but the Serpent tempted Eve to eat of the Fruit of the Tree Again p. 30. he saith Moses acted as a God in the person of the Angel or Tree of knowledge of good and evil Observ Moses was faithfull in all his house as a Servant Nor did he act in the person of the Serpent for the Serpent was the Devil and was out of Truth long before Moses time and spake of his own but Moses spake and ministred from the pure holy Spirit of Life Was not the Devil defiled a corrupt tree an Angel fallen from his habitation before he tempted Eve and Adam to sin and fall And who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean or an holy Commission out of the Devil In p. 31. he saith The Law speaking of Moses Law which is just and good doth enlighten Reason to do as he is done unto not as he would be done unto Observ If Christ may be believed he saith otherwise for he saith All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets Matth. 7. 12. So that the Law and the Prophets did teach and require this not only for a man to do as he is done unto but as he would be done to In p. 32. he saith The Law of Reason is called a law of sin and death it being given unto reason because reason is sin for there is nothing doth break the Law but Reason Observ Those that are delivered by the powerfull appearance of Christ from the law of sin and death knows it to be another Law then the Law of Reason even a law contrary not only to the Life of Christ but to the reason and understanding of a man bringing him below the state of Reason even into bruitish captivity and sensuality Doth Reason teach a man to mannage his body destructively and unreasonably as the corrupt and unreasonable law of sin and death teacheth many men Reason is not sin but a deviating from that from which Reason came is sin God did not create man in sin or make a sinful Creature but he gave him Reason and thereby made him reasonable In p. 34. he saith The Moon Rev. 12. did signifie the Law of Moses which must now be trod underfoot by the Sun-shine Light of the Gospel Observ No not so the Law is not trod underfoot by the Light and Power of Life when it appeareth but its righteousness is fulfilled in them that walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 4. Christ did not teach men to tread Moses and his Law underfoot but brings forth that Life and bestows that Spirit which leads through and beyond the Law even to the righteousness of Faith which the Apostle Paul said they did not make the Law void by Rom. 3. 31. Therefore not trod underfoot through Faith in the Gospel In p. 37. he saith There was none of the Prophets that were commissionated to write Scripture Observ They spake and wrot as they were moved by the holy Spirit and is not that a sufficient Commission In his Book called The neck of the Quakers broken he had scoffingly cast away the Writings of Solomon from being Scripture and now he casts away the Writings of all the Prophets too as being written without Commission In p. 42. he argueth against Gods being an infinite incomprehensible Spirit saying Such a great vast Spirit doth not know it self neither can this vast Spirit tell where to find or see it self and if it cannot know or see it self how should his Creature be able to know or see his Maker when as he cannot know or see himself Then also that would be a vain thing which is spoken of in holy writ where it is said It is Life Eternal to know the true God Observ Here is dark imaginations indeed He that cannot read in the Spirit let him read that place Isa 40. 12. according to the plainness of the Letter and see if God can be less then infinite and incomprehensible He that knoweth the Nature and Spirit of God knoweth God though he be not able to measure or discern the utmost extent of his Beeing which who can For he is a Sea of Life a Sea of Love a Sea of Purity and Righteousness a Sea of Power and Wisdom c. but in a measure of the same Life received from him we know him so to be and worship him in the Spirit and Life which is of him not making likenesses of him in our minds but bowing to him and worshipping him in his own appearances In p. 77. he saith The holy Ghost sate upon none like as of fire but the Twelve Apostles neither could any other speak with tongues by inspiration but the Twelve Apostles Observ This is directly contrary to the Testimony held forth in Scripture For said Peter the holy Ghost fell on them as on in at the beginning Acts 11. 15. And they of the Circumcision which believed were astonished because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the holy Ghost For they heard them speak with tongues and magnifie God Chap. 10. 45 46. In p. 52. he saith Christ's Apostles could do no miracles neither could they cast out Devils until he was ascended Observ Did they not cast out Devils and do miracles while he was on Earth Did not he give them power so to do See Mat. 10. 8. In p. 59. and 60. he speaking of the wild Olive-tree and the good Olive-tree The wild Olive-tree he saith is the state of nature or reason the Devil which is wild by nature The good Olive-tree he saith was the very Person of Christ which the Gentiles were ingrafted into by Faith But the Commission of Mises and the Prophets proceeded from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil he acting his part in that Seed c. which he afore said was the Serpent Observ Is the wild Olive-tree the Devil which is wild by nature one of Gods Witnesses or the head or root from whence any of the Commissions of Gods Spirit came Did the Law of God which was against Sin and the Devil come from the Devil Is not the Law holy just and good and did it come from an unholy root What was the Olive-tree the Jews were broken off from Read their state Rom. 9. 4 5. and 11. 16 17. Was this holy Root they were broken from a wild Olive-tree What interpretation of Scripture is here Surely from a Spirit quite contrary to that which wrot it In p. 63. he saith The great and high wall about the new Jerusalem was all that visible and external worship which was set up by Moses which did belong to that Tabernacle c. Observ Is this the defence about the glory of the new Jerusalem is this the Wall and Bulwark Nay nay the Power of Gods Salvation is the Wall and Bulwark Isa 26. 1. which is a sure defence upon all the glory of this
Building Isa 4. 5. In p. 66. he saith The Apostles should be equal in the Kingdom of Glory as they were equal here in the Kingdom of Grace And again p. 67. As there should be no preheminence with the Apostles here in the Kingdom of Grace neither should there be any preheminence in the Kingdom of Glory Yet p. 102. he saith Peter was the head of the Apostles Observ Hath the Head no preheminence in the Body Are the rest of the Members equal with the Head is not this an absolute contradiction In p 78. he saith The Commission of the Apostles was not the Commission of the Spirit Observ Paul saith they were made able Ministers of the new Testament not of the Letter but of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3. 6. What is to be desired more then the new Covenant wherein Life Spirit and Power is received Now the Apostles were made by God able Ministers thereof and the glory of this Covenant and Ministration remaineth verse 11. In p. 93. he saith Death being the First-born of the Law it went forth as a Conqueror of all Life both in God and man Observ The Law is holy just and good and bringeth forth only that which is holy Sin is not of the Law but against the Law and the wages of sin is death Yet neither sin nor death could ever conquer the Life of God but the unconquerable Life and Power have ever reigned over them Gods Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion endureth throughout all Ages which Sin nor Death nor Hell could ever conquer That life which Christ did give up none took from him as a Conqueror but he laid it down freely at the requiring of the Father knowing his glorious Power was able to restore and raise it up again In p. 105. he saith The body of man is that Tophet that was ordained of old and the spirit of Reason is that King which must abide in this Tophet Observ The body of man was Gods Temple before it was defiled with sin and is Gods Temple again when it is purified and purged from sin Now him that defileth this Temple of God him will God destroy And Christ said Fear him who after he hath killed hath power to cast into Hell Luk. 12. 5. What is he able to cast into Hell why both body and soul Mat. 10. 28. Then the body of man is not the Tophet or Hell but Tophet is that whereinto the souls and bodies of the wicked are to be cast In p. 116. he saith Eternity did become Time and Time shall become Eternity again Observ Eternity did never become time but is unchangable in its Nature Spirit Life and Beeing for evermore but it brought forth natural and changable things in time which time shall have an end Observations on some Passages in a Book of Lodowick Muggleton 's stiled by him The Neck of the Quakers Broken IN p. 14. he affirmeth That Adam had no part in the begetting of Cain Observ The Scripture saith Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bare Cain and said I have gotten a man from the Lord Gen. 4. 1. Here the holy Spirit of God attributeth the begetting of Cain to Adam's knowing his wife Eve but L. M. saith otherwise In p. 15. he saith Whoever is partaker of the seed of Adam may be said to have the Spirit of Christ in them and their spirits to be in him that is Christ dwells in their hearts by Faith Observ The Scriptures distinguish between the first and second Adam None have the Spirit of Christ from or in the first Adam but only from and in the second And the old Adam's seed spirit and nature is to be put off by him that puts on the new and he must be born again of the immortal Seed of Life who receives the Spirit of Life In p. 17. He calls Reason the Devil and p. 29. saith This Devil so much spoken of in Scripture is no other but the spirit of Reason Observ Indeed corrupted reason is of the Devil but pure Reason is of God Man by his fall had his reason corrupted and so became bruitish and unreasonable but by Faith in the redeeming Power he is brought out of the Fall raised from Death to Life and in the new Life hath the true holy righteous Reason restored to him again 2 Thes 3. 2. which Reason is neither the Devil nor of the Devil In p. 22. he saith If God be a person in the form of a man as I am sure he is for I do acknowledge no other God but the man Christ Jesus who is a distinct body of flesh and bone of his own how then can he fill Heaven and Earth with his presence and get in-the Quakers bodies c. Observ Solomon said in prayer to God 2 Chron. 6. 18. which prayer God testified his acceptance of as being from his own Spirit chap. 7. 1 Behold Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much less this House which I have built Again Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth Eternity what is Eternity whose Name is holy I dwell in the high and holy with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit c. Isa 57. 15. Yet again it is said Ye are the Temple of the Living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them 2 Cor. 6. 16. Is it such a strange thing that God should be in Heaven and in Earth also Is not the Earth his Footstool and are not the feet present in the place on which they tread Was not Christ in Heaven while he was hear on Earth according to his own words No man saith he hath ascendded up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven the Son of Man which is in Heaven John 3. 13. And cannot God be in Heaven and in Earth too and also by his Spirit in the hearts of his people In p. 23. he saith To say that Christ according to the Flesh was of Abraham is Blasphemy Observ The Apostle said concerning the Jews whom he calls his Brethren and Kinsmen according to the Flesh Rom. 9. 3. of whom as concerning the Flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Amen verse 5. Did Christ come of the Jews according to the Flesh and did he not come of Abraham according to the Flesh Now lest any should apprehend there may be some difference between according in verse 3 and concerning in verse 5 I shall add this they are both the same in the Greek It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in both In p. 24 25. he saith None can interpret Scriptures truely but himself Observ All that are children to them God giveth of his Spirit Gal. 4. 6. and they that have the Spirit have that which interprets Scriptures truly which they keeping to cannot be deceived about the interpretation of them But they that keep not to the Anointing within but receive interpretations from men
nature of reason never did nor can do in any Again in p. 11. he saith very slightingly and as untruly concerning the Quakers thus As for the sins your hearts are clensed from they are no other but such like as these that is to say to keep the hat on the head before a Magistrate and to find fault with gold-lace and a piece of ribbon a bandstring and a gold button and to rend and tear gold-lace and other lace off their clothes and burn it and to use the Language of thee and thou He or she that gets thee or thou perfectly is a very good Quaker they are gotten half way to the Quakers Heaven These and such like righteousness is the Quakers perfection and all the cleansing of heart they have c. Observ O thou despiser reproacher and belyar of the Work of God in the hearts of his children Nay nay there are thousands who in Gods Presence can testifie against thee that they have waited for and received the inward clensing from the filthiness of flesh and spirit from the inward lusts and motions of sin in the mind having felt the Ax of the Lord and the two-edged Sword which cutteth up sin at the very roots But thou art so far from having thy heart cleansed that thou art not yet clensed from lying lips but bringest forth thy false reproachfull slanderous testimony against the Heritage of God in the sight of the Sun In p. 13. he saith further of the Quakers That they own no other death of Christ but what is within them what ever they pretend by using the words of Scripture c. Observ They sincerely and in plainness of heart own and acknowledge the death of that Body which the Father prepared for his Son in which he did the Fathers Will in his suffering without the Gate of Jerusalem Therefore in this he is a very false Witness and therein hath grosly belyed the Quakers In p. 15. he saith You Quakers are the darkest pieces to interpret Scripture of any other Opinions in the World for you will name places of Scripture but never interpret any c. Observ It is better to bring men to that which opens the mind to understand the Scriptures then to give men interpretations of words or things beyond their capacity Yet the Spirit of the Lord in and through many called Quakers doth often open many Scriptures in clearness and demonstration to others Read the Book called Gospel-Liberty or the Royal Law of Love and see if many Scriptures be not therein opened to the lowest capacity But the Lord hath given them the true skill and understanding and they are not to open to and feed that in men which the Lord hath appointto be famished Yet if they did not open Scriptures the Scriptures are plain to him that hath an understanding Now for a close I shall add somewhat of the Testimony which is written in my heart by the finger of Gods Spirit concerning the People called Quakers Indeed they have met with many reproaches and sore oppositions many wayes since they were a People but notwithstanding all their bow abides in strength and the hands of their arms have been made strong against the wicked one with all his devices in his several kinds of instruments and their Light is still the same and their God the same who blesseth them from day to day even in the midst of all the revilings slanders persecutions and curses which they have met with from men without and in the midst of all the temptations inward trials and afflictions also which are often met with inwardly Yea we know him to be our God and cannot but trust him having found him to be faithfull to us hitherto and knowing his nature to be such that he cannot but continue his loving-kindness and faithfulness to all who are gathered by him into his holy inward spiritual Covenant of Life and Peace and who dwells with him therein And truly we are fully satisfied and at rest in him and cannot desire another then he who hath redeemed our Souls from death given us Life brought us out of the pit wherein was no water into a large place set our feet upon a rock a rock indeed and establisheth our goings in the path of holiness working all our works in us and for us by his Spirit and Power Yea we have the Witness in our hearts even the Witness which never erred nor can deceive which testifieth to and with our spirits our Sonship so that we do not imagine our selves sons from apprehensions upon Scriptures but we feel our selves sons in the true sensibleness and know who David is and reap and inherit the sure mercies of David daily O blessed be our Father O blessed for ever be the Father of Life who feeds who nourishes who waters who refreshes with the Bread of Life and with the pure living Water his Lambs his babes his plants his tender ones of whom he is daily tender and who are daily tender of his Name and Honour And if any man preach another God then he who creates anew in the true Light and therein puts forth his arm of Salvation death and destruction and the curse are his portion from the hand of the Lord. Now O people any of you that reads this mans writings and admire them what spirit are ye of what is it in you that relisheth them what do they feed in you Not the true Birth I am sure but that in you which must perish and come into death and destruction if ever your Souls be saved I speak sensibly and from the true understanding and experience which God hath given me yea I certainly know that the knowledge and notions which he holds forth are not pure nor able to cleanse the heart of any that receives them And all people that truly love your Souls and desire the Salvation thereof O wait on God that ye may be enabled by him rightly to distinguish between receiving notions concerning God and Christ and feeling and receiving the Power which effectually redeems from sin and death for deceit may enter in at the one but cannot at the other The Enemy hath all deceivableness of unrighteousness to paint as if it were righteousness and appear in and to enter and possess the mind by but he is excluded the redeeming power He that feels that which renews his heart to God and breaks the power and strength of lusts and temptations in him and brings him into subjection to the Truth which from God lives in the hearts of those that receive it in the vertue life and power of it here his devices and deceits are at an end and here the elect Sheep feel the hand of the Father which is stronger then all which none can pluck out of Here is the Fold here is the safe dwelling place whither the Lord leadeth and where he preserveth his Lambs and Children and there is not another Now as for him notwithstanding all that he hath done
before And as under the Law men were to hear Moses so under the Gospel men are to hear Christ in all things and he that doth not hear him is to be cut of as Acts 7. 37. In p. 62. he saith Though the Prophets and Apostles were anointed and sealed of God for that great Work will it follow therefore that you Quakers because you read their Writings that you are anointed and sealed of God for the Work of the Ministry Observ Where was this ever affirmed by them But this they certainly know and faithfully testifie that they have received the very same Spirit in measure which the Prophets and the Apostles had and minister in its Name and Authority and Demonstration and have the true and living Seal of their Ministry in many hearts In p. 17. he saith As for my mouth being full of cursing that is my Commission And p. 18. God hath ordained me the chief Judge in the World at this day to give sentence upon men and womens spiritual and eternal state what will become of them after death Full of this cursing I confess my mouth is and I do rejoyce in it too c. Observ When Christ pronounced Judgment upon Jerusalem he did it weeping Matth. 24. 37 38. and Luke 19. 41 c. And the true Apostle knew that those that watched for the soul when they gave up the account concerning such as did not submit to and obey the Truth but rebelled against it and perished they could not do it with joy but with grief Hebr. 13. 17. In p. 69. He teacheth his Disciples to curse men to eternity despsing spirits he calls them such he means as do not own his Commission but know it not to be of God and faithfully testifie against it Observ Christ taught his Disciples to bless saying to them Bless them that curse you Matth 5. 44. And the Apostles said Bless and curse not Rom. 12. 14. And Christ is the same at this day and teacheth his Disciples so now Yea I and many others can faithfully witness it that since we felt the seed of blessing in our hearts we never learned of it to curse any man but rather to pity them and pray to the Lord for them and direct them to the holy Light Spirit and Power whereby they might be turned from their iniquities and come into the blessing as Acts 3. 26. And though he pretends that those whom he curses have sinned the sin against the holy Ghost and are Devils yet that is but the judgment of his spirit not of Gods Spirit for they are in that which keeps from grieving Gods Spirit much more from sinning the great and unpardonable sin against it In p. 63. he saith Neither do I curse any until he judge me first Observ Feel ye that have true sense and understanding what moves him to curse In p 73. he saith If the witness that informed me did not witness truth then the Sentence which I have passed upon them shall be of no value Observ How often hath he affirmed his Judgment to be infallible and such as God himself could not reverse But here it seems it is such as may be passed by hearsay and depend upon the Witnesses words so that if the Witness that informed him spake truth it shall stand but if the Witness did not speak truth then the Sentence which he hath passed shall be of no value What shall a man be commissionated and receive authority from God to judge irreversibly so as God himself cannot pardon that man he hath judgeth as he affirmeth and yet that man not receive true sense wisdom and understanding from God to preserve him from misplacing it but it may be a true Judgment or a false Judgement according as the Witnesses information was Ah cease deceit and for shame be silent thy covering is manifestly too narrow In p. 66. he saith speaking of the penalty or punishment of the Laws If my innocency nor money will not deliver me I must and will suffer under it Observ He hath took scope enough to avoid the cross or suffering by any Laws which might lay hold on him for Conscience sake The Apostles never saved themselves by money from their sufferings for their Testimony In p. 70. he saith Every man that reads the Scriptures doth think to find Eternal Life in them as Christ said to the Jews and as you Quakers and others do now adayes Observ Do the Quakers think to find Eternal Life in the Scriptures did they ever teach men so have they not very often faithfully testified otherwise Not in words concerning the thing but in the thing it self in the Word which was in the beginning and from the beginning do they look to find Eternal Life Yea and there they have found it and do live in the Life which is Eternal and the Life which is Eternal lives in them This Testimony hath the living seal to it whereby it may be known by those that are truly living and cannot be shaken But he hath manifestly in this thing as in several others also discovered himself to be a false Witness and a false Witness can never be a true Judge Nay alas his judgment is of and like his spirit which manifestly is not of God and his knowledge which he holds forth leads not to God not to Life but to the Chambers of Hell and Death Observations on some Passages in his Letter to Thomas Tayler IN Page 5. he saith I marvel what satisfaction any man can have in his mind in believing in a Quakers God to tell a man that God abides in himself and is what he is Observ Doth not God say to Moses concerning himself I am that I am When Moses desired to know how he should answer the Israelites when they should enquire who sent him to them God bid him tell them that I am had sent him Exod. 3. 14. How could the Israelites understand what God was by this what satisfaction could they find in this answer of Moses would this spirit say But God is not to be known by the description of words of the earthly wisdom but in his own feeling Spirit and Life In p. 11. he saith concerning the Quakers That which purifies your hearts is the Law written in your seed or nature even the same as was written in the Angel-serpents nature before his fall which is no other but the nature of Reason Observ This is not a true Testimony for the Light wherewith Christ enlightneth the Soul to redeem and bring it back out of the Fall is not of the nature of Reason but confounds corrupt Reason and brings it into the dust begetting the Soul into the Divine Wisdom and giving it to pertake of the Divine Nature Yea that which we are born of and purified by as we sensible feel and truly understand is not the nature of the Serpents reason but the immortal Word of Gods eternal Power which doth that in us and for us which the
yet some alive of that Congregation can testifie This was my state when I was smitten broken and distressed by the Lord confounded in my worship confounded in my knowledge stripped of all in one day which it is hard to utter and was matter of amazement to all that beheld me I lay open and naked to all that would enquire of me and strive to search out what might be the cause the Lord should deal so with me They would at first be jealous that I had sinned and provoked him so to do but when they had scanned things throughly and I had opened my heart nakedly to them I do not remember any one that ever retained that sence concerning me My Soul remembreth the Woomwood and Gall the exceeding bitterness of that state and is still humbled in me in the remembrance of it before the Lord. O how did I wish with Job that I might come before him and bowingly plead with him for indeed I had no sense of any guilt upon me but was sick of love towards him and as one violently rent from the bosom of his Beloved O how gladly would I have met with death for I was weary all the day long and afraid of the night and weary also of the night-season and afraid of the ensuing day I remember my grievous and bitter mournings to the Lord how often did I say O Lord why hast thou forsaken me why hast thou broken me to pieces I had no delight but thee no desire after any but thee My heart was bent wholly to serve thee and thou hadst even fitted me as appeared to my sense by many deep exercises and experiences for thy service why dost thou make me thus miserable Sometimes I would cast mine eye upon a Scripture and my heart would even melâ— within me at other times I would desire to pray to my God as I had formerly done but I found I knew him not and I could not tell how to pray or in any wise to come neer him as I had formerly done In this condition I wandered up and down from mountain to hill from one sort to another with a cry in my spirit Can ye tell news of my Beloved where doth he dwell where doth he appear but their voices were still strange to me and I should retire sad and oppressed and bowed down in spirit from them Now surely all serious sober sensible people will be ready to enquire how I came satisfyingly to know the Lord at length or whether I do yet certainly know him and am yet truly satisfied Yes indeed I am satisfied at my very heart Truly my heart is united to him whom I longed after in an everlasting Covenant of pure Life and Peace Well then how came this about will some say Why thus The Lord opened my spirit the Lord gave me the certain and sensible feeling of the pure Seed which had been with me from the beginning the Lord caused his holy Power to fall upon me and gave me such an inward demonstration and feeling of the Seed of Life that I cried out in my spirit This is he This is he there is not another there never was another He was always near me though I knew him not not so sensibly not so distinctly as now he was revealed in me and to me by the Father O that I might now be joyned to him and he alone might live in me And so in the willingness which God had wrought in me in this day of his Power to my Soul I gave up to be instructed exercised and led by him in the waiting for and feeling of his holy Seed that all might be wrought out of me which could not live with the Seed but would be hindring the dwelling and reigning of the feed in me while it remained and had power And so I have gone through a fore travel and fight of afflictions and temptations of many kinds wherein the Lord hath been merciful to me in helping me and preserving the spark of Life in me in the midst of many things which have befallen me whose nature tended to quench and extinguish it Now thus having met with the true Way and walked with the Lord therein wherein daily-certainty yea and full assurance of Faith and of understanding is at length obtained I cannot be silent true Love and pure Life stirring in me and moving me but am necessitated to testifie of it to others and this is it To retire inwardly and wait to feel somewhat of the Lord somewhat of his holy Spirit and Power discovering and drawing from that which is contrary to him and into his holy Nature and Heavenly Image And then as that mind is joyned to this somewhat is received some true Life some true Light some true Discerning which the Creature not exceeding but abiding in the measure of is safe but it is easie erring from this but hard abiding with it and not going before its leadings But he that feels Life and begins in Life doth he not begin safely and he that waits and fears and goes on no further then his Captain goes before him doth he not proceed safely yea very safely even till he cometh to be so setled and established in the Vertue Demonstration and Power of Truth as nothing can prevail to make him Now blessed be the Lord there are many at this day who can truly and faithfully witness that they have been brought by the Lord to this state And thus have we learned of the Lord to wit not by the high striving aspiring mind but by lying low and being contented with a little If but a crum of Bread yet if bread if but a drop of Water yet if water we have been contented with it and also thankfull to the Lord for it Nor by thoughtfulness and wise searching and deep considering with our own wisdom and reason have we obtained but in the still meek and humble waiting have we found that brought into the death which is not to know the mysteries of Gods Kingdom and that which is to live made alive and increase in Life Therefore he that would truly know the Lord let him take heed of his own reason and understanding I tried this way very far for I considered most seriously and uprightly I prayed I read the Scriptures I earnestly desired to understand and find out whether that which this people called Quakers testified of was the only Way and Truth of God as they seemed to me but to pretend but for all this prejudices multiplied upon me and strong reasonings against them which appeared to me as unanswerable But when the Lord revealed his Seed in me and touched my heart therewith which administred true Life and Vertue to me I presently felt them there the children of the Most High and so grown up in his Life Power and holy Dominion as the inward eye being opened by the Lord sees as drew forth from me great reverence of heart and praises to the Lord who had so appeared among men in these latter dayes And as God draweth in any respect O give up in faithfulness to him Despise the Shame take up the Cross for indeed it is a Way which is very cross to man and which his wisdom will exceedingly be ashamed of but that must be denied and turned from the secret sensible drawings of Gods Spirit waited for and given up to Mind people He that will come into the new Covenant must come into the obedience of it The Light of Life which God hath hid in the Heart is the Covenant and from this Covenant God doth not give knowledg to satisfie the vast aspiring comprehending wisdom of man but living Knowledge to feed that which is quickned by him which Knowledge is given in the obedience and is very sweet and precious to the taste of him that knows how to feed upon it Yea truly this is a very excellent pure precious nature and a little of it weighs down that great vast knowledge in the comprehending part which the mans spirit and nature so much prizeth and presseth after And truly Friends I witness at this day a great difference between the sweetness of comprehending the knowledge of things as expressed in the Scriptures this I sed much on formerly and tasting the hidden Life the hidden Manna in the heart which is my food now blessed for ever be the Lord my God and Saviour O that others had a true certain and sensible taste of the Life Vertue and Goodness of the Lord as it is revealed there surely it could not but kindle the true hunger and enflame the true thirst which can never be satisfied but by the True Bread and by Water from the Living Fountain This the Lord in the tenderness of his Love and in the Riches of his Grace and Mercy hath brought us to and this we earnestly and uprightly desire and endeavour that others may be brought to also that they may rightly in the true silence of Flesh and in the pure stilness of Spirit wait for and in the Lords due time receive that which answers the desire of the awakened Mind and Soul and satisfies it with the true precious Substance for evermore Amen THE END