whose life you speak evil of but know it not by birth and virtue which is naturally good as the first man is naturally evil And the bondage is in that which is against the pure nature and not in that which is free-born and the law is upon the transgressor and him that is degenerated into that nature which is carnal and sensual and if this man do any thing as to God it is from something that is laid upon him not in spirit but from without and this is legal and in bondage which is not in the free Spirit which doth by nature the things contained in the Law And little it is that such would either do or know were there not a Law or a Letter a Heaven or a Hell to put them upon works and here is the bondage and fear that hath torment but with the Spiritual Seed it is not so who are begotten and born of God in Christ Jesus in whom they receive freely as the branch of the root and what he sends forth through them is fruits of the Spirit against which there is no Law and this is not legal but spiritual and free who are a Law unto themselves and there is no Law against the Seed but is added upon the transgressor because of sin till the Seed be come and where the Seed is born and rules that creature is not under the law letter nor tradition nor bondage but led by the Spirit and born of that Nature which was before transgression was by which the fruits of Righteousness are brought to light by the working of the Holy Ghost who worketh the will and deed of his good pleasure and with the same good will and pleasure it is brought forth without bondage or constraint And in whom the bonds of iniquity are broken the world ended and all things become new and all things of God there dwells not self-righteousness nor spirit of bondage but that is the new creature which is in Christ Jesus created unto good works and not in self and the Heavens new and the Earth new wherein dwells Righteousness as it is in Christ Jesus revealed from God in Spirit and Power without the Law manifest to which the Law and the Prophets bear witness having foretold what glory and freedom should be revealed in the latter dayes at the Seeds appearing and the Letter testifies of this life and power but is not this life but the Spirit gives this life and freedom that it may be of grace freely and the glory of the Lord who is that Spirit and here is the boaster and self excluded and all fruitless trees condemned and seen to come short of the glory of God of whose works he is not either root or off-spring And before you can judge of this Freedom or the nature of the works that spring thereof or inherit the power that brings forth this Righteousness you must own the Judgment of Him that condemns the man of sin in you and receive him for your Law-giver which will break you off from the world and would have you to deny the forms and images and bring you from under its power that 's he that breaks the house of bondage and sets the righteous Seed at liberty to bear the fruits which are of God And thus hath Christ sent his servants to seek the lost and to gather them from among bryers and thorns and bring them to Zion one by one and as they were gained out of sin so the Devils kingdom fell and grew weaker by every servant he lost and Christs Kingdom increased until the Kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of Righteousnesse wherein the righteous King reigns And out of cruel mockings scorning and bloody persecutions they gathered the lost and gained them to God yea sometimes pulled them out of the fire such hath been their faith and zeal for Christ and his holy Kingdom and their stedfastness to that work to which they were called and hired and the furie of the adversary and his opposite power against him in his servants hath often reached unto blood rendering evil for love to their souls Wherefore take heed to your selves you that name the Lord and call him Master depart from iniquity and obey the good This is his work if you be his servants he hath called you to holinesse as he is holy And that you turn from the world and repent of his works who is the prince of it and deny him and them openly and in secret if you will serve the holy One you must bear his mark and open your heart to him and your mouth for him as confidently as the servants of sin do for it that your Light might shine against the darknesse of this world in the face of the perverse and crooked generation that it may appear to all men that the wayes of the Lord and the world are not one nor their servants one nor their words one nor their garments one nor their table one in all things bearing his Image and Glory above his Adversary that it may appear whose Family you belong to and what is his Glory who hath hired you and what is the Work of your Lord in the World And herein may all people as in a glass see your selves and what you are to God in this his day and what against him these are the two masters which Christ tells of which none can serve but the one he hates who serves the other so now who hath hired you whom do you serve and whom do you hate Is it the World you serve then you hate Christ Is it Christ then you deny the World And these are plain things and you may read as you go if you will whose business you go about and whose hand you strengthen If you commit sin and plead for it then you war against him that is manifest to destroy sin And if you say sin must live in you while you live then while you live the Devil must have a place and power in you and a kingdom as long as you live and if you believe to overcome sin then you wait for the Kingdom of God which consists in Righteousness and believe to see it and seek it daily with your whole heart for it is not words which take the Kingdom but power of Faith against the evil one Neither is it forms and professions or any outward thing that can vanquish the Devil for he is a spirit and by a spiritual power must he be resisted and the weapons must be spiritual and mighty through God which casts down his seat in man though many are led out from form to form and deny that power of God in them and obey the power of sin in them not knowing that power which layes the Ax to the root of the evil tree out of which all the evil springs and these are manifest to be such as are not hired what ever your forms may be which you chuse and change you are but in the
wholly to the power of darkness who will then keep you seeking Salvation without whilest he is heaping up evil within For that which seeks to devour your Souls is within you whilst he is leading you out to seek Salvation and nought can damn you but what is in you sin is within before it be acted so must Salvation be within before you be cleansed though the old deceiver hath taught people to think they are saved by believing God at a distance who neither know nor worship him in the Spirit and Truth nor are their bodies his Temples nor can the Holy One dwell or walk in them because of uncleanness but their Vessels being filled with all the powers of darkness and the heavenly Place with Spiritual wickedness hath caused God to depart from the children of men for this uncleanness and yet a Lyar speaks Peace and preaches Salvation and the Creature believes so being filled with darkness But the Children of Light receive not this Doctrine who see and feel and cannot be content with words but with power A talk of God satisfies not the Soul of a good man till he feel his Presence and Power God without and the Devil within is not the Saints Faith nor Salvation but God in them and the Devil cast out is their glory and strength and they are bold through the might of his Spirit in them to war daily against the Prince of this world because they know him who is greater in them and more holy than he that is in the world And this is the Faith-that overcomes the world and he that 's born of the Spirit hath the Father and the Son and he that hath the Devil is his Enemy and knows him not whence he is but judgeth him after the flesh and outward appearance but the Child of Light wars not after the flesh but after God that he alone may have the glory who is all in them that they have to glory in who gives their souls the holy victory And now were not you wholly blind in your minds and past feeling you could never sit down so besotted as to believe you are saved while you are daily captivated in sin and forced many times to do that which you know you should not and this by the power of lust in you entising and leading you into every temptation and causing to fall into many hurtful evils which gathers strength and rooting daily in you heaping wrath and vengeance by adding sin unto sin which must all be accounted for in the end thereof when you have filled your vessels to a full measure And can you say you are redeemed from the Devil while he hath this power in you that you are not able to resist him but are led captive at his will contrary to all fear of God or power of Righteousness Are your Bodies redeemed to God and are you Members of Christ whilest you yeeld your members unto unrighteousness or are you saved who are servants of sin In what stands the life and power of your Redemption of your Faith and of your Salvation seeing nought can stand in God but that which brings forth to him Is not he in the bonds of iniquity who is bound to bring forth iniquity Is not he a servant of sin in whom it reigns Is not he the child of bondage who is bound to bring forth what the evil-one begets in him and to serve him in what he moves him unto Mind this you who are born after the fleshly spirit who act according to his will who worketh in your flesh to bring forth unto death Doth your profession save you who are not turned from dead works The foundation of Repentance is not yet laid in you and therefore death reigns above the Life that should bring forth to God and this is the servant of sin's state and spirit of bondage and not the Heirs state who inherits God's Righteousness and brings forth thereof unto that Spirit which pleaseth God as you bring forth to the flesh and please the world And these two seeds are within and are at enmity and disagreement and there can be no concord betwixt them no more than light and darkness and their several fruits are made manifest with the Light which condemns the one and confesseth the other to be of God and wrought in God And as many as are quickned with the Spirit of Life have the feeling of this before they bring forth the fruits thereof into the world and are come to the discerning of things that differ in nature and effect by the tasting and handling of the Word of Life and knowledge of that Election which is before the World was by which they are made able to judge the ground and end of every motion in them or to them which abiding in they need not man to teach them neither can they be deceived which makes them with boldness bring forth openly such words and works as are begotten in them by the Word of Life which shews the whole World to lie in wickedness and makes it manifest in the Light of Life by whom the Prince of this World is judged and condemned and the secrets of hearts made manifest according to the nature of every several spirit which comes up to the day of the Lord's appearance And to this Spirit of Truth must an account be given by all flesh living for this is he that lives to all generations and is unchangable in his witness against the evil seed into whatever form he transforms himself in words and profession yet is there no agreement betwixt their several natures be they in one person or be they in a family or be it in a Nation there is not agreement nor can any one person Family or Nation serve them both but whoever serves the one hates the other and condemns him so he that serves Deceit condemns the Just and so condemns that which should save him and must judge him in the end And here is the cause of that fleshly liberty which some have got for the present where the Witness is slain and also of the horrour of Conscience where the Just appears towards Judgment the unstable estate of such who are faithful to neither the everlasting Peace and Power in such where the Just hath dominion and the present sorrows of such who are diligent in waiting and wrestling to the end of the World and the beginning of Christ Jesus through Faith and Patience And all these are comprehended with him who hath learned Christ by being faithful to that Spirit of Truth sent in his Name to testifie what is of him in every vessel and what is of the spirit that lusteth against him and keeps the Creation in bondage And this is that one way to Life and Salvation holden forth freely by the Spirit of Truth sent forth by the Father in the Name of Christ Jesus who hath its several operations in several vessels according as he finds them towards God in some he
stedfast in the Faith he flees and the Glory returns to God who dwells in the Light And if at any time the evil-one prevail the creature comes to see the cause to be in himself and not in God and for it is humbled and warned and this he comes to see when the temptation is over and the enemy fled and he is come again into coolness with God in the Light which while the darkness was up and the enemy in the house he saw not And thus is experience gained through tribulations and tryals which they who endure not the temptations never come to learn of God but fall under the temptation through unfaithfulness to the Light and so are ever captives at his will who tempts to evil and the enemy of all Righteousness ever reigns over all the Members leading out the Eyes Ears Hands and Heart to iniquity and vanity and the Tongue to plead for it against every reproof having denyed the reproof of the Spirit of Truth within your selves it cannot be received from others for in that house the contrary spirit wholly reigns which turns away the ear from hearing of Knowledge and the heart from good understanding in Spirit And this is the cause why you are kept alwayes without the feeling of God and his Power and knowledge of his Word and the mysteries of his powerful Counsel are hidden from you which he reveals to the faithful who have overcome through Faith and Patience in whom Satan is subdued and trodden under foot for in whom this devourer is above what ever God gives or reveals to the Creature the Deceiver is ready to pervert it quite to a contrary end that God never intended in the giving thereof and to lift up a wrong nature and exalt a contrary spirit which God hates and this is evident in the Light of Truth throughout the World What is the Gift of God which the spirit of the World abuses not If God give Wealth where that spirit is above how is the creature puft up therewith above the rest of his brethren as though he were no more of the same mould and blood but as God would he be worshipped If he give beauty it s turned into lust pride and wantonness begetting and deceiving adulterous eyes Wisdom is turned into folly and wickedness scorning the simple and over-reaching the plain-hearted and such as have most of it are but most able to compass their corrupt ends If God give Grace it s turned into lasciviousness and Gods long for bearance into hardness of heart Religion and Profession into a cloak for sin and hypocrisie Fasting and Praying to accomplish mens self-ends against such as they would swallow up c. And not one thing that God can give which this evil one will not subvert and turn against the giver so that though God be free in himself and good and plentiful by Nature yet he cannot so shew himself to such in whom the strong man keeps the house who makes the creature thereby but more wanton to kick against his Creator and puffs him up to forget his Maker and Feeder and so a fruitful Land maketh he barren for the wickedness of him that dwells therein which from the beginning was not so Neither is it so with the Children of Light and Counsel who have the Giver in their hearts above the gift where the pure Counsel sits to order the pure Gifts where every good and perfect gift is brought forth in its own nature form and manner undefiled or disfigured with the spirit of the World but the springs run forth from the clean Fountain and the Plant and Fruit is Holy like the Root where the spirit is clean and the flesh undefiled and every thing as it comes from God as in the beginning where the world is ended and the old man put off and all things of God there every gift of God is known by its fruits and nature and ends in such Vessels The Gifts of God return to God by glorifying him here on earth where Riches bring forth good and merciful Works and not pride and vain glory Wisdom stands up against Oppression and not to deceive and through Grace doth Righteousness reign unto Life eternal their Religion is pure and unmixt with the World but separated from it whereby the Sons and Daughters of God are known in the streets by his virtue and comeliness put upon them by him with which they are covered over as a Garment even with all the Fruits of the Holy Spirit of Faith and Truth which is in Christ Jesus who is Lord over all in such Vessels and these are the Vessels of Honour sit for the Lord to shine through against his adversary the worlds spirit in Fruits that cannot be condemned being not defiled in the Vessel but manifest as they come from above answering to that of God in every heart in which the evil one hath neither part nor power these are Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of an unclean generation shining as lights and this alone honours God which is of God and this answers the end of mans Creation and Gods bounty who is rich in such till they come to be filled with all the fulness of God which he withholds not from such but from the unclean and slothful such who defile the flesh with lusts from such he withholds his riches and fulness therefore the World knows not the Sons of God nor whence they are nor whither they return who follows Christ out of the World never returning thither again but to testifie against it whose Vessels are no more filled with lust and the spirit of this World to bring forth thereto but are filled with the holy Ghost who hath made them new Creatures for himself to walk in and shine forth in Fruits of the Spirit And now you wild Colts and barren earthly minded Professors who have filled your Vessels with wantonness and deceit and all sorts of fleshly minds in vain do you hunt about with your old Bottles and think to retain the Heavenly Treasure you gad about but to no purpose in the sight and esteem of God for you are in the wrong work while you are in the worlds nature and in the old creation your words and ordinances are empty of the Life of God and his Fruits you cannot bring forth nor receive till you be renewed nothing you can do will avail you but a new creature your old vessels are full of the old wine from the wild grape and that 's above in you which defiles the pure so God withholds his Gifts from you which abound in his new Creation and you know nought of it but what condemns you so you fight against it and say there is nothing now perfect and so would condemn the new with the old and judge them alike and thus you err not knowing the Gift of God nor the Works of his Hands which are all perfect as he is perfect who walks not in the defiled
market-place at the best not yet come into the Vineyard of God till you be set on work against sin to pluck up and cut down every evil thing that offends in the Kingdom of God with his spiritual Light and Power which Kingdom is within you and that which offends is within you and that which is offended is within and that which is lost and fallen is within and there to be sought and the Pearl and the Seed and the Word and the Law of the Spirit of Life and the Covenant is within and this is not seen nor believed nor can it shine till the House of God be swept and the fruit of darkness denyed and the Light of Christ turned to and the Just obeyed which gives to see the unjust and power against him when the ground of darkness is removed by the working of Faith And as many as be called to this work and entred into it in truth and faith must not be idle but obey the Spirit of Life till the house be cleansed and the unclean wrought out and the pure exalted and then is the rest holy and then you will find your rest within you and your God near you and your souls to dwell at ease with God in your own habitation whose Temples you are if this you obtain by faith in him that calleth and quickeneth you to Holiness and the fruit is the Lords and so is the Seed and the safety for ever to all and in all that abide therein And this is not self-works nor self-will but pure faith and obedience to the Seed of God which in you wars against the world and every selfish fleshly lust and delight which is the Seed of the holy Covenant which Seed is Christ the holy and just One if you can receive it This is he that makes clean and keeps you so as many as obey and walk in him and from his Spirit receives your Law which Spirit giveth you his life to inherit here on earth if you walk in the Spirit you shall not live to the flesh And in this life and knowledge truly learned is answered that common objection which the spirit of the world makes against the holy Life and Kingdom saying If it were possible that we could live without sin then we need no Saviour yea the same that cleanses the house must keep it so and he that 's the death of sin is the life of righteousness and the same light and fear of God which leads to the putting off the old man with his affections and evil works leads to put on the new man which is Christ and so to walk in him which is renewed after the image of him that created him where Christ is all in life and guiding and the good man keeps the house not the strong man and how can that man say he needs no Saviour who can do nought without him whose righteous life is both food and rayment and his light their armor daily against the evil in this world in every thought word and work and in whom this is not so Christ is not all and in whom it is so they are compleat in him and do not say they have no need of him but consess him in them their head and glory and this is the Kingdom of God upon earth and the King in his Kingdom which you that resist in your faith and practice deny the Lord and his Power and his Faith and his Prayer which is Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven where no sin is And this further to all you that in words professe Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Master let it be in Truth and Righteousnesse that you may have his witnesse thereto who is pure and clean and cannot join to evil but is an open witnesse against every appearance of it and so are all his Servants whom he hath hired and sent into the world in what place or imployment so ever you are in if you be his servants you are chiefly about his work and not your own Now his work is manifest in every appearance of his in this world it is against sin and to destroy the works of the Devil out of this world mind this To destroy the works of the Devil out of this world that so the Kingdoms of this world may become the Kingdoms of Christ Jesus and the most Holy One may rule and bring forth fruits therein Now his Servants are known by this that they stand for the Kingdom of Christ in this world and his works and against all the works of the Devil in this world to destroy and bring down and make an end of sin in this world and the servants of the Devil are known in the contrary by being in his work which is to keep sin in this world while people live and this is the strength of his kingdom take away sin and take away his kingdom here and his power here and his place here for where he is resisted he flies but where he is received he sets up his throne and takes pleasure in his servants and they in his works which is to encrease deceit and vanity in them and to fill their hearts with every lust and so strongly carrying out their hearts thereunto that they have no delight in that which is contrary nor can believe that ever any can receive power in the Spirit of Christ against him or such redemption as to overcome him and be freed from him in all his works in this world And here is an agreement with death in your faith and a covenant confessed with unrighteousness And you that are in this mind and belief you are not hired of Christ Jesus the Righteous nor have you received his Faith which is pure as he is pure and believes unto Righteousness and unto Victory and not unto sin and that 's his faith which overcomes the world and the prince of it and resists him stedfast in the faith in hope of victory in the end and this faith his servants confess openly which faith the world cannot receive but confess the contrary openly and so you are kept captive at his will and you believe you must be his servants while you live here in this world And this faith you confess openly against the victory of Christ and herein you are faithful to your own Master whose works you do and plead for and confess his faith which none of the Servants of Christ ever confessed such a faith that they must needs serve sin as long as they live for the youngest and the weakest servant of Jesus Christ that know themselves hired of him they know his work is to destroy sin out of the world and to subdue the Devil and to this work they are set in themselves by faith and power which is in Christ Jesus the Lord and they labour in hope having their hearts turned in them and their faces set towards holiness and from the world and are set
eternal and to the strengthening the holy Seed in man quickening the Soul which by sin hath suffered and this it doth by condemning sin in every motion that it may never arise against the holy Seed and also by ministring comforts and promises and power in spirit to the soul in the way of its arising above the power of the son of wickedness still ministring light and understanding in the hidden part to the holy Seed that hates sin opening that eye daily through the obedience of Truth which the god of this world hath blinded and purifying the Soul by putting off the body of corruption and blinding him that saith he sees but knows not the way out of sin ministring the Law upon him And this is the ministration of free Grace to every Soul that receives it and this it worketh powerfully in all that abide in it through the Spirit of Christ Jesus and this Grace as saith the Scripture hath appeared to all men yea and doth daily appear in all who truly wait in Spirit for its appearance and gives to all such a sight of Truth in themselves testifying with or against every motion in their hearts according as it stands in the sight of God whether it be good or evil whereby the Conscience doth accuse or excuse even as God shall judge them by Christ Jesus So that there is no cause in this Grace why any are not saved thereby from sin and condemnation but being rejected of some it becomes their condemnation and the same thing which saves him that receives it in faith and obedience condemns him that rejects it in his disobedience And this is the Grace of God that changeth not which appears to all men but only reigns to Salvation through righteousness wherein it is believed to be sufficient and obeyed in the Truth therewith made manifest So that is the Grace of God which is of God in man ministring in Spirit light to the Soul in the midst of darkness ministring life to that which is dead in sin leading that through the vail of death up to God from whom the Grace hath appeared and of whom it is and the Light thereof is Judgement and discerning in every one that receives it to be led with it in Judgment and Condemnation to such as turn it into lasciviousness denying the life thereof and the truth that leads thereto and so cannot be saved through it but he that receives it and joyns to it in Spirit becomes one with it and by his daily sinking into it in counsel it grows in him and he in it until it becomes a habitation and cover for him against all evil and so he becomes gracious in words and works daily receiving Grace for Grace of his fulness And he that hath received of this Grace and is faithful therein must not minister of it to strengthen the transgressor who loves his sin and so is under the Law for that is to cast the pearls to swine but to such as are heavy laden and weary of sin to encourage against sin and temptations which all that turn from the Devil must be sure to meet with and Judgement it ministers to the wicked that therewith he may know his condemnation with the light of Truth in whom Grace is denied to reign it is their condemnation that he is come into the world who is full of Grace and Truth but the Kingdom of Grace is Salvation in whom it reigns through righteousness unto eternal Life by Jesus Christ the Lord. So he that receives the teaching of Grace comes therein to the leading of the Spirit and so becomes free from sin is no more under the Law but under Grace but the Law hath power over him that walks after the flesh and every appearance of Grace is witness against him by declaring him to be under the law of sin and death and not in Covenant with him that appears against sin in the power of Grace and Truth which is Christ Jesus the Lord. THE END
A Door Opened TO THE Imprisoned Seed IN THE VVORLD And the way of Freedom by the Spirit of Truth sent out into the World in love to the Sheep that have long been lost Which may serve any who simply seek the life of what they profess and may shew the feigned false in heart the cause why they are shut out of Truths Power Wherein the Elect way is opened to the blind with encouragements to enter and walk therein Also the Fruits of the Free-born cleared from legal performances and the Children of Bondage shewed the nature of their own works Christ Jesus known to be King in his Temples through the Power of the Holy Ghost and Sword of the Spirit lifted up against the Man of Sin in true Judgement By J. N. The Second Edition corrected If you know the Truth it shall make you free London Printed in the Year 1667. A Door opened to the Imprisoned Seed in the World and the way of freedom by the Spirit of Truth sent into the World in love to the Sheep that have long been lost EVery Creature being born of corrupted nature hath that spirit in him that lusts enviously against God and that seed in him and growing up with him which daily seeks to ensnare his Soul further into wickedness and vanity and to increase his separation from God by drawing in iniquity and filling the Temple where God should dwell and be known with the accursed things which God hates and cannot behold for this evil seed being subtile and forward prevails above the pure Life and leads out the mind from it into many several temptations presenting them with delight unto the carnal part and outward sences whereby the Seed of God becomes continually vailed and hid from the creature so that man knows not that Word of Life by which he was created nor can he come to be guided by it in himself till the head of this evil seed be bruised through believing in that Light which comes from the Life by which the World was made and this is that Rock which follows man with its unchangeable testimony bearing witness onely to that which is of himself and against all the wayes of that evil seed calling and reproving the World because thereof which call as many as receives and hearkens to by Faith comes to hear the Word of Life wherein Power is received to become the Sons of God which Power of Life as it arises in the Promised Seed the head of the evil seed is bruised and he comes to be brought under who had taken the Soul captive at his will to every vain and evil work and so as the Creature comes to be redeemed from under the power of darkness so he comes to be guided in the Light of that Life by which he came into the World and that Light which before reproved him for his deeds of darkness following him from one to another condemning him in all being turned to by Faith and Obedience now becomes his Leader out of the World to the Son of God in whom Gods Righteousness is revealed from above to justification which Righteousness being received into and abiding in sin is remembred no more and thus man being changed into that Nature which changeth not in the inward man comes to love that Light which before he could not for no man can love that which is of God until he hath received Gods love Now the Light of the World is Gods love to the World for God so loved the World when it was in the power of darkness that he gave his Son into the World a Covenant of Light that whosoever followeth him should not abide in darkness but should have the Light of Life Now Gods Love 〈…〉 in the light of the World That 's his Covenant with the â—â—â—â—d which whosoever rejects and receives not is out of Gods love and in the enmity out of Gods Covenant neither can he in that state believe that Gods love is in it And this is the cause why all men speak evil of the Light who love their evil deeds and cannot receive it as Gods Love and the way to life to such it is condemnation not that it was intended thereto but men loving darkness rather then light it becomes condemnation but to him that believes and is obedient to him it is precious for who follows it out of the World there receives the Nature of Sons and the Love of the Father which the World cannot receive and the Power of Godliness and Treasure of eternal Life and this is not given to any till they come out of the World as he is not of the World for therein stands Gods Covenant with Abrahams Seed for ever So Gods Love to the World while men are in that corrupt nature and the Witness of the Spirit of Truth is to reprove the World of sin and testifie condemnation against the deeds thereof but to such as have received it it 's a Leader Comforter and Saviour and this is the cause why the one loves and the other hates each Nature speaking that state in which it stands towards God and as it hath obtained from him in Christ Jesus love or condemnation and he that will not receive Gods love that calls him out must abide under the power of the seed which God hates and this is he that seeks to murther him that is in Gods love the evil one having power to blind that mind who denies the Light so far till he cannot see that the Murtherer is of the Divel but thinks he is doing God service and this in the end hath ever befallen such Professors as reject the Light of the World for he that walks in darkness knows not whither he goes but God is Light and in him is no darkness at all nor hath darkness any fellowship with him here is known the Children of God and the children of darkness he that loves the Light brings his deeds to the Light and hath fellowship with God in his deeds and this works the Work of God and he that denies the Light works in darkness and cannot believe the Power that is in the Light being under the power of darkness And therefore he that is born after the flesh knows not him that is born after the Spirit of Light nor can judge of his wayes which are strange and wonders in his carnal sight neither knows he by what power and love that is by which he overcomes the World and takes pleasure in denying the pleasures thereof and vanquisheth all its vanities out of the heart and mind and can no more rejoyce in the World nor make merry with its mirth but rejoyceth in the Truth and is made glad with that which saves him from such folly the wicked knows not the life of the Righteous nor the spring whence his Virtues arise nor the power of his Change nor the end of all his patient sufferings and tryals but stands wondering at it as folly and madness that eye
being blinded by the god of this world which should give the sight thereof and that seed in bondage under the prince of darkness which should give to inherit that immortal Treasure and this must be till there be a denying and coming out of the World to receive that inheritance of divine Light and understanding which none can receive nor be one withal but as they come out of the world from under that seed of enmity which seeks to pervert all the right wayes of God and wrest all his gifts to mans destruction as far as he can prevail Now this destroyer or seed of enmity against the Life of man and his Salvation is kept from that sudden effecting his purpose upon the creature in whom he is head by no other thing but the patience and long-sufferings of God who willing that none of his Creatures should perish but that if by any means all might hearken to the Truth and so recover themselves out of the snares of this subtile deceiver and be saved wherefore he doth many times long bear and forbear with much patience and diligence striving by the Spirit of Truth upon all occasions when ever the Creature doth but mind it checking and reproving and warning even many times at that very instant when the act of sin is committing and if the evil one have got such power in the creature that he will not suffer him to mind reproof before nor in the act of sin then afterwards when the heat of temptation is cooled then he shews the evil and danger of such wickedness that so he might preserve fear in him against the next temptation And thus in many he keeps back destruction a long time so that some are long ere the wicked one get them to fill up their measure and some in that time of Gods patient forbearing and suffering come to repentance and turn to that which reproves and are saved and others go on to destruction which swiftly they draw upon themselves after once the Spirit hath ceased striving and reproving for then the fear is lost and the evil one hath his liberty at his own will the Creature being given up of the Lord and the Spirit of Truth being wholly departed nought but deceit is left to guide him who hath dealt deceitfully with the Spirit of Truth which at the best hath but a form of godliness without the Power for the Power of God is in that Spirit and in that Life which is known by withstanding the evil one which is fallen and covered in such in whom death reigns only such who are born of the Spirit have the Life and Power and know its strength and virtue unto eternal Salvation the rest are left to their thoughts and notions And here is the cause of that strong contention that hath ever been betwixt the Children of Light who are born of that Spirit of Truth and have their light and strength in the inward man and the worlds professors whose expectation stands in something without them which others have spoken of who had it in them and so not knowing the Power and Mystery of the living Faith which is holden in a pure Conscience which only hath the Call and Power to bring out of the worlds darkness they are kept captive therein contending against the Spiritual Light and so while they are in the world go about to comprehend and measure that Spirit of Truth which the world cannot receive neither knoweth thinking that Spirit of Light and Life to have no other opâ—â—â—â—ion in such who are led out of the world and born thereof and in whom Christ lives than they find it to have in themselves who stumble at it and are disobedient and unbelieving in heart when as indeed to us that believe it is Elect and Precious who come to it for all supplies but to the wisdom and profession of the world it is a Rock of offence and stumbling-stone yet is it the Head of the Corner and in them who revile it and reject it it is become all they have in them that is good true and faithful towards God or their Souls as their hearts in secret do witness to them and leaves them without excuse many times For even they that reject this Light and Spirit have nothing else that can shew them so much as one of their thoughts or divide to their understanding the evil from the good either in Thought Word or Action or that can really shew them what is of God really and what is of him who doth but shew himself to be God to deceive withal and is not nor without it can they perceive the several motions of every several spirit that is in them to receive the good and deny the bad nor can they know the several roots of Life and Death which plant to pluck up and which to feed on and how can such labour in Gods Vineyard And indeed without this Light the Body is a house of darkness and a habitation of every deceitful spirit and the heart desperately wicked and no man knows it but he in whom the Light of Truth shineth and he that declares to man his thoughts his Name is the Lord of Hosts Thus is he the Head of the Corner which the stumbler cannot comprehend in his wit and so rejects him without whom there is no building nor working the Work of God And therefore you sons of the darkness of this World mind in your selves what it is you set your selves against is it not that Light which would limit and chain the evil one in you that which condemns you for every evil work secret and open which will not let you be proud and wanton and lustful that which in your own hearts testifies against you for deceit and falshood towards God and towards men deceit in Religion hypocrisie and falshood making a form of what you are not deceit in your dealing with men in your tradings and speakings and severall actings both as Rulers Priests and People without respect of persons nor any other thing but hath respect onely to that of God in you which is of his Nature given to you to guide man in the Light of God out of all the wayes of this deceiving spirit And now he that comes to you with this Doctrine comes near you being manifest in Spirit to that of God in your own hearts you are pricked therewith and then the evil one is stirred up in you to fight against that which is Truth in your selves and answers to the Truth which is spoken to you by another without you from the same Spirit of Truth which by you is rejected And thus you joyning with him that rises up in wrath against the Truth in your selves and denying that which should chain and bind the evil one you deny the Lord of Life and give strength to the evil one to murther the Just in you and quench the Spirit of Truth and weary the Lord with striving till you be given up
is a Condemner in some a Leader and Teacher towards God in some a perfect Justifier in the sight of God presenting them who also gives several gifts and power to such as receive this Testimony of Jesus Christ yet is he but one in all unchangeably Just Equal and Holy who by the Power of his Word changeth all things that are changeable and bringeth all things to the beginning before People Nations and Tongues were divided where man lives by the Spirit of a pure life Now all that desire to be set free from this Bondage fore-mentioned and from that Law of Sin and Death that hath its strength in the fleshly part diligently mind to feel in your selves as followeth THE Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus by whom the World was made in the beginning hath a Law that is Spiritual proceeding from himself which Law gives light in spirit to good and bad testifying against the power of sin and death which Light as many as receive by faith and obedience are brought thereby under the Law of Life which whoever is faithful in are led in such wayes whereby that part in man in which the Law of sin hath its power is crucified and slain and the Seed of the Covenant thereby comes to its right freedom which by the man of sin is kept in bondage while the strong man keeps the house whose strength is in such things as the carnal mind takes pleasure in which things the Law of the Spirit calls them from who mind it in the Light thereof and leads to exercise the mind in spiritual things and to feed on the Word of Life whereby the inward man is strengthened and made to grow up into the stature of a spiritual man filled thereby with spiritual power life and vertue to bring forth unto God and to live to him as the other lived to the flesh and brought forth unto death Thus the Spirit of Life draws with the Light and saith Come to all that mind its Voice and to as many as obey he changeth and feedeth with the New whereby they become New Creatures born of Freedom And the fleshly spirit it draws and saith Come holding forth visible Idols to take the carnal affections and to captivate the mind from the Spirit of Life into carnal objects who promise much to the eye of earthly wisdom and have a likeness of a substance in them but the end is death and the whole life is captivity to vanity and eternal separation from God And here are the Children of Freedom which are in Christ Jesus made manifest to the world by their coming out of it and the children of bondage manifest who cannot deny to serve it and betwixt these two is no agreement for he that is a servant of sin is free from Righteousness the Servant of Righteousness is free from sin and as he that is in the flesh cannot please God neither can he that is in the Spirit please the world these are children of several Kingdoms and several Natures And he that 's born after the flesh hath that spirit which lusteth enviously and seeks to devour the Creation and he that 's born again after the Spirit of Life is brought into the restoration as in the beginning and bringeth forth to God the Fruits of eternal Life and Salvation in the Creation And as by the Creatures yeelding and consenting to the subtile one the life is lost and the evil seed gets strength in man to rule and bring forth after the power of darkness So by the Creatures believing in the Light and by yeelding to the motions of the Life of Holiness and the Law thereof comes the evil seed to lose its strength and feeding which is upon carnal things and that Life which is by Faith hearing comes again to be renewed in the Vessel and arises through the Spirit and reigns above death and the Righteousness and Virtue of that Life is not of the nature of flesh and blood but of God and is made manifest in the earthen Vessel by the Life and Power of the Spirit against the will of the flesh and the lusts thereof And thus comes man again into the Restoration and Redemption of the body into the free service of that Spirit and Life of whom it is the off-spring and for which and by which it came into the world and here is true reconciliation and peace with God and no condemnation but unity in Spirit and Life as the Father and Son are one the lust being slain the enticer denyed and the accuser cast out and all things become new and all things of God here is no more the house of bondage to sin but the glorious liberty of the Sons of God that Nature being quickned that is Spiritual it doth not feed on carnal pleasures but upon God so the inward man becomes a natural Branch of the holy Root and a Plant of the living God bringing out freely what the Root sends forth in which God is glorified and the Vessel made Honourable and the Soul filled with Peace and fatness and hath no more sorrow and death to oppress it And the Light and Life which is in Christ Jesus manifest in the Spirit of Truth is the first and last in this work and here is seen how unnatural man driven from God is become to that pure Life which gives him breath and being and would preserve him from destruction who is so wholly fallen from it and become contrary to it in nature and judgment that of all things in the world it s the greatest cross to be guided by that Light which arises in him from that holy Life and daily calls him in Spirit thereinto being degenerated into a contrary nature more subtile and selfish is willing to joyn with the enemy thereof in any way against the pure Light that 's in himself it to revile reproach murther and turn into darkness by covering it with deceit though man in this state hath nothing in him but it that is of the Nature of God Holy and Just or that will call him from the paths of the destroyer into the way of Life or bring forth through him any Fruits of obedience or spiritual Worship that God will own nor hath he any other thing in this world that is alwayes present with him to give him to see when he is inticed with his lusts and tempted to sin nor the way how to escape the temptation yet is man so exalted in the contrary nature that he hath forgotten his Creator and lifts up the heel against the reproof of his Spirit trampling upon the lowly motions of the Holy One and the Law which out of his mouth proceeds counting the Light and virtue of his Life to be a low and contemptible thing not able to save Thus doth lost man daily despise the Spirit of Grace and Truth in the inward parts and rejects the Holy Ghost against their own souls and denies his pure and single eye and
temple nor lies in the bosom of harlots who are out of his power and perfect way of a holy Life Therefore Your work would profit you most to take the Candle of Truth and sweep the house at home and cast out the old leaven and whatever is of the world and wait in that which works in spirit against the old till therewith all be made new and the new vessel which will not receive the old nor mix with it that is it which will hold with the new which God will fill with himself there the Seed may spring and not be devoured and the Lilly grow without being choaked There the Lamb may be safe from the Fox and the pure from pollution which can never be while your covetous proud lustful earthly minds are alive in you or ought that therewith you have treasured in or grows up in that ground the Plant of God is more pure and tender then to grow amidst such pollution so to judgment you must first come and own your condemnation upon all the old before you can receive of the new or it grow in you What agreement hath the Spirit of meekness with the spirit of pride Contentedness with covetousness Holiness with lust Christ with Belial Light with darkness Read and understand here is the cause why you have sought and laboured many years and many of you further off then at first but none hath found freedom indeed nor that rest where the Thief and unclear comes not to devour Consider these things while they are near you lest your hearts harden in you through unbelief and the deceit of lusts And if you will come then refuse not him that calls and gives you light in the dark but faithfully manage the watch and the war on his behalf with all your power till all be brought under 〈…〉 which he testifies against in you and do not answer the Truth 〈…〉 calls with deceit and excuses lest he turn away from you and 〈…〉 more worthy If you say the world holds you back then its time you should not delay to break those bonds that are grown so strong already they will be stronger every day and what will the end be Consider understand like men and say not you have not strength but turn with that strength with which you have long served the world and you will find God that gave it you the better Master and the Redeemer is served with less vigor than the spirit of bondage and do but faithfully give the strength you have of God unto the service of God in the Light and he requires no more then he gives its deceit that makes these excuses and not a willing mind and were you in the fear of God these words you would not utter against your selves a witness for these are not the words of children of love nor obedient servants but of such as are without Therefore in truth of heart consider what state you are in and who is your father and hath power in you who thus speak Can you do evil with both hands live to your lusts serve the world compass the earth for your profits and pleasures with power wisdom and delight and have you not power to do well Now should you see your strong captivity and how you are degenerated from God and the end of your creation with your whole strength and become altogether reprobate to Gods service and for this should your hearts be smitten with sorrow did you love God or his true Worship and that evil tongue you would bridle and your eyes you would limit from vanity your ears from pleasure and your hearts from deceit that so you might only hearken to the Light if by any means you might come to hear the voice of him that 's sent into the world to call you from under the power of Satan unto the living God by preaching Light to you who sit in Darkness and are dead while you live neither can you be quickned till you hear the Voice of the Son of God which the deceiver keeps you from in your worldly pleasures long prayers and a lying profession taking the Saints words to cover you from true judgment but have not their Spirit nor Power to live their lives nor are you Plants of that Root and Nature which brings forth to God as he is in whom there is no change And this is not the Sacrifice that God accepts which is brought in the unclean Vessel without his power and renewed strength Wherefore that nature which is become so wholly unprofitable should be denyed its will and its way stopt and to that seed you should dye which rules in that strength you have and runs to and fro to seek for its self but seeks not God first and to that which is pure must you turn and therein wait for the Anointing and the rising of the holy Seed for it 's the most holy that must be anointed in you ere you can know Christ in you and without Christ you can do nothing and that seed which is neither willing nor able is not he but is the seed of the evil-doer as is manifest by his fruits which must be denyed his thoughts his words his profession his prayers his lusts his sin and his righteousness for it 's all of one nature and stands up in you to withstand the coming of the Seed of the Covenant Christ Jesus the Life of God and Light of Men which hath Gods Power which was in the beginning Gods Righteousness and is to all generations whom the Heavens must retain until the end of all these things and the restitution of the Creation to God till which you cannot know his appearance in you without sin who died for sin Whose Light as is before declared shews you his Law and the Spirit of Prophesie testifies of him to come whose way before his face must be prepared if you have ears to hear and understand and all your crooked untoward wanton wayes must be made streight and your hidden subtile wayes made plain and the Refiners fire must pass through your house and take hold on all that will burn till it be consumed for till the filth be purged out and an end made of sin God comes not to his Temple nor is everlasting Righteousnesse brought in for an Inheritance to eternal Life And here will you come to learn the first Principle of pure Religion and Doctrine of the beginning of Christ and the foundation of Repentance from dead works will be laid in you then will you see what kind of treasure your wanton careless minds have treasured up in your vessels your deceitful unprofitable words and works you will then see by that which will not lie then will you find that all will fail but Truth and what you have gathered by craft and deceit will stand in no stead but to deceive you Truth in the inward parts must be your stay if any you find for to that Rock you will be
to him that liveth and sinneth not And this appearance will be your daily Salvation and Peace and daily growth and encrease in God and make this sure to you in that principle which would not sin for gaining the whole world so shall you not lose your Election nor your Calling but an entrance thereby will be daily ministred into the Kingdom everlasting which is in Christ Jesus the Light and Truth and Power of God But if you go out to any other thing for help or counsel then that Spirit which is pure which is just which is meek and lowly by nature as God is which is righteous by nature and springs in you to bring forth fruit of it self to God alone in that principle which is pure and clean then you go from the fountain of living waters to dig for your selves and into your own works and what you bring forth is your own righteousness and not that which is revealed from above to all generations of God elected And you will go through your work hard bestead and when you have brought it forth it will not satisfie that in you which hungers towards God and is of him onely it will puff up that nature which is selfish and exalt that which is too high already to receive life from God and this righteousness God accepts not nor is it everlasting to all generations which is brought in by works and not by vertue of the Divine nature springing freely in you from an eternal Spirit which those who are entred into rest and keep the Sabbath holy are freely fed with and covered over who are ceased from their own works whose works are wrought in God and in him are brought to light where the holy Child is born and the Son of God manifest through that Spirit which the World neither seeth nor knoweth which gives to see and inherit God and godliness in a clean nature and vessel Which Birth if you desire to be born of then cease from flesh and blood and what ever that can do for you within and without that is defiled and in that which calls and convinceth you of sin wait and be faithful till you find a life and desire quickned in you which can savour or delight in nothing but that which is as God is pure just and holy and loaths whatever is contrary and cannot joyn to it in thought word nor action for this is the life of the holy Child if ever you feel it move and breath in you and that spiritual birth which as it grows in the vessel is to be heir of the heavenly treasure which though at first it be weak as a child without understanding or full strength and you not knowing what way it is ever like to come to have all the power and dominion in you by reason of the abundance of corruption that is above in you and the strong bonds of iniquity that rules in your flesh which all war against the resurrection of this Innocent life and by which the strong man keeps the house with much subtilty and spiritual wickedness against the pure and simple life yet if you do but abide in that which first gave you light to the quickening of it and be obedient thereto it will bring you a way you know not and though you may come through great travels and temptations and many fiery tryals and tribulations where you may come to be sifted and winnowed yet shall not one grain of that pure Seed perish and fail in the way for that Spirit of light and truth will lead you in his light and in his truth which hath been tryed in that way for many generations for this is he that comes in the Name of Christ Jesus the Light and Salvation of Ages who hath overcome the Devil and the world and all the power of darkness for all that are sanctified and now is come to do it in you that you may inherit your purchased possession and sit with him in heavenly places also so that your work is faith and obedience and patience towards him who is that Spirit and Light in you and to him must you give up life and all who will confound your corrupted wisdom and blind his adversary that he may give light to that Seed that 's yet under the shadow of death and build up in you the way of peace and you shall no more live by your works and gifts natural but because he liveth in you shall you live also and your life will be that which is begotten of God which never dieth and this will he do for as many as give up themselves wholly to him whose light leads out of sin this is the King of Saints and holy Life if you will receive him he hath the Power of God But you that pray and profess and seek abroad and cry for help but know not him who hath help in his hands for you in him alone to wait that in all things you might observe him you worship you know not what nor where and while in words you talk of God that liveth in works you deny him and give your strength to the dead and not to the living Should not every man know his God liveth in him and go to his own God for life according to the manifestation of the Spirit of Truth given to profit withal in every creature to Godward And this God that liveth who is just holy and true should you hear and know and learn of not of dead forms but the power of the Spirit of life whose Word giveth life to as many as have that ear open to hear the living spirit and can savour the living from the dead Now what ever you look to for life and salvation which is not in this spirit and power it 's that which kills and devours your strength to no purpose for nothing gives life but the Spirit it 's the pure Spirit that feeds the hungry soul with bread of life and to that you should give up all you have and are in hearkening and obeying spend your time and all your strength to encrease in the life that 's bread indeed but when you give your strength to customs and forms and carnal rudiments vain pleasures and delights and set your minds on these visible things then you spend your strength for that which is not bread and labour for that which profits not to life eternal nor can carnal things give you an entrance into the most Holy but in that which is pure should you wait that he may open to you the door of life I am the Door the Truth and the Life saith Christ Jesus who is not carnal who is pure clean and lowly and meek in spirit who is in you except you be reprobates and if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Minde and consider well the Spirit of Christ in you that 's he lowly in you that 's meek in you that 's just and holy in you
this appearance in Spirit and tell people that this is not to preach Christ and yet profess Christ in you tell me what Christ is in people if not Light and holie Life and a faithful Witness against the contrary in all in whom he liveth and by what other thing he may be known in spirit life and power if this be denyed else let the mouth of Antichrist be stopt that the simple may pass on the right and living way free from such who will neither enter the Kingdom themselves nor would suffer others who have always resisted the holy Ghost Also the fruit of the free-born cleared from legal performances and the children of bondage shewed the nature of their own works Children of this world who have the form but not the power of Godliness and have got notions of life but not the nature and spirit thereof in your dark thoughts from an unfruitful spirit you judge the Children of Light and when you see us acting in the life of Christ Jesus then you say we are under legal performances and that we think to be saved by our works and that we do it to merit and the like but you are greatly mistaken in your selves and are not in that Spirit which doth see us or can judge the nature of our works nor our end therein wherefore be silent and hear what is said to you if you have an ear to hear withal for though your selves be dead withered branches cut off from the tree which is good by nature and there abide yet it is not so with such as are born again and ingrafted into the good Olive for he that is really born of God knows two several seeds and natures which spring and bring forth from several roots and after their several kinds Now the first of these is in bondage with its branches and brings forth unto self from some outward observation or litteral command or something that is carnal or visible sets on work and being thus set on work to do things contrary to your life and nature you go hardly through it and if you attain the outward performance the boaster gets up to glory in what you can do who doth all for self-ends and so looks for reward above such as you think cannot do as you have done Now you who have gone no further but wearied your selves herein and found nought but bondage are turned back into liberty again and you judge as you have found in your selves so you say all good works are from the spirit of bondage boasting and merit and the like But you should not judge the Children of Light after the flesh your measure will not reach that birth for he that 's born of God is a branch of another root and seed then you know which hath another nature inclining to God from whence it is as the first inclines to the world whence it is And as the natural man doth evil naturally with delight his root and life being so So the spiritual man in his measure doth good naturally after his root and life which is his pleasure and joy to bring forth from the good root that which is good by nature as it is the delight of the other to bring forth that which is evil by nature for as is the heavenly such are they that are heavenly and it s no bondage for the heavenly to bear heavenly fruits but to the earthly man it is being against his nature wherefore saith Christ either make the tree good and his fruits good or the tree evil and his fruits evil so good trees evil trees and fruitless trees are known to be of several natures and for several ends So this is but your own darkness that thus thinks and with evil thoughts you judge amiss Will you say of such as are really planted into the living Vine that their fruits which freely spring from thence are legal and bondage and that we think to be saved by our works and by our own righteousness c. Nay these are the fruits of such who are saved already and the Righteousness of God is given to us who are ceased from our own works whose works are no more legal but spiritual free and not bondage and he that 's in Christ is fruitful in good works and free therein by birth and he that abides in Christ sins not nor is his seed of the evil doer Could you understand this you would not condemn the fruits of the living with such as are dead while they live whose fruit is withered being broken off from that which is good by nature and planted into that which is wild by nature but the spiritual man you cannot judge his fruits nor freedom his off-spring nor his end whose fruits judge all fruitless trees yet is he judged of no man and it 's as hard for you to do good who are accustomed to do evil as the Leopard to change his spots but it is otherwise with such as are changed already born of the Light and heirs by birth and right nature to everlasting Righteousness and Truth it 's hard for such to do evil being against Nature Seed and Sonship which is in God and though this you cannot believe yet he that 's born of Faith can and the least Child of God can read it in his measure who knows the old Adam and the new and as in the first all are in sin and bondage so in the second are all made righteous and free to Gods work and in the second is known the new Creation wherein dwells Righteousness as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them And will you call this self-righteousness where all things are of God and all things new is this legal and bondage And if any man be in Christ all things are of God and its God that worketh in us of his good and pleasure to will and to do and this is not the spirit of bondage but good will and pleasure which God worketh freely in us So you reproach what God worketh by the hearing of faith and not by the letter which righteousness wrought in Abraham which was in God before Abraham was which is wrought for everlasting and elect of God in Christ Jesus before the world was and is a free gift to all that by Abrahams faith come out of the world to him who is not of the world which you that abide in the world inherit not who are in self and seeking your selves in what you do to God or men how can you believe saith Christ And you that look for rewards are not in that Spirit which worketh freely So you look for rewards and honour teachers and people are all for rewards honour and respect of persons and in that nature is all the bondage merits and rewards in this nature out of the faith of Christ Jesus who went from place to place doing good freely and preaching freely and so will all do who are born of freedom as he is free
on their way out of the world which is Christ the life that 's holy and light that 's pure and to this the mind is kept in all their travels and tribulations and temptions which worketh in them by faith in Christ more hope and more strength daily and every thing that happens them in the way gives experience and renewed strength against their adversarie the Devil while they keep close to Christ in faith and love and though they feel the Devil in the sensual part to be strong and powerful and past their strength at present yet they yeeld him not the Kingdom for that but into the faith and hope and patience of Christ Jesus they sink down waiting for the resurrection of that Life which never sinned but died when sin took his kingdome and there wait for the appearance of Christ without sin to save them from that power of death which wars in their own members to bring forth sin in this world and this is to be true in their service and faithful who wait for the Kingdom of God within them and Righteousnesse thereof and the comming of their Lord with their minds girt up with holinesse and hearts stedfast not to consent to the least work of the Devil if it would gain the whole world in the aperition of the sensual reason and wisdom And if these be overtaken with a fault it is not willingly but as Servants of Christ they stand against it to the utmost they then see and sin being a work of the wrong master they abhor it and themselves for it and deny it and will not plead for it or seek to hide it in them but confesse it and cannot have peace till it be cleansed out and these are the little children who have an Advocate with the Father to whom sin is as death and dare not speak a word for it but against it in themselves and in others and these appear against sin openly and confess to him that is holy with all their hearts and words But what a difference is there betwixt one of these who when they either see it or are told of their offence against the Lord are broken before the least reproof into tears or sorrow condemning themselves for it and it in themselves openly and you who when you are reproved for sin which is both open and known you set your selves with all your strength and wisdom to plead for it and like the Devil bring the letter to strengthen your selves against just reproof and with hearts full of envie and mouths full of reproach you stand up seeking to ensuare them that reprove you in love to Christs Kingdom and your souls and to recover you out of the works of Satan that his kingdom might fall in you and so he have fewer subjects left in his power and you be added unto the Kingdom of Christ by being brought under his Commands through denying your old matter and confessing and condemning his evil works for a denying of the Devil and his works there must be ere Christ will receive you And thus it is that Christ hath ever taken his Kingdom out of the hand of his adversary in the world by sending his Servants into the high-wayes and hedges to gather his creatures out of the Devils works by true reproof and testifying against them where ever he led them for which they were torn and scratched and evil entreated by that evil spirit in whom it had power as you now do who rise up against reproof Christ Jesus known to be King in his Temples through the power of the Holy Ghost and sword of the Spirit lifted up against the man of sin in true Judgement You who look for the Kingdom of Christ Jesus it stands not in observations words and forms but in the power of the holy Ghost in judgment in truth and righteousness If you would know his appearance to salvation wait for it without sin in that Spirit and Power which is holy to judge and condemn sin this is his Kingdom with men if you can receive it that he be known in his spiritual power in the bodies of holy men and women to dwell and walk in a holy life a witness against all sin by the breath of his mouth and Sword of his Spirit and therein that he hath power and consent to judge all contrary spirits within and without and all contrary actions And what ever opposes him in this his Kingdom is Antichrist which denies Christ in his Temples and House whose House and Temple is the new Creation of holy men and women and in whom he speaks dwells and walks as saith the Scriptures in whom he judges the Prince of this world and all his out-goings in the children of darkness and in his own Temples shews forth his nature and virtue a witness against him and all his works and he that would let this is Antichrist who sits in the Temple of Christ to resist the Holy One and cannot receive the Judgements of Christ against sin in his Temples nor his witness against sin to Salvation but cries do not judge when Truth speaks and the Spirit of Christ testifies against sin in true Judgement and this is he that lets and withstands the coming of Christ without sin who withstands him in his Temple and denies his righteous Judgement against sin and blasphemes and sayes it is not he nor is he now on earth nor speaks in any body now against sin but saith Thou must not judge lest thou be judged and so through deceit would turn Christs words against his work who saith I will redeem Zion with Judgement and Christ did not speak those words to save sin from Judgement when he saith Judge not that ye be not judged not to stop the mouth of Truth and Righteousness for then had he contradicted himself who in another place commands them to judge righteous Judgement And he is manifest to destroy sin and not to save sin in whomsoever he is manifest and for this end he liveth in his people which Antichrist would make as though he lived not nor heard or spoke but as a dumb Idol would he make the living God for people to talk on or set up a form of him to make void his present life and spiritual power in his people that he should not shew forth his vertue and give forth his Laws and Judgements by the mouth of his Servants against the works of his adversary where ever they appear in his eye Therefore you professors of Christ in words and forms seek his Kingdom in you and take heed that your forms withstand not his powerful appearance in spirit His Kingly Authority stands in his heavenly holy Nature and Vertue in Spirit and not in perishing rudiments and shadows without Read in Scriptures how often Antichrist hath deceived people by turning these outward forms to let the spiritual power and so have kept people in words without life opposing Christ in his Kingdom So in the first
place mind to know his spiritual Nature and Vertue and what hath power against sin in word and in deed therein is his Kingdom and there is his Glory and there he reigns So take heed how you let that Spirit which goeth out against sin in judgment and in victory in the least of his people and this know that his Kingdom is spiritual and within and holy and there are his Testimonies Laws and Judgements which he sends out by the mouths of his Servants as he sees fit and it s against the works of the evil one he testifies in judgement and vertue for that is his Nature and to that end he appears on earth to destroy the Devil and his works through the Sword of his Spirit and none will let this but Antichrist and his servants whose works are evil and so would stop the Mouth of Truth and Voice of Christ Jesus So you may come to know his voyce from his Temple when you hear Judgement from the Spirit of Truth passing against pride and lust and all the works of the flesh to destroy out of the world this is his voyce from his Temples in which his Throne is his holy Kingdom and Power and that 's the voyce of Antichrist who would let this and sayes thou must not judge when sin is judged and so with the words of Christ would save the works of the Devil from shame and destruction And now there be many Antichrists in this work to withstand the Word God in his Temples and who set the Letter against the Spirit to keep up sin and to silence the Word of the holy Ghost that comes out of his house against it and here are the Children of the holy God known and the children of this world the one seeks to cut down sin the other to save it and both professe Christ in words but the end of their work makes them manifest And you that are talking of Christs appearance where will you allow him a place to rule in if not in the heart and chief place in man therein to judge and govern and speak and give out his Laws will you allow the evil one to utter his voice openly in man in swearing lying and cursed speaking and every evil work and must Christ be silent and dumb thereat in his vessels when he sees it is not this his priviledge in his redeemed ones as the other hath his power in his captives that in them he may judge sin as openly as in the other it is acted and this is the reasonable service of his chosen vessels to give up their bodies that he may speak and act and shew forth his vertues and life and power therein against the spirit of the world in his vessels and were it not for this none of the holy men of God need to have suffered nor been hated but for the words of God spoken by them as Christ hath said It is not you that speak but the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you and this is the voice which the world knows not and so would stop it and sayes it is not the Lord not knowing that justice and judgement are the habitation of his throne in the hearts and mouths of his people What must not the Spirit of Truth in whom he lives judge deceit and falshood where it lives Must not that which is Holy judge the unclean must not the lowly one judge the proud the chaste one judge the lust must not he that is spiritual judge all things must not Saints judge the world What a nation would you have this to be who would root out judgement and yet profess Christ in you Is Christ in that people where there is no judgement against sin what none to judge pride and excess lying swearing and cursed speaking false wayes and false worships would you have all sin to pass openly without reproof Is the Land wholly become as Sodom mind what was their words to Lot in this case This one fellow came in to sojourn and he will needs be a Judge whose righteous soul was vexed daily with their unclean conversation So would you have sin to go openly in the streets without repoof and shame Where is the Holy One in whom doth he dwell who is of purer eyes then to behold iniquity Is Christ a King is he a Judge is he pure and clean in heart doth he live can he see sin and be silent where he hath a mouth to speak by did he ever take up his abode in people where none would allow him a habitation and a mouth to speak by Mind his walking aforetime in his Servants and what he did and spoke in them and against what and is he not still a God of Judgment at hand against his adversary though such as know not his Voice put him afar off So you who say you are for Christ and his Kingdom mind whose kingdom sin is in and whose work it is to defend it from judgment and take Scripture to plead for it that is he which condemns the just who would clear the guilty and that is abomination to God and withstands his appearance and you that yeeld your members thereto are not for Christ but against him in his members who have yeelded themselves Servants of Truth and such as you were they who slew the Just One his Prophets and Apostles in whom the Word of God spoke against sin and had the Scriptures and served sin Wherefore if you love the appearance of Christ Jesus you must not love sin but in that principle which would not sin feel him that suffers because of sin and yet is without sin and against sin and if to him you come whose appearance is in that which is holy just and true and therein joyn to him you will love that which condemns sin by which he is grieved oppressed and then are you for Christ when you can feel and suffer with him by that which he suffers and you will then see that nought is it that is offended at sin being judged but he that is guilty thereof Grace received and Grace rejected THE Grace of God is that which brings Salvation to man all men being in natural darkness as they are in the world without God so the Grace of God is tendred to all without respect of persons And that 's it in every man which gives him a sight of Truth in himself which Truth God by his Grace accepts in every man who would have all men to come to the knowledge thereof that they might be saved Now this Grace in it self is one in every man and is of God in every man and doth not spare the evil nor deny the good in any out of respect either to person wisdom strength or riches which is of this world but hath respect to the Truth of Spirit in all and their obedience thereto therein to teach and lead to Salvation and the true Worship of God in Spirit which leads to Life