of what thou comprehendest to be Truth from the Letter of the Scripture under what form name or title soever thou be thou art a dead man and a dead woman and the wrath of God abides on thee though thou see it not Rom. 7.9 there Paul witnesseth saying I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandment came sin revived and I dyed Friends every one in particular deal justly with your hearts see what you can witness of your death with Christ by the powerfull Word of Truth which enlightens the Conscience and condems sin in the flesh for every one would ascend with Christ to be partakers of the Life and Glory with him but he becomes a stumbling-stone to be baptized with him into his Sufferings and Death to descend with him into Hell and this thou must witness before ever thou come to sit with him in heavenly places for it is they and they alone that shall reign with him who suffer with him and they that are dead with him shall live with him It is the dead that hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live Arise thou that sleepest in the dust of the Earth securely in thy serpentine wisdom thy mind feeding upon the dust of the Earth created objects which will perish Arise stand up to Judgment that Christ may give thee Life This is required of thee O man To do Justly love Mercy and to walk Humbly with thy God Examine thy heart and deal justly with thy own Soul There is a Light in thy Conscience which Light is of Christ minding it will let thee see the Mystery of Iniquity that lodgeth in thy heart which is deceitfull and desperately wicked and this Light in thy Conscience which discovers unto thee the evil of thy heart is of the eternal Word of God and was from the beginning according as it is written in the outward Testimony of the Truth In thâ— beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word is God and the same was in the beginning with God all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made in him was Life and the Life was the Light of men And the Light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not Every one arise out of your earthly wisdom and mind the Light in thy Conscience and wait on the Power of the Lord in it and it will bring thee to judgment before the Throne of the Lamb where the righteous Law will be opened in thy heart that will cry through thy earthly heart for Righteousness and Judgment and the Book will be opened in thee where thou shalt see all written that thou hast done in the body and shalt give an account for every idle word and receive thy reward for what thou hast done and thy reward is Wrath and Condemnation which will pass upon thee from the presence of the Lamb for thy disobedience and breaking of the righteous Law which must be fulfilled and what way soever thou turnest to get life in outward forms and observations the flaming Sword which is the righteous Law that goes out of the mouth of the Lamb 't will turn every way and meet thee and cut thee down and cast thee into Hell where there is weeping and wailing for want of the presence of God and thou canst do nothing to pacify the Wrath of God which is gone out against thee Now wouldst thou hide thy self as Adam did when he appears in thy heart thy fig-leav'd garment of prayers tears forms outward observations according to thy comprehension of the Letter will not cover thy nakedness it served to cover thy nakedness from the sight of men but now when the Lord appears in thy heart thou canst not stand before him Now comes Cain in thee to be driven from the face of God to be a Fugitive and a Vagabond in the Earth notwithstanding all his Sacrifices and Esau in thee reprobated never to have the blessing though he seek it with tears and the Bond-woman and her son cast out and the first Adam now slain with the sharp Sword that goeth out of the mouth of the Lamb and art made to give up thy soul to God whose it is to do with thee what he will if he destroy thee for ever he may and if he save thee from eternal death it is his free Love Now art thou baptized with Christ into his Sufferings and Death where thou liest sealed down under the Eternal Judgment of God and there perishest for ever for any power or help thou hast in thy self and this is the Administration of Moses where thou liest condemned for ever under the righteous Law without any help or hope until the Administration of the Prophets that prophesie of a Christ that hath satisfied the righteous Law of God for thee who art lost and condemned under the power of the Law of Moses And now there is a secret hope raised up in thy soul and thou lookest up from under the condemning power of Moses for a Saviour And the Prophets are until John and of all that were born of women there was not one greater then John for he is a burning and shining Light that lets thee see the filthiness of thy heart and the Law shines in its purity to condemn the earthly man in thee but he strengthens the hope in thee that was raised up by the Prophets to see the beauty and excellency of Jesus Christ which ravisheth thy lost condemned soul that thou art willing to sell all for him the Scripture now being fulfilled in thee who witnesseth this from the dayes of John even until now The Kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force now is every Mountain and Hill laid low in thee and crooked wayes made straight and the rough way in thee made smooth and thou waitest in the Wilderness and lost condition of thy self for the Salvation of God to be manifest to thee in Jesus Christ and in the appointed time of the Father the Son of man comes to thy soul as a thief in the night as the Lightning from the East to the West so is his appearance in thee and causeth thy dead soul to hear his voice which witnesseth to it eternal Life freely through his own blood and thy soul hears his voice and by the word of his Power is made to live and is sealed up by the holy Spirit of Promise the Spirit of God bearing witness with thy spirit that thou art his child Now comest thou to witness the second Adam to be a quickening Spirit and Isaac the promised Seed to be Heir for ever And that the wages of Sin is death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life And that by Grace thou art saved through Faith in the Lord Jesus not of works lest any should boast and he that hath Hope in him purifieth himself as he is pure and the love of Christ
and takest liberty to sin because Grace abounds and makest the coming of Christ who came to fulfil the Law to destroy it through the evil of thy heart that when the righteous Law cryes in thee for purity and condemns thee for thy unrighteous walking then thou fliest to the Free Grace in Christ to save thee from the power of the Law but thou shalt find the Law hath power over the fleshly man as long as he lives and the fleshly man that now guides thee is under the Law until it be destroyed through Faith in Jesus Christ For he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it and the Saints witness it though thou wrest the words of Paul when he declared his condition before he came to the fulness of stature in Christ to thy own destruction I see a Law in my members warring against the Law of my mind bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin which is in my members but he gave not up himself to be a servant of sin as thou dost it was his burthen that made him to cry Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death and he waited in the Faith until he was freed Rom. 8 2. For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flâ—sh but after the Spirit He witnessed Christ came in him to fulfil the Law and so do all the Saints now according to their growth some witness the Law fulfilled in them and others are waiting in the Faith patiently following the Lord daily through the Cross until the Law be fulfilled But thou art departed from the Counsel of the Lord thy God and causest his Name to be evil spoken of and hast made the hearts of his People sad as they did that the Apostle speaks of For many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are enemies to the Cross of Christ whose end is destruction whose God is their belly whose glory is their shame who mind earthly things These Scriptures are fulfilled in thee which the Apostle mentions And while they promise them liberty they themselves are the servants of corruption for of whom a man is overcome of the same is he brought into bondage For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the World through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are again entangled therein and overcome the latter end of them is worse with them than the beginning For it had been better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them But it happened unto them according to the true Proverb The Dog is turned to his own vomit again and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire And thou mayst read what will be manifest to thee from the Lord. For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the Truth there remains no more Sacrifice for sin but a fearfull looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the adversaries He that despised Moses Law dyed without mercy how much sorer punishment supposest thou shalt thou be thought worthy of who hast trodden under foot the Son of God and hast counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith thou wast sanctified an unholy thing and hast done despight to the Spirit of Grace and we know him that hath said Vengeance belongeth unto Me I will recompence saith the Lord It is a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of the Living God Remember from whence thou art fallen Repent and do thy first work in minding that Light of Jesus Christ in thee before whom thou once stoodest condemned for that thou now livest in Prize the time and give up to be guided by the Counsel of the Lord in thee the Light of thy Conscience that discovers every vain thought wait on the power that is present with the Light and it will dash Babylons children against the stones which is sin in its conception so will thy carnal mind be brought to the Cross daily and thy heart will be purged with the Spirit of Judgment and the Spirit of Burning Kiss the Son in obeying his Counsel the Light in thee lest thou perish in the way for if his Anger be kindled a little blessed are they that trust in him The Discovery of Mystery Babylon To all enslaved Captives in Babylon's Kingdom who are made drunk with the wine of the Wrath of her Fornications and bewitched through the multitude of her Inchantments FRiends Babylon is within you the Mother of Harlots is within you and she bewitcheth you through the abundance of her Sorceries and the Beast is within you that ariseth out of the bottomless Pit of the deceived heart which is deceitfull and desperately wicked and the Beast which all the world wanders after is your wills that makes war against the Lamb of God in you which is the Light that makes manifest the evil of your hearts and your wisdom is the great Whore that sits upon the Beast that ariseth out of the bottomless Pit of the deceitfull heart and she finds out many deceitfull inventions to preserve the beastly will alive having a golden Cup in her hand full of the Abominations of the Earth and this Golden Cup is your outward professions glorious comprehensions and conceivements of God and Christ imtiating what the Saints did impower according as they were moved by the operation of the Spirit of the Most High God and you imitate the Saints practice by your wisdom There is nothing but confusion in the Kingdom of Babylon So come you to be divided into so many particular Forms as Presbyterians Independants Anabaptists and divers others that are in outward worships painted over with glorious words and yet you whose wills guide you are painted Beasts bewitched with the Mother of Harlots notwithstanding all your outward professions and glorious observations they are but the golden Cup and within you are full of the Abominations of the Earth as Self-Love Covetousness Lust Vncleanness Frowardness Backbiting Slandering Hard-heartedness Cruelty and Oppression grinding the faces of the Poor Impatiency and Vnbelief and the fear of the Lord is not before your eyes and thus you lie enslaved Captives in the Kingdom of Babylon refreshing your hearts in the Creature enjoyments which will perish some in Father and Mother some in Wife and Children some in House and Land some in Gold and Silver some in Self wisdom delighting in themselves some in Honour and Preferment in this World and when there is enjoyment of these visible creatures then there is content and when they are taken away there is trouble the mind alwayes plodding contriving and acting every way to get of the creatures what the heart lusteth
and justifies the Soul through thâ— virtue of this Blood received into the hearâ— by this living Faith which receives all itâ— power and virtue from Christ in whom 〈◊〉 abides as its root and object whereby Justification is witnessed from Sin not in Sin Rom. 6.22 But now being made free from Sin and become servants unto God you havâ— your fruits unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life We believe That Justification and Sanctification are distinguished but not divided for as he that sanctifieth and justifieth iâ— one so do these go together and wheâ— the Soul hath the greatest sence of Justification upon it through the vertue of thâ— Blood of Jesus by the Living Faith theâ— is it most in love with Holiness and at thâ— greatest distance from Sin and Evil and whenever there is a failing in Sanctification there is also some eclipse of Justification in the eye of the Soul until Faith hath recovered its strength again which iâ— lost by sins prevailing For as the farthest and clearest sight is in the brightest day so is it with the Soul when it is most in the brightness and beauty of Holiness its Justification appears most glorious and its Union and Communion most sweet and lasting and so like two Twins as they are much of an age so they are like one to the other And what God hath joyned together let no man put asunder We also by this Light believe That Acceptance with the Father is only in Christ and by his Righteousness made ours or imputed unto us not by the creaturely skill but by the applicatory act of Gods gift of Grace whereby the Soul feels the difference between self-applying by its own Faith and God applying by its Spirit and so making Christ unto the Soul Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption So that we believe and are sure that there is a great difference between Imputation as it is the act of mans spirit and as it is the act of Free Grace without mans forcing And so we distinguish between Imagination and Imputation between reckoning or imputing that is real and reckoning or imputation that is not real but a fiction and imagination in the creaturely will and power And because we are against the latter we are clamoured upon as if we denied the Imputation oâ— Christ's Righteousness when it is only unto those that are not made righteous by it to walk as he also walked For as the Scripture saith It is not he that saith he is righteous by the imputation of Christ's Righteousness but he that doth Righteousness iâ— righteous even as Christ is Righteous 1 Joh 3.7 he that believes otherwise is deceived And yet it is not Acts of Righteousness as done by us nor as inherent in us as acts by which we are accepted of God and justified before him but by Christ the Author and Worker of those acts in us and for us whereby we know that we are in him and he in us and we hold him as our Head into whom alâ— things are gathered together into one even in him We further believe That God is only to be worshipped and not any likeness that man makes unto himself of God from any view sight and knowledge that he hath had of him but in every act and service man is to know what substantially as well as whom speculatively or notionally he worshippeth as is is written John 4.22 Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship for Salvation is of the Jews And he that thus worships the Father honours the Son by the same Spirit which is one with the Father and the Son in which Spirit only God is worshipped according to the form of its own chusing and manifesting of himself in and by according unto the good pleasure of the Father who is a Spirit and limits man unto the Spirit 's Form but allows not man to limit the Spirit unto his form though it be not of his inventing originally but of the Father yet man must no more limit God unto it then he could command God to appear in it at first For as he chose it himself so he hath reserved liberty to leave it at his pleasure who works all things after the counsel of his own Will which he hath purposed in himself that the Gift of the knowledge of the Mystery of his Will might for ever be acknowledged to be of his Grace and for the riches of the glory thereof according to Ephes 1. and man be bound but God free Man bound to wait in the Light for Gods Movings but God free to move in whom to what and when he pleaseth then man is to go when he saith Go and come when he saith Come and such Servants do serve him And then there is no more Curse as in the dayes of Will-worship and voluntary Humility but the Throne of God and of the Lamb Col. 2.18 23. Rev. 22.3 4. And they shall see his Face and his Name shall be on their foreheads We believe also That this Worship is spiritual and not carnal in all its Parts and Ordinances and not to be imposed by any outward force but performed by the inward leading of Gods holy Spirit according as the holy men of God were led and guided in the days past who gave forth the Scriptures all impositions of Worship outward being only enjoyned under the first Covenant that made nothing perfect until the time of Reformation spoken of Hebr. 9.10 But Christ being come there is an end as well of such Impositions as of the Meats and Drinks and divers Baptisms and carnal Ordinances they being all but temporary and in order unto an end but all to vail to Christ the sum and substance of all the first pointed at by all and the last ending of all the Amen And he that thus worships God in Christ his Ordinances are spiritual and not carnal and his Faith carries him beyond his Works with righteous Abel and preserves him that he is not drowned in the Form like Cain neither falls he short of the glory of God nor of his assurance of Acceptance with him We believe There is one Baptism necessary to Salvation Ephes 4.5 One Lord one Faith one Baptism And this Baptism is Spiritual of which John's Water was but a figure John 1.31 That he should be made manifest to Israel therefore am I come baptizing with Water saith John and 1 Pet. 3.21 The like figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save us not the putting away the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God by the Reâ—urrection of Jesus Christ This one Spiriâ—ual Baptism into the Name of Jesus Christ â—s that which saves the Water being but a figure that Christ might be manifest to Israel who had divers Baptisms imposed on them untill the time of Reformation but Christ the Substance being come the Shadows flee away And yet where-ever any are commanded now by the same Spirit that commanded the Believers to
same Spirit that the sum of all Religion according to the Truth and the signification of the word Religion is Man not at liberty in his will but bound again unto God by his having given to him by the Light of Christ within the true sight and knowledge of himself as in himself as lost and undone foâ— ever and from this sight a true sence to ariâ—â— upon and remain with him from wherâ— spring unutterably groans and cryes untâ— God under the weight of the burthen anâ— wretchedness by reason of the body oâ— Sin and Death and then when there waâ— none to help or pitty in this state then 〈◊〉 Mercy shewed in Christ the Arm of Goâ— which is revealed as an help neither seeâ— nor known where how or when to coâ—â— at it or meet with it And this begets iâ— the heart of that man or woman in anâ— unto whom it is thus revealed thanks anâ— praises unto God for this Gift and Revâ—lation of his Son in this needfull timâ— whom the Soul sees to be the Gift of Eteâ—nal Love And we believe and know upon thâ— Love and Faithfulness of God is foundeâ— built and established the Everlasting Covâ—nant whereby not only all men may bâ— saved for its ability but some shall be sâ—ved because for its prevalency which is 〈◊〉 like to the Covenant he made with our Fâ—thers And although all mankind is not sâ—ved yet it is not because either of insuâ—ficiency in this Covenant or because of tâ—â— weakness of the Grace that appears in and unto all men but because of mans will loving death and chusing his own delusions whereby his destruction is of himself and God clear of his blood in the free tender of his Grace Gift and striving of the Spirit within him For we know assuredly according to the Scriptures of Truth and Experience of all souls that ever were truly converted to God that though by Grace man is saved not of himself but by the Free Fift yet as the old World did and those rebellious Jews spoken of Acts 7. who as did their Fathers so did they alwayes resist the holy Ghost so do men now And yet in the tender of this Grace and striving of his Spirit the Lord is a God so hiding himself in the management of this Striving and Ministration of his Spirit as if it wholly depended upon mans choice and consenting that mans will as to him is as it were free in rejecting or accepting Life and Death being set before him whereby in the Wisdom of God the propensity of his Nature as it came out of the hands of his Maker hath an advantage by this dealing of God to put forth it self so that man is as free in the choice as he is in the refusal of the tender of Mercy and help and that with an equal indifferency as it appears to him in this state notwithstanding afterwards in the furtheâ— growth in this Grace and Knowledge oâ— Christ he sees clearly and convincingly that the Grace that wrought hiddenlâ— from his sight and knowledge in the firâ—â— working tender and ministration of Goâ— towards him gained his consent througâ— its own prevalency in the Love of God bâ— which sight and sence self comes to be abhorred and the free Love so admired thaâ— he knows from first to last all was of Grace and that free that self is not able to challenge any thing as due from what it haâ— done but all of gift and yet as before with such an equal indifferency on manâ—… account so that God may and will appeaâ— to be just both in condemning and saving and the Justifier freely of all that believe iâ— Jesus the Light of the World Therefore let all take heed how they dislike this Ministration of God and striving of his Spirit in their Hearts and Consciences under colour and pretence of its insufficiency and therefore they will not come to him because his drawings and strivings are not so strong as they would have them to be looking for such an overpowring and irresistibleness as they are not able to withstand and gainsay lest such perish through a wilfull neglect and for want of stretching out their hand when the Lord holds out his and so they perish in the ditch with a vain expectation of further power or cry in their mouthes Lord have mercy upon us and so with the Sluggard while they cry Yet a little more slumber and folding of the hands to sleep their Garden is overgrown with weeds and their backs cloathed with rags and they beg in harvest whilst others that have sown in tears not fainting do in due time reap in joy and not despising the crums that fell from the table nor the day of small things witness the presence of their Beloved come down into his Garden and walking among the Lillies Let these things be truly considered pondred and weighed in the true Ballance of Light and Righteousness lest any Soul perish through the false weight and measure so shall my soul rejoyce that any have escaped the Net of the Fowler through the discovery of the true Light and God have all the Glory unto whom alone it belongs and man ashamed confounded his moutâ— stopped and he laid in the dust forever anâ— then shall my end be answered in writinâ— these things John Crook Concerning Perswasions in Matters of Religion THere is the Natural man and the Spiritual man and there are the Perswasions of each in and about Matters of Religion There is the Perswasion of Reason and the Perswasion of Faith The Perswasion of Reason is that Belief which man receives into his mind or heart from the exercise of the Reasoning Faculty and this Perswasion in Matters of Religion is but mans Opinion or Judgement which how certain or infallible so ever it appears to him yet may be shaken by a demonstration or evidence of a higher kind of nature The Perswasion of Faith is that Belief which the New-Creature receives into the renewing-Mind from the Evidence and Demonstration of the Spirit which openeth and manifesteth the things of the Spirit unto that mind which is begotten and renewed by it And this Perswasion is certain and infallible however it may be struck at and battered by the reasonings of the wise earthly part even in that very man whose heart is thus perswaded by the Light of the Spirit of God concerning the things of Gods Kingdom Now the lowest Perswasion of Faith is higher and of a more noble nature then the highest Perswasion of Reason because Faith is of an higher Principle and of a deeper nature and ground then Mans Reason is But this because it appears not in mans sphear but rather out of it and is contrary to the line and reach of his wisdom is accounted by him foolishness and madness Thus is the Wisdom of God and the Children thereof judged and condemned by man in his day And how can it be otherwise How can the wisdom of man but judge that as
constrains thee now who can witness this work of Regeneration manifest in thee to follow him whithersoever he goes no more to obey him for Life as thou didst when thou wast without seeking him in Forms and Observations but now the Love and Life thou enjoyest in Christ Jesus constrains thee to deny thy self and take up thy Cross daily and follow him Now art thou come into the beginning to live in the Lord guided by the powerfull word of Faith the Light that shines in thy heart which is the Light of the City New Jerusalem to whom thou art come to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth and all that are come to walk in the Light of the City New Jerusalem are the true Israel of God that are taught of God to whom the New and Everlasting Covenant is made according to the Promise of the Lord This is the Covenant I will make with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah after thâ—se dayes saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People And they shall teach no more every man his Neighbour nor every man his Brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them I will be merciful unto their unrighteousness and their Sins and their Iniquities will I remember no more And in this City there is no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it which are borrowed lights outward dispensations and teachings of men for the glory of the Lord God doth lighten it and the Lamb is the Light thereof And the Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the Light of it and the Kings of the Earth bring their glory and honour unto it and there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie but they ever which are written in the Lambs Book of Life And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day for there shall be no night there for the Lord God giveth them Light and they shall reign for ever and ever Hallelujah to the Highest To all revolted Souls who have departed from the Councel of the Lord and are made drunk with the wine of the wrath of the Fornication of the Whore bewitched with the Mother of Witchcraft to return into spiritual Sodom and Egypt where our Lord is Crucified WHoever thou art in whom the righteous Law of God Jesus Christ the Light in thee hath cryed through thy earthly heart for Righteousness and Judgment and there thou didst stand arraigned before the Throne of the Lamb where the Book was opened in thee and written therein all the deeds thou hast done in the body and the Sentence of Wrath and Judgement passed out of the mouth of the Lamb on thee for every idle word and all that thou hast done and in this thy condemned estate thou rann'st to and fro to hide thee from the Wrath of the Lamb in reforming thy wayes and strictly observing what thou wast convinced of to be the Will of God but what way soever thou turnedst in thy obedience towards God to get life thither the flaming Sword turned that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lamb and cut thee down and cast thee into Hell where thou layest weeping and wailing under the Wrath of God sealed down under his eternal Judgment for evermore for any help or power thou hadst in thy self until Jesus Christ manifested eternal Love and Mercy freely to thy poor lost condemned soul and raised thee up to a lively hope and sealed thee up in the Covenant of Life with his own blood Now after the Witnesses have sealed up their Testimony the Beast which is thy will that ascends out of the bottomless Pit of thy deceived heart which is deceitfull and desperately wicked hath made war against the Witnesses Christ in thee and slain them and they lie dead in the spiritual City of Sodom and Egypt where our Lord is crucified and thou art made drunk with the Wine of the Wrath of the Fornication of the Whore and bewitched with her Witchcrafts who now tells thee Whom he loves he loves to the end and To the pure all things are pure thou art no more under the Law but under Grace and all things are alike that when thou disobeyest the pure Law which once had power over thee and it witnesseth against thee secretly crying in thy heart Use thy liberty but not as an occasion to the flesh thou regardest not the Counsel of the Lord but hearkens to the Mother of Harlots in thee and causeth thee to wrest the Scriptures to thine own destruction and tells thee the Law hath no power over thee thou art under Grace it is but the Law in thy members that wars against the Law in thy mind the acting of the humanity which acts in its place that the Grace of God may appear more gloriously God sees no sin in thee for it is no more thou but sin that dwells in thee and the former misery thou wast in under the Wrath of God for the disobeying of the Righteous Law thou now treadest under thy feet and lies slain in spiritual Sodom and Egypt in thy heart yet not put in grave but lies in thy sight and lets thee see the evil of thy doings and vexes and torments thy earthly and carnal heart in the midst of all thy joy but the Whore in thee tells thee that the former trouble thou wast in it was through the ignorance of God but now thou art grown up to a higher stature in Christ to see nothing but Love in whatsoever thou dost and now thou knowst nothing but to eat and to drink and be merry for the Children of the Bride-Chamber cannot mourn while the Bridegroom is with them time was thou didst mourn but it was when the Bridegroom was not with thee but now the Winter is past and Summer come and singing of Birds is heard in thy Land and now wash thy face and anoint thy head with Oyl that thou appear no more before men as thou didst when thou wast a Pharisee Now to be a friend to Publicans and Sinners and become all to all that thou mayest win some and whatever thou dost it is God that acts thee for thou art not stronger then he to resist him and if he would have it otherwayes how couldst thou hinder it so it is as it must be and it cannot be otherwise Thus the subtil Serpent windes into the mind of man and causes him to wrest the Scriptures to his own destruction to draw back into Perdition Wo wo unto thee thou backslider in heart who chargest God who is Purity it self to be the author of Sin and the actor of thee in all thy filthy and unrighteous walking and hast turned the Grace of God into wantonness
endeavours to blind the mind not the brain-knowledge but the hearty-feeling sence within in the mind lest the Light within should so shine as God should heal them and all the buslings of Satan with his gifts are but to blind the mind within lest God should heal the soul that complains to him from the true sight and sence of his Misery as in himself By this Grace and Gift within we believe That to Vs though in the world there be Lords many and Gods many there is but ONE GOD the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ witnessed within man only by the Spirit of Truth that manifests both the Father and the Son and yet these three are one and agree in one and he that honours the Father honours the Son that proceeds from him and he that denies the Spirit denies both the Father and the Son and is Anti-Christ but he that believes in the Spirit and is led by it is the Son of God Rom. 8.14 As many as are the Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God We believe The Scriptures bare witness unto and testifie of Christ but they say The Witness of God is greater than them The Spirit it self bearing witness with our spirits that we are the Sons of God for it is not the Scriptures without the Spirit nor the Spirit contrary to the Scriptures but the Spirits discovering the Will of God in the heart or opening of the Scriptures in its own time and way and not in or by the will of man but as it self pleaseth who searcheth all even the deep things of God and manifests them unto the Soul which giveth the perfect sound and saving knowledge for said Christ The Spirit shall take of mine and shew them unto you And as holy men gave forth the Scriptures 2 Pet. 1.21 so holy men and they only come truly to understand them and not proud and ungodly men because their hearts and lives do not answer the hearts and lives of those that gave them forth aâ— face answereth face in a Glass And this we believe to be the reason why so long preaching by men of corrupt minds who have and do handle the words deceitfully for selfish ends and filthy lucre sake hath brought forth so little fruit and been to so little purpose except to their Purses and Bellies for had they believed and thereforâ— spoken and stood in Gods Counsel they shoulâ— have profited their Hearers Jer. 23.21 22 23 to the end Through this Gift we believe Thaâ— Christ Iesus the Son of God was manifest in the flesh in the fulness of time And this we know by the same Spirit by which our Fathers believed he should come and Abraham saw his day by the same we do believe he is come and do see his day as also by the Prophets and Apostles Writing which twofold Cord is not easily broken We believe also according to the Scriptures of Truth That this same Jesus hath God highly exalted and given him a Name above every name that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have Everlasting Life and that there is not another name whereby man can be saved than this Name of Jesus Christ nor is Remission of Sins to be preached by any other name But as we do not believe that the outward Letters and Syllables are that Name that is to be bowed to by the outward knee no more than the Letters or Syllables in the words God or Spirit seeing the Scripture saith Vnto God who is a Spirit every knee shall bow Isa 45.23 but the Name which saves is the Power and Arm of God that brings Salvation from Sin and makes every Soul that names it to depart from Iniquity This is that Name which was preached and which is preached through Faith in which Name Remission of Sin is obtained Therefore was the outward word Jesus given him as his outward name Thou shalt call his Name JESVS for he shall save his People from their Sins Mark for he shall save c. So that which saves is the Name which is to be believed in which is that Arm of God that brings Salvation when no eye pitties neither is there any to help the Power of God that then saves is that Grace that comes from the fulness of Christ the Saviour And without this virtue Christ and Jesus are but empty names 1 Cor. 12.3 No man can say that Jesus is the LORD but by the holy Ghost We believe also That this Jesus died for or because of Sin and rose again for the Justification of those that believe in him as well as to manifest to all the world that he was the Son of God and that he thereby spoiled Principalities and Powers and triumphed over them openly and led Captivity captive in his own person yet we believe and know by his Grace in our hearts that as his Name Jesus without Vertue and Power is but an empty word so his Dying without man's Conformity to his Death or being planted into the likeness thereof or being crucified with Christ as saith the Scripture Rom. 6.2 3 4 5 6. Gal. 2.20 will not profit man as to the Salvation of his Soul no more than the naming of his outward name Jesus doth at this day make people to depart from Iniquity For we believe and are sure that man must dye inwardly as well as Christ died outwardly and must be put to death in his flesh as Christ was in his for he that is in the flesh cannot please God Rom. 8.8 neither cease from sin but he that is dead is freed from sin Rom. 6.7 And yet mans dying unto Sin and the Root and Principle of it in himself is so far from making void Christ's Death in his own person that it establlsheth it to all those ends and purposes for which it was intended of the Father As the Cures which the Physitian doth manifest and establish his skill and ability so doth mans dying unto Sin and Self and living unto God manifest and establish the Vertue and Power of Christ's Death for as man manifests his being risen with Christ by his seeking the things that are above Col. 3.1 2. so doth he manifest his knowledge of the Death of Christ by his being crucified with Christ and bearing about in his body the dyings of the Lord Jesus for as it is not an outward belief gathered from the Letter that will change the heart and life though the Judgment and Opinion it may so it is not a belief from the History or Letter only that can give man a saving-knowledge of the Death of Christ but he must have the same Glory and Power of the Father in measure working in him there to beget Faith in his heart that he may believe unto Salvation from his own filthiness and righteousness as well as confess with his mouth Rom. 10. and must have that Spirit in him quickning his mortal body as well as to believe that it was in Christ and raised
foolishness whose beauty and excellency is hid from its eye But this is because the wisdom of man is out of its place not subjected to the Wisdom of God but exalted above it therefore as a curse unto it is it suffered to lift up it self in its conceitfulness against and so to persecute the pure Wisdom of God and the birth thereof that it might fall and be broken and snared and taken and its day deservedly come to an end and be shut up in the shadows and chambers of eternal darkness But what ear of Man can hear this Surely none that is whole in the line of Man's wisdom reason and understanding but that alone which is bruised broken and in some measure dashed to pieces by the inroads of a diviner Life and Nature This in the Leading of that Life which hath broken it and in the shinings of the Light eternal upon it and into it may be enabled to take up the Cross to the natural part and to die that Death with Christ which preserves from the second Death with the misery thereof Happy is he who knows and hearkens to the Perswasions of Gods Spirit who is born of God and taught to wait upon him and worship him in Spirit who receives his Religion from the Light of Faith into the renewed Nature and Mind and not from the Reason of Man into the natural understanding which is easily corrupted and cannot be kept pure but alone by the indwelling of the Principle of Eternal Life in it For though such may suffer very deeply in this World from the men of this World as the Subjects and Servants to the Principle of Life have done in all Ages and Generations yet their Principle will bear them out in which God will appear to strengthen and refresh their spirits and carry them up above all their Sufferings in the Patience Meekness and Faith of the Lamb And keeping to their Principle they cannot be overcome but must either live or die Conquerors according to the will and good pleasure of Him who ordereth and disposeth of all things well and bringeth good out of every evil in despite of all the Powers of Darkness And he that overcometh whether by life or death in the Lamb's Spirit shall wear the Lamb's Crown and sit down in that perfect Rest in the Kingdom of the Father which will give the hearts of all his Children full Satisfaction In which assured hope Life stirring in our bosoms and quickning our hearts with Love unto our God and Zeal for his Truth we can freely give up all that is near and dear unto uâ— in this World and lay down our heads iâ— inward Peace in the midst of the greatesâ— outward Persecution and Trouble Eveâ— so O Lord thy Will be done concerning theâ— Generation of thy People whom thou hast begotten to thy Self and brought forth by thy mighty Power to testifie to thy Truth in thiâ— present day Dispose of them as it pleaseth Thee and let not their Faith in thee nor thy Faithfulness to them fail but let them be 〈◊〉 Praise to thy Name throughout all Generations and tendered by Thee as the First-fruits of thine Appearance in the Glorious Light of the Everlasting Day after this great long thick and dark Night of Apostacy from the Life and Spirit of the Apostles which hath so long eclipsed and covered the brightness of thy Beauty from the sight of the Earth Isaac Pennington A Declaration to all the World of our Faith and what we believe who are called Quakers ALSO What Ministers and Magistrates we own and what and whom we deny Concerning God Christ and the Spirit thus we believe FIrst That there is only one true God who is a Spirit and his Presence filleth Heaven and Earth he is Eternal and Everlasting the Creator and Preserver of all things That Heaven and Earth and all things therein by him were framed and brought forth and all things remain unto this day by his Power and whatsoever hâ— willeth in Heaven and Earth he brings to pass by his Word and Power And we believe That this God onely is and ought to be feared loved obeyed and worshipped by all Creatures and no other thing besides him in Heaven and Earth and we believe that his Worship and Obedience and Fear and Love is to be given in Spirit even in what his own Spirit moveth and leadeth his people unto And we believe his True Worship required and accepted of him is not by the tradition of men in outward observances or set dayes or places but he is worshippeâ— only in Spirit and Truth without respect oâ— times places or things and that none caâ— worship him in Righteousness but his Children who are born of his Spirit and are leâ— and guided thereby And we believe That this God hath given his Son Christ Jesus into the World a free Gift unto the whole World and thaâ— every man that cometh into the World iâ— lighted by him that every man may believâ— and be saved And we believe That he is given intâ— the World and no Nation Country oâ— People excepted but to all mankind he is given of God and hath enlightened them And every man through the world that beâ—ieveth in and receiveth Christ who is â—he Wisdom and Power of the Father shall be saved with eternal Salvation And eveâ—y one that believeth not in him shall be damned and shall possess everlasting misery And we believe That Salvation Justification and Sanctification is onely in Him wrought by him and no other for there is no other Name given under Heaven but Him alone by which Salvation is and we beâ—ieve all that receive him and believe â—n him are reconciled to God and are made alive to God to live to him in all things and do receive the forgiveness of Sins and are set free from all unrighteousness and from the body of Sin and Death and have the witness of the Spirit â—n them and the Spirit of the Father they have received and it witnesseth in them of the Father and of the Son and of the things that belong to their peace and it is the Earnest of the Inheritance and the Seal of the Promise of Eternal Life and by it are the deep things of God revealed to mankind and by it the Father and the Son dwell in the Saints and by it they have fellowship one with another and thâ— Father Son and Spirit are one And thiâ— we faithfully believe Again concerning Christ we believe That he is one with the Father and waâ— with the Father before the World was and what the Father worketh is by the Son for he is the Arm of Gods Salvation and the very Power and Wisdom of the Creator and was is and is to come without beginning or end And we believe That all the Prophetâ— gave Testimony of him and that he waâ— made manifest in Judea and Jerusalem anâ— did the Work of the Father and was persecuted of the Jews and was crucified by
That all Governouâ—â— and Rulers ought to be accountable to thâ— People and to the next succeeding Ruler for all their actions which may be enquireâ— into upon occasion and that the chiefe of the Rulers be subject under the Law and punishable by it if they be transgreâ—sors as well as the poorest of the Peoplâ— And thus true Judgment and Justice wiâ—â— be brought forth in the Earth and all that do well will have praise and live in Rest and Peace that all Evil-doers whatsoever my stand in awe and be afraid of God and Just men and the execution of good Laws Concerning Religion we believe That it is only the Spirit of the Lord that makes men truly Religious and no man ought to be compelled to or from any exercise or practise in Religion by any outward Law or Power but every man ought to be left free as the Lord shall perswade his own mind in doing or leaving undone this or the other practice in Religion and every man of what profession in Religion soever ought to be protected in peace provided himself be a man of peace not seeking the wrong of any mans Person or Estate And we believe That to reprove false Opinions and unsound Doctrines and Principles seeking to convince them that oppose themselves by Exhortation or sharp Reproof by word or writing ought not to be counted a breach of the Peace or to strive about the things of the Kingdom of God by men of contrary minds or judgments this ought not to be punished by the Magistrates and their Laws for we believe that the outward Laws and Powers of the Earth are only to preserve mens Persons and Estates and not to preserve men in Opinions neither ought the Laws of the Nation to be laid upon mens Consciences to bind them to or from such a Judgment or Practice in Religion And we believe That Christ is and ought only to be Lord and Exerciser of mens Consciences and his Spirit must only lead into alâ— Truth And we believe That Obedience and Subjection in the Lord belongs to Superiors and that Subjects ought to obey them in the Lord that have rule over them and that Children ought to obey their Parents and Wives their Husbands and Servants their Masters in all things which is according to God which stand in the exercise of a pure Conscience towards God But where Rulers Parents or Masters or any other command or require Subjection in any thing which is contrary to God or not according to him in such cases all People are free and ought to obey God rather then man and we believe that herein God will justifie them being guided and led by his Spirt in all that which is good and out of all that which is evil Again We believe concerning Election and Reprobation That there is a state of Election and a state of Reprobation a state chosen of God and a state rejected of God and that all mankind are in one of these states all that are elected are elected in Christ and all that are out of him are in the state Reprobate bringing forth fruits of Death and Darkness being Children of Wrath and Disobedience in the Alienation and Separation from God in the Transgression unreconciled to God the Enmity ruling in the heart being in the Fall and not restored to God again but ignorant of his Power and Wisdom having the understanding darkened that they cannot see nor perceive the things that are Eternal And in this condition his best Works are Sin and whatsoever he doth he cannot be accepted with God for he is dead to God and alive to all Evil bringing forth all his Works out of that ground which is cursed This is the condition of all mankind upon the face of the Earth in the first Adam and this is the state of Reprobation and all that abide herein are rejected of God and shall never inherit eternal Life but go into Perdition yet have all such a day of Visitation that they may return out of the state of Reprobation but hating knowledge and despising the Love of God they continue in the state Reprobate and the Wrath of God abides upon them but they that are chosen of God are delivered â—rom Wrath for they believe in the Light and become Children of the Light and are renewed in mind and heart and receive the love of the Father and become planted into Christ the second Adam and are chosen in him to bring forth fruit unto the Father and all their Fruit springeth from that ground which is blessed for they are led by the Spirit of the Father and such are in the state of Election who are made Heirs with Christ of the everlasting Inheritance that never fades away And this we faithfully believe that Mercy is not shewed to the Reprobate nor Judgment to them that are chosen of God And this is to go abroad into the World that all People may understand what we believe and what we have received of God And they that believe this and walk therein by the Spirit of the Father shall be saved but they that believe not but are disobedient to the Truth shall be condemned because they do not believe Much more might be written but in short this is given forth by one that hath believed and received the knowledge of these things from God A Friend unto all People Edward Burrough To all that say we whom the World do in scorn call Quakers do deny Ministers and Magistrates These things I write unto you to give you in short an understanding what Ministers and Magistrates we own and what and whom we deny 1. SUch Ministers as are made by God who are sanctified by his Word and Power who have freely received perfect Gifts from God and so by the Spirit and Power of God are sent forth into the world to turn the People from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to the Power of God who freely ministeâ— unto others without coveting any manâ— Gold or Silver or Apparel not seeking theirs but them Warning every maâ— and teaching every man in all Wisdom that they may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus Such as minister from thâ— Spirit and have the Word of God abiding in them who are never unprovided buâ— at all times and seasons and in all places do speak and declare the Truth as they are moved and instructed and as the Spirit of Truth doth give them utterance Such Ministers we own and have in great esteem for their works sake Gal. 1.1 12. Joh. 15.3 Eph. 4.7 8 11 12 13. Acts 26.15 16 17 18. Matth 10.8 Acts 20.33 2 Corinth 12.14 Collos 1.27 28 29. 2 Corinth 3.6 John 15.3 4 5 6 7. John 4.10 14. and 7.38 39. 2 Tim 4.2 3. Acts 2.4 But such as are brought up at Schools and Colledges and so made Ministers by the will of man who have not freely received perfect gifts from God for perfecting of the Saints but denies
Perfection and so denies the Ministers work neither do minister freely but seek for gain from â—heir Quarters and will not preach without a price who are not sanctified by the Word of God but plead for a continuance in Sin while people walk upon the Earth Such as minister from the Letter and not from the Spirit who cannot preach except they have time to study and so by their industry provide themselves and â—re not provided of the Lord such a Ministry is of Works and not the Free Gift from God such cannot profit people but â—ead them captive in an empty and dead Form alwayes learning but never able to come to the true knowledge of God such calâ—ed Ministers we do deny and turn from them and testifie against them as the hoâ—y men of God formerly did read Isaiah 56.10 11. Jer. 5.30 31. Mic. 3.11 1 Cor. 1.19 20 26 27 28 29. and chap 2.10 11. Jer. 23.22 30 31 32 Isaiah 56.10 11. Phil. 3.18 19. Jude 11. John 8.24 1 John 3.8 Jer. 23.15 16 17. 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. Ezek. 34. Hosea 6.9 Matth. 23. 1 Tim. 5.6 10 11. 2 Tim. 3. 2 Pet. 2. 2. Such Magistrates who rule for God who be men of Truth fearing God and hating Covetousness who execute true Justice and Judgment in the Earth without partiality not respecting the persons of the Rich nor despising the persons of thâ— Poor but in Truth and Equity giving to every one his due and portion according to the Law of Equity who neither sees nor receive honour from men but see the honour that comes from God onely who are a terror to Evil-doers but a praiâ— to them that do well such Magistrates wâ— own and in the Lord honour Exod. 18.21 Deut. 16.18 19 20. John 5.41 4â— Rom. 13.3 4. But such Magistrates who be proud anâ— lofty who rule not for God but for themselves who love the praise of men anâ— judge for gifts and rewards and love money which is the root of all evil who respect the rich in their gay cloathing abovâ— the poor in vile rayment who seek anâ— receive honour of men and if they 〈◊〉 not honoured with that which they see for turns Judgment backward that Equiâ— cannot enter such as be wrathfull and malicious cannot rule for God such are eâ—couragers of Vice and Wickedness anâ— turn their Sword backward against the Uâ— right and Innocent who reprove sin iâ— the gate such Magistrates we do deny and testifie against for when the Wicked bear rule the Righteous mourn and the Evil-doers rejoyce over them and mock and reproach them Isa 2.11 12 c. Isa 1. â—1 23. John 6.43 Mic. 3.11 Jam. 2.1 2 3 4 9. John 5.44 Isa 59.13 14 15. â—sa 29.21 Prov. 29.2 Such as live in Pride and Pleasures and â—ollow ungodly Lusts and wicked practiâ—es deny God though in words they may â—rofess him even so all such as do evil who follows Drunkenness Oaths Games â—ain Sports and Pleasures and such like â—ngodly actions do deny disgrace and â—reatly dishonour both Ministers and Maâ—istrates though in words they may own â—hem and bow the Hat and Knee and give â—ttering Titles unto them Tit. 1.16 Pasm 15. Hosea 4. James 1.25 Job 32.1 22. To walk Soberly Righteously and doâ—g Justly according as the Grace of God which brings Salvation doth teach an diâ—ect is a sweet savour to the Lord and true owning and in the Lord honouring â—ue Ministers and Magistrates Micah 6. 8. Tit. 2.11 12. Psal 51.17 Isa 57.15 Rom 13.3 But to walk loosly and prophanely doing wicked and unjust actions turning thâ— Grace of God into wantonness Sucâ— are an ill savour to God and denies anâ— dishonours True Ministers and Magistrateâ— James 3.14 15 16. Jude 4. Isa 59.2 3 c. True Honour doth not consist in bowing the Hat and Knee and such like thing for that is the honour below which meâ— seek and receive one of another whicâ— is in the unbelief but in the obediencâ— of the Magistrates just Commands whâ— are a Terror to wickedness but a Praise 〈◊〉 them that do well For the Law wâ— not made for the Righteous who feâ— God and live uprightly but for thâ— Lawless who are out of Gods Fear whâ— live wickedly casting the Law of God behind their backs John 5.44 Romans 1â— 3 4. 1 Tim. 1.8 9 10. Psalm 50 1â— 17. So this may certifie all whom this mâ— come unto that we do not deny Ministerâ— nor Magistrates who are made and ordained by God but honour them in thâ— Lord let our Lives and Conversations and That of God in all your Consciences judge for if all were brought into our Life the Magistrate should live at peace and so as the eyes of your understandings come to be opened with true Light you will see that those who live Soberly and Righteously do own and honour Ministers and Magisrates though they cannot for conscience sake respect their persons nor give them flattering Titles as your Highness your Lordship your Worship and such like for such belong to God For Christ Jesus said I receive not honour from man and saith he How can you believe that receive honour one of another and seeks not the honour that comes from God only Gal. 1.11 12. Rom. 13.1 Deut. 16.18 19. John 1.9 Jam. 2.1 2 3 4 9. John 5.44 Read with understanding prove all things hold fast that which is good 1 Thes 5.21 A. Parker To all that want Peace with God Tâ— the Sheep every where not broughâ— home To the thirty breathing Souâ— and to the Seed though in Captivity among and in the midst of 〈◊〉 Professors Greetings of Love Mercy and Peace from God the Father 〈◊〉 the Living VVHere the Bowels are not shut up nor the Heart darkened anâ— where that doth not bear rule which stoppeth the ear and closeth the eye anâ— where prejudice and Rebellion againâ— the Light with the wisdom of the flesâ— through that knowledge which puffeth uâ— hath not wholly eaten up devoured gâ— over and wholly overcome that Tendâ— Principle which once moved in thâ— heart towards that Beeing of the Livinâ— Substance there may my words taâ— entrance and unto such who feel thâ— which breaths to God and who are wiâ—ling to be satisfied concerning the Livinâ— Truth of his Son and who would receive the Truth if they knew it and do yet more desire after the Power of God then all the temporal things that are seen and who are yet come no further than the reading of the Law the Priests Tythes and that Religion that makes nothing perfect and who are come no further then the outward Baptism or Shadow or Figure or such things which are to be left behind Hebr. 6. or who are come no further than the Supper or the Death and so not yet saved by his Life nor drunk of that which saveth and is to cleanse from all that which separateth from God after whom and the incomes of his Love immortal whosoever
now before they had received the Spirit of Truth in themselves by and with that to be led into all Truth but might receive the power of truth in themselves from the Life thereof to convert others into the same therefore said he further after he was risen again But tarry ye in the City of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high Mark 24.4 so that though they had seen his body before and had now seen him after his Resurrection yet that and all the rest was not enough without the Power and the Spirit which was to come which they were to wait for And so now men should tarry wait and stand still to see the Salvation of God and until they receive the Spirit for it is the Spirit not the body which searcheth all things and sheweth plainly of the Father And by this before written in short I have a little endeavoured to shew unto the meek and single-hearted that Moses when he was upon Earth directed unto Christ As in these words The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee of thy Brethren like unto me unto him shall ye hearken Deut. 18.15 And Christ when he was upon Earth directed unto the Spirit which was to come in like words saying These things have I spoken unto you being yet present with you but the Comforter which is the holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my Name he shall teach you all things John 14.25 26. And then what if I did write after the manner of men and say If Moses were now upon the Earth and Christ in his own body upon the Earth and Moses with all his Priests Tythâ—s and Offerings and Religion which discovers Sin but makes nothing perfect which Paul profitted much in If he I say should command and exhort all people under his Ministry to go to Christ and hear him And if Christ were now upon Earth and notwithstanding his outward Miracles Circumcision Baptism Supper and Death yet he should command and exhort all that come through the Law or Ministration of Moses unto him to look and tarry and wait for another Comforter that they might receive the Spirit in them and say unto them that that should teach them all things and lead them into all Truth Then whether or no people were to continue following Mose's Priests with their Tythes and long Prayers and still be seeking the Law at their mouth or to come to Christ to seek the Gospel for Moses himself did not say that they should seek the Gospel at the Priests mouth And then when did the Priests ever preach the Gospel And then whether those obey not Moses who leave the Priests and come to Christ the Light and whether such when they are come to Christ should alwayes be looking and following after his Body Miracles Baptism or Supper without them or tarry and wait to receive the Spirit within them And then which of these now should all people that profess Christ be led by in these dayes either Moses or the Person of Christ or the Spirit of Truth And whether such as have received and are truly indeed led by this Spirit of Truth and know that to be their Teacher and follow it and are ruled governed and guided by it according to the Command of Moses and Christ do not hereby obey the command of Moses and Christ and fulfil their Doctrine And whether any other People or Professors whatsoever do obey the Command of Moses and Christ but only such And whether this be not a thing of great concernment to be known and learned by all who profess Christianity But why then do People follow these Priests of England any longer which are contrary to Moses and also to Christ who have no Store-houses but suffer the poor to want within and without and the Widow and the Stranger ready to perish and moreover devour and can never have enough of the Spoil of other mens goods And why do others dispute about and talk of the Body so much which they never saw nor knew And is it not better be silent and know God who dwells in his People and the Spirit of Truth which he requires in the inward parts and to feel after God even the Life in themselves because the Apostle said they were saved by his Life being before reconciled by his Death Rom. 5.10 and until the Life came there were many things which they were not saved from by his Body for the Body was before the Death and the Death which reconciles was passed through before the Life was received again to save and justifie And why then are People so much busied about that which was before the Reconciliation and so therein much short of the Life and for outward Bread Wine and Water Are not these things which are seen And are not the things that are seen Temporal But Christ the true Prophet being come of whom Moses did write who is the end of the Law and so the end of that Ministry whereby that is done away for the weakness and unprofitablenesâ— thereof and Christ coming after John oâ— whom John bare witness that he was before and greater and came after him and Christ also having finished that which he himself came to do and likewisâ— so largely and often Exhorted to waiâ— for another Comforter even the Spirit oâ— Truth Then what Ministration is it that now standeth and remaineth which is accordinâ— both to Moses Christ and the holy Scriptures and what Ministration is to be expected or waited for but the Ministratioâ— of the Spirit And whether all they be noâ— compassed about with a cloud of Error whâ— are upholding that Ministry of the Law or a worse which Christ is the end of and the Apostles said was done away and likewise such as are upholding and keeping up that which Christ said he had finished And whether the upholding of such thingâ— now be not quite opposite both to Moses Christ and Scriptures And being that Moses nor indeed hiâ— true Ministers of the Law are not upâ—â— Earth neither that Body of Christ which by the Professors was murthered at Jerusalem visibly to be seen upon Earth then what was it those have to follow who have not received the Spirit to be led by and if they will say they have the Writings of Moses and the Word of Christ I say if that be all then they that forsook and denied Christ had more than them for they had the words from his own mouth which were Spirit and Life and yet they understood not and then what do those understand who have not so much as they had therefore after he had suffered and rose again he opened their understandings And so what is all their Religion worth who are not come to the Spirit And whether Moses Ministration being ended by Christ and Christ also having finished his work are not all people in the first place now to wait for the Spirit and
feel and enjoy the thing it self which the words declare of and that which satisfieth the true thirsting-soul comes clearly from God to the refreshing of the inward parts of man and filling of the empty barren hungry spirit which cannot be satisfied without Gods in-dwellings and thus the Disciples were led along and at last in a foolish way to the great Professors they waited among them in Jerusalem and the Lord had regard unto them and senâ— his own Spirit unto them and then they were filled with the Holy Ghost And the secret invisible hand of God whose Power was and is felt in my heart having out of the sight of flesh and blood in the hidden counsel of his secret Wilâ— led me by the vertue of the operation anâ— drawings thereof through those thing which thereby I come to leave behinde and to receive and feel that which noâ— goeth before and is my Leader in whosâ— Covenant of Life Eternal my soul is noâ— satisfied and so by good experience oâ— the Lords leadings and from an experimental knowledge sensible feeling anâ— present enjoyment of the incomes of thâ— Spirit of Truth and Life which filled the inward parts with the Holiness of iâ— self and giveth power to do the thing required before of God even from thâ— right and good understanding thereof iâ— this written That where it meets with the like condition in a weary Traveller iâ— may answer its own and be helpfull to thâ— weak and feeble that such may not givâ— over pressing forwards nor faint in their long travel though many Mountains on which they did nourish themselves for a time will not yeeld them Bread now yet that they may with me and the rest of the Followers and Friends of Christ past and present always continue following the Spirit as it leads until the inward man be filled therewith and so power and strength from God come to be known and received in every particular For thus it is with Christs Followers now they are not satisfied until they are filled with that which they have heard of and their souls thirsted after and so it was with them then and they were filled with what they wanted before and then from that which they were filled with they spoke forth and so they did teach the Nations and brought People under the Power of God and baptized them into that and dipt them into the Name of the Father and brought them under that which saveth from Sin and plunged them into the holy Spirit and as they teach'd they did this baptizing as they did teach and plunging them as their doctrine went forth into that which washeth and purifieth the Conscience from the filth and guilt of Sin of which the outward Baptism waâ— a figure of this which saveth and so their Doctrine was from an inward Life and proceeded from that which was invisible and so reached to that which wanted life in the Hearers and so brought up the Power of God over them and them under it and into it for the Word is Into and they were to bring people into the Name not Water and they were to bring or baptize them into the Name as they did teach Go ye and teach baptizing into Baptizing is in the Present Tense when they did teach and so here the spiritual and inward Baptism goes along with the Preaching of the Word of Life which is inward and brings man into an inward enjoyment of God being baptized into his Name which is a Strong Tower which preserveth from the power of the Devil and we all who are brought into this and are come in here are all by one Spirit baptized into one Body and so worship God in the Spirit having the heart sprinkled from an evil Conscience by the washing of Regeneration in the Ministration of the Gospel of Peace whereby there is a drawing nigh to God being brought into his Name and a free access to the Throne of â—hat Grace which saveth from and out of â—ll filthiness of flesh and spirit Humphrey Smith The Discovery of Mans return to his first Estate by the Operation of the Power of God in the great work of Regeneration ALL Men and Women behold and see in what estate you were created And God said Let us make Man in our Image God created Man in his own Image and in the Image of God created he him male and female created he them And the Lord took Man and put him in the Garden of Eden to dress and keep it And the Lord God commanded the Man saying Of every Tree in the Garden thou mayst freely eat but of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for iâ— the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surâ— dye the death The Serpent was more subtile than 〈◊〉 beast of the field which the Lord God bâ— made he said unto the Woman Ye shall nâ—â— surely dye for God doth know that in the dâ—â— you eat thereof your eyes shall be opened aâ— ye shall be as God knowing good and evil And when the Woman saw the Tree wâ—â— good for food and that it was pleasant unâ—â— the eyes and a tree to be desired to make 〈◊〉 wise she took the fruit thereof and did eaâ— and gave also to her husband with her 〈◊〉 he did eat And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig-leaves together and made thâ—â— Aprons And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day and Adam and his Wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the Trees of the Garden and the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him Where art thou And he said I heard thy Voice in the Garden and was afraid and because I was naked I hid my self and he said Who told thee that thou wast naked hast thou eaten of the Tree wherof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat And the Man said The Woman whom thou gavest to be with me she gave me of the Tree and I did eat And the Lord God said unto the Woman What is this that thou hast done The Woman said The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat And the Lord God said unto the Serpent Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all Cattel and above every Beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the dayes of thy life And I will put enmity betwixt thee and the Woman and betwixt thy seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel And the Lord God said Behold this Man is become as one of us to know good and evil and now lest he put forth his hand take also of the Tree of Life and eat and live for ever Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken and he drove out
after and he that gets the most is highest exalted so every one is exalted above another and there is nothing but Tyranny Cruelty and Oppression among you you sons and daughters of Babylon And in her was found the blood of the Prophets and of the Sains and all that were slain upon the Earth The Merchants of Babylon are your Teachers who draw you from your Guide which is the pure Light of Christ in you to seek the Kingdom of God in observations without you contrary to the mind of Christ The Kingdom of God comes not with observations neither shall they say Lo here or Lo there for behold the Kingdom of God is within you But these your Merchants have no Scripture for their Merchandize which they sell to you enslaved Captives for so many hundreds in the year and is paid in the Nation or elsewhere for these observations they tell you you must observe or else you cannot come to the Kingdom of Heaven though they are contrary to the Scripture as are practised by them there is no Scripture that witnesseth their call to the Ministry by humane wisdom Not many great not many noble not many wise after the flesh There is no Scripture which testifies of any that Jesus Christ sent forth that made a Bargain with the People for so much a year as these do that profess themselves to be sent of Christ This is the call of the Ministers of Christ Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ neither of man nor by man but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ I send you forth saith Jesus Christ as Lambs among Wolves Into what Town or City ye enter enquire who is worthy and if they receive you there abide eating such things as is set before you the Labourer is worthy of his meat freely ye have received freely minister Those whom Jesus Christ commits the Word of Eternal life unto and calls them forth to declare it unto others the Love of Jesus Christ which is sealed up to their souls through his own blood constrains them to give up themselves to death in witnessing forth the Eternal Life they enjoy in Christ as it was it is The Love of Christ constraineth me to preach the Gospel saith Paul But these your Merchants are they which have forsaken the right way and are gone astray following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor who loved the wages of unrighteousness And as there is no Scripture for their call to the Ministry by their human learning nor making bargains with the people for so much in the year so there is no Scripture for these observations they call the Ordinances of God as they are practised by them There is no Scripture that Christ or any that he sent forth did take a Child and sprinkle water on its face and said in so doing they baptized it into the Church of Christ Suffer little Children to come unto me saith Christ and forbid them not for of such is the Kingdom of God for whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little Child shall not enter therein He sets the Child as a type and a figure to shew forth to every one that they must become as a little Child depending upon the Will of God before they enter into the Kingdom of God He took them up in his arms and put his hands on them and blessed them but that he sprinkled water on their faces and said He baptized them into his Church there is no such Scripture Another observation your Teachers tell you you must observe is hearing these Studied Sermons in taking a part of Scripture and adding to it their wisdom calls it The Word of God which is contrary to the Scripture but they say They have Christ for an example There was delivered to him the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and when he had opened the Book he found where it was written The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel unto the poor he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted to preach deliverance to the Captives and recovering of the sight of the blind and to set at liberty them that are bruised to preach the acceptable year of the Lord And he closed the Book and sate down and he began to say unto them This day is the Scripture fulfilled in your ears And all bare him witness and wondred at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth He was the substance of the Prophesie which was then fulfilled in him This is no ground for any to take the Saints words and to add to it their wisdom and call that the Word of God The Prophet that hath a Dream let him tell a Dream He that hath my Word let him speak my Word faithfully What is the Chaff to the Wheat saith the Lord Is not my word like a fire and like a hammer saith the Lord that breaks the Rocks in pieces All to whom the Word of the Lord is committed can witness it to be as a fire within them and as a hammer that breaketh the rocks in pieces subjecting all in the heart under the power of it self so it alone rules and guides him that he is what he speaks that if he had never seen any thing that the Saints have declared without him he had known what is manifest in him and he to whom the Word is thus made manifest is a true Minister of Christ who is called to speak the Word faithfully But these that call themselves your Teachers and make bargains with you for so much by the year they never witnessed the word of the Lord in them as a fire and like a hammer that breaketh the Rocks in pieces so they never had any thing to have spoken of the Lord but as they have stoln it from the testimony of the Saints So they speak a divination of their own brain a riddle to their own hearts and whilst they speak to others themselves are cast-aways And the Lord testifies against them Behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that steal my Word every one from his Neighbour 〈…〉 Behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that use their tongue and say He saith Behold I am against them that prophesie false Dreams saith the Lord and to tell them and cause my People to err by their Lyes and by their lightness yet I sent them not nor commanded them therefore they shall not profit the People at all saith the Lord And this fruit is made manifest of the Ministry that hath been in England Another Observation your Teachers bid you observe which is contrary to Scripture as it is practised by them in singing of David's Psalms in Meeter taking David's words who was a man after Gods own heart and putting words into the mouthes of poor ignorant People to sing that which they never knew and so causeth them to blaspheme the Name of God saying Let us sing to the Praise and Glory of
God As O Lord I am not puft in mind I have no scornfull eye I do not exercise my self in things that be to high When they never knew any change wrought in their minds and so causeth the People to lye And causing them to sing David's Prayers as O Lord rebuke me not in thy Wrath neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure for thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore for my iniquities are gone over my head as an heavy burthen they are too heavy for me to bear my wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day long And may be none of you in all that place can witness the condition and so blasphemes the Name of God who will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth and this is the rule given out from him If any be afflicted let him pray if any be merry let him sing Psalms And there is none merry but the Ransomed of the Lord who returns to Sion with joy and singing and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away All people may search the Scriptures and see how you have been deceived by your Teachers who have caused you to seek your lost God in carnal and dead observations which they have not any Scripture for all cease from them for the Lord complains of them The Leaders of my People cause them to err saith the Lord of Hosts and now are these Scriptures fulfilled in these men which the Apostle prophesied of This know also That in the last dayes perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous proud boasters blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankfull unholy All people see are not your Teachers so self-lovers before they come at you they must know what they must have covetous griping for much and if you will not give them so much as they can have in another place they will not come at you here is self-love and covetousness manifested without natural affection Truce-breakers false-Accusers Traytors heady high-minded lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God having a Form of Godliness but denying the Power thereof from such the Apostle exhorts to turn away All People behold and see all these Scriptures are fulfilled in your Teachers they speak against Pride and live in it against covetousness and live in it they teach by words to be naturally-affectionated one towards another and they walk contrary causing poor people to pay to maintain them in pride and high ranks in the Earth who can scarce get bread for their bellies and clothes for their backs yet they force them to pay to them being void of all natural affections and they are Truce-breakers breaking all Bonds and Covenants if they can get more money in another place Thus they shew forth to all the world that they are lovers of Pleasures more then lovers of God and have a form of Godliness in words but deny the power thereof from such turn away for of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sin and divers lusts These Scriptures are fulfilled in your Teachers every one hath his particular house to creep into where none must come but themselves or whom they please which is contrary to the practise of Christ or any that he sent forth they went through the Countries Towns Cities Villages according as they were guided by the Spirit of God to declare what he gave them to speak and your Teachers lead silly women captive laden with sin and led away with divers lusts ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth Do not they tell you to look for Christ's coming in such Observations as they set up which is nothing but the inventions of their brains for Christ tells you The Kingdom of God comes not with observations but is within you But many of them deny that the Light in your Conscience which makes manifest the evil of your hearts is the Kingdom of God calling it the light of a corrupt conscience so shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men and will neither enter in themselves to be guided by the pure Light of the Kingdom of Christ within them nor suffer them that are entring in to enter as the Scribes and Pharisees did Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses so do these men resist the Truth men of corrupt minds Reprobates concerning the Faith but they shall proceed no further for their folly shall be made manifest to all men as theirs also was and no man shall buy their Merchandize any more All you enslaved Captives in the Kingdom of Babylon why will you lay out your Money for that which is not Bread and your labour for that which satisfies not hearken diligently unto Jesus Christ the Light that lets you see the evil of your hearts to be guided by it and you shall eat that which is good Encline your ears saith Christ and come unto me hear and your souls shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure Mercies of David Mind the call of a powerful and tender Father in the Lord Jesus who calls Come forth of Babylon my People and touch no unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a Fath r unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord God Almighty Friends prize your times slight not the day of the Lords Mercy for he waits to be gracious and saith I stretch forth my arm all the day long to a backsliding and gainsaying People Every one mind your conditions deal justly with your own hearts see what your hearts have fellowship with and guide your minds for the Kingdom of Christ is within you it is not in observations as your Teachers tell you for they deceive you therefore Christ forewarned us for looking forth at those which would come in the latter dayes that would say Lo here is Christ lo there is Christ as it is in these our dayes some say Lo here is Christ in the Presbyterian practise the Independants say He is there and the Anabaptists say Lo he is here But Friends mind what Christ saith unto you believe them not look not forth the Kingdom of Christ is not in any of those nor in any other outward observations but be warned the Kingdom of Christ is in you and that is the Light that lets you see the evil of your hearts and Christ compares it to a grain of Mustard-seed the least of all Seeds and it grows up above all other herbs and becomes a Tree that the Fowls of the Air lodge therein and he compares it to a little Leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of Meal and it leavened the whole Lump These are earthly parables and figures which Christ layes down speaking to the
earthly and carnal heart of man that he might read his condition within Therefore despise not the day of small things but mind the Counsel of the Lord Jesus the little Light that shines in thy dark heart look upon the figures the parables The little Leaven which is hid in three measures of meal it changeth the whole lump into the nature of it self So the little Light that shine in thy dark heart is the powerfull Word of Faith which was in the beginning by which all things were created and without him was nothing made this Word is Life and the Life is the Light of men and Light shines in Darkness and the Darkness comprehends it not This Light is the Word of Faith the Apostle exhorted to take heed unto Say not in thy heart Who shall ascend up to Heaven to fetch Christ down or down into the deep to fetch him up the Word is nigh thee in thy heart and n thy mouth and this is the Word of Faith which we preach the Vnction of the holy One given of the Father whereby we need not to teach one another but as the Anointing teacheth us which is Truth and no lye which is the sure word of Prophesie whereunto ye do well to take heed as unto a Light shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the Day-Star arise in your hearts All People return within give up your selves freely to be guided by that Light that discovers to you the evil of your hearts and none be discouraged because you see an evil heart but prize the Love of God that discovers it to you and whatever the Light makes manifest to you to be evil Wait on the Lord for Power and he will give thee power to obey and in being faithfull in a little more will be communicated from the Lord so will the Righteous Law be set up in your hearts that will cry through your earthly and carnal hearts for Righteousness and Judgment and so will bring you to an account for every idle word and all deeds done in the body Look up unto the Lord against whom you have sinned and he will arm you with power to what he layes upon you with patience to undergo his Will until all the Powers of the Earth in you be famished and slain under his righteous Judgments then will Judgment be brought forth into Victory that you can no longer live without the loving kindness of your Father in Christ Jesus Now is the Parable fulfilled the little grain of Mustard-Seed grown up above all herbs and the little Leaven hath leavened the whole Lump and the Prodigal starved for ever if his Father receive him not freely into his house Thou that canst witness this condition stand still in the Will of God he will raise up his Seed in thee to trust in his Name and to delight in the Eternal Covenant of Love and Life he hath made with thy soul in the Lord Jesus Christ and will guide thee by the Word of his Power in a way thou knowest not forth of Babylon where thou wast an enslaved Captive under the power of the filthy Beast which is thy will and the Whore the Mother of Witchcrafts which is thy wisdom which enthralled thee under the powers of Darkness to satisfie the Lust of thine own heart which led thee to destruction up to Sion to live by Faith in the Lord Jesus which will purifie thy heart and set thy soul free from under the powers of Darkness into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God where thou shalt sing the Songs of Sion Hallelujahs and Praises for evermore unto the Lord God that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever W. D. To all enslaved hard-hearted and unbelieving Jews in this Nation and elsewhere who are made drunk with the wisdom of the Whore and bewitched through the abundance of her Sorceries to put the Day of the Lord afar off looking for Christs coming in the Spirit as the hard-hearted unbelieving Jews in the Letter did for his coming in the Flesh according to the Promise but they limitted the Holy-One according to their carnal wisdom expected his coming in great pomp and glory and when he came in that poor despised way contrary to their expectations they stumbled at him and would not own him to be their Saviour but rose up against him and put him to death Mat. 27.1 to vers 50. BEhold you hard hearted and unbelieving Jews do you not look for Christ coming in the Spirit according to his Promise as they did for his coming in the flesh but you limit the Holy One as they did expecting Christ to come in power and glory according to your own fancies and so put the day of the Lord afar off you in rejecting and despising the Counsel of Jesus Christ the pure Light in your Consciences which lets you see every evil thought word and action and cries behind you This is the Way walk in it but you disobey the Light and hearken to the counsel of your hearts as the Jews in the Letter did who put Christ to death and so you slay the Witnesses in Spiritual Sodom and Egypt in your hearts where our Lord is crucified in not regarding the Counsel of Christ which is that Light that shines in your dark hearts which knocks at the door according to his Word I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my Voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me Oh thou enslaved Soul under the power of Babylon in thee Come forth mind the Light in thee which is the sure Word of Prophecy whereunto you do well to take heed as unto a Light shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts stand not out against this secret Counsel of Christ in you lest you perish in your gain sayings for if his Anger be kindled a little blessed are all they that trust in him All give up give up freely to be guided by the Counsel of the Lord the Light in you believing in his Power that is present with the Light he will lead you daily through the Cross in the streight way of his Sufferings and death where the old man will be put off with his deeds and so you shall have right to the Tree of Life and shall enter with him through the Gates into the City New Jerusalem where you shall have communion with the Father and the Son and an Inheritance with those that are sanctified in Christ Jesus and shall reign as Kings upon the Earth to the praise and glory of the riches of the Grace of our heavenly Father to whom alone be all Power Dominion Honour and Glory for ever and ever W. D. A Word from the Lord to all that are waiting on the Lord in Sion and to those that are weeping and are seeking the Lord their God asking the way to Sion with their
Vanity therein for the enjoyment of the light Countenance of God fear thou not neither be thou discouraged because of the violent assaults of the Enemy who seeks to draw thee into the carnal reasonings of thy spirit and in it to kindle a fire to thy self and cause thee to walk in the light of the sparks that thou hast kindled and this thou hast at the hand of the Lord in going from his Counsel lyest down in sorrow few knows thy great distress but to the Lord it is known and to them that had and walked in the same paths Oh thou beloved Babe who liest in the deep sence of the working of the evil-one in thy mind and many times art ready to say Never was any like unto me neither any sorrow like unto my sorrow and in this languishing despairing mournings of thy soul all things made bitter unto thee as the waters of Marah thus art thou driven from all comfort as a Child without a Father and a desolate Widdow without a Husband and as a Stranger that no eye pittieth in thy apprehension sometimes saying in thy heart in the heat of the temptation and the fire that thou hast kindled O that I had been any Creature but what I am or if it were the Will of the Lord that he would shorten my dayes that I might not be any longer on Earth to sin against him for in thy own sence and feeling thou walking in the sparks thou hast kindled in carnal reasonings thou deservest not any thing but Wrath Horror Misery and Distress on every side and great languishings that thy dayes were shortened secretly crying out in thy heart O that I were alone in the Wilderness or any Cave or Den in the Earth that I might never set nor hear any of the Sons of men any more but in the secret retiredness even roar and mourn out my dayes until I die O thou Royal Child of the birth of the morning of the pure eternal Day of the God of Israel hearken no longer to the enemy who saith There hath none travelled where thou art nor none drunk of the Cup that thou art drinking he is a Lyar who goes about to destroy thy precious soul In the Word of the Lord God I declare unto thee I drank the same cup with my faithful Friends who are born of the Royal Seed every one in their measures travelled in the same path and have endured the same temptations and walked in the light of the same sparks and laid down in sorrow in the sence of the same misery as thou mournest under this day no longer lend an ear to the enemy and the thoughts of thy heart Arise arise in the Light of the Covenant stay thy heart and the Lord will throw down the Enemy of thy peace destroy the carnal reasonings of thy mind put out the fire that thou hast kindled and he will deliver thee out of the horrible Pit and set thy feet upon the Rock of Ages and thou shalt tread down the enemies of thy soul in the sensible feeling of the Love of the Father who will manifest himself to be a Father to the Fatherless in thee and a Husband to the mournful Widdow and a Comforter to the Immortal Babe that mourns in thee in the uprightness of thy heart to do the Will of the Living God so in the power of his Might stay thy heart and tread upon all doubts fears dispairing thoughts questionings reasonings musings imaginations and consultings arise over them all in the Light of Christ he will lead thee into the Banqueting-house of the Pleasure of our God where thou shalt sit down with me and all the Redeemed of my Father who are born of the Immortal Seed and have passed through great Tribulations have washed our Garments and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb therefore do we now stand before the Throne of God praising him day and night in his Holy Temple And this shall be the portion of thy Cup if thou diligently hearken to the Counsel of the Lord which calls thee to trust in him he will embrace thee in the arms of his Love and thou shalt praise his Name for ever God Almighty in his Light and Life raise up thy soul and establish thy heart in his Counsel stedfastly to wait in his Power to lead thee in the Cross out of all unbelief and cause thee to lie down at rest in obedience to his Will where thou shalt drink the Cup of Salvation for ever Farewel William Dewsbury THE END
bâ— baptized in the dayes past either for thâ— furtherance of the Gospel or tryal of theâ—… Faith we judge them not But this obedience is very rare to be found and wâ— could heartily desire that all would consider seriously whether literal sayings observed only by outward reading hearinâ— by the ear or inward impulses upon thâ— heart by the Divine Power are the motives unto Obedience in this kind And 〈◊〉 honesty and uprightness of heart may bâ— heard we believe and know the manâ— dead souls every-where notwithstandinâ— their Baptisms will be as so many witneâ—ses against them by their grovling upoâ— the earth as so many slain and killed meâ— by the Letter while the Spirits quickning have not been known in the true Baptism into death For we find by daily experiences that most men and women live likâ— Pharoah's lean Kine only to eat up the fat and to envy those that are not so lean soul'd as themselves We believe also That as there is onâ— true saving Baptism so there is one Bread or Body of Christ which all the Saints dâ— feed upon and though they be many aâ— to persons yet their Bread is but one and they all in it but one Bread And this we believe is the flesh that came down from Heaven John 6.33 Though the outward Jews now as then murmur at him because he said I am the Bread which came down from Heaven ver 41 42. But Christ ver 45. to stop their murmuring tells them that the knowledge of this Mystery was only revealed unto them whom God and not man teacheth and no more than are taught of God can set seal and subscribe unto this Truth in Jesus though we believe also that Jesus took outward bread and brake it and gave it to the Disciples as the Scriptures saith and this was a figure of his Body that was to be pierced and broken upon the Tree and a shew to shew forth his Death until he came And we believe he did arise again and appear unto his Disciples And all that believed were together and had All things Common c. And they continued daily with one accord in the Temple breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God and having favour with all the people Acts 2.44 45 46 47. And we believe that the Apostle in 1 Cor. 11.20 saith true where he saith When ye come together therefore in one place this is not to eat the Lords Supper And all that he speaks in that chapter is not to perpetuate that outward breaking of Bread otherwise than as the Believers did that were filed with the holy Ghost in singleness of heart as before is said and yet we judge not those who break outward Bread and drink outward Wine being commanded so to do and put in remembrance thereby of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ by the Remembrancer the Spirit of Truth which is appointed by the Father to lead into all Truth But to do it by imitation or tradition only as most do it if not all at this day we know it is not an Offering unto God in Righteousness neither do we believe this to be the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ and yet the eating of the Flesh and drinking of the Blood of Christ we believe man must know and witness or he hath no life in him Joh. 6.53 54 55. And we believe that many are striving now in their spirits as the Jews did verse 52 saying How can this man give us his Flesh to eat And not only the Jews but many of his Disciples said This is a hard saying who can bear it ver 60. and at verse 63. he tells them It is the Spirit that quickeneth the Flesh profiteth nothing The words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life And he that hears and understands these words that are Spirit and Life will not be offended at what I have spoken of the Flesh and Blood of Christ By the same Spirit and Grace we believe That Prayer is an Ordinance of God when performed by his Spirit in its words and not those which mans wisdom teacheth or without words by sighs and groanes which cannot be uttered and these so often as the Spirit it self pleaseth But the Form without the Spirit whether it be by words of other mens framing or words of man's own spirit according to his will time and manner this is not the Prayer that prevails with God And we believe that there is none so weak and infirm but this Spirit proffers his help at some time or other though man regardeth it not And the more mans mind is gathered within from all visibles the more he comes to be sensible of the Movings and Stirrings of this Spirit in its secret cryes unto God answerable to the wants of thaâ— man or woman in whom it moves and cryes And by the due watching thereunto we believe and know the Spirit of Prayer and 〈◊〉 Adoption that cries unto God comes to bâ— discerned and distinguished from a man'â— own spirit and will We believe by the same gift of Grace that there are several Ministrations and several Operations according to 1 Cor. 12. and all by the same Spirit as before and after thâ— Law by Moses and after by John the Baptisâ— and Christ and his Apostles and in all thesâ— the Ministration had acceptance with God through the management of the Spirit anâ— its rejection and dislike of God for thâ— want thereof And by this Spirit were thâ— Scriptures give forth and the holy meâ— of God did speak prophesie preach and praâ— as they were moved and for want of it thâ— letter did and doth kill And for the further appearance and pouring out of thiâ— Spirit answerable unto the work and service that God had for them to do theâ— were to wait as Christ commanded hiâ— Disciples to do at Jerusalem to receive thâ— Promise of the Father For by this Spiriâ— he that speaks speaks as the Oracle of God And therefore as it was the practice of the People of God in old time to wait for the moving and stirring of this Spirit that they might speak as it gave them utterance in the evidence and demonstration thereof so do this People called Quakers now and according to its moving in their hearts they minister according to the signification of the Spirit whereby they understand both what and when to speak and when to be silent as also who are they that minister and speak in their own wills above the Cross of Christ which the Apostle was carefull alwayes to be in subjection to lest he should make it void by speaking the words which mans wisdom teacheth and therefore as the Saints did so we do believe and therefore we speak And such Preaching and Speaking in Faith as well as Praying in Faith is acceptable unto God as his Worship and not otherwise And we further believe by the