mixture into the Cup of his Indignation and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy Angels and of the Lamb of God who would have taken away their sin by his Light of Life but they would not believe therein Joh. 3.19 but loved the darkness rather because their deeds were evil but blessed are they that believe therein and follow it for it 's they only that die in the Lord and rest from their labour and their works do follow them saith the Spirit Revel 14.13 But now to the thing before-mentioned It 's plainly manifest that the Doctrine of Perfection is of God commanded by him and preached by his Son whom the Prophets prophesied should come to that end and witnessed by his Apostles and Ministers who have left in the Scriptures of Truth their Testimony concerning the same which as a Cloud of Witnesses doth testifie for and to the same far exceeding more than I have here mentioned By all which it appears that your Ministers are not of Christ notwithstanding all their wisdom and learning but contrary to him and his Ministers Isa 40.3 and the true Prophets who foretold of Him and the glory of his Day Therefore the conclusion must needs be They are of the false Prophets spirit and consequently of Antichrist wherefore I shall mention a little according to Scripture how they are one in this very thing with the false Prophets and Antichristian Seducers which were in the world in the Apostles days and which they prophesied should come in the latter days after their decease Now in the first place in the dayes of old God by the mouth of his Servants cryed against false Prophets and Priests who were from the greatest to the least all given to covetousness every one dealing falsly Jer. 23.14 17. Micah 3.5 13. Ezek. 10.11 12 13 14 15 16 in healing the hurt of the danghter of his People slightly crying peace to those that put into their mouth when there was no peace So they strengthned the hands of the wicked that they should not turn from their evil wayes but promised them life therein and so seduced the people and caused them to erre by their lyes and by their lightness one building a wall and another daubed it with untempered mortar which would not stand in the overflowing shower of the Wrath of God So in like manner your Teachers through covetousness and self-ends have spoken smoothly to you telling you of the Mercy of God 2 Pet. 2â— through which your sins should be forgiven you though you lived in them and with the Serpent's voice have said though you eat of the forbidden fruit which is sin yet ye shall not die so here in your unsound conditions even like a rotten wall they have daubed you with untempered mortar which will not stand you in any stead when the Lord by his pure Light in your Consciences comes to search you with Judgment then your daubing will not hide you from the Wrath of the Lamb no no then all their smooth words and untempered doctrine which they have invented to please you for self-ends telling you of Heaven what a happy glorious place it is wil all flie away from you and them also who have led you in blindness and have caused you to erre from the Voice of God to follow the voice of the Serpent who led man into sin and so blinded his mind that he might cause him never to find the way to God again which is a way of Holiness in which the unclean cannot walk So I say if you will not come out from amongst them and be separated from the unclean thing which is sin and own and receive the Light of Christ that it may search all your wounds and putrifying sores from the crown of your heads to the soals of your feet that so he may wash you thorowly and baptize you with fire and burn up all that is contrary to his pure Life in you I say except this you come to and witness with you blind guides you must fall into the ditch Now I shall come to speak a little of the Deceivers which Christ and the Apostles spoke of in their dayes First Christ said 1 Joh. 3.8 Beware of false Prophets which come unto you in sheeps clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves ye shall know them by their fruits Now we know that sin is a mark of the Devil or a fruit of an evil tree likewise Perfection is a mark of God for he is perfect and it 's the fruit of a good tree so they who are in sin and plead it for doctrine that they can never be out of it whilst in this life are the evil trees because they bring forth such fruit as this which a good tree cannot bring forth Also Paul said that the Spirit spake expresly that in the latter times some should depart from the Faith 1 Tim. 4.1 giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils speaking lyes in hypocrisie having their consciences seared with a hot iron Now mark Is not this the doctrine of the Devil that though men live in sin they shall not be damned but shall escape the condemning power thereof did not the Devil himself preach this first Gen. 3.4 when he said Ye shall not surely dye though you eat of the forbidden tree and are not they who maintain this for truth those whose consciences are seared and hardned against the Voice of God even to speak lyes in hypocrisie against his Spirit which condemns sin in the flesh And also he further saith this 2 Tim. 3.1 2 c. Know that in the last dayes perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers false accusers without natural affection truce-breakers fierce despisers of those that are good heady traiterous high-minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof Now of this sort are they that creep into houses leading captive silly women laden with sin led away with divers lusts ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth Now it seems that these proud covetous high-minded men who were fierce despisers of those that are good had a form of Godliness like many now who deny the power thereof even as those did for the power of God or of Godliness makes all those that have it free from the power of the Devil whose power leads man captive at his will doing his work which is sin which all who have the form and not the power are servants to for he that commits sin is the servant of sin Joh. 8.34 and he that serves it the Devil is his master Rom. 6.16 for his servants ye are to whom ye obey and he that serves him cannot serve Christ nor is a Child of God for ye cannot serve God and mammon neither two masters saith
Christ So it 's certain we must be of the one for we cannot be of both And now also who is it that be ever learning and never comes to know the Truth but those that never knew a freedom from sin neither do believe they ever shall in this life for Christ said if you continue in my Doctrine then shall you know the Truth Joh. 8.31 32 33 34. and the Truth shall make you free But the Jews replied saying We were never in bondage to any man But said Christ He that commits sin is the servant of sin So it appears that they who are overcome with sin and led away with divers lusts are not come to know Christ the Truth who sets free from sin and they are the creepers into houses who lead silly people in blindness laden with sin and tells them they can never be eased of the burden thereof in this life yet promises them liberty and freedom in the life to come whilst they are the servants of corruption in this life Are not these the filthy dreamers that defile the flesh who are sensual and devilish Jude 10 11. knowing nothing but what they know naturally in which they corrupt themselves which is to say in their outward learning which though it be Hebrew Greek and Latine yet it is all but natural even as English is which a child may learn of its parents so likewise all other tongues are learned of men but the true knowledge of God is onely learned in and by the Spirit Are not these also those who with fair words and smooth speeches deceive the hearts of the simple by their great swelling words of vanity which they invent to please such who have itching ears that cannot away with sound Doctrine but love to be daubed up slightly who cannot endure to hear of coming out of sin in this life and yet would have Heaven in that which is to come I say such Teachers as these are of Antichrist whom Jude saith were clouds without water Jude 12. which is to have a shew of Godliness but have not his Life abiding in them but their hearts are exercised with covetous practices and for self-ends admire some mens persons for their own advantage who themselves could not cease from sin these are the murmurers and complainers Phil. 3.19 who walk after their own ungodly lusts minding earthly things whose god is their belly This was the fruit of the spirit of Antichrist that the Apostles said should come and was come in their dayes by which we know that those who bring forth such fruits are of the same spirit in these our dayes the consideration of which I shall leave to the Witness of God in all people that they thereby might come to see whether those that deny the Doctrine of Perfection and plead for sin term of life do not in all or many of these things agree with the Antichrists and false Prophets that are mentioned in Scriptures and so the conclusion unavoidably will be this They are not of God but of the world which lieth in wickedness and therefore the world heareth and followeth them Yea Object but saith the world though we do not believe we can be perfectly freed from all sin in this life yet we do not believe that we must or may live in sin wilfully neither do our Teachers tell us we shall be saved if we do but they tell us we must strive against it what we can and then we shall be accepted through Christ for he hath tasted death for us and so hath made a way for all that can believe he died for their sin and rose again for their Justification to be accepted through his Righteousness which shall be imputed for ours and though we live in some sin which is condemned by the Law yet hath he by his Death delivered us from the condemning power of sin and the Law the force of which he hath taken away for we are not under the Law but under Grace To this I answer Answ Although they teach you to abstain from wilful sinning yet in teaching that you can never be free from all causeth many to give up to temptations and to give place to the Devil and then if the Witness of God reprove them for so doing they flie back in their minds from it and strengthen themselves in their unclean faith against it and so reject the Light and Power of God which is it onely that saves from sin and so though you strive against it what you can in this state all your striving is in vain being onely in your own wills and altogether of your selves having rejected through disobedience the Power of God which in his mercy is freely offered unto all in the Light of his Son to redeem them from that wherein they are held in bondage which is sin I say denying it and counting it an uncertain and insufficient thing you are never able to overcome the Enemy in your own striving for if you could then you had no need of a Saviour to destroy the works of the Devil for you which is sin and to save you therefrom which was and is the end of his coming in the flesh even in the hearts of all people to condemn sin there and also for this end he died to the flesh once and was made an Offering to put an end to all the Types Rom. 3.25 Sacrifices and Shadows of the first Law and Priesthood and so took away all the hand writing of Ordinances making an Atonement for sins past that forgiveness might be preached to and in all that receive him and walk in his Light which was not to be found in nor by the outward Law for it being once transgressed there remains nothing but condemnation So mercy and forgiveness came by Jesus the Saviour and not by the Law without whom none could be saved because all had and have transgressed and come short of fulfilling the Law therefore all your striving whilst you reject Christ the Light which makes sin manifest in whom the Law of the Spirit of Life is witnessed which sets free the soul through the administring of death unto and condemning that in man which warreth against it by bringing it into captivity unto sin through which comes death I say though you may strive with all your might which indeed is but weakness you will never get dominion over sin because you in denying the Light miss of the Power which only redeems out of the bondage thereof which Power doth accompany that which reproves for and condemns sin in the flesh to which except you become subjects unto neither freedom from sin nor the righteousness of the Law which is Perfection you will never come to witness and so though you believe he died for your sin yet unless you come to know him to arise in you to destroy it and take it away inwardly and thereby to fulfil the Law of Righteousness in you and so to mortifie the
his purpose is to satisfie it if you would joyn with him with whom all things are possible in that which shews you your conditions in that state where you are and makes it loathsome unto you that you might consent unto him and be willing to come forth who is calling in the freeness of his Love this day to all that are weary and heavy laden with sin Matth. 11.28 29 30. and have no delight in it that they might come to him who is meek and lowly in their hearts and take his yoke upon them which I testifie is easie to all the honest-hearted and his burden is very light wherefore O ye sincere breathers after God who hunger truly after him and his Righteousness lift up your heads for the Blessing of God is unto you therefore doubt you not but turn to the Light that tells you all that ever you did and look ye only at him and not at your own weakness then will you find him to be a Saviour who will open your eyes and enlighten your hearts and will bring you to the Fountain of Life where you shall draw Water out of the Well of Salvation Joh. 4.14 whereof you shall drink and be satisfied which shall spring in you up to everlasting Life Oh therefore come away for the Day of all dayes is dawned and the black clouds of the dark night which were over the Sun of the morning are fleeing away and the stone is rouled from the mouth of the Sepulcher and the Lamb is arisen from thence therefore arise come away my Beloved why seek ye the living amongst the dead For lo the fulness of him is not at all to be found in the observation of any outward things as Bread and Wine or the like Col. 2.20 21 22 23. which perish with the using therefore is leanness of soul upon all who stick in outward shadows and a complaint heard in all their habitations mourning in all their streets Wherefore arise arise this is not your Rest for it is polluted and the Lord is departed from thence and is turning away the backside of his Glory that you may behold him in the perfection of beauty even face to face therefore his bowels yearn towards you that he might come in and sup with you that he may make his abode with and in you knowing right well that your souls satisfaction depends onely of the enjoyment of his pure living presence which only quickens and raises them out of death to life which no external thing can do Rev. 3.20 Jer. 23.29 Rom. 10.8 therefore is he come home to the door of your hearts Oh then come down and feel to the knocks of the hammer of his Word which is nigh you even in your hearts and mouthes that your rocky and stony hearts may be softned and broken thereby then shall you feel the Water of Life which will spring from the Light therein the which when you have felt and tasted of you will never go more to the muddy waters which are fouled by the feet of the beasts of the field which satisfieth not the appetite of that which hungers after God for the sake whereof my soul breathes after you and to the Lord also in your behalf and in the yearning bowels of endless and unutterable Love am I drawn forth thus to write unto you in this day wherein the Lord hath shewed me how he is seeking you to himself who by the right-hand of his out-stretched Arm will bring you into the Fold of true Rest if you resist him not in the way of his own workings wherein he is drawing near unto you even to reveal himself in your hearts that he might guide you with the Light of his Eye and be unto you an Everlasting Teacher Therefore this must I signifie unto you that it is in his Love to you for good to suffer your Teachers to be removed into corners this day and to premit such in their places wherein your souls have no delight that so he may draw you home to his own house wherein there is bread enough that so you may come to wait to receive at his hand and not at the hands and lips of men who have fed you with that which died of it self and quickened not unto God neither will stand you in any stead in this day which is come as a tryal to shew you the emptiness of all outward things whereof you have been feeding in them thinking to have life and have denied the Light within in which the Life is only and have been idolizing men who spoke unto you in the wisdom of words and not in the power of God by setting them up in your hearts and running in your minds upon them more than you should have done and while you enjoyed their presence you made slight of the little appearance of Christ's Light in your Consciences the which many of them taught you to do telling you it was a natural thing which grieved the Lord therefore did he often warn the Teachers and Professors by his Servants and Prophets both by words and signs what a day he would bring upon them for these things except they repented and turned from the evil of their wayes to his Light but they would not hear nor regard therefore in righteous Judgments is it now come and coming to be fulfilled but yet in mercy that so he might bring you down to himself whose Love is yet to many of you freely held forth in the Light of his Son whom I exhort you all to bow unto Psal 2.12 and kiss him lest he be angry and in his Wrath withdraw from you shutting the door of mercy because when he called you would not answer but O my spirit yet breathes towards you saying Oh that you would cease hunting without like Esau for so you miss of the blessing but turn in home to the Light of Christ and like Jacob keep at home and there you will meet with the Blessing which will satisfie your souls Col. 2.16 17. where you will feel the ingrafted Word of Life to be the full sum and substance of all outward shadows and far exceeding all Types or Representations that can ever be made of it the which when you come indeed to know and find your hearts will be overjoyed insomuch that you will be ready to call to your neighbours and friends to rejoyce with you even like the woman who had lost her groat in her own house Luk. 15 8 9. and went abroad to seek it but at last turned home and in sweeping and making clean her own house found it there This is your state therefore be still and see the Salvation of God which is nigh unto you and believe not those who draw you without saying Lo here or there for the Kingdom of God is within you which your souls breath after Luk. 17 21 23. Therefore hew no more broken cisterns that can hold no water to
satisfie your thirsty souls but to the Fountain of living Waters all come and drink freely then shall you never thirst again then shall you know what it is to drink new Wine with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven and to sup with him then will you never go more to seek him in the dead letter and other dead creatures but will come to know him and his Life made manifest in you this is the sum and substance of all even to know the Bread of Life in your own houses and your own Fig-tree that you may sit under it where none can make you afraid then will you know the Mystery of Godliness which is very great even God manifest in the flesh But now I feel some weak understandings will be ready to say You seem here to deny the Ordinances of the Lord's Supper Object which we believe are to stand for ever and other outward means and speak as if we must come to live above Ordinances To which I have these words to signifie Although Christ took the Cup saying This is my Blood Answ and likewise the Bread saying This is my Body this do in remembrance of me c. I say this being all the Command you have for it is not sufficient to prove it to remain an Ordinance for ever for he did not say 1 Cor. 11.26 you shall alwayes do this but Do this which signifieth only at that time to keep them in remembrance of him till he came to them again And if after he was come they did use it because of the weakness of some yet that is not sufficient for you to rely upon and so to rest only in the shadows denying the substance as ye do which is to say the Power of God which sets free from sin in this life which indeed is the sum of all John 6.33 35 48 50 51 53 54 55 56. even the Life and Blood of the Lamb of God except which a man partakes of he hath no life in him to which I testifie a man may attain to and not use those things and then what need is there of them the substance being enjoyed And now to speak more plainer to the matter this I say Even as Paul by the Spirit of God cryed down that which God himself commanded Gal. 6.15 which is to say Circumcision saying it availed nothing but only the new creature which was not wrought in any measure by that outward act but by the Circumcision of the heart in and by the Spirit which was the substance of that outward type for the attaining of which he did not preach the outward Gal. 5.6 to be used for the means to bring to the inward but saw plainly that the use of the outward drawed their minds therein to rest Rom. 2.29 Gal. 5.2 short of the thing it self therefore he said If they were circumcised Christ the true Circumcision should profit them nothing And had he any proof for this but onely the Spirit in himself and therefore by the Spirit in the Fear and Authority of God this I say unto you all Bread and Wine Joh. 6.53 54 55. or no Bread and Wine availeth nothing but onely the Body and Blood of the Lamb which is spiritual or all spirit is the main thing even the very substance it self which only is felt and enjoyed by staying the mind inwardly in the Light and Spirit of God and not by eating and drinking in the remembrance thereof and never coming to witness the thing remembred which if you say Yea we do by Faith I tell ye Nay not by the true Faith while you witness not freedom from all sin in this life 1 Joh. 3.3 5.18 neither believe you shall do for they who had the living Faith it purifies them even as Christ was pure who came not to this pure cleansing by such outward things and means as you plead for but they said it was by walking in the Light 1 John 1.7 as God was in the Light that they had their fellowship with him and the Blood of his Son to cleanse them from all sin Jam. 2.20 so there your Faith without these fruits is but a dead faith And now let me appeal to the Witness of God in those who have done it in the most sincerest abundance to God and in so doing it have felt something as ye have thought of the Love of God Yet I say it hath been because your minds were at such times in consideration of the weight of the matter circumspectly stayed upon God in the Spirit and not because you ate the Bread and Wine So then cease making an Idol of it as thinking you cannot enjoy God without it or that the dead creature conveyes any thing of him into you and come down into the Spirit and in it dwell continually which is that that only can and doth do it and so when you come truly in this condition and in it do abide Joh. 14.23 which is to say not only to sup with Christ sometimes but alwayes in the Spirit to make your abode with him and he with you you will then say with me that all these outward things are nothing but the Spirit is all in this matter which whosoever denies Col. 2.21 22. resisteth the everlasting Ordinance of God wherefore touch not taste not handle not any thing that perisheth with the using after the doctrine and commandments of men nor make to your selves the likeness of any earthly thing of the invisible Body and Blood of the heavenly Son of God for if ye do may I not say Oh! miserable is your condition and little are your hearts affected with him who cannot keep in the living remembrance of him without eating and drinking in remembrance of his Death Wherefore O come down to that which crosseth the carnal mind to take up the Cross that it may be crucified thereon then shall you know a dying with him and be made partakers of his Resurrection wherein the sting of Death and the victory of the Grave will be remembred no more And yet further May I not say unto you that the Papists whom you condemn as Idolaters may plead for their using of Images in like manner as you do for your Bread and Wine for they say they worship them not as gods but look upon them in their worshipping of God that so thereby their minds may be fervently fixed upon him having conceived in their hearts that they cannot be so fervent with him without them as with them But Object you say they are deceived for they may draw nearer to God without them Even so say I Answ But mind a little how you in condemning them herein condemn your selves also who have conceived in your selves that you cannot so well keep in the remembrance of Christ and have such communion with the invisible God without the exercise of some visible outward things in the likeness of him as with them Wherefore I