being come back out of New-England into Road-Island before I was gone I laid this place before them and they felt Drawings thither and went to visit them At another place I heard some of the Magistrates should say among themselves If they had Money enough they would hire me to be their Minister This was where they did not well understand Vs and our Principles But when I heard of it I said It was time for me to be gone for if their Eye was so much to Me or any of Vs they would not come to their own Teacher For this thing of hiring Ministers had spoiled many by hindring them from improving their own Talents whereas our Labour is to bring every one to their own Teacher in themselves Now after we had had very good Service for the Lord in Road-Island and the Parts adjacent and that John Burneyate with the other Friends that went from the General Meeting here into New-England were returned hither again I went off from hence to Shelter-Island having with me Robert Widders James Lancaster George Pattison and one John Jay a Planter in Barbados and leaving John Stubbs and John Burneyate in Road-Island to Water 1672. Road-Island what had been Planted by the Lord there and there-aways who expected John Cartwright whom they had left at Piscataway to come and join shortly with them in the same Service We that were for Shelter-Island went off in a Sloop and passing by Point-Juda and Block-Island Point Juda Block Island Fisher's Island came to Fishers Island where at Night we went on Shore but were not able to stay for the Muschetos a sort of Gnats or little Flies which abound there and are very troublesom Wherefore we went into our Sloop again and put off from the Shore and cast Anchor and so lay in our Sloop that Night Next day we went into the Sound The Sound but finding our Sloop was not able to live in that Water we turned in again for we could not pass that way and so came to Anchor again before Fisher's-Island where we lay in our Sloop that Night also There fell abundance of Rain that Night and our Sloop being open we were exceeding wet The Two Horse-Races Garner's Island Gull 's Island Shelter Island Next day we passed over the Waters called the two Horse Races and then by Garner's Island after which we passed by the Gull's-Island and so got at length to Shelter-Island which though it was but about Twenty seven Leagues from Road-Island yet through the Difficulty of Passage we were three Days in getting thither The Day after we came thither being the First Day of the Week we had a Meeting there Afterwards in the same Week I had a Meeting among the Indians there at which were their King with his Council and about an hundred Indians more They sate down like Friends and heard very attentively while I spake to them by an Interpreter an Indian that could speak English well After the Meeting they appeared very loving and confessed that what was said to them was Truth On the next First-Day we had a great Meeting on the Island to which came many of the World's People that had never heard Friends before They were very well satisfied with the Meeting and would not go away when the Meeting was done till they had spoken with me Wherefore I went amongst them and found they were much taken with the Truth and good Desires were raised in them and a great Love Blessed be the Lord his Name spreads and will be great among the Nations and Dreadful among the Heathen While we were in Shelter-Island William Edmundson came to us who had been labouring in the Work of the Lord in Virginia From whence he travelled through the Desert-Country through Difficulties and many Trials till he came to Roan-Oak where he met with a tender People And after Seven Weeks Service in those parts sailing over to Mary-land and so to New-York he came from thence to Long-Island and so to Shelter-Island where we met with him and were very glad to hear from him the good Service he had had for the Lord in the several Countries and Places wherein he had travelled since he parted from us We staid not long in Shelter-Island but entring our Sloop again At Sea put forth to Sea for Long-Island We had a very rough Passage for the Tide did run so strong for several Hours that I have not seen the like and being against us we could hardly get forwards though we had a Gale We were upon the Water all that Day and the Night following but found our selves next Day driven back near unto Fisher's-Island For there was a great Fog and towards Day it was very dark 1672. New-England so that we could not see what way we made and besides it rained much in the Night which in our open Sloop made us very wet Next day a great Storm arose so that we were fain to go over the Sound and did get over with much ado When we had gotten from Fisher's-Island Faulcon Island we passed by Faulcon-Island and came to the Main where we cast Anchor till the Storm was over Sound and then we came over the Sound being all very wet and much difficulty we had to get to Land the Wind being strong against us But blessed be the Lord God of Heaven and Earth and of the Seas and Waters Long Island Oister-bay all was well and we got safe to Oister-Bay in Long-Island on the Seventh Day of the Sixth Month very early in the Morning which they say is about two hundred Miles from Road-Island At Oister-Bay we had a very large Meeting and the same day James Lancaster and Christopher Holder went over the Bay to Rye on the Continent in Governour Winthrop's Government and had a Meeting there Flushing From Oister-Bay we passed about Thirty Miles to Flushing where we had a very large Meeting many Hundreds of the People of the World being there some or whom came about Thirty Miles to it A glorious and heavenly Meeting it was praised be the Lord God! and the People were much satisfied Mean while Christopher Holder and some other Friends went to a Town in Long-Island called
the Inhabitants of the City of Hamborough I writ also an Epistle to the Ambassadors that were treating a Peace at Nimmeguen To the Magistrates and Priests of Embden I writ a Book shewing them their Vnchristian Practices in persecuting Friends And several other Books I writ there in Answer to Priests and others of Hamborough Dantzick and other places to Clear the Truth and Friends from their false Charges and Slanders After some time George Keith and William Penn came back from Germany to Amsterdam and had a Dispute with one Galenus Abrahams one of the most noted Baptists in Holland at which many Professors were present But not having time to finish the Dispute then they met again two days after and the Baptist was much Confounded and Truth gained ground Between these Two Disputes we had a very great Meeting at Friends Meeting-Place at which many hundreds of the World's People were and some of high Rank in the World's Account for there was an Earl and a Lord and divers other Eminent Persons who all behaved themselves very Civilly But when the Meeting was ended some Priests began to make some Opposition which when William Penn understood he stood up again and answered them to the great satisfaction of the People who were much affected with the several Testimonies that they had heard declared And after the Meeting several of them came to Gertrude's where we were with whom George Keith had much Discourse in Latin Having now finished our Service at Amsterdam we took Leave of the Friends there and passed by Wagon to Leyden Leyden which is about 25 Miles where we stayed a day or two seeking out and visiting some tender People that we heard of there We met there with a German who was partly Convinced and he Informed us of an Eminent Man that was inquiring after Truth Some sought him out and visited him and found him a Serious Man and I spake to him and he owned the Truth William Penn and Benjamin Furly went to visit another Great Man that lived a little out of Leyden who they said had been General to the King of Denmark's Forces and he and his wife were very loving to them and heard the Truth with Joy From Leyden we went to the Hague Hague where the Prince of Orange then kept his Court and we visited one of the Judges of Holland with whom we had pretty much Discourse He was a Wise Tender man and put many Objections and Queries to us which when we had answered he was satisfied and parted with us in much Love Then leaving the Hague we went to Delft and from thence that night to Rotterdam Delft Rotterdam where we stay'd several days and had several Meetings there While I was here I gave forth a Book for the Jews with whom when I was at Amsterdam I had a desire to have had some Discourse but they would not Here also I reviewed several other Books and Papers which I had given forth before and were now Transcribed And now finding our Spirits Clear of the Service which the Lord had given us to do in Holland we took Leave of Friends of Rotterdam and passed by Boat to the Briel in order to take Passage that day in the Packet-Boat for England several Friends of Rotterdam accompanying us and some of Amsterdam who were come to see us again before we left Holland But the Packet-Boat not coming in till night we were fain to lodge that night at the Briel and next day being the One and twentieth of the Eighth Month and the First-day of the Week we went on Board and set Sail about the Tenth hour viz. William Penn George Keith and I and Gertrude Dirick Nieson with her Children We were in all about sixty Passengers and had a long and hazardous Passage for the Winds were contrary to us and the Weather stormy the Boat also very leaky insomuch that we were fain to have two Plumps continually going both day and night so that it was thought there was twice as much Water plumped out as the Vessel would have held But the Lord who is able to make the stormy Winds to cease and the Raging Waves of the Sea to be calm yea to raise them and stop them at his pleasure he alone did preserve us praised be his Name for ever Though our Passage was hard yet we had a fine time and good Service for Truth on Board among the Passengers some of whom were a sort of great Folks and they were very kind and loving 1677. Harwich We arrived at Harwich on the 23th of the 8th Month at night having been Two Nights and almost Three Days at Sea Next Morning William Penn and George Keith took Horse for Colchester but I stay'd and had a Meeting at Harwich and there being no Colchester-Coach there and the Post-masters Wife being Unreasonable in her Demands for a Coach and deceiving us of it also after we had hired it we went to a Friend's House about a mile and an half off in the Country and hired his Wagon which we bedded well with Straw and rode in it to Colchester Colchester I stay'd in Colchester till the First-day of the Week having a desire to be at Friends Meeting there that day and a very large and weighty Meeting it was for Friends hearing of my Return from Holland flocked in thither from several parts of the Country and many of the Towns People coming in also it was thought there were about a Thousand People at the Meeting and all was peaceable Then having stay'd a day or two longer at Colchester having Service amongst the Friends there I travelled through Essex Essex Halsted Braintree Felsted Saling â—helmsford London visiting Friends at Halsted Braintree Felsted and Saling and having Meetings with them At Chelmsford I had a Meeting in the Evening and there being many Friends Prisoners they got liberty and came to the Meeting and we were well refreshed together in the Lord. Next day being the 9th of the 9th Month I got to London where Friends received me with great Joy and on the First-day following went to Gracious-street Meeting where the Lord visited us with his refreshing Presence and the Glory of the Lord surrounded the Meeting praised be the Lord After I had been a little while in London I writ the following Letter to my Wife whom though I had written to her several times out of Holland I had not written to since I came into England Dear Heart TO whom is my Love and to the Children and to all the rest of Friends in the Lord's Truth Power and Seed that is over all Glory to the Lord and blessed be his Name for ever beyond all words who hath carried me through and over many Trials and Dangers in his Eternal Power I have been Twice at Gracious-street-Meeting and though the opposite Spirits were there yet all was quiet and the Dew of Heaven fell upon the People and the Glory of the Lord
of the Land of Egypt for before that time the Lord had not given to Man and Woman his outward Sabbath-day to keep neither in the Old World nor after in Abraham's time nor in Isaac's nor in Jacob's time until the Jews came out of Egypt to Mount Sina in the Wilderness And then there the Lord gave the Law and his Sabbath as a Sign in the Old Covenant of Christ the Eternal Rest in the New Covenant and they that believe do enter into Christ their Rest. Adam the first Man is the Root from whence we all spring naturally And Christ is called the last or second Adam because he is the Beginning and Root of all them that are spiritual The first Adam was made a living Soul And Christ the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit Christ by the Grace of God tasted death for every Man that they might all come into Favour with God and that every Tongue should Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father I writ also a Paper there Concerning the Two Seeds distinguishing the Seed wherein the Blessing is received from the Seed which the Curse remains upon Of that Paper the following is a Copy THE Lord said to Abraham In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Gen. 22.18 And thy Seed shall be as the Stars of Heaven and as the Sand which is upon the Sea-shore and as the Dust of the Earth that cannot be numbred Chap. 13.16 and 15.5 and 22.17 Now in this Seed all Nations and Families of the Earth are blessed but not in the Seed of Evil Doers and of Falshood nor in the Seed of the Adulterer and the Whore Isa 1.4 and 57.3 4. for the Seed of the Wicked shall be cut off 1687. Kingston saith the Lord Psal 37.28 The Lord said to David That his Seed should endure for ever Psal 89.36 And again it is said Psal 102.28 The Children of thy Servants shall continue and their Seed shall be established before thee Now ye may see that here is a Distinction betwixt the Two Seeds for the Seed of Evil Doers and of the Adulterer and Whore and of the Wicked shall be Cut off and so it is not blessed But Christ bruises the Head of the Serpent and his Seed which he soweth in them that do disobey and transgress God's Command and rebel against God's good Spirit This Wicked Seed of the Serpent is Curst and is an Enemy to the Seed in whom all are blessed But Christ bruises the Head of this cursed Seed of Enmity and destroys the Devil and his Works and in his Seed are all blessed and all are in Unity in this Seed And all the Children of the Seed are the Children of the Kingdom of God and of Christ and are blessed with faithful Abraham and who are of the saving divine precious Faith are of Abraham and walk in the Steps of the Seed and Faith of Abraham and are blessed with him yea all Nations and all the Families of the Earth And the Lord said to Abraham Thy Seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them Four hundred years and that Nation whom they shall serve will I judge and afterwards shall they to wit God's Seed come out with great Substance Gen. 15.13 14. Here ye may see That which Afflicts God's Seed he will judge and did judge for he did destroy the First-birth of Pharaoh and overthrew him and his Host And an holy Man said Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a Seed or Remnant we had been as Sodom c. that is destroyed and burnt But in the Seed which destroys the Devil and his Works and bruises the Head of the Serpent and his Seed are all Nations and Families of the Earth blessed Christ according to the flesh was of Abraham and of David for he took not on him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham in which Seed all Nations and Families of the Earth are blessed And so they that are of his Seed are of the Generation of Christ and so are Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone Now all Nations and Families of the Earth must be in this holy Seed if they have the Blessings and are blessed And out of the Mouth of this Seed's Seed shall not God's Word depart but shall Remain and abide in the Mouth of this Seed's Seed in which they are blessed Isa 59.21 So it is not the First-birth's talking of the Words of Christ the Seed in whose Mouth the Word of God doth not abide that makes an outward Profession like the Jews that did kill and persecute the Prophets and crucified Christ the Seed and Substance of the Law and Prophets which the Jews professed in words but they denied Christ the Seed and Life And all the Christians so called that do profess the Scriptures in Words and are not in the Seed Christ they are in the Confusion and are like the Jews And so neither Jews nor Christians are blessed except they be in Christ the Seed of Life But though Christ is said to be of the Seed of David and of Abraham as his Generation is declared by Matthew and Luke yet Christ was not born of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God For he was Conceived by the Holy Ghost and not by the Will of Man but by the Will of God born of the Virgin and supposed to be the Son of Joseph but was the Son of God and his Name was called Jesus because he should save his People from their sins and Emanuel God with us And Christ took not upon him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham as I said before and so was made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh and declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead Rom. 1.4 So the Generation of Christ is a Mystery And Christ saw his Seed or Word to grow up in his Disciples And Christ in you the hope of Glory the Apostle calls The Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations but now is made manifest to the Saints or sanctified Ones Col. 1.26 27. Whom we preach warning every Man and teaching every Man in all Wisdom that we may present every Man perfect in Christ Jesus v. 28. For in Christ the second Adam all are made perfect and compleat and in Adam in the Fall all are deformed and made imperfect So out of Christ all Mankind are Imperfect and Deformed Let them paint and dress themselves with the Sheep's Clothing and with the Form of Godliness of the Prophets and Christ's and his Apostles Words never so much yet if Christ be not in them they are Uncompleat Imperfect Deformed Reprobates But the Apostle tells the Church of Christ Ye are compleat in Christ which is the Head of all
Thistles and sharp Rocks and Mountains and never be hurt nor never wear out their Shooes but their Feet are always beautiful upon the Mountains Moses a Captain the Servant of the Lord said unto the People of Israel I have led you forty years in the Wilderness your Cloths are not waxen old upon you and thy Shooe is not waxen old upon thy foot Deut. 29.5 Here ye may see the Jews in the Old Testament their Cloths and their Shooes did not wax old But they who are Christ's followers whom he shooeth with his Everlasting Gospel of Peace and Cloatheth with his fine Linnen his Righteousness and Arms with his Arms and Armour they are cloathed shod and armed with that which will never decay nor wax old nor canker nor rust nor corrupt nor grow blunt Now all whether Christians or Jews or Gentiles that hate the Light of Christ and close their Eyes and stop their Ears to it are not like to see Christ their Ensign and Captain of their Salvation but are blind And as there is no outward Captain would List a Company of blind and deaf men and cloath and arm them with outward Armour so such as are blind and deaf whose Eyes are closed and Ears stopped to the heavenly Light of Christ he is not like to cloath them with his fine Linnen and arm them with his heavenly and spiritual Armour nor are they like to be spiritually and heavenly disciplined and to see and know his holy and spiritual living Camp nor to follow him while they are deaf and blind and hate his Light which is the Life in Christ the heavenly Ensign and Captain of their Salvation For it is the Light that shines in the heart which gives the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus who is the Ensign and Captain of Mens Salvations and who hath brought and doth bring many Sons unto glory Praises Honour and Glory be unto the Lord over all who liveth for ever Amen Gooses the 14th of the 2d Month 1690. G. F. London A Week after this I return'd to London and after a little stay there Kingston went down to visit Friends at Kingston where I stay'd not long London but came back to London and remained there in the Lord's work Yearly-Meeting till after the Yearly-Meeting which was in the Fourth Month this Year in which the wonted Goodness of the Lord was witnessed and his blessed Presence enjoyed and his heavenly Power livingly felt opening the hearts of his People unto him and his Divine Treasures of Life and Wisdom in and unto them whereby many useful and necessary things relating to the safety of Friends and to the honour and prosperity of Truth were weightily treated of and unanimously concluded After the Meeting was over I writ the following Paper to Friends to be added to the Epistle which from the Yearly-Meeting was sent into the several Counties ALL Friends every where that are alive to God through Jesus Christ and are living Members of Christ the holy Head Be still and stand still in the Lord's Camp of Holiness and Righteousness and therein see the Salvation of God and your Eternal Life Rest and Peace and in it you may feel and see the Lord's Power is over all and how the Lord is at work in his Power and ruling the Nations with his Rod of Iron and is breaking in the Nations the old leaky Vessels and Cisterns to pieces like the Potter's Vessels that will not hold his living Water of Life who are erred from the Spirit But blessed be the Lord God of Heaven and Earth 1690. London Yearly Meeting who by his Eternal Arm and Power hath settled all his People upon the living holy Rock and Foundation that stands sure whom he hath drawn by his Spirit to his Son and gathered them into the Name of Jesus Christ his only begotten Son full of Grace and Truth who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given to him Whose Name is above every Name under the whole Heaven and all his living Members know there is no Salvation given by any other Name under the whole Heaven but by the Name of Jesus and he their Salvation and their living Head is felt in the midst of them in his Light Life Spirit Grace and Truth and his Word of Patience Wisdom and Power who is his People's Prophet that God hath raised up in his New Testament and Covenant to open to them and their living Shepherd that hath purchased redeemed and bought them with his precious Blood And Christ the living One feeds his living Sheep in his living Pastures of Life and his living Sheep know their living Shepherd's voice with his living Bread and Water and follow him and will not follow any of the World's Hirelings nor Thieves nor Robbers nor Climbers that are without Christ the Door And likewise Christ's living Children know Christ the Bishop of their Souls to oversee them with his heavenly and spiritual Eye that they may be preserved in his Fold of Life and go no more forth And also they know Christ their holy Priest that by the Grace of God tasted Death for them and for every Man and is a Propitiation for their Sins and not for their Sins only but for the Sins of the whole World and by the one Offering up of himself he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified And such an High-Priest becomes Christ's Sheep in his New Covenant and Testament who is holy and harmless and separate from sinners and is made higher than the Heavens who is not made a Priest after the Order of Aaron with his Tithes Offerings c. but he makes an end of all those things and hath abolished them and is made an High-Priest after the Power of an endless life who ever liveth to make Intercession for his People and is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God through him Who is the one holy Mediator betwixt God and Man and who sanctifies his People his Church that he is Head of and presents them to God without spot or wrinkle or blemish or any such thing and makes them an holy royal Priesthood to offer up spiritual holy Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ who is King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords in the Earth So an holy heavenly King who hath â—all power in Heaven and Earth given to him and rules in all the hearts of his Sheep and Lambs by his holy divine precious Faith that is held in all the pure Consciences of his People which holy Faith Christ the holy One is the Author and Finisher of By which holy Faith all the Just live and in which holy divine and precious Faith all the Just and holy Ones have Unity and by it they do quench all the fiery Darts of Satan and by this holy divine and precious Faith they have access to the pure God in which they do please him And Christ
right understanding thereof and be gathered thereunto Several Epistles also to Friends I writ in this time on divers Occasions and Subjects whereof one was to the Friends of the Yearly Meeting which was held in London this year 1679. a Copy of which here follows My Dear Friends and Brethren WHO are Assembled together in the Name and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ Grace Mercy and Peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ fill all your hearts and establish you in his Grace Mercy and Peace upon Christ the holy living Rock and Foundation who is the First and Last and over all the Foundations and Rocks in the whole world a Rock and Foundation of Life for all the Living to build upon which stands sure in his heavenly divine Light which is the Life in him by whom all things were made who is the precious Stone laid in Sion and not in the World which all the Wise Master-Builders rejected who pretended to build People up to Heaven with the Words of the Prophets and the Law from Mount Sinai but out of the Life of both and therefore such Builders could not receive the Law of Life from Christ the precious Stone laid in Sion nor the Word from heavenly Jerusalem But you My Dear Friends that have received this Law from heavenly Sion and the Word from heavenly Jerusalem in the New Covenant where the Life and Substance is enjoyed you do see the end and abolishing of the Jews Law and Ceremonies from Mount Sinai And therefore my desire is that you all may keep in the Law of Life and Love 1679. Swarthmore which ye have in Christ Jesus by which Love the Body is edified and knit and united together to Christ Jesus the Head Which Love doth bear all things and fulfils the Law and will preserve all in Humility and in it to be of one mind heart and soul so that all may come to drink into that One Spirit that doth Baptize them and Circumcise them Plunging down and Cutting off the Body of the Sins of the Flesh that is gotten up in Man and Woman by their transgressing of God's Commands So that in this holy pure Spirit all may serve and worship the pure God in Spirit and in Truth which is over all the Worships that are out of God's Spirit and his Truth And in this Spirit ye will all have a Spiritual Unity and Fellowship over all the Fellowships of the Unclean Spirits which be out of Truth in the World And so by this holy Spirit all your hearts minds and souls may be knit together to Christ from whence it comes and by the Grace and Truth which is come by Jesus Christ which all should be under the Teachings of in the New Covenant and not under the Law as the outward Jews were in the Old Covenant So that by this Grace and Truth in the New Covenant all may be made God's free Men and Women to serve God in the new Life and in the new and living Way shewing forth the Fruits of the new heart and new spirit in the New Covenant over death and darkness and before it was Glory be unto the Lord for ever And now Friends in this Grace and Truth is your heavenly gracious and true Liberty to every Spiritual Mind that makes you free from him that is out of Truth where your bondage was Also your Liberty in the holy divine and precious Faith which gives you Victory over that that hath separated you from God and Christ and through which Faith ye have Access to God again through Jesus Christ So in this divine and holy Faith ye have divine holy and precious Liberty yea and Victory over him that separated you from God and this Faith is held in a pure Conscience So the Liberty in the Spirit of God is in that which baptizes and plunges down Sin and Iniquity and puts off the Body of Death and Sins of the Flesh that is gotten up by transgressing of God's Command as I said before And also the Liberty of the Gospel which is sent from Heaven by the Holy Ghost which is the Power of God which was and is again to be preached to all Nations In this Gospel the Power of God which is over the Power of Satan is the true Liberty and the Gospel-Fellowship and Order So that the Evil Spirit or Conscience or false dead Faith and that which is ungracious and out of Truth and not in the Spirit of God nor in his Gospel nor in the divine Faith its Liberty is in the Darkness For all the true Liberty is in the Gospel and in the Truth that makes free and in the Faith and in the Grace and in Christ Jesus who destroys the Devil and his Works that hath brought all Mankind into Bondage So in this heavenly peaceable Spirit and Truth and Faith which works by Love and in the Gospel of Peace and in Christ Jesus is all the Saints Peace and pure true and holy Liberty in which they have Salt and Sense and Feeling Discerning and Savour yea and Unity and Fellowship one with another yea and with the Son and the Father that heavenly eternal Fellowship So all being subject to the Grace and Truth and to the Faith and Gospel the Power of God and to his good Spirit in this they distinguish all true pure and holy Liberty from that which is false And this will bring all to sit low for Patience runs the Race and the Lamb must have the Victory and not the rough unruly and vain Talkers unbaptized uncircumcised and unsanctified For such travel not in the way of Regeneration but in the way of unregeneration Neither go they down into the Death with Christ by Baptism and therefore such are not like to Reign with him in his Resurrection who are not buried with him in Baptism Therefore all must go downward into the Death of Christ and be crucified with him if they will Arise and follow him in the Regeneration before they come to Reign with him And Friends Many may have precious Openings but I desire all may be comprehended in that thing which doth open to them And that they may all keep in the daily Cross then they keep in the Power that doth kill and crucifie that which would lead them amongst the Beasts and Goats to leaven them into their rough unruly spirit But that through the Cross the Power of God That may be crucified and they in the Power might follow the Lamb. For the Power of God keeps all in Order and in Subjection and in Humility in that which is lovely and vertuous decent comely temperate and moderate that their Moderation comes to appear to all men So my desire is that all your Lights may shine as from a City set upon a Hill that cannot be hid And that ye may be the Salt of the Earth to salt and season it and make it savoury to God and you all seasoned with it Then
therefore all are to stand fast in him as they have received him for in him there is peace who is the Prince of Peace but in the World there is Trouble For the Spirit of the World is a Troublesome Spirit but the Spirit of Christ is a Peaceable Spirit and in it God Almighty preserve all the Faithful Amen Gooses the 1st of the 2d Month 1690. G. F. Another Paper that I writ while I was here was concerning the Ensign which Isaiah prophesied the Lord should set up for the Gentiles which I shewed was Christ. Of that Paper this which follows is a Copy THE Lord saith They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy Mountain for the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea Isa 11.9 And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse which shall stand for an Ensign of the People to it shall the Gentiles seek and his Rest shall be glorious ver 10. And he shall reign over the Gentiles and in him shall the Gentiles trust Rom. 15.12 This Ensign is Christ which was prophesied of by the Prophet which Prophecy the Apostle who was a Minister to the Gentiles sheweth was fulfilled in the New Testament And in this Day of Christ Isaiah saith The Lord shall set his hand again the second time to Recover the Remnant of his People which shall be left from Assyria and from Egypt c. And he shall set up an Ensign for the Nations and shall assemble the Outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four Corners of the Earth ver 11 12. This is in the Day of Christ and his Gospel of Life and Salvation which is preached to every Creature under Heaven who Enlighteneth every Man that cometh into the World both Jews and Gentiles that by his heavenly divine Light they may see Christ their Ensign and Captain of their Salvation So Christ is one Ensign both to the Jews and Gentiles And Isaiah saith The Redeemer shall come to Sion c. Isa 59.20 And This is my Covenant with them saith the Lord my Spirit that is upon thee to wit Christ and my Words which I have put in thy Mouth shall not depart out of thy Mouth nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed's Seed saith the Lord from hence-forth and for ever ver 21. Arise shine for thy Light is come and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee Chap. 60.1 And the Gentiles shall come to thy Light ver 3. And the abundance of the Sea shall be converted unto thee ver 5. the Sea is the World The Lord shall be thy everlasting Light ver 20. And Thou shalt call thy Walls Salvation and thy Gates Praise ver 18. And the Lord saith I will make the place of my Feet glorious ver 13. Heaven is his Throne and Earth is his Footstool Chap 66.1 And he that puts his trust in me saith the Lord shall possess the Land and shall inherit my holy Mountain Chap. 57.13 Which Mountain is Established above all the Mountains and Hills Isa 2.2 The Lord saith speaking of Christ I have put my Spirit upon him he shall bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles Isa 42.1 And he saith of him I will give thee for a Covenant of the People for a Light of the Gentiles To open the blind Eyes to bring out the Prisoners from the Prison and them that sit in Darkness out of the Prison-house I am the Lord that is my Name and my Glory will I not give to another neither my Praise to graven Images ver 6 7 8. So Christ the Light is come and the Glory of the Lord is risen and the Gentiles are come to the Light of Christ and this Prophesie of Isaiah concerning Christ many of the Gentiles witness fulfilled that Salvation is come to the Gentiles Rom. 11.11 And God gave his Glory to his Son And Christ saith The Glory which thou gavest me I have given them namely his Believers and Followers that they may be one even as we are one John 17.22 Now here you may see how the Promises and Prophecies are fulfilled in Christ Jesus whom God hath given for an Ensign both to the Jews and Gentiles and the Captain of their Salvation and he doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World that with his heavenly divine Light they might see Christ the Lord from Heaven their Captain and Ensign and trust in him who is their Conqueror who bruises the Serpent's head and destroys the Devil and his Works And Christ and his Followers overcome the Dragon Beast and false Prophet And therefore all Jews Gentiles and Christians that come to believe in Christ are to stand to their Ensign Christ who is also the Captain of their Salvation who is above all Ensigns and Captains below For he is from above and therefore all are to trust in him for he is certain and able to save to the utmost c. and is the same Ensign and Captain to day as he was yesterday and so for ever the First and Last the Beginning and Ending and Lord of all Lords and King of all Kings upon the Earth and there is nothing certain to be trusted in below Christ Jesus who is from above You see in the Scriptures there were many Ways and Religions among the Heathen as there were many Sects among the Jews when Christ came And now there are many Sects or Religions among the Christians who believe from the Scriptures that he is come as the Jews believed he was to come But they that close their Eyes and stop their Ears to the Light of Christ they are not like to see Christ who hath enlightened them to be their Ensign and the Captain of their Salvation that see not with the heavenly Eye nor hear with the heavenly Ear to see and hear their heavenly Ensign and Captain of their Salvation to convert them and heal them that they might follow him and be of his holy Camp and be his heavenly Soldiers to whom he gives spiritual Arms and Armour the Helmet of Salvation the Breast-plate of Righteousness the Armour of Light and the Shield of Faith which will quench all the fiery Darts of Satan and give Victory and the Sword of the Spirit the Word of God which shall cut and hammer down and burn up all the Strong holds of Satan Also he cloatheth his Soldiers with fine Linnen white and clean his Righteousness and shooeth them with the everlasting Gospel of Peace the Power of God which Cloths and Shooes will never wax Old And all that are shod with the Everlasting Gospel the Power of God they will never wax Old but will stand all Storms and Tempests in the World And they that are shod with the Gospel the Power of God can in it tread upon Serpents Vipers and Scorpions and all the venemous Beasts upon the Earth and all the Thorns Briars Brambles
and to God's Spirit and to the Grace and Truth in your hearts that comes by Jesus Christ that with it ye may search your hearts And so do not grieve nor vex nor quench God's good Spirit in your hearts and walk not despitefully against the Spirit of Grace nor turn from it into Wantonness and yet make a Profession of God and Christ in Words 1677. Amsterdam when your hearts are afar off and living in Pleasures and wantonly upon the Earth sporting your selves killing the Just and Crucifying to your selves Christ afresh and putting him to open shame And so dishonouring God and Christ and Christianity and making a Profession and a Trade of the Scriptures keeping People always Learning that they may be always paying Therefore Cease from Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils and look unto the Lord all ye ends of the Earth and be saved for the Lord God of Heaven and Earth is come to teach his People himself by his Light Spirit Grace and Truth and to bring them off all the World's Teachers And God hath raised up Christ Jesus his Prophet whom People should hear and saith This is my beloved Son hear ye him and Christ saith Learn of me I am the Way the Truth and the Life and no Man comes to the Father but by me And there is no Salvation by any other Name under the whole Heaven but by the Name of Jesus who saith I am the good Shepherd and have laid down my Life for my Sheep and my Sheep hear my voice and follow me and will not follow the Hireling For Christ feeds them in the Pastures of Life that will never wither And God hath anointed Christ Jesus to preach if you will hear him and God hath given Christ for a Counsellor and a Leader if you will be Led and Counselled by him and God hath given Christ for a Bishop to Oversee you and a King to Rule you if you will be Overseen and Ruled by him And you that will not have Christ to Rule over you who never sinned nor Guile was found in his Mouth you may read his Sentence in the New Testament upon such And is not Christ a sufficient Teacher whose Blood was shed for you and tasted Death for every Man And doth not Christ say to his Ministers Freely ye have received freely give And the Apostle saith We covet no Man's Gold Silver or Apparel but Laboured with their Hands and kept the Gospel without Charge Have they that are called Ministers amongst you done the same and kept this Command of Christ Jesus Let them be Examined and Examine themselves And have you not trimmed your Outsides but look within with the Light and Spirit of Christ Jesus and see if your Insides be not black and foul For Christ Jesus who doth Enlighten every Man that cometh into the World with the Life in himself who is the Word he saith Believe in the Light that ye may become Children of the Light and with the Light ye may see all the Evil Deeds ye have done and all your ungodly Deeds that ye have acted and committed and all your ungodly Words you have spoken and all your ungodly Thoughts ye think that ye may turn from them and turn to Christ from whence the Light comes who is your Saviour and Redeemer who hath given you a Light to see your Sin and how that you are dead in Adam that with the same Light you may see Christ the quickening Spirit who makes you alive to God and saves you from your sin But if you hate the Light which is the Life in Christ the Prince of Life and Love the Darkness and the Prince of Darkness more than the Light or the Life in Christ whose Deeds be Evil and because it will Reprove you Christ tells you This Light will be your Condemnation John 3. And therefore be Warned now in your Day and while you have Time turn to the Lord and do not quench the Spirit of the Father by which he draws to his Son nor hate the Light of Christ for if you do you hate the Life in Christ and so remain under Condemnation from God and Christ with the Light who now speaks to his People by his Son as he did in the Apostles Days so the same God that was the Speaker by the Prophets to the Fathers and Speaker to Adam and Eve in Paradise And happy had Adam and Eve and the Jews and all Christians been if they had kept to this Speaker and not have followed the Serpent that false Speaker and his Instruments And now God is the true Speaker by his Son who bruises the Head of the Serpent the false Teacher who is the Head of all false Ways and false Prophets and false Churches and false Religions and Worships And so God and Christ is bringing People to the pure and undefiled Religion that will keep them from the Spots of the World and into the new and living Way Christ Jesus and to the Church in God which Christ is the Head of as he was in the Apostles Days and to worship God in the Spirit and Truth which Worship Christ set up above Sixteen hundred years since And therefore must all People come to the Grace and Spirit of Truth in their own hearts to know the God of Truth who is a Spirit and in the Spirit and Truth to worship and serve and honour and glorifie the Living God who is over all and Worthy of all Blessed for evermore Amen And ye Magistrates and Officers read this in all your Assemblies and cause all your Priests to read it in their Churches that they and you and all People may hear and fear the God of Heaven as you will Answer it at the Great and Terrible Day of Judgment and Vengeance of the Lord God Almighty And this is in Love to your Souls and for your Temporal and Eternal Good Amsterdam the 19th of the 7th Month 1677. G. F. 1677. Harlingen in Friezland An Epistle concerning true Fasting true Prayer true Honour and against Persecution and for the true Liberty in Christ Jesus To pag. 438 and that all may have a care that the Apostle hath not bestowed his Labour in vain upon you in your observing of Days Months Times Feasts and Years and of coming under the beggarly Elements and the Yoke of Bondage again and of bringing and forcing People into them WHere did ever Christ or his Apostles Command any Believers or Christians to observe Holy-Days or Feast-Days and let us see where it is written in the Scriptures of the New Testament in the Four Evangelists or the Epistles or the Revelation that ever Christ or his Apostles gave the Christians any such Command that they should observe the Time called Christmas or a Day for Christ's Birth or that they should observe the Time called Easter or Whitsuntide or Peter or Paul's or Mark or Luke's Days or any other Saints Day Now you that profess your selves to be