all such he honours with the honour that is from above which comes from himself and all these do honour each other and prefer each other according to the Order of the Work of God amongst them in their several Gifts and Services in the Body of Christ his Church All keeping to and walking in the Divine Light of Christ all will be kept in Humility and in Unity yea cloathed with it according to the Apostles Exhortation and according to the Command and Example of Christ the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls who said Learn of me I am meek and lowly in Heart and ye shall find rest to your Souls A Remnant hath learned Humility of him in this Age and he hath given us rest to our Souls which to us far excels all the Riches and Glory of this World Praises to the Lord God and the Lamb for the same Blessed are all they that walk in his Light they find the fruit of it in them to be unfeigned Love to Friends and also to Enemies and Meekness Patience Gentleness Justice Equity and Righteousness towards all Men and a good Understanding and holy right Zeal for the honour of the Lord and the good of his People who walks here will not be puffed up with self conceit or self wilfulness or be filled with Wrath Malice Strife nor strive to Honour or Exalt themselves as Lords over Gods People such are not Lords over that Faith which God hath wrought in his People but in the Love of God Meekness and Humility of Christ Jesus these build up one another in their most Holy Faith and are Fellow helpers of one anothers Joy in the Lord as the Apostle hath writ and Exhorted And as the Primitive true Christians practised Concerning Rule and Government in the Church of Christ CHrist Jesus after he arose from the Dead spake unto his Disciples saying All power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth go ye therefore and teach all Nations Baptizing them into the Name for so the Greek renders it of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have comanded you and lo I am with you always c. Matt. 28. 18 19 20. First Observe Christ who was always spiritually present with those whom he sent to preach the Gospel gave them many things in Charge to teach the People to observe those who believed received and obeyed the Gospel preach'd by the Apostles did obey the Commands and Doctrines of Christ given by or through the Apostles who were his Embassadors those who did continue stedfast unto the end were by degrees Taught and inabled by the powerful Spirit and Light of Christ in the Apostles and in their own hearts to observe do all things that Christ commanded them 2. Observe Christ in and by the Apostles did command and teach those who believed and received the Gospel and walked in the Light of it and those who did believe and obey those Commands and Doctrines were not therein subject or obedient to the Traditions Doctrines or Commandments of men who were without the Spiritual Presence and Authority of Christ But they were obedient unto the Commandements and Doctrines of Christ delivered in and by the Faithful Apostles those holy Men of God 3. Observe Here is Order and Rule in the Work of God they that are Novices or young Scholars in the Faith and Doctrine of Christianity are Learners others Elders or Teachers these are to be Taught and watch'd over by those to whom God hath given an oversight of them in his power and wisdom for the Salvation Preservation and everlasting good of their Souls these Stewards of God who labour for and watch over Souls for the good end aforesaid God requires them to be faithful in this great Charge which he hath laid upon them for they must give an account to him of their stewardship and blessed are all those who have believed the Gospel who obey and walk in the Light of the same receiving and obeying the Commands Doctrines and Precepts of the Lord Jesus Christ given unto them by his Light and Spirit in his Stewards and Embassadors which they see and receive in the same Light Spirit of Christ in their own Hearts and Souls An account will be given of them with joy unto Christ the chief Shepherd and great Overseer of Souls 4. Observe They who after they have believed in the Spirit and Light of God and Christ within and have partaken of the vertue and power thereof fall away when Temptations and Tryals come upon them for Christ and the Gospel's sake these become like the stony ground which Christ speaks of in the Parables of the Kingdom that young and tender Blade which appeared in them being withered an account cannot be given of these with joy but with sorrow though they who have laboured faithfully with them for their good are clear of their Fall and Misery 5. Observe Those who have come to a farther growth and knowledg of the Truth than those last mentioned who have come not only to know the Truth but also further to obey it and suffer for it yet they after they have thus done and suffered have fallen away from their first love and obedience to the Cross of Christ by rejecting and slighting the Counsel of God by his Light and Spirit in their own hearts and in the hearts and mouths of his Servants and these having cast off the Yoke of Christ are become as Sons of Belial without Yoke gone into the World into the Cumbersom Cares of it and the Deceitfulness of the Riches Lusts and Glory of it such has made ill use of the grace or favour of God given unto them such in their works whatever their Words be deny the only true God and our Lord Jesus Christ such are the despisers of the Government of Christ in his Church who though they retain yet something of the Christian form of Godliness yet are out of the life and power thereof and Enemies to it as by their Evil Works and Words do and will appear The Stewards and Embassadors of Christ cannot give a joyous account of these though having faithfully laboured with them for their preservation and well being are therefore cleer of their blood or of being in any wise guilty of their Fall and Ruin Observe further what the Apostle saith concerning Rule and Government in the Church of Christ he writing to the believing Hebrews writes thus Remember them which have the Rule over you who hath spoken unto you the Word of God whose Faith follow considering the end of their Conversation obey them that hath the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your souls as they that must give an account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you Salute all them that have the Rule over you and all the Saints they of Italy salute you
and the Salvation of your Souls are so very greatly concerned O Friends Be all as willing to follow and obey this Spiritual Divine Light as you are to profess it and talk of it for if there be not a Walking in it the Profession of it will be in vain For after the Light of Christ Within be known and Good and Evil made known by it if the Creature do not yield Obedience to it in forsaking the Evil and embracing following and doing that which is Good then his sin becomes more grievous to Almighty God than before for as 't is written In the time of Ignorance God winked but after the Gospel the Power of God is preached to and in the Creature which hath been subjected by Satan under sin in the Bondage of Corruption and by which the Creatures Heart and Soul is in some degree quickened and opened to know what God requireth of it If then it do not deny Self take up its Cross against the Devil and Self then its Opposition and Disobedience to the Divine Gospel-Light God accounts the Sin of stebellion which is as Witchcraft from which the Lord God of all our Mercies and Blessings deliver and preserve you Into this State of Misery were the foolish Galatians faln to whom the Apostle Paul wrote and after he had sharply reprehended them for their Backsliding and Unfaithfulness he travelled again on their behalf that Christ might be formed in them And as their Backsliding became matter of great Sorrow and deep Exercise to him the like hath befaln the ancient and faithful Labourers in the peaceable Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in our age for some for as he was sent to turn the People from Darkness to the Divine Spiritual Light of God and Christ from the Power of Satan who had imbondaged them in sin to God whose Power is Almighty breaking the Power of Satan down and delivering the Creature by its powerful working out of the bondage of Corruption into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God Even so hath the Lord God Almighty and Merciful sent his faithful Servants in this Age to turn People from Darkness unto Light from the Power oâ— Satan unto God that through the working of the glorious Power of God in their In ward Man they might receive true Faith and Repentance and so might receive the Forgiveness of their Sins past in the name of Jesus Christ through the forbearance of God and not only so but also by the same power to know Redemption out of Sin from the Power of Satan who led them into it and so come into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God This glorious work of Restauration hath the Lord in his tender Mercy begun and effectually carried on in Thousands Glory be given unto him for the same and for all his tender Mercies for he is worthy But as it was in the Apostles days so is it in ours there were some then who after they had tasted of the Heavenly Gift and power of the World to come and thereby had known the beginning of the work of true Faith and Repentance and the Exercise of a good Conscience yet through their Slothtulness Negligence and multiplied Disobedience Rebellion they came to make Shipwrack of the Faith which God had given them and to put away a good Conscience which God by his powerful Spirit had wrought in them Of this sort the Apostle Peter writ saying It had been better they had never known the way of Truth than after they have known it to depart from the holy Commandment delivered to them But saith he it is come to pass according to the true Proverb The Dog is returned to his own Domit and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the Mire Jude Peter writ of these and such like salse Apostles deceitful Workers saying They are Wells without Water Clouds without Rain carried about of Tempests wandring Stars to whom is reserved the Mist of darkness for ever Trees whose Fruit is witherâ—d without Fruit twice dead plucked up by the sâ—oâ—ts Such were they whom the Apostle Paul writ of saying Acts 20. 30. and 2 Pet. 2. 2. Men shall arise among your selves speaking perverse things and shall draw Disciples after them through whom the way of Truth shall be evil spoken of I say as it is was then so is it come to pass in our days diverse Persons who have come among us in a Profession of the Pure Unchangeable Divine Light of our Lord Jesus Christ who for some time did in some Measure know it and obeyed it they have turned into Rebellion against it and such have and do now make War against the Children of it who walk in it in whom the pure peaceable Fruits of it do appear And this some Men have done and do under the Profession of it and a specieus pretence of Love to it this is abominable Deceit yea the deceivableness of Unrighteousness which worketh in them which hath been wrought in them by Satan because they have not kept in true Love and Obedience unto the Spiritual Light of Christ the Son of God to which they were turned They have not kept in the Godly Fear not in true Humility therefore hath Satan the Prince of Darkness and King over all the Children of Pride darkned their Understandings adulterated their Affections and corrupted their Wills Thus by him they are prepared and used as Instruments for him against the Lord and his Divine Light Grace and Spirit under the Profession of the same Such by professing and using the words of Truth have and do deceive the Hearts of the Simple God Almighty hath Confounded the work of such in our Age we have seen it and do give Glory to him for the same We do believe that he will confound such Evil works and that the Instruments thereof will be eternally miserable if they do not find a place of Repentance which to see them find would be matter of great Comfort to us Several Persons have gone out of the Truth under specious Pretences of Greater Manifestations of God and Attainments and Growth in the way of Righteousness than they were come to whom they turned against And through those false Pretences they have drawn some tender-hearted well meaning Persons from the Divine Light and Fellowship in it into evil Imaginations and unrighteous Jealousies concerning the faithful Ministers of Christ and their Labour of Love for the Glory of God and the Peace Unity Preservation and Eternal Good of his People But the Lord God in Mercy hath given several who were thus hurt to see how the hurt came upon them and hath recovered them out of the Snare wherein they were subtilly taken blessed be his holy Name for the same and we hope that he will visit and restore such well-meaning Persons who are taken and yet held in such like Snares though some who are turned aside after Satan may grow worse and worse as others
and Spirit in his People is one in its kind or Nature with himself he being the Fountain of it and it of himself it cannot contradict him or itself in the several Measures Manifestations Dispensations of it in those who receive it believe and obey it For if it should or could do so then God by it would be rendered the Author of Confusion and not of Peace in all the Churches of the Saints which to believe or suppose is very highly blasphemous against him and directly contrary to the holy Apostles Doctrine who saith God is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace in all the Churches of the Saints The same Apostle saith The Fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness Righteousness und Truth proving what is acceptable unto the Lâ—rd And he exhorted the Saints saying Have no Fellowship with the unfruitful works of Darkness but rather reprove them To those who walked in the Spirit and Light of God he said Walk in Love as Christ also hath loved us To these also he said Ye were sometimes Darkness but now are ye Lighi in the Lord walk as Children of the Light See Eph. 5. Again he saith The Fruits of the Spirit is Love Joy and Peace Long suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance against such there is no Law and they that are Christs have crucified the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit let us not be desirous of vain Glory provoking one another envying one another Again he saith The Works of the Flesh are manifest which are Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Darâ—ance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murders Drunkenness Revellings and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in times past that they that do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Gal. 5. Again the holy Apostle John in the Holy Ghost saith He that saith he is in the Light and hates his Brother is in Darkness even until now he that loveth his Brother abideth in the Light and there is none occasion of Stumbling in him But he that hateth his Brother is in Darkness and walketh in Darkness and knoweth not whither he goeth because that Darkness hath blinded his Eyes If a man say I love God and hateth his Brother he is a Lyar this Commandment have we from him that he who loveth God loveth his Brother also See 1 John 4. My dear Friends Observe That where the Fruits of the Spirit and Light of God and Christ are wanting in those who profess the same to be their Teacher Ruler and Orderer and contrariwise the Fruits or Works of the Flesh do appear this is a plain proof that their saying they are taught lâ—d and governed by the Spirit and Light of God and Christ is very notoriously false yea blasphemous against God Christ and his Divine Light and Spirit For when Christ told his Disciples that false Prophets Anti-Christs Deceivers c. should come saying Beware of false Prophets which come to you in Sheeps Cloathing but inwardly they are ravening Wolves he said Ye shall know them by their Fruits Do men gather Grapes of Thorns or Figs of Thistles Even so every good Tree bringeth forth good Fruit but a corrupt Tree bringeth forth evil Fruit. A good Tree cannot bring forth evil Fruit neither can a corrupt Tree bring forth good Fruit Every Tree that bringeth not forth good Fruit is hewn down and cast into the Fire Wherefore by their Fruits ye shall know them Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven See Math. 7. 15. and 24. Again he saith Many false Prophets shall arise and shall deceive many And because Iniquity shall abound the Love of many shall wax cold But he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved There shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and Wonders insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very Elect. See Matth. 24. 11 12 13 24. see Mark 13. 22. he repeating the same words of Christ and there he saith Take heed I have told you before Observe Christ's Promise to the faithful chosen Elect notwithstanding all the deceiveableness of unrighteousness which then did now doth or hereafter may work in the Instruments of Satan by feigned Words or fair or flattering Speeches false signs or lying wonders whereby he lieth in wait to betray and deceive by which he hath prevailed upon some unstable unwatchful unfaithful and therefore unskilful Souls who are not acquainted with the depths of Satan speaking in his Agents yet can he not in his Agents deceive the Elect the chosen of God Observe all that are convinced of the truth and come to some degree of Obedience to it are not come to the settled State of Election although they are come to a sight and feeling of the Spirit of Christ in whom the Election stands in which State it is impossible to be deceived Let not the weakest amongst the Believers in and Obeyers of the Light of Christ Within be discouraged at these sayings for as they keep to the Light God the Fountain of it will keep them from falling God set Adam in a State of Innocency in which it was possible for him to stand yet it was not impossible for him to fall for we both read and believe he did fall he could not stand in his own strength but in the strength of the Lord his Maker through want of his diligent attendance and waiting upon God his Maker for preservation he fell under the power of the Deceiver But Christ who never fell spake of a State brings those who continue diligent watchful into it which is beyond that as his forecited words do plainly imply The Apostles writ unto the Believers in the Light of Christ thus viz. Wherefore Brethren give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure for if ye do these things ye shall never fall 2 Pet. 1. 10. Read the Chapter through c. Again he saith Beware lest ye being led away with the Errour of the wicked fall from your own Stedfastness But grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Savior Christ to him be Glory now and for ever Amen Chap. 3. 17 18. Again Juâ—e writes thus Now to him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God our Saviour be Glory and Majesty Dominion and Power now and ever Amen Jude 24 25. read the Epistle throughout Observe further that the Settled State of Election where deceit cannot enter is not a State above or beyond Watchfulness and the holy Fear of God the Son of God himself in the daies of his Flesh watched and
that is faithful in a little I will make him Ruler over much The Path of the Just is as the shining light which shines more and more unto the perfect day as 't is written And again The light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days c. Now if those weak ones with whom the Primitive Christians bore in these things should have called them Aâ—â—states and Innovaâ—ors and have called their Epistles rotten Orders Mâ—ns Prescriptions and Edicts and have judged them in their Christian freedom because they did not continue with them in Bondage in Eating Herbs Observation of Days Years and Times and should have cryed up their Jewish bondage to have been Christian Liberty and themselves to be strong Christians and the others to be weak or darkned and Apostatized Would the Apostles and Primitive Christians have owned them as Brethren in Vnity and have had Fellowship with them in their so doing Yea or Nay Let Gods faithful Witness in all that know it answer this Question Oh! my Friends I am grieved in Spirit because of the hardness wilfulness and self-conceitedness of some whose work at this day is to unsettle the minds of Gods people by drawing them from their diligent attendance unto the Spirit Light and Voice of God in their own hearts and souls and in the mouths of his faithful Servants which Spirit Light and Voice in their hearts and in the mouths of his Servants is not contradictory to it self in the one or the other after them into ungodly jealousies evil surmises thoughts and imaginations words and actions by which evil work several persons whom the Lord in mercy had gathered near to himself have been drawn out from the simplicity which is in Christ into prejudice evil jealousies and also into some practices which are inconsistent with the Truth as it is in Christ Jesus divers of whom the Lord hath in mercy given the sense thereof and through his righteous Judgments upon the evil hath restored them into Unity with himself and with his tender people who in his tender bowels have travelled for their restauration who now greatly rejoyce in their return Glory yea Glory to his Eternal Name for the same and that for evermore 'T is my Faith that God will disintangle some who are yet held by the aforesaid Snares for whose return my Soul travels in Prayers and Supplications to God Faithful is that saying of the Apostle Rom. 14. 22. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in the thing which he alloweth Again he saith Now I beseech you Brethren by our Lord Jesus Christ that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no division among you but that you be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment For it hath been declared unto me of you my Brethren by them which are of the House of Cloe that there are Contentions among you Now this I say that every one of you saith that I am of Paul and I of Apollo and I of Cephas and I of Christ Is Christ divided Was Paul Crucified for you Or were you Baptized in the name of Paul Christ sent me not to Baptize but to Preach the Gospel not with wisdom of Words lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none effect For the Preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of God For it is written I wâ—â—◠〈◊〉 â—he wisdom of the wise c. We preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a Stumbling Block and unto the Greeks foolishness but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God c. 1 Cor. 1. 10 to 19. Oh! my dear Friends and all you who profess the Divine Light of Christ to be your Teacher seriously consider of these things My earnest desire for you all is that you may all diligently wait in the Light of Christ therein to receive a right understanding thereof for if you therein diligently wait you will see that it was not the Apostles desire or pleasure that they should contend or be in strife for Apollo or Cephas or Him or for them one against another but that they should all exalt and magnifie Christ who died for them and rose again to govern and lead them in righteousness and to uphold and justifie them in the same And also consider that he Preached not the Gospel with the wisdom of words or the words which mans wisdom teacheth lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none effect but he Preached the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven in the words which it taught him that their Faith who heard him might not stand in the wisdom of those words which mans wisdom teacheth but in the power of God for as he saith in 1 Cor. 4. 19 20. I will come to you shortly if the Lord will and will know not the â—peeâ—h or words of them which are puffed up but the Power for the Kingdom of God is not in 〈◊〉 but in poâ—â—r neither doth it stand in meats or drinks but in righteousness and peace and â—â—y in the Holy Ghost into which Kingdom God hath gathered and is gathering them that have or yet do or hereafter may in sincerity Hunger and Thurst after it Again consider the Apostle took great Care in his Preaching that the Cross of Christ might Not be made of none Effect that those who were come to bear it might Not be weary of it and Cast it off because of the offence taken by the wicked at them for their Obedience thereunto nor for any other cause for it is true as he writ the Preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us it is the power of God and as it was then so it is now he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit and they that live godlike on in the likeness of God in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived Again Consider oh my friends and all you who profess the Light of Christ within to be your Teacher Ruler and Guide what is the cause that some professing the Light within make such a Noyse against that wholsome Method or Order which the God of Order hath brought forth amongst us in taking Care of his Glory and the good one of another that the professors of the Gospel and its Light may walk Orderly in the Light as becomes the same that their Light might so shine before men that they might see their good works and glorifie their Father which is in Heaven according to Christs Command Is it not obvious and plain that their Noise and Clamour is because they seek a Liberty which Christ and the bearing of the Cross Admits not
Grace be with you all Amen Heb. 13. 7 17 24 25. Observe Though the many sorts of false Teachers have and do falsly pretend to watch for the Soul who watch only for their own corrupt earthly Ends as by their Fruits have and doth appear yet God did of old and now doth send faithful Labourers into his Vineyard who have and do labour and watch for the Salvation of the Souls of the Sons and Daughters of Men glory be given to him for the same These faithful Watchers are known by their Fruits they covet no Mans Gold Silver or Apparel they do not watch for Earthly gain they do not take the oversight of the Flock for filthy Lucre but of a ready mind they are not Lords over Gods Heritage but good Examples to the Flock they are not Lords over the Faith of the People of God But they are Fellow-helpers of their Joy Peace Comfort and Establishment in the way of Righteousness They Preach and give freely according to Christs Command they walk in Love to Friends and Enemies witnessing against that which is Evil in all without Partiality and without Hypocrisie and the Fruits of Righteousness is sown by them in peace they have peace with God and live in Love and Peace one with another They have learned of Christ Jesus true Humility true Lowliness of Mind and Heart in which they Preach in their good Example as well as Doctrine to the honour of God and the good of his People they labour in the Word and Doctrine of the Gospel and in a good Conversation in Christ that he may be Exalted in all both Male and Female to Rule in all whose Right it is These do not seek their own glory or exalt themselves but in humility they glorifie God with their Souls and Bodies which are his and faithfully and unweariedly serve God and his People in patience possessing their Souls in all their Tryals and Afflictions Again Paul writ to Timothy saying An Overseer or Bishop in the Church of God must not be an Novice that is a young Scholar one lately begotten to the Faith of Christ or one that is Raw and unskilful in the word of Righteousness lest being lifted up with pride he falls into the Condemnation of the Devil see 1 Tim. 3. 6. Again he writ to him viz. Let the Elders that Rule well be counted worthy of double honour especially they who labour in the Word and Doctrine Chap. 5. v. 17. Again he writ to the believing Romans thus viz. For I say through the Grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God hath deâ—â—t to every man the measure of Faith for as we have many Members in one Body and all Members have not the same Office so we being many are one Body in Christ and every one Members one of another having then Gifts differing according to the Grace that is given to us whether Prophesie let us Prophesie according to the proportion of Faith or Ministry let us wait on our Ministrying or he that Teacheth on Teaching or he that Exhorteth on Exhortation he that giveth let him do it with Simplicity he that Ruleth with diligence he that sheweth Mercy with cheerfulness let Love be without Dissimulation abhor that which is evil cleave to that which is good be kindly affectionated one to another with Brotherly love in Honour preferring one another c. Rom. 12. 3. to 11. My Friends all you that Profess to be Members of the Church of Christ and taught by his Spirit and Light within you by what is here written given forth by the Apostle as he was moved by the Holy Ghost you may understand that there is a Rule and Government in the Church of God in his Power Wisdom and Strength for his Glory who is the Head of it And you may also understand hereby that Christ the Head hath given Gifts differing by the same Spirit for the Preservation Edification and well Ordering and Governing his Church and every one is to attend on his Gift in the Church and to improve the same which being done is to the Increase of the Body for the Edification of it in Love Moreover by what is before written you may understand that the Apostle through the Grace of God given to him did warn every Man amongst the believing Romans not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God had dealt to every man the measure of Faith Observe If every one which profess the Light and Spirit of Christ within to be their Guide and Teacher did obey and walk in it it would teach them all not to think too highly of themselves or of their States and Conditions in the Truth which some do and if such of the aforesaid Professors were so Taught then would they not think nor speak so highly of themselves or of their Sights Knowledg and Growth in the Truth as they do far beyond what they really are then would they not be so puffed up self-conceited and unruly as they are then would they live quietly peaceably and harmlesly among the People of God to his Glory and the Comfort of his People and their own peace and rest which some do not but are contentious unruly and disorderly self conceited fretful and clamorous with Tongues and Pens Oh that they could seek and find a place of unfeigned Repentance it would much rejoyce my Soul to see it Concerning the Living Faith with its fruits and works COncerning Faith the Apostle thus writ viz. Now the just shall live by Faith but if any Man draw back my Soul shall have no pleasure in him saith the Lord God but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition but of them that believe to the saving of the Soul By Faith the Elders obtained a good report Through Faith we understand the World was framed by the Word of God By Faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent Sacrifice than Cain By Faith Enoch was Translated that he should not see death but without Faith it is impossible to please God for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a Rewarder of all them that diligently seek him By Faith Noah was warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an Ark. By Faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac By Faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the Son of Pharaohs Daughter chusing rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season esteeming the Reproaches of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures in Egypt for he had respect unto the Recompence of Reward by Faith he kept the Passover c. I may say with this faithful Author What shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of
Salvation with fear and trembling saying It is God that worketh in you to will and to do of his own good pleasure Now the Words which I have here brought out of Paul's Epistles with much more of the like nature that may be found in them which for brevity I here omit doth and will plainly shew that he did never intend in his writing against the shadowy works of the Law to exclude deny or make void the substantial good and living Works of God in Christ in his People under the Gospel dispensation so that he was of the same mind concerning Faith and Works with James Peter and John so here are four faithful and honourable Witnesses linked together in Testimony to the living Faith which God works in his People and the living Works and Fruits which accompany it Glory to the Lord God for the same and those Four faithful Witnesses to the living Faith its Fruits and Works as aforesaid are also faithful Witnesses against the dead Faith and dead Works of the Professors of Christianity in our Age who notwithstanding their high Notions and talk of Faith Election Redemption Salvation c. are yet dead in their Trespasses and in their Sins The Apostle John writ to the Saints saying This is the Victory over the World even your Faith And Christ saith If you have Faith as a grain of Mustard Seed if you shall say unto this Mountain be thou removed and to this Hill be thou cast into the Sea they shall obey you But they that are yet dead in their Trespasses and Sins pleading they must continue therein all their days upon Earth Their dead Faith hath not given them Victory over the World neither can it for as they are taught by the Serpent to believe that they must live in sin all their days according to this ungodly belief they submit themselves to him and he leads them into sin and they multiply their sin daily as they say and such are not in the strait and narrow way they talk of but in the broad way that leads to destruction Oh! that they would turn in their minds to the Light of Christ Jesus and believe in it and diligently seek a place of Repentance that they might find it and so return to God from Satan and their Sins which while they abide in subjection to holds them in a Separation from God from peace and rest with him and from Unity with his chosen whatsoever they do or may imagine or say to the contrary they will find this true at last Again these in their dead Faith and works of Sin have not known Gods wondrous and miraculous works yet wrought in them to throw down the Hills and Mountains of Sin and Wickedness which the Devil who abode not in the Truth in whom there is no Truth hath raised up in them to wit Pride self-Exaltation vain freshly earthly Glory c. for as the Apostle saith All that 's in the World the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of this World and this World passeth away and the Lusts thereof but he that doth the Will of God abideth for ever except a man be regenerate and born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God and the blind who doth never see it is never like to inherit it Now all you who do not only profess Christ as the before-mentioned Professors do but also profess his Spirit and Light within to be your Teacher which they do not who profess according to John Baptists Testimony and the Testimony of Daniel the Prophet that Christ the Lamb of God is the sent One of the Father and is come to take away the sins of the World to put an end to sin to finish transgression to bring in everlasting Righteousness all be retired in the spirit of your Minds to the Divine Light of Christ Jesus wherewith you are lighted and therein wait to receive and keep a right sense of your Conditions see how you have taken up your Cross and how you bear it and what the fruits and effects of your bearing of it are see that the hills and mountains of sin be overturned in you and the rough places made smooth in you and the Valley exalted in you for who have not known these wonderful works of God wrought in them they are yet short of the possession or sitting down in the Inheritance of the Kingdom of God and of his Christ which consists or stands in Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost for through the Righteous and Fiery Judgments of God inwardly must sinful Man come before he can draw neer to God see his Kingdom or have a place in it this fiery Baptism they must come through wherewith Christ Jesus the power and wisdom of God Baptizeth all who believe in him and in his Divine Light patiently and constantly wait to be made new Creatures by him It is true what the Apostle hath writ If any Man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things are done away and all things are become new and all things are of God for as he also saith They that are Christs have Crucified the flesh with the Affections and Lusts Again observe That if any person professing to be led and guided by the Divine Light of Christ within and that he or she believes the before-mentioned Testimonies concerning Christ viz. That he is come to put an end to sin and bring in everlasting Righteousness to enable his People to perfect Holiness in his Fear according to what God hath promised and his Servants have writ and spoken if such person or persons so professing continue in a loose and sinful Conversation whether they be called Quakers or by what other name soever their Sin is not less but much more grievous to Almighty God than the sins of the before-mentioned who have not yet come to be opened so far as to understand what the Light of Christ within is Therefore do not make profession to be taught and guided by it but those loose and sinful Professors of the Light of Christ within if they did ever really come to the Light they make profession of and in any measure obey it then were their hearts opened thereby to understand and know sin and the displeasure of God against it more than the before-mentioned and so the Judgment of God will fall more heavy on them if they repent not and come not to walk orderly as becomes the Gospel than upon others who have not known so much as they have known and therefore are not guilty of the sin of Rebellion so much as they are for Rebellion is as the sin of Witcheraft as 't is written And he that knows his Masters will and doth it not he shall be beaten with many stripes as 't is also written Again observe such loose Professors of the Light of Christ within may boast and talk of their Faith in God