THE LYING SPIRIT In the Mouth of the False Prophet Made manifest Who seeks to pervert the right way of the LORD and openeth his mouth against the Lord of Life and denies his Light within as appeareth in a Book Entituled The Doctrine of the Light within the Natural Man leading to eternal life examined by Scripture-Light Set forth by H. H. which is owned by HENOCH HOVVEY called a BAPTIST in Lincolne for whom it is printed and by him dispersed abroad Some things therein being here answered in the Light of the LORD With the Spirits Testimony to the true Light which every man that cometh into the world is enlightened withall leading to eternal life which hath unity with that Light and Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures Declared in the movings of the Lord for the Truths sake and that all deceit might be made manifest Now will I arise saith the Lord now will I be exalted in the earth Who shall set Briars and Thorns before the Lord in Battel By one who is a lover of all those who love truth in the inward part W. S. LONDON Printed for Thomas Simmons at the Bull and Mouth near Aldersgate 1658. The Lying spirit in the mouth of the false Prophet made manifest c. IN the beginning was all things created very good in the wisdom of God and he took pleasure in the works of his hands and man was made Lord over them all standing in communion with the life in God he had authority to govern the Creation in the wisdom of God untill the subtiltie of the Serpent overcame him and prevailed over him to turn his mind from the wisdom and life of God into the earth to feed upon that which the Lord had forbidden where he entred into the transgression and fell from the wisdom and life from which he received power and authority to govern and rule and so the curse came over him having lost his innocency being subject to the Serpents subtilty which he yeilded himself unto to be guided by and so was driven out from his place of excellency into the earth to eat his bread in sorrow all the dayes of his life He that can read this let him For that subtile Serpent which led into the transgression leadeth still in the transgression all that yeild themselves to his enticements and are taken Captives by him at his will and so are led by him to oppose that in which Gods love is made manifest to break his head and to recover out of his snares This being the great design of that roaring Lyon to keep people in that which he hath led them into and from that which is to recover them from under his dominion and this is that which was and is an enemy to the righteous seed of God in all its appearances through ages and generations unto this day as is manifest in this generation of wicked and ungodly men who in the envious spirit sets their faces to do mischiefe as Henoch Howet hath done as his own words do manifest who saith he having had much to do with a generation of men that held forth another doctrine of converting or another means of convincing of men in their naturall condition then ever Christ or his Apostles did and to prove this by Scripture light as he calleth it he names 2 Tim. 4.23 but here he is not in the light of the Scripture his own language for there is not such a verse as he hath named and so he is here shut up and let his mouth be for ever stopped in his ignorance and blindness who is charging a generation of men with holding forth some strange doctrine contrary to Christ and his Apostles and hath no testimony to what he saith and yet he tells us he is a labourer in a good Vineyard and that he knowes the enemy now rageth more by delusions then by open persecutions these being the dayes in which if it were possible to deceive the very Elect. Ans John saw many deceivers entred into the World in his time which was those that Christ Jesus said should come to deceive the very Elect if it were possible and hast thou been a professor so many years and hast not seen them before these dayes If thou hadst not opposed that by which all deceivers are made manifest and in which John saw them thou mightest have seen them many years ago and thy self to be one of them who speakes a vision of thy own brain and not from the mouth of the Lord and this is the doctrine which is contrary to Christ and his Apostles and the enemy which now rageth both by delusions and open persecution for the spirit of delusion never ceased from persecution against all who bear forth a living testimony to the Gospel and the power of it but was alwayes an enemy to it and laboured against it as thou dost though thy labour be to no purpose Then thou sayest thou hast taken it upon thee as thy duty to forewarn all men of that doctrine that teacheth men to look to the light within them for directions from their naturall condition all along untill they come to that estate they call their perfection Ans It is manifest from thy own mouth that thy work was not wrought in God nor thy duty in obedience to his movings but taken upon thee in thy own will and performed in thy own wisdom which is contrary to all that are sent of God labours in his Vineyard who do not take upon them any thing in their own wills and call it their duty but waits on the Lord to be obedient to his movings to receive from him what is their duty to perform unto him so the Lord gives forth his word and it is declared in righteousness but that which thou hast taken upon thee at thy own will and pleasure is all denyed not being received from the mouth of the Lord for thou who denyes the light within and art forewarning people for looking to it thou denies the Scriptures and the spirits testimony therein and thereunto for David bare forth his testimony in the spirit of the Lord That the light of Christ enlightned the world and in his light they saw light John testified that Christ was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world Christ said he was the light of the world and if this thou wilt owne which thou sayest thou art examining by then shew who they are and what sort of people that Christ doth not enlighten and whether he doth enlighten people within or without them and where is his light to be looked for and walked in and prove thy self a labourer in Gods Vineyard for all that were sent of God and laboured for him exhorted all people unto the ends of the earth to look unto Christ and be saved and to turn from the darkness to the light therefore repent and be converted that thy sins may be blotted out thou who art in the
Lord afar off and sit down at ease in the flesh and makes their belly their god minding earthly things devouring Gods Creation to satisfie a lustful appetite and so treasuring up Wrath against the day of Wrath and revelation of the righteous Judgement of God who will render to every man according to his deeds when the Workers of iniquity will not be known by him but must all depart from him into the everlasting fire there to abide under the eternal Judgement Therefore I say unto thee Repent and sink down under the Judgement in this life that all sin and transgression may be judged out of thy heart by the light and power of Christ that eternal Judgement be not thy portion Then thou sayest That to look al the light within carries a deceived people for a self-loving heart and to an imagination of perfection and that their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness and proud and that their tongues proves them perverse Ans And here thou speaks as if thou wert not to be controlled but as if thy tongue were thy own and there was no Lord to be over it But that which thou slanders the truth with is denyed that is to say That any who are guided by Christ the Light of the World do bring forth any of these things which thou falsly accuses them of but thou art seen and read in that which is eternal to slander the truth with that which hath Dominion over thee yet is the Truth pure and all thy dirt cannot stain it and all who live in it have a sure defence and a refuge from this stormy tempest which the Devil hath raised up even to shake the foundation of the righteous but it is a Rock higher then all and above all which the righteous are set upon and there stand in safety therefore either prove thy words that such fruits are brought forth by those who look to the light within and are guided by it or else own thy confusion and in it thy shame Then thou brings thy Reasons why men are carryed headlong to these delusions and mixeth the Scripture with thy reason saying It is evident from the Apostles Doctrine to the Corinthians 2 Cor. 11.3 evidently shewing the cause to be Satans transforming himself into an Angel of Light and sayes The word Transforming imports the carrying of himself through all forms as an angel or messenger of light Ans The Apostles Words I own and they shall stand a Witness against thee who denies the light by which he was guided and so art gathering his words into thy Reason but cannot thereby come into the life and so thou rests in the form out of the power where Satan is transforming himself as from thy own words who saith he carries himself through all forms then how canst thou exclude him from thine Therefore I say unto thee and all who abide in forms with thee Come out from him for I deny both him and thy forms that so it is plain from thy own mouth that thou rests in that into which Satan can transform himself having the likeness but is not the substance and these are his Ministers who are thus transformed by his deceitful working as Ministers of Righteousness though they be false Apostles deceitful Workers transforming themselves as the Apostles of Christ if thou hast an ear open thou mayest hear if these be not they who are labouring to uphold visible things as thou hast done in thy Book crying The Ordinances of Christ the practise of the Apostles these are to be walked in and so the imitation is taken up and the visible thing is practised as the Apostles of Christ but the light life and power of God is denyed in which they enjoyed the substance which was sweet to their taste who felt that the Lord was good and this was not a thing visible without them but enjoyed within them which was the Bread of Life and Water of Life into which Satan cannot transform himself and this I own and in my measure witness to be ordained of God from the beginning who satisfieth the hungry with the fatness of his House and refresheth the thirsty with the Rivers of his good pleasure and this thou art a stranger to who denies Christ the light of the World who is the Fountain where living Mercies are witnessed And so thou erres not knowing the Scripture nor the power of God though thou hast made a long profession of them and can speak much of them as the Pharisees could do and as the Devil can do yet whilest thou denies that by which they were given forth they are as Weapons formed against thee The second Reason thou sayest is Natures darkness for thou sayest if the Ephesians were sometimes darkness then in that state they had nothing but darkness supposed Light to look unto Ans All who are in the light sees thy darkness vvho knows not Christ from Natures darkness and calls him a supposed Light for Christ was in the Ephesians in that state of darkness though by them unregarded as he is by thee Wherefore he saith Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light by the reproof of the light were they awakened and did arise from their dead state of darkness and were made light in the Lord. And here was something to be looked unto besides the daâ—kness which reproved them in the darkness as it doth thee and all the World who refuse to be guided by it and rejects Gods visitation therefore thou art darkness and abides in darkness and knowest not whither thou goest because that darkness hath blinded thy mind Then thou sayest Having shewed what this delusion is a means to draw people to thou wilt now shew what it is a means to draw them from And this thy Wisdom lays down in many particulars saying First it keeps us from seeking a City that hath foundations the Doctrine of the Apostles Prophets and that these people have a Christ they account more spiritual then the Carpenters Son and that they will not have that man to reign over them Ans The City is witnessed into which no unclean thing can enter but must abide without amongst the Dogs and Sorcerers and the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets is owned and enjoyed and Christ is received who is King of Saints but all thy inventions and imaginations is denyed who knows Christ no otherwise then as the Carpenters Son and so would have him to reign if this be thy Faith then prove by plain Scripture that Jesus Christ is the Carpenters Son or that his Dominion is exercised in that nature else own delusion to be upon thee and thy spirit to be a spirit of error Thou hast made such a mixture of thy own inventions with the Scriptures that it is hard to draw the Wine from the Lees for thou hast altogether set Christ in opposition to the Light within which the Saints never did and yet thou sayest
They that look to Christ and are enlightened their faces shall not be ashamed So here thou hast confest none can be enlightened but such who look to Christ and thou hast owned Christ to be the light which doth enlighten therefore now it is laid upon thee either to confess or deny in plainness Whether Christ doth enlighten people within yea or nay if yea then he is the light within which people are to look unto and be saved which thou art fore-warning people from as a dangerous delusion If nay then it is laid upon thee to prove by plain Scripture where he is how he doth enlighten and how people may come to him and receive him and be baptized into him and put him on and be led by him so the Work will be short and many Words needs not be multiplyed to manifest truth for it stands not in word but in power though much thou hast laid together in thy Book as if truth did consist or stand in many inventions I am moved of the Lord to tell thee and all people That the Lord is risen to overturn all the inventions and imaginations of man and all false wayes and worships which are not in spirit and truth and they shall fall and come to nought though never so strongly contended for but that which is of God shall stand Thy other particulars I shall here lay down as in thy Wisdom thou hast drawn them forth 1. Thou saidst the Light within draws people from Christ appearing in conversion 2. From confirming in assurance and working of us up to follow on to know the Lord by several visitations 3. From the Doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets 4. From the blood of the Covenant 5. From the experience of the creating Word 6. From waiting for commands of Gods loving kindnesse And then thou concludes That watching in the light within to bring us to perfection will be a vain watch I shall here wait for thy Answer to be published as to what is laid upon thee for I have born my Testimony in the spirit of the Lord against all that which thou sayest the Light within leads people to so in general I do deny that it leadeth any or draws them from any one of these particulars which thou hast laid down for I am made to stand a Witness against thee in the power of the Lord knowing that Christ Jesus the Light of the World who lighteth every one that cometh into the World doth lead all that are guided by him from all that which thou sayest the Light within leads people to and unto that which thou sayest it draws people from that so thou art calling the light darkness and darkness light And for what thou hast said in thy considerations upon Baxters Papers which thou saidst was against the Quakers thou hast there considered nothing but what is carnal and visible saying your Water is in Fountains and Rivers visible and that the natural Tongue of the godly can shew the Way of Life to the natural ear and eye and so to the understanding of the natural man and much more such like as this thou hast considered of which are all to perish as all other visible things must and so thy hope will perish with them who knows not a life above them but those whom thou hast set thy self against knows their life to be in that which is eternal and will abide for ever and are made to deny all thy visible and carnal things as rudiments of the World and this I have also observed in thy Considerations Herod and Pilate made friends I am moved of the Lord to tell thee That whosoever watcheth in that Light which thou sayest will be a vain watch they shall be defended from the Enemies Power for there doth the Lord preserve his people and keep them from the Heathens rage though thou hast bent thy bow and shot thy Arrows at the upright in heart they shall return again upon thee for no harm shall come nigh the dwelling-place of the Saints of the most High for who dwel in the Light are compassed about with mercies and there are made to sing songs of Deliverance so thou art now to answer to what is laid upon thee and expected from thee that is To confess or deny plainly Whether Christ doth enlighten people within yea or nay and to distinguish betwixt Christ and the light within for until thou hast done that all thy Work is but confusion which if thou refuse let thy mouth be for ever stopped as a mouth full of iniquity and perversness Let all flesh be silent The Spirits Testimony to the true Light which every man that cometh into the world is enlightened withall c. THe Lord God of Life and Power hath in this his day made manifest to his Saints that which the World cannot believe who have eyes and see not ears and hear not neither do they understand with their hearts the things that God hath prepared for them that love him but God hath revealed them unto his Babes whom he hath gathered out of the World and hath opened their eye to see and their ear to hear and given them a heart to perceive the things that belong to their peace which confounds all the wise men of the World who are searching into the things of God in their fallen Wisdom in which they can neither see nor perceive the mysterie of the glorious Gospel of Christ and therefore they take counsel together against it and against the Lord and his annointed crying Heresie and Delusion Deceivers Antichrists false Prophets are now come beware of them that you be not deceived with them who talk of a Light within people to guide them by And this is the cry both of Priests and Professors at this day and though they be at enmity in many things and oppose one another yet do they all join together and take counsel to smite the upright and make war with the Lamb therefore in the movings of the Lord it is laid upon me to bear forth my Testimony for the Truths sake that none might abide in darkness and be deceived by the Serpents subtilty but that all might be turned from the darkness to the light where pardoning mercy is felt and witnesnessed and in love to all in whom the living Witness is raised that you may not be soon shaken nor your desires after the Truth be cooled nor the pure be quenched but that all who are breathing after God may follow on to know him for as the Day-spring from on high doth visite you all Clouds will vanish away and you will come to see above them and so in the light of Christ waiting you will come to see things that differ and discern the precious from the vile and so come to know what is of man and what is of God therefore believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they be of God because many false Prophets are in the World who are