the Lord and be very still and serious with your hear to upright before him that you may in very dead and truth perfectly come to know and enjoy the thing that belongs to your Souls everlasting peace and read these things without prejudice consuming envy which boils in the brest of that birth which shall never inherit Gods Kingdom of Rest 3. Of the Sabbath day FIrst take notice that the day in which God Rested was Sanctified who commanded that in it should no manner of works be done and that they were not to speak a vain word nor think their own thought either kindle a fire or bear a burthen in that Day which was commanded to be kept Holy for indeed it is an Holy Day in which God Rests and in the same In which he Rested he dwels for evermore for he called the Light day and the Darkness he called night and saith the Scripture God dwelleth in the Light with whom is no variableness or shaddow of changing and this is the first day in which he began his Works and this is the last in which he finishes which is Sanctified in which he Rests and this is that Holy Day in which a man by Gods command is forbid to speak a vain word or think his own thoughts but this is a mystery hid from them in whose heart the World is so set that they know neither the beginning nor end of the Work of God for saith Christ Jesus by whom the World was made the beginning of the Creation of God the end and substance of the types days figures and shaddows who fulfill them and the law that gave them for their times and seasons I am the Alpha the Omega the beginning and the ending the first and the last who was before all things by whom all things were made whose Throne and Kingdome must endure for ever who said I am the Light of the World Learn of me for I am meek lowly in heart and you shall finde Rest unto your Souls and this is the substance of the outward days or Sabbaths for the word Sabbath is rest So that if you will be exact in the observation of the outward day as the Pharisees were which was but a figure of the inward rest you must onely rest from all manner of Labour or work outwardly and yet when that is done it makes nothing perfect as partaining to the inward conscience For the Pharisees judged Christ not sent of God because said they he keepeth not the Sabbath and so in their blind zeal judg him to be a transgressor who was the very Substance of all those outward things and is the onely rest prepared for Gods People and they who have entred into it have ceased from their own works as God did from his and such only knowes the Sabbath day which is kept Holy unto the Lord in which the vain words must not be spoken nor the vain thoughts lodg for the tongue of the just in this day is as choice silver but the heart of the wicked which knows neither the beginning nor the end of the works of God is little worth but we who have known it and his wonders in the deep upon the face of which the Spirit of the Lord did once move do know right well that the same day in which God began his Works is the same in which he compleats it and in which he rested when he had made all things Good and Blessed but this is a mystery to the natural man or that outward birth that sticks in the outward natural things which cannot perceive the things of the most inward Spiritual God and his Kingdom which is within in the Invisible hiden man which is spiritual So it is onely the pure in heart that sees God and knows his Sabbath and throne which endureth for ever where the vain thoughts are judged and cast out and not suffered to lodg within for that defiles a man which is Gods Temple if the Spirit of God dwelleth in him whose fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem Blessed is the eye that sees Therefore if you would rightly know the Mysteries of God and Godliness and of his everlasting Kingdom of Righteousness and peace to your Souls satisfaction you must enter in by the door and not clime up another way as many have done in their imaginations which door is Christ the Light the First day that Lighteth every man that cometh into the World that all men thorow him might believe and this is the beginning of the work of God where it is not only given you to believe but also to suffer for his sake in whom you have beleeved in which state you will know the six days labour before the true Sabbath be witnessed wherein God resteth from his Work for there is no rest or peace unto the wicked saith my God therefore he that condemns the sin in the flesh and destroys the works of the Devill in whose hand is the Law which is the School-Master to bring unto him who is the end of it for righteousness to every one that believeth must needs be the rest or Sabbath to the soul So his yoke being known upon you and the daily cross taken up to the will and wayes of man in which he hath walked in his own thoughts and vain words and the bridle to the tongue witnessed without which all religion is vain here you will know some work standing stil in awe in which you wil learn in the lowliness of heart in so berness of mind to put on the Ornament of a meek quiet Spirit which in God's sight is of great price and here you may know the Sabbath day and also the first in which he moved at the beginning upon the face of the deep which is but one the Alpha and the Omega the true and saithful witness the beginning of the creation of God who is the end of all things at hand who saith I am the Light beleive in the Light and before Abraham was I am He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith So come ye all down to the door and enter in thereat if you would know the sheep-fold where he makes his flock to rest at noon which is the Light of Christ Jesus in all your consciences despise not the day of small things though it be but a spark shines in a dark place it is the sure word of prophesie to which if you take heed you wil do wel it is the testimony of Jesus which will let you see all that ever you do if you be still standing in awe and God's fear in your closets our of all reasonings and imaginations and this must you come unto to know the beginning of the work of God even the Light and Spirit of God in which the Saints of old began and in which they walked and saied the Apostle to the Galathians Ye did run well who did hinder you c ye
begun in the Spirit and would you now be made perfect by the lesh and the Spirit is within and the flesh is without Mark They began in the Spirit and afterward run in observations of days and months and times and parties who were saying J am of Paul and J am of Apollo c are ye not now carnall and walk as men J am afraid of you saith he lest J have bestowed upon you labour in vain yet he travels again in birth with some of them that Christ may be formed in them who is the end of the outward days months and years the wisdom and power of God whose years never fails but is the same yesterday to day and for ever the beginning and the ending of the Works of God which is but one whom the heart in which this world is and the love of it knows not though be came into it and is come into it and the World was made by him and for him and he is before all things blessed is the man that doth witness this in his own particular for such only have the comfort of the Scriptures which declares of these things Therefore come to the Spirit of God which reproves the vvorld for sin and walk in the Spirit that it may lead you into all truth and shevv you things to come in vvhich is no occasion of stumbling or disputing about dayes or times meats or drinks or the like but you vvill see plainly of the Father and it vvill take of Christ vvhat he did and suffered and shevv it unto you that you shall not need to say Whatis this meaning and vvhat means the other Scripture and the like but you vvill being faithful be made partakers of his sufferings vvithin and vvithout and knovv his death vvhen you are made conformable unto it bearing in your body his dyings that his life may be manifest in your mortal flesh c. This the Apostles and Saints did and do vvitness vvho began in the Spirit and vvalks in the Spirit and vvorships God in the Spirit and in the truth vvho have no confidence in the flesh but are Jewes invvardly vvhose circumcision is not outvvardly of the flesh but invvard of the heart and of the spirit vvhich the other vvas but a type of or a shaddovv as vvas also the Seventh or Sabbath day of the rest prepared for the seed and heritage of God So if you would rightly know and observe the day in which God is only acceptably worshipped you come to the Light which is the first day and in which God dwels for ever and is the last as it is written In thy Light shall we see Light for with thee is the Fountain of Life and the secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant Now what canst thou desire more O man then the Fountain of Life and to know the secrets and everlasting covenant of his mercies and loving kindness in which is the treasures of wisdom and knowledg which are made manifest unto them who waits at that wisdoms gate which was before the hills was whose voice cryed in the streets to the simple saying turn in hither eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I have mingled forsake the foolish and live Therefore take my advice in Gods Counsel and come now to the fear of the Lord and wait in his Light which makes all things manifest for that is the beginning of wisdoms path which leads unto the perfect day in which the most holy unchangable everlasting God is worshipped and out of this there is no true knowledge of him or his worship or any acceptance with him or any assurance stability or satisfaction which will endure for ever and this is the word of the Lord unto you all For the hour is come that the true worshippers who know what and whom they worship do worship God in the Spirit and in the truth these are the true worshippers who worship the Father this is the childrens worship that honours their Father and their Mother whose days are long in the Land of the living even the everlasting day which sprang from on High So all the worship and sacrifice without the guidance of God's good Spirit of truth is false and they that run strive and act without it are false worshippers let them profess in words and show what they will for the Spirit is the guide of its children the true vvorshippers into all truth in vvhich they vvorship their father vvho seeketh such to vvorship him And all such as are not guided by it do run before it and talk of the things of God in their dark understanding sensuality out of God's covenant of Light and doubt of his fear in the contentions and debates strivings disputings and vain janglings about them and those things that shall for-ever in that state be hid from their eyes So that all people upon earth in all their professions of religion vvithout the leadings of God's Spirit are at best but vvill-vvorshippers like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord and the Lord is that Spirit the beginning of vvhose kingdome is Babel confusion read your state vvith God's vvitness the Light in all your consciences vvhich vvill ansvver the truth and do not dissemble not strive to make coverings vvhich vvill be too narrovv For it is even so The very beginning of that Kingdom worship or building where the Spirit of God is not the guide and leader is Babel and there the mighty hunter who is a mighty one in the earthly comprehension goes before the Lord that Spirit which should guide and go before them But the day is at hand that Nimrod and his Kingdom both City and Tower which was built in the high imaginations must fall and all the untempered morter-daubers shall fall with it and the wall shall be no more at all nor them that daub it the Life of God hath spoken it which is come down to confound the Language of all the Earth and to restrain them from what they have imagined to do Therefore hear all ye people in whose hearts are any honest desires or true breathings after the true and living God and the Knowledge of his wayes and worship come ye all to the Light of Christ Jesus with which you are Lighted in which as you abide you will come to know the one pure Language in which the Righteous Pure God of Truth is onely worshipped with one consent which was before Babel the many Languages and before the hunters confusion and contentions about these things was in which you will come to feel the path of Peace and way of Holiness in which a fool shall not erre where your Immortal Souls may be satisfied as with marrovv and fatness in Gods House vvhere the Bread is sure and the Water fails not vvho makes Rivers in the desert and the dry Land springs of vvater and makes the Wilderness a fruitful field and the barren
is that of which the body shall be full if the eye be single and what is that single eye or the one eye with which it is better to go to Heaven then with two into Hell-fire and what is that eye which is the Light of the body seeing the eye of the Lord is the guide 6. And what makes the difference between the wise Virgins and the foolish and whether the Lamp without oyl and the light burning be not the form or profession without the power and life which saves from sin and gives an entrance into the everlasting Kingdom of God 7. What wise man is that which Solomon speaks of whose eyes are in his head and what is that fool vvhose eyes are at the ends of the earth 8. And vvhat is that prudent man which foresees the evil and hides himself and what did he hide from and in what is the sure hiding place and what gives the fore-sight of evil what is that fool vvhich passeth on and is punished and vvhat is the head of every man 9. Whether the fear of the Lord be not the beginning of Wisdom and to depart from evil be not understanding and vvhether they vvho are not yet come unto the fear of the Lord vvhich is to depart from evil be yet come to the beginning of true vvisdom and if not yet come to the beginning it is possible they may be the fools vvhich may dye for vvant of wisdom if they do not speedily repent and turn to him that smites them for their folly c. So take this for an ansvver till thou knovv further of vvhich much might be said and of this kind but a few vvords to the vvise may be enough Concerning Christ second coming and Kingdom and Raign and of the Kingdoms of this World becoming his Kingdoms I Never read in all the Scriptures as I can remember of a third comming of Christ personally in his ovvn fingle person or of a personal reign besides vvhat shall be in his Saints But I have read of his coming the second time without sin unto salvation c. which the Apostles in their days did witness yea even his comming and Kingdom as may be mentioned hereafter I believe most people in that called Christ endom who have read the Scriptures will confess Christ is come once already even when he had the body prepared which he laid down and took up without the gates of Jerusalem this I grant was a personal comming or the God head dwelt in that person bodily this we conclude was his first comming to be manifest in these days and we beleive all the things that are written of him to be really true and that whatsoever he did or said must be fulfilled c. But now this being his first comming he tels his disciples while he was yet with them that he must go away and that it was expedient that he should go away or else said he the Comforter will not come the vvhich if I go avvay I shall send unto you even the Spirit of truth vvhich shall abide vvith you for ever c. Yet notvvithstanding sorrovv had filled their hearts though he tell them he vvould come again unto them and their heart should rejoyce and their joy no man should take from them This vvas his promise to his disciples vvhile he vvas yet personally vvith them and to comfort and strengthen yet more he told them that he that vvas vvith them should be in them c. For they loved his person for the sake of the frame quality of the spirit that dvvelt in him or else vvhat vvas his person being mean and contemtible to them more then another person but for that vvhich dvvells in him they loved him let none mistake I do not slight it nor the person of any of his brethren or children as they are prepared to do the vvill of their Father but I do knovv in Gods Counsel that it was even so as it hath been also in these days among vvhom God the Father of mercies hath as it were deprived some of his disciples of the personal presence of some of his dear sons servants which may be to this end that the same Spirit and Life might be felt possessed lived in enjoyed in themselvs in their own particulars in which onely their eternal well being consisteth And so he taught them to pray Our Father c. Not to look at his person and pray to him as a person without them but bid them pray to their Father which seeth in secret who would reward them openly and he that seeth in secret searcheth the heart trieth the reins he bid them pray thy Kingdom come the Kingdom of Heaven is within and the heart and reins and the searcher of them is within And he bid them wait at Jerusalem till they were endued with power from on high the Kingdom of God consisteth in power c. So they waited for his comming and Kingdom in their days after his bodily departure from them and also came to enjoy what they waited for and to receive the promise of the Father which was fulfilled unto them and in them For saith the Apostle we wait for his Son from heaven this was after he had suffered and was departed from them and at length sayd the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we know him that is true and are in him that is true this is the true God and eternall Life and this Life is in his Son And then again spake on this wise Wee have received a Kingdom which cannot be moved letus have grace in our hearts whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming sire c. So here they received the Kingdom and the Son of God was come they vvere in him vvho came unto them in his Kingdom Here vvas Christs prayer sulfilled vvho said That they might be one as vve are one thou in me and I in them and they in me that vve all might be perfect in one and here is their prayer also fulfilled or ansvvered vvho said the thy Kingdom come c. When they receive the Kingdom vvhich could not be moved vvhich Kingdom Christ tels them was vvithin so this they received vvitnessed which was the second time unto salvation from sin who never mentioned as ever I need of a personal coming and reign the third time or of a third coming in a single personal appearance as hath been imagined by many who know not the waiting to be endued with power from on high but a running in their ovvn vvils and times and vvill-vvorships and feigned humilicies vvhich is not at all accepted vvith God vvhile that birth is not being nor that body prepared vvhich only can do his vvill acceptably But this we have read of the pourings forth of the Spirit in the Last days upon all flesh then none is excepted and Sons and danghters should prophesse which is come to pass and that the Lord will come in ten thousands of his Saints to convince all the ungodly of their ungodly deeds and hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him and to execute his judgements this is comming to pass and that he will consume Antichrist by the Spirit of his mouth and destroy him with the brightness of his comming then not with carnal weapons but withspiritual he will destroy Antichrist when this is done then must the Kingdoms of this world needs become his and he shall Reign for ever and ever Blessed is the eye that sees and the heart that feels and understands these things for the time is born and the day is dawned in which they shall be fulfilled And this is the Word of the Lord of Heaven and Earth who is come to Reign and reigneth and vvill reign till all his enemies are become his footstool and the Kingdoms of this world become his Kingdoms and dominions even for ever for evermore Therefore let the earth tremble and them that fear and obey him rejoyce Amen Hallelujah Amen O Thou professor who are yet a transgressor Would'st thou know the Mysteries of God thou must first feel his Red Which will thy back sunce till thou leave works of night And walk in the Light this is the way to know the first day And also the rest which is Holy and for ever blest For Zacheus climbing was too high the Saviour to embrace But down below he was received in whom Salvation was The voyce that from the tree did call though below him he obeyed The little stature is not despis'd therefore be not afraid But come then down into the house with joy the Light receive For he 's the Saviour of all men that in his name believe The tree of Knowledge hath beguil'd and fed the birth must dye The tree of Life hath not been known while in the wisdom High Men have aspired and not desired with poverty and thirst To walk i' th Light with hearts upright the plain path of the just Therefore the Pearl from them is hid who dig not in the deep But with the sluggard and the fool in rags and folly sleep But now the awakning day is come the trump aloud doth sound The Life 's reveal'd as in days past mans wisdom to confound Therefore all people stand up and see the state in which you are For either Heaven or hells your Lot the hour is not far For I have heard from throne of God a dreadful voyce and cry O England England thou art visited and now thy end draws nigh Even so hasten thy Work O Lord God Almighty as thou hast shewed thy Servant and cut it short in Righteousness for thine Elect sake that cries unto thee night and day thotowout the whole Earth Even so come Lord Iesus come quickly saith my Soul Amen Written by a Servant of the living God who is a trembler with joy at the VVord of his Power for whose sake I am in outward bonds at Hartford but my peace can no man take from me blessed be the Lord the God of Jacob whose compassion fails not but his Mercies endures for ever and ever Amen W.B. The Second Month 1663. THE END