hunt about for freedom yet if any Carnal Way be opened it will form a fair pretence as though it were of God which is not of God and this seeks to betray the just faithful one from you would part you from your chast waiting upon him whom you love taking his advantage by your hast weariness weakness in the journey But that which only minds to be obedient to God in suffering and acting with faith and diligence nearkning with all Long-suffering what Meekness and Patience saith thinking it a greater thing to obtain Counsel from that then ease from another believing that no other thing can give an expected end but that to wit an inheritance in that you wait for and therefore count nothing dear that you may win him thinking no time long nor any thing hard to endure for the joy and beauty that is set before you This wil never deceive you of the Redemption of Truth your Love and Redeemer and Lord is One and you shal not be put to your sleighty shifts as they that go out from that Spirit are for you shal feel and see your Redeemer in the misst of you and with his body shal you rise and live and you shal not be ransomed with silver or gold from the hand of the Opressor but by the pretious blood of Christ as a Lamb without spot not with any corruptible thing but his Long-suffering Faith and Patience his Love and meek Spirit shal set you out of all darkness and above all fears and your freedom wil be perfect and inheritance large when all that would not stay upon him alone are consumedin the fiery tryals which haste ease and distrust wil never bring to an end til which you are not fit to be joined to him you love in everliving obedience and everlasting praises the portion of all who have waited on him and have found him faithful in the End And having Learned this mystery of Godliness and found the worth of it you having found his way perfect and pure and him faithful to such as walk therein you may be able to direct the simple and unlearned in their desirable way to rest and your words have in them a manifestation of life and quickning power is with you this shal be your everlasting strength that you are redeemed with that you so dearly loved And this you shal feel in the way that the more diligently you wait upon him in all Conditions you pass through even so the more do you receive of him by drinking in of that heavenly virtue that is in him who is the meek and patient one and by supping continually with him and he with you wil you come so to be filled with him that all haste and impatiency and distrust will be covered and overcome with him and so your Mortal be swallowed up of the Immortal till it become your whole Life and Being and all your Thoughts Words and Actions have their Rise and Being therein so that Self be seen no more nor that appear in which Death and Condemnation have any entrance or power And this shall you find to be the House from Above and Heavenly City in which the holy Spirits live and walk and have Communion as they come to be perfected of which the LAMB is the Light and Salvation into which none enter but who through his Meekness and Long-suffering are ransomed and by Faith therein redeemed Who being thus builded see no more sorrow nor fear of falling the Foundation being everlasting elect and precious and every Stone therein tryed in the fire and in faithfulness chosen for that end So with all diligence sink down to feel the Election not minding that which boasts in high words before it be tryed but when it comes into the fire will not stand patient in the Tryal but through that being given up to death seek for that which lies under in the sufferings which calls you down from every high thought To him come down into the pit who bears all things without complaining that with him you may suffer and with him you may obey and in all things he may be with you and you with him this is the Election make him sure to your selves in life and death so shall you be changed with him and though you go down into the lower parts of the Earth in the carnal body he shall raise you spiritual though sown weak yet raised in Power if you rise not but with him as he raises you if you cast not off the Yoak nor flye the Cross nor heal your own wound though your wound be mortal yet the cure is immortal though you go down in shame and reproach yet raised in glory and covered with immortal honour and eternal life with power and strength to fulfil the will of God and the answer of a good Conscience through this Baptism and Resurraction you shall attain and so become one Spirit with him that dwells in the light in death in sufferings in patience in faith and in obedience which otherwise no mortal man can approach to there being that to be fulfilled which the Light requires which the first man born hath not in power so by that Law his life he must lose which hath power over the Transgressor as long as he lives and joined to Christ cannot be till to that Law he be dead So the first which is earthly the Law kills because of sin and want of obedience but he that is born again is of the Spirit and lives because of righteousness and obedience so the boaster is excluded being concluded under sin that the mercy may arise in the meek principle over all to fulfil all The Light saith Love thy Neighbour as thy self This the first born cannot do so the boaster is excluded and the Law lays hold on that life which wants this love and the Creature must give up that to death that he may come to the meek Spirit for the power of that life and obedience that hath righteousness in it and the Creature drawing his mind and affections and faith â—rom the first who hath words without power and giving these to the second the first falls withers and dies in that vessel and as the mind is diligent in the second he rises in the Faith and raiseth the power of obedience in that vessel and so as he rises through the Law he brings forth fruits above the Law against which there is no Law so he in whom the Covenant is and hath the power of obedience to righteousness puts an end to the Law So he being denied dead and buried whose life arose through disobedience who is the Transgressor and because of whom the Law was added that Law becomes dead also he that fulfils the Law is he that gave it forth and is the end thereof in whom by Faith you live and inherit this right eousness as you put him on through death who is this life So being faithful in the Light shal
your fleshly part for that is the Sons way to perfection and the wondrous works of the Father are learned in the deep for by the hand of God upon you being faithful in suffering to the end shal you see the old Foundation of the World the root and off-spring of all Wickedness how it came to be laid and how the Lamb is slain and what he is and the Foundation of God shall you see and feel upon which the Saints were raised up and built in the Spirit and how all the Chaff Hay and Stubble comes to be cleansed off for his fan is in his hand and the words of his mouth are a consuming fire to that Nature who refineth the Gold and quickeneth the Soul and divideth the clean from the unclean And the nearer you draw to God the nearer will he draw to you in Righteousness and Judgement and Truth to make an end of sin and bring in everlasting Righteousness and to establish you in his inheritance who appear in his Temple through the Refiners fire and Fullers Sope the end of all sufferings and entrance into everlasting joy purity and peace and weight of Eternal glory to which there is no other way but through affliction But as you come down to the Foundation of God watch with all fear and diligence that nothing exalt you or lift you up in mind conceit or comprehension faster then with that Foundation you are builded for many temptations of haste will present themselves with fears and distrust to get you from off the Foundation of Life but if you keep lowly steadfast and faithful thereto with it you shall be raised out of the Pit and set above the Earth And for that end is it laid within you that in Spirit you may be built thereon in order like the Corner-stone a new man not the same that goes down and none knoweth the way of his rising but as he keepeth to the foundation and mindeth the head of the Corner which as you diligently mind you shall know the sure Foundations of the holy City even from the Word of the beginning of Christ as you grow to his fulness the Foundations of Repentance of Faith of Doctrines of Baptisms of the Resurrection of the dead and of eternal Judgement And as with the Foundation of Life and Power you come to be edified you will be led thorow the dominions of Death where you shall learn wherein it hath its power and by what it reigns and how it captivates the Seed and how its Bouds are broken and with what he is taken and chained who hath the power of death and so come to see what binds and what looses kills and makes alive the Life of the Lavv the Life of the Prophets and the Life of the Apostles as they passed before you vvill you come to knovv their in heritance therein to possess and vvith them in Spirit have fellovvship as they passed the time of their Pilgrimage here that to the Life of Christ you may come for the fulfilling of the Word of God vvhich endureth from Generation to Generation This being the end of all the travels of the souls of righteous men and women here belovv vvhich that they might attain the fulfilling thereof and so return in peace to him from vvhence they came cloathed on vvith their heavenly House for which prize they counted all things loss here below casting off the Earthly pleasures and killing every affection thereto estranged therefrom in all their vvalking vvhile they are here knovving that the love to the earthly things is the enemy to their spiritual ascending and that the Earthly Adulterous Spirit daily hunts to devour the precious Life and to keep the soul in things below presenting daily its delights carnal and opening the pathes of the destroyer with pleasures to the carnal eye which whosoever joins to cannot ascend into the heavenly Inheritance but with the dark World daily go downward who are degenerated from the Life of God and estranged from it even from the Womb so that they are never able to attain the knowledge of God nor in truth and righteousness to call him Father nor to say they came out from him nor ever to him can return This they being willingly ignorant of that no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven who is born not of the corruptible Seed nor begotten but by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever But with you it is not so neither are you going that way who feel the heavenly motion drawing your minds out of all earthly delights the taste of the Heavenly Life overcoming the Earthly in your affections so that to the World you dye daily and you feel something quickned in you that cannot feed on earthly pleasures but hunger after righteousness and see a beauty in holiness and thirst daily after the Heavenly Virtue So to that sink down into its likeness which is yet in the bonds of death and hunger with it and suffer with it and join to it in all its counsel so that with it you may be raised for that is it which is on the foundation of God and coming to him as a living stone you will be built on the same Foundation the same Spirit being your Head by whose Resurrection all the Vails will be done away the Vail of Death the Vail of the Law the Vail of the Prophets and the whole mystery of godliness will be unsealed and the way to Heaven opened by him even the slain Lamb who hath his power from the midst of the Throne of God even for you if you join to him in his sufferings and ascendings who maketh the way betwixt Heaven and Earth and keepeth it open in all them who mind him therewith to possess the Vessel in holness and fear towards God so that nothing shall hinder your prayers from coming to the Throne of God nor the dew and blessing of Heaven from falling upon the Seed and here is Heaven opened and the way of grace and salvation for the wayfaring man here on Earth to walk in in which if you wholly exercise your minds you shal not err nor shall any thing be able to hinder you from receiving Gifts from the Father so long as nothing of a contrary Nature stops his own from arising to him in praises and you with it So let nothing cut off your Communion with God in that measure you already have received but let the breathings of your souls and your hearts be continually open towards him and therein you shall not onely receive but become faithful improvers of what you have by the blessing that is the Covenant that is with all that love him that dwells in the Light for where the conversation is in Heaven there the Earth becoms fruitful Wherefore give all diligence that nothing have your affections here below or stop your heavenly mind from its constant ascending for that is the spirit of Bondage which hath
got power by letting some carnal thing in upon you to press you down which Spirit waits upon you continually to ensnare the Heavenly Life and get above it in your minds and so as a weight beset you in your way lest that which comes from Heaven should have free passage through a clear Vessel to Heavenly Seed free from cares cumbrances and earthly pleasures and from Earth to the Heavens for it 's he that comes from above which declareth to man his way and his wants presents his prayers and receives the answer and by him alone doth God work all his Works in you for you in Heaven and in Earth Now if you join to another and give your strength of heart and mind to his Enemy then the Work of God ceases the way being stopt for the Adulterer the Covetous the Idolater the Wanton the Sloath or what ever of that Nature you join to your consent giveth him strength to stop the Way of Life And this is your condemnation witnessed with the Light and herein had Death its power at the first which can be no Head but where he is hearkned to let in or obeyed but being resisted flyes but being let in he seateth himself in the Heavenly way with much policy and power and is not easily got out nor seen to be what he is so when you feel your way darkned or affections grow cold towards Heaven then take heed with all diligence in the pure Light to search for your Enemy hath got some entrance which by faithful and patient waiting in the Light you will come to see and through the power of the Cross to kill that life and cast out that in which it was conceived for that must not abide in the House with him that is Heir of the Heavenly Inheritance but is an Enemy to his coming for it is he that letteth till he be taken out of the way which while he is in the way dulls the affections and clogs the Heavenly mind that it cannot ascend wherefore that which you have received of the Holy One his Unction hold fast till he come and with it stand armed against whatever would enter to lead out to any outward observations but with all diligence observe that which you have of his in Spirit which the adversary seeks so much to draw you forth from least you should encrease your Lords money and herein you maintain your daily watch and war with that you have of Life and Power and not with that you have not so are you faithful Stewards and are accepted in what you have and not in what you have not for the World is in darkness and so wait for they know not what and have no ground for their Faith nor power to prepare his way to his coming further then words of others or their own conceivings but are not in him who is true but you are in him who is true who have his Light received and are in it to observe hhis appearance in all things and the Messenger of his Covenant you know who goeth before his face to prepare his way turning your hearts from every evil way and out of the paths of the destroyer that you may be fruitful upon earth that so he may receive you into himself vvhen he cometh to smite the Earth vvith a Curse which that which brings forth Bryars and Thorns is nigh unto whose Seed is not of himself his root and off-spring at his coming which is begot in the Adulterous mind For the mind feeding from without upon any knowledge form or observation but what the life leads to in Spirit and power is the ground of the mystery of iniquity the woman of Witch craft which hunteth for the precious life of the holy Child seeking to draw your strength of affections from him after the harlot that so he may fall die daily in your hearts and affections while the Lust goes out to another covered with some fair pretence whereby the worldly Spirit gathers strength daily as you shal feel who are watchful and diligent in the Spiritual War so shal that Truth appear to you That as your love waxeth cold so wil iniquity abound with an unresistable power whatever you know to the contrary which is not in the life Or whatever you believe without that faith which works by love to the life of Truth more then to the knowledge of Truth So let your wrestling be into the power and life of God and thereon feed and your life shal indure for ever and your strength and virtue shal be daily renewed But you read of some who had the form of Knowledge and of the Truth but being out of the life of Truth held the Truth in Unrighteousness and such when they knew God did not glorifie him as God in life So he gave them up who became vain in their imaginations who retained not the life in the knowledge turned the Truth of God into a Lie So that knowledge could not keep them from being filled vvith unrighteousness which stood not in the life and povver of righteousness and who received not that Truth in that Faith which loves to live the life of it Wherefore let your food be in the life of what you know and in the power of Obedience rejoice and not in what you know but cannot live for the Life is the Bread of your souls which crucifies the flesh and confounds that which runs before the Cross So let your labour and diligence be in that which presseth into the Heavenly Being and seeketh a Conformity to Christ in obedience of what you believe and hearken in love to that not in that mind which would save your own lives nor feed you where you are but in love to that which seperateth you from self-life and changeth you into his life whom you wait for from above so in receiving his commands in that which loves to be like him in life your Faith works by love and his Commands are joyous through love That Faith worketh obedience quickness and willingness it worketh out the old and worketh into the new and so through the hope of that which you love and obedience of Faith the entrance is made with the Life into the holy Kingdom and the Immortal Glory is put on which in the Light is seen and in the Life obtained as with the Word of Faith the separation is made and the Life that 's Mortal put off whose Life is without the Vail and is for death with that Life who makes the entrance through his Blood and through his Flesh a living Way a Way of Life a new Way to all who are seeking the Door in old Ordinances and Traditions and outward Observations feeding their minds with thinking or talking of what others did long since or what may be done in times to come and so are in Times but out of that Life which endures for ever and onely hath the promise of the Father and Power to make the
in the day of the deep tryal of his Innocent Lamb even how the Lord was with him when he was beset with darkness and assaulted with strong temptation and how he brought him thorow the Fire and thorow the Sea and under the Mountains and Hills and slevv his Enemy which had Dominion over him and so brought him to know himself and then exalted him over death and delivered him out of the pit in the sight of his Enemies and brought him to the pleasant Valleys Springs again caused his glory to descend upon him in which he met the Flock of his Father in whose Love he became joined and knit unto them that had forsook or stood at a distance from him Also many other weighty Sentences all vvhich are set forth that the vvonders of the Lord may be seen and that flesh may not boast nor glory in the time of prosperity though much of God may be opened and knovvn and that the tender-hearted may not despair in the times of deepest sufferings temptations and tryals but patiently vvait on him vvho worketh all things in his people according to the counsel of his ovvn vvil that he over all and in all things may be glorified vvhose right alone it is So be it Allelujah IT is in my heart to praise thee O my God let me never forget thee what thou hast been to me in the Night by thy Presence in the Day of Trial when I was beset in darkness when I was cast out as a wandring bird and when I was assaulted with strong Temptations then thy presence in secret did preserve me and in a low estate I felt thee near me when the floods sought to sweep me away thou set'st a compass for them how far they should pass over when my way was through the Sea and when I passed under the Mountains there wer't thou present with me when the weight of the hills was upon me thou upheldst me else had I sunk under the earth when I was as one altogether helpless when tribulation and anguish was upon me day and night and the Earth without foundation when I went on the way of wrath and passed by the gates of hell when all comforts stood afar off and he that is mine enemy had dominion when I was cast into the pit and was as one appointed to death when I was between the milstones and as one crushed with the weight of his adversary as a father thou wer 't with me and the rock of thy presence when the mouth of Lions roared against me and fear took hold on my soul in the pit then I called upon thee in the night and my cries were strong before thee daily thou answeredst me from thy habitation and delivered from thy dwelling place saying I will set thee above all thy fears and lift up thy feet above the head of oppressi in I believed and was strengthened and thy word was salvation Thou didst fight on my part when I wrestled with death and when darkness would have shut me up then the light shone about me and thy banner was over my head when my work was in the furnace and as I passed through the fiery spirits thy faith staied me else through fear I had fallen I saw thee and believed so the enemy could not prevail VVhen I lookt back into thy work I was astonished and see no end of thy praises Glory glory to thee saith my soul and let my heart be ever filled with thanksgiving whilst thy works remain they shall shew forth thy power then didst thou lay the foundation of the earth and feddest me under the waters and in the deeps didst thou shew me wonders and the forming of the world by thy hand Thou least me in safety till thou shewedst me the pillars of the earth then did the heavens shower down they were covered with darkness and the powers thereof were shaken and thy glory descended thou fill'dst the lower parts of the Earth with gladness and the valley was opened thy showers descended abundantly so the Earth was fill'd with virtues Thou madest thy Plant to spring and the thirsty soul became as a watered Garden then didst thou lift me out of the pit and set me forth in the sight of mine enemy thou proclaimedst liberty to the captive and called my acquaintance near me they to whom I have been a wonder and in thy love I obtained favour in those who had forsaken me then did gladness swallow up sorrow and I forsook all my troubles And how good is it that man be proved in the night that he may know his safety that every mouth may become silent in thy hand until thou make man known to himself and have slain the Boaster and shewed him the vanity that vexeth thy soul DEar Friends dwell in the pure Power of God and in the undefiled Life walk towards one another and feel one another in harmless hearts and in the bowels of our Lord Jesus Christ judge all straightness in your selves rather then one another How good a thing is Unity of Spirit and Mind And how precious is that Soul that seeks peace with self-denial God is near you who seeth all your Works and evil thoughts slay the Lord of Peace and grieves God exceedingly But that is the Child of his Love and Son of his Bosom that seeks not himself but can lay down his life for another O feel that Spirit and Life my dear Friends and wait for his appearance who is that Life in whom he comes with Power thy Peace shall be as a River that is clear and broad which shall not be dryed up but thou shalt drink into Eternal Rest and Quietness shall fill thy dwelling and the God of Peace and Holiness will delight in thee and in the end thy Fruit shall break out and thou shalt not long be hid but thy God in whom thou delightest shall cover thee with his Glory and make thee to shine in his Light and the Lamb shall speak out of his Temple and shall be confessed too but the self ended Spirit will wither and that which lifts up it self will fall to nothing and back-biters and whisperers and they which carry tales to make debate will God thrust away far from him and the meek shall enjoy his Inheritance alone who hath sought his praise from God and not from men Therefore take heed to your spirits in Gods fear and keep the Unity and Covenant of God and grieve not Gods Spirit nor provoke any to Wrath And again I warn you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ speak not evil nor think evil of Brother or Sister for if you do you cannot be guiltless before God nor stand before the Enemy in the time of tryal for evil thoughts will eat out your peace and precious Life and devour your strength with God and make way for many Evils to enter and prevail upon you Even the Lord God of Eternal Power preserve you all who hath called you
and given you a Name amongst the living for in him is my Hope and Confidence concerning you all for the Adversary is near you but to him that is true and faithful I commit you all whom many of you have known from the beginning and as you dvvell and vvalk in his Power of Life and Holiness Love and Peace God vvill keep you from all evil bear you and lead you into grovvth and improvement of vvhat he hath commited to you and in Faith and Peace you wil be kept from running to the Hills to save you or 〈◊〉 making a refuge of a lye but with the everlasting Truth will you all be girded and armed with the Word of Life against all Wickedness of Flesh and Spirit within and without And God Eternal kill the World in you all and throughly crucifie you to it in every affection and out-leading Power so that you may all witness him come who is the end of the World and Eternal Life and in him walk in the singleness of your minds as freeborn-Children redeemed into perfect liberty with him And dear Friends meet often together and so build up your selves above visibles that you may enter into peace and life everlasting The day of God hasts on apace which will try every mans Spirit and every mans Work of what nature it is and none will be saved but who are of God and such he receives into himself who is builded up to him in that which is from above But the wandering and unstable spirit he will shut out and punish with perdition from his presence evermore Wherefore dearly beloved in my soul above what I can write this I lay upon every one of you in particular and warn you That you prove and examine your selves herein what spirit you are of and what is your freedom herein and note that Spirit which steals your minds into earthly things and wandering thoughts for that is not of God but is of this world works after the power of the Prince of the Air and in this Spirit all have fellowship with the world are in the Power wch works against God and the Lamb nor can any in that Spirit serve God nor have fellowship with him in the Light for it is carnal and devillish and shut out from God the Father of Light and so becomes a Vagabond wandering chaffie Spirit not capable of God's Counsel nor Service nor can you have fellowship with the Brethren in the Light and Power of Truth so long as this reignth and is followed by you and so this must be judged in every motion of it that it may be subdued and put under foot lest being once enlightened you become wandering Stars from God's presence for ever So be you faithful to God who judgeth you and gird up the loyns of your minds and wait for stable heavenly Spirits that you may be born thereof and rule therein over your selves and so overcome the world that you may walk at liberty in God and in Christ Jesus whom he hath sent and herein is life eternal and rest to your souls what ever befall you and onely blessed is he that enters thereinto and it is the faithful that enters and in faith and obedience is the Covenant kept which keeps quiet the mind and in perfect peace in all Conditions the purchased possession of every redeemed soul thorough the blood of Jesus So God cover you all with his Spirit being buried into his Death and the Almighty arise among you and judge every evil root in its first motion and give you the knowledge of himself in Love and build you up above all strife and enmity and fill you with his Grace and season your hearts therewith and make himself your delight and bless you all and encrease you my dearly beloved ones to whom bowels of dear Love runneth even unto the least of you all in your innocent simple desires I am one with you all and with my God for you all that not one of you that ever have tasted of the Call or Power of God may be lost or offended or driven away God Eternal build you up into his Life and give you an Inheritance in him that seeks the lost and brings back that which is gone astray Dear Friends read me here and feel my Bowels towards all that are tempted or fallen and treasure up Mercy against the day to come even as ye look to be forgiven so forgive one another unfeignedly and keep your selves separate from the world and every pollution O fear not the world neither covenant with man nor say A Confederacy but fear the Living Powerful God of Heaven and Earth who is a Sanctuary to every clean and faithful heart and to him I commit you all who is over the world and worketh in you to make you eternally as he is that you may be his Sons and Daughters for ever to whom give thanks and praise for evermore Amen You are often in my remembrance J. N. This Epistle fore-going was given forth since the former part of the Book about the fifth day of the fifth Month 1660. THE END
Milk for Babes AND Meat for Strong Men. A FEAST OF FAT THINGS WINE well refined on the LEES O Come young Men and Maidens old Men and Babes and drink abundantly of the Streams that run from the Fountain that you may feel a Well-Spring of living Water in yourselves springing up to Eternal Life that as he lives even Christ Jesus from whence all the Springs do come so you may live also and partake of his Glory that is ascended at the right hand of the Father far above Principalities and Powers Being the breathings of the Spirit through his Servant JAMES NAYLOR written by him in the time of the confinement of his outward man in prison but not published till now London Printed for Robert Wilson at the sign of the black-spread-Eagle and Wind-Mill in Martins l'Grand 1661 The Preface to the Reader THis being an Invitation of Love and Life learned Counsel indeed from him that hath been tryed in the deeps a follower of the Lamb in many Tribulations where-ever he went who was baptized into his death by the Holy Ghost and by Fire made like unto him through sufferings who is the Captain of our Salvation cloathed upon with his Virtues and Graces throughly furnished unto every good and perfect work For he had the mind of God and the Secrets of the Almighty did abide upon his Tabernacle and he prophesied of this day which is now come and what shall be hereafter whiEh is not convenient to be uttered but the day will declare and make all things manifest For he that doeth business in great waters seeth the wonders of the Lord and declareth of the working of his mighty Power who wrought mightily in him he brake the Bonds and cut the Cords assunder and led him by the hand of his Power through the Fire and the Water and set his feet in a plain path and brought him forth in the midst of his Enemies and stood at his right hand that he could not be moved yea before the faces of them that had persecuted his righteous Soul and had said his God had forsaken him and cast him off for ever but the Lord did never leave him or forsake him although Satan had power to winnow him as wheat yet his precious life was hid with God and the evil one could not touch it and the Tryal came not upon him for his own sins onely nor the sins of others but it was to try some that all Flesh may be silent and that none should glory in his presence who setteth up and casteth down who kills and makes alive according to the good pleasure of his own will and who shall say Why dost thou thus For the Potter hath power over the Clay to make a Vessel of honor or of dishonor For I am God All-sufficient and man as the dust of the Ballance and as the drop of the Bucket and let all men know that the Most High ruleth in the Heavens and doth whatsoever he will in the Earth for the Lord alone does all Therefore let none glory in his own wisdom or strength for all Flesh is as grass and the glory of it as the Flower of the Field which soon fadeth away and cometh to an end therefore let him that stands fear fear alwayes lest he fall into temptation for none can stand in the Day of Tryal nor dwell with everlasting Burnings but he that lives and walks in the Spirit and puts no Confidence in the Flesh Mark this He was set as a Sign for the Rise and Fall of many that the Secrets of many hearts might be made manifest and for to prove that Generation that then had Power in their hands but improved it not but went on in the Counsel of their own corrupt Hearts to persecute the Innocent but the Lord God who hath pleaded the cause of the needy a helper of him who had no helper in the Earth I say the Lord God hath pleaded with that generation of men which now are passed away and their very memorial is become an evil savour for they shewed no mercy Therefore in the day of their distress they could find no mercy but the merciful God whose mercies are above and over all his works He did remember his Captive and did not leave his soul in the Grave but did deliver his Lamb from the devouring Wolves and stopped the mouths of the Lyons which greedily roared and gave him his life for a prey that he might magnifie and exalt his unexpressible abundant loving-kindness and unutterable love of the Lord to him that all that fear the Lord might trust in the God of his Salvation who saved him to the utmost this is the God of the living O let all the holy Saints that know the breath of life praise him that liveth for ever For all Dominion Honor and Glory is his and unto him let it be ascribed for ever and ever But he hath finished the work his Father gave him to do and hath run the Race that was set before him and is come to the End of all things the Antient of Dayes the Judge of all although the outward Tabernacle be gone to its place yet he lives and shall never dye and the resurrection of his most holy Life is risen and shall arise in many a Name he hath among the living which can never be blotted out and the blessing of the Lord is upon the Seed that hath been raised by his preaching of the Word of Reconciliation and Peace and his Off-spring shall declare his Generation for ever for the Seed is still multiplying his Childrens Children are ready to bring forth still raising up Seed to the Elder Brother the true Husband in the Resurrection but now none can add to him or take from him for Immortal is his Crown and endless is his glory and in all that was done unto him the Lord never smote him as he hath and will smite them that smote him for he hath broken them with a great Breach and so shall it be with all Zions Enemies for her King is in the midst of her the Lord of Hosts is his Name who will smite the Host of the Egyptians and fear horror and trembling shall take hold on Israel's enemies and he will smite the Earth with a Curse for his Elect sake and he will plague hard-hearted Pharoah that will not let the Seed go free to serve the Lord in the Spirit and the Truth and with Amalek which will not let Israel pass through his Land will he make War for ever and in the destruction of his Enemies will he get himself a Name and his Name shall be dreadful to all them that know him not but all that know his Name they put their trust in it and unto them it is a strong Tower of Defence and into the Ark of his Strength will he gather all the Righteous souls whilst he ease and avenge himself of his enemies and for ever blessed are all they that hold out
you learn him that kills and makes alive that casts down and raises up that condemns and justifies and so shal know the way of death and the way of life and who that is that is hardned by the Law and who fulfills it and the life and end of both and you wil see the cause and end of all the tribulations earthquakes and thunders and several voices clouds smoak and darkness and great temptations and the trial of your faith herein wil be as that of gold and will bring to inherit the knowledge of God and eternal life and power to judge the Prince of the Air and over the mystery of iniquity and to deny the God of this world with all his snares and traps wherein the unlearned Professors are caught and held captive at his wil though some of them have a knowledg and form of the Truth taught from what others have thus learned all which you shal judg and have power over and all ministration under the Son shal with this be comprehended whether Angels or Spirit Even he that is faithful and diligent unto the end of this great tribulation shal be made white and have judgment committed to him and the Key of Davids house to bind and lose and shal sit in the Lambs Throne of Judgment and Righteousness in heaven and the Grave nor Hel shal have no more power nor shal his old iniquities have any more power over him the strength of sin being dead Wherefore Brethren in the Light be faithful when you come into this condition take heed of Unbelief and hast not out of it least you tempt the Lord of your Life and grieve his meek Spirit and provoke him to leave chastening and so your spot remain and you prove but Bastards and not free-born Children of this Kingdom Power and Glory and so in time your old Iniquities overtake you again For whatever of the old man comes out of the fire unconsumed dead and buried in this Baptism wil be a continual Canker seeking to eat and an Enemy daily waiting his opportunity upon all occasions to get up and overspread the pure Plant of Innocency and so spoil you of your Beloved and so make void all your sufferings past and bring in the old Evils like a Flood upon you as it hath befallen many at this day but be faithful to the end of all Iniquity the Root as wel as the Branch so shall your Righteousness arise clear and unspotted and your old sins shall therewith be buried and never arise again neither to accuse nor raign and this is your victory over death And this know whatever others imagine let none deceive you That though sin the evil Seed be sown when men sleep and take root with pleasure and spring up with ease and delight yet the end thereof is bitterness and great Tribulation but the precious Seed is sown with tears conceived in sorrow brought to light with sighing nights of watching dayes of mourning and with much labour of spirit and travel of Soul must you come to see your desire for though the World have conceived a Faith in the air and so bringeth forth nought but several sorts of Winds striving upon the Earth without Foundation and so builds nothing to perfection Yet with you it must not be so for to you the Light is sprung up which leads to the Foundation of God and you have received a Faith that gives you a sight of the Stone which the Builders see not and to you it is given not onely to believe in him but to suffer for his sake in the behalf of him and so to run as to win him so to strive as to obtain him his Name his Power his Nature for this is that your soul groans for to possess and inherit his Power his Love his Meekness his Patience in all Tribulations his Faith in all fears and to have the Power of all his Grace and Vertue living in you whereby you may be men of able Spirits rightly furnished to every good work and against all evil that in him you may overcome when you are tryed and be more then Conquerors and your Work is to war against whatever would keep you from coming to this Foundation and Corner-stone And it is not beating the air that will fight your Battel for it 's against all these deceits you are to fight and airy notions and all spirits that would possess you with words and forms without the Power of Righteousness and what ever lyes under the power of sin the true Light gives you to see the cursed deceipt that lyes in all this and that these are the subtile paths of the destroyer and nothing less then Victory over sin and subtilty will satisfie your souls so that it 's onely Life and Power that can give you peace and therefore yours is work and not vain words and that which strikes at the root of sin is your best Weapon So it is not Flesh that profits you it 's the spirit that must quicken through hardship that which ease hath slain ere you come to perfect peace For though the Letter tell of a Child that is heir of all things and gives this Inheritance to all in whom he is formed whose Name is Wonderful in Counsel and Strength yet is not this brought forth without hard labour and travel and the pangs of death gone thorow for when you come to the Lord for Counsel and feel that there is two manner of Seeds in the Womb then will you see that great Work is to be done ere you come to rest There is the strong man to be bound before the Babe can reign and strongly is he armed with all manner of Wiles to save himself and it 's not words and thoughts that will cast out the Mother her Son which must not inherit and this must be done or all is in vain He that is born of Flesh is in bondage to things here below this cannot inherit Immortality for sin hath power in him and dye he must that the Son of Righteousness may arise to life in you and bring your life to light with him as he appears and though the Light be above the Transgressor yet the Son is lowly that gives it So being faithful in the Light which from the Son cometh which condemneth all the lofty wayes of the first-born you will beled into ways lowly to cross your life in him through Watchings and Fastings and great Tribulations must he be famished into which the Spirit will lead you where there is nothing for the Lust to live on nor for that Wisdom to walk in that loves it self or seeks its ease and pleasure Then be faithful to your Guide however he storm that is to be destroyed And with all diligence press into that which calls in the wandering mind and give heed with watching and wrestling to get abiding therein which as you are faithful therein it will be enlarged till it become a habitation for your pure
minds to dwell in and take up its rest which hath been tost to and fro as in a Wilderness and by killing in the Watch all that would draw you out and sinking down into this meekness and stedfast lowliness you will come to feel the Plant of God that brings forth this meekness and holiness and springs of living virtue and there will you meet the Lord in his Kingdom on Earth where he delights to walk as in a Garden for in these things he delights and in such as delight therein and there wait to feel his fellowship and receive his Counsel in purity and coolness in which he will let you see whatever it be that would break his Covenant with you and whatever leadeth out from the Eternal Life and will with his Spirit lead you out to war against it in vvhich Spiritual War being faithful you shall not fail of Victory till every cumbrance in your minds be cast out and so heavenliness become a quiet habitation that in the meek spirit you may feed upon the heavenly food and not to have that ravenous earthly spirit to steal and devour it from the soul And as you get an entrance into this heavenly Mansion so diligently watch and in the Light stand armed against the Thief and keep out whatever would enter into your affections or desires under what pretence soever for if it enter into your affections it will steal away your minds from this pure innocent Plant and this is Adultery Treachery and Whoredom which you must wrestle against in the power of his love And with willingness of mind to put off all the old Idols out of your affections what ever hath any place there for by the entrance of that through lust hath the Son of Righteousness suffered and the Innocent been slain and until that be condemned and cast out which hath come over the Just in your affections the Son of Righteousness arises not into his Kingdom who must fulfil all righteousness before the entrance be made Which Work you stop whilst you retain the unrighteous having a Seat in your heart uncondemned and cast out and hence it is that many seek to enter but are not able the cursed thing not being cast out which can have no place in Gods Kingdom with which the just hath not communion nor the Temple of God with Idols And this I say to you which is a learned Truth in this Journey That if you either retain your old Lovers or suffer any thing now to enter your affections or draw out your minds from this pure Plant of Righteousness and Truth you shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven for this is the Way and must make your entrance therefore fight against whatever would draw you from it and with violence break through it and take the Kingdom for onely he that hath been faithful in the Baptism of John to fulfil all righteousness shall receive power to press into the Kingdom and when you come here you will find violent Powers to keep you out which with the Lamb in War must be overcome violently for the strong man having got a possession within is not easily bound and cast out for it is a spiritual wickedness and in heavenly places with which you are to wrestle therefore a Heavenly Virtue contrary thereto and of a greater Power must give you you Victory So press into the Heavenly Spirit with its power to overcome the Earthly Spirit with its powers strive earnestly in the meeke spirit to obtain a measure of Faith and Patience larger then the Temptation and that will endure to the end of it a Meekness and Love to cover all strife and wrath a Long-suffering to famish all hast and that which seeks its own ease and so in all things with desire drinking in of the Heavenly Virtue from above whereby you may become strengthned with all might to stand all assaults of the Enemy within or without and so in the cross come to put on every measure Christ Jesus the great Power of God unto Salvation and Well-springs of Eternal Life and Glory which is done by sinking down into the Heavenly feeling contrary to the Will of the exalted Life whereby you will be overshadowed from above from whence the Saviour is looked for to overcome things below And as you come into the feeling of these Virtues hold them fast till he come who is the fulness and with that you have wrestle against what ever would draw out your minds from it for with that of him must you make War against whatever is contrary thereto and as you are faithful to abide therein you wil feel every high thing fall before you for that which cleanseth the Vessel of all corruptible things is your Weapon and that which springs up in a contrary nature is your life The beholding whereof as it riseth and keeping your eye constant in the Faith and Hope of attaining to his fulness will make your Work the Work of Love your obedience delightful and all your sufferings easie and your loss of your former glory will in that eye appear great gain and this is your acceptable service and that Faith which vvorks by Love vvhich avails much vvith God and being follovved overcomes the World and sets free from it in all things So vvith the Light mind to be led dovvn into that Life that is not of this World come to him that seeks not himself vvho hath not his rest in things on earth vvho is rejected of men denyed of his ovvn kindred and forsaken of all and as you come to him you vvil come to be proved vvhether you can forgo all these for him alone and that he may make his appearance in you and cover you vvith himself his contempt and reproach and his patient povver to bear all for it 's he that can bear all things that shall never be moved and he that thus overcomes shall know the white stone and that Rock which breaks the Nations but builds the House of God But in all your Journey take heed of the Adulterous mind for it secretly devoureth the precious Life Wherefore take heed of that which looketh out give not way to that eye not for a moment for if you consent to it upon any pretence whatsoever you enter into a Covenant therewith against the holy Seed to destroy the chast mind but whether it be rough or smooth yet hold it as an Enemy and that which if it get in by consent must out by suffering double to the delight it brings with it but if as an Enemy you withstand it by constant and patient resistings it will flye and grow weaker upon every assault and he that giveth you victory will grow more in your esteem and delight Wherefore think it not strange so long as any of the old leaven is within unpurged out That the nearer you draw to God in the lowly-suffering-meekness the deeper you sink into tribulation and your suffering encrease upon
comeunder vvhich it vvill not till it be pined vvith famine and vvearied upon the mountains of prey then shal the Lion lie dovvn vvith the Lamb and the little Child lead to rest and no ravenous beast shal take his feeding from him But in this vvork take heed you be not betraied vvith that Spirit for it is very subtil to run to the one hand or the other either into the eagerness and hast vvhich is its first vvay after Convincement Or else vvhen it gets not its ends there then into sloth and idle carelesness and both these keep it alive in strength above the Seed but a straight Way there is betvvixt these in vvhich the Seed ariseth vvhich is a diligent vvatchful patient meekness feeling the godly Principle moving and following it in faith and obedience in all things vvithout hast or ends further then vvhat is opened in the life of obedience constantly diligent least any thing slip out of the mind vvhich is freely given either for practise or teaching for onely the diligent mind holdeth the true living Treasure but the sloathful and disobedient are leaking Vessels So as wise in the Light prove your Freedom from that nature which is high and fierce and hasty or any way above the meekness for therein stands your perfect Redemption to know that that you are not servants to that nature for it 's the same that hasteth into the greediness after worldly things and fears and distrusts if it hath not in its sight and possession what it lusts after which being convinced of an inheritance in heaven would have that also in all hast by Sight but not through Faith Patience and obedience which if it may not obtain into its own sight and in its own way and time it will be ready to faint and distrust and this will never strip himself of all in hopes of an inheritance it hath not seen so this is in Bondage and not to be Heir but the just live by Faith whose Birth is free from this World your redemption from the other into the leadings of this wchwil bring to the inheritance of the purchased possession Wherefore prove your Freedom in all things that you may not glory in vain but in the Liberty of sons Do not say All things are lawful all things are pure c. and so sit dovvn and say You are redeemed and have right to all but first passe through all things one after another as the Light leadeth you and with a true measure see if you be from under the power of any when you have proved this throughout all things and found your freedom then may you say All things are lawful and know what is expedient and what edifies your selves and others and the Rest to reign over without Bondage thereto And this is the Liberty of the Sons of the new Creation born again not in Bondage whose Liberty is glorious above all created things and these are the pure to whom all things are pure who have proved all things with that which is pure and hold fast onely that which is good and the rest are free from And this ever mind That whatever Freedom you obtain through the sufferings and patience of Christ in Spirit you part not with it to please the flesh but hold it as your everlasting possession purchased for you not with corruptible things so that which is dearly purchased let not lightly go but remember Israel who was redeemed out of Aegypt with much hardships and many signs and sufferings but soon in hast got up that which said Let us return back again and this grieved God above all And this you will find ready to rise upon every further hardship and want as it was with them Wherefore stand fast in that which you have proved to be Liberty indeed and by no means look back nor hearken to that which is behind to let it overtake you again Remember Lot's Wife and the Wrath of God will ever be upon that mind which looks back into old things which are judged in the Light and led out of with the Life Wherefore stand single in your mindes to follow nothing new or old but what the Holy Spirit leads into for the Work is a Work you know not nor the Way you know not but as it is learned in the obedience by which the Soul is purified and cleared by purging out the old Earthly Leaven which hath darkned the Temple of God and God's Work is not seen in that Nature Wherefore give all diligence to the Spirit 's motion leadings what it moves against and what it leades to for now wil God make all things new A new Creation new Heavens and new Earth and new heart and mind and a new Law a new Man to walk therein with his Maker with chearfulness as the old Bonds are broken by the Spirits leading and to serve in newness of Spirit And as you mind the pure Leadings of the Spirit and willingly follow and obey you will come to know your Creator in the dayes of your youth and how he makes the Worlds by the Word of his Holiness and how he is your Father and in what and how he begets you again into the Heavenly Delights who was gone out from him and drove into the Earth with your hearts and affections and so those will lead out still further from God if you look into them but can never come into God again but must dye and be changed by the Spirit and the new Creature is accepted into God the new Heart and Mind and Spirit which is renewed after God by following of his Spirit who createth him And this Work will be darkned to your understanding if your minds come not clear out of the old into the new For Wrath will arise and confusion will be to that mind which is double where the eye is not single kept forward in the belief of the Spirit onely but looks back into the loss and to that which is dying and condemned there is the smoke and darkness and torment and temptations being enticed back into the old but if the eye be single the whole body is full of Light and the Faith ariseth to endure to the end of the world and to look to the beginning and finishing of the new Work of Regeneration And standing single to God herein though the World pass away with Thundering Earth-quakes and a mighty Noise yet shall ye not fear nor faint abiding in the meek patient and suffering-spirit and the leadings of that which endureth all things to win Christ And coming out of Babel you shall not fall with her nor be darkned with the smoke of her torments as all that abide in her must and of her Plagues must partake but the pure mind rejoiceth over her in midst of all A Psalm of JAMES the Servant of JESUS or a Song of Praise which he sung in the day of his Deliverance declaring the wonders of the most High which he wrought