of your Fathers ye Serpents ye Generation of Vipers how can ye escape the Damnation of Hell Wherefore behold I send unto you Prophets Wise men and Scribes and some of them you shall Kill and Crucifie and some of them you shall Scourge in your Synagogues and shall Persecute from City to City that upon you may come all the righteous Blood shed upon the Earth from the Blood of Righteous Abel unto the Blood of Zacharias whom ye slew between the Temple and the Altar And now Oh all ye Professors of all sorts who will not believe Christs words which he hath left upon record in the Holy Scriptures and yet say you do believe in him you are judging and condemning the Jews for slaying Christ and his Apostles and you imagine and say if you had lived in the dayes of the Jews who slew Christ and his Apostles you would not have been partakers with them in the Blood of Christ and of his Apostles Oh consider if Christ were now walking up and down in these Nations called Christendom in such a low and mean Appearance as he appeared among the Jews in that Age in which he suffered death among the Jews and should pronounce Woes against those who calls themselves Christians and say they do believe in him and love him would not they be angry at him and fret at him and cry away with him Oh consider it if he should tell the Proud and Covetous and Envious Priest and Professors who calls him Lord and calls God their Father that they were of their Father the Devil who was a Lyar and a Murtherer and if he should call them Serpents and a Generations of Vipers would they not chase and fret at him and would they not cry Away with him and would they not desire to have him shut out of their Countrey Oh consider of these things and lay them to heart ye persecuting Priests People and Professors of all sorts if you are Christians you are Christ-like now Christ is meek and he saith Learn of me I am meek and lowly in the heart and you shall find rest unto your Souls so all you persecuting Priests People and Professors of all sorts come to the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened you all and believe in it and obey it and it will open your Hearts and Understandings to know and understand that Christ is the Light of the World and hath enlightened every one that is come into the World and that all that believeth in that Light wherewith he hath enlightened them shall not die and perish in their Sins but by Christ the Light within they will come to be led out of their Sins and so to have Everlasting Life in him the Light For it is written In him was Life and the Life was the Light of men and the Light will let you see that Christ spiritually within men and women is unto them the way to God the Father and the Truth and the Life and the Door of the Sheepfold and if you believe in the Light it will open your hearts to understand that no man or woman upon the Earth can come to get any entrance into Gods Everlasting Kingdom but by Christ spiritually within for he saith I am the Light I am the Way I am the Truth I am the Life I am the Door of the Sheepfold he that enters by me the Door shall go in and find Pasture but he that climeth up another way is a Thief and must be cast down and none can ever enter into Gods Kingdom but by Christ spiritually within even the same Christ which the Jews cried away withal who was Crucified without the Gate of Jerusalem yea I say the same Christ and not another I say if ye believe in this Light it will open your hearts to understand these things to your own everlasting comfort and satisfaction and it will give you an entrance into Gods Everlasting Kingdom and if you do not believe in the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened you then you will continue in blindness of mind and hardness of heart and will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived and you will continue fighting against the Lord God who Created you and you will continue fighting against the Lord Jesus Christ in his Members persecuting his tender and dear Servants who are as dear unto him as the Aple of his Eye and if you do it had been better for you that you had not been born for said he Whosoever shall offend one of these my little ones that believe in me Mat 18.5 6 7. it were better for him that a Misstone were hanged about his Neck and he were cast into the Sea 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12 13. and if you continue in so doing then these are the words of Truth unto you all you are of the same Seed and Spirit that they were of who slew the Prophets and Christ and the Apostles and if you be found in the same work the Holy and Just God will give you the same Reward So remember you are warned now in your life time Mat. 25. from vers 32 c. to the end so prize your time and all of you labour to amend your doings which are evil in the sight of the Lord God And believe in the Light that you may be the Children of God who is Light and in whom is no Darkness at all And now unto all people in all Forms who profess the Scriptures of Truth to be your Rule to walk by and denieth the Light Grace and Spirit of God which is but one wherewith he hath enlightened you to be a sufficient Rule or Guide for you to walk by and calleth it a new Way and calleth it False Doctrine to direct people to the Light within them I say in Coolness and true Moderation in the Fear of the Lord God consider and take diligent notice of Peter's Doctrine to the Saints Know this said he that the Scriptures came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God gave them forth as they were moved by the Holy Spirit or Ghost So I say in the Fear of the Lord God take notice there were Holy men before there were Holy Scriptures and it was the Holy Spirit or Light of God and Christ in men that made men holy and was their Guide and their Rule by which they were led and guided to do those things which did please the Lord God before there was any outward Writing or Printing Abel was a Righteous man and was beloved of God and was Guided and Ruled by the Spirit of God within him before any part of the Bible was written and Abel offered unto the Lord and the Lord accepted of his Offering but Cain was a wicked man and a Vagabond for he was wandered and ravened from the Spirit of God within him and when he was ravened and wandered from the Spirit of God within him and his Soul had
the Temple that God did create for himself to dwell in even above all that is truly called God and in a little Remnant the Lord God hath recovered his own Right and he now doth reign whose right it is and the Government is upon his shoulders and under his Government we do sit with great delight and his Fruit is sweet unto our taste and this is the Name which we can truly and experimentally call him The Lord our Righteousness for he is truly so who hath redeemed us out of unrighteousness and thus God the Father hath made his Son Christ Jesus unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption and thus we who sometimes were Forreigners and Strangers from God are now brought near unto him and we that were in dayes past darkness are now made light in the Lord and we who in times past was dead in trespasses and sins hath he now quickned and thus God hath made his Son Christ Jesus the Captain of our Salvation and the Bishop of our Souls and we that were once wandered and gone astray in our imaginations into divers and sundry Forms of worship he hath now gathered us out of those various Forms where we were scattered in our imaginations and we have now found that within us which we had long been looking for without us amongst the false Prophets which Christ said should come and that they should deceive many and he said They shall say Lo here is Christ but Christ said unto his Disciples Go ye not forth Now Reader consider that Christ said unto his Disciples before he was crucified at Jerusalem I am the Vine ye are the Branches as the Branches cannot bring forth fruit except they abide in the Vine no more can ye except ye abide in me and without me ye can do nothing they were in a measure in him and he in them while as he did walk with them in that visible appearance which he after did suffer in and so it was good wholsom Doctrine that he did preach unto them when he said They shall say Lo here is Christ and lo there is Christ believe them not go not forth for that of Christ which they were come to know and their minds was brought in unto that was it which was sufficient to give them the knowledge of those salfe Prophets which Christ foretold them of that they should come in his Name and therefore it was very necessary that he should exhort them to keep within with it and this measure which they were gathered into the belief of and feeling of before his departure in that only and in nothing else could they know him and receive him in his coming again unto them who said I will not leave you comfortless I and my Father we will come and make our abode with you and they waited at Jerusalem until this blessed promise was fulfilled in them who was endued with Christ Gods power from on high so they were Gods Temples and God and Christ did walk in them according to his promise But now we who have our being in this Age wherein the Whore the false Church hath sitten as a Queen and hath riden upon the scarlet coloured Beast who hath received his Power and Seat and great Authority from the Dragon darkness hath covered the Earth and thick darkness hath covered us the people and so we were darkness in the power of darkness and so was hurled up and down with the false Prophets Doctrine and was deceived by their fained words and fair speeches with which they did lye in wait for that purpose and so we were long learning of them but was never able to come to the knowledge of the true God nor of his true worship by all their teachings and so Physitians of no value we have found them to be But as the Apostle Paul was sent to open the eye of the mind which the God of the World had blinded by turning peoples minds from that dark power that led them into sin unto the Light and Power of Christ in them which did condemn for sin by which they did witness redemption from sin So the Lord God hath raised up some in this present Age in the same work to turn peoples minds in unto the Light that thereby they may receive the knowledge of God and of his pare worship which is in his own Spirit and Truth which the Devil and Sin is out of and the labours and travels of such as he doth send forth in his own Power and Wisdom is very effectual and prevalent in a Remnant to turn them unto God so that thousands that walked in darkness up and down amongst the false Prophets and knew not whether they went because the Prince of darkness had blinded their minds is now turned unto God who is Light and now they are Light in him as they were darkness in the power of darkness so now they are Light in the Power of God who is Light and in whom there is no darkness at all So as I said before that which we were seeking without us amongst the false Prophets who have cryed Lo here Lo there that we have found within us Glory yea glory to the Lord God for evermore for it is his own work and let it glorifie him And so Gods Promise we do witness fulfilled unto us Thus saith the Lord God I will bring the Blind by a way they know not and certainly God hath fulfilled this Promise unto thousands and will fulfil it in many thousands more that yet walks in darkness in the ignorance of God and his pure worship in his own pure Spirit for when we were wandering up and down in our imaginations amongst the false Prophets in their various invented Forms which they have variously invented in their fallen earthly wisdom then we did not look to be brought to the knowledge of God by a Light or Spirit of God and Christ within us for the Hireling Priests and other high Professors whom we did follow for teaching they did generally agree in telling of us that Revelation was ceased and that there was no immediate teaching to be looked for nor received in this Age and they have said and published it in print unto the Nation that they have not an infallible Spirit as the Apostles and Ministers that Christ sent forth had And while we did believe these their sleepy Dreams and lying Divinations thereby we were kept in Error and so by these their Lyes they caused us to err and they did labour what they could to keep us from believing in the Light but Gods love was such unto our poor distressed Souls which was thus tossed up and down by their false Doctrines That he coused his Light to shine out of darkness in our hearts and to give us the Light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and this Treasure have we in our hearts and inward parts even in the earthen vessels and so the power
and the excellency of it is of him and not of us and to him we give the glory and honour for to him it is due for ever who by his Light which he hath caused to shine in our hearts hath given us to see them and their false Doctrines and false Worships and Wayes and now he hath given unto us Christ his Son his Covenant of Light to be our Teacher and this is that Way which once we did not know And God said unto man Thy Teacher shall no more be removed into a Corner but thine eye shall see thy Teacher thou shalt hear a voice behind thee saying This is the way walk in it And we can say Experimentally through Gods mercy that that which in times past came behind us to call us out of Evil when we were gone into Evil even than same hath led us out of Evil and so that which formerly we were turned from we are now turned to again so that which followed us and condemned us when we did Evil that is come before us and leads us into those things which is well-pleasing to the Lord our God and so Christ Jesus the Light in us is become our Shepherd and we do hear his Voice in us and we do follow him and he doth give us Peace in our inward parts which neither the Devil nor Wicked men can take from us if we abide faithful unto him And so we are set down under him who is the true Vine and we are Branches in him and so we know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding to know him that is true and we are in him that is true even in the Son of God Christ Jesus and this is the true God and Life Eternal and he is our Teacher Bishop and High-priest and Lord and King and we do believe that he shall no more be removed out of our sight nor hearing but we shall for ever see him and he shall Live and Reign for evermore and he said Because I live ye shall live also and we know what he said is true and he said I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and he that liveth and believeth shall never die and these things we do stedfastly believe And as for those Priests and Professors who say Revelation is ceased and there is no immediate teaching to be received in this Age and those that say they have not an infallible Spirit as the Apostle had as for those that hate the Light wherewith Christ Jesus hath enlightned them and loveth darkness which is of the Devil that cannot reveal the things of God and his Kingdom unto them and we know that those who hate the Light and will not hearken to the Light nor obey the Light they can have no immediate testimony to bear for God unto others and we know that there is no infallible Spirit but the Spirit of God and Christ and so they who do not believe in that measure of the Spirit of God and Christ which he hath placed in them to instruct them they have no infallibility but they fail of their Duty toward God and one towards another and so they are unprofitable Servants and wholy useless in the worship of God For if any man have nor the Spirit of Christ he is none of his now it is certain that the Spirit of Christ is infallible it did never fail to fulfil the Will of his Father and the Apostle said God had sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts whereby they called him Father and we do confess to the Glory of God that he hath sent the same Spirit of his Son into our hearts by which we can experimentally call him Father and in and by this we have the things of God and his Kingdom revealed unto us and are immediatly taught by this and this is infallible and doth not fail to lead us into all truth if we do in Faithfulness follow it and so it is our Comforter who love it and obey it but it is and will be the Torment and Condemnation of all those that hate it So the way of the Wicked is Darkness they know not at what they stumble Destruction and Misery is in their way and the way of Peace they know not The Priests and Professors who cry Revelation is Ceased and there is no immediate Teaching to be received in this Age and say that they have no Infallible Spirit These People say that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament is the Revealed Will of God unto them I say the Scriptures was given forth by the Inspiration of God which gives understanding and they do not stand and remain Open and Revealed unto any man or woman but unto such who comes into the Spirit of God and Christ which is infallible for when the Son of God opened his mouth and spake unto the World he spoke in Parables and they could not understand his words because their minds was out from that of God in them for Christ told the unbelieving Jewes that they did neither know the Scriptures nor the Power of God And now all People whose minds are out from that of God in them they can no more know the Scriptures then the unbelieving Jewes could for it is that from which they were at first given forth which must give People the true understanding of them for Christ said unto his Disciples unto you it is given to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom but unto others who were in the unbelief he did speak in Parables even the same words which to unbelievers seemed Lyes and madness even those words was made plain unto them And their hearts did burn within them when he opened unto them the Scriptures after his Resurrection and I say the Scriptures is a book sealed from all People who hath the Light and will not own it to be their Teacher and they are jangling and quarrelling about the meaning of the Scriptures and so are fighting and striving one with another about the Shaddow and Outside of things and never comes to Christ the Substance for said Christ to the unbelieving Jewes Search the Scriptures for in them ye think you have Eternal Life But ye will not come unto me that you might have Life He did not say you cannot come unto me but he said you will not come unto me that you might have Life so Reader thou mayst see they had a Stubborn will who would not come unto Christ God said unto man in the daies of old I have set Life and Good before thee and Death and Evil and God did not nor doth not say unto man Choose Death that thou mayest dye but he did say and doth say choose Life that thou mayest live Paul said I will that Prayers and Supplications be put up for all men in as much as God would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge
God but like the Devil then they came into the likeness of God again which Adam and Eve lost when they went from the Measure of the Spirit of God wherewith he had enlightened them and which he commanded them to obey Gen. 1.26 27. And though Adam's Sons and Daughters be ravined from the Spirit of God within them and so are committing Sin with greediness Gen 3 1 2. c. to the end and draw-Iniquity with Cords of Vanity and pulling Sin upon them as it were with a Cart Rope yet this is no argument to any good purpose to perswade people that all people must do as they do neither is it an argument to any good purpose to perswade people that there is no better a State or Condition to be attained unto while men and women beareth the Earthly Body or Tabernacle about seeing the Apostle Paul said unto the Saints who had been in the fall ravined from the Spirit or Grace or Light in their hearts but was then when he writ unto them returned to it again Ye were sometimes Darkness Ephes 5.8 9 13 14 15. but now are ye Light in the Lord mark his words Ye were sometimes Darkness that was before they had believed in Christs Light within them which is the true Light that hath Enlightened every one that is come into the World that was before they had believed Pauls Testimony who was sent of God Who is Light Acts 26.18 23. 16 17 ver and in whom there is no Darkness at all to turn people from Darkness to Light and so from Sathans power unto the Power of God but when they had believed in the Light wherewith Christ had enlightened them and had received Pauls Testimony who was sent to turn them from the Darkness which was in them in which they had committed sin unto the Light which was in them which had condemned and troubled them when they did commit sin then were they Light in the Lord 2 Pet. 1.19 Mark that in the Lord and so they were in him who is Light in God and Christ and so they knew God and Christ in them to save them from their sins Rom. 6.17 18 20 21 22. For said Paul When ye were the Servants of Sin ye were free from Righteousness Mark that is they were not in Righteousness but out of Righteousness and so were in unrighteousness which is sin for all unrighteousness is sin and all sin is of the Devil But now said Paul 1 Cor. 3.10 11. being free from Sin you are become the Servants of Righteousness and hath your Fruits unto Holiness and the End Everlasting Life Mark then the Fruit which they brought forth was Holy and the End Everlasting Life so here was a blessed change witnessed while they were in the Earthly Tabernacle the same Paul said to some of the Saints Some of you were Whoremongers and Adulterers but said be you are washed you are ceansed ye are sanctified he did not say unto them when they were Saints that they were Whoremongers and Adulterers as many now adayes call themselves Saints and Christians and yet liveth in much Wickedness and Uncleanness both of Flesh and Spirit But when they were washed and cleansed from their Filthiness and so was brought into the Likeness and Image of God again which is Purity and Holiness and so they came to see and know the Lord and it is written Without holiness no man can see the Lord and it is written Blessed are the Pure in heart for they shall see God 2 John 3.4 5 6 7 9 10 24. and the Apostle John said He that is born of God sinneth not he that sinneth is of the Devil we are of God said he and the whole World lieth in Wickedness Wickedness is Sin but we are of God said he he that is of God sinneth not said he he that sinneth is of the Devil we know said he that the Son of God is come 1 Joh. 5.18 19 20 21. and hath given us an understanding to know him that is true and we are in him that is true Mark they were in him that is true Even in his Son Jesus Christ and this is the true God and Life Eternal and these are true Saints and true Christians which is come to witness Christ in them and hath witnessed him in them to destroy the Works of the Devil in them which is Sin and so to make them new Creatures as he had made those Saints in Paul and John's dayes 2 Cor. 5.17 18. For if any man be in Christ said the Apostles be is a new Creature old things are passed away said he all things are become new they that are Christs said he have crucified the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts and they bad put off concerning their former conversation the old man with his deeds which is corrupt and they had put on the new man Christ Jesus the true Light Col. 1.26 27 28. who is the Lamb of God who hath enlightened every one that is come into the World that all men in his Light wherewith he hath enlightened them might believe and the Saints and true Christians in the Apostles daye did believe in the true Light wherewith Christ Jesus had enlightened them and God by it did lead them out of Sin and so out of the Fall for before Sin entred there was no Fall for Sin was the Fall from God so who is come unto the Eternal true Light within them and by it is led out of Sin which was mans I all from God they are come out of the state of the first Adam in whose state men are dead in Trespasses and Sins and they are come into the Second Adam the Lord from Heaven the quickning Spirit 1 Cor 15.20 19. and though they did once bear the Image of the First Adam in whom all are dead in Trespasses and Sins yet now they are come to bear the Image of the Second Adam the Lord from Heaven the Light which hath redeemed them from their Sins and though they were once dead in Adam who fell yet now are they made alive by the Second Adam who never fell and though they did commit sin daily while they were in the First Adams state faln and ravined from the Spirit of the Second Adam in their hearts yet now being come unto the Spirit of the Second Adam which they had ravined from and now having learned obedience unto it it being the Spirit of Truth or the True Spirit it leadeth them into all Truth and so out of all untruth and so all who hath in faithfulness followed and obeyed the Light wherewith Christ the Second Adam hath enlightened them they and none but they are made alive in and by Christ the Second Adam so as it is written it is come to be witnessed by such As in the First Adam all die so in the Second Adam all shall be made alive Mark in Adam all have
no habitation in God but was a Vagabond and his Soul delighted in Evil Gen. 4. from vers 5 to 17. then in that state he offered unto the Lord God but the Lord God did not accept of his Offering no God took no pleasure at all in it because he was ravened from the Spirit or Light of God within him and was wicked and then when Cain and his Offering was rejected then Cain was wroth and his countenance fell and the Lord said unto Cain Why art thou Wroth and why is thy Countenance faln if thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted but if thou doest evil sin lieth at thy door But Cain who was full of wrath because he was reproved and his Offering not accepted he in his wrath rose up against his righteous Brother whom God loved and whose Offering God accepted and he slew his righteous Brother because his Brothers works were righteous and his own were wicked and the Lord God cursed Cain for shedding innocent blood and Cain when he was ravined from the Spirit of God within him and had shed innocent blood he became great in the Earth and builded a City and although he had a City upon Earth yet he was a Vagabond because he was wandered and ravened from the Spirit of God within him for his Soul had no habitation in God but the Wrath of God did abide upon him And now all ye Priests and People and Professors of all sorts who have been or are or desire to be Persecutors of those whom the Lord God loveth and taketh pleasure in take notice of Cain's Reward that great and first Persecutor about Religion and all of you repent and give over persecuting people for the exercise of their Consciences towards God Or else you will undo your selves The Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it for whosoever persecutes any man for the exercise of his Conscience towards God they are of the same Spirit with Cain and their Reward will be the same with his if they do not give over persecuting and speedily repent for there ought none to exercise Authority over the Consciences of men and women but the Lord God and his Son Jesus Christ who are one for it is Gods Right only to Rule in and over the Consciences of people and what man or men soever upon the Face of the whole Earth who doth take upon him or them to lay a yoke upon the Consciences of people to limit people from a Worship into which they are already led by the Spirit of the Lord God such who so doth they do and will provoke the Lord God of Heaven and Earth against them and he will bring his Wrath upon them and it will fall heavy upon them 1 Cor. 12.7 and he will bring them down For God is a Spirit and he hath given the manifestation of his Spirit to every one to profit withal and every one that believeth in the measure of the Spirit of God which he hath given them to profit withal they come by that to be led into a pure Spiritual Worship in which the Lord God takes pleasure and whosoever striveth against them the Lord God will visit them with Judgment and he will deliver his oppressed people out of their hands And so all Persecutors come to the Light wherewith Christ Jesus the Son of God hath enlightened you and that will let you see that all this while you have been perfecting a people whom God hath made harmless for the exercise of their Conscitnces unto him in a pure Spiritual Worship you have been fighting against God who oreased you as Soul was who was as zealous for his Form of Religion as you are for yours and in his blind zeal he persecuted the Church of God and he thought he had been doing God service as many of you zealous Professors have done in your bitter angry zeal but both his thoughts and yours have been vain in this particular and so you have fulfilled the words of Christ who said unto the Saints The time will come that they will think they do God service that shall kill you Joh. 16.2 3. but Saul was an Enemy of God and a Fighter against God and a Voice came unto him from the Lord God and the Voice said Saul Saul why persecutest thou me Acts 9.5 and Saul being strucken down answered the Voice which spake unto him and said Who art thou Lord Acts 22.8 19 20. and the Voice answered unto his question and said I am Jesus of Nazareth whom thou persecutest it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks take notice that Saul who after his Conversion was called Paul his Conversion to the Christian Faith was after Christ had suffered without the Gate of Jerusalem for Saul was going to Damascus with Letters from the high Priests to bring the Saints which was at Damascus to Jerusalem to be persecuted for Jesus Christ the Light and Life of men he had suffered without the Gate of Jerusalem in that Body which his Enemies called Joseph the Carpenters Son before the Voice told him I am Jesus of Nazareth whom thou persecutest So all Persecutors take notice that it was Jesus in those Saints which was at Damascus and in other Saints that Saul persecuted I say it was Jesus the Spirit Life and Power in those and other Saints that Saul persecuted for as for the Vessel which was supposed by his Enemies to be Joseph the Carpenters Son that was offered up before so Jesus Christ was in the Saints and he was their Comforter the Spirit of Truth and he did lead them into all Truth and the Saints were hated and persecuted both by Jews and Gentiles who did not believe in the Spirit and Light of Christ within them and as it was in their dayes so it is in our dayes Joh. 14.16 17 18 26. He that is born of the Flesh persecutes him that is born of the Spirit and they that will live Godlike in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution Mark they that will live in the likeness of God in which state man was created they must suffer persecution but if they will continue in the likeness or Image of the Devil in Pride Drunkenness and Hypocrisie and only profess God and Christ without them and winde and turn about unto every new Invention which is invented in the thick and dark Night of Apostacy which yet remains in and over the hearts of many thousands of those that calls themselves Christians then they may not be persecuted but if they be Proud men then they may find some friendship amongst the Proud Joh. 15 18 89 20 21. and if they be Drunkards they may find some friendship amongst the Drunkards and if they be Hypocrites Time-servers and Men-pleasers and Dissemblers then they may find some friendship amongst the children of the same nature for the World loves its own but if a man be redeemed from these things by Christ the Light within him
and then Christ who is Gods Power speaks in him and judges and reproves the Proud for their Pride the Drunkards for their Drunkenness the Covetous for their Covetousness and the Hypocrites and Dissemblers for their dissembling hypocrisie then their wrath and sury riseth against the man in whom the Spirit of God speaketh and their anger is so great against the Spirit of God which speaketh in and through the man to reprove them for their wickedness that they would even break the Vessel through which the Lord God speaketh to reprove them for Christ said unto his Disciples before he was Crucified as to the outward They shall hale you before Rulers and Magistrates for my Name sake but take you no thought what you shall speak nor what you shall say for it is not you that speaketh but the Spirit of the Father that speaketh in you and the Prophet said Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men I will walk in them and dwell in them said the Lord God I will be their God and they shall be my people and Christ said before he was offered up as to the outward I and my Father we will come and make our abode with you and the Apostle John witnessed this fulfilled when he wrot his first Epistle which was after Christ had suffered without the Gate of Jerusalem John said unto the Saints We know that the Son of God is come 1 Joh. 5.19 20. and he hath given us an understanding to know him that is true and we are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ this is the true God and Life Eternal and Christ said unto his Disciples while he was outwardly with them He that is with you shall be in you and you may read in the seventeenth of John how Jesus prayed for the Saints and he said unto the Father I in them and thou in me Righteous Father that they may be one even as we are one O Righteous Father keep them in thine own Name and now Righteous Father I come unto thee and I am no more in the World but these are in the World I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the World but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil they are not of the World even as I am not of the World And now unto all people this we can truly say that it is a great joy and comfort to our Souls that our God by his holy Spirit in our hearts hath redeemed us out of our vain conversation which we for many dayes walked in after our own hearts lusts and that he hath now accounted us worthy to suffer for his Name sake and if you cannot love us so much now as ye could have done-several years ago when many of us were walking in the Broad way that leads unto destruction then this is an evident token unto you that you do not love God who created you for if you do love God who begets people into a holy and righteous life and conversation then you will love those people that are so begotten by him for it is written They that love him that begets they love them also that are begotten of him and we can tell you of a truth that it is God who hath begotten us out of that which is evil into that which is good yea he hath wrought a good change in us Glory to his Name for evermore for he hath created us anew in Christ Jesus the Light in the inner Man unto good works which he before ordained that we should walk in them and as we keep our minds stayed in the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened us and walketh in it it is God that worketh all our work in us and for us and we are his Workmanship and his Husbandry and we are his Sheep and he is our Shepherd and we do hear his Voice inwardly in our own hearts and he teacheth and instructs us by his good Spirit which he hath given us and we can tell you of a truth that he is a good Shepherd for he doth not let us want any thing that is good for us And we tell you plainly we cannot forsake our God who is the true Shepherd of Israel who never slumbers nor sleeps Ezek. 34. from vers 2 to 19. to follow a stranger or a Hireling for we have seen it by large experience that when the times of the greatest danger and the most need is then Hireling Shepherds flees from their Flocks Hos 4.9 and if you would have us to leave and forsake the Spirit of God within us to follow a Hireling Priest without us Mat 7. from verse 15 c. to the end this we cannot do for the Lord God hath let us see their deceit and hath led us from them and if we should turn unto them again it had been a great deal better for us that we had never been born Therefore it is in vain for you to strive to bring us to forsake Christ Jesus the true Shepherd who lays down his life for his Sheep Mat. 15.13 14. to follow a Hireling who loveth the Fleece but careth not for the Sheep for we know that they would have our outward things to live upon and would feed and cloath themselves therewith but Physitians of no value we have found and proved them to be and we did adventure our Souls under their Antichristian Ministry for a long time and we did expect help from them and some of us sought it with a great deal of diligence and zeal and we said in our hearts if there be good to be had in these men we shall have it but though we sought diligently in zeal to receive some good and help and comfort from them to have satisfied our poor hungry and starved Souls we could not get it but when we had with great diligence given attention to their Airy Doctrine which they speak in their own will and in their own wisdom and in their own time and thought to get something to have satisfied our longing desires withal behold we were like a man who in his sleep dreameth that he eateth but when he waketh it is not so but he is empty and hungry and unsatisfied and so have we been under the Ministry of the Priests of England we have been seeking Living Bread from them for many years and thought we should have gotten it from them and sometimes we thought we had been eating the true Bread that would have satisfied our longing desires but then we were deceived and it was but with us as it is with a man that dreameth in his sleep that he eateth but when he awaketh he is faint and hungry and the Living Bread we could never get from them for they never had it to give us but that we did not know certainly until we came to believe in the Light wherewith Christ Jesus the Son of God hath enlightened us but now having believed in the Light it
rebelled against it and therefore it was their condemnation though they talked of God and Christ with their mouthes and profess God and Christ in words yet in works they did deny both God and Christ and so doth all in this Age who rebel against the Grace of God in them Peter the Minister of Christ he told the Saints 2 Pet. 1.19 that they had a moro sure Word of Prophesie then that which was heard in the Mount whereunto they did well if they took heed us unto a Light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts Now People take notice that the dark place where the Light did shine which people was to take heed unto was within people for said he you do well that you take heed unto the Light which shineth in the dark place until the day dawn and the Day-star arise in your hearts so when they did believe in the Light and take heed unto the Light then the day did dawn in their hearts but when they did not believe in the Light nor take heed unto it then the thick night of darkness was in and over their hearts For God called the Light Day 1 Thess 5.7 vers 3 4 5 6 8. and the Darkness he called Night so all who do evil they do it in the Night in the Darkness when they are ravined from the Light the free Gift of God within them but Peter the Minister of Christ he brought people to the Light of the free Gift of God in them and so we the Servants and Ministers of Christ we do direct people to the Light and Grace of God in them which is Gods Gift unto them to profit withal and we the Servants of Christ do speak that freely unto people which we have freely and immediately received from the Lord God to speak unto them and it doth not cost us any Money for the Gift of God cannot be bought nor sold for Money for Simon Magus the Sorcerer when he perceived the Gift and Power of God which was with Peter and the rest of the Ministers of Christ he would have given them Money that he might have had the some Power but Peter said unto him Thy Money perish with thee thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter because thou hast thought that the Gift of God might be bought for Money so the Ministers of Christ in former Ages did not sell the Gift which God had given them for Money but judged and reproved Simon who would have given them Money for the Gift of God And the Servants or Ministers now at this day who have received a Gift from God and a Command from God to speak unto people they do not sell the Gift which God hath given unto them for Money nor any other Earthly thing nor their Words which they do speak from the Gift or Spirit of God within them they do not sell for Money nor for any Earthly thing and so in this they are like unto the Ministers of Christ in the Ages past and as the Ministers of Christ in the Ages past did direct people to the Light within the Grace within Joh. 1.1 2 c. to verse 13. the Spirit within the Word within and the Anointing within which was to guide them and lead them into all Truth so the Ministers of Christ in this Age doth direct people to the Light within Grace within Spirit within Anointing within and the Word within Deut. 30.14 which was in the Beginning that they may hear it in their own hearts and be obedient unto it And as the Ministers of Christ in former Ages lived a Godlike Sober and Holy life and lived in the good they exhorted others to come into and also lived out of the evil that they reproved others for so the Ministers of Christ at this day by the same Spirit of God within them are kept in a holy Godlike life and they are in the good they exhort others to come into and they live out of the evil that they reprove others for and in this they are like unto the Ministers of Christ in the former Age and the Ministers of Christ now in this Age are good examples unto those people unto whom they preach the Gospel and unto all people who sees them Glory yea glory to the Lord God for ever for it is his Work and it glorifies him and he is worthy for ever even so Amen for ever But the Hirelings whom God never sent nor commanded to preach who run and intrude themselves to be Teachers for Hire for their Belleys they say unto their Followers be not proud and they themselves are proud and they say unto their Followers be not covetous and they themselves are the most coveteous men that be upon the Earth their Fruits doth make them manifest for they do make it their frequent practice to force Wages from those they do no work for and I do not know any Tradesman in this Nation of any other Trade that will demand or force Wages from those they do no work for but only the Hireling Priests and the Officers of that bad Trade And the Hirelings saith be not Envious and they themselves are Envious and so they are out of the good they exhort others to come into and they are in the evil that they reprove others for and so their Doctrine is of no Authority and it is not worth heeding for it hath no power in it to kill Sin nor to cast him out of people who is the Power and Author and Root of Sin which is the Devil and so they are Hypocrites who judgeth their Followers for doing evil and they themselves are doing the same evil for Christ said that he was a Hypocrite who said unto his Brother Let me pull the Moat one of thine Eye and he had not first pulled the Beam out of his own Eye Mat. 7.3 4 5. and Christ said he was a Hypocrite who judged another Rom. 2.1 2 3. and acted the same things himself And this I say in the Name and Power of the Lord God that there is many thousands of those people who follows the Hireling Priests who are more naturally honest and are of a better understanding to receive the things of the the Spirit of God then the Hireling Priests who are their Teachers but God will gather them out from them and will teach them himself freely by his own Spirit in their own hearts Some of the Hireling Priests have been heard to say to their Followers do not as we do but do as we say now this is clearly contrary to the Doctrine of the Apostle who said unto them that followed him Walk as you have us for an Example and follow us 1 Cor. 11.1 Phil. 5.17 18 19. 1 Thess 1.6 7. 1 Pet. 5.1 2 3 4. as we follow Christ speaking of himsef and the rest of the Ministers of Christ he did not bid them
God that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not grievous 1 John 5.2 3. And now Oh ye Magistrates Priests and People who have persecuted and imprisoned until death your Neighbours called Quakers and spoiled and made havock of their Goods here you have broken the commands of Christ which is upon Record in the holy Scriptures of Truth which you call your Rule and everlasting Wo will come upon you if you do not speedily repent and with speed forsake those evil deeds for it is written in the Scriptures of Truth Wo unto thee that spoilest and thou wast not spoiled and I know we have not spoiled your goods nor sought your hurt any way but hath and still doth desire that you might repent and forsake the evil of your wayes and have your Sins forgiven you and obtain mercy from the Lord God we desire not your destruction the Lord God knoweth but we desire that you might repent and live But the words of Christ in the holy Scriptures bears witness against you that you have not done unto us as ye would we should have done unto you if you had been in our condition and we in yours you would not have had us to have imprisoned you unto death as you have done many of our dear Brethren whose innocent blood lies upon you and it cryeth unto God against you for vengeance as righteous Abel's did cry unto God against Murthering Cain and God doth hear and will avenge the blood of his Elect And you would not have had us to have spoiled your goods as you have done ours therefore the Scriptures of Truth without you and the Light of Christ within you doth bear witness against you And now you are stripped of all your Coverings and you stand judged and condemned before the Lord God of Heaven before whom all things are naked and bare he searcheth all hearts Ezek. 18 read it through and tryeth all reins and there is not any wicked work that you do or have done but the Lord God seeth them all and they must not go unpunished for the Lord God is just and equal in all his wayes and he will deal justly with you and with all people upon the Earth yea he will certainly reward every one according to their deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil And Christs words are upon Record in the holy Scriptures which you call your Rule where he commanded his Disciples to love their Enemies Mat. 5 43 44 45 46 47 48. and to do good unto those that did dispitefully use them and persecute them and they did as he commanded them for they loved him with all their hearts and his Commandments were not grievous unto them but to keep his Commandments was great joy unto them and so it is unto us whom you in scorn call Quakers endless infinite eternal everlasting praises honour dominion and thanks be unto the Lord our God who hath gathered us out from amongst you and by his own everlasting power working in our hearts he hath made us a willing people yea willing to bear all that you are permitted to do unto us and also makes us willing to do you any good that lieth in our power and so to reward you good for evil and this shall add to your torment and our God for whom we suffer he will clear our innocency in the sight of all Nations But you are far from fulfilling of this Command who hates and persecutes us who are your friends and so these words which Christ spake which is in the holy Scriptures which you call your Rule bears witness against you and the Light of Christ within you condemns you and so you are stripped of all your Coverings and so you stand judged and condemned by the Lord God in the presence of all holy just and upright men who sees and behold your wicked works And now all ye Merchant men Husbandmen and Tradesmen of what Trade or Calling soever who are Extortioners who take unlawfull gain and use unjust Weights and Measures who cheat and defraud one another in Buying and Selling and Exchanging of Gods good Creatures some of you lying and speaking worse of Gods good Creatures then you know them to be for your own corrupt ends that you may make a prey upon them that hath those good Creatures to sell and others of you that hath Gods Creatures to sell you speak better of them then you know them to be and so you tell lyes to get gain and so to make a prey of the Buyer and here you are judged and condemned by the Light of Christ within you and by his words which are upon Record in the holy Scriptures of Truth without you which you call your Rule because you do not do unto others as ye would they should do unto you and you do not love the Lord God with all your hearts and therefore you cannot love your Neighbour as your self therefore those words with many more in the holy Scriptures bears witness against you and the Light of Christ within you condemns you so you are neither Ruled by the Light of Christ within you nor by the Scriptures of Truth without you and so you are unruly Therefore I say unto you all turn in your minds unto the Eternal true Light wherewith Christ Jesus hath enlightened you all and if you love it it will work repentance in your hearts and if you give up your minds to be led by it it will lead you out of all deceit and double dealing and if you love it and in faithfulness follow and obey it it will lead you to love your Neighbours as your selves and then I am sure you neither can nor will nor dare cheat nor defraud them but then you will do unto them as you would they should do unto you and I am sure there is no man that would be cheated nor defrauded by any man that he deals withal in buying and selling and exchanging Gods good Creatures and so let every man and woman come to the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened them and as they would have none to cheat nor defraud them the Light of Christ will not suffer them to cheat nor deceive nor defraud any man or woman or child whatsoever if they love it and in faithfulness follow it for the Light is the Spirit of Truth which leadeth into all Truth all those that believe in it and in faithfulness follow it and so if all people would come unto the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened them then it would lead them all to deal justly plainly truly and uprightly one with another But alas this pure Light and Spirit in peoples Consciences is not loved nor heeded nor believed nor obeyed by many thousands of men and women who doth profess God and Christ in words and calls the Scripture their Rule and that is the reason that there is so much cheating and defrauding amongst people in buying and selling and exchanging
hearts with sorrow and trouble for if you flee from that then you will never be cleansed from your Sins for by the Spirit that judgeth Sin in the heart and burneth against it as a Fire was and is the Sons and Daughters of Sion converted unto God yea brought out of their Sins unto God and whosoever flees from that of God in them which condemns them when they do evil they flee from that which God hath placed in them to lead them out of evil and so they cannot come to be redeemed out of evil until they come to love that which condemns them for evil so I say unto you in tender Love love the Light within you and when it bringeth trouble upon you for your Sins which you have committed then own its judgments for it will not judge you except you have done wrong and as you wait in it it will let you see that its judgments are very just and true and so if you keep your minds unto it it will work true repentance in your hearts and a godly sorrow and it will lead you into the House of Mourning and through the Valley of Tears and as David did you will come to water your Bed with your Tears and to weep until your flesh fail of fatness and so you will travel through a short Sorrow into an Everlasting Joy for the Sorrow lasts but for a Night but Joy cometh in the Morning For the Lord will give Beauty for Ashes and the Oyl of Joy instead of Mourning but he gives this only unto those that comes into obedience unto his Light within them so when condemnation cometh upon you for Sins which you have committed do not flee from it for it is the Rod of God and you will see it to be so as you wait with your minds stayed in the Light and you will see that it is not for your hurt but for your Everlasting good and then consider why should you flee from it Oh flee not from it For whom I love I rebuke and chasten said God and he restoreth every sinful man and woman whom he receiveth to be Sons and Daughters and through his Judgments in their hearts he redeemeth them from Sin and so receiveth them into his Everlasting Kingdom of Life and Glory So I say unto you in dear and tender love flee not from that of God in you which condemneth you for Sin and the Light it will be with you when you are in the Fields and when you lie in your Beds and where ever you go the Light is in you and if you love it and keep your minds unto it it will teach you when you are at your Labour and it will keep you out of all Evil if you keep your minds unto it and when wicked people would tempt you to that which is Evil it will not let you consent unto them but rather to reprove them and now people I say unto you if you love this same pure and holy and spotless thing in you which never consented unto any Sin that you have committed but hath alwayes stood in you a faithfull Witness against you when you did commit Sin I say if you love it and obey it though now it may but be little in you even as a Grain of Mustard-seed which is a small Seed yet when your affections are truly set upon it it will grow speedily and will become in you as a strong Tree and the Fruit of it will ravish and overcome your heart with heavenly Joy and then you will see the folly and madness of those who rejoyceth in doing of Evil and you will find that Holy thing in you to be as Christ said Mat. 13.31 32 33. Like a little Leaven that a woman took and hid in three Measures of Meal until the whole Lump was leavened so as you wait in this Light within you though it lie low in you because of the sinfull nature which lieth atop of it in you yet it will work in you as the Leaven doth work in the Meal for the sinfull nature which lieth atop is of the Devil and that which lieth under is of God and as you joyn in true love and affection to that suffering Seed of God you shall come to know and bear witness that God is able to bring it out of the Grave in you and from under all those Powers of Darkness that hath oppressed it for God is stronger then the Devil that you will confess and so wait in the Light of Christ to feel more of the strength of God and Christ in your own hearts then of the strength of the Devil and when this you are come to witness then you will have ceased from Sin which is the Devils work for God who is the stronger in you he will rule you by his Light and Spirit which dwells in you and then the Devil who was the stronger in you he will be cast out and then the Lamb the Light he will have the Victory in you and will lead you into all Truth and so the Light if you follow it it will lead you to be Children of the Lord God who is Light and in whom there is no Darkness at all and so the Children of the Lord are taught of the Lord by the Light of the Lord and they are in Righteousness established So put not the day afar off linger not away your time but prize it thou that is young in years say not in thine heart I have time enough I may take pleasure in Earthly things yet for many dayes and have time enough to repent and seek God afterwards I say unto thee say not so in thy heart for the Lord God can cut thee down as in a moment Psal 9.17 though thou be in the Flower of thy Youth but Remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy Youth and seek him while he may be found for the Spirit of the Lord will not alwayes strive with man and as the Tree falleth so it lieth there is no Repentance in the Grave and there is no unclean thing can enter into Gods Kingdom for the wicked must be turned into Hell and all that forget God So remember you are warned by a Lover of Truth and Righteousness and a true Lover of the Souls and Bodies of all men and desireth not the Destruction of any but desireth that all people might come to Repent while they have time and so obtain Mercy from the Lord God I am known by the Name of William Gibson Written in the Year 1664. and was sent then to be published in Print but the Person to whom it was sent being at that time cast into Prison and Calamities coming on in the City it was not gotten done Postscript IT is said by many ignorant people who use to plead for Sin That the Righteousest man that is upon the Earth doth Sin seven times a day now I say they do abuse and wrest the Scriptures for there is no such