rejoycing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing all things having learnt to be content in all estates and conditions Content the pleasant companion for a Christian knowing how to suffer want and how to abound every where and in all things c. And where there is true content there is no want no poverty no sorrow but what is turned into plenty riches and rejoycing In sum the true Christian hath found the stone of the wise men or the universal tincture or medicine which cureth all inward diseases of the soul mind and spirit The wonderful riches vertue power and operation of the precious pearl none knows but he that hath it makes him sound and clean every whit works mighty wonders for him makes him more precious than Gold yea than fine Gold makes him rejoyce in sorrow sing in the stocks makes a Dangeon a Palace Bonds and Chains liberty makes Poverty Riches turns loss into gain darkness into light before him these and many more are the vertues and powerful operations of the precious Pearl the white Stone the elect and precious Stone the chief corner-stone which the wise Master-builders set at naught and stumble at and will not use in their Building but to the Christian indeed he is precious he is his foundation corner and top-stone also and as a treasure better than mountains of Gold and as a Rock out of which issueth the water of Life that makes the River of Pleasure that never ceaseth running at the right hand of God these things are known and enjoyed by the true Christian as he arrives at the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus and all that are but travellers therein taste of the same in the way thereto but the bare professor or formalist or titular Christian knows nothing hereof for The life riches and enjoyment of a Christion is inward and hidden his life is hid with Christ in God none knoweth it but he that hath it his conversation is with God in Heaven and his treasure is laid up where he walks and dwells and where he sits in heavenly places with his Saviour Christ Jesus who is made unto him wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption and not only so but he is come to see what is the fellowship of the Mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God he is come to know the Lord one and his name one to the one Body one Spirit one Hope one Faith one Baptism one Way one Truth one Life one God and Father of all who is above all through all and in all This is the blessed end of all the appearances manifestations and dispensations under all the variety of names and various workings of the one eternal God towards mankind ever since the fall mentioned throughout the Holy Scriptures and witnessed to by the true Christian who really enjoys the end of Paul's bowing his knees * Not to Jesus the Son of Abraham David and Mary Saint or Angel but to God the Father all worship honour and glory is to be given through Jesus Christ c. or prayer unto the Father of his Lord his Jesus and his Christ of whom the whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named Ephes 3. Now when the true Christian hath travelled through multiplicity into unity through the various dispensations operations and workings of the Spirit of God before the Law under the Law through the Law to the Prophets and to the ministration of John and so to Jesus the Son of Abraham David and Mary and hath * The only Pilgrimage of a Christian all other Pilgrimages to places Tombs and Reliques are vain and fruitless followed him from the Manger to the Cross and from thence to the Grave and know a being dead and buried with him and a rising with him and not only seeking those things that are above but hath found them having known and experienced Christ in all his Offices as the great Ordinance †These things are not only to be read professed and talked of but experimentally known of God as a Mediator Reconciler Intercessor maker of peace healer of the wound and maker up of the breach the first Adam made as a quickening Spirit and Lord from Heaven as a King Priest and Prophet as a Saviour Sanctifier and Redeemer as a Purifier and maker an end of sin and bringer in of everlasting Righteousness and as a High-Priest to present to God without spot or wrinkle or any such thing when he is thus known to perform all these offices in and for his people he is then by such known to sit down at the right hand of God having accomplished the work the Father gave him to do having put all things under This is the ascending of Christ up where he was before he descended and before there was any cause for his descension he that can understand let him and restored all things into their primitive order he then is also known to surrender up the Kingdom to the Father and God to become all in all * Thus the Lord is known one and his name one here the first is known to be last and the last first the beginning the end and the end the beginning and the heavenly rest with him who is without beginning or end I say rest with him in a pure coelestial stillness from all self-working willing running and thinking and though an innocency or innocent self be attained unto and a harmless will known yet that must not act work will run and think of it self as the true Christian who hath travelled and experienced as before is hinted knows right well being always of his elder brothers mind and frame of spirit saying to his Father Not my will but thine Herein he receives wisdom to dress and keep the Garden power and strength to resist and overcome the Serpent in Paradice and the Dragon in Heaven and to keep his habitation in the heavenly City Jerusalem which comes down from God out of Heaven whose walls are salvation and whose gates are praise for ever and evermore Concerning the Worship of a Christian or the Christian Worship what it stands in and how it is performed THere is a great contest in Christendom among the diverse Sects and bare professions of Christianity about Worship and many are the Modes Manners Forms and Ceremonies that are cried up among them every Sect conceiving imagining and supposing his Way Manner and Fashion to be right c. all being full of Dispute Contention and quarrelling one with and against another envying and hating one another fighting killing and destroying one another about them when they are all but of their own devising forms and images of their own making mostly from the example of Jews Gentiles and Apostate Christians and are not led thereto nor guided therein by the unerring Spirit of God as their fruits make fully manifest to the great scandal of the
Christian Religion Now the true Christians Worship is in the Spirit and in the Truth not in the Letter nor in the Form barely but was before all Letters and outward Laws and Prescriptions were before all inventions were before all errors and the spirit of them was This was the Worship in Paradice when mankind neglected this worship he fell into evil into invention into error Sin was the occasion or cause of the Law the labour of the Prophets and the coming and suffering of Christ which was the cause of the outward Law and all other dispensations of God for the recovery of lost man And before he can witness a return out of his lost estate he must come again to the same Worship in the Spirit and in the Truth even the Truth in the inward parts for that is it which God loves to the word in the mouth to the law in the heart and the fear in the inward parts from all fear towards God taught by the precepts of men from all traditions of men of corrupt minds from all devices and inventions of men This is the blessed estate the true Christian is come into and is the end sum and substance of all holy Writings Forms and holy Traditions Ministrations and Dispensations before the Law under the Law and the Prophets Wilderness Jerusalem and Temple-Worship which stood in divers bodily exercises outward works and services variety of Offerings observing of Times Days Months and Years Meats Drinks outward Washings and Purifications New Moons Fasts Feasts solemn Meetings and general Assemblies once a Year at Jerusalem all these things were but shadows and typical And this is the antitipe and †The substance of all shadowy Services under the Law substance shadowed forth by them all To come to the Worship in the Spirit in the Truth to Mount Sion the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to come to the general Assembly and Church of the first-born written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and the spirits of just men made perfect c. and to know the heavenly City that comes down from God out of Heaven even Jerusalem the Mother of all the living Citizens thereof whose Law and Covenant is spiritual and writ in their hearts whose love fear and obedience to God is engraven in their inward parts and from hence ariseth the true Worship in the Spirit and in the Truth And this is the Worship the Primitive Christians came to and were exercised in they prayed in the Spirit not at any set time or appointed place only but at all times and in all places according to the Exhortations pray always pray continually pray without ceasing I will that men pray every where lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting always breathing to the Lord in Spirit though never a word be uttered in the closet when the door is shut the Lord heareth and answereth this Prayer and many times they were and are also led forth to pray in words publickly but mostly for the sake of others and in the behalf of others as Christ Jesus did The true Christian is also a preacher of Righteousness not only in Words Sentences and long Sermons at set times and appointed places but in life and conversation †A true Christian is always preaching in this he is always a Preacher a Teacher of that which is good always as a candle burning and set in the right place his lamp trimmed and his light shining always as a City upon a hill as the salt of the earth and light of the world to season and give light to others by holy example which preacheth lowder than words The true Christians singing or rejoycing is also in the Spirit and in the Truth and not in iniquity and with a good understanding he needs no art not invention to bring words into Meeter or Rhime that they may make a pleasant sound and a joyful noise The Christian Musick is not made by Art and Air. his Musick doth not stand in outward sounds made by Art and Air but his melody is in his heart in the spirit in the inward man in the hidden man of the heart which is the antitipe and substance of all outward musick used in the time of the Law under the first Covenant in the Worship and Service of God and as far exceeds it as the substance of a thing doth the shadow thereof And he that hath this heavenly inward rejoycing and pleasant melody in the heart will never invent to himself instruments of Musick like David nor delight in the sounds thereof Where this heart-melody is lost the outward invented musick is set up among Jews Gentiles and Apostate Christians for the true Christian is come to know Christ Jesus as a Prince of Peace as a peaceable Saviour as the Consolation of Israel and joy of generations as a giver of peace which the world cannot give nor take away which far surpasseth all the delights of the sons of men which by nature art and invention they can attain unto Now the Spirit of God is universal and the Truth is universal and the true Christian Worship that stands in it is also to be universal that is at all times and in all places not only when people meet together in a solemn manner to wait together upon God and to he or his word preach and be preached and to hear a Prayer Psalm Song or Hymn even from his own pure motion and Spirit one hour in seven The true Worship of God stands not in any outward observation of time or place or any bodily exercise therein but in doing the will of God bowing in his Spirit and obeying the voice thereof or one day in seven which is good and profitable in its place but every hour and every day bowing in spirit worshiping in the Truth which makes free from all error from all evil from all vain observations literal traditions and humane inventions about the Worship of God from all carnal Ordinances as Musicks Meats Drinks Washings Feasts Fasts Days and Times which ends vanisheth or perisheth with the using though holy and significant in their first institution these things are not to be touched nor tasted no nor so much as handled by the true Christian these things are but beggerly elements and worldly rudiments which had a beginning and must have an end And the root or cause of a Christian which is Christ is the end of the Law and all the types and shadows of it and fulfils all the righteousness of it of the Prophets and of John also and is a bringer in of a better hope a better Law a better Covenant a better Worship which Hope Law Covenant and Worship is inward and spiritual and not outward and carnal formal nor traditional and all that are come to this worship in the Spirit and in the Truth which is one pure eternal principle of light life and power and have their hearts tendred
Therefore my mind is in good will to mankind having received knowledge and understanding of the means God hath ordained for the good and salvation of mankind And being something acquainted with the two great mysteries of Godliness Iniquity and the way and working of each to impart and signifie something of the same in a few words to instruct and inform those to whom this my testimony may come how they may attain thereunto and how they may come to be rid of those troublesome companions viz. Evil Thoughts and Imaginations that do may or shall arise in their hearts whila corrupted and how the same may be purified and made a holy habitation for God as it was before sin entred before Innocency was lost before the Serpent deceived the weaker vessel when all was good yea very good The way that leadeth thereto I affirm and declare to be as followeth and whoever thou art that hast a mind or desire to find that which is lost observe believe and receive what I say or write as Truth not received or learned by Tradition but by the experimental powerful work and operation of the Spirit of Truth in my own Heart Mind and Conscience and what I have said or shall say is and shall be according to the Holy Scriptures and witnessed to by them for I cannot write contrary to them being in unity with them with the just mens spirits that wrote them First then know thou O man whoever thou art and whatever thy thoughts and imaginations are how far soever thou art run into corruption darkness and degeneration from the state of innocency purity and holiness yet there is a measure of Divine Light attends thee though thou art darkness it-shines in thee in order to show thee thy way out of it though thou art degenerated and run from God into the earth yet this pure light Spirit of God follows thee and calls thee back again and thou mayst in this state hear it as a voice behind thee saying Return return this is the way come and walk in it this is the kindness and love of God to thee in his Son who is the light of the world and lighteth every one that cometh thereinto If men would hear and obey the voice of the Son of God Death Hell nor the Grave could not hinder them from Salvation if thou hear and obey this voice of the light of the Son of God though thou wert dead in sin and buried as in a grave thou shalt arise and come forth and live before him the bars and gates of Hell shall not be able to retain thee But if thou slight and despise the Light of God that visits thee and shut'st thy ear against its voice it will be as a thousand witnesses against thee while thou rebellest against it and art found following thy own thoughts and imaginations and doing the thing that is evil for this Light I speak of is the eye of the Lord that runs too and fro through the earth beholding the evil and the good and that discerneth the thoughts and intents of the heart 't is the word that 's nigh in mouth and in the heart which is quick and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword piereing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the joynts and marrow this is the candle of the Lord that searcheth Jerusalem and gives light to the sides of the earth and corners of the world from whom the shadow of death cannot hide nor the Rocks and Mountains cover or defend for be that formeth the Mountains and createth the winds and declareth or sheweth unto man what is his thought that maketh the morning darkness and treadeth upon the high places of the earth the Lord the God of Hosts is his name This is the Spirit of truth that convinceth the world of sin and that sets mens sins in order before them and reproves and smites in secret for evil and that brings to judgment the hidden things of Esau from this eye or light of the Lord thou canst not hide thy self no more than Adam and Cain could though thou shouldest hate the light which sheweth thee thy thoughts and love the darkness so as to dwell in it No hiding from the eye of God yet the light or eye of God will pursue thee and find thee out Hell nor the utmost parts of the earth and darkness cannot secure thee from the * Mans condemnation is just because he hates the light the way and means of Salvation just condemnation of God because thou hatest the shining of his light and stopest thy ear against the voice and teaching of it and lovest the darkness and dwellost in it while thou doest so thou choosest the way of death and neglectest the means of salvation that God hath ordained for this is the condemnation of the world that light is come into it and men love darkness rather because their deeds are evil Now as the first step towards restoration and everlasting happiness thou art required †The first step in the way to life or towards everlasting happiness to turn thy mind from the darkness in which thou dwellest to the light Eye or Spirit of God and to decline the power of Satan that works in the darkness and embrace the power of God and when thou dost but begin to do so thou wilt find the scales to fall from thy eyes by degrees and the veil to be taken off thy heart and the setters and chains of darkness to be loosed and the prison doors opened so when thy candle is lighted and thy eye opened thou wilt discern thy way out and see the Angel of the Lord go before thee and guide thee in the same And thou wilt also perceive what is in thy house and clearly understand what hath lodged in the dark room of thy heart and when thou comest to see things as they are †Mistake in the understanding concerning the nature of things that do present themselves before mankind is the cause of error Thence it is that some call darkness light and light darkness thou wilt receive wisdom to give them names according to their nature and to judge righteously concerning them and as thou lovest this light thou wilt be enabled by it to divide betwixt thought and thought and begin to make conscience of a thought and to hate every vain thought and when thou canst not be easily rid of them nor remove them from their old lodging-place thou wilt breath and cry to the Lord in the Spirit as one of old did who was burthened and oppressed with their company Search me and try me O God and know my heart try me and know my thougts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting This is the cry which the Lord hears and will answer in due and needful time And Jeremiah's cry to Jerusalem was Wash thy heart from wickedness that thou
multitude of thoughts do arise in thee and troops thereof attend thee which are in themselves sinful yet if thou joyn not with them in thy mind will and understanding they are not thy thoughts neither shall the evil thereof be imputed unto thee if thou lovest the light and keepest thy mind joyned to the Spirit of God or appearance of Christ in thee that discovereth all temptations unto thee in the very thought and first appearance of them then thou art helping the Lord against the mighty being joyned unto him art become one with him in thy mind and spirit though in thy members there is a law a power that wars against thee and as thou abidest with the Lord waiting upon him even as the eye of a Maid waits upon the hand of her Mistress he will save and deliver thee and subdue all thy enemies even those of thy own house which are the greatest enemies Though temptations may and will attend thee yet it is no sin to be tempted It is no sin to be tempted though with inward temptations neither art thou to account thy self nor to be accounted a sinner because sin and vain thoughts may present themselves in thee in thy warfare estate yet thou mayest say as Paul did It is no more I but sin that dwelleth in me and that in me that is in my stesh dwells no good thing which flesh thou art now in the way to know withers as the grass Flesh and sin that dwells in it may be destroved and the earthen vessel cleansed and the creature delivered from bondage even on this side the grave and the glory of it become as the saded flower of the field and sin that dwelleth therein destroyed and the creature of Gods making preserved the earthen vessel that holds the heavenly treasure sanctified and saved and delivered from the yoak of bondage the whole Creation of God groans under And this thou shalt certainly arrive at as thou keepest thy eye upon thy Saviour thy light thy way thy Captain whom thou wilt see go before thee conquering and to conquer till all his and thy enemies are subdued brought under and destroyed and thou made as a King as a Priest to God * Lest thou shouldst stumble at those sayings consider that John was the greatest Prophet that was born of a woman yet the least in the Kingdom was greater than he meeker than Moses stronger than Sampson wiser than Solomon and more patient than Job as thy elder brother was and as the Primitive Christians were who could say as he is so are we in this present world pure as he is pure holy as he is holy righteous as he is righteous harmless and innocent as he was and in all resigned up unto the will of God not my will said the second Adam but thine though his will was as innocent and harmless as the first Adams was before the fall and did excel when thou comest up hither thou wilt understand and receive what I say till then it will be as a mystery and hard saying to thee And in thy way take heed of thinking willing and running that obtains not the prize stand still and see the salvation of God mind above all the arm of his power in thee which is able to suppress thy thoughts mortifie thy will stop thy running and give thee perfect strength to resist the Devil and make him flee and to furnish thee to every good word and work and give thee dominion over thy own spirit whose property is to be swift in thoughts eager in desire and restless in the accomplishment thereof Now it is written he that hath rule over his own spirit is stronger than he that rules a City Consider the simily and in the light try and compare thy self therewith and thou wilt find the truth thereof and he that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a City broken down and without walls when the righteous bears rule the land rejoyceth but when the wicked the land mourneth These things are infallibly true while the usurper keeps the throne the Prince of Peace and his peaceable government is not known Tribulation and anguish comes upon every soul of man that doth evil No opinion nor profession of Religion c. where evil thoughts and evil doings stands avails any thing that thinketh and imagineth evil and that yields his members servants to unrighteousness let his opinion profession and talk of Religion be what it will he that commits sin is of the Devil and without returning from it a finishing or ending of it and righteousness set up in the room thereof will with the Devil have the wages and reward of the same and possess the fruit of their own thoughts and doings Now it is a heavenly estate to live under the government of Christ to know and experience him swaying the Scepter in the heart and established in the throne thereof but this none comes to enjoy till they have first known him to sit as a Refiner with fire and as a Fuller with soap and as a Spirit of judgment and burning and as the stronger man to dispossess the strong man spoil all his goods sweep and cleanse the house and to furnish it again with heavenly goods with heavenly thoughts with heavenly desires and meditations and all things else that becomes the house of the Lord Holiness to the Lord was written or engraven upon the Crown and Plate of Gold and all the furniture of the outward Temple was sanctified of which this is the anti-tipe or substance as he that enjoys it well knows And now it is the duty of a Christian to watch in the light against evil thoughts and to use the axe of God which is laid to the root of them that their springing again may be hindered and the end of them prevented so also it is the duty of every one when good thoughts and desires springs in the room thereof to cherish them to joyn with them and to keep their eye unto the Lord that begat them or raised them up in the heart and so they may be called Gods thoughts being of his own bringing forth of his own begetting being thoughts of purity thoughts of peace and righteousness thoughts of holiness and joy in the inward man which thoughts thou of thy self cannot think Good thoughts are of Gods own be getting and very comfortable to a Christian and are the fruit and effect of keeping and obeying the Law of God within the heart Rom. 2.14 15 these are comfortable thoughts justifying and excusing thoughts thoughts that will stand approved in the light and the end and tendency of them is good even as pleasant fruit to the soul so that such can say as David once did How precious are thy thoughts unto me O Grd how great is the sum of them if I should count them they are more in number than the sand when I awake I am still with thee As thot lovest the
light and delightest in the Law of God and meditates therein these good thoughts will multiply and increase in thee to thy great content and satisfaction But the thoughts of the wicked are sin and sin brings trouble Proverbs 15.26 anguish and torment men are accused or excused in their thoughts It is said Belshazzer was so much troubled with his thoughts that his countenance was changed and the joynts of his loins were loosed and his knees smote together Dan. 5.6 Many are the amazing scaring tormenting thoughts that attends the wicked whose feet run to do evil and make haste to shed innocent blood their thoughts are thoughts of iuiquity wasting and destruction are in their paths the way of peace they know not and there is no judgment in their goings c. Isa 59.7 8. Now the thoughts of the righteous are right and those that commit their way to the Lord their thoughts shall he established And that 's a blessed state indeed to have good thoughts established in the heart in the mind The effect of good thoughts when established in the heart such can go forth and come in in peace lie down and rise up in peace live and walk in peace and praise the God of peace who is blessed for evermore And this is the peace the inward peace which the world with all its treasures and pleasures cannot give nor by its frowns take away and is the portion of all that get victory over their own thoughts imaginations lusts defires and affections and that do also keep in the wisdom and power of God that when good thoughts are established in them and are so made partakers of the Divine Nature that they naturally think good thoughts thoughts of love peace and obedience as they did while in the degeneration think the contrary yet in this state of innocency and harmlesness to be diligent in the wisdom of God to dress and keep the Garden * Many may eat and drink unworthily deck themselves with Gold Jewels and play the harlot with them c. lest thou having found honey eat more than may suffice to nourish the right birth lest thou feed thy seed thy self without fear eat and drink and rise up to play grow idle and wanton through plenty and so forget the Lord and let his benefits slip out of thy mind and slight his Commandments and let pride and exaltation in thy selfish spirit grow up again as the first Adam and others did mentioned in the holy Scriptures which are written for our learning and admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come 1 Cor. 10 11. therefore let him that thinketh he stands take heed lest he fall Concerning the Life State and Enjoyment of a True Christian THE life of a Christian of an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile is a life of innocency peace and content quietness and true satisfaction abounds in the inward man he is always doing well so none can harm him he always lives in the fear of God which taught him to depart from iniquity He that lives in the love fear and favor of God needs not fear men nor Devils and now preserveth him out of the same he loveth God and his Neighbour and hates no man so fears not what man can do unto him his bread is sure and his water fails not so he takes no thought for to morrow but receives every day his daily bread from the Lord he liveth without care neither doth he toil nor spin the Lillies life he knows which Solomon in all his wisdom and glory wanted or was not arrayed with if he hath Wife or Children House or Land or the increase of Corn Wine and Oyl he looks upon them as things below so doth not set his heart and affection upon them he looks upon them as they are and loves them in their places but not more than Christ he loves the Lord above all he loves to keep his Conscience void of offence towards God and towards man above all and if he cannot enjoy his Estate and Relations according to the will of God he is ready and willing to part with them and can say as Job did The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord. He is not afraid of evil tydings the ruffling of the winds and the roaring of the Sea doth not amaze nor affright him he lives the life of Faith which gives him victory and enables him to overcome all things * The true Christian stands always armed though not with carnal weapons he keeps on the helmet of it and the breast-plate of righteousness and the sword of the Spirit so is always armed against all assaults of the world flesh and the Devil and he knows the name of the Lord as a strong tower as a shield as a buckler as a wall of defence and is prepared to suffer and endure all things like a good Souldier with a settled countenance and holy resolution And though by men he may be accounted smitten and forsaken of God and not fit to live upon the earth yet he enjoys heavenly consolation pure tranquility of mind refreshment comfort and joy in the inward mon the Kings Daughter is all glorious within and all things that do or can befal a Christian on this side the Grave The present enjoyment of the favour and countenance of God is more esteemed more valued by the true Christian than all things visible are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is and shall be revealed in him And if there was no reward on the other side the grave he would not exchange his life and condition for all the glory riches and excellency the world can afford seeing and accounting it all vanity and vexation of spirit yea less than nothing and lighter than vanity Isa 40.17 Psal 62.9 having found the precious pearl which the swine regard not he is willing to part with all for it knowing the wonderful vertue riches and power thereof bids adieu to all the fading treasures and pleasures of Egypt chusing rather to suffer affliction and persecution for righteousness sake than to enjoy the Court-pleasures of Princes and he is a great gainer hereby even in this life on this side the grave a hundred fold he finds by experience that saying true Codlintss with content is great gain and is profitable unto all things having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come 1 Tim. 4.6 So though the true Christian seems in the judgment of the wise in their own conceit to lose the enjoyment of his life honour riches profit pleasure preferment relations c. No true enjoyment of any thing but in the will of God and true self-denial instead thereof he finds them all and in the true self-denial enjoys them all and is able to say as Paul did to the Corinthians speaking of himself and other Christians as sorrowful yet always
and perswade one the other and sometimes compel one another by violence to walk in and make use of in order to arrive thereto as they think and imagine but it is in this age as of old the guides and teachers of the people cause them to err cause them to go astray and wander from the right way of the Lord they were in vision judgment and understanding themselves and cause all that follow and obey them to do the same being unskilful guides and blind watchmen are but as the blind leading the blind and so both fall into the ditch together Now the way to everlasting happiness is but one both to Jew and Gentile which way is Christ who is the wisdom and Power of God the Truth and the Life and the appearance of this Christ of God is within men in their hearts its first appearance is as a light shining in darkness and as a pure spotless Spirit that consenteth to no evil but reproveth and convinceth all that are found in it and to this Light or Spirit all who write or speak for God and the good of mankind do turn and direct the minds of men and endeavour to perswade them to give regard unto its reproofs of instruction as being the way to life and to obey its counsel and teaching as the only means of salvation and way of returning to the rock from whence they were hewen and to the hole of the pit from whence they were digged to their habitation and dwelling-place in God again and many thousands in this Island and other places can give testimony that this is the only way and means God hath ordained for the recovery return and restoration of lost man and that all other ways and means which they had been wearying themselves in availed nothing but walking in this heavenly way the Light the Spirit and Grace of God within and learning of the annointing within they come to witness salvation came to their house and to surround them as walls and bulwarks and to witness the fulfilling of that Divine Prophesie My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation and in sure dwellings Isa 30.3 4.32.18 and in quiet resting-places The eye of them that see shall not be dim the ear of them that hear shall bearken the heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge and the tongue of the stammerer shall be ready to speak plainly These are the blessed effects of walking in the way and paths of righteousness which a remnant are living witnesses of and can praise and magnifie the name of the Lord in the sense thereof But none comes to enjoy this blessed estate nor inhabit this heavenly dwelling-place but as their minds comes truly to be exercised by and in the Light of the Lord and that by walking and abiding therein come to have their minds established settled and stayed upon him who is indeed the alone stay of his people and rock of his inheritance And nothing can be found in the heavens above nor in the earth beneath that is able to satisfie or stay the mind of man but the Lord the mind or soul of man is more noble more excellent than all visible things so they are not all capable to fill or satisfie his soul or stay his mind though he might possess or have the whole world to himself yet in the end will be made to cry out and confess with the Preacher of old Vanity of vanity all is vanity and vexation of spirit c. Eccles 1. But to have the mind stayed upon the Lord there is pleasure peace and content truly found and enjoyed according to the testimony of that Divine Prophet Isaiab who said speaking in the name of the Lord Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is staid upon thee This is such a truth that none knoweth but he that hath it it may be soon writ read or spoken but to enjoy that estate is more than words it is the end sum and substance of all that can be said or done and is the reward of the righteous from the immediate hand of God viz. to be kept in perfect peace It 's the end of all holy breathings and desires it s the end of the Preaching the Gospel of Peace and Sal-Salvation even to know and feel and experience the peace of God to keep the heart and to keep the mind and to rule there This is a blessed state indeed worthy to be waited for and pressed after by all that have a sight and sence thereof and are in the way that leadeth thereto though not yet arrived thereat go forward in the name of the Lord even in that name Light by which he hath made himself known unto us in this age by which Light thou sawest the wandering and unstableness of thy mind and the multitude of thy thoughts imaginatious and inventions persevere in the same and thou wilt become not only a child of it but also grow from a Childs estate to the state of a young Man Elder and Father keeping the Faith and firmly believing that which sheweth thee the wandering and unstableness of thy mind will be as a Shepherds Crook unto thee and in due time will bring thee back into the fold of rest and that that holy Light that discovers and sheweth unto thee thy thoughts and inward enemies will also by the brightness of its arising disperse and destroy them for thee and bring thee into that estate thy soul descrieth panteth and looketh after even into the presence of the Lord where the fulness of Joy is and where the rivers of pleasures run where the reaping and returning with joy is where the singing for joy of heart is and the joy of Gods salvation felt the blessed Light of God or Son of Righteousness in whom thou hast belleved is the only way to possess and inherit those things And thy walking ablding and persevering in it is the means and there is not any other way or means appointed of God to bring man back into that Paradisical state of felicity he lost by Transgression and to the establishing him in it But all that walk not nor ablde and persevere therein after they are come into it never attain to that blessed end of its appearing and shining to them for a bare knowledge of the Truth and a profession of the Light and Spirit of God within if they walk not in it and are not guided and lead by it it avails nothing but rather draws down fierce wrath and vengeance upon the head of such who know their Masters will and do it not who talk and profess well but are found doing evil and thereby lay a stumbling-block in the way of the blind and cause the way of Truth to be evil spoken of and the Name of the Lord by which he hath made himself known in this Age to be blasphemed by reason of their ungedly deeds under a Profession of Godliness and Cloak of Righteousness such their damnation slumbreth not And this I testifie and declare to all people to whom this may come which may serve also as a caution and warning to them that if they meet with any under the Name Form and Profession of a Christian in contempt called a Quaker who in his Converse Trade and Dealing Commerce and Affairs doth not let his Yea be Yea and his Nay Nay but breaketh his word and promises there is need to have a special care of that man and look upon him as one false and deceitful to the holy Principle of Truth and as a Hypocrite under the Profession of it He that is false to God cannot be true to men thou hadst better trust and give credit to a Heathen or Infidel than to such a one No wickedness beyond that which is acted under a peculiar Cloak of Religion Such who gain Credit and Repute by wearing this Cloak and get Widows and Orphans Monies into their hands to create great Trades by Sea and Land and then break are some of the worser sort of Robbers and Cheats and the cry of the poor Fatherless and Widows cries lowd against them This is a short Testimony arising in my heart against this sort of Wickedness wherein I have a little eased my mind and in the Truth remain a Friend to all men W. S. THE END