is in them that was in Christ Jesus Phil. 2.5 who is the brightness of the Fathers glory Heb. 1.3 7. The seventh false Accusation thou saist we say that he that trusts in Christ that dyed at Ierusalem for Salvation shall be deceived Reply This Charge is false as the other in the presence of God we witness against thee no other Christ we bear Testimony of to be the Salvation of lost Man and Woman but that Christ according to Scripture Testimony who was born of the Virgin and made a good Confession before Pilate and suffered at Ierusalem and rose again the third day and ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right Hand of God and this Christ we witness the true Light Who lighteth every one that comes into the World and saith I stand at the Door and knock who opens I will come into him and Sup with him and he with me Rev. 3.20 and we witness him faithful And as many as receives him to them he gives power to become the Sons of God and this is the condemnation of all because they believe not in him Iohn 12. 8. The eight false Accusation thou saist we reproach Christs Institutions and holy Ordinances with the odium of Mens Traditions outward Observations inconsistant with Gods Kingdom and compares them to Nebuchadnezar's great Idol c. Reply Thy Charge is false Christs Institutions and holy Ordinances we own in the Dispensation of time they were to be continued and what is now in this Dispensation of time known in the administration of his Spirit we own but who upholds any Idolatry in observing any thing by Tradition and not guided by the Spirit of Christ and so walk contrary to the perfect Law of God in the Conscience and though their words be never so glorious in outward appearance in crying the Ordinances of Christ while they deny to be guided by Christ they are no Ordinances of Christ but an Image set up in the proud exalted nature which Nebuchadnezar set up his Image in which with the Power of God shall be thrown down and thou with the rest of the Idol Worshippers shall be broken to pieces and Lies shall not save thee for the Lord will exalt his Name and his Children that observe his holy Ordinances shall raign in his spiritual Power that preserves them therein to observe the movings of his Spirit which doth lead to worship the Father in Spirit and Truth according to Scripture Testimony Iohn 4.23 24. And when thou Iohn Timson hast presented thy false Accusations and Lies to the Reader in the Preface of thy Book that they might receive the Falshoods and Lies that are written therein and these Lies and Slanders which are here laid before thee and witnessed against in the answer thereto returned will sufficiently prove to thy face and be manifest to that of God in every ones Conscience that thou hast spoken unadvisedly with thy Lips when thou saist thou Lies not and all these Lies found in thy Mouth given forth publickely for all to read and thou declares to the Reader that the Lord knows what diligence and tenderness of Bowels thou hast had to prepare it for them c. Reply Blush for shame O vain Man to appeal to the Lords knowledge of thy diligence and tenderness of Bowels to prepare so many Lies and Falshoods for People to read thou shalt certainly know that the Lord takes notice of thee and he will lay thee open and make thee manifest and Lies shall not cover thee nor be thy refuge Isa. 28.17 when our God will clear his Truth and thy Tongue and all others that rise up against him shall fall in Judgement the day shall declare it Further thou goes on saying as for those persons that have answered me who have charged me with bringing sorth many Lies and Slanders and have made a noise thereof as if I was some carnal lying wretch that matters not what I write Reply To that of God in every ones Conscience I appeal that Lies proceed from a carnal wretched Heart and the Lord is making thee manifest who would make Lies thy refuge which with the Light thou art seen and thy Lies turned upon thee that in the Light thou mayst be read what thou art and in the Light our Books are known and no such thing is in our Books as thou falsly charges us with and would make People believe is written therein in giving the sence of our words in thy dark mind and for the Simples sake an answer is returned to clear the Truth of God in what he hath given out by his Spirit both in word and writing and whether thou wilt receive it yea or nay thou shalt know and all others that Christ is the Authority of the Scripture and when he spoke them forth he spake as one having Authority and not as a Scribe and who in his Light walk cannot be perswaded to turn from him by any Lies and Reproaches thou canst cast upon them who saist we are wholly turned from the Truth which against thee witness it is not so let God be Judge and in his day make manifest what we are in whose Will we rest as moved of him to witness against the Falshoods thou hast further charged upon us in what followeth Thou hast not done justly nor honestly in that thou hast not Printed the Questions as given forth by thee and Answers as returned by us and in an answer to what is of thee required to prove the Charge thou chargest us withal in thy Reply to the Answer to the first Question and the false Accusations Lies and Slanders is not proved in all thou hast writ The one Baptism we own Eph. 4.5 and the Watch in the Church we own in the Spirit of life which in order doth keep in obedience to the pure God who is the God of order and not of confusion but keeps his Children in himself purely to live according to what is profest Further thou goest on and queries what proof would we have is it not our own prophane Language both in Papers and Conference it is no news to hear most of their Way dispute against water Baptism the Lords Supper a setled fixed Ministry over particular Churches and queries further what Quakers administer water Baptism the Lords Supper and constantly watches over a particular Flock or else for shame thou saist we must own the Charge and confess our Sin in telling the World these are thy lying Slanders Reply Prophane Language we deny and Shadows and Figures we witness done away the Substance being come water Baptism was in its time a Figure of the Substance as Iohn witnesses to whom that Dispensation was committed Mat. 3.11 I indeed Baptize with Water unto Repentance but he that comes after me is mightier then I whose Shooes I am not worthy to bear he shall Baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire And Iohn's Baptism we deny to be in force he did decrease and Christ
Correspondency betwixt Iesuits and Quakers as might render them suspicious or did you ever know any Priests or Iesuits in their Meetings and there suffered to Preach c. For I know the Iesuits and the Quakers and there is such vast difference in points of Religion that it is as possible to reconcile Light and Darkness as to reconcile them though they may appear different from us yet I think they are no Murtherers as the Papist have been and are I have no more but that I am yours though unknown T. O. The 13 th of March 1678 9. An Exhortation to all People to prize their Time in making their Calling and Election sure before they go hence and be no more As it hath pleased the Lord God in his tender Mercy in his Heavenly Power in Christ to assist his tender Hand-maid Mary Sam and give her full Assurance of her Eternal Salvation who lived with her Grand-Father William Dewsbury at Warwick where he was and is Prisoner for the Testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ And there she departed this natural Life when she was the Age of Twelve Years and sixteen Weeks and in her Sickness declared to all about her what God had done for her Soul. A brif Account whereof Follows ALL People mind the fear of the Lord who created the Henvens and the Earth the Seas and Fountains of Waters and all turn your Minds to the Light of Christ Jesus in your own Consciences that reproves for Sin in the secret of your Hearts and this God requires of you all to search your Hearts thorowly with the Light of Christ Jesus which is the true Light that lighteth every one that comes into the World as it is written in the Scriptures of Truth Iohn 1.9 And as you are faithfull to the Light it will let you see how you have lived and spent your precious time that is gone over your Heads then will your Consciences be awakned with the Light of Christ and you will be made sensible of your careless sinful and miserable state and condition that you have lived in so will the Lord in great Mercy to your Souls set your sin in order before you and the Iniquity of your Heels will compass you about so will you be made sensible of your lost and perishing State and Condition that if the Lord did not look upon you in his Mercy in the Lord Jesus to give you strength to forsake every evil Way and Repentance for what you have done you would perish forever So from the deep sence of your own nothingness and the need of the help of Christ Jesus the true Light and blessed Saviour to whom you Cry and Pray continually That he would perfect his great work of Regeneration in leading you in the foot-steps of the Tribulated Companions who go weeping and seeking the Lord their God asking the Way to Sion with their Faces thitherwards no more to let your Eyes slumber in peace nor your Eye-lids have rest until you be assured the Lord is your God and that he hath blotted out your Sins and done away your Iniquities for his Name sake and hath accepted of you in his new and Everlasting Covenant of his Mercy in Christ Jesus So you that were afar off in your Rebellious Nature of which you are now ashamed through true Repentance and Obedience to the Light you are made nigh in the Blood of Christ which gives you full assurance of your Eternal Salvation and purgeth your Consciences from dead Works to serve the Living God and whoever you are that come to witness this blessed Work of Regeneration wrought in your Hearts as before written in your being created to a lively Hope in Christ Jesus Mark you are to watch and pray that in the Exercise and Improvement of this Hope you may receive Strength to purifie your selves as he is Pure â—o comes all that are Worshippers of the Father to Worship him in Spirit and in Truth for such the Father seeks to Worship him and these are they whom he Perfects forever through the Sanctification of his Spirit So is this Scripture fulfilled in you He that doth Truth brings his Deeds to the Light that they may be manifest that they are wrought in God John 3.21 And these are his Children who walk in the Light and have their fellowship with the Father of Light in Christ Jesus their blessed Saviour and one with another in his humble meek pure and blessed Nature and so becomes his chosen Jewels and Citizens of Sion who walk in the Light of the New-Ierusalem as it is written in the Scriptures of Truth The Nations that are saved shall walk in the Light thereof And whatever any of you suffer who are redeemed from the Earth and have your Confidence in the Lord alone Christ takes as done unto himself as it is written Mat. 25.31 to the end of the Chapter When the Son of Man shall come in his Glory and his holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the Throne of his Glory and divide the Sheep from the Goats when he hath set the Sheep on the right Hand and the Goats on the left then will he say to those on his Right Hand Come you blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World for I was hungry and you gave me Meat thirsty and you gave me Drink a stranger and you took me in naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in Prison and you came unto me Then shall the Righteous answer him saying Lord when saw we thee hungry and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee drink When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in or naked and clothed thee or when saw we thee sick and in Prison and came unto thee And the King shall answer and say unto them Verily I say unto you in as much as you have done it unto one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me Then shall he say unto them on the Left Hand Depart from me ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels He gave them to understand why they must depart they had not done to him as those at the right Hand had done as you may read at large from Verse 41. to the end of the Chapter So all may see how Man's destruction is of himself in not regarding the Counsel of Christ Jesus the Light to guide them in a Humble Pitiful Compassionate Pure and Blessed Nature so they go into Everlasting Punishment but the Righteouss that are guided by his blessed Spirit as before written they shall go into Life Everlasting which is the Inheritance of all that walk in the Light faithful unto Death the Crown of Life they shall enjoy forever and for evermore as it pleased the Lord to give a full assurance to his tender Handmaid of her Eternal Salvation in his blessed Work upon her Spirit as the following
he hath called and chosen to be faithful to him in his eternal Power rejoyce who will you all keep in that day in rest and peace in the ancient of days who shall sit to judge the Beast and the Whore their Kingdom to break down and destroy in his eternal judgement for evermore and will Rule over them by the Arm of his mighty Power and of his Dominion there shall be no end for to him it belongs forevermore Meet often together in the fear of the Lord his Power to manifest in you to his praise who is worthy forever Amen I charge and command all in the presence of the Lord God who make mention of his Name that you speak not at any time to any in your own will or to one another or to any without or to exhort them when you are guilty of the same thing in the exalted Spirit out of the Cross be silent thou Fool first judge thy self with the Light and in the Power dwell to cast the Beam out of thy own Eye and that thy own House be kept in order then wilt thou see clearly to take out the Mote out of thy Brothers Eye and how to exhort others how to walk in order to the Spirit of Truth and watch over one another with a single Eye All you that fear the Name of the Lord in tender love bear one anothers Burthens and exhort one another to build up one another in your most holy Faith God almighty be with you all his faithful Servants and Children and in his eternal Power keep you in himself that in him you may grow up in his pure nature to bear his Name in righteousness that his Image may be written in your Foreheads that all that sees you may know you to be the righteous Seed the Lord hath blessed his eternal Power preserve you and keep you and build you up in the purity of the Spirit and bond of Peace where I am with you in the eternal unity and in the unchangable Love and Life William Deusbery From Northampton Goal the 19 th of the 3 d Month 1655. A TRUE PROPHECIE OF THE Mighty Day of the Lord. Which is coming and is appeared in the North of England and is arising towards the South and shall over-spread this Nation and all Nations of the World. WHEREIN The Lord is redeeming Sion forth of her long inthral'd Captivity in Babylons Kingdom where she hath been scattered in the cloudy and dark day into Forms and Observations and there kept by the Priests and Teachers of the World who ran when God never sent them Now is the Lord appearing in this day of his mighty Power to gather his elect together out of all Forms and Observations Kindreds Tongues and Nations and is making up his Jewels his mighty Host and exalting Jesus Christ to be King of Kings to lead his Army he hath raised up in the North of England and is marched towards the South in the mighty power of the living Word of God which is sharp as a two-edged Sword to cut down High and Low Rich and Poor Priests and People and all the Powers of darkness in the Land and all the World over that are fruitless Trees that cumbers the ground defiles the Flesh and walks in disobedience to the righteous Law of God the pure Light in the Conscience For who falls on this Stone shall be broken but on whom it falls shall be ground to Powder So shall this Nation and all the Nations of the World be Conquered and the Victory witnessed neither by Sword nor Spear but by the Spirit of the Lord. A Word from the Lord to all the Inhabitants of England Rulers Priests and People to haste to meet the Lord with speedy Repentance and returning within to hearken diligently to his Counsel the pure Light of Christ in your Conscience to be guided by his Power else you shall perish in your gain-sayings For if his anger be kindled a little blessed are all they that trust in him O England who lies in the faln and lost estate separated from the true and living God by thine Iniquities notwithstanding all thy Profession of his Name in outward Forms and Observations Repent Repent and turn unto the Lord God Almighty who waits on thee to be gracious unto thee and to make thee the glory of all the Nations of the World if thou wilt diligently hearken unto his Counsel the Light that is in the Conscience of every one to wait in it upon the Lord God that he may guide thee by his Power And this I have to declare unto thee from the Lord which he hath made known unto me concerning thee O England certain years ago when the everlasting Covenant of Life was confirmed unto my Soul in the Lord Jesus Christ that I should go with the ransomed of the Lord unto Sion I enquired of my God to manifest unto me where Sion was that I might return thither to worship him in Spirit and Truth there being so many confused cries in thee O England who professes to worship the only true God some saying Lo here is Christ in the Presbyterian practice so called and the Independants so called cries Lo he is here and the Anabaptists so called saying Lo he is here and others in outward Forms saying He is here according as Christ foretold that the time would come when they shall say Lo here is Christ and lo there as it is fulfilled in thee but Christ saith Believe them not look not forth for the Kingdom of Heaven is within And as the Lightning that shineth out of the one part under Heaven and shineth unto the other part under Heaven even so shall the Son of Man be in his day And this I witness and while I was waiting on my God to make known unto me where Sion was the Word of the Lord came unto me with witness to my spirit that Christ was not divided and that there was no rent in his Garment For the Lord is one and his People one and that all thy outward Forms of Worship O England where thou art waiting for Christ in Observations is contrary to his Will for Christ saith The Kingdom of God is not in Observations neither shall they say lo here or lo there for behold the Kingdom of God is within you And that all thy strict observing of thy outward Forms is but imitating the Saints practices in thy babylonish heathenish Wisdom so there is nothing but confusion in thee and that all thy outward Forms is the outward Court which is without the Temple that the Angel was not to measure for it is given unto the Gentiles and the holy City shall they tread under foot and this was made known unto me from the Lord my God to be the estate and condition thou stoodst and doest stand in O England in all thy outward Forms and Observations Having a Form of Godliness but denying the
by his eternal and pure Wisdom according to the Counsel of his own Will and his Name alone may be honoured in you in his ordering of you who alone is worthy of all Honour Glory and Power and Praise for evermore W. D. THis is the Word of the living God to you his dear Children all be Faithful on your watch in the Light wait to dwell in the Power of the Living dreadful God and in it stand armed against self in all its appeareance that in the mighty Power you may tread upon your own Heads that Christ Jesus may be Head in you all that you in him may reign Kings upon the Earth to trample upon the Earthly Spirit in all its appearances in you and without you I charge you and command you in the Presence of the Living God consult not with Flesh and Blood which draws into disobedience and unbelief and fills you full of hard thoughts of God I charge you lend not an Ear to that wicked Spirit but diligently incline your Ear to the Counsel of Jesus Christ and in him all walk faithfully according to the measure of Light to answer the charge and care that 's laid upon every one in your measure and meet often together in the Name and Power of the Lord to wait in the silence of your Spirits by his mighty Power to Manifest it self in you and watch one over another with a pure single Eye and let no hard thoughts lodge in your Brests one towards another I charge you and command you in the Presence of the living God judge them out with the Light and when you see any draw back be faithful in ministring to the pure in them to raise up â—he Seed to restore them again and then forgive one another your offences which is done one to another as Christ Jesus hath forgiven you and be tender affectioned one towards another and exhort one another in love to the Building up in your most holy Faith that you all may rejoyce together in the eternal unity in that which is pure begotten of God and God Almighty be with you his dear Babes and Children and you in it keep in the unity of the Spirit and bond of Peace where I am with you my dear Hearts saluting you all in the Bowels of eternal Love. W. D This was I moved write the 7 th of the 10 th Month when I was in Wellinâ—gborow in Northamtonshire where the Lords Work is great in gathering his Children together there awayes and in Leastershire and in Buckinghamshire Dear Friends ANd Children of the everlasting God and Father of Light and Life all in his Light wait for his living Power to manifest it self in you to guide you in every thought word and action in obedience to his will that you may all shine forth in the brightness of his Glory in a pure Conversation that so you may every one of you be Lights to the dark World that they may see your good Works and glorifie your Heavenly Father who hath in his tender love plucked you as Brands forth of the Fire and hath looked on you in Mercy and hath counted you worthy to be Witnesses of his great and glorious Name for which sake he hath chosen you unto himself that you might be a People to his praise and glory every one of you in your measures to bear his Name in righteousness this is the Word of the Lord to you all that every one of you be Faithful in your Measure that as you have received Christ Jesus so to walk in him in giving your selves to him that he may guide you by his Power I charge you and command you all in the Presence of the living God to be faithful upon your watch and in the pure Light wait believing in the Name of Jesus Christ to save you from all hard thoughts of God and all unrighteousness and to establish your Souls in righteousness and peace where you will all be united together in the unity of the Spirit and Bond of Peace God Almighty be with you and in his Eternal Power keep you all bold valiant and faithful unto the end that you may all sit down in the eternal rest prepared for you in the Lord Jesus where I am with you all that are faithful forever in the Lord whose Prayers to God is that not any of you draw back to perdition but that you all wait in the Light believing in the Name Christ Jesus to the saving of your Souls And the power of the dreadful God rest upon you all and establish you in his Love and Life that you may rejoyce forever in his Presence and there I am with you in the eternal Unity W. D. Dear Friends BE not troubled at the Lords disposing of us in suffering the Devil to cast us into Prison for with you we are in the Liberty of the Spirit in the eternal unity which cannot be separated I have declared to you of the Lords ordring of us to his Praise and Glory On the 10th day of the 11th Month Iofeph Storr my fellow Prisoner and I was carried forth of the Prison to the Sessions which was holden at Northhamton there was Iohn Parker that did fine my Brother Thomas Aldam and more called Justices who were in great enmity against the Truth But the Wittnesses that had sworn against me as they said for Blasphemy did not appear against me the Lord smit them with terror the lying Spirit durst not appear then they were confounded in that they charged against me And there was many Friends appeared in much boldness for the Truth one Justice Crutt and Iames Nagill who is great in the outward where there dwellings are in Bickering Park in Bedfordshire and one Edward Hackney an Atturney at Kettency in North-hamtonshire there had not been above three Meetings with me yet the enmity of Iohn Parker and these with him required Bonds-men of me to be bound for me for they said I had writ strange Papers to the Lord Protector if I would not find Men to be bound for me I should to Prison again I then required of them to read me a Law I had transgressed but they would not answer but called for Bonds-men I answered there shall not any be bound for us hear is our Bodies do with them what you have power to do they commanded the Jaylor to take us away we were not suffered to speak any more but taken and put into Prison and a Copy of our Mittimus we cannot have but was denyed both of the Jaylor and of the men called Justices when it was demanded of them in the open Court but the wrath of man turns to the Praise of God for the Truth of God was much spread abroad that day and a mighty thirst was raised up in the Hearts of many towards the Name of the Lord Praises forever be to him whose ways are past finding out he takes the wise in their own Craft and overturns them in their
Power thereof So under all thy profession is most cruel oppression every one oppressing one another according unto their power from the highest unto the lowest so that the cry of the oppressed Seed within the Hearts of thy Inhabiters O England and those that are oppressed in outward oppressions in thee hath entered into thr Ears of the Lord God of Sabbath and he is coming in Power to set the oppressed free and to bring them to Sion which in the eternal Riches of his Love he made known to me where Sion was according unto the desires he had raised up in my Heart and the Word of the Lord came unto me saying I will gather my People out of all Forms and Observations and out of all Kindreds Tongues and Nations and I will pour my Spirit upon them and purge away their filth with the Spirit of Iudgment and of Burning and I will write my Law in their Hearts and put my Spirit in their inward Parts and they shall not depart from me but shall be bound up in union with me in the free Covenant of Life in the Lord Jesus and one with another in the one Spirit so shall the Lord be one and his People one and this is Sion the City of the living God to whom all the promises of the Lord are according unto the Scripture of Truth wherein they need not to Teach every Man his Neighbour and every Man his Brother saying Know the Lord for all shall know me from the least unto the greatest for I will be merciful unto their unrighteousness and their Sins and Iniquities will I remember no more And this is the holy City the New Ierusalem which Iohn bare witness of wherein there is no Temple for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it And the City had no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it for the glory of God doth lighten it and the Lamb is the Light thereof And the Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the Light of it and the Kings of the Earth do bring their glory and honour unto it and the Gates of it are not shut at all by day for there shall be no night there and there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth neither that works abomination or makes a lye but they that are written in the Lambs Book of Life and all that walk in the Light of Christ within which Light exerciseth the Conscience and leads into the holy City the New Ierusalem where the true Worshippers of the Father are who worship him in Spirit and in Truth and are come out of the night and need no Candle neither light of the Sun for the Lord God giveth them light and they shall raign forever and ever And this is the true Church in God Sion which shall become the praise of the whole Earth and from whence the Law shall go forth according unto the promise of the Lord and the Word of the Lord from Ierusalem Then shall Righteousness run down with a mighty stream and Oppression shall cease And this glory of the Lord which he hath made known unto me shall be made manifest to the Inhabiters of England if you will hearken diligently to the Counsel of the Lord which is the Light in your Consciences and in it wait on the Lord to be guided by his Power I waited in the Counsel of my God in the Calling where I was placed until the Year 1652. and in the eighth Month of the Year as it is accounted of men the Word of the Lord came unto me saying The Leaders of my People causes them to err in drawing them from the Light in their Consciences which leads to the anointing within which the Father hath sent to be their Teacher which would lead them into all Truth to seek the Kingdom of God in Observations where it is not to be found So my People perish for want of Bread Freely thou hast received freely give and minister and what I have made known unto thee in secret declare openly Which Word constrained me by the Power of it to leave my Wife and Children and to run to fro to declare to Souls where their Teacher is the Light in their Consciences which the Lord hath given unto every one a measure to profit withal for the exercise of the Conscience towards God and Men and waiting in the Light for the Power of Christ he would lead them up to the living Fountains of Water where their Souls would find refreshment in the presence of the Lord and their Bread should be sure and their Water never fail as the Lord hath made manifest to my Soul and to worship him in Truth at New Ierusalem to sing Hallelujahs and Praises among the redeemed Sons and Daughters of God in the beauty of holiness unto the Lord God that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for evermore To you Rulers of England whose names will be honourable if you will honour the Lord in obeying his Counsel which is the Light in your Consciences that he may guide you in all your ways to you I am moved to write Thus saith the Lord God Almighty I will overturn overturn overturn until I have given it unto him whose right it is as you have seen the Power of the Lord manifest on many that were in the place where you are who all professed the Name of Christ but they would not obey his Counsel the Light in their Consciences but walked after the counsel of their own Hearts and improved their power for their own ends and dissembled with God and the Countrey but our righteous God hath overturned them to their everlasting shame and contempt Now if you will not obey the Light in your Consciences to rule in the Power of the Spirit to break every Yoak of unrighteousness and put every filthy and abominable thing out of the sight of the Lord that the oppressed may be set free but you will cause both small and great to worship the Image of the Beast in forcing them to obey the Heathenish and Unrighteous Laws made by Nebuchadnezar's nature proud flesh who set up himself a King to oppress all under his power and set up whom he would to Rule and Raign with him over others in Tyranny Cruelty and Oppression in all unrighteousness which Beast received a deadly wound with a Sword by the little Horn spoken of in Daniel before whom three Horns fell and the Horn had Eyes to see what they should do the Light in their Consciences and a Mouth which speaketh great things what they would do for the glory of God whose look was more stout then their Fellows I beheld the same Horn made War with the Saints of the most high God and prevailed against them as it is fufilled Many of them
and all in the new Covenant do know the Law of God written in their Hearts and the Witness or Testimony of Jesus within 1 Iohn 5.10 bearing witness with their Spirits that they are the Children of God Rom. 8.16 and this declared is neither deceitful nor knavish which is the unsavory words thou chargest on us let the Truth of God in all Consciences judge to whom they belong the Scriptures we are not against they bear Testimony of Christ the Light whom we witness the way to the Father Mat. 11 27. None knows the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him by the revelation of the Spirit of God is the things of God known to his People 1 Cor. 2.9 10 13. Rom. 8.11 16. according as is recorded we witness the Scriptures fulfilled in Christ the Light who is our Life Col. 3.3 4. And whereas thou queries did ever any read of the Law and Testimony in the Heart and that the Law and Testimony in the Heart is the Law of the new Covenant Reply Who hath read the Scripture in the fear of God hath read what the Lord hath promised as declared Isa. 8.16 Bind up the Testimony seal the Law among my Disciples and Ier. 31.33 This shall be the Covenant I will make with the House of Israel in those days saith the Lord I will put my Laws in their inward parts and write it in their Hearts Heb 8.10 11 12. and the Law written in the Heart we witness and the Lord faithful in performing according to his Promise in the new Covenant And thou goest on in Page 19 and 20 calling us Impostors and Pervertors of the new Covenant and to be in Idle proud Fancies and itching Humors of our own Brains in our Apostate Condition Reply We in the Light can bear thy reproach and have witnessed the Truth that it may stand a witness against thy revilings and in the Lord we rest who will make manifest whether thou or we be the Pervertors of the new Covenant and guilty of what thou chargest us with And whereas thou in the 22d Page says that William Deusbery tells us that the mighty day of the Lord is appeared in the North of England and is rising towards the South and shall over-spread this Nation and all the Nations of the World c. what the mans fancy and design is in bruiting and making such a noise of the appearance of the mighty day of the Lord judge ye I am sure he hath sufficiently discovered his own folly in blazing abroad such Dreams of his own lying Heart c. Reply In thy 2d Page thou hast enlarged thy self concerning that Book calling it a lying Paper c. and the Truth is witnessed in answer to thy charge and this in answer to what is here written Fancies Bruitishness Folly Dreams and Lyes William Deusbery denies the Truth he hath declared as the Lord hath him moved in Faithfulness to the Souls of all People that they be not found the sloathful Servants putting the Day of the Lord afar off in this his Day wherein the Hour of his righteous Judgment is come Rev. 14.7 to all that wait on him the Truth is declared that all men may prepare in the Light the Lord to meet and no longer in sloathfulness remain least he come upon them as a Thief in the Night and if the Day of the Lord do not arise over all the World and the Kingdoms of the World became the Kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ and the Lord perform not as is declared then say the Lord hath not spoken by me who is known to the World by name William Deusbery And in the 22d Page thou sayst we have set our selves in the Throne of Christ judging the whole World. Reply Thy Accusation is false self we deny to Christ we are subject who sits on his Throne and is come and coming in his Saints to judge the World Iude 14 15. 1 Cor. 6.2 and 2.5 And in the 23th page thou sayst why do not we command the Dead to rise and appear before us and many other unsavory words are there exprest Reply A wicked and Adulterous Generation shall seek after a sign and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of the Prophet Jonah Mat. 16.4 And whereas thou chargest Howgill and Burrough as thou callst them with pernitious Blasphemous Opinions Reply Thy Accusation is false they are faithful Men serving their Generation in the Light Ministers of Christ in whom is witnessed the God-head dwelling Bodily Col. 2.9 and in him we are one in God they that joyn to the Lord are one Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 he that can receive it let him And whereas thou in the 29th Page saist that the Revelations of Christ that are according to Scripture are either Texts of Scripture expressed or rational Deductions Consequences and Conclusions that naturally flow from particular passages of Scriptures and not any other Revelations can be pleaded for a Rule Reply Thy dark mind is shut out from knowing the Revelations of Christ and though thou sayst that answer that was returned to these words was not to purpose it stands a witness against thee and will be found to purpose in the Light when thy reward thou shalt have for all thy unsavory words exprest in thy Book And in the 33th Page where thou falsely accuses us that we will allow of no Laws of God nor Scripture but the Revelations and Edicts of our own bewitched Hearts c. And when thou hast reviled us with false Accusation as before written thou beseechest those thou callst thy dear Friends to be serious in their Thoughts of what thou hast written in discovering our deceits and blasphemies denying the Rule that all things are to be tryed by and make themselves the absolute rule and we must not question what they say though it be never so insolent and to be abhorred of all sober Christians c. Reply Thou hast brazened thy Face to slander the Truth of God with Lies and Blasphemies which is the Foundation of all Heresie and there thou art found and thy Accusation is false Christ the Rule that all things is to be tryed by we own and deny our selves and to the Light of Christ in all Consciences we appeal whether thou or we deny the Rule thou that saist the Revelations of Christ are either Texts of Scripture expressed or rational Deductions Consequences c. as before written or we who witness Christ the true Light revealed by the Fâ—ther 〈…〉 knows the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him Mat. 1â— 27 Luke 10 22. Let all that are in Christ with sobriety in the Light judge And for the rest of thy Slanders in the 37â—â— and 38th Pages where thou saist these miserable Worms un-Covenant themselves and un-Christ themselves as if they cared not for Grace and Mercy in standing before God denying the Scripture c. And in the
seek to overcome with their subtle enticing words to draw them into singularity and self-separation that they may set them up with admiration and to carry on their own Interest they make use of those they overcome to seek all occasions with themselves to speak evil some both by writing and printing against those that God hath raised up to keep their Habitation and to stand unmovable upon the Foundation Christ the Light to discern and judge their subtle crafty wicked proceedings and to lay them open that they be such as intrude into a Ministry and runs when God never sent them therefore they do not profit the people at all for they go not in at the Door which is the Light to be led in conformity to Christ in his suffering and Death so come they to be ignorant of the saving gathering word of eternal Life because they in self-strivings climb up over the true judgment of God and in pride and fleshly wisdom pretends to enjoyments of high things in a self-boasting spirit some saying in their Hearts as it is written I see and know and am rich and want nothing when they are blind and miserable and naked and wants all things and must come again to the Light to bâ—y eye-salve of Christ that they may see and raiment to cover them or else their nakedness will forever appear For this birth which is generated in the Myâ—tery of Iniquity as before written it cannot live but in singularity and self-separation setting up self some times in visible Formes Gestures and Postures to be seen distinct from others as Clouds tossed to and fro to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever except they repent for God will make the Womb of this Births Conception to be the Grave whence again it shall return and there to be buried to its eternal consummation the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it through his Servant that hath and doth labour day and night according to the ability of the Grace I have received of the Lord for the restoration of all those that have been in danger of destruction through the snares and working of the Enemy as before written And amongst many some hearked to counsel and have been again restored in obedience to the Light but who rejected the counsel of God through his Servants and desperately goes on in a self-serving spirit though often reproved they harden their necks destruction hath doth and will come upon them and that without remedy Oh! How did my Bowels earn for the preservation of I. P. in what I could to have drawn and separated him from that spirit which gave forth the paper that propagated the keeping on the Hat in prayer and reflected judgment upon those that called upon the Name of the Lord with their Heads uncovered but after much counselling of him in tender love to have stopt that paper from going abroad but he would not be separated from that spirit that gave it forth Then I cleared my Conscience in the Word of the Lord which now in my freedom in God I declare to the Children of Sion what the eternal judgment was that did arise in my Heart in words to this purpose Iohn â—f then propagate what thou hast written in this paper thou wilt wound more Hearts and cause more trouble of spirit amongst the tender hearted People of the Lord then when the temptation entred dear I. N. who deeply suffered but the Lord restored him again by true repentance And as to my particuler it is not my nature to be found striving with thee or any upon the Earth but having declared the Truth to thee I will return to my rest in the Lord and let every birth live the length of its day and time manifest what is born of God for that Spirit that stands up in self-striving will weary it felf and dye and end in the Earth And this will certainly come to pass upon all that do not diligently wait in the Light to judg the out-goings of their minds and to be lead in true self-denial which is the Foot-steps where the Flocks of the Companions delight to walk every one serving one another in love seeking to restore one another with the Spirit of love and meekness forth of what any have done through the violence of Temptation or weakness Oh! Dear Friends feel the earning Bowels of the Lord through me to you all in which I beseech you that what hath come to pass in this day of great tryal and hour of Temptation you may all in dear love to the Lord of Life return to his Light to feel his Power restoring into a true understanding with him to walk in true self-denial where you will feel his Presence filling your Hearts and binding you up in eternal Unity of the Spirit and bond of Peace every one forgetting all things that are behind and not any one stand up in self-striving but in the tender broâ—herly love informing the Judgements of one another in the Light and Power of the endless life and in it submit to the low estate of one another serving one another in love which is the washing one anothers feet and here is Christ and his Disciples in eternal unity and powerful Dominion against whom every tongue lifted up shall fall in Judgment and every weapon formed shall not prosper but come to naught for the Mountain of the Lords House shall be more and more set upon the top of the Mountains and established over all the Hills and all the faithful shall more and more in eternal unity praise and magnifie his Name in the beauty of holiness who sits upon the throne and liveth and reigneth forever and ever And dear chosen Vessels who hath known and doe abide and keep your state with God in the perfecting power manifest in your inward man which truly buries self in the death and hath raised you up and sent you forth in the Resurrection and power of the endless Life which seeketh not any thing but to glorifie the Lord in all your travels and undertakings where-ever the Lord calls you Oh you blessed amongst the people what can be said of the goodness of the Lord that hath been and will be more and more manifest to you whose care and burdens labours and travels is known to the Lord and your reward is with him forever Dear Brethren though great be the wrath that withstands the work of our God which wrath worketh openly and mysteriously to lay burdens upon the innocent and to add affliction unto the afflicted In the Word of the Lord that ariseth in my Heart I declare they shall but weary themselves and all their hopes shall fail them and their expectations shall come to nought who wait for evil concerning you who love the Lord better then your lives and delight to wait to feel his Power at all times leading and ordering in the limits and bonds of the Spirit of the Lord c. I know there is of you my
Enemies but many were Convinced and received the Truth in the Love of it in beholding the Unity of faithful Friends to their everlasting Comfort and the Honour of the Name of the Lord forever which caused my Soul with the rest of the faithful Labourers to praise the Name of the Lord in blessing the Travel of our Souls and giving us to see the Fruit of our Labour â—n hâ—s Vineyard and the Peace and Unity of his People But of late I have heard that thou my antient Friend Edward Nightingal and Iohn Cox with some other in that City doth meet in a Separating spirit from the rest of Friends in that City which casts a Stumbling-block in the way of many And instead of gathering People to receive the Truth you scatter and drive them away and giveth great advantage to them that watch for evil and is of a bad savour and a Wounding of the Spirits of them that truly fear the Lord I can truly say that your meeting in that Separating spirit which is such an evil savour in the Nation hath been and is more Affliction to me then all Persecutions and Imprisonments I have endured unto this day Therefore I intreat and beseech thee my Antient Friend Edward Nightingal with all that meet in the Separation from the rest of Friends in the City to turn your minds to the Light of Christ in you that will let you see you have not done well and with it judge that which hath led you to Separate from meeting with Friends and return to meet with Friends in the City in the sweet Concord Love and Unity in the Life of the Blessed Truth as in the days of old and Years past of which I am a witness with the rest of faithful Friends that in all our Meetings whether in the Prison or in the City we never wanted the sweet appearance of Christ our Life in us and amongst us according to his Promise and our Comfort then and so is it now with all that meet in his Name and Unity with his People as we did in those days which was many Years before the Enemy could get any enterance to make a breach amongst them that make Profession of Gods blessed Truth and to draw some into a self Separation as he hath done you and too many elsewhere For I do assure you it is the work of the Enemy of your Souls for you should not have Separated but have kept your places amongst Friends and not have taken offence because Friends see there might be some service for Truth in meeting twice on the First Day it is very like in that City some that had a Love to Truth might get an opportunity to come to one of the Meetings It is very much to me how you let the Enemy get over you as to cause you to Separate from Friends which if you had kept your places in meeting with Friends you in time might have seen a Service in meeting twice a day as well as they For you may be sure that Separation neither restores any to love the Truth neither gathers any to God but rather scattereth and driveth away some that was gathered in Love to Truth by the painful and faithful Labourers that was truly sent of the Lord as is before written Therefore in the earnings of tender Bowels of the Love of God to you I once more beseech you that you in Humiliation wait in the Light of Christ he will let you see how the Enemy led you from the Light out of your places when you Separated from Meeting with Friends and in yeilding obedience to the Light it will bring you into your places again to meet with Friends to your Comfort and the Honour of the Name of the Lord according to the Counsel of the Lord in my Heart here sent unto you But if you reject the Council of the Lord which in his Love I am moved to send these Lines unto you then shall I Lament your Conditions because of the evil consequence your Separation will produce to your sorrow and wounding many God would not have Wounded for which you must give an account And before you lay down your Heads in peace you will remember me who hath not hide from you the Counsel of the Lord. W. D. Warwick the 21 st day of the 11 th Month 1684. A General Epistle to Friends from that Ancient Servant of Christ William Dewsbury MY Dear Friends and Brethren who are called forth of the World and pluckt as Brands out of the Fire by the Heavenly Power of God and hath Convinced you of his Everlasting Truth in the Light of Jesus Christ My dear Friends as have you received the Truth in some measure watch and pray and Believe in the Name of Christ that his Power you may feel in the Heavenly Inspiration of his blessed Spirit to lay Judgment to the Line and Righteousness to the Plummet that all that is not Obedient to the Light of Christ may be kept down and buried in the Heavenly Baptism under the Sentence of Death as it was and is with all the Children of God who have received the Sentence of Death in our selves that we may have no confidence in our selves but alone trust in the Living God which will keep you all in the sweet seasoned savory Spirit of Life in all your Words Tradings and Dealings amongst the Children of Men then will you be manifest and known to all People to be the Salt of the Earth who retain the savour of the Heavenly Life in the Blessed Truth in you that every one according to your Measure may be felt upon all occasions continually streaming forth in the savoury Spirit of Life to the Comfort of your own Families and the City of God who over all is Blessed forever And my dear Friends I desire all to be watchful that not any come short of what is required of them both Rulers of Families and Parents of Children while you have a day to be with them call your Families together to wait upon the Lord in the fear of his Name certainly the Lord will answer the end of your endeavours in causing the savoury Life to stream through you to season your Servants and Children that the Church of God may be in every paâ—ticular Family and Habitation of his People Great is tâ—e concern upon my Spirit for the Children of all that profess the blessed Truth of God that all Parents may stand iâ— their places to bring up their Children in the fear of the Lord while they are in their Minority and tender Years and under their tuishion not to be too indulgent to them in suffering the Spirit of the World to rule in them to have their own wills and to do those things which are not according to the Truth of God and to connive at their Children instead of reproving of them and crossing the Spirit of the World in them and causing them to be content with such things as is
in contempt and reproach by those that seduce you Which thou chargest upon us and â—aist thou hast clearly discovered our Slanders Shifts and Shuffles and our reproaching the Ordinances and Institutions of our Lord as Heathenish by comparing them to that great Image of that Heathen King Dan. 3.3 And how we deny the Scripture to be a perfect Rule of knowing God believing in him and living unto him and reproach thee to be a lying Slanderer for charging us with that which is an apparent Truth as thou saist thou hast proved by our lying Papers and that we have reproached thee falsly and the Lies are returned upon our own Heads whilst thou saist we witness our selves Perfect and without Sin and have entred the new Ierusalem into which none shall enter that make a Lie c. Reply Them thou callst thy Friends who are in the Light with all the Children of the Light do witness that their Hearts were never warmed in Sacraments no such words is found in Scripture and thou that art pleading for the Authority of Scripture is with the Light of Christ in all his Saints denied and thy Sacraments which is not found in Scripture and in the Light thou art clearly seen the Slanders Shifts and Shufflels are thy own as is manifest in the Answer to the same Reproach and Accusations in the Second and Third Pages of thy Book and what we witness is according to Scripture which we own and in many things thou hast writ as before is manifest by thy own words the Scripture thon deniest so on whose Head the falshood remains to the Children of Light is made manifest and the day will further declare it wherein Christ our King shall be exalted over all in whom our perfection and cleansing from Sin is and leads us into new Ierusalem into which nothing enteâ—s that works Abomination or makes a Lie but who enter therein are led by the Spirit of Christ in whose Mouth is found no guile he that hath an Ear to hear let him hâ—ar And whereas thou saist to some of them thou callst thy Friends some of you have heard William Deusbery say of himself that he was as Perfect as that Christ that died at Ierusalem this is witnessed by one of Credit and Fidelity amongst your selves I forbear his name In Deusbery's new Brith he thus witnesseth of himself Reply Thy Spirit in the Light is seen who hast published what thou hast received from a nameless Author and thy Accusation is false which thou hast published to the World there were never any heard William Deusbery say of himself that he was as Perfect as that Christ that died at Ierusalem and that thou callst his new Birth will be a witness against thee there is no such word exprest by him as thou saist this nameless Author hath related of him In the presence of God he called William Deusbery doth witness that self is imperfect and self Righteousness as a filthy Ragg and a menstruous Cloath c. Isa 64.6 And he doth witness Christ Iesus the true Light which lighteth every own that comes into the World Iohn 1.9 which discovers the imperfection and filthiness of self with all its righteousness and his Perfection is in Christ the Light which he doth witness the same Christ and no other but he which suffered at Ierusalem who is the brightness of his Fathers glory c. Heb. 1.3 13.8 Which he thou falsly accusest as before written which all the Children of Light do witness the Righteousness of God in Christ the Light 2 Cor. 5.21 which for the Simples sake the Truth is witnessed forth in the presence of God which the Lord will clear from the Lies and Slanders cast upon it and he shall be known what he is whom you call a proud polluted Worm that dare exalt himself to a Perfection equal with God which are thy own words and what thou hast gathered up from others who falsly accuse as thou dost which words was not spoken by him thou callst a proud polluted Worm who can bear thy Revilings but for the Truths sake that the Simple do not stumble at the Way of Truth doth witness against thy false Accusations and Revilings which thou hast filled thy Book withal As in the 14th and 15th Pages Speaking to them thou callst Friends whom thou saist is seduced and thou declares that those whom thou chargest with seducing them doth reach them to cease from all Religious Duties of commanded Worship without scruple or check of Conscience before they can enjoy God or be taught immediatly what to do first put out the true Light and Power of Conscience to do his Office by despising the means of enlightning and convincing it to act in the Soul and then resolves to follow the immediate Commands of Conscience without questioning the Author of those Laws at all Reply Thy Accusation is false we do not teach any to ceafe from all religious duties of commanded worship neither put out the true Light we teach all to be obdient to the commands of God who saith this is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased hear him Mat. 17.5 And we bear Testimony of him that he is the true Light that lighteth every one that comes into the World Ioh. 1.9 and convinces the World of Sin Righteousness and Judgment Ioh. 16.8 and he alone commands in the Conscience for God and is the Author of the prefect Law handed in the hand of a Mediator to whom we exhort all to be subject and in whom all the Children of Light walk Col. 2.6 And for thy expressing a depth of deceit and delusion which thou chargest upon us which is found in thy self who hath made Lyes thy refuge to slander the Innocent which is further manifest in thy 16th Page Thou fayst we take no notice of Scripture authority as if they were altogether out of date which false Accusation is witnessed against in what is returned in answer to the preface of thy Book And in the 17th and 18th Pages thou chargest us with impudent fore-heads to make a shew of one thing and intend another purposely minded to deceive and yet they tell us often that as they write so they mean and speak the Truth in plainness most horrible hypocrisie and deceit which nothing but a lying and a knavish Head dare go about to excuse c. And all those unsavory words as before written wherein thou sayest we have discovered to purpose the deceit of our answer in saying the Revelations of Christ are according to Scripture and where the new Covenant is witnest the Law is written in the Heart and the Witness and Testimony of Jesus within bearing witness with our Spirits that we are Sons of God. Reply Doing any thing of purpose to deceive through Hypocrisie or Knavish Heads we deny and in the presence of God we speak the Truth in plaâ—â—ness and do witness there is no deceit in saying the Revelations of Christ are according to Scripture