do as he said and not as he did for he had no need to say so for his Conversation and Doctrine was agreeable The Apostle Peter when he writ unto the Elders he said unto them Feed the Flock of God which are amongst you not taking the Oversight thereof by Constraint but willingly let all people that reads take notice of those words the Elders were not to take the Oversight of the Flock by constraint but willingly now the reason why Peter did write these words unto them was because there was not any outward Gift or Reward to be given unto them for their Feeding and taking Care for the Flock of God for it was a Spiritual Work and it was to have a Spiritual Reward so lest any through the temptation of the Enemy of their Souls should have striven to put that from them that God required of them Peter warned them then the next following words are these Not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind now filthy lucre is much Earthly gain ill gotten but the Elders were not to take the oversight of the Flock of God for outward gain but as being of a ready mind and a willing mind to serve God in what he required of them yea to feed his Sheep with the Bread of Life which God gave unto them and the Elders were not to be Lords over Gods Flock which he had made them Overseers of but they were to be Examples to the Flock and they were good Examples to the Flock and they did not say as some of the Hirelings have said Do as we say and not as we do for they had no need to say so for their Conversation and Doctrine was agreeable and so is the Doctrine and Conversation of the Elders and Ministers of Christ in this Age Glory to the Lord God for ever Now if there were a young Priest that had learned his Trade at Oxford or Cambridge who wanted a place to set up his Trade in if one should come unto him and tell him of three or four places one of One hundred pounds by the year and another of Two another of Three and another of Four and bid him chuse which of those he would go unto one may easily know which he would chuse for he would be where he could get most with his Trade and he need not be constrained to go unto a Parish where he might have Four hundred pounds in the year for his Hire 1 Thess 2.9 but he would make great hast to get unto it lest another of his own Trade should get it before him and this is contrary to those Ministers which Christ sent forth Paul who was a Tentmaker when he was a Minister of the Gospel laboured with his own hands and administred unto his own necessities that he might make the Gospel without charge and Peter and John and the rest of the Ministers of the Gospel some were Fisher-men and some of other callings and they Laboured with their hands yet they had power to eat and to drink for the refreshment of their Bodies when they did travel up and down among the Saints who were gathered by their Ministry but they were often in Hunger and Cold and Fastings and Peril by Sea and Land and were often whipped stocked and imprisoned and they had not a Parish and a hundred pound in the year and an outward Law to guard them as the Hireling Priests have And now all ye Magistrates both high and low and all people in what Form of Religion soever think it not strange that we cannot come unto the Steeple-house and hear your Priest Preach and Pray seeing that they are so far different from the Ministers of Christ every way so that they are no more like the Ministers which Christ sent forth in nature then a Wolf is like a Lamb. And now all Magistrates and People of what form of Religion soever who profess the Scriptures to be your Rule and denieth the Light Spirit and Grace of God within you which convinceth you of Sin to be a sufficient Guide of it self to lead you out of Sin whether you be such as own those Priests and their Practice which I have written something in short against or whether you be such as do deny them and are gathered into some other Form differing from them if you set the Scriptures in the Place of the Spirit of God which made men holy before any Scriptures were written and from which the holy men spake forth the holy Scriptures then with you is my controversie on the behalf of the Lord my God So come to your Tryal and be you tryed by that which you call your own Rule the Holy Scriptures which was given forth from and by the Holy Spirit so the Holy Spirit of God is the Original of the Holy Scriptures therefore I and all my faithfull Brethren and Sisters do know them and love them and believe them Abel was a Righteous man before the Scriptures were written and he in the Spirit of God had his Habitation and by it he was kept pure before God and in the Purity of his heart and Innocency of his Soul he offered unto God and God had respect unto his Offering And Enoch walked with God in the Spirit in Innocency before the Scriptures were written And Abraham knew God who is a Spirit and believed in him before Scriptures were written Isaac and Jacob had acquaintance with God before the Scriptures were written for these men were before Moses was born and Moses knew God before he did write Scriptures No man knows the things of God but the Spirit of God and the Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God and these men did know the things that God did require of them in their Generation by the Spirit of God and in the same they did perform that which was required of them in which they were accepted of God in their Generation And all the Prophets and Apostles who did write the holy Scriptures they did know God before they did write Scriptures and it is the same that ever it was that doth give unto man the knowledge of God and of his things even the Spirit of God But in the Bible which you call your Rule there is an express Command of God Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart Mat. 19.19 and thy Neighbour as thy self these words are written in the Bible which you call your Rule now to the Witness of God Mark 12.29 30 31. the Light of Christ in all your Consciences do I appeal Whether do you love the Lord God with all your hearts and your Neighbours as your selves yea or nay You that persecutes your Neighbours because they will not be of your Religion and come to your Steeple-houses and hear your Hireling Priests and pay them Tythes which was never demanded by any of Christ's Ministers no the Ministers and Apostles of Christ did never demand nor receive any Tythes
THE Everlasting Rule Born Witness unto VVhich is to Try all People that do profess God and Christ in WORDS OR I. A tender Salutation unto all People in what Nation soever and under what Form soever who do profess God and Christ in Words wherein is shewed unto them how the True God comes to be known and worshipped in his own Way II. Also an Exhortation unto all People to come to that which will give them victory over Sin and the Devil who is the Author of it III. A distinction between the Ministers of Christ and the Ministers of Antichrist and both their Fruits discovered By a lover of Truth and Righteousness who seeks the well-being of all Mankind William Gibson God is Light and in him is no darkness at all if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lye and do not the Truth but if we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin 1 John 1.5 6 7. I am the Light of the World saith Christ he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the Light of Life John 8.12 While you have the Light believe in the Light that ye may be Children of the Light John 12.36 All Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of the Lamb Rev. 21.23 24. Printed in the Year 1667. The Epistle to the READER FRiend It is in true tenderness desired of thee in thy read ng of this following Testimony to turn thy mind unto that measure of the good Spirit of God which he hath placed in thee to instruct thee that thou thereby may be instructed in the reading of it for it is that onely which doth give unto man the knowledge of the things of God and as man joyns unto this in his heart this gives unto him the sight of the things of Gods Kingdom and to taste and savour the things that are of God which while his minde is out from this of God in him he can never have the true sight of nor taste nor savour the things that be of God but thou coming to this it will cool and settle thy mind inwardly so that thou may read in coolness and stilness of mind without any prejudice anger or byassedness in thy mind and so if thou thus come to read thou may come to receive benefit in that which thou dost read and if thou so do then my desire is answered and my soul therein refreshed and if it come so to pass my soul shall give the glory unto God who hath taught me those things which I have written unto thee and I do desire that thou also may give him the glory if thou do receive any benefit for unto him it doth belong for ever And this I do say unto thee in the pure fear of my God that those things which I have written in this following Testimony he hath taught me by his Spirit which he hath given me to instruct me which while my mind was out from it and I did not believe in it those things which I have here written was hid from me and in that state of unbelief I was as dark and spiritually blind as others Although I could talk much of God and Christ yet I knew them not nor the Heavenly things I did read of God and Christ in the holy Scriptures but I did neither know God Christ nor the Scriptures until I came to believe in the Spirit of God which he hath given me to instruct me and since I came to believe in him and to depend on him for teaching he hath revealed great things unto me as it is written The secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him and it is written That it is the Lord that teacheth his people to profit and I will teach my people my self saith God I will write my Law in their hearts and minds and they shall no more need to say one unto another know the Lord for they shall all know me from the greatest of them unto the least of them and I will be mercifull unto their sins and I will remember their iniquities no more he here speaketh of those sins which is committed in time of unbelief that when any man or woman cometh to believe in his Son Christ Jesus the Light whom he hath given for Salvation to the Ends of the Earth and followeth his Son the Light whom he hath given for a Leader and Commander to command man to forsake the Devils works which is sin and to lead him out of the Devils work which is sin when man yeilds and submits unto Christ Gods Power revealed and made manifest in his inward parts for to lead out of sin and to destroy it and to bind and cast him out who is the Author of it then God forgives and forgets those sins and iniquities for his Son Christ Jesus his sake in whom they have believed and so they have their sins forgiven them for his Name sake in whom they have believed and unto whom they have submitted and by whose Wisdom they are led and guided into those things which is well-pleasing in the sight of the Lord God and thus he becomes the way to God the Father unto every sinfull man or woman that comes to believe in him and faithfully to follow him and thus he becomes the Author of Eternal Salvation unto every one that doth believe in and obey him and thus he comes to help man as it is written Help is laid on one that is mighty to save and certainly Reader his Might and great Power hath been received in this present Age wherein we live unto a little Remnant whose minds have been turned within to wait in the Light wherewith he hath enlightened them the strong man of sin the Prince of the power of the air who in dayes past kept the house kept the heart kept the mind of men and women and did exercise them in those things which was abomination to God he hath been made to bow and tremble and fall before the Son of God in the heart of man which Son and Power of God is greater and stronger then he who was glorified with the Father before the World began that heth in wickedness which he is the God of who hath blinded their minds that is given up to serve him lest the Light of the glorious Gospel should shine into their hearts and lest by this Light he should be discovered and his works destroyed he doth labour all that he can to keep people from believing in this true Light Christ who hath enlightened every one that is come into the World But I say there is a Remnant who hath believed in Christ the Light and they have felt him the great and mighty power of God to make this strong Man of Sin to bow and he is cast down and out who once did sit in
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
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
at all for the Tythes were ordained for the Tribe of Levi Neh. 10.38 who were to serve in the Outward Temple who were the Outward Priesthood who had not any part in the division of the Land for the other Tribes had the Land divided amongst them Num. 18.20 22 c. to the end Chapter but the Tribe of Levi had no part of the Land but as I said before the Tythes was for to relieve them and not only them but the Strangers and Fatherless also that there might not be a Begger in Israel but this was before Christ the Everlasting High-Priest was made manifest as to the outward but when he was come and was offered up then Stephen a man full of Faith and full of the Power of God he lift up his voice in the Power of the Everlasting High-Priest and said God that made the World dwels not in Temples made with hands but the Temple-worshippers they were filled with wrath against him for his true Testimony and they stoned him to death And Paul in the Power of the Everlasting High-Priest he said unto the Saints Heb. 3.1 2 3 4 5 6. That their Bodies were the Temple of the Living God and when Paul writ unto the Hebrews he told them that the Priesthood being changed Heb. 7.12 to the end of the chapter there was also a necessity of the change of the Law So the Ministers of Christ in the Power of him the Everlasting High-Priest they preached down the outward Temple and its Worship and its Priests and all their Sacrifices which made nothing perfect Heb. 10 11 20 21 22. as pertaining to the Conscience and so the Priests and Temple and Tythes was but to continue till Christ was offered up and though they did uphold the outward Temple worship and its Priests and Tythes for some time after Christ was offered up and so slew Stephen and others for crying against it yet the Arm of the Lord God was against them and it brought them down and the Foundation of their Temple was pulled up and they were scattered up and down in many Nations and are so scattered unto this day according unto the Prophesie of Christ Jesus the Everlasting High-Priest Acts 7.47 48 49 50 59 60. And now unto all people I say 2 Sam. 7.5 6 12 13. 1 Kings 6.1 2. there was never any outward House or Temple that Gods Worship was limitted to but only that at Jerusalem which David prepared for and Solomon builded neither was there ever any command from God to pay Tythes unto any other Priests but only those who belonged to that Worship under the Law and the Command was but in force until Christ was Crucified without the Gate of Jerusalem Joh. 4.20 c. to ver 27. and that was many hundred years ago and the Scriptures of Truth which the Priests of England do call their Rule do prove what I have written concerning this thing And O ye Priests of England you have no command from God to take Tythes and therefore you have no right to Tythes and there is a People of a tender Conscience in this Nation whom you in scorn call Quakers God hath opened their Eyes and they see and know you have no right to Tythes and therefore in obedience unto Christ Jesus the Everlasting High-Priest 1 Cor. 3.16 17. who hath ended the outward Temple and outward Priests and Law and Tythes they have with-holden their own from you 2 Cor. 6.16 and durst not give you any Tythes for if they had then they had provoked the Lord God unto wrath against them and for this their tender obedience unto their God you have persecuted several of them your Neighbours unto death and thus you have brought innocent blood upon your selves for which you must drink deep of the Cup of Gods fierce Indignation Isa 49.25 26. and you do still continue your Cruelty in imprisoning the Bodies and spoiling the Goods of those your Neighbours and you have not yet repented of those your grievous Sins neither do you seek Repentance for those your grievous Sins for if you were sorrowfull for what you have done in those things which you have done then you would give over so doing but the most of you who have power given you by men you continue in your wicked works Phil. 3 18 19. and as the Apostle said Your Consciences are Seared as with a hot Iron and you have sold your selves Slaves unto Satan to do his work with greediness for his Servants your are to whom you obey and in those things you obey Satan for he was a Lyar and a Murtherer from the beginning and his Children and Servants are like him and these your wicked works which you have done it hath been for your Bellies which you make your god and though you have been professing the true God in words yet you have not known him for your hearts have been far from him and though you have talked of him with your Mouthes for Money yet in works you have denied him and so you have not loved the Lord God with all your hearts and so you could not love your Neighbours the People you call Quakers as you have loved your selves for if you had loved the Lord God with all your hearts then you would have loved your Neighbors as your selves for before any man or woman can come to love their Neighbours as themselves they must come to love the Lord God with all their hearts but you have loved your Bellies more then you have done either God or your Neigbours your Fruits do make it plainly manifest many thousands of Englands Inhabitants seeth it to be so therefore you are not Ruled by the holy Scriptures without you nor by the holy Spirit which is the Original of the Scriptures within you but you are unruly and the holy Spirit of God in your own Consciences and the holy Scriptures without you do bear witness against you and you stand judged and condemned before the Lord God and all just and holy men And Christ Jesus spake words which was written and is upon Record in the Holy Scriptures which you call your Rule he said unto the people Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do you even so unto them this is Christs Command and he saith If you love me keep my Commandments and if you did love him you would keep this his Command He that saith he knoweth or loveth God and keepeth not his Commandments is a Lyar 1 John 2.4 If any man say he loveth God and hateth his Brother he is a Lyar for he that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen And this Commandment have we from him that he that loveth God loveth his Brother also 1 John 4.20.21 By this we know that we love the Children of God when we love God and keep his Commandments For this is the love of
word in all the Bible called the Old and New Testament But in Proverbs 24. vers 15 and 16. thus it is written Lay not in wait O wicked Man against the Dwelling of the Righteous spoil not his Resting-place For a Just Man falleth seven times and riseth again but the Wicked fall into Mischief Now mark the Just man falleth seven times and riseth again now I say here is neither Sin nor Day spoken of but the Wicked fall into Mischief now consider to do Mischief is to do Evil and to do Evil is Sin but the Just man did not fall into Mischief and so he did not fall into Sin Now Hopkins and Sternhold who was men that did play upon Instruments of Musick in the same wisdom in which the Poets do make ungodly Ballads they made a Song which they called The Humble Complaint of a Sinner and in that Song of theirs there is some such like words as the Just man sinneth seven times a day but those words of theirs are not to be heeded for they had them not out of the Holy Scriptures but they are their own invented Lyes Many other places of the Holy Scriptures are wrested after this manner by those who have not believed in the Light who pleads for Sin for the Apostle Paul according unto the wisdom given unto him in all his Epistles he did write things hard to be understood which they that were unlearned and unstable did wrest as also they did the other Scriptures to their own destruction this is Peters Testimony who was a Fisherman and knew not Letters 2 Pet. 3.15 16. Acts 4.13 So all people take notice that it was not because they wanted Greek Hebrew and Latine that they wrested Pauls Epistles and the other Scriptures to their own destruction but it was because they were not come to believe in that measure of the Spirit wherewith Christ had enlightened them for from the Spirit of God was the holy Scriptures given forth and there is none can come to know them and understand them until they come to believe in and obey that measure of God in themselves which is one with that from which the holy Scriptures was given forth and when people come to believe in that and learn of that then God by that will open their understandings to know and rightly to understand the holy Scriptures and until then people can neither know nor understand them aright for while people are out from that of God in them they one imagine one thing from the Scriptures and another imagineth another thing from the same part of the Scripture and one saith it meaneth thus and another he saith nay but it meaneth thus and so they are bewildered in their imaginations about the holy Scriptures one saying this is the meaning and another saying that is the meaning and so every one builds his Religion according to his imagination and so every one that hath not believed in the Light they are wresting of the holy Scriptures and with their dark meanings are pleading Scripture and would fain prove by the holy Scriptures that theirs is the true Religion and as Christ said it should be so it is come to pass one saith Lo here is Christ and another saith Lo there is Christ but Christ said unto the Saints Go not forth now the Saints minds were gathered in unto the Light and that gave them to know the holy Scriptures and also to know the false Prophets who led peoples minds out from that of God in them for the Way of God is to be known within and he that leads people from that of God in them into outward observations he is a Deceiver and an Antichrist Pilate had Greek Hebrew and Latine and he could not open the Scriptures by it nor know the Son of God by it but he judged him to die and when he was to be Crucified he did write a Superscription in Greek Hebrew and Latine Letters and set it over Christs head and the persecuting Jews had Greek Hebrew and Latine for they came and did read the Superscription which Pilate had written but they could not open the Scriptures with their Greek Hebrew and Latine though they had all the Prophets Writings who prophesied of his coming and of the Place where he was to be born yet they could not understand the Prophets words with all their Greek Hebrew and Latine all their Earthly wisdom and Learning was to short and to shallow to understand those Heavenly things and so because they had not believed in the Light of Christ in them they were dark and blind Spiritually and could not know nor understand the Scriptures nor know Christ when he was come but they said he had a Devil and was Mad but had they come to that of God in them that would have given them the knowledge of the Scriptures and the knowledge that he was the Son of God for he told them that the Kingdom of God did not come with outward observation as Lo here or Lo there Luk. 1â— 20 21. but that the Kingdom of God was within them and he told them that it was like a Grain of Mustard-Seed and it was like Leaven and he did direct their minds unto that in them but they did not believe his Doctrine and so would not turn their minds inwardly to learn of the Father the Word and the Spirit and so they knew not the Son but Crucified him and the Son said unto the Father I thank thee O Father Lord God of Heaven and Earth that thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent and thou hast revealed them unto Babes now Pilate and the Jews the wisest and most prudent men that was in all that Quarter of the Earth in natural Learning and natural Wisdom because they did not come to that of God in them therefore did God hide the Heavenly things from them and all their Greek Hebrew and Latine and all their natural Wisdom did not do them any good at all as to bring them to the knowledge of God but they were hurt by looking at it for because of their great Learning and Wisdom naturally their hearts were lifted up in Pride and they would not believe in Christ nor receive his Testimony they judged him an inferiour man unto them and the Pride of their hearts deceived them For the World by Earthly wisdom doth not know God and the Carnal mind is Enmity against God and the Natural man receives not the things of God for they are Spiritually discerned and they do appear Foolishness unto all Earthly minded men and women But Peter and John and the rest of the Fishermen who knew not Letters they were men of more humble and low Spirits then the Jews were who had Greek Hebrew and Latine for they were proud because of their Tongues and Natural Learning as our English Priests and Doctors are and ours can no more know Christ and the holy Scriptures by their Greek Hebrew and Latine and Earthly Wisdom then Pilate and the Jews could but Peter and John and the rest of the Fishermen they were low mean men as to the outward they did not dispise Christ because of his low Appearance outwardly but they did believe in him and loved him and did forsake their Nets and followed him and in them God did take delight and he did reveal Great and Mighty things unto them which was hid from Pilate and the Jews who had Greek Hebrew and Latine And now I say unto all people God is rising to confound the Wisdom of all the Earthly Wise men who are proud of Greek Hebrew and Latine and who dispise their Neighbours who have it not and all their Earthly Wisdom in which they have boasted and exalted themselves will the Lord God make to appear as it is Foolishness and he will abase proud Haman in this the day of his Mighty Power yea he will bring down the Mighty and he will exalt them of a low degree yea this is the Lord God doing that no flesh may glory And now unto all people in tender Love I say turn in your minds unto the Manifestation of the Spirit and Light of Christ which is given unto you to profit withal that it may give you the Knowledg of God whom to know is Eternal Life and that it may open the holy Scriptures unto your understandings For it is written No man knows the things of God but by the Spirit of God And now Oh all ye Professors in all Forms I charge you in the Name and Power of the Lord God do not give your dark meanings unto the holy Scriptures for they are of no private interpretation and remember how you use to take Pauls words in his Epistles which are too hard for you to understand until you come unto the Light and learn of it I say remember how you use to take his words to plead for Sin for term of Life but come to the Light of Christ in you all and Learn of it and it will stop your Mouthes and not suffer you to open them to plead for Sin which is the work of the Devil I charge you in the Name of the Lord God do not wrest the holy Scriptures to plead for your Pride and Covetousness and Envy and other Abominations which you live in and delight in for Wo will come upon all that are covered and not with the Spirit of the Lord God and no other covering will stand you in stead in the day when you must all receive a Reward according to the Deeds done in the Body whether they be good or evil Read Isa 28. from Verse 1 to 23. And now I have cleared my Conscience in obedience unto the Lord God and I rest in peace and whether you will hear or forbear I am clear W. G. The End
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
of the Truth and Christ said How often would I have gathered thy Children together as a Hen gathereth her Chicken under her wings but ye would not and God said O Jerusalem thy destruction is of thy selfe but thy Salvation is of me I delight not in the death of him that dyeth but rather that every one would turn from his wickedness and Live turn you turn you O house of Israel why will you die The Priests and the Professors call the Scriptures the Word of God and the Gospel now the Scriptures is words and they were not in the beginning but was given forth by holy men many generations after God had created the Earth and all things in it and upon it and God spake words unto Moses Read Exodus the 20 and the Apostles spake words in the Word and Power of the Lord which was in the beginning before man was or words either and whosoever shall add unto the words of this Prophesic said John in his Revelations c. So the Scriptures is words and not the Word In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God By him was all things made in him was Life and that Life was the Light of men And this is that Eternal and Ingraffted Word which is able to save the souls of all that do believe in it The Prophet hid it in his heart lest he should sin against God and it was as a Fire shut up in the Prophets bones and it was and is as a Fire Hammer and Sword and Ax to cut down the Devil and his Works in the heart of man where it is received and no man or woman need say who shall ascend into Heaven to fetch Christ down from above or who shall descend into the deep to fetch Christ up from vexeath or who shall go beyond the Sea to fetch Christ unto us for behold the Word is nigh thee in thy heart and in thy mouth that thou may hear it and do it and the four Books of Matthew Mark Luke and John which the Priests and Professors calls the Gospel is not the Gospel for it is but about Sixteen hundred years ago since those Books were written But the Gospel was Preached unto Abraham many Generations before those Books were written and the Gospel is Everlasting an Angel did flee thorough the midst of Heaven having the Everlasting Gospel to Preach That which is Everlasting is without beginning and without end now the Apostle said that the Gospel which he did Preach it was the Power of God now the Power of God is Everlasting without beginning and without end but books and words and writings had a beginning and may have an end so is not the Everlasting Gospel and there is no Gospel of God but one and that one Gospel Paul Preached and he received it not from man neither was he taught it by man but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ and he said If any man Preach unto you any other Gospel let him be accursed So Reader that Gospel which we Preach we have not received it from man nor from books nor from writings but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ in us and what we have felt and seen and tasted and handled of the Word of Life Spiritually Inwardly these things declare we unto People that they might believe in God the Father who is Light and in Christ his Son who is Light and that they in the Father and the Son might have Fellowship with us and so Reader we have Revelation among us and immediate Teaching by the infallible Spirit of Christ Jesus in us and as many as walk according to this Rule Peace be unto them for those are the Children of God even those who are led by the Spirit of God which never did fail to bring forth Righteousness in those that did Obey it And so Reader the Priests and Professors who deny Revelation and immediate Teaching and an infallible Spirit they can speak nothing of certainty concerning God and his Kingdom and things pertaining to the Salvation of Mankind but what they do speak is their imaginations and dreams so it is not for People to trust unto them for Teaching for their mouths must be stopped which was never yet opened by the Revelation of Jesus Christ the Power of God from Heaven and they are to come and learn in Silence of the Light in their own Consciences untill it hath taught them the Knowledg of God and until they come to know the Light to be infallible and the onely true Teacher And now Reader I say keep low in thy mind in the Reading of this following Testimony and if thou do find something spoken that thou cannot yet wholy joyn withall labour to keep in the Patience and keep out of Fretting and be not Rash for thou wilt find things that are evil sharply reproved in Persons of all sorts without respect of persons and it was the manner of the true Prophets and Ministers and Apostles of Christ and of Christ himself to reprove the false Prophets sharply and also to Reprove Wicked Prophane Ungodly Men and Women sharply to the end that they might Repent and forsake the evil of their waies But it hath been the manner of the false Prophets whom God never sent to Daub and flatter and Prophesie Lyes unto People and to speak Peace unto People in their sins and Wo from the Lord God is coming upon those Teachers who is making it their Business to Preach up sin for term of life and to Promise unto People Peace in their sins Your Sins hath seperated between you and me saith the Lord Your sins hath withholden good things from you and no man or woman can be joyned to God in their sins and no unclean thing can enter the Kingdom of God and as the Tree falleth so it lyeth there is no Repentance in the Grave So People must either witness Clensing and Freedom from sin before they go out of the Body or else they will never be made clean God did give the Apostles Gifts for the Work of the Ministry for the Edifying of the Church which was Christs Body until all come unto the measure of the Stature of Christ unto a Perfect man in Christ Jesus and the Apostle did bid People cast off every weight and burden and the sin that did so easily beset them that so they might run the Race that was set before them and they laboured that they might present every man Perfect in Christ Jesus and the Ministers which Christ doth send forth in this Age their Labour is to bring People into Christ Gods Power that they may sit down in Him in the heavenly Peace in him to Reign over sin and him that is the Author of sin which is the Devil and this the Lord hath already done for a little Remnant and he will certainly do it for many Thousands more To him be all Honour Glory Dominion and Praises both now and for
pomp and dignity outwardly but when he came Mark 6.3 he came much contrary to their thoughts and expectations and imaginations for he was supposed by them to be Joseph the Carpenters son a man of low esteem amongst them and so they dispised him because of his low Appearance which was so far contrary to what they had imagined concerning his coming and so they would not have him to rule over them but they slew him so they lost the benefit of his coming and so died in their sins and so was shut out of the Kingdom of God because of their unbelief so here was their Misery they would not receive him because he came not according as they had imagined he should come Now Friends to come nearer to your condition I shall write as the Spirit of the Lord shall move me which dwelleth in my heart Friends consider What is the reason that you will not own the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightened you and all people to be a sufficient Teacher and Ordinance for Salvation unto you and all people and to bring you and all people unto God out of sin if you and they did believe in it and obey it I say consider Is it not because you have read the Prophets Christ and the Apostles Writings with the same dark minds in unbelief that the Jews did read the Prophets Writings and in the Darkness which you have loved a great deal more then the Light you have imagined that Christ would shew himself unto you some other way then by his Light in your Consciences It hath been a very hatefull thing unto many of you Professors to hear us exhort you to turn unto the Light within and because we told you that was the Ordinance of God for Salvation unto the Ends of the Earth according to the words of the Prophet who prophesied in the Power of his coming Isa 49.5.6 7 8 22. who said I will give him for a Light unto the Gentiles and Leader to his People to be his Salvation unto the Ends of the Earth and when we have born our Testimony amongst you concerning this Light according to the plain words of the Prophets Christ and the Apostles laid down in the holy Scriptures and in the brokenness of our hearts have in much love unto you declared our own experience of the vertuous opperation of this Light wherewith Christ hath enlightned us and what Christ the Light had done for our Souls since we in his Light believed and when we thus laboured in the Love of God to do you good in perswading you to believe in the Light wherewith he hath enlightened you that so you might have come to have felt the vertue and power of it in your own hearts for your own everlasting good then many of you have rejected our Testimony and hath shamefully entreated us and hath rewarded us evil for good and you have hated this Light and cried Away with this Light and also with those that have been moved of the Lord God to bear witness unto this Light Which is the Trve Light which hath Enlightened every one that is come into the World as the Jews cried away with Christ when they imagined he had been Joseph the Carpenters son 1 Cor. 2.4 5 c. to 16. and so the Light is judged by your Carnal Wisdom and Reason to be too low a thing to stoop unto and the Jews in their Carnal Wisdom and Reason judged Christ when he was come not to be worthy or fit to be a King over them because they looked upon him to be a Carpenters son a man inferiour unto many of them as they imagined and so they hated him and slew him And so now all you Professors who have been and yet are haters of the Light and cryeth away with it and accounts it too low a thing for you to stoop unto you are deceived Christ will not shew himself unto you any other way but by the measure of his Spirit wherewith he hath Enlightened you it is written No man knows the things of God but the Spirit of God but many of you Professors will not believe that the Light wherewith Christ hath Enlightened you is of power and sufficiency to bring you to God out of sin and so to this day you have not the Benefit of Christs coming but you are still in your sins committing them and pleading that you must do so while you are in the Earthly Tabernacle And so are you not Rebellious Children who Rebel against the Light Grace and Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ which he hath placed in you to Instruct you And do not you as plainly Crucifie and do Dispite unto the Opperation of the Spirit Light and Grace of Christ in your Inwards Parts as the Jews did unto the Vessel which they imagined to be Joseph the Carpenters son So consider of these things soberly in meekness in the fear of the Lord God and be not angry at me for writing thus in plainness unto you for know you all assuredly that it is the Love of God in my heart unto you that constrains me to write thus in plainness unto you so while you have a little time prize it and while you have a sence and feeling of the Light Grace and Spirit of Christ in your inward parts checking and condemning you when you do Evil believe you all in it and in obedience unto it give up and when it condemns you for Evil which you have already done then own its Judgments for its Judgments are just and true and when it letteth you see Temptations unto Sin before you have consented unto the Tempter or done the Evil he tempteth you unto then love it and let your minds be closely joyned unto it and then it will preserve you from doing the Evil that you are tempted unto and then it will be no sin for you to be tempted unto Evil if you do it not nor give your consent at all unto the Tempter Mat. 4.1 2 to 13. but love the Light which lets you see his Temptation and in it you will have Dominion over the Tempter and you will be kept out of his Snare for Christ was tempted but sinned not and Christ the Light will not condemn you for being tempted unto Evil if you do it not and if you believe in and love and obey the Light of the Son of God wherewith he hath Enlightened you Though you may have done much Evil God will forgive you for Christ the Light his sake in whom you do believe and though you may feel great and strong workings in you to do Evil yet if you love the Light within you that gives you the sence thereof it will work mightily in you against that nature which would lead you to do Evil and if you keep your minds unto the Light then you will feel that nature to die daily in you which hath led you into Evil and so that which hath led you into
sinned and died who have been ravined from the Spirit within them as he did from the Spirit within him and so have faln and sinned and died as he did but now all who cometh to witness Redemption from that Estate they must come into the Spirit and Light within them from which they have ravined and if they do not come to believe in and obey that they will never come to be made alive in and by Christ the Second Adam though they may talk of and profess never so much of God and Christ without them at a distance from them and though they may have a perswasion in their hearts and may really believe all that is written in the Holy Scriptures concerning the Birth of Christ and of his Death and of his Resurrection yet this believing will not bring them into acceptation with God if they do not come to believe in the Light and Spirit of Christ within them For I say in the fear of the Lord God consider Doth not all the prophane people in all those Nations ealled Christendom generally believe that he was the Son of God who was crucified without the Gates at Jerusalem and was born of the Virgin Mary and rose again the third day as they read the Scriptures of Truth which beareth witness of those things and yet though they have given credit unto those words which are written of him many of them are Proud and Covetous Drunkards and Swearers and Lyers Persecutors Murtherers and Theeves and Cheaters and Dissemblers Now I say in the Fear of the Lord God consider Is this true Saving Faith which they are in and though they have been taught by Tradition to believe as aforesaid yet their hearts are very corrupt and full of wickedness and so are far from the Lord God and they are far from being accepted with the pure God in that Estate now the Apostle saith Faith purifieth the heart and the Mystery of the Saints Faith in the Apostles dayes was held in their Pure Consciences which was Christ in them the Hope of Glory 1 Tim. 3.9 so they were in the True Saving and Living Faith their Faith stood in the Power Spirit and Light of Christ within them and the Power Light and Spirit of Christ within them did purifie their hearts and it made them of a Right Spirit and so that which purified their hearts dwelt in them for it is written The Tabernacle of God is with men Rev. 21.3 Ezek. 37.27 I will walk in them and dwell in them said God I will be their God and they shall be my people and Christ said unto the Saints I and my Father we will come and make our abode with you and Christ said unto his Disciples before he was offered up He that is with you shall be in you and he said Joh. 6.63 It is the Spirit that quickeneth the Flesh profiteth nothing and though the Apostle had known Christ once after the Flesh yet benceforth I know him so no more 2 Cor. 4.16 said he and he said I bear in my Body the Dyings of the Lord Jesus that the Life also of Jesus may be made manifest in my mortal Flesh Joh. 14.11 c. to 25. and he said I am crucified unto the World and the world unto me and the Life that I now live is by Faith in the Son of God I Live said he yet not I but Christ in me and so he witnessed Christ in him the Hope of Glory and the Apostle said unto the Saints Try your selves prove your selves know you not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except you be Reprobates Now I say the people of God who are in scorn called Quakers do believe and certainly know that he who was born of the Virgin Mary was the Son of God who was hated by the Jews and sentenced to die by Pilate though he could find no fault in him we do believe that he was crucified without the Gate of Jerusalem and was raised again the third day by the mighty Power of his Father in whose will he suffered though there was no fault in him and we believe and are sure that God was greatly honoured in his Faithfulness Obedience and Humiliation who though he was without fault humbled himself unto the death upon the Cross and we do believe and are sure that all that did believe in him in that Age in which he suffered outwardly and did confess him boldly before his Enemies and suffered death for his Name sake or imprisonment they are everlastingly well who continued in faithfulness unto the end But consider O all ye professors in that called Christendom it was a hard and mighty thing in that Age in which he suffered to confess before his Enemies that he was the Messiah the Christ the Son of God for to confess before his Enemies that he was the Son of God was cause enough for his Enemies by their unjust Law by which they had put him to death to put those to death that should so confess him So that in that Age there durst none confess him before his Enemies to be the Son of God but those who were come to feel and know the Measure of the Spirit of God which he had given them to instruct them for that gave them to know that he was the Son of God and it filled their hearts with zeal and boldness to confess him to be the Son of God though they were put to death for their Confession for Christ said No man can come unto me except my Father draw him Joh. 6.44 45 46. so God drew them by the Measure of his Spirit in them to know that Jesus was the Son of God and by the same he drew them to confess him boldly before his Enemies And Christ said unto his Disciples Whom do men say that I am some said he was John Baptist and some Elias But he said unto his Disciples Mat. 16.13 14 15 16 17. whom do ye say I am Peter answered and said Thou art Christ the Son of the Living God Jesus answered and said unto him Flesh and Blood hath not revealed that unto thee but my Father only But oh you Professors in what Form soever consider It is many Ages past since Christ suffered without the Gate of Jerusalem and people have been ravened from the Life and Power and Spirit in which the ancient Christians lived for you may read that the Saints were called Christians fiest at Antioch Act. 11.26 and it is very like at that time the name Christian was as hatefull a name both with the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles as the name Heathen is hatefull here in England and other Nations who calls themselves Christians but Christ and his Apostles wrought many great and wondrous Works in and by the mighty Power of God Acts 20.29 30. while they were walking upon the Earth among the Sons and Daughters of men and they wrot in the Spirit and Power
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