them sued men at the Law and therfore we cannot but utterly deny them Deut. 14.29 Heb. 7.12 They arâ— such Priests as beside their Tythe of Corn Hay Beast Sheep Hens Pigs Geese Eggs Cherries Plumbs take ten shillings for preaching a Funeral Sermon more or less as they can get it and ten shillings for the death of a man and Money out of Servants Wages and Money for Smoke passing up the Chimneys and Easter reckonings and Midsummer dues and Money for Churching of Women and thus by every device get Money and burthen poor people that labour very hard and can scarse get Food and Raiment to maintain them in idleness and pride these are they that have hearts exercised with covetousness burthening the Truth and making the free Gospel chargable if the Apostle was here he would be ashamed of them and so are we and therefore turn from them and deny them 2 Pet. 2.3 They are such Priests as not only take Tyths and Money for many other things of their own Hearers and sue them at Law for it but they take money of them they do no work for but only raile against them and say They that wayt at the Alter are pertakers with the Alter but live of them who are not of the Alter and say The Labourer is worthy of his hire but take Wages of them that have not hired them and if they will not give it them cast them into Prison or take their Goods by Justices Warrants these are they that Christ cryed wo against who lay heavy burthens upon the people who oppress tender Consciences that own the Everlasting High Priest where do they find any of the Ministers of Christ bargaining for so much a year here they abide not in the Doctrine of Christ but are Hirelings and therefore we deny them Mat. 23.2 They are such Preachers as have told us They have been gifted men and we find in the Scriptures that the gift of God is free and not to be bought and sold for money and Job said Wisdom is not to be purchased for money nor Gold but they will not sell their gift under 200 l. 100 l. 80 l. or 50 l. a year more or less as they can get it here we find they have not received the Gift of God but are like Simon Magus and therefore we deny them Acts 8.20 Job 28. They are Babylons Merchants that make a trade of Scriptures and the Saints conditions which the Prophets and Apostles spoke forth freely without money and without price and bad all come freely How many hundred thousand pounds in England is gained by the Scripture and humane Authors joyned to it Where is there a more profitable trade Here they make Scriptures their Cloak and colour to get Mnoey by and so make an Idol of it and if any come to witness it fulfiled as it was in them that gave it forth they cry out to the Magistrates against them as Blasphemers and Deceivers And if they answer He that administers spiritual things ought to reap carnal let him consider the Apostle wrote not that to the the World but to those that they had gathered out of the World to whom the ends of the World were come and let them gather people out of the World and then they shall not need to bargain with them for things of the World but their trading is with the World and therefore we deny them Isa 55.1 They are such Teachers as take a Text out of the Saints conditions and take a Weeks time to study what they can raise out of it adding to it their own wisdom Inventions Imaginations and heathenish Authors and then on the first day of the week go amongst the people having an hour glass to limit themselves by and say Hear the Word of the Lord and for Money tell people what they have scraped together These are they that speak a divination of their own heart and not from the mouth of the Lord which the Lord sent Jeremiah to cry out against Jer. 23. These are they that use their tongues and say The Lord saith when as the Scriptures say so and the Lord never spake to them Jer 23.30 These are they of whom the Lord speaks I am against all such as steal my word every one from his Neighbour and so we are against all such as Jeremiah was sent to cry wo against the Pastors that now steal the words of the Prophets of Christ and the Apostles the Lord hath shaken his hand at their dishonest gain and to them belong the Plagues that are written in the Book they make a trade on for adding to it their own inventions therefore do we come out from amongst them and deny them Jer. 23.31 These are they of whom the Apostle speaks That creep into Houses leading silly women captive which are led away with divers lusts which be ever learning and never able to come to the knowledg of the truth though some have learned 50 60 or 70 years covetous proud high-minded self-willed lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God who have gotten a form of godliness but deny the power thereof from which the Apostle bad turn away and so do we 2 Tim. 3.6 They are such Teachers as gave us and give people Davids conditions in Meeter and when we had no understanding we sung after them as ignorant people do now his tremblings his quakings his weepings fastings prayers prophesies and when we sung we put of our hats and when they read them we kept them on and so they caused us to worship the works of their own hands here they shew the spirit of Error making wicked people to sing O Lord I am not puft in mind I have no scornful eye I do not exercise my self in things that are to high when they are puft in mind and have scornful eyes and do exercise themselves in things that are to high and are full of Filth Pride and Loftiness and can scarce look at one another here they make poor people to offer a Sacrifice of Lyes and make them Hypocrites deceiving themselves saying what they are not But the Singing with the Spirit and with understanding we own and therefore the Priests that Sing without understanding we deny 1 Cor. 14.15 They are such Teachers as deny the conditions that the Saints witnessed viz. trembling and quaking when as we find the Holy men of God that gave forth the Scriptures witnessed such things Moses who was Judge over all Israel feared quaked and trembled exceedingly and the Son of man was to eat his bread with quaking and Daniel the man of God trembled and was sore astonished and Jeremiah the Prophet of the Lord reeled to and fro like a drunken man and all his bones did shake and David who was a King trembled and quaked and Ephraim when he trembled was exalted in Israel and Habakkuk who was a Prophet trembled and his belly shook his lips quivered and Isaac in whom the seed was called trembled
righteously and this is our Teacher that brings Salvation So you may have all the loynes of your mind girded up to wait for the Grace which is to be brought to you at the Revelation of Jesus Christ according to Peters Exhortation Now they who turn from the Grace and walkes despightfully against the Spirit of God they set up Teachers according to their own hearts lusts and such makes Merchandize of them alwayes learning of them but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth but still remains in earthly mindedness covetousness and temptations and weaknesses where is mournings and complaints and where there are very many mourners and complainers among such as turn from the Grace of God into wantonness and set up Teachers as aforementioned according to their own hearts lusts c. Therefore come ye to the Grace of God and it will give you to see your ungodliness your unrighteousness and your worldly lusts and intemperance This Grace is your Teacher continually who brings Salvation if you take heed and have regard to it and love it but if you turn it into wantonness the sudden judgement of God will come upon you So take heed to the Grace of God your constant Teacher which brings Salvation by which Grace you will see your Salvation brought in For The mighty Day of the Lord is coming upon all unrighteousness of men The Son of the Lord God will appear against you he who hath all Power in Heaven and in Earth given to him who is King of kings and Lord of lords So take heed to the Light and receive it wherewith he hath enlightned so you receive the Lord himself Open ye your Gates that the King of Glory may enter in who stands at the door and knocketh turn ye to the Light and then you open the door where the coming in of the King of Glory is discerned And come from all the barren Mountains who are in the Fall alienated from the Image of God Life and Power Come from all those Wells without Water and Clouds without Rain who are as Vagabonds tossed up and down like a Tempest Come to the Light and receive the Light that in the Light ye may receive Christ and be his Children that by the same you may see the Day-Star appearing where the Sons of God sing together For Woe is to the World that lyeth in iniquity for the Lord is coming to judge it and to render to every one according to their works whether they be good or evil And with the Light every one of you knows whether your works are good or evil for what is to be known of God is manifest in you for God hath manifested it to you when you do any thing that is naught or unjust or worthy of Death by that which is of God in you you know it And when you go from this which is of God in you you do not glorify God as God but are alienated from his Life and Strangers from the Covenant of Life and Peace which is in Christ and so your foolish hearts are darkned and filled with unrighteousness and upon such comes the judgments and displeasure of God Now they who are delivered from the wrath to come they come to that which is of God in themselves viz. to the Light and so they see Christ the Covenant of God so Man is brought into peace with God and saved from the wrath to come and from all false Wayes false Doctrines false Worships and false Churches Commandments Traditions Rudimenus Will-worships Inventions and from Hand-Worship and Lip-Service So come to the Light and Spirit of God in your selves that by it you may be converted to God and may Worship him in Spirit and walk in the Spirit in Christ Jesus who was before sin was For since Man fell from God from his Power and Image all the false Wayes false Worships false Churches have been set up and by that Spirit and Power and Wisdom which is out of Truth from below which leads men to kill one another about them So the Light is the Way by which Life is to be found and this is the Light which enlighteneth you So come to the Light and you come to the Way which was before the power of Death was And Christ is called the Way and he is called the Light and who are out of the Light they are out of Him the Way in the wayes of Death and Darkness and Bondage For as the Jews outward were in Bondage and Captivity under Pharaoh in Egypt so the Jews inward in the Spirit are captivated in Spiritual Sodom and Egypt They who do not take to the directions of the Spirit and heareth what it saith for every man ought to hearken and hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches and not to mind nor hear any visible thing And in it viz. the Spirit they Edifie build and gather together and meet together in Vnity and Fellowship XVI Of PERFECTION He who leads man into Imperfection is the Devil and his work who leads from God for Man was Perfect before he fell for all his works were perfect So Christ who dâ—stroyeth the Devil and his works makes Man perfect again destroying him who made him imperfect which the Law could not do so by his blood he cleanseth from all sin and by the One Offering he perfecteth for ever them that are sanctified And they who do not believe in the Light which cometh from Christ by which they see the Offering and receive the Blood they are in unbeliefs concernig it And the Apostles who were in the Light Christ Jesus who destroyes the Devil and his works they spoke wisdom among them that were perfect although they could not do it among them that were carnal And their work was to perfect the Saints and for this end they had their Ministry given them until they all came to the knowledge of the Son of God who destroyeth the Devil and all his works and who put an end to the Prophets and to the first Covenant Types Figures and Saddows And the Apostles work was to bring people to the Vnity of the Faith which purified their hearts which gave them Victory over that which seperates them from God in which they have access to God by which Faith they please him by which they are justified and so at last they come to a PERFECT MAN to the measure of the Statrue of the fulness of CHRIST And so the Apostle saith We preach Christ in you the hope of Glory Warning every man that we may present Every Man Perfect in CHRIST JESUS XVII Of the RESURRECTION We say that Christ is the Resurrection and the Life to raise up that which Adam lost who hath all Power in Heaven and in Earth given to him and to destroy him who deceived him viz. Adam So Christ is the Resurrestion unto Life of Body Soul and Spirit and so renews Man into the Image of God and brings Man into an higher condition
than that in which Adam stood before the Fall even to himself who never changed and never fell nor never will fall And so they who forget God and do wickedly they are to be turned into Hell For they who forget God and do wickedly they go from the Life and Power of God into the Seperation from him and out of his acceptance for in the Life is the acceptance and so the Power Light and Life goeth over them who go into sin and iniquity which leades from God who was before Transgression was XVIII Concerning ELECTION and REPROBATION Reprobation is an Alienation from the Life and from that which is of God within and from his Voice and Command as Adam and the Jews did and such who despise that which is of God within they despise their Birth-right Such are concluded to be out of true Vnderstanding and true Knowledge and the Witness of God within is grieved and such are dead in their sences from the Life and Covenant of Peace with God and from the Seed which is called the Elect in which the Elect and the Election is known in the Seed Christ before the Foundation of the World which World slew him and they who slew him and now slayes him they were and are Reprobated from the Life who go from the Command of God and they have lost his Image they have lost his Power which keeps over and above and out of the Reprobation And so they who come into the Election the Seed they come out of the State in which Adam was in the Fall into the state in which he was in before he Fell and into an higher state than that into Christ the Seed the Elect. And so they in the Seed in the Elect in Christ the Wisdom of God they comprehend and see the state of Election before the World was laid and the State of Adam before the Fall and the State of Adam in the Fall in the Reprobation and the state of Adam restored again out of the Fall and a State which is higher than that in which Adam was in before he Fell into the Election which is a thing beyond that and the state of the beloved of God is seen in the Seed the Wisdom of God Cain was the first Birth Esau was the first Birth Ishmael was the first Birth Cain killed his Brother about Religion Ishmael was a Scoffer Esau bore the Sword he despised his Birth-right he fought against his Brother Jacob. So Christendom read your Reprobation the first Birth which is born of the Elesh for the first Birth will persecute him who is born of the Spirit So the most part of Christians are seen to be of the first Birth and to remain in the Reprobation from God Cain departed from the Voyce of God and Esau from his Birth-right and Ishmael in his scoffing nature they went from the Good and so from faithful Abraham who was in the Election And so they who are in Cains Ishmaels and Esaus nature are in the first Birth which is not Elected Now as to the Love of God towards one and his Hatred to another before either had done good or evil all this consists in the first Birth who despised his Birth-right which God foresaw which was not the Seed unto which the Love of God is to for ever Therefore know thy self O Christendom and thy Birth that that which hates the Principle of God and his Voice is reprobated he that rebells against Gods command and his Voyce God turneth against such neither doth he hear such who hates the Election and are in the Reprobation from the Seed yea even from the Law it self for the Law keeps a man from sin But the Law it self doth not say that it destroys the Devil but the Seed viz. Christ who is higher than the Law who is the Election and destroys the Devil So who knows the Election they must know the Seed they must know the Birth born of the Spirit Now if all Christendom know the Election they must know the Birth born of the Spirit which will not Persecute For the nature of Cain Ishmael and Esau is one of which the Apostle spoke in the Primitive times which we now also say is one and the Election is one which standeth in the Seed which was before the Foundation of the wicked world was And the Reprobation is one which standeth in the unjust world out of the Truth and the Life in disobedience to the Command of God Therefore know the one Reprobation and the one Election then ye shall know the Seed in which is the Wisdom of God and ye shall know that which goes from his Voyce Power and Command out of the Wisdom of God so whom God loves he loves for ever Know Jacob and know Esau Esau Cain and Ishmael were the first-born and is not Christendom of the first-birth who Persecutes who departs from the good and despises the pure and persecutes the Birth born of the Spirit which God hates And such act out of his Life in the Reprobation out of his Power and Wisdom and out of the Election Christ the Seed the second Birth who was before the Carnal Birth was and remains when he will be gone unto which the Love of God is for ever and unto whom is the Promise which goeth over the outward Birth and destroyes the Devil and his works who went from Truth and led man from God by which the Curse Wrath and Woe came upon Man which Christ the Seed brings the Blessing and gives man to see the blessed state of all things how they were in the beginning and how they were blessed in the beginning and through Christ Man comes up into the power which is his Throne where there 's Blessing and no Curse at all XIX Concerning FEAR and TREMBLING The strong Man hath kept the House long and his Goods have been at Peace but now He is come who is stronger than he Christ Jesus the Stronger who doth dis-inherit and cast him out and spoil his Goods and makes Man the Temple of God that â—e himself may dwell in him an holy Temple and an Habitation for himself to dwell in who maketh the Keepers of the House to Tremble by which power of Christ the Salvation is wrought out with fear and Trembling And so we can say That it is God that workeâ—h in us both to will and to do according to his will and good pleasure In the dayes of the Prophets the Prophet he trembled and staggered like a Drunkard for the Iniquity of the Times and because of the holiness of the Word of the Lord He trembled when he heard his Voyce and when the Lord spake to him he feared greaâ—ly This is the Man whom God regards saith the Prophet Isayas who is of a broken and contrâ—ie spirit and trembleth at his word Who have been cast out by their Brethren who said let the Lord be glorified Who will appear for those that tremble at his Word and
your mind it being in them then your peace is broken and you are cross and brickle and envy gets up so this is not a perfect peace but is a broken peace and then you have the trouble and not the blessing and the reason is because your minds are in the Creatures and the outward things and are not staid upon the Creator where the perfect peace is and the blessing where nothing can get betwixt you and the Lord. And this is below Job to have the mind in the Creatures and visible things for when you are tried and Creatures fail you you are crost and troubled that shews an imperfect state for God said that Job was a perfect man and when that the Lord suffered him to be tried and when that his Goods and Houses were thrown down and driven a way and servents killed he said Blessed be the name of the Lord for the Lord gave and the Lord taketh here his mind was stayed upon the Lord and he retained his peace And when that his Children were destroyed and his wife said to him what dost thou continue in thy Integrity still Curse God and dye he rebukes her and calls her A foolish woman and said unto her Shall I receive good of the Lord and not evil Naked came I out of my Mothers womb and naked I must return again Here Job kept his integrity still and did not all this while offend with his Lips Now many of you who think your selves high and above Job if that your Goods and Children should be after the same manner taken away whose mind is in them you would be found in a troubled brickle state far below Job And when that Jobs Friends came to reason with him who kept his integrity and would no way yeeld to them they called him an Hypocrite and said he denyed Prayer and filled his Belly with East-wind and said what shall mortal man be more pure than his Maker Shall man that is born of a woman be Just God chargeth his Angls with folly and the Heavens are not clear in his sight And these are the Scriptures the Priests use to bring against Friends who keep there Integrity as Jobs Friends did against him but at the last the Lord commanded Job to offer a Sacrifice for his Friends because they had sinned and spoken not right as Job had who was perfect and kept his Integrity And the Apostle said to the Saints That he had learned in all conditions to be content Mark in all conditions but this was when he was Paul not when he was Saul running up and down with his packet of Letters halling the Saints before the Rulers like a Paritor then he was not content neither with his own condition nor others But when he came to learn of Christ which destroys the Devil and his works which teacheth to know all things then in all things he learned to be content so that you know that there is learning learneth and learned as a Child when he is learning learneth and learned is three stats so Paul he had learned in all conditions to be content and who was his School-Master but Christ by whom all things were made not of man nor by man out of the Truth so while he learned of men and by men he was not content neither are any others Therefore all are to learn of Christ the Light the Life and the Truth that you may come to that condition to have learned in all conditions to be content and not to trust in uncertain Riches for they have wings and will flee away and so he is never counted a wise man that will put any confidence in that which will flee away from him for those are the Heirs of the Earth and the World that lâ—ad themselves with thick clay that they may set their nests on high but they that be Heirs of Christ and of the Power of an Endless Life trust in the Living God and come to possess an Everlasting Inheritance of the Power of an Endless Life and come to increse in the Riches of the Everlasting Inheritance and there lay up Riches that are Everlasting which will abide for ever And so therefore mind every one Gods word in your Hearts and in your Mouthes and obey it and do it and be not of them that are saying in their hearts Who shall ascend or descend to fetch him from above Keep down that sayer under reproof and then your eares will be open to that which the righteousness of Faith saith The Word is nigh thee in thy heart and in thy mouth so thou needest not to say who shall ascend or descend and that was the Word which the Messengers of God preached and do preach and rebuke the Gainsayer And so all people seeing the Devil hath made the World like a Wilderness and there is so many wayes in it that they do not know which way to come out nor which to follow Therefore this is my Answer to you all Take Davids Lanthorn and Candle you may say What is that and where is it I say it is within you the Word of God you may say People do not use to carry Lanthorns and Candles in the day time but in the night I say you be in the Night of Darkness and therefore the Word is called a Lanthorn and Candle to you by which you may see the Way of the Lord which is perfect from all mens wayes which are imperfect by which ye may see the path of the just to be a shining Light from all the unjust paths that be in the Darkness for by this Word did David come to outstrip his Teachers who was made wiser then them all so it will you if you obey it for by this Word he saw Christ and called him Lord therefore he loved the Word and hid it in his heart for by it he spake so many glorious expressions which the World since hath turned into Meeter and made Songs or Ballads of them and this was the Word that came to Abraham which made him forsake his National Religion and Worship and Obey the Lord and this was the Word that came to Jacob the Shepherd by which he saw Christ and Prophesied of him to his Sons on his Death-bed when he said to Judah The Law should not depart from betwixt his feet till Shilo came meaning Christ and the gathering of all Nations should be to him as it is at this day the gathering is to Christ and this was the Word that came to Moses the Shepherd when he was keeping sheep which he Obeyed and went to Egypt and brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt by which Word he was made a Minister and when the Children of Israel were come out of Egypt into the Wilderness told them They need not go for the Word beyond the Seas c. for it was nigh them in their hearts and mouths to obey it and do it And this was the Word that made Moses a Prophet who prephesied
your Colledges for our Brother Paul the Tent-maker said If you will not work you must not eat For would you own Christ if he had come in your day who was called A Carpenters Son You Popes with your Triple Crowns and you Lord Bishops with your Coaches and fat Horses and gorgeous Aparrel with your Black Coats and white Coats and Girdles Are you like to entertain him who is called A Carpenters Son or to cast him and his mother into the Manger in your Stables This was the Word by which John the Evangelist saw Christ which did enlighten every man that came into the world and saw how he became flesh and came to his own and his own did not receive him but to as many as received Christ the Light to them he gave power to become the Sons of God which all they that are Ministers of the Letter made by the seven years Colledges and not the Word hate the Light And by this Word the Minister of the Word preacheth Christs Word Life Death and Resurrection And therefore as John saith in his Epistle That which our Eyes have seen our Hands have handled and our Ears have heard of the Word of Life do we preach unto you that which was from the beginning in the beginning was the Word though since the beginning were the words and letters for the Scriptures of Truth are the words of God and the words of Christ and he that adds to these words saith John in the Revelations God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book So the Word was in the beginning and Christs Name is called The Word of God but Christ is neither called Scriptures nor Writings for Scriptures signify Writings So In the beginning was the Word since the beginning were Writings and Scriptures In the beginning was the Word since the beginning were all false Wayes false Churches false Teachers and in the Word ye comprehend them all The Priest saith That Hebrew Greek and Latine were the Original the many Languages and the many Languages began at Babel which Nimrod the Hunter before the Lord began to build after God had destroyed the Old World with water then would he go build a Tower which should reach to Heaven then God came down and confounded them into many Languages so he hunted before the Lord but the Lord followed him and confounded him in all his work as he will do all the Builders that run before him and so all the Priest that have gotten the many Languages which began at Babel they tell simple ignorant people that they have the Original and are the Orthodox men and get in a different habit from them and say the Quakers are a simple people and despise the Learned Orthodox men who have the Original Give ear O people if these Languages which came up at the confounding of Babel are the Priests Original that makes them Orthodox and Divine then Pilate that crucified Christ was as good an Orthodox Divine as they for when he crucified Christ he writ a Paper in Hebrew Greek and Latine and set a top of him he was as ignorant of Scripture and of Orthodox and Divine matters as you and you as he and the Apostle saith That Tongues must cease then that which makes Orthodox men and Divine as you say must cease according to the Apostles Doctrine and so then Tongues neither are the Original nor make Orthodox nor Divine and John that gave forth the Revelations saith That the Whore and the Beast are set upon Tongues and the Everlasting Gospel must be preached again to all Kindreds and Tongues which were before Babel was who was the first beginner of Tongues Now it is clear that the Gospel must be preached to all Nations and Tongues and that Tongues are not the Original neither do they make Divines or Orthodox men but it is clear that it is the Word which was in the beginning which makes Divines yea Tradesmen which are base and contemptible in the eyes of the proud and them that have gotten Babels Tongues who are confounded by the ministers of the Word which was in the beginning before Babel was for all the Earth was of one Language and Speech before Babel And you that call your selves Orthodox men made by Tongues and say that is your Original who are so blind and cannot see that there was an Original before Babel was for did not Enoch the Prophet the seventh from Adam who prophesied in the Old World before it was destroyed and long before Babel was concerning the coming of Christ in Ten thousand of his Saints as in Jude and Lamech prophesied in the Old World concerning Noah and Adam and others might be instanced before your Tongues which you call your Original were and so we say that the Word of God is the Original which doth fulfil the Scriptures and the Word is it which makes Divines which is called a Hammer but it is a living Hammer and a Sword and Fire but a living Sword and a Fire to hammer cut and burn up that which separated and kept man from God by which Word man is reconciled again to God which is called The word of Reconciliation by this word are men and women sanctified and made clean and this is the Word that makes both men and woman Divines and brings them into the Divine Nature which hammers and cuts down that which corrupted their nature and by this Word aâ—e they brought into a Divine Wisdom Understanding Knowledg Spirit and Power And this is the Word that lives and abides and endures for ever by which the Saints are born again of the Immortal Seed and Word of God who feed upon the Milk of the Word up into a Divine Life Wisdom and Understanding and Divine Nature and by this Word they do see all Flesh to be as Grass and as the Flower of the Field that fadeth and the Word of God that lives and abides and endures for ever which is Christ whose Name is called the Word of God And so to Keep the Word of Patience which is over all the impatient Spirits and then you will know the Word of Life the Word of Patience and Word of Wisdom is Everlasting and abides and endures for ever which all they that be in the Letter out of the Life and Word have neither Patience to themselves nor others for the Word of patience and the Word of Life which is to be kept in all Tribulations was before Death and impatient Spirits were Concerning the Heathen Idolaters naming their Dayes and Moneths THE old Pagan Saxons in their Idolatry Were the first that brought in the names of the Days which those called Christians have retained to this day for they adored Idols and unto them offered Sacrifices and Worshipped the Planets See Vestigans Antiq. and Cambdens Brit. As touching the Idols which these Saxons adored they were divers and though they had many yet seven among the rest they especially appropriated unto the seven
not And here stands the Worlds Communion and Fellowship which is carnal and cross but their carnal wills and it is turned into envy and for earthly triflles they will go to Law and cozen and cheat and defraud one another for earthly trifles and like People like Priest but if they lye in wait for revenge of one another then they will not take their Sacrament as they call it And here the Devil hath a great hold for he that envies is a murderer and here is the difference betwixt the Worlds Communion and the Saints Communion Life and Death For to be Carnally minded is Death but to be Spiritually minded is Life And here they are without feeding upon the Husk and Shadow without and would destroy the Life and Substance where it appears both Priest People and Rulers and so have a Form of Godliness and denies the Life and Power From such turn away For it is meer delusion to take the Shadow for the Substance Concerning PRAYER The Prayers of the wicked we deny and God denies for it is abominable Prov. 15.8 for Cain the wicked one who was out of the comands of God Gen 4.3 4 5. who was the first-birth he offered up a Sacrifice of the earth but God had no respect to it but Abel the second-birth who was the Righteous his Sacrifice God had respect to so the Prayers of the Faithful and Righteous God doth accept and they avail and what comes from his own which is the second-birth his own is pure and what comes from it is pure and God who is pure doth receive that which is pure but he receives nothing which is polluted or unclean for he is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity For his Sacrifice must be without spot and blemish and that which comes from an unclean heart is spotted and defiled and unclean for nothing that is pure can come forth of an unclean Vessel but who can witness the second-birth and that the Seed of the Woman hath bruised the Serpents head which is the first Promise and faith which purifieth the heart then that which comes out is pure proceeding from a pure single heart and this prayer God receives and he hath respect to it and this we owne and witnesse and this comes from the second birth which is pure for the first birth is unclean and out of the Command of God in the fall in the wrath in the peevishnesse and perversenesse Cain-like and the seed of the Serpent is first in every one and rules the head but the Promise is The seed of the Woman shall bruise the Serpents head so you who are not come to this are still in the fall and are not come to the first Promise so all your self-acting and imitating thinking to merit with your prayers and praises singings and duties and worships and traditions which are all in vain and you are sacrificing to an unknown God a Sacrifice of the earth from the first nature which God hath no respect to and the flaming Sword is set against that to keep from the Tree of Life for both drunkards and swearers lyars proud covetous and all manner of unrighteous persons are offering up sacrifices and are in their formal Worships and Duties thinking that is sufficient to pascifie for their sins and yet doth not repent but saith the Lord Bring no more vain Oblations away with your New Moons and Sabbaths thâ—y are an abomination and my soul loathes them When you spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea when you make many Prayers I will not hearken your hands are full of blood Wash you make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well So it is the heart the Lord requireth Prov. 23.16 Jer. 29.12 13. And Where your treasure is there your heart will be also Mat. 6.21 And saith the Apostle We know not how to pray as we ought but as the Spirit maketh intercession with sighes and groans Rom. 8.26 And this is more acceptable to God from an honest single heart than the long Prayer of the Pharisees Concerning the MINISTRY The true Ministry of Christ we own and witness and the Ministers and Messengers of Christ we own and witness but those who have gotten the Letter and Form to Trade with which was spoken forth freely and denyes the Life and Power those we deny their Ministry and all those who go to get humane Learning and are certain years as it were serving a Prentiship pretending to study Divinity and when their time is expired they go among ignorant blind People and gets a certain place and certain wages and so sells that which they studied and got into the brain and those which receive it gets it into the brain and â—o they live upon dust which is the Serpents meat feeding upon the Tree of Knowledge both Priest and People Mic. 3.10 death feeding death and with the notion begets into the notion and feeding the carnal mind with the carnal letter and this is the cause why drunkards swearers lyars proud covetous envious wrathful and contentious ones and all unrighteous persons hath gotten the Letter to talk of or discourse of though in the Ale-house or Tipling-house but this Ministry works no Reformation only hath the Form and leads into the Form and denies the Life and Power which is neither to be bought nor sould for money so from such we turn away who come by the will of Man are approved by the will of Man and are upheld by the will of Man and not by the will of God And their Call and Ministry we deny which is mediate and formal imitation and the invention of Man and so meer delusion and this is the cause why the Land so overflowes with iniquity and all manner of ungodliness and no better Reformation wrought amongst them their Ministry is so dark and dead and cold and yet the Land full of Teachers and yet the People lost for want of Teaching Jer. 23.29 30 31 32. and so they spend their money for that which is not bread and their labour for that which profiteth not Isa 35.2 But who can witness an immediate Call by God from their outward Callings and Countries Lands Livings and Possessions into several Countries to preach the free Gospel as they had received it by the immediate inspiration of the Spirit and speakes it forth as they are moved by the holy Ghost and as the Spirit gives them utterance freely as they have received it freely by which Ministry many are convinced and as they abide in it are converted as many in the Nation can witness to the honour and glory of God who are now New Creatures and this Call we own and witness and this Ministry we own and witness which is immediate and stands in the Will of God and such covets no mans silver nor gold neither could be hired to a
of Life yet if that part be not kept in the death if there be not a praying and watching to the Preserver of Israel in the pure fear and humility the Enemy will be sowing to the Flesh again he will be getting some of his corrupt Seed into the heart again if the Soul do but sleep and become negligent and so corruption will take root again and the contrary Birth grow up again and the Foxes break into the Vineyard and spoil the tender grapes So that this is our Religion to witness the two Seeds with the Power of the Lord bringing down the one and bringing up the other and then to witness and experience daily the same Power keeping the one in Death and the other in Life by the holy ministration of Gods pure living Covenant And so to know God in this Covenant in this Covenant which lives gives Life and Keeps in Life and to walk with God and worship and serve him therein even in his Son in the Light of his Son in the Life of his Son in the vertue and ability which flows from his Son into our Spirits this is our Religion which the Lord our God in his tender mercy hath bestowed upon us And indeed we find this to be a pure living and undefiled Religion before God daily witnessing his acceptance of it in and through his Son whose Name is here known and confessed worshipped and honoured according to the very heart of the Father This may be further illustrated and perhaps made more manifest to some by a Scripture or two The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary one to the other saith the Apostle Gal. 5.17 Here are the two Seeds the Seed of the Serpent the Seed of the woman whose striving and fight is in man when God awakens the Soul the one whereof hath a nature a desire or lust contrary to the other Now as the one of these prevails in any heart so the other goes down As the one gains Life and Power so the other is brought into Death and Captivity so that this is it every one is to wait for after they once come to the sensible knowledge and experience of these two to feel the Flesh brought down the lusts of it denied the Judgments of the Lord administred to it that so the other may come up to live thrive and prevail in the Soul and so the Soul witness Salvation and Redemption under its shadow Thus Sion is Redeemed with Judgment and her Converts with Righteousness Isa 1.27 What is Sion Is it not the holy Hill of God whereon his Son is set King to reign whereon the holy City is to be built and God to be worshipped in Spirit What condition is Sion in when God visits her to redeem her Is she not laid wast desolate lying in the dust as Psal 102.13 14. Well how will God redeem her Zion shall be redeemed with Judgement and her Converts with Righteousness By bringing Judgements upon that which keeps her under upon her Enemies the contrary Seed God redeems her and by bringing forth Righteousness the righteous Life and Spirit of his own Son in those whose minds are turned to her whose faces are set Sion-ward thus God redeems her Converts Yes yes it is truly felt and witnessed The living Righteousness of Christ revealed in the heart and having power there sets free from all unrighteousness which was there before And then when the unrighteous one is cast out and the righteous one is revealed and the Soul united to him and receives virtue and power from him then he becomes a Servant of Righteousness and doth not commit sin but doth righteousness And he that doth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous 1 John 3.7 For how can it be otherwise when the righteous Life is revealed and brought up into dominion in him How can the same righteous Spirit and Life revealed in the members as was in the head but live and act after the same manner in the members as it did in the head O that men were turned to that which would give them the certain knowledge and sensible experience of this Now this is exceeding comfortable and precious to them that are in the true travel towards it much more to them that enjoy it This is the sum of all even to know and experience what is to be brought down into death and kept in death what to be brought up out of the grave to live to God and reign in his dominion and what to be kept in subjection and obedience to him who is to reign Now to experience it thus done in the heart the Flesh brought down the Seed of Life raised and the Soul subject to the pure heavenly Power whose right it is to reign in the heart in and by the Seed this is a blessed state indeed for here the work is done here the Throne of God is exalted and his King reigns in righteousness and peace and all his Enemies are under his feet and this Soul this true Israelite this redeemed one may wear the white Robe and serve God in righteousness and holiness without fear of his Enemies keeping in and to the Covenant which ministers Life and Power abundantly all the dayes of his life For that was to be the outward state of the outward Israel keeping to God in the outward Covenant and it is to be the inward state of the inward Israel keeping to God in the inward Covenant which is a pure Covenant of life and Peace of all inward and spiritual blessings and mercies in Christ wherewith the Souls are blessed that are obedient to God and walk humbly with him in this Covenant And I beseech you to consider O tender people who are grieved because of sin and corruption in your hearts and would fain witness victory and dominion over it in the Name and Strength of the Lord Jesus Christ whom did that prophesie of Zachary Luke 1.71 72 74 75. concern what was that holy Covenant who were to be so redeemed who were the Israel that was to inherit this promise All the Promises are yea and amen in Christ to the Israel of God Why should not the Israel of God hope to enjoy this even so to be acquainted with Gods holy Spirit and to wait upon him that they may witness it granted to them that they being delivered out of the hands of their Enemies might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him whose eyes are piercing and behold no iniquity all the dayes of their lives Surely they who witness that promise mentioned Isa 35.8 fulfilled to them cannot fall short of this And truly the Children of the New Covenant can never come throughly to live to God till they witness the inward Circumcision of the Heart so as to love the Lord with all the Heart and Soul Deut. 30.6 Now where it is so the Devil or Lust can find no place of entrance
and Demonstration of Gods holy Spirit or is thy own understanding and will at work of it self in searching into the Scriptures If the wrong birth the wrong wisdom the wrong understanding be at work it can gather but that which will feed and strengthen it self and if thou beest not in Christ and dost not read in Christ the vail is not taken away from thee for the vail is only done away in him but thou readest and walkest in the oldness of thy apprehensions upon the Letter and not in the newness of the Spirit and so knowest neither the Scriptures nor the Power of God what ever thou professest to men or dreamest concernning thy self For it is no other indeed Thy knowledge thy apprehensions thy faith thy hope thy peace thy joy being out of the compass of the pure living Truth in which the Substance the vertue the kernel of all is comprised and comprehended for ever are but as so many dreams O that men that are any whit tender and have any sincere desires in them towards the Lord could read that one Scripture Psal 43.3 4. sensible and experimentally O send out thy Light and thy Truth let them lead me let them bring me unto thy holy Hill and to thy Tabernacles what did not David know how to go to the Hiâ—l and Tabernacles of God without a particular sending forth of Light and Truth from God to lead him thither Then may men go unto the Altar of God unto God their exceeding joy and witness his Hill and House their dwelling-place when God by his Light and Truth sent forth from him into them leads them thither The Scriptures are words whose chief end drift and service is to bring men to the Word from which the Scriptures came And when men are there then they are in the Life of the Scriptures and witness the fulfilling of the Scriptures even the executing of the righteous judgments of God upon that spirit mind and nature in them which is contrary to his image and the fulfilling of the Promises and sure Mercies which belong to Christ the Seed and to them who are gathered into and abide in Christ the Seed Here 's the Covenant the new Covenant That which is said or those things which are said concerning the Covenant in the Scriptures are but descriptions of the new Covenant but Christ within the Hope of glory the Spirit within the Fear within the Power of Life within breaking down and reigning over the power of sin and death so that the Lord is served in the dominion and power of his own Life in righteousness and holiness before him out of the fear of sin and death all the dayes of our lives so that captivity can lead captive nor break the Souls peace no more nay not so much as make afraid those that keep their Habitation on Gods holy Mountain here is the Covenant indeed the strength and vertue whereof is witnessed in the Soul as the Soul feels the power of Life revealed in it and is made subject by the power to Christ who reigns in righteousness love mercy and Peace in the hearts of those whom he redeems out of the earthly nature and spirit up to the Mind and Spirit of his Father And here the Psalms Hymns and spiritual Songs the pure Songs the Song of Moses the Song of the Lamb are sung to the Father of Spirits to the Redeemer of Israel which never were sung nor can be sung in any part of Babylon but all those Songs are but Dreames of the night which will be turned into howling and bitter lamentation when the whore that which hath whored from God and is not in the wisdom of his Spirit what ever she may pretend is stripped and the nakedness of her Profession and Religion with all her Duties and Ordinances as she calls them made manifest Concerning the GOSPEL MINISTRATION IF the Gospel be not a Ministration of Words or Letters but of the Spirit Life and Power and if it was the intent of God that men should not stick in Word or Testimonies concerning the things but come to the thing it self and live in the Sons Life and Power and feel the Son living in them Then they are greatly mistaken who think to gather a Rule to themselves out of the Testimonies and Declarations of things in the Scriptures and do not wait upon the Lord to receive the Spirit it self to become their Rule Guide and Way For these are all one The Truth is the Way The Truth which lives and abides in the heart where it is received and entertained is the Way the Rule is the Guide For God is one There are many names but the thing is one The Life the Power the Wisdom in the Father Son and Spirit is all one yea they themselves are one Perfectly one not at all devided or separated but where the Father is the Son is and where the Son is the Spirit is and where the Spirit is there is both the Father and the Son who tabernacle in man in the day of the Gospel And where these are there that is which is to be preferred before all words which was afore them and is in Nature Spirit and Glory above them He that hath the Son hath Life even the Life Eternal which the words testifie of He that hath the Son hath him which is true and he that is in the Son is in him that is true and abiding there cannot be deceived but he that is not there is deceived let him apprehend and gather out of the Scriptures what he can O how is God glorified and how is Redemption and real Salvation of the Soul witnessed in this dispised Dispensation of Truth which God hath held forth in these latter dayes Blessed be the Name of the Lord who hath hid this pure dispensation of Life from the eye of the prudent worldly wise part in every man revealing it only to the babish simplicity which is of his Son and which lives in him and by him Concerning Christs being manifested without and His being also manifested within and how both are owned by them that know the Truth IT is objected against us who are called Quakers That we deny Christ and look not to be saved by him as he was manifested without us but look only to be saved by Christ in us To which this is in my heart to answer to such as singly desire satisfaction therein We do indeed expect to be saved yea and not only so but do already in our several measures witness Salvation by the revelation and operation of the Life of Christ within us yet not without relation to what he did without us For all that he did in that Body of Flesh was of the Father and had its place and service in the Will and according to the Counsel of the Father But the knowledg and beliefe of that since the dayes of the Apostles hath been very much held in the unrighteousness and in the separation
deny before his Father in Heaven O I beseech you do not trifle about these things for they are exceeding weighty lest ye perish from the way for missing of the Saviour ye must needs also miss of the Salvation O that ye knew your state as God knows it to be and as it is certainly known and felt in the measure of his Life and holy Spirit by those whom God hath gathered together and whose eyes he hath opened and preserveth open there Glory be to his Name therefore Yea Glory Glory Glory and everlasting Praises be sung to him throughout all the holy Land ye in the very heights of Sion by the Souls of the Redeemed from henceforth and for evermore Amen whose Mercy Love Grace Wisdom Power and rich Goodness remaineth and endureth for ever by and in which the Redeemed live to his Praise who have overcome by the Blood of the Lamb whose Blood they know what it is and none else knoweth it but they who feel the sprinkling and virtue of it Lo this is our God we have waited for him and how can we but be glad and rejoyce in his Salvation O let all that live by the breath of thy Power and drink of thy Streams sing praise unto Thee and exalt thy great and wonderful Name for ever and ever A brief Testimony for Truth by Tho. Tayler I Shall add somewhat of the Testimony which is written in my heart by the finger of Gods Spirit concerning the People called Quakers Indeed they have met with many reproaches and sore oppositions many wayes since they were a People but notwithstanding all their Bow abides in strength and the hands of their arms have been made strong against the wicked one with all his devices in his several kinds of instruments and their Light is still the same and their God the same who blesseth them from day to day even in the midst of all the revilings slanders persecutions and curses which they have met with from men without and in the midst of all the temptations inward trials and afflictions also which are often met with inwardly Yea we know him to be our God and cannot but trust him having found him to be faithfull to us hitherto and knowing his nature to be such that he cannot but continue his loving-kindness and faithfulness to all who are gathered by him in to his holy inward spiritual Covenant of Life and Peace and who dwells with him therein And truly we are fully satisfied and at rest in him and cannot desire another then he who hath redeemed our Souls from death given us Life brought us out of the Pit wherein was no water into a large place set our feet upon a rock a rock indeed and establisheth our goings in the path of holyness working all our works in us and for us by his Spirit and Power Yea we have the Witness in our hearts even the Witness which never erred nor can deceive which testifieth to and with our spirits our Sonship so that we do not imagine our selves sons from apprehensions upon Scriptures but we feel our selves sons in the true sensibleness and know who David is and reap and inherit the sure mercies of David daily O blessed be our Father O blessed for ever be the Father of Life who feeds who nourishes who waters Who refreshes with the Bread of Life and with the pure living water his Lambs his Babes his plants his tender ones of whom he is daily tender and who are daily tender of his Name and Honour And if any man preach another God then he who creates anew in the true Light and therein puts forth his arm of Salvation Death and Destruction and the Curse are his portion from the hand of the Lord. THE Conclusion GLorious was the Estate of the Church before the Apostacy for Purity of Doctrine for holy Order and Discipline for Love to God one to another and to all men even of Enemies for Faith in God for the Presence and Power of his Spirit among them insomuch as the unbeliever coming among them might find his heart and state reached to and be forced to confess and report that God was in them of a truth for singleness and uprightnesse of Heart meekness and innocency of Spirit and Conversation for zeal for God and his Truth suffering the spoiling of their Goods Imprisonments Stripes and many other wayes both from the Heathen and also from the professing Jews who had been the Church once O what shall I say concerning the beauty and loveliness of that State Ye that would know it O wait to feel it in that which giveth the true sence of it But over this glorious State came a dark thick corrupt night wherein the Kernel was lost and the Shell defaced wherein the House which had been swept and garnished became again recovered and possessed by the wicked spirit And how great hath this darkness been O what a kind of Church hath appeared in the World wherein the spirit of Enmity hath dwelt and acted in men under the Name of Christianity So that instead of loving and seeking the good of Enemies they are ready to rend and tear one another for every little difference and will be Lords over mens Faith requiring men to Practice things in Religeon before the Spirit of the Lord teacheth them so to do which the Apostles did not For though they had from God the express knowledge of what was Truth and could certainly instruct and build men up therein yet they were not Lords over mens Faith but if men were otherwise minded then according to what they knew and taught they could wait and bear with them bidding them walk so far as they had attained and God in his due time would reveal the rest also O that men were come to this Spirit again Then they would be Christians indeed and then they might be known to be Christs Disciples by their loving the Brethren and fellow-Disciples But without this love mens Religion is but as a tinkling Cimbal making a noise and sound of somewhat but not having the true Nature or Virtue of Religion in it Now will it not be a glorious Day when the Spirit of the Lord cleanseth away this thick darkness and causeth the Light of his pure Truth to arise and appear again Why there is such a Day to be wherein the true Church which was reproached and driven into the Wilderness is to come out of the Wilderness again and her Witnesses stand on their feet again and her Seed to spring up in the Power of Life following the Lamb who marcheth on fighting with the Sword of the Spirit the words of his mouth conquering and to conqeur thereby the corrupted Antichristian World even as he did at first the corrupt Heathenish World The Lord will purifie his Temple and cleanse the World by the Plagues of his Angels which he hath prepared making way for the beauty of his Truth and the Church of his gathering wherein he