in this present world and it will teach them for to do unto all People as they would be done unto themselves and it will teach them for to deal and to do justly to all men and to love and shew mercy unto all People and to walk in Lowliness and in true Humility before the Lord and these things the Lord requires of every one and it is the duty of every one so to do And now if this good Spirit of Christ did bear rule in every ones Heart it would lead and guide them in all Truth and Righteousness and it would lead and bring them out of all the wicked and ungodly Ways and Worships and evil Practices which are acted and done amongst all the Sons and Daughters of men which are now in the fall and live in Sin and Transgression against God and so are found to be in the unregenerate state and such are dead in their Sins and Trespasses tho' their Bodies be alive in this World and if this good Spirit aforesaid did bear rule in every Heart there would not be that Killing nor Destroying one another neither about Religion nor no earthly thing whatsoever and therefore I would have all People to take notice that there are two Spirits a good Spirit and an evil Spirit and the good Spirit comes from God and the evil Spirit comes from the Devil and the good Spirit leads People up to God to have fellowship communion with him in spirit in their hearts souls and this is the only Communion which is spiritual that is alone necessary and needful for every one to know in truth as to their Everlasting Happiness with the Lord when time here in this World shall be no more to them And the evil Spirit draws and leads people from God into all manner of Sin and Wickedness some into one kind of Sin and some into other kind of Sin so that all People upon the Earth are Sinners and live in Sin so long as this evil Spirit guides and bears rule in their hearts and every one is a Servant to whether of these two Spirits he doth obey and to whether of these two Spirits be yields his Members servants unto his Servants they are to whom they do obey whether it be unto that spirit which leads them into Sin and Evil which is the wicked Spirit or it be that they do obey the good Spirit which leads and guides all them that are led and guided by it into all Truth and Righteousness and out of all Sin and Iniquiry And whosoever hath not the Spirit of Christ they are none of his let them profess what they will or be of what Judgment or Religion soever if they have not the Spirit of Christ in them for to teach and instruct and counsel them they are none of Christ's Servants nor Ministers read these Scriptures Rom. 8. 6. to vers 15. Rom. 6. 12. to the end 1 John 3. 4. to vers 11. Tit. 2. 11. to the end John 1. 1. to vers 13. 1 Cor. 12. 7. And all them that do love and believe in the Light and Spirit of Christ in them which shews them Sin and reproves them in their own Hearts and Consciences many times when they do sin insomuch that I have heard several people say when they have sinned I pray God forgive me when as at that time no Person outwardly did speak to them but it was the Light and Spirit of Christ in them that shewed them that they had sinned against the Lord at that time and whosoever minds and takes heed to that Light and Spirit of Christ in them and believes in it so as to obey and follow it it will not only shew them their Sins and evil Deeds which they have done and committed against the Lord but it will beget a perfect hatred against all Sin in them that do truly love and believe in this Light and good Spirit aforesaid and it will beget secret crys and breathings unto the Lord in their hearts and souls that he would be pleased to pardon them and to give them power for the time to come to forsake the evil of their Ways and Doings that they might never sin against the Lord any more and this hath been my state and conâ—â—â—ion and many more of the People of God and now we can say in truth to the praise and glory of the Lord it is spoken that we that were Sinners and Unbelievers and were dead in Sins Trespasses in days years that are past and gone as well as others and then at that time when we were in that sad and miserable state and condition as aforesaid the Lord was pleased out of his infinite love mercy goodness for to reveal and make known himself unto us even at that time when we were Enemies Aliens and Strangers unto him by wicked Works which we had done against the Lord notwithstanding all our Profession of Religion and fair pretences which we made that we did love the Lord and believe in him and did worship and serve him as we thought then but it pleased the Lord of his great love and kindness to us to appear in our hearts by his Light and good Spirit which he manifested and revealed in us at that time and the Lord was pleased by his Light and Spirit for to search our hearts and to let us see the deceit and the evil that was in our hearts by reason of Sin and Iniquity which the Enemy of our Souls which is the wicked spirit had wrought in our hearts and we knew it not when we lived in our sins and took pleasure and delight therein and so instead of denying our selves from doing those things which did offend and displease the Lord we did those things which did offend him and grieve his holy Spirit as too many do now and when we did those things which grieved the Lord we did not then walk in the strait and narrow way that leads to Life and Peace with the Lord but we were then walking in the broad and wide way that leads to Hell and Destruction which many Thousands are now walking in that live in their sins and take pleasure and delight therein but now the Lord out of his free love and grace and mercy hath called us out of the evil of the World and the vain Conversation that people live and walk in both Professors and Prophane and he hath revealed and made known his Mind and Will unto us what he would have us for to do and what he requires of us which is to live the Lord with all our Hearts above all visible things that are in the World and also to fear serve honour and obey him in Truth and Righteousness and to do justly with all men and to love Mercy and walk Humbly with God and now we find that the Lord hath made a Remnant of us freely willing for to serve and obey him and to do his Will in what he makes known
came upon them thus to destroy them And they have taken away Goods and Chattels from us worth many Thousands of Pounds And all these Cruelties and Wickedness they have done and acted against us is only because we could not for good Conscience-sake pay them Tythes and Money for their Preaching as Ministers of Christ which we know in our own Hearts and Consciences and also by the Scriptures of Truth that neither Christ nor his true Ministers never ordained any such wages nor they never practiced any such things nor never took Tythes nor Money for their Preaching nor never preached such a Doctrine as these Tything Hireling-Priests do now But on the contrary they denyed all such ungodly ways and practices and spoke against them and said That Covetousness is Idolatry and the love of Money is the Root of all Evil And that these things ought not to be done nor practiced amongst the Ministers of Christ and as the Apostle Paul said so say we If any one Preach any other Gospel or any other Doctrine than that which the Ministers of Christ preached unto the People formerly let him be accursed And the Ministers of Christ were endued with Power fâ—â—â— on High and they were taught of Christ and the Gospel which they preached they neither received is of man neither were they taught it of man neither did they learn it at any outward Schools of humane Learning neither did they buy it for Money but the Lord did reveal it unto them by his holy Spirit which He gave unto them freely and so they Preached freely without any Tythes or Money neither did they go to Law nor compel nor cast any sort of People into Prison because they gave them not Tythes nor Money for their preaching And therefore I do affirm that all the Priests and Clergy-Men that are in the whole World that either preach or teach to any sort of People for either Tythes or Money or both they are all guilty before the Lord of that great Sin of Covetousness and the love of Money which is the Root of all Evil besides many other great Sins which they are guilty of in the sight of God And the Wicked and the Unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God nor any Covetous Man who is an Idolater hath any Inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ or of God Read these Scriptures 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. Eph. 5. 3 4 5 6. Col. 3. 5. 6. Heb. 13. 5. Luke 12. 15. And whereas many of you Clergy-Men and others have falsly accused us in saying That we deny Authority and will not be subject nor obedient to Authority c. To which I Answer not only for my self but in the behalf of my Friends who are in scorn called Quakers And this I can certainly say and declare unto all sorts of People that we do really own and honour Authority in our Hearts such who are Men of Truth and hate Covetousness and all such as punish Evil-Doors and incourage them that do Well and all such Magistrates as these I do believe are ordained and appointed of God to be a Terror to the Wicked and them that do Evil and such are a means to hinder the Wicked form acting such gross Wickedness as many of them would do if it were not for fear of an outward Law and of such Magistrates as they know will punish them for their Offences and such Magistrates as those that are a means for to incourage and strengthen people in doing that which is good and to suppress Vice We are willing for to be subject and obedient to them in all things that are Temporal which is lawful and expedient to be done And all those Magistrates which now bear Rule or may hereafter come to bear Rule amongst us we can promise and ingage unto them That we will never Plot nor Contrive any Evil thing against them nor any of them whereby to hurt or wrong them any manner of way We shall never rise up in Rebellion against any Governour or Government whatsoever as to sight against them with any Carnal Weapon and if they should be suâ—fered to make Laws against us as many have done formerly and command us to dâ—â— at which we know is a Sin against the Lord if we do it or if they should require any thing of us which we cannot do for Conscience sake yet notwithstanding we shall not resist them by force of Arms but by the help of the Lord I hope we shall be made willing by him for to give up our Bodies and Estates to suffer for Christ's sake whatsoever the Lord may suffer them to do against us And this the People of God did in all Ages that were and are faithful and obedient to him in what he manifested unto them as for instance Did not the Rulers Imprison Peter and John and afterwards they threatened to punish them and commanded them That they should not speak nor teach to any man in the Name of Jesus And they answered and said unto them Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye And they said further We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard And they departed from the presence of the Council rejoycing that they were worthy to suffer shame for the Name of Christ and daily in the Temple and in every House where they came they ceased not to Teach and Preach Jesus Christ And the Rulers and Chief Priests and Pharisees and such like wicked People persecuted many of the Ministers of Christ and did imprison and abuse them exceedingly and some they killed only for preaching the Gospel and speaking against their ungodly Ways and evil Practices which they lived and walked in yet notwithstanding they could not put them to silence by all their Cruelties and Persecutions which they inflicted upon them neither could they hinder them that were living from preaching the Gospel And so it is good for every one of us to be faithful unto the Lord in what he makes known unto us and trust him and be willing to give up to suffer for his sake if he calls us thereunto and he will appear in his own good time for our deliverance out of all our Troubles and Tryals both inward and outward wherein we shall have cause to bless and praise the Name of the Lord for his great love and kindness to us who is worthy to have all the Honour Glory Praise and Thanks for unto him alone it doth belong both from me and from all that know him experimentally both now and for evermore Read these Scriptures 〈…〉 and Chap. 〈…〉 Acts 4. Chap. 6. 8. vers to the end Acâ— 7. 5â— vers to the end And now I shall menâ—ion something concerning false Prophets who they are anâ— now they may be known because such things have been cast upon 〈◊〉 that have spoken in our Meetings that They were false Prophets and if it were possible
unto us in all things which he commands and requires of us for to do And this great Work which the Lord hath already wrought in our hearts and the great things which he hath done for us and in us by his Power and Spirit he hath not done it for any goodness or worthiness or any deserts which he saw in us nor for any Works of Righteousness which we have done whereby to move or to ingage the Lord for to do these great things either for us or in us but he hath done all these things for his own Name sake and in love to our immortal Souls and out of his free Love and Mercy and Kindness to us for which we are bound in duty and are ingaged to return unto the Lord all Honour Glory Praise Thanks Love Fear Reverence and Obedience for unto him alone it doth belong both from me and from all that know how good and gracious he is and hath been unto them who is God over and above all blessed and praised be his great holy and heavenly Name both now henceforth for ever and for evermore Amen And now I would have all People to take notice where this may come that all Persons and People that despise and reject the Light and Spirit of Christ in them which shews them their Sins and reproves them in secret when they do evil and say It is but a natural Light and that it is not sufficient nor hath power to save people from their sins nor to keep and preserve them out of sin all such are Unbelievers and hate Christ and love their evil Deeds for Christ is that Light and good Spirit in them and he hath given a measure of it freely to every one to profit withal and all them that truly love and believe in this Light and good Spirit in them and is willing for to obey and follow it all such will come to know Salvation and Redemption by Christ from their Sins and Iniquities but all those that hate and despise and reject the Counsel and Teaching of this Light and good Spirit in them and so slight and undervalue it and count it a thing of nought it will be the Condemnation of all such and the Lord will be found just when he comes to judge them and this Light and good Spirit in them will bear witness against them when they come to Judgment which will be more than a hundred Witnesses outwardly read these Scriptures John 1. 9 10 11 12. chap. 8. 12. chap. 12. 46. chap. 3. 19 20 21. 2 Cor. 13. 5. Col. 3. 11. Chap. 1. 27 28. And I do verily believe that there is and shall be a Resurrection both of the Just and Unjust without respect of Persons w 〈…〉 just God of Heaven and Earth for to give 〈…〉 all their Deeds and Actions which they have 〈…〉 time and every one shall receive a Reward from God 〈…〉 their Deeds which they have done in their Bodies whether they be good or evil And now it concerns both me and every one for to prise our time which the Lord is pleased to give to us to live upon the Earth that we may walk circumspectly and wisely in the wisdom of God before the Evil day come which will certainly come upon the Wicked and Ungodly that live and dye in their Sins and Iniquities And it is the true desire of my Heart and Soul that we may all spend our time which the Lord gives us to live upon the Earth to Gods honour and glory by bringing forth good Works and Actions in our holy Lives and godly Conversations to the praise and honour of his great and worthy Name that so we may answer the end for which God hath made and created us which is to love him with all our Hearts and to fear serve honour and obey him in Truth and Righteousness whereby God Almighty may be honoured and glorified both in us and by us who is worthy to have all the Honour Glory Praise Thanks Fear and true Obedience for unto him alone it doth belong both from me and from all that know the Lord how good he is to them both now and for ever and for evermore Amen Read these Scriptures Rom. 14. 12. 2 Cor. 5. 10. Rev. 22. 12. And now I shall come to mention something of the Cruelties and Persecutions of the Episcopal Clergy who are Teachers of the People of the Church of England so called and some of their Hearers and Members of their Church that assisted them in their Cruelties first they Imprisoned many Hundreds of the People of the Lord called in scorn Quakers and by their means we were put into nasty Holes and Dungeons amongst Thieves and Murderer and some of us were Fettered and Chained with Irons on both Legs as they do to the worst of Malefactors and our Friends and Acquaintance were not suffered for to come to see us although some of our Friends did come a Hundred Miles or more for to see us and neither they nor we could be suffered to see one another and they have gone away without seeing of us nor there was not any suffered to come to relieve us nor to help us to such things for our Money as we stood in great need of nor we were not suffered to have any manner of Bedding brought in not so much as a little Straw to lie upon to keep us off the cold Ground although we would have paid for it and this was worse Cruelty than many use to their Dogs and Swine And so the Goalers would force us to buy Victuals of them at their own rate or else we must have none which was dearer by half then we might have had it of other People if we could have been suffered to buy it at best hand and there many were kept in Prisons until they dyed by reason of such Cruel Usage as aforesaid And these Clergy-Men caused many of our Houses to be rifled and they went into the Grounds and took and carried away out of our Houses and Grounds much Goods and Chattels several times which they sold at an undervalue less by half than they were worth And they took away Goods and Chattels from many of us which were worth above five times more than they could prove to be their due and they distrained all the Goods in some Houses and left them not a Bed to lie upon neither for the Man of the House nor his Wife Children nor Servants although some of the men's Wives which had their Houses so rifled and plundred was but newly delivered of a Child or Children and so they took no Pitty nor shewed no Mercy neither to Men Women or Children that were in such a state and condition as aforesaid And thus they have Ruinated several Persons and their Families by taking away their Goods and Chattels which they and their Families should have lived upon They did live very well comfortably before these wicked ungodly Clergy-Men and the Upholders of them
meditate and ponder the things of God in our own Hearts and Souls that every one may come to see and to know what assurance they have of the Love of God to their Immortal Souls and of their Eternal and Everlasting Inheritance with the Lord in his heavenly Kingdom for evermore when Time here in this World shall come to an End with us all For it is not a bare outward Profession of any Religion whatsoever that will avail any of us as to our own Souls true Peace and Happiness with the Lord for ever but it must be a real Possession and an Enjoyment of the Love of God in our own Hearts that doth avail and satisfie our Souls which no Man nor Woman upon the face of the Earth can come to enjoy the Love of God and true Peace and Comfort in him which is of more worth and value than all the outward Enjoyments that are in the whole World so long as they live in Sin and take pleasure and delight therein for God is pure holy and righteous and he is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity as to allow of it in any one and without Holiness no Man nor Woman can enjoy the Love and Presence of God to his Soul's Comfort and true Satisfaction in him For it is not every one that saith Lord Lord that shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but it is he and they that do the Will of God that shall enter into his Kingdom And it is not the Hearers nor the fair Sayers nor them that have but an outward knowledge of God that shall be Justified by the Lord but it is the Doers of the Will of God and them only that the Lord will Justifio and speak Peace unto their Immortal Souls And so I desire that none would deceive their own Souls in thinking better of themselves then they are for the Apostle Paul saith Be not deceived for God will not be mocked for such as every one soweth such must they reap whether it be Good or Evil And now I appeal to the Witness of God in every Heart and Conscience of what Name or Religion soever you are of Whether you are come so far into the true Christian Life as to believe and obey the first Principle of the true Christian Religion And whether you are come so far into the Life of Truth and into the practice of the holy Scriptures as to let your Yea be Yea and your Nay be Nay and do not alter nor change your Minds and Thoughts after you have said it but let Yea and Nay stand after you have spoken it and do and perform what you have said And so every one ought-to be watchful and careful how to speak and act before they either speak or act lâ—st they offend the Lord by so doing for the Apostle James saith If any man among you seem to be Religious and bridâ—eth not his Tongue but deceiveth his own Heart this man's Religion is vain And whosoever they be that promise for to do such and such things which are just and lawful to be done and ought to be performed then if they that promise for to do such things do not mind nor regard to perform their Words and Promises which they have spoken and promised their Religion is vain let them profess what they will For such Men and Women that make Promises one to another and do not mind nor regard to perform them no such persons ought to be believed nor trusted nor to be confided in and such have not a true Bridle for their Tongues and so their Religion is vain and naught and it is not the true Christian Religion read these Scriptures James 1. 26 27. Gal. 6. 7 8. Matth. 5. 37. And now I desire all Civil Sober-minded people that profess Christianity and the Scriptures to be your Rule that you would be so moderate as to read these Scriptures herein set down and compare these Scriptures and the holy Lives and Conversations of Christ and his Ministers and them that were true Believers and Followers of Christ with the Unholy Lives and Conversations of these Clergy-Men aforesaid and also their Cruelties and Persecutions against those that truly fear the Lord and also their Selfish Covetous Actions and Practices which they do and practice for Tythes and Money under pretence of being Ministers of Christ and Preachers of the Gospel And if you do understand those Scriptures in Truth as they are and be not partial in your Judgment then you may see that there it as much difference betwixt the Doctrine and Principles and Practices of Christ and his Ministers and the Doctrine and Principles and Practices of the Clergy-Men aforesaid as there is betwixt Light and Darkness And therefore I would not have you for to speak any Evil against that Way which you know not what it is But I would have you first for to try all things and hold fast that which is good Selby in Yorkshire the 4th Day of the third Month 1691. Thomas Goodaire THE END