THE Doctrine of Perfection VINDICATED By way of Answer to some objecting Reasons frequently used by them that plead for Sin in this life And that Freedom from Sin is to be attained in this life or never plainly shewed herein and how they that deny it are one with the false Prophets and Antichristian Seducers spoken of in the Scriptures With some Wholsome EXHORTATION given forth as the Spirit gave utterance tending to provoke all that make a profession of God to press on after the same Shewing plainly how it is agreeable with what is signified in the Scripture and the Light within both of which bears witness for the said Doctrine and against all Sin Something likewayes expressed concerning BREAD and WINE Also some wholsome DIRECTIONS to stir up young People to seek after their Creator in the dayes of their youth Written by one who breathes to God for the Redemption of the Seed that lies yet in the house of bondage bound by the Cords of Iniquity J. Whitehouse LONDON Printed for R. Wilson 1663. TO THE READERS FRIENDS THe eternal invisible Fountain of Wisdom Life Love and everlasting Mercy who is the Creator and Upholder of all things by the Word of his powerful Spirit who is God over all blessed for ever who when I was young and tender in years did beget a sincere desire in my soul which hath caused me even to this day secretly to seek after the knowledge of and acquaintance with him that I might know his Will and receive Power from him to do the same 's the which desires he in his endless Love to my poor breathing soul which hath no true peace nor satisfaction but in doing his Will and enjoying his Presence which is of more value to me than any outward thing yea than Life it self in this world hath far more abundantly satisfied than many now can or than I my self once could believe when I was in the darkness which comprehends not the Light of his Son which shines in the hearts of the sons and daughters of men letting them see the evil of their wayes which I testifie as one who hath made proof of the same is sufficient to give them the knowledge of God and to lead them into all Truth if they would but give up to follow the leadings of it by the leadings of which in my seeking estate have I been drawn from one sort of People to another still to associate my self with those who did most sincerely press on after God in a holy life being willing to run with the formost that I might obtain with them the prize which is to say in this life only a perfect freedom from all sin even to put off the old man with all his deeds which is sin and a putting on the new which is created after God in perfect and true Holiness which the Lord God hath given me by his Spirit to believe and see a possibility of attaining to in which only stands the certain assurance of the full Prize and the eternal Weight and Crown of Glory which in the Life to come is to be fully enjoyed the which this first is but as an Earnest of without which the true certainty of the second cannot be obtained And since I have received this Faith power thereby hath been given me far more than before when I rejected the Light of his Son by which only I witness it is received And now this Faith which is from above even the perfect gift of God I find to be the chiefest thing for the effecting and compleating of an holy life in man through the power of God in them which believe being received into the heart of obtaining a perfect life becomes as a root therein which is pure that causeth the branches to be holy and keeps the creature circumspect and sincere to God still minding what a holy Calling and Mark is set before it and so the Faith being sound and clean the fruits thereof are Holiness which becomes the House of the Lord God And verily whosoever comes to sup with him without this comely pure covering of Holiness they shall in no wayes enter with the Lamb into the Marriage-Chamber but be shut out the which I see this day to the burthening of my soul and grief of my spirit is abundantly wanting amongst most People professing God and Christ for they having not this purifying Faith count it Blasphemy and Error and so rest and believe in the contrary which is to say they must live in sin whilst in this life being taught so by their blind guides who could not themselves cease therefrom and so Prophaneness is gone forth from the Priests over all the Land as in the ancient dayes which giveth way to much loosness and sin the which if any in the Spirit of meekness and fear of God reprove them for then presently they flee to the Scripture and with the same spirit that leads them to sin rake together all the Saints failings to plead for sin term of life the which those things were never written for so that in stead of resisting the Devil in the pure Faith which stands in the Power of God rather gives place to him and pleads for their so doing so that the Devil hath not his Kingdom by force onely but by consent they having granted him a place in them while they have a place in this life which grieves the Spirit of God their Creator who alone should have the Rule and Government of their bodies souls and spirits which are his in the sense of which I am moved to write these following lines by way of Answer to some Questions or objecting Reasons which are frequently used by them that plead for sin and against the Doctrine of Perfection that if possible it may be a help to stir them up to the Witness of God in them that their Understandings by it may be opened who are not wilfully blind but rather through ignorance stand against the thing being beguiled by the subtilty of the Serpent as Eve in her innocency was who told her though she did eat of the forbidden fruit she should not surely dye and that is his lying voice at this day whether in Teachers or others that tells people though they live in some sin they shall be saved from the condemning power thereof So I shall proceed in order as before-mentioned as the Lord shall assist me by his Spirit with what else may be given me in thereby even as the Spirit shall give to express in what signification God shall please for the good of all that desire after him to whom this may come the which I commit to the Light in all Consciences to answer to the truth hereof desiring all that know me in the outward not to slight it because of the meanness of the outward vessel that wrote it but with care to weigh it over that God's Witness in you may answer for God hath made the poor in this world rich in
unto the day of God And having felt his Love by kissing of his Rod I will make mention of his Name and tell of his Salvation For he hath shewed me the same which saves out of Transgression Therefore with joy unto the Lord with th'Spirit I will sing Who hath broken the snare and cord of Death which was a sting And hath quickened by his Power a life in me to live Which when it feels his pleasent showers doth Praises to him give I when I feel the pure Fountain in me to ope and spring Which issues from Sions Mountain the Life of her sweet King Then is my sp'rit orecome ev'n with the issues of that Life Which cometh from the glorious Sun who leadeth out of strife Into the perfect pure Love which never thinketh ill Where nothing at all doth him move to any but pure good-will O in this Life that 's free from strife my soul hath its delight For O it is my married Wife to whom my very life In that same holy Marriage which is both clean and pure Which neither Death nor Hell can break but ever will endure Is even wedded yet not by any Imagination But by the Spirit undefil'd which saves out of transgression Yet in much fear unto the Lord I cry O without thy Presence what am I If thou forsake me I shall surely fall For of my self I have no strength at all O therefore by thy Power me deliver And save to glorifie thy Name for ever Yet now come hearken unto me all that desire to know And my Beloved long to see the way to you I le show It is by walking in the Light which doth convince of sin Which is committed in the night by all that walk therein Therefore out of the Darkness come and hearken to the Light Even the Glory of the Son and it will free you quite So my dear Beloved you will then come to see By whom my soul is moved who 's so dear to me O then you 'l come to see his shape and hear his glorious Voice The which will make the Seed to leap and your souls to rejoyce Therefore come now follow the Light and do not from it turn So shall you have a pure sight and myst'ries deep shall learn Even that great and glorious Work of happy Restoration The which is wrought by him that makes the blessed new creation Who sitting on the Throne alone shines like a precious stone Who doth enlighten every one that in the world doth come Therefore let all that fear the Lord now hearken to his Voice And obey it that better is than any Sacrifice Wherefore now come and look within and there encline your ear For 't is the Spirit of the Lord which only speaketh there For though mans heart's deceitful and imaginations nought Yet God's Spirit it is which shews him ev'ry idle thought Therefore within let every one unto the Light return And hearken to its Voice that 's pure and then you 'l come to learn What that is call'd that doth redeem and save the soul from sin And then you 'l come to know the Law that written is within Even by the finger and direction of the living God In all the hearts of them who understand and kiss his Rod Which smiteth and chastiseth them when ere they go astray That it might turn them that are out into the good old Way Wherein they will find peace that 's pure unto their souls and then Shall rest with God which will endure for evermore Amen And so the Lord God of eternal Holiness having lighted a Candle in my heart and given me a measure of his good Spirit by which he hath preached Righteousness thorow me if I had never opened my mouth nor set pen to paper I say I am not now to put it under a bushel and hide it but to set it up that it may give light unto all neither must I hide my Talent in the earth lest it be taken from me and given to another who will improve it better but my chiefest care must be to stand in all things approved to God in faithfulness and when he draws me or calls me forth if I leave the old man to mend his Net himself as Peter and John did let none that knows me marvel at it for I must go about my Father's business who hath redeemed my mind out of the love of earthly things and worldly delights that I should set my whole delight in him who hath also brought me to see of the travel of my soul and to be satisfied concerning the knowledge of his Truth so that I look not for another Truth Way Leader nor Guide to lead me up to a higher glory in this Truth which is yet to be attained for the revealing of which am I waiting in the Light not expecting any thing any other way but only a growing from strength to strength and a pressing on from glory to glory even as God in his Son Christ the Light shall make known himself unto me but I expect not another Saviour than Him the Light for by Him the Lepers are cleansed the blind made to see and the lame man to leap like an Hart the dumb to speak and to the poor is the Gospel preached by Him whom he filleth with good things but the rich and the full he sends empty away all which whosoever receives and follows the Lamb the Light the Way the Truth and the Life shall come to witness and reade with a clear understanding what I have written but from those that rebel against the Light these things are sealed by the hand of the Wisdom of God I. W. Some wholesom DIRECTIONS to stir up young People to seek after their Creator in the dayes of their youth ANd now O all you Young men and Maids with all that are of a capacity to understand my words who are young and tender in years for my bowels yearn towards you therefore come hearken to my voice and be attentive to the words of my mouth and I will instruct you in the Fear of the Lord which is the beginning of true Wisdom Now this is the Counsel of God unto you which he hath put into my heart to write that you all hearken to that which shews you the evil of the world and the vanity of your own wayes which condemns you for every evil word and action for that I testifie unto you all is the Spirit of God which he hath given you to profit withall which as you receive it will open your understandings and if you join therewith it will give you dominion over sin and cleanse you from iniquity O therefore come down to it and put your necks under the yoke and let that which crosseth the vain mind be your delight and still join with that in you which breatheth after God so shall you come to an acquaintance with him for to that doth he make known himself and to them and none but them
Faith and in times past and doubtless now also hath raised as it were things that are not to bring to nought those things which are contrary to him that he may have the Glory to Himself alone But however it may be received or rejected I shall rest in patience being content in that I feel am Acceptance with God in this my Obedience to him which is a sufficient Reward unto me who am known to the World by the name of John Whithouse The Doctrine of Perfection vindicated c. The Worlds Question VVHether is Perfection or freedom from all sin Quest to be attained in this life or no Yea Answ or else to no purpose was Christ made manifest in the flesh as may hereafter appear for in the lowest distance or alienation in the fall from God we are but the servants of sin and if by him we are not set free from the service thereof then what are we saved from or what are we the better by him for without him we are but so and if he leave us where he finds us which is to say in sin what then is he a Saviour from or how doth he effect that which is said of him For Sin and Imperfection is of the Devil 1 John 3.8 for the destroying of which he the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of all that believe in his Light and Son of the world was manifested and if this work be not effected by him then may we say he is insufficient and comes short of the end for which he was given for a Light to the Gentiles Isa 42.6 7. and to be Gods Salvation to the ends of the Earth who is the second Covenant which is not sound faulty as was the first which made nothing perfect Therefore was it taken away that the second Heb. 7.19 which is the better hope by which we draw nearer to God might be established so then shall I conclude with the world that the first made none of the comers thereto perfect nor the second neither God forbid For they who do believe and receive him who is the new and second Covenant Christ Jesus the true Light who enlightneth every man that cometh into the world to them as the Scripture saith he gives power to become the sons of God who are not born of flesh and blood neither of the will of man Joh. 1.12 13. but of God and who is so born sinneth not because God's Seed Christ Jesus abideth in him 1 John 3.9 Mal. 1.21 who is a Saviour thar saves his People from their sin and not in it they who know this know the Scripture to be true because it is fulfilled in them and can truly call Christ Lord because they do his Will and not their own but are dead thereto and are only alive to God bringing forth fruits of Righteousness the end of which is Life and Peace Rom. 8.3 13. All which is fulfilled in them who walk not after the flesh but through the Spirit of Life in Christ which makes free from sin and death and doth mortifie the deeds of the same These are they who through the washing of Regeneration in the work of mortification come to know and witness a cleansing from all sin and to have their Robes made white in the blood of the Lamb Heb. 9.26 who was made manifest to put away and make an end of all sin and to perfect for ever those that through the Spirit are thus sanctified Yea Object but saith the world Our Teachers * Rich. Baxter for one who are learned and wise tell us this Doctrine of Perfection is a dangerous tenent and the Doctrine of the Devil and not of Christ nor his Apostles but is a blasphemous Principle contrary to the Scriptures Now to this Answ I say You are not to believe all that your Teachers tell you but come down to the Light of Christ and hear these things tryed by it and the Scriptures also and hold fast that which is good Now this is the Record that God gave of his Son by his Servant Moses who prophesied saying Acts 3.22 A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me Him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he saith And it shall come to pass That whosoever will not hear and obey him shall be cut off from the Land of the Living And in like manner Mal. 3.3 to Him gave all the Prophets witness saying He shall come as a Refiners fire and as Fullers sope and shall thorowly purge the sons of Levi that they might offer an Offering to the Lord in Righteousness Mat. 3.12 Also John Baptist bare witness of him saying His Fan is in his hand and he will thorowly purge his Floor Mark that not in part he doth not say but thorowly And now he the Eternal and Everlasting true Light the chief and High-Priest over the Houshold of God the pure Purger Perfecter Cleanser and Fulfiller of all the Law and the Prophets Behold this is his Doctrine preached by him in the dayes of his flesh Be ye perfect Matth. 9.48 as your heavenly Father is perfect And now behold he is arisen in many sons and daughters by his quickening Spirit which hath raised them out of Sin and Death and through them is he preaching by Life and Doctrine the same as he lived in who is the same yesterday to day and for ever who is the perfect Pattern and finished his course in Perfection leaving it an Example for all that believe in him to follow So this is none of the Devil's Doctrine neither his Command but the Doctrine and Command of the Son of God who is not a hard nor an unjust master requiring that of his servants which he gives them not power to do but it is the slothful servant that makes not use of his talent but buries it in the Earth and then complains for want of power but they who receive the gift of God God giveth them power to do whatsoever he commandeth whose Commandments 1 Joh. 2 3.1.7 to them that follow him in faithfulness were not greivous but joyful who were washed and cleansed but not by themselves but by walking in the Light as God was in the Light so came they to witness the Blood of his Son to cleanse them not from some sin but all and so were made Ministers not of the Letter which killeth but of the Spirit which giveth Life and quickeneth unto Perfection and laboured to bring men thereto that they might present every man perfect in Christ in whom there is no sin for he was not sent to be a cloak to cover sin under his righteous garment but to destroy it and take it away slaying the carnal or fleshly mind which warreth against the soul working sin in the members upon the Cross which is spiritual or all spirit which Cross worketh inwardly bringing into subjection every vain thought and imagination
mixture into the Cup of his Indignation and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy Angels and of the Lamb of God who would have taken away their sin by his Light of Life but they would not believe therein Joh. 3.19 but loved the darkness rather because their deeds were evil but blessed are they that believe therein and follow it for it 's they only that die in the Lord and rest from their labour and their works do follow them saith the Spirit Revel 14.13 But now to the thing before-mentioned It 's plainly manifest that the Doctrine of Perfection is of God commanded by him and preached by his Son whom the Prophets prophesied should come to that end and witnessed by his Apostles and Ministers who have left in the Scriptures of Truth their Testimony concerning the same which as a Cloud of Witnesses doth testifie for and to the same far exceeding more than I have here mentioned By all which it appears that your Ministers are not of Christ notwithstanding all their wisdom and learning but contrary to him and his Ministers Isa 40.3 and the true Prophets who foretold of Him and the glory of his Day Therefore the conclusion must needs be They are of the false Prophets spirit and consequently of Antichrist wherefore I shall mention a little according to Scripture how they are one in this very thing with the false Prophets and Antichristian Seducers which were in the world in the Apostles days and which they prophesied should come in the latter days after their decease Now in the first place in the dayes of old God by the mouth of his Servants cryed against false Prophets and Priests who were from the greatest to the least all given to covetousness every one dealing falsly Jer. 23.14 17. Micah 3.5 13. Ezek. 10.11 12 13 14 15 16 in healing the hurt of the danghter of his People slightly crying peace to those that put into their mouth when there was no peace So they strengthned the hands of the wicked that they should not turn from their evil wayes but promised them life therein and so seduced the people and caused them to erre by their lyes and by their lightness one building a wall and another daubed it with untempered mortar which would not stand in the overflowing shower of the Wrath of God So in like manner your Teachers through covetousness and self-ends have spoken smoothly to you telling you of the Mercy of God 2 Pet. 2â— through which your sins should be forgiven you though you lived in them and with the Serpent's voice have said though you eat of the forbidden fruit which is sin yet ye shall not die so here in your unsound conditions even like a rotten wall they have daubed you with untempered mortar which will not stand you in any stead when the Lord by his pure Light in your Consciences comes to search you with Judgment then your daubing will not hide you from the Wrath of the Lamb no no then all their smooth words and untempered doctrine which they have invented to please you for self-ends telling you of Heaven what a happy glorious place it is wil all flie away from you and them also who have led you in blindness and have caused you to erre from the Voice of God to follow the voice of the Serpent who led man into sin and so blinded his mind that he might cause him never to find the way to God again which is a way of Holiness in which the unclean cannot walk So I say if you will not come out from amongst them and be separated from the unclean thing which is sin and own and receive the Light of Christ that it may search all your wounds and putrifying sores from the crown of your heads to the soals of your feet that so he may wash you thorowly and baptize you with fire and burn up all that is contrary to his pure Life in you I say except this you come to and witness with you blind guides you must fall into the ditch Now I shall come to speak a little of the Deceivers which Christ and the Apostles spoke of in their dayes First Christ said 1 Joh. 3.8 Beware of false Prophets which come unto you in sheeps clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves ye shall know them by their fruits Now we know that sin is a mark of the Devil or a fruit of an evil tree likewise Perfection is a mark of God for he is perfect and it 's the fruit of a good tree so they who are in sin and plead it for doctrine that they can never be out of it whilst in this life are the evil trees because they bring forth such fruit as this which a good tree cannot bring forth Also Paul said that the Spirit spake expresly that in the latter times some should depart from the Faith 1 Tim. 4.1 giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils speaking lyes in hypocrisie having their consciences seared with a hot iron Now mark Is not this the doctrine of the Devil that though men live in sin they shall not be damned but shall escape the condemning power thereof did not the Devil himself preach this first Gen. 3.4 when he said Ye shall not surely dye though you eat of the forbidden tree and are not they who maintain this for truth those whose consciences are seared and hardned against the Voice of God even to speak lyes in hypocrisie against his Spirit which condemns sin in the flesh And also he further saith this 2 Tim. 3.1 2 c. Know that in the last dayes perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers false accusers without natural affection truce-breakers fierce despisers of those that are good heady traiterous high-minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof Now of this sort are they that creep into houses leading captive silly women laden with sin led away with divers lusts ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth Now it seems that these proud covetous high-minded men who were fierce despisers of those that are good had a form of Godliness like many now who deny the power thereof even as those did for the power of God or of Godliness makes all those that have it free from the power of the Devil whose power leads man captive at his will doing his work which is sin which all who have the form and not the power are servants to for he that commits sin is the servant of sin Joh. 8.34 and he that serves it the Devil is his master Rom. 6.16 for his servants ye are to whom ye obey and he that serves him cannot serve Christ nor is a Child of God for ye cannot serve God and mammon neither two masters saith
Christ So it 's certain we must be of the one for we cannot be of both And now also who is it that be ever learning and never comes to know the Truth but those that never knew a freedom from sin neither do believe they ever shall in this life for Christ said if you continue in my Doctrine then shall you know the Truth Joh. 8.31 32 33 34. and the Truth shall make you free But the Jews replied saying We were never in bondage to any man But said Christ He that commits sin is the servant of sin So it appears that they who are overcome with sin and led away with divers lusts are not come to know Christ the Truth who sets free from sin and they are the creepers into houses who lead silly people in blindness laden with sin and tells them they can never be eased of the burden thereof in this life yet promises them liberty and freedom in the life to come whilst they are the servants of corruption in this life Are not these the filthy dreamers that defile the flesh who are sensual and devilish Jude 10 11. knowing nothing but what they know naturally in which they corrupt themselves which is to say in their outward learning which though it be Hebrew Greek and Latine yet it is all but natural even as English is which a child may learn of its parents so likewise all other tongues are learned of men but the true knowledge of God is onely learned in and by the Spirit Are not these also those who with fair words and smooth speeches deceive the hearts of the simple by their great swelling words of vanity which they invent to please such who have itching ears that cannot away with sound Doctrine but love to be daubed up slightly who cannot endure to hear of coming out of sin in this life and yet would have Heaven in that which is to come I say such Teachers as these are of Antichrist whom Jude saith were clouds without water Jude 12. which is to have a shew of Godliness but have not his Life abiding in them but their hearts are exercised with covetous practices and for self-ends admire some mens persons for their own advantage who themselves could not cease from sin these are the murmurers and complainers Phil. 3.19 who walk after their own ungodly lusts minding earthly things whose god is their belly This was the fruit of the spirit of Antichrist that the Apostles said should come and was come in their dayes by which we know that those who bring forth such fruits are of the same spirit in these our dayes the consideration of which I shall leave to the Witness of God in all people that they thereby might come to see whether those that deny the Doctrine of Perfection and plead for sin term of life do not in all or many of these things agree with the Antichrists and false Prophets that are mentioned in Scriptures and so the conclusion unavoidably will be this They are not of God but of the world which lieth in wickedness and therefore the world heareth and followeth them Yea Object but saith the world though we do not believe we can be perfectly freed from all sin in this life yet we do not believe that we must or may live in sin wilfully neither do our Teachers tell us we shall be saved if we do but they tell us we must strive against it what we can and then we shall be accepted through Christ for he hath tasted death for us and so hath made a way for all that can believe he died for their sin and rose again for their Justification to be accepted through his Righteousness which shall be imputed for ours and though we live in some sin which is condemned by the Law yet hath he by his Death delivered us from the condemning power of sin and the Law the force of which he hath taken away for we are not under the Law but under Grace To this I answer Answ Although they teach you to abstain from wilful sinning yet in teaching that you can never be free from all causeth many to give up to temptations and to give place to the Devil and then if the Witness of God reprove them for so doing they flie back in their minds from it and strengthen themselves in their unclean faith against it and so reject the Light and Power of God which is it onely that saves from sin and so though you strive against it what you can in this state all your striving is in vain being onely in your own wills and altogether of your selves having rejected through disobedience the Power of God which in his mercy is freely offered unto all in the Light of his Son to redeem them from that wherein they are held in bondage which is sin I say denying it and counting it an uncertain and insufficient thing you are never able to overcome the Enemy in your own striving for if you could then you had no need of a Saviour to destroy the works of the Devil for you which is sin and to save you therefrom which was and is the end of his coming in the flesh even in the hearts of all people to condemn sin there and also for this end he died to the flesh once and was made an Offering to put an end to all the Types Rom. 3.25 Sacrifices and Shadows of the first Law and Priesthood and so took away all the hand writing of Ordinances making an Atonement for sins past that forgiveness might be preached to and in all that receive him and walk in his Light which was not to be found in nor by the outward Law for it being once transgressed there remains nothing but condemnation So mercy and forgiveness came by Jesus the Saviour and not by the Law without whom none could be saved because all had and have transgressed and come short of fulfilling the Law therefore all your striving whilst you reject Christ the Light which makes sin manifest in whom the Law of the Spirit of Life is witnessed which sets free the soul through the administring of death unto and condemning that in man which warreth against it by bringing it into captivity unto sin through which comes death I say though you may strive with all your might which indeed is but weakness you will never get dominion over sin because you in denying the Light miss of the Power which only redeems out of the bondage thereof which Power doth accompany that which reproves for and condemns sin in the flesh to which except you become subjects unto neither freedom from sin nor the righteousness of the Law which is Perfection you will never come to witness and so though you believe he died for your sin yet unless you come to know him to arise in you to destroy it and take it away inwardly and thereby to fulfil the Law of Righteousness in you and so to mortifie the
for ever except you turn at my reproof that I may pour out my self upon you to cleanse you from all pollutions of flesh and spirit and so bring you into a godly life in perfectness and true holiness before you go hence and be no more seen for as Death leaves you so will Judgment find you Isa 38.18 for in the grave there is no cleansing So whilst you have time take this for a warning for you will find no mercy with God after death if you reject me the Light whom my Father hath in his mercy sent into the dark world that all that receive me should be led out of sin and darkness into the Light of Everlasting Life If any ask for a proof of these words let them turn within and search the Book of Conscience and look truly therein and there they shall find it We hope we shall finde mercy hereafter World for God is a merciful God The mercy of God is not as many think it is Answ nor to be found where many hope for it which is to say in the life to come after death of the outward man but it is to be found in this life whilst thou hast a being in this earthly tabernacle or else all thy hope in thy dead mind will be in vain for except thou know a cleansing by the Light which is the mercy of God from sin when you shall come to receive a just recompence of reward for all your deeds done in the body Rev. 20 13. then shall your dead minds be awakened and the mercy which you have dreamed of therein be turned into fear wrath and anger wherein the Lord will reveal himself to take Vengeance upon all that knew him not to live in them and they to live in him whose Life raiseth out of Death and all dead works Revel 20.6 into the Life of Righteousness which is free from sin which is the first Resurrection of which whosoever partakes not the second Death will have power over Therefore more plainly to all understandings this I say is the mercy of the compassion at God to all mankind who have lost their spiritual life through falling into sin by which came death over all insomuch that man became more sensless than the Ox Isa 1.3 which knew his owner or the Ass which knew his Master's crib I say his mercy is to offer him Life freely in the Light of his Son which he had fully lost and of himself could in no wayes gain it again John 1.3 therefore God so loved the world that he sent his Son a Light into it in whom was and is Life whose Life is the Light of men shining in dark hearts to which they in taking heed and obeying it in its movings leadings and workings will thereby be led out of sin which it bears Testimony against to take up a Cross to the carnal mind and lusts of the flesh which in them is all enmity against God on which Cross the evil seed will be crucified and the enmity slain and so comes of twain one new man to be made in whom the Image and Life of God is restored again by the second Adam in whom all are made alive 1 Cor. 15.22 who receives him who is the quickening Spirit from that death which entred them by the first Adam who was an earthly man and so all that receive Christ the Light receive the Mercy of God and come to know the Seed of the Kingdom which is like a little leaven which as it comes to have its way to work and operate in the heart it makes all things new by working out the evil seed and killing the old man with his deeds and so makes a new lump Joh. 3.3 5. this is the work of Restoration in the washing of Regeneration through which the new birth is brought forth of which except a man be born he must not inherit the Kingdom of God So this is the Mercy of God Joh. 15.24 to give every one a measure of the Light of his Son to work this Work in and for them which they of themselves could not work which must be wrought in this life or never But yet I feel there are some in the world who are ready to say thus Oh this perfect life that we could attain it Object Oh how willing could we be to be rid of all sin if it be possible for we feel something in us crying as it were for deliverance which is grieved and burthened with the heavy load of sin and indeed notwithstanding all our Observations wherein we have been seeking life and peace yet are we unsatisfied and which way to be we know not Well my Friends Answ in the remembrance of you is my soul refreshed and what if I say I have been striving all this while that I might make a way to come plainly to your understandings to speak a little in the Bowels of Love that these good desires in you may be strengthened and the eye of your understandings opened to see the good day that is broken forth unto many who sate in darkness and under the shadow of death hoping for life and breathing for power to come up out of the pit where there is no water where their tongues clave to the roof of their mouthes in which their hearts were ready to faint and were almost giving up to conclude that there we must remain notwithstanding something breathed to come forth but being in bondage in the Prison-house the keeper thereof said its impossible and while we hearkened unto him we saw no hope of attaining our desires but turning away from him and standing a little still we heard a Voice that spake unto us comfortably Joh. 13. and with it was a Light that shone out of darkness by the which we saw marvellous things wherein our souls were greatly revived and as we hearkned diligently and gave up to the call of the same it brought us by a way that we thought not of out of the depth of the dungeon of death where we were held in bondage and slavery by the King of the bottomless pit who seemed so strong as if he could never be overcome but he that spake unto us in the Light Matth. 12.29 hath proved too strong for him for he hath broken the bars of brass by the might of his power and unlocked the doors of steel and by the Sword of his Spirit hath he cut our bands assunder even the chains wherewith we were held And therefore I as one that have been in the deep even in bondage under the prince of that world which lies in wickedness do hold forth and testifie unto you that a stronger than he is come Matth. 12.29 who is able to bind the strong-man and spoil all his goods and behold he is nigh unto you who breathes from deliverance from sin for it is he that hath begotten that desire in you and not only so but
his purpose is to satisfie it if you would joyn with him with whom all things are possible in that which shews you your conditions in that state where you are and makes it loathsome unto you that you might consent unto him and be willing to come forth who is calling in the freeness of his Love this day to all that are weary and heavy laden with sin Matth. 11.28 29 30. and have no delight in it that they might come to him who is meek and lowly in their hearts and take his yoke upon them which I testifie is easie to all the honest-hearted and his burden is very light wherefore O ye sincere breathers after God who hunger truly after him and his Righteousness lift up your heads for the Blessing of God is unto you therefore doubt you not but turn to the Light that tells you all that ever you did and look ye only at him and not at your own weakness then will you find him to be a Saviour who will open your eyes and enlighten your hearts and will bring you to the Fountain of Life where you shall draw Water out of the Well of Salvation Joh. 4.14 whereof you shall drink and be satisfied which shall spring in you up to everlasting Life Oh therefore come away for the Day of all dayes is dawned and the black clouds of the dark night which were over the Sun of the morning are fleeing away and the stone is rouled from the mouth of the Sepulcher and the Lamb is arisen from thence therefore arise come away my Beloved why seek ye the living amongst the dead For lo the fulness of him is not at all to be found in the observation of any outward things as Bread and Wine or the like Col. 2.20 21 22 23. which perish with the using therefore is leanness of soul upon all who stick in outward shadows and a complaint heard in all their habitations mourning in all their streets Wherefore arise arise this is not your Rest for it is polluted and the Lord is departed from thence and is turning away the backside of his Glory that you may behold him in the perfection of beauty even face to face therefore his bowels yearn towards you that he might come in and sup with you that he may make his abode with and in you knowing right well that your souls satisfaction depends onely of the enjoyment of his pure living presence which only quickens and raises them out of death to life which no external thing can do Rev. 3.20 Jer. 23.29 Rom. 10.8 therefore is he come home to the door of your hearts Oh then come down and feel to the knocks of the hammer of his Word which is nigh you even in your hearts and mouthes that your rocky and stony hearts may be softned and broken thereby then shall you feel the Water of Life which will spring from the Light therein the which when you have felt and tasted of you will never go more to the muddy waters which are fouled by the feet of the beasts of the field which satisfieth not the appetite of that which hungers after God for the sake whereof my soul breathes after you and to the Lord also in your behalf and in the yearning bowels of endless and unutterable Love am I drawn forth thus to write unto you in this day wherein the Lord hath shewed me how he is seeking you to himself who by the right-hand of his out-stretched Arm will bring you into the Fold of true Rest if you resist him not in the way of his own workings wherein he is drawing near unto you even to reveal himself in your hearts that he might guide you with the Light of his Eye and be unto you an Everlasting Teacher Therefore this must I signifie unto you that it is in his Love to you for good to suffer your Teachers to be removed into corners this day and to premit such in their places wherein your souls have no delight that so he may draw you home to his own house wherein there is bread enough that so you may come to wait to receive at his hand and not at the hands and lips of men who have fed you with that which died of it self and quickened not unto God neither will stand you in any stead in this day which is come as a tryal to shew you the emptiness of all outward things whereof you have been feeding in them thinking to have life and have denied the Light within in which the Life is only and have been idolizing men who spoke unto you in the wisdom of words and not in the power of God by setting them up in your hearts and running in your minds upon them more than you should have done and while you enjoyed their presence you made slight of the little appearance of Christ's Light in your Consciences the which many of them taught you to do telling you it was a natural thing which grieved the Lord therefore did he often warn the Teachers and Professors by his Servants and Prophets both by words and signs what a day he would bring upon them for these things except they repented and turned from the evil of their wayes to his Light but they would not hear nor regard therefore in righteous Judgments is it now come and coming to be fulfilled but yet in mercy that so he might bring you down to himself whose Love is yet to many of you freely held forth in the Light of his Son whom I exhort you all to bow unto Psal 2.12 and kiss him lest he be angry and in his Wrath withdraw from you shutting the door of mercy because when he called you would not answer but O my spirit yet breathes towards you saying Oh that you would cease hunting without like Esau for so you miss of the blessing but turn in home to the Light of Christ and like Jacob keep at home and there you will meet with the Blessing which will satisfie your souls Col. 2.16 17. where you will feel the ingrafted Word of Life to be the full sum and substance of all outward shadows and far exceeding all Types or Representations that can ever be made of it the which when you come indeed to know and find your hearts will be overjoyed insomuch that you will be ready to call to your neighbours and friends to rejoyce with you even like the woman who had lost her groat in her own house Luk. 15 8 9. and went abroad to seek it but at last turned home and in sweeping and making clean her own house found it there This is your state therefore be still and see the Salvation of God which is nigh unto you and believe not those who draw you without saying Lo here or there for the Kingdom of God is within you which your souls breath after Luk. 17 21 23. Therefore hew no more broken cisterns that can hold no water to
satisfie your thirsty souls but to the Fountain of living Waters all come and drink freely then shall you never thirst again then shall you know what it is to drink new Wine with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven and to sup with him then will you never go more to seek him in the dead letter and other dead creatures but will come to know him and his Life made manifest in you this is the sum and substance of all even to know the Bread of Life in your own houses and your own Fig-tree that you may sit under it where none can make you afraid then will you know the Mystery of Godliness which is very great even God manifest in the flesh But now I feel some weak understandings will be ready to say You seem here to deny the Ordinances of the Lord's Supper Object which we believe are to stand for ever and other outward means and speak as if we must come to live above Ordinances To which I have these words to signifie Although Christ took the Cup saying This is my Blood Answ and likewise the Bread saying This is my Body this do in remembrance of me c. I say this being all the Command you have for it is not sufficient to prove it to remain an Ordinance for ever for he did not say 1 Cor. 11.26 you shall alwayes do this but Do this which signifieth only at that time to keep them in remembrance of him till he came to them again And if after he was come they did use it because of the weakness of some yet that is not sufficient for you to rely upon and so to rest only in the shadows denying the substance as ye do which is to say the Power of God which sets free from sin in this life which indeed is the sum of all John 6.33 35 48 50 51 53 54 55 56. even the Life and Blood of the Lamb of God except which a man partakes of he hath no life in him to which I testifie a man may attain to and not use those things and then what need is there of them the substance being enjoyed And now to speak more plainer to the matter this I say Even as Paul by the Spirit of God cryed down that which God himself commanded Gal. 6.15 which is to say Circumcision saying it availed nothing but only the new creature which was not wrought in any measure by that outward act but by the Circumcision of the heart in and by the Spirit which was the substance of that outward type for the attaining of which he did not preach the outward Gal. 5.6 to be used for the means to bring to the inward but saw plainly that the use of the outward drawed their minds therein to rest Rom. 2.29 Gal. 5.2 short of the thing it self therefore he said If they were circumcised Christ the true Circumcision should profit them nothing And had he any proof for this but onely the Spirit in himself and therefore by the Spirit in the Fear and Authority of God this I say unto you all Bread and Wine Joh. 6.53 54 55. or no Bread and Wine availeth nothing but onely the Body and Blood of the Lamb which is spiritual or all spirit is the main thing even the very substance it self which only is felt and enjoyed by staying the mind inwardly in the Light and Spirit of God and not by eating and drinking in the remembrance thereof and never coming to witness the thing remembred which if you say Yea we do by Faith I tell ye Nay not by the true Faith while you witness not freedom from all sin in this life 1 Joh. 3.3 5.18 neither believe you shall do for they who had the living Faith it purifies them even as Christ was pure who came not to this pure cleansing by such outward things and means as you plead for but they said it was by walking in the Light 1 John 1.7 as God was in the Light that they had their fellowship with him and the Blood of his Son to cleanse them from all sin Jam. 2.20 so there your Faith without these fruits is but a dead faith And now let me appeal to the Witness of God in those who have done it in the most sincerest abundance to God and in so doing it have felt something as ye have thought of the Love of God Yet I say it hath been because your minds were at such times in consideration of the weight of the matter circumspectly stayed upon God in the Spirit and not because you ate the Bread and Wine So then cease making an Idol of it as thinking you cannot enjoy God without it or that the dead creature conveyes any thing of him into you and come down into the Spirit and in it dwell continually which is that that only can and doth do it and so when you come truly in this condition and in it do abide Joh. 14.23 which is to say not only to sup with Christ sometimes but alwayes in the Spirit to make your abode with him and he with you you will then say with me that all these outward things are nothing but the Spirit is all in this matter which whosoever denies Col. 2.21 22. resisteth the everlasting Ordinance of God wherefore touch not taste not handle not any thing that perisheth with the using after the doctrine and commandments of men nor make to your selves the likeness of any earthly thing of the invisible Body and Blood of the heavenly Son of God for if ye do may I not say Oh! miserable is your condition and little are your hearts affected with him who cannot keep in the living remembrance of him without eating and drinking in remembrance of his Death Wherefore O come down to that which crosseth the carnal mind to take up the Cross that it may be crucified thereon then shall you know a dying with him and be made partakers of his Resurrection wherein the sting of Death and the victory of the Grave will be remembred no more And yet further May I not say unto you that the Papists whom you condemn as Idolaters may plead for their using of Images in like manner as you do for your Bread and Wine for they say they worship them not as gods but look upon them in their worshipping of God that so thereby their minds may be fervently fixed upon him having conceived in their hearts that they cannot be so fervent with him without them as with them But Object you say they are deceived for they may draw nearer to God without them Even so say I Answ But mind a little how you in condemning them herein condemn your selves also who have conceived in your selves that you cannot so well keep in the remembrance of Christ and have such communion with the invisible God without the exercise of some visible outward things in the likeness of him as with them Wherefore I
say unto you Come up higher out of these things and you shall see greater than these as saith the Spirit Oh then rest not in the lesser lest by so doing you miss of the greater for the Glory of all Glories is appearing and that which you think to be the greatest light unto you shall become but meer darkness in comparison of the marvelous Light that shall yet appear in the day that is already dawned Oh therefore prepare prepare to meet the Bridegroom for the Marriage of the Lamb draws nigh yet none but those who have on the pure Wedding-Garment shall enter with him into the Bride-Chamber neither taste of the Supper of the Lamb. Having had some experience of the Loving-kindness of God and of his dealings with me from my Childhood to this day it is moved in my soul to give forth a Testimony of the same for the good of all who in the dayes of their youth seek and desire after him IN the dayes of my Childhood I was brought up with my Parents after the manner as other Children were but not in much strictness or restraint from evil vanities that Children are prone to by them they being after the manner of other worldly people given to the fashions and vanities thereof and such like things themselves but had my liberty in many things even as I would but yet notwithstanding God in his endless love to my soul shewed me the evil of my wayes words and actions and begot a desire in me after himself and opened my understanding and shewed me much of the vanity and ignorance of the Teachers and Professors of the world insomuch that I was fully satisfied that the Teachers of the world were not the Ministers of Christ and that they did people little good which caused me that I never followed them so as to expect benefit from them and I marvelled that those who could reade the Scriptures and seemed to be wise would ever follow them Such things as these were stirring and working in me from eight or nine years of age until eleven or twelve about which time the People called Baptists appeared in this my native place and Country which is Tipton in Staffordshire whose Doctrine and outward Form which I only look'd at I found to be more in imitation according to the Scriptures than the other Teachers and therefore did I go amongst them and owned them more than any and after some years time my understanding was very much opened so that I became wiser than all my acquainted Play-fellows in Religious matters and could not freely act such things as others did though I was many times overcome with them but the Lord followed me with his Witness so that I had no peace in any evil words or actions insomuch that many times in the very acting of vain foolish things something would smite me into heaviness and grief though I was never given to that which the world calls gross sin but only childish vanities as playing with lads foolish jesting and idle talk singing of songs and such like things as other untoward lads are given to which scarce any one would reprove me for for the best sort of people about me were guilty of many such things who seemed to be wise men yet notwithstanding I could have no peace in them though something would tell me I was young and need not matter such things so early but might let them alone til I was a man and then I should have more knowledge in godly matters and it would be well enough to grow civil and circumspect then yet for all this I could not get over the Witness of God but it shewed me that this was the Serpent's voice that would draw me from remembring my Creator in the dayes of my youth And so in the exercise of these things my soul was often revived with true desires after God who I little thought was so nigh me as he was and many times I made Vows in spirit that if he would pass by my sins past I would never do as I had before But alas in my own power I could not perform them and I was ignorant of the Power and Spirit of God and though we in these dayes had nothing but he Scriptures to help our minds in such things for the Teachers concluded that all Revelations and imediate Teachings by the Spirit of God as in the dayes of old were ceased the which made me many times sorrowfull saying Oh that I had been alive in those dayes when the Lord taught his People by his Spirit And when my spirit was exercised in such things I was many times drawn to go into some secret place to be alone and there could I freely make my moan to God according to the meaning of my mind with strong desires and tears sometimes praying in words as God gave me utterance which I knew he would not despise but was more accepted with him than all the fine words or forms of mens inventions and this I can truely say I never in all my dayes prayed in hypocrisie to be seen of men neither ever did learn any form of prayer to rest in it for I knew that was deceit but from the smcerity of my heart I ever did it and in these things I many times felt even a sweet communion with God and many times in my waiting upon God and pondring of things concerning him some things would open in me signifying that a glorious day was nigh at hand which I should live to see and that I should bear a Testimony for God therein but when I went to reason in my self how it should be fulfilled I being unlearned neither should be brought up to learning outwardly but little my Parents being but mean in the outward then I darkned my self by these reasonings and could not see how it should be but when I remembred that all things were possible with God then was I made to see that those reasonings came from flesh and blood and were to be denied but many times the enemy of my soul overcame me and brought me to much vanity which I knew to be evil yet though I knew it and had a desire against it yet was I carried away into it then when I retired in my mind to God something would tell me that I had sinned against my own knowledge and God would not accept me and so would have cast me into dispair as if I should never be forgiven Then this thing would be brought into my remembrance by the Spirit 〈◊〉 God That his Blessing was to those that hungred and thirsted after Righteousness and they should be satisfied which greatly revived my soul for I could truly say notwithstanding all my sins that I was one of those hungerers and for all the doubting desperations that the Devil could cast into me yet I felt something in me that as it were could rely upon God as being of his nature and still cryed after him in which I felt some
acceptance with God and of his mercy to my soul and I saw it was the evil one which led me into sin that would have me to believe I should not be accepted with God because of my transgressions which I had not gotten power over for to will it was then present with me but how to perform I had not found for though the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ the Light was nigh unto me which now I know makes me free from the Law of sin and death yet I knew it not then but now I know that the Lord was then at work in me begetting desires in my heart after him that so I might be made willing to receive the manifestation of his Son in me with joy which when he had prepared my soul he then revealed in me by which my heart was made glad and even overcome with the love of God and his great Mercies towards me But yet to go back a little while I was ignorant of the glorious Manifestation of God and went to the Baptists Meetings until there was some of the People called Quakers came into this Country who preached up the Light within and the like by whom some of the Baptists were convinced and then the rest of them who were Speakers made it their great business to preach down and against the Light within and so I was thereby hindred with evil Reports of them which then were many very much cast against that People though I had never heard them at all but as concerning those who preached so much against that inward Light wo and alas for them for they are greatly fallen into the Darkness and are become even as sottish as other people and have lost their Zeal which they had for that which they then thought to be Truth for whose sakes I have many times been grieved for I can testifie that there was a good desire once in them which drawed them in some measure as I may say towards Canaan but alas the way proved strait and the mind being alive which lusted after the flesh-pots they are again turned into the darkness of Egypt And notwithstanding all that these men could say for their own way or against others yer I saw plainly neither they nor I were as we should be but I was still unsatisfied because I had a Law in my members that warred against the Law of my mind which led me captive into sin which I could not overcome neither could I believe I ever should though I had a desire against it And so after all these things it was ordered that I must go down to Bristol upon some outward occasion about which time I was seventeen or eighteen years old and it happened that I was to stay there some time in which I did abide at a place where there was a Woman who owned the People called Quakers and she shewed me some of their Books and though I could reade but badly yet I perceived that they were not such a People as I thought they had and so my mind was turned out of enmity against them into love insomuch that I had a desire to hear them so I went to their Meetings several times but could hear no words but in beholding of them I was convinced that they were a People to whom God had manifested more than any People that ever I had seen but how I knew not but at last on a First-day I was much moved in my spirit above other times to go to their Meeting and unknown to me before I came there was a man whose name in the flesh is John Story in whom God had raised his Witness and opened his Understanding to bear a Testimony for him who when I heard speak the Spirit of Life opened my understanding to receive his words which were made serviceable to me at that time for the informing of my mind in the true Way of God which I had been long seeking after the which I gladly received and willingly turned from the Darkness joyning to the Light which I found to be as a man that told me all that ever I had done and not onely so but condemned all sin in me shewing what was good and what was evil condemning me for joyning with the evil And so the ministration of Condemnation I came to witness which was very glorious in its time wherein the just Judgements of the Lord took hold of that which drew me into sin in which Judgments the true Seed greatly rejoyced because its Redemption drew nigh and the Lord was arisen to plead with its Enemy by Fire and Sword which had held it in bondage which I was daily led to take up a Cross to by which the carnal mind which warreth against the spiritual was crucified in me daily and I daily died to the world and the vanities thereof and so my mind came to be redeemed unto God who with the finger of his Spirit wrote his Law in my heart which as I became obedient to it made me free from the Law of sin and gave me victory over it daily so was that in me quickned which delighted only to do the Will of God and to walk in his Way which I testifie is a pleasant path and very delightsom surpassing all the delights and vanities of the world which satisfies not the soul but burdens the pure Seed of God which I witness is set free through Judgements and that there is no way to Life but through Death for fallen man no way to true Joy but through Trouble no way to Canaan but through the Red Sea and the Wilderness no way to enter the Kingdom but through many Tribulations So the Lord by the Spirit of burning hath made that in me which was as a fruitful field to become as a Forest and that which was as a Forest to be as a fruitful field Yea the Lord hath made the parched to be as a pool and the dry-land springs of water and hath visited poor Lazarus with mercy and love but the rich Glutton hath he fed with Judgement and Esau the wild hunter the first birth hath he brought down to serve Jacob the younger who hath obtained the Blessing and hard-hearted Pharoah hath he plagued but Israel the Seed hath he blessed whom he hath led by the pillar of fire which was a light unto him by which he walked out of the darkness of Egypt from under the bondage of Pharoah whom he hath destroyed in the bottom of the Sea Therefore doth the Seed rejoyce and sing with high praises to its King who by the power of his strong hand hath broken the snare and band and set its feet at liberty that it might walk in the way to Canaan the blessed Land in this God's glorious day wherein the Sun is risen in glory bright which hath expell'd the darkness of the cloudy night and hath melted the frost and snow away which covered the tender plant in the gloomy day Wherefore now being come