concerning the Gift of God which is Life Eternal you being really out of it in your own imaginary Parts Gifts in comprehending the VVorks done without you and so not sensible of any Real Perfect Pure VVork of God's Holy Spirit in you the which is the Cause you are so Dark and wickedly Blinded to plead for Sin the which is accompanied with the VVages of Death the Cause of Death being Sin the which remaining the Effects cannot cease even Death and Corruption from that venemous Sting over all Flesh that is corrupted with it So for Shame leave your false Accusations against an Innocent People called by the Name of Quakers for testifying of the VVorks of God's holy Spirit the which are perfect in every Degree and therefore there is not the least Sin nor Evil in them So all you who say You are not without Sin in your Best Duties I say They are all VVorks of your own which blind and hide God's Works from you And as you may read of the Works of God's Spirit in Mordecai how they could not bow to the Pride and Arrogance of Haman and also the Works of God's Spirit in Daniel how they could not bow to them that would have restrained and limited them and also the Works of God's Spirit in Shadrach Meshach and Abednego how they could not bow to the Golden Image set up by Nebuchadnezer though Laws under Penalties of Death in a Cruel Manner was before them and also the Works of God's Holy Spirit in the primitive Christians through the Strength of which they under-went hard and grievous things under the spirit of Antichrist which got up in a Form of the good Words in the Pleasures and Vanities of the Works of the fleshly Wisdom the which have been kept up by the same Wisdom by an Arm of Flesh under which the Innocent People who are true Witnesses of the Works of God's Spirit have suffered very deeply in this Age the which cannot be hid though the Cause for which they have thus suffered is so far hid that it cannot be believed though they have been wonderfully declared of But it is Mordecai Daniel Shadrach Meshach and Abednego's God which we who are in Scorn called Quakers do worship in and by the Effects and blessed Operation of his own blessed Spirit wherein stands our Confidence and not in Flesh and our Faith Belief and Hope is in him that he will turn the Hearts of many of our Enemies unto us though many will perish in their Gain-saying So over all the VVorks and Powers of Darkness is our Faith and Belief that the Holy Righteous VVorks of God's blessed Spirit shall be exalted and the God of Truth in and through his blessed VVorks in preparing and fitting the Hearts of people the Knowledge of him shall encrease till it spread over all And for this Purpose hath God raised many contrary to the VVisdom of the VVorld in whom he hath made known his Righteous Works who have Unity and Fellowship therein who are true Labourers therein purely out of Love to God and his blessed VVorks in Good-will and true Love to all men that all may taste of the Goodness of God the Experience of which will bring Mankind to be of one Mind and Heart and therein to agree to Praise and Magnifie God who shows Man his Thoughts to whom belongs Honour and Glory forever And now all you Leaders of the People in all Forms and Fashions who are denying the Works of the Divine Power of God in its blessed Operation and powerful Working in setting free them who are heavy laden and weary through the Enemies works of Sin and Iniquity the which you say cannot be Overcome therefore you are Denyers of the Sufficiency of God's Works and his Kingdom wherein dwells Righteousness Peace and Joy in and through the Effectual Workings of God's Holy Spirit the which though you say in words Thy Kingdom come thy Will be done c. But being Sayers and not Doers you are so darkened that with all your own Wills and Mights you are strengthening the Old Kingdom of Transgression where Sin and Iniquity aboundeth the Devil's works Was it not by reason of Transgression that the first Law the first Covenant was added which was written in Tables of Stone And was not this in Force till the Manifestation of the Seed of Life and Power the Coming of the Messiah to finish Transgression and to put an End to Sin and so bring in everlasting Righteousness God's Kingdom Now all you blind Leaders of the Blind is not here God's Second Covenant writ in the Heart into which all must come that come unto God where his Light is to shine who is the True Light that enlightens every Man that comes into the World And if this Righteous Law be taken heed unto will it not judge Lust when it rises in the Heart And will it not judge Anger when it rises in the heart and will it not judge every Desire of Breaking Promise when it arises in the Heart And will it not judge every Hasty and Froward Action and Lightness when they appear in the Heart And is not all that proceeds from this Righteous Law and Covenant of God in the Heart Pure Truth Yea and Nay And what is more then Plain Truth Yea and Nay is it not judged by this pure Law in the Heart And are not all forbidden to Swear by this one Law-giver who is able to Save or to Destroy And must not his Righteous Law and Decree take place though many Laws through Darkness and Ignorance may be made against it And must not all that come to Sion the City of the Living God be Redeemed through these Righteous Judgments And are not the great Mercies of God witnessed in and through these Righteous Judgments And all that will not come under this Righteous Law and Government where Mercy and Peace kisses and Truth and Righteousness is set over all is it not just that they be left to Judgment without Mercy So is not Destruction from Self-willing and Running of people out of the Counsel and Knowledge of the Will and Mind of the Living God And is not the Salvation of every Soul in and through the Righteous Decrees and Just and Holy Laws of God which is Light in every Conscience And must not all that come to Salvation come first to the Way and Means that God hath ordained And is not the Second Coming of Christ in the Light of his Holy Spirit the Way by which all must come unto God the which is without Sin without Spot without Guile And must not all that come unto God come unto him in this one Blessed Savoury Offering And is not this Christ of God the same yesterday to day and forever as he was before Abraham was and so the same in the beginning of all things And must not all that come to God come out of Transgression the Cause why Mankind was drove from the Presence of God
in Thousands who are Witnesses of the Works of God's holy Spirit in some Degree or Measure viz. That it is in Christ God's Covenant in which we hope for Salvation and in no Covenant nor Work of Man's and in this Covenant we are made a good Savour unto God and one unto another And Acceptance with God is obtained no other way but by the one pure Offering without Spot or Blemish by the effectual Workings of the Eternal Spirit where the Blood of Christ is witnessed to be sufficient to purge Consciences of dead Works and so to serve God in the New and Living Way which he hath consecrated for us through the Vail his Flesh And therefore all who are thus Partakers of God's Works by the Revelation of God's Spirit being true Witnesses of the Blessing of God in this one Unspotted Offering we cannot but confess him before Men denying all imaginary Offerings in mens wills where their Garments are filled with Spots and Blemishes and their Consciences are defiled with dead Works of their own Inventions and Works the which having some outward Shew of Holiness may Recommend unto Man who lives in the same but not unto God and therefore Experience in the Works of God's blessed Spirit hath taught us to deny them And by this Christ of God the Mediator of the New Covenant we have Acceptance with God from whence the Knowledge of Salvation comes by the Remission of Offences and Sins and therefore we deny all false and vain Mediatorship of vain man in his vain VVorks of Conceivings Imaginations concerning this Mediator the which is really to be enjoyed and known by the effectual VVorkings of God's Eternal Spirit to the Consolation and Peace of Souls who partake thereof And through the blessed VVorks of this blessed Spirit of God the Deaf Ear comes to be opened to hear the Voice of the one true powerful Shepherd who alone doth feed the Sheep of his Pasture with that convenient and wholsome Food the which causeth Soundness of Heart and Mind and therein doth he take Care to preserve and keep his Sheep in a living Sense of his Love Fatherly Care who calls to his Sheep when the Lion the VVolf and the Bear appears and strengtheneth them who take Pleasure in hearkening and obeying his Voice So to the one Shepherd and one Fold Testimony is given unto whom all that are erred and strayed must return if ever they witness Deliverance from Evil and Preservation from Danger So we deny all false Shepherds whose VVorks of Darkness tend to the scattering people in their Minds and Understandings from the Sense of God's VVorks in Christ in reconciling lost Mankind and bringing them home unto himself the Substance of all of which the Law outward was but a Shadow of good things the which are injoyed in this one Shepherd and Bishop who takes Care and Oversight of Souls magnified and praised be his holy and glorious VVorks of Redemprion forever and ever And so to the Honour of this one blessed Physitian of Souls whose Works are certain and effectual the which has been tryed by many wounded Souls who could find no Cure without by the foolish and vain Physitians without who are meer Deceivers and Daubers up of people through their Inchantments and Sorceries by which they have made a long Prey of people through their fair Speeches getting their Money through meer Deceit and Flattery intruding into things they have no Knowledge of in which VVorks they are pufft up above the pure holy VVorks of God's blessed Spirit the Revelation of which they have denyed they in lew thereof have set up their own Imaginations and Conceivings in the Revelation of their Singular exalted Spirit the Flattery and Deceit of which having taken with people how are Nations corrupted by it and what Misery have these wicked VVorks brought into this Nation God having given signal Testimonies of Dislike unto them by Sword Plague Fire and Sword and by many Messengers whom he hath drawn near unto himself by his VVorks by the hands of them Messengers hath he sent VVarning upon VVarning and Exhortation upon Exhortation with tenders of his Blessed VVorks of Reconciliation upon just and equal terms of his Enemies repenting and turning unto him by turning from their Wickedness But what Entertainment these Servants of the Living God have found by these foolish Physitians who are meer Time-Servers for their own Ends whose Refuge is an Arm of Flesh to defend their wicked corrupt Works which have filled the Nations with their Defilements who by their Flatteries have drawn a Compliance from Magistrates to punish the Messengers and Servants of the Most High God for telling the Truth from a certain Knowledge of the Works of God's Spirit of Truth and therein testifying against the Works of Error and Darkness But the Sufferings that have been for this Love of God in and through them who have been Instruments in his hands may through search be known so Testimony is given against them who are in the Exaltation of Works without and denying the immediate blessed Works of God's holy Spirit in its Operations and Revelations of the Mind and Will of God unto wounded Souls within And further concerning these Blessed Works of God's Righteous Holy Spirit the which are attended with Peace unto which Way many have been turned and because some loiter and are sloathful and yet remain unconverted of the Old Man's corrupt Words and Deeds and therefore not fit to put on the New Man Christ Jesus and some who were in the Way do turn out of it again and some fall head-long down to Perdition Oh! what Occasion hath the Watchers for Evil taken at this and thereby set at nought God's Works in his Holy Righteous Spirit and them that abide therein making Conclusions in their dark imaginary Conceivings of the Works of God That he hath no such perfect Works now adayes but that all are fallible and changeable and so measure and weigh the things of God in their corrupt false Measure and Ballance which things are Abomination in the Sight of God So Testimony is given to God's blessed Works though many are so brittle that they will not abide them yet notwithstanding God's Works in and through his holy Spirit of Truth are Righteous Holy Perfect in every Degree and Measure and remains firm in Goodness and unchangeable there being no Spot nor Blemish in them the which praises him forever out of which none shall ever find Acceptance of him Mutter Peep Whine and Scold as long as you will your Works of Darkness must down which have corrupted the Nations which is the Cause of the great Judgments past in this Nation and the greater yet to come For the Sword of the Spirit the Word of God is gone out against wicked Workers and works and thus saith the Lord No Peace to the Wicked their Prayers are Abomination in my Sight So whatsoever your Professions and Coverings therein be of your Talkings and Imaginations
And is not this Christ of God the Way out of Transgression who was obedient and subject to the Will of his Father in all things And must not they all that are saved be brought into this blessed Covenant of Life the End of God's great Love in his Son manifested to the World that through him they might not abide and perish in Darkness but through believing and obeying that Second Coming and Appearance of the Light of him they might have the Light and Understanding of the Life of him the one blessed Offering that perfects forever them that are sanctified And now all you blind Leaders of the Blind under all your Imaginary Lifeless Confessions and Professions of God and Christ what strength of Arguments do you use in your perverse Wills and Affections to strengthen the Old World of Transgression in Sin and Iniquity whereby you go about with all your Might to make void the Second Covenant which is without Fault and so you shut up the Way to God's Kingdom and the Knowledge of his Righteousness by labouring and moiling in your vain Service and Works to establish your own Righteousness and dark Works therein And by this Fruitless Labour and Travel what Darkness and Blindness have you brought over the Nations through your ignorant Conceivings of those gratious Words which were spoken by the effectual working and moving of God's Holy Spirit in and through Holy Men the which was for a blessed End spoken even to turn people from the Darkness which was over them by reason of Transgression unto the true Witness in them the Light that makes manifest all that is reprovable and wicked in Mankind the which being turned from and the Light obeyed that they may be led to the Knowledge of God that they may not be without God in the World whom to know is Life Eternal And so Light is sown for the Righteous that through this blessed Seed the Serpent's Head may be bruised and kept under in all and so is way made to put on the Heavenly Image again by being led and guided out of Darkness by the Light of the Emanuel in and through every blessed and glorious Degree of his Works to the Mark of that Price the Measure and Stature of the Fulness of Christ Jesus the Heavenly Man the Heavenly Image as many as are baptized into Christ put on Christ Now I say unto you blind Leaders of the Blind who have got some few of the Gratious Words and Works of the Righteous Men of God therefore I say but few of them because there is but little upon record of those mighty Works which did then shew forth the Wonderful Power of God in and by the effectual Workings of his holy blessed Spirit the which if all had been written the World could not have contained the Books and of that which was written you have but a part with which you blind Leaders of the Blind have made a long Trade in Wresting Perverting and Corrupting to your own Destruction making them look every way but the right in your Imaginary Conceivings thereof So wrong you are in your Judgments who have denyed the effectual Workings of God's Holy Spirit that what in you lies by your Works of Darkness you are making void God's Holy Law and Covenant as to any true Understanding or Knowledge of it in the Mind and Heart And so building your selves up in Imaginations and Conceivings what Strangers are you to God's Holy Works in and by the effectual Working of his holy Spirit within Man How brutish are you in your Understandings to stand and wonder and some to despise till they perish at the News of these Works though God hath raised many faithful Witnesses who have declared and given Testimony to them even to the laying down their Lives and many their Liberties and in great measure their Estates whereby it hath plainly shewed That this is the Time and Season wherein God is making known his Mighty Power for the subduing and bringing under the Power of Darkness that the Kingdoms of this World may become the Kingdoms of God and that the Kingdom of his Son which is in Righteousness Peace and Joy of his blessed holy Spirit may be set over all And is not this according to that Prayer Thy Kingdom come thy Will be done on Earth c Now consider Are not all those Wayes destructive to Mankind that are made up in the dark Conceivings of Man without the Light of understanding the Will of God herein And by your Works of Darkness in opposing the Blessed and Effectual Works of God's holy Spirit what Misery and Confusion have you brought your selves and the Nations into where you lie in Heaps in Controversies about the Works and Words without till the Enemy's works of Darkness be over-grown in you by which you are so droven from the Presence of God and the Light of his Countenance that you are greatly confounded kicking and stumbling at the pretious Stone the which in your Fleshly Worldly Wisdom you think too mean to be in your Buildings by reason of which how many Fashions are your Buildings of reeling and staggering from one Fashion to another soaring aloft in your airy Imaginations of the things of God in using your Wits and Arts to bend the Holy Men's Testimonies to your corrupt Wills and Affections And so much more as you strive in these Works so much more you are and must be confounded What a sad Work have you herein taken in hand and what vast Sums of Money have you exacted out of Nations to maintain the Pride and Arrogancy of your hearts herein Oh! that there were such a Heart in people to sit down before the Lord that they may partake so much of his blessed Works as to open the Eye of their Understandings that they may see over these Works of Darkness where nothing is good nor pleasant to the truly Hungering and Thirsting Souls after God's Righteousness How miserably have these Nations been cheated by these blind Guides who have exacted abundance of Wages under Pretence of being Healers and Curers of the Nations but are now found by the Effectual Workings of the Light of God's holy Spirit to be the chief Instruments of the letting in of Darkness Corruption and Abominations that raign on the Earth Through that Adulterated Spirit the Mother of all Harlots who are departed from the true Spouse and so running and hunting after others Blessed Works and Experiences have set up Trades in their Arts of telling and boasting of others Lines and Works where that Adulterated Spirit hath covered them who are corrupted with her Sorceries and VVitchcraft under various Fashions of Confessions and Professions of God and his Christ But underneath these Coverings are the same wicked hands by which the Just hath suffered and been rejected and set at nought in all Ages And through the blessed VVorks of the Light of God's holy Spirit these Corrupt Workers and Works of Darkness being discovered and a
of Knowledge is therein a Minister of the Universal Love of God in his Eternal Spirit unto the VVorld So here lies the Difference between True Teaching and Teachers and False The True Teaching being the Anointing of God's Holy Spirit and Power wherewith Mankind being anointed and taught of God and according to God's Blessed VVill therein in a Cross to his own Carnal VVill and Affections speaking forth and delivering the Truth unto people as it is in Jesus Lord of all in whom the Peace is and from whom Peace is proclaimed under those Conditions and Quallifications as it pleases him to make and tender who is Lord of all The False Teaching is that Spirit of Iniquity the Old Deceiver of the VVorld the Serpent that worked and wrought under a Mystery subjecting Mankind unto his VVill under a Vain Hope through which he beguiled him at first drawing out a Compliance of his VVill unto his Delusions and so to transgress the blessed Commands of his Maker through which yielding of Mankind unto the Serpent's Counsel they became Transgressors of God's Holy Law and Covenant and for that Cause was drove from God's Presence and then Fear entered and Trouble and Sorrow entered by Man's yielding to the Traytor by which means he partook of the Nature of his Cursed VVorks and being thus drove out of the Garden of Eden the Lord placed a Flaming Sword which turned every way to keep the VVay of the Tree of Life And now the same Mystery of VVickedness by which Mankind was drawn into Transgression the same spiritual VVickedness being got in a High Place above the pure holy Seed of God in Man there keeps Mankind in Bondage to his Will under many fair specious Hopes That though Sin and Transgression the Cause of Death be not finished in them yet Deliverance shall be had by the Manifestation and Works of the Seed without them So here Mankind being Imbondaged by these Corruptible VVorks under the Dark Power of the Enemy from whence arises all Corruptible VVays Man being gone from the Uprightness in which he was created goes now abroad hunting about in his Inventions and Conceivings being led about by this Thievish Spirit which first drew his Mind from the VVill of God and so in this is climing up and down every way but the right Door and so being in this Earthly VVisdom from below by Arts and Trades set a teaching of their Imaginations and Conceivings concerning the Holy VVorks without and so here lay down Foundations under Confessions and Professions of Good VVorks and Gratious VVords without and thereby keep the Serpent's works of Transgression and Sin alive within and here the false Teachers under several Covers of Confessions and Professions in the spirit of Antichrist set up And so here being tossed up and down with Floods of Inventions from thence their Shameful VVorks are cast up in the Old VVorld of Transgression and Sin where these False Teachers are so rivited the works of the Enemy being become so natural unto them by reason of the Continuance of Time in Transgression and Sin that thereby they are now become impudent and bold even to dare to plead for the Serpent's works Sin for term of Life taking it for Delusion and high Presumption for any to speak to the contrary And so here False Teachers being raised from the works of the Enemy moving in the Earthly VVisdom for Earthly Things being propt and bolstered up through Vain Glory Praise of Men and weighty Pounds many Nobles and special Marks with abundance of Crowns and frequent Appearances of Angels in and by which they are so oyled that their Tongues run at their own VVills and Lusts by fair Speeches of other Men's Lines and VVorks with which ignorant Simple People being taken have so fed and oyled the VVheeles of these Trades-men the which hath set them up so strong that they make all the Defence they can to strengthen themselves and their Clients in the old VVorld of Sin and Iniquity And so these False Teachers having put Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness what strong Pillars and Props they are grown under the Devil's Kingdom and Power of Darkness under several Heads more that might be mentioned being derived from one Beastly Power from whence is risen several Heads and so branched out into several Horns the which are pushing every way against the Horn of God's Anointing the Power and Strength of the Effectual and Blessed Teachings of his Holy and Blessed Spirit the Door and VVay by which all must enter that come to be truly satisfied with God's Righteousness Christ the same Seed promised in the beginning to bruise the Serpent's Head the effectual VVorks and Power of which according to God's good Pleasure was and is manifest in the VVorld So to the Praise and Honour of God's Holy VVorks many can say Peace from him that is and was and is to come Jesus Lord of all who delivers his People from their Sins the Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World through which Powerful and Blessed VVorks Mercy and Peace is extended to all Mankind without Respect of Persons upon Earth So Blessed are they that Fear God and are found out of their own VVillings and Runnings in their perverse and crooked Nature in a true Submission and Obedience to the Righteous VVorks of God's Righteous Holy Spirit the true Christian Spirit that Christianity may flourish again and that Heathenism and Paganism under that Name Christian may be subdued and vanish away and Jesus Lord of all exalted in the Hearts and Minds of people over all his Enemies Then shall the Nations flourish and yield Fruit in Season to the Praise and Honour of God forever ANd now all you Merchants of Babylon Howl and cry Alas alas What! all these pretious Trades whereby we have gotten so much Gain must they all Down Where be all our Mountains and Rocks that have been so long a making up by all our Fellow-Trades-Men by Arts and Inventions in Professions and Confessions of Good Works and Works without through Ages and Generations past Will none of these Mountains and Rocks cover and hide us from the great Wrath of the Lamb What must we now bow to his Righteous Works who takes away the Sins of the World or else will he grant us No Peace Alas Alas What Clothing in Scarlet and Purple and Fine Linnen of Egypt with pretious Stones will these no longer hide our Sins and Iniquities Must all our Works herein wherein we thought to have established our own Righteousness must they now all be put off as Dung and Dross Alas Alas Though we have lived so far from the Knowledge of the Operation and Works of God's Holy Spirit as utterly to deny its Revelations now adayes and so have been Dark and void of the Knowledge of God's Righteous Chastisments and Rebukes therein yet we have presumed that by Custom of Confessions and Professions of God's Good Works done in and through
Holy Men without us would have given us a Right to his Holiness though the Lust of the Eye the Lust of the Flesh the Pride of Life and Friendship of the World had never been wholely subdued in us but in such a part as might he consistent with our Gain and Profit in the World But Alas Alas Our Coverings be too narrow they will no longer hide us God's Righteous Works are abroad in the Earth who is inspiring his People with True Light of Vnderstanding and Mordecai sits in the Gate and will not bow to Wickedness Haman Alas Alas We have twined and twisted about through many Crafts and Inventions some of our best Arts-Men having called the Light a Devil some others a Natural Light and others a Bewildering Light and likewise many False Accusations have we raised with Evil Reports Scornings and Reproachings of the People called Quakers for Confessing to the Works of the Light of God's Holy Spirit yet all our Shifts do not at all help us but those Works prosper and they are generally a Faithful People to their Testimony Alas Alas Who would have thought our Mother had been such a Harlot What delicate Inchantments and Sorceries hath she used and trained us up in that we have been thus deceived and thereby have been Instruments of deceiving the whole Nations Alas Alas We can flee into no Corner nor Hole but we are found out and pursued Alas Alas can't all the Wisdom of the VVorld and Arts therein help to hide our Sins and Iniquities from the Light of the Lamb Is every Creature so clearly manifest in his Sight that made all things good in the beginning And is he now as work again And must all yield to his VVorks or be accounted his Enemies and be cast out of his Presence who is Lord of all whose is the Earth and the Fulness thereof Alas Alas VVords of Repentance of Sin will not serve now there must be a true Repentance and Forsaking Sin and Evil or else we perish forever Even so it must be done to you Workers of Iniquity who have been and are as Props and Pillars strengthening the Old World of Transgression in Sin and Iniquity the Devil's works and therein withstood the Sufficiency of God's Love manifested to the World in his Son to destroy the Devil's works which works of Transgression the old subtil Serpent the Deceiver of the Nations in and through his Instruments is striving and labouring to maintain under several and very large and specious Pretences of crying out Lord Lord But come Workers of Iniquity these Good Words will not give you Admittance into the Kingdom of God it s not they that say Lord Lord shall enter therein but they that do the Will of God And was not his Will manifested to the World in his Son that they that believed and followed him in doing his Father's Will might not Perish but have everlasting Life And do not many of you confess to this in words who say in your set Prayers That we may follow the Example of Christ's great Humiliation and Patience that we may attain to his Resurrection c. VVhat brave VVords have you VVorkers of Iniquity got in your Old Bottle that can hold none of the New VVine And so in your corrupt VVills what will the using good VVords do you good but thereby add to your Condemnation who by Good VVords and corrupt and Bad Actions are withstanding and have withstood the Good-will Pleasure and Love of God in his Son to the VVorld So your works of Darkness and Falshood are clearly manifested and you can't hide them from the Light But the Light of the Effectual and Powerful VVorks of God's holy Spirit wherein his VVill is manifest is rising more and more to a more perfect Day of his VVill being done upon Earth to the Praise and Honour of his blessed and holy Name whose VVorks are Pure Holy Just and Perfect in every degree thereof and tend to the true Reformation Peace Prosperity and Establishment of all Mankind in God's Love and Mercy therein forever So worshipped be God that made Heaven and Earth and the Fountains of VVaters and all things therein who fills the hearts of the Upright with Joy and Gladness through the Shinings forth of the Light of his Countenance who sits upon his Throne and saith Behold I make all things New Amen AND now unto such who are in Doubt Whether God's Holy Spirit doth so effectually work now adayes as in the Primitive Times Unto you I say What Flesh could ever have indured such grievous and continued Punishments in Tryals of divers sorts by Imprisouments and Banishments and Hangings and Killings as in New-England and Imprisonments to Death and Spoiling of Goods in Old England and Cruel Mockings and Scoffings and Bloodshed by Unmerciful Men Indeed some in a Voluntary Humility have somewhat appeared in Sufferings but being in their own Willillings and Runnings and VVorks therein how have they been overcome their Strength being an Arm of Flesh as well as others and so Fleshly VVorks have been overcome by Fleshly VVorks But it s not so with them who are in Scorn and Derision called Quakers because they have bowed to God's VVay the which is quite different to Man's wayes was that Name given but in God's VVay hath his Arm been revealed and its Strength made manifest in our VVeakness So that to the Praise of him that lives forever the Operation of his Blessed Spirit is felt as in the Primitive Dayes and the Glory and Comfort of it hath ministred Strength and Refreshment in the time of Tryals though this Way of God's Proceeding hath been hid from the vulterous evil Eye So to the Praise and Glory of God is Confession made through the Operation of his holy Spirit through which Thousands have been preserved and kept from bowing to the seed of Cain Haman and the Beast which hath made the World as a Wilderness where wild Fruits and wild Actions spring So we can truly say to the Praise of God Let not the Wise Men in the Wisdom of this World glory in their Wisdom nor the Strong Men in their Strength nor the Mighty Men in their Might but let all wait in that pure Measure of the Light of God's Spirit in their Consciences that by it they may draw near unto God that they may know his Blessed Works of Mercy and Love and Judgment in the Earth wherein that true Glory and Honour of God is ANd further Concerning Ministry this I say As the Blessed Works of the Light of God's holy Spirit has place in Hearts and so opens Understandings a Discovery will be made from thence of the False Corrupt and Wicked Ministers who open their Mouthes for Gifts and Rewards from whose Works in fair and deceitful Speeches Prophaneness is gone out into the World where the Revelations of God's holy Spirit is denyed and set at nought they telling People Revelations are ceased they are not to be known now adayes
c. So the Sight of all the Good and Blessed Works of God's Good and Holy Spirit are become as a Sealed Book so that they who have exalted their Parts and Knowledge in Hebrew Greek and Latin above the pure Life of Jesus they can't read in it because it is sealed and these Learned Men Unlearned in the Things of God can't read in it because they draw near to God with their Mouthes and seem to Honour him with their Lips but their Hearts not being Right in his Sight therefore are their VVisdoms confounded and Understanding in the Things of God kept from them So it s such who have nothing to minister from but a Divination of their own Brain in Conceivings and Imaginations concerning the Works of God in others but from no Knowledge of his Works in themselves so they run and Divine for Money and Gifts and Rewards in that adulterated whorish Spirit which hath sate a long time and reigned over People who have been as unstable and unsettled as Waters reeling and staggering to and fro through the Sorceries and Witchcraft of that whorish wicked spirit into which Cup the Kings of the Earth have drunk and been made drunk with Envy Malice and Hatred one against another and from Lusts which have been conceived in that Wicked and untimely Womb have proceeded VVars and Fightings and Hatred one against another and also Hatred against the Appearance of God's good VVorks in others So it s against that bad and wicked spirit which is not to speak in the Church that I am moved to give Testimony in and through the Operation of God's good and holy Spirit the which is mightily at work this Day wherein his Power is made manifest to destroy the Devil's works and so a VVay making for the Pouring forth of God's Holy and Blessed Spirit more and more upon all Flesh from whence I believe there are at present Hundreds of Able and Gifted Ministers in this Nation in some Degree or Measure or other of God's Holy Spirit who can speak experimentally of what they have felt handled tasted and seen of his VVorks therein who is the Beginning and Ending of every Good and Perfect Work and Gift in and for them who wait to know his VVill and do it And through these Blessed Works must the Wounded and Destracted Nations be healed and set to rights and all that hinder these blessed Works of God's Holy and Unlimited Spirit they are Enemies to God and to their own Souls and to the Nation and Country where they live So to that of God in every ones Conscience I appeal in these weighty and high Concerns wherein I having done the Will of God I rest A Lover of the Truth wherein I seek the Good of all Mankind Stephen Smith The 9th Day of the 4th Moneth 1673. NOW unto you who will say I writ out of Enmity Therein you say true for in the true Enmity which God hath put between the two Seeds viz. The Blessed Seed of the VVoman and The Cursed Seed of the Serpent So that in that which is truly good that blessed Seed by which Evil is overcome according to the Good-will of God in that I give Testimony against that which is Corruptible and Bad by which Mankind is led away into Darkness and there captivated under the Enemy's Power But if any shall say I wish herein any Ill to any one's Person I do say in the Truth and Uprightness of my Heart That such do falsly accuse me For I know in the Blessed Seed Intercession is made through me and many Thousands that Light may rise in them who sit in Darkness that the Cause of Enmity against the blessed Seed may be slain and that Mankind who are dead in Trespasses and Sins may be quickened and raised into the Glorious Freedom and Liberty in the Son of God where we may live together in Peace with God and one with another to the Praise and Glory of his Holy Name forever Stephen Smith THE END