word in season in the needful time But now has the Lord appear'd to comfort the Mourners in Sion and to give Beauty for Ashes the Oyl of Joy for Mourning and the Garment of Praises for the spirit of Heaviness Isa 61.3 Therefore lift up your Heads ye mournful Travailers who have been weeping as Rachel for her Children and refused to be comforted because they were not Jer. 31.15 For the Comforter is now come even the Spirit of Truth which leads into all Truth all those that are willing to follow him who saith I am come that you might have Life and that you might have it more abundantly John 10.10 and he will lead you by a Way you know not where you shall not Err. Life from God the Fountain of Life and Glory is now come and is entered into the Witnesses the Graves are opened the Dead is raised and they that hear his heavenly Voice their Souls live unto him This is the new Birth which the Apostle speaks of on this wise My little Children of whom I travail in Birth again until Christ be formed in you Galat 4.19 Here the Apostle travailed for the bringing forth of that holy Birth which is conceived by the holy Ghost and is born of the Water and of the Spirit and is made a new Creature in Christ for sayes he If any man be in Christ he is a New Creature But Nichodemus a Ruler of the Jews who came unto Jesus by Night reasoned carnally on this manner How can a Man be born which is Old can he enter again into his Mother's Womb and be born How ignorant was this Teacher of Israel concerning the Work of Regeneration it was a sealed Book and a Mystery unto him as it is to many Wise Professors and Night walking Nichodemus's of this Age who though they pretend to high things yet stumble at that which should open their Understandings and give them a true Discerning betwixt that which is born of the Flesh and that which is born of the Spirit but are yet in the dark and their Understandings vailed by reason of Sin and Transgression which stands as a Partition Wall unremoved and the old man with his Deeds not put off nor the new man the second Adam put on which bears the heavenly Image and being gone astray and alienated from the Life of God in themselves they become not acquainted with that which should work a Change in their Hearts not withstanding all their Profession of God and Christ in Words whilst in their Works they deny him Now the birth of the flesh is known by its fruits which is Envy Wrath Murder and Persecution of that Birth that is born after the Spirit hath been so even from Righteous Abel to this very day for Cain who was the first that was born of a Woman envyed his Brother Abel and slew him because his Brother's Sacrifice was accepted and his rejected whose innocent Blood from the Ground on which it was spilt cryed in the Ears of the Lord for Vengence as doth the Blood of the Innocent People of God this day cry unto him who will render Judgment and Vegeance upon the Enemies of his Righteous Seed and People who have sacrificed unto and worshipped the Lord their God according to his Commands and the Requirings of his holy Spirit in their Hearts And Ishmael the Son of the Bond Woman who was born after the Flesh and is in Bondage with her Children he was a Mocker and Mocked Isaac who was the true Seed and Heir of the Promise so all those now who are of Abraham's Faith are of the true Seed and inherit the Blessing and Kingdom prepared for them before the Foundation of the World And again you may read how Esau the first birth who was a prophane man and sold his Birth-right for one Morsel of Meat he set himself against Jacob the second Birth who was of the true Seed and righteous Line unto which the Promise and Blessings did descend and appertain So here people may see how that after man had transgressed and forsaken the Lord he fell short of the Blessings of God and in that state the first birth which was of the Earth earthly and sensual was rejected with its Offerings and Sacrifice so it is the second birth which is after the Spirit that obtains the Blessing And Haman an Informer against Mordecai was of this corrupt seed birth of the flesh whose Off-spring as well as himself has been persecuting the Members of the true Church Seed of God for these many hundred years unto this very time and all about Religion Sacrifice and Worship so that our Persecutors who have been rending and tearing like Dogs and Bears and persecuting people for their Non-conformity and different Perswasions about Religion may see their Off spring and who was their Captain and General in this wicked Work whose Spirit is alive though his Body be dead and it will deceive them in the end And Wo and Misery will be the Portion of all such if not prevented by timely Repentance at unawares when 't will be too late to call unto the Hills and to the Mountains to fall upon them and cover them from the Presence of the Lord and to hide them from his dreadful Majesty and fierce Indignation which is kindled against all the Enemies of his chosen People who are unto him as the Apple of his Eye and no Way will be found to escape his terrible Judgments For such as every one sows such must they reap and they that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap Corruption but they that sow to the spirit shall of the spirit reap Life Everlasting Gal. 6.8 And if they who are and persist in Cain's nature and Esau's spirit seek a place of Repentance with Tears as they did they shall not find it but shall be like Cain who was a Fugative and a Vagabond in the Earth being driven out from the Presence of the Lord and said My Punishment is greater than I can bear Oh! that people would but consider what they are a doing and to whom they yield their Members Servants to obey and follow that Exhortation of the Apostle Rom. 6.13 Yield not your Members as Instruments of Unright cousness unto sin but yield your selves unto God for the Wages of Sin is Death but the Gift of God is Eternal Life Now this Gift of God is freely extended unto all Mankind in and by which he calls and excites to Purity and Holiness and to turn to him and forsake Sin which makes the Separation and to come out of Ungodliness and all Uncleanness The Call of the Lord has reached unto all but the Apostle saith Have they not all heard yes verily their sound went into all the Earth and their words to the end of the World Rom. 10.18 but all have not obeyed the Voice of the Lord. Oh! why will ye stand idle in the Market-place pleading for and contending about outward
Heart and said It is NOT in Heaven that thou shouldst say Who shall ascend to bring it from thence NEITHER is it beyond the Sea that thou shouldst say Who shall go over to fetch it us but the Word is very nigh thee in thy Heart and in thy Mouth for to do it Behold this day I have set before thee Life and Good Death and Evil Deuteronomy Chap. 30. Verse 12 13 14 15. From whence I conclude and am fully satisfied that Life and Good consists in and is obtained by hearkening unto and obeying that Word that is nigh in the Heart And on the contrary by sleighting and rejecting of it Death and Evil cometh upon the Souls of all those who running after Empty Words and after the Tree of Knowledge and come not to the Guidance of that Inward WORD in the Heart which is able to give them Acceptance with the Lord. For Without Faith viz. in this Word which purifies the Heart it is impossible to please God and by it we have Access unto him But a Dead Historical or Notional Faith will profit none But that which purifieth the Heart and worketh by Love and purgeth the Conscience from Dead Works of which Christ is the Author and Finisher too that only will profit And this True and Living Faith is known by the Blessed Effects and Works of it for as the Body without the Spirit is Dead so Faith without Works is Dead also James 2.26 And all those that are true Believers in Christ Jesus the Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World they come to find the Powerful Operation of this Faith in his Blood to cleanse and purifie them from all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit and hereby are made Vessels of Honour and fit Temples for the Lord to dwell in being sanctified through the Blood of Cleansing and Washed with pure Water and made clean thereby so that an Acceptable Sacrifice and a Pure Offering is offered up unto God from a clean Vessel which is a Sweet Savour unto him and well pleasing in his Sight and hereby we know that we are of God because we have Admittance into his Presence and free Access to the Throne of his Grace so that whatsoever we ask by Faith and in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ it is granted unto us And this Faith is the Gift of God and is received and witnessed in receiving Christ the true Light But they that deny the Light are Strangers to this Faith and so are ignorant of the Blood of Cleansing and of that which should reconcile them to God and discover unto them the Mysteries of his Kingdom But my true desire are that all who in any measure are stirred up and feel an inquiry and search begun in their Hearts after the Lord and the knowledge of his Way that such may receive the word of Truth into their Hearts and that it may be as Seed sown upon good Ground which takes Root downward and brings forth Fruit upward and an Heavenly increase to God and Satisfaction and Comfort to their Souls may be witnessed that all old things may be done away the old Heavens and the old Earth with the beggarly Elements and Rudiments of the World that the new Heavens and the new Earth may be known wherein dwells Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the holy Ghost Oh! Prise the Day of your Visitation and let it not slip over your Heads unregarded lest it be said unto you as it was to Jerusalem of Old How often would I have gathered you as a Hen gathers her Chickens under her Wings But ye would not Behold your Habitation shall be left unto you desolate Matth. 23.37 38. Now mark 't was not because they COULD not come unto Christ but because they WOULD not that they were left ungathered there was a Sensual and Corrupt Will in them that would not be subject to him that called them nor bow down their Necks to Christ's Yoke but Stiff-necked and Rebellious were they wherefore Christ withdrew himself and said unto them Henceforth ye shall not see me untill ye say Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord vers 39. Now consider your Latter End and labour to make your Calling and Election sure that when you come to render a final Account of the Deeds done in the Body to the Great and Mighty Judge of Heaven and Earth before whose Tribunal Seat of Judgment All must appear you may receive the Sentence of PEACE and the Reward of WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT ENTER INTO THE JOY OF THY LORD Oh! this will be a joyful Sentence and more Estimable than all the Glory of Egypt-or the Treasure of Ten Thousand Worlds where the Soul comes to possess an Everlasting Inheritance and a Crown of Life and Immortality among them that are sanctified where the Song of High Praises and Everlasting Halelujahs is sung to the God of their Salvation who hath wiped away all Tears from their Eyes and Sighing and Sorrow is fled away Which are the true Breathings of her who desires the Everlasting Well-being of the Souls of all People Isabel Yeamans Swarthmore the 2d Moneth 1679. THE END
which is the Way of Life as one well experienced and testified in his day The Commandment is a LAMP and the Law is LIGHT and the Reproofs of Instruction THE WAY OF LIFE Prov. 6.23 This is that Lamp and that Light of which David testified saying Thy Word is a Lamp unto my Feet and a Light unto my Paths Psalm 119.105 He also said The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul and is that Word of which he said Wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his Wayes by taking heed thereto according to thy Word Which Word Light Law Lamp Grace Spirit c. with many other Names and Denominations are one and the same in nature and quality though proceeding from the holy Spirit and Power in the holy Men of God under several Names and Appellations according to the various Effects Dispensations Manifestations and Operations of it in their Hearts as when it manifesteth unto man the Evil of his Wayes it is properly called Light and as it judgeth and condemneth for Sin and Evil it may be called a Law-giver and a Judge c. this is able to deliver and set free from the Power of Sin and Death and to bring lost man to God again It was sufficient under every Dispensation for the Recovery and Salvation of Mankind as it was obeyed and believed in by which the Righteous Seed and Holy Men of God found Acceptance with the Lord and knew that they pleased him and walked with him as Enoch did and were made perfect as Abraham was to whom the Lord said Walk thou before me and be thou perfect Gen. 17.1 But is now manifested in these latter days in a more Glorious and Evangelical Appearance wherein the Lord has fulfilled his Promise of old and is pouring forth of his Spirit upon all Flesh and is causing his Sons and his Daughters to prophesie and to declare of his wondrous Works and now Christ Jesus is manifesting himself in his inward and spiritual Appearance of Light in the Hearts and Consciences of all men who is come a Light into the World that whosoever believes on him might not perish but have Everlasting Life and in this Manifestation of his Spirit he is calling and inviting the Sons and Daughters of men Behold says he I stand at the Door and knock if any man hear any Voice and open unto me I will come in and sup with him and he with me Rev. 3.20 It is the Voice of my Beloved that knocks saying Open unto me for my Head is filled with Dew and my Locks with the Drops of the Night Song of Sol. 5.2 The Disobedient and Rebellious will not entertain him in their Hearts but he is pierced by their Iniquities and as a Lamb slain without their Door and as killed all the day long as to them though in himself he lives to judge them He made his Grave with the Wicked and with the Rich in his Death Isa 53.9 But the Lord beholds the Proud afar off who think they know enough and are fat and full and want nothing when they are miserable and naked and bare and want all things but the Humble he teacheth and dwells with the Contrite in Heart for it is in the Heart and Consciences of Men and Women where he ought to dwell and it is his Prerogative to sway the Scepter there although the old Usurper of Authority called the Devil and Satan by his Stratagems and Insinuations has gotten a large Room and open Entertainment in the Hearts of the Children of Disobedience so that the Inn is taken up with other Guests the vain Delights and Pleasures of the World and no room is left to entertain the Lord of Glory but he is as laid in the Manger and turned out of Doors and his small Appearance sleighted and rejected by the Ungodly But now is the Prince of Peace come and is arising in his gloryous Power to dis-throne the grand Enemy of man's Happiness and to discover his many Snares Baits and Temptations which he has laid suitable to the Propensity and Inclination of the Creature to betray the Simple-minded and to draw forth the Heart and Affections after his Inventions thereby to enslave and imbondage the Creature in Sin and Iniquity and to plunge it therein until the Custom of it comes to take away the sense of the Evil of it and then perswades the poor Captive There is no Freedom from it nor no Perfection to be attained on this side the Grave and here he labours to keep them under his Power whilst in this Life knowing that after Death Judgment comes and as the Tree falls so it lies and that there is no Repentance in the Grave and here he obtains his End which is the Eternal Destruction of Men and Womens Souls for he laid the Foundation of his Kingdom in the Heart of Man and Woman by a Lye through which Sin entred and by which he upholds his Kingdom to this day in all the Disobedient and Rebellious But in the Light of Christ Jesus which discovers all the Deeds of Darkness is he clearly seen and his rotten Foundation which was grounded upon a Lye begins now to shake and reel and the Down-fall of his Kingdom is now seen to approach by them whose Eyes the Lord has opened But as for those who despise this Inward and Evangelical Appearance of Light and Grace and call it Natural or the Check of a Natural Conscience and a thing Insufficient though obeyed to Salvation nay many will not stick to call it Dia bolical whoever they be that are in this state I am bold to affirm and testifie That the same Power call it what they will that secretly checks and reproves for Sin and Evil in the Cansciences of Men and Women the same in the Day of Account shall set the Sins of the Wicked and Disobedient in order before their Eyes and shall be their Judge in that Day and as a Stone that shall grind them to Powder and on the contrary to those that love it and obey it will be the Joy Comfort and Everlasting Salvation of their Immortal Souls Now the Reason why people hate the Light is very evident from Christ's own words who saith This is the Condemnation that Light is come into the World and men love Darkness rather than Light because their Deeds are Evil for every one that doth Evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be repreved John 3.19 20. But he that doth Truth loves the Light and brings his Deeds to it that they may be proved and tryed that they are wrought in God Now the Serpent in his Subtilty is the same at this day that he was in the Beginning who in direct Opposition to the Command of God told Adam and Eve That in the day they did eat of the Forbidden Fruit they should Not surely dye but should be as Gods knowing Good and Evil and here was the Temptation laid under the presentation
of an Higher Attainment or that it was higher or of further Latitude which certainly was more pernicious and Destructive for until the Temptation was entred into they had not the Knowledge of Evil by participation but were clothed with the Sweet Innocent Life of God which he breathed into them and dwelt in Covenant with their Maker But after the Enemy had prevailed and had subjected the Creature unto Vanity as saith the Apostle Romans 8. vers 20. not willingly but in Hope of an Higher Attainment or Better State than that wherein the Lord had placed them they were betrayed and lost their Habitation by breaking the Command of God and lost the Heavenly Dignity and Excellency of the first Creation and became dead as to that sweet Unity Fellowship and Access they had unto God and here the Serpent was found a Lyar who told them They should not surely dye c. So here Man and Woman were drove out of the Paradise of God and became degenerate Plants of a strange Vine branching forth it self into many Corrupt Trees whose Fruit have been Envy Wrath Murder and Persecution about Religion Sacrifice and Worship Pride Emulation Deceit and Hypocrisie and in these evil Branches have the unclean Birds and the Fowls of the Air lodged and the Cockatrice that comes out of the Serpent's Root whose Fruit saith the Prophet shall be a Fiery Flying Serpent Isa 14.29 Now the Cockatrice hath been hatching and bringing forth her Cage of unclean Birds by the power of the Serpent whereby they are become Birds of Prey to the persecuting of the Innocent Birth or good Seed of the Kingdom and quenching the good Desires which are in the Hearts of People But as the first Appearance or Motion to Evil is resisted and turned from the Conception thereof is prevented in the Heart for 't is there that Sin is conceived before 't is brought forth into action and the Cockatrice comes to be crushed in the Egg before it is brought forth to be a Bird of Prey and the Creature preserved out of the Snare And so it may be seen that this Crooked Serpent has been the ground Cause of all the Wo and Misery that is come upon Mankind who seeks to betray and deceive the Innocent as he did Adam and Eve who actually knew no Evil until under a fair Pretence he presented the forbidden fruit unto Eve the weaker Vessel who by hearkening unto him did eat and gave also to her Husband and so brought Death over themselves according as the Lord God had said In the day that ye eat thereof ye shall dye Thus by transgressing the Righteous Law of God in eating the forbidden Fruit Sin entred and Death by Sin which is come upon all and all have fallen short of the Glory of God And they that are feeding of the Tree of Knowledge without Life are under the same Sentence of Death which was passed over Adam and Eve through their Disobedience So Death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam 's Transgression as saith the Apostle For as by the Offence of one Judgment came upon all men to Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift came upon all unto Justification of Life Rom. 5.18 And as many as receive the free Gift of Grace and Righteousness shall reign in Life by Jesus Christ And in this free Gift of God in which is Life eternal comes Man and Woman to inherit their former Priviledge and Right to the Tree of Life again for the universal Loving-kindness of the Lord God was such towards the Noble Workmanship of his Hands that notwithstanding Man and Woman had transgressed the holy righteous Law of the Lord and being first violated by the Woman yet he promised That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head and to the Serpent he said I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman and between thy Seed and her Seed it shall bruise thy Head and thou shalt bruise his Heel Gen. 3.15 This faithful Promise in which the Patriarchs of old with the Prophets and Holy Men of God believed in the Fulness of time came to be fulfilled and the Virgin conceived by the Holy Ghost and by the Overshadowing of the Power of the Most High and brought forth that Holy Thing whose Name was called Jesus according as the Angel of the Lord had fore-told unto Mary saying Blessed art thou among Women thou hast found Favour with God for lo thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bear a Son and shalt call his Name Jesus Now Mary reasoned a little saying How can this be seeing I know not Man To whom the Angels Answer was The Holy Chost shall come upon thee and the Power of the Most High shall evershadow thee therefore that Holy Thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God So Mary consulted no more but believing the Angel said Be it unto me according to thy word Luke 1.35 And in the overcoming Sense of the Joy which through Faith she had received said on this wise My Soul doth magnifie the Lord and my Spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour from henceforth all Generations shall call me blessed because be that is mighty has done great things for me and Holy is his Name So in the Seed Christ Jesus the second Adam that never fell who is made a quickening Spirit comes the Blessing again to be obtained and all those that believe in him come to be redeemed from under the Curse and to know his Spirit as a Standard lifted up in them to the crushing and breaking down the Head of the Serpent which is his Power so that the Enmity that is put between the two Seeds shall never be reconciled and as this Seed of Life which the good Seedsman has sown in every Heart comes to take root and grow it will suppress and keep under the Evil Seed of the Serpent which brings forth Bryars and Thorns to entangle the Soul as in a Net whose End is to be burnt up and consumed by the Breath of the Lord. And although the Enemy has come in the Night and hath sown Tares and Brambles in the Field which is the World where the good Seed was sown yet mark their End is to be cut down at the time of Harvest which is the end of the World and to be bundled up and cast into the Fire unquenchable Oh! what will become of all those in that day who have suffered the Tares and Brambles to grow have not believed nor put Confidence in but obstinately resisted the appearance of Christ the benefit of whose Sufferings Death Resurrection and Assention such might have received and have been cleansed from all their evil Wayes and corrupt Devices by Christ Jesus who is come a Light into the World that whosoever believes in him should not abide in Darkness but have the Light of Life John 8.12 he testified of
himself saying I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live this is he to whom all the ends of the Earth are to look for Salvation he is the Shiloh the peaceable Saviour who is now come according to Jacob's Prophecy upon his dying Bed saying The Scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his Feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering of the People be Gen 49.10 which Scepter of Government is long since departed from Judah therefore Shiloh is come Now the spiritual Scepter is deliver'd unto him who without Respect of Persons is holding it forth unto all Nations Kindreds Tongues and People that his Government may be set up and his Scepter sway in their Hearts whose Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom and of his Dominion there shall be no End upon whose Shoulders the Government is set and the Nations of them that are saved must walk in the Light of the Lamb who is come to take away the sins of the world has brought a Remnant through their Belief in and Obedience unto the Light of Christ to the knowledge of his saving Power which brings out of the dead Forms to the living Substance which gives true Satisfaction to the Soul And such cannot but say unto and invite all who hunger and thirst after Righteousness To come and taste with us and see how good the Lord is for it is that which was from the Beginning which we have seen with our Eyes which we have looked upon and our Hands have handled of the Word of Life that we declare unto you that you also might have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ John 1.3 And the Spirit and the Bride saith Come and let him that heareth say Come and he that is athirst let him come and take of the Waters of Life freely Rev. 22.17 Oh! why will you spend your Money for that which is not Bread and your Labour for that which doth not satisfie your Souls who with the Prodigal have spent your Portion and are feeding upon the Husks in your Notional Self Performances and Imitations of true Religion Sacrifice and Worship But alas it is not the Profession Shew or Likeness of these things without the Possession of that Life and Power in which they are accepted of the Lord that will stand in stead in the needful time for 't is not a sight or shew of Food that will satisfie an hungry or travelling Man but Give me Bread sayes the hungry Soul or else I dye Oh! how doth my Spirit mourn for those who are seeking living Bread among the Husks where it s not to be found and are inquiring after their Souls Beloved and are running from one Watchman to another seeking the Footsteps of the Flock of his Companions and where he feeds them and causes them to lie down at noon day Come you that have been enquiring of the blind Watchmen of the Night I will tell you where we have found the Beloved of our Souls where you also must find him The Spouse of old sought him amongst the Watchmen yet found him not But sayes she when I had past a little from them then I found him whom my Soul loved Such was our inquiring Condition amongst the blind Watchmen of the Night who cryed Lo here and Lo there whose Trumpet gave an uncertain sound unto us and instead of Relief caused our Wounds to bleed afresh telling us Revelation was ceased and we must not expect God Christ in that inward and spiritual Appearance wherein he made known himself to his People in dayes past but we must apply our selves to this outward Ceremony and the other Ordinance c. and thus they smote us and wounded us But blessed be our God forever who turned us from them to the Light of Christ Jesus which gave us the knowledge of our Beloved and directed our Feet into the right Way even the Just Man's Path which is a shining Light and shines more and more unto the perfect day the Wayfaring Man though a Fool shall not err therein So it was by the inshinings of his Light Grace in our Hearts that we received the Discovery and Knowledge of our Beloved who is become the chiefest of ten thousand unto a Remnant as he was to the Spouse of old He is the Door into the Sheepfold and the true Shepherd who laid down his Life for his Sheep and whoever enters into this heavenly Fold of Rest and Peace must enter in by his Light who is the Door for whoever climb up any other way are Thieves and Robbers and his Sheep hear his Voice and the Voice of a Stranger they will not follow because they can clearly distinguish between the true Shepherd and the false Shepherds who whilst people put into their Mouthes cry Peace Peace and when not fed prepare War against them witness the many grievous Sufferings of Innocent People in Body Estate how many nasty Goals have been crouded full by their Cruelty how many Wives have been made Widows and Children Fatherless whose Cryes have pierced the Heavens and whose Complaint has entred the Ears of the Lord by their unrighteousness inhuman dealings with God's people And how have these Idol Shepherds who have sought the Fleece and not regarded the Sheep like Wolves and Bears rended the Goods of such as could not put into their Mouthes the impartial Reader and every unbyass'd Mind can well inform But the great and powerful Shepherd the mighty God hath taken Cognizance of these things and will surely call them to account and reckon with them in a Day that is come coming upon them wherein they shall be more and more made manifest that they are not sent of God nor true Ministers of Christ because they abide not in his Doctrine who said Freely ye have received freely give and if any shall ask How we know them we need go no further then the words of Christ who said By their Fruits ye shall know them for they are such who seek their Gain from their Quarter who feed with the fat and clothe with the Wool and love the uppermost Rooms at Feasts and Greetings in the Market-place with divers other Marks whereby we know them to be such as ran and God never sent them and their Doctrine to be erroneous and unprofitable But the Sheep of Christ's Pasture are clothed with the Lamb-like Meek Quiet and Suffering Spirit of Jesus who makes his Followers conformable unto himself that in all things we may be found followers of him in his Light and Grace who hath other Sheep which are not of this Fold whom also he said should be brought in that they may hear his Voice and there shall be one Sheepfold and one Shepherd John 10.16 And for those Sheep who are not yet gathered into this Fold doth my Soul travail that
they with us might partake of the living Bread which comes down from Heaven I am that living Bread saith Christ that came down from Heaven My Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed whoever eats of the Bread and drinks of the Water that I give shall never hunger nor thirst any more Except ye eat my Flesh and drink my Blood ye have no Life in you This was an hard Saying to the professing Jews whose Eye was outward and carnal as it is with many this day who make a great talk of his Flesh and Blood But except you have Faith in his Name and by virtue of that Faith come to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood ye have no Life in you for sayes he who sais I am the Light Except ye believe that I am he ye shall dye in your Sins and whither I go ye cannot come so that it is Unbelief in his Light or Grace in people which disappoints them of the benefit of his Blood which cleanseth washes and sanctifies all those that believe in his Name and Power by which as they keep unto and abide in it they come to witness their Redeemer to live even Christ the Anointed of God the Everlasting Minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which God hath pitched and not Man he is become our High Priest and the Bishop of our Souls he is teaching his People himself and our Invitation unto all is that they may come and sit down under the Teachings of his Spirit and Grace in themselves For whatsoever may be known of God is manifest within and he hath shewn unto Man what is good that he should obey it and do it and the Apostle said Examine your selves prove your selves know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates Now thou who hast had thine Eye outward hast bin running abroad and spent thy Portion with the Prodigal and hast not obtained an Establishment in that which is durable and satisfying the Soul Return return to thy Father's House and turn thy Mind inward to that which thou hast run from and hast been seeking without thee and thou wilt find virtue in it and the Efficacy of it to satisfie thy breathing Soul for remember the Parable of the Woman who sought her piece of Silver without her House but turning within lighting a Candle and sweeping her House she found it and for the Joy that she had found this Treasure invited her Neighbours to come and rejoyce with her Now the Candle of the Lord which is the Spirit of a Man is lighted and the Houses of many are swept and that which they have been seeking without they have found within them to the exceeding great Joy Gladness of their Hearts so that they could not but invite and perswade others through the constraining Virtue and Soul-satisfaction they had receiv'd from it to turn in to that inward Word of Power which is nigh in the Heart and is a sure Word of Prophecy unto which sayes the Apostle Peter ye do well to take heed as unto a Light shining in a dark place until the Day dawn and the Day Star arise in your Hearts 2 Pet. 1.19 Now we having taken heed unto this divine and heavenly Word in our Hearts we are come to see the arising of the Star of Jacob and to the bright and morning Star by which the blessed Day of God's great Salvation is known and experimentally witnessed by a Remnant Oh! how glorious is the appearance breaking forth of this heavenly Day in which the rising of the Son of Righteousness who is risen with Healing under his Wings many are come to behold how excellent is the Power Wisdom and Majesty of him who is greater than Solomon whose marvellous Order Magnificency and Splendor the Queen of Sheba from the uttermost parts of the Earth came to see who when she had heard and seen all that she desired yea to her Astonishment made this acknowledgment I believed not this Report until I had seen it with mine Eyes but lo the one half was not told me for thou hast more Wisdom and Prosperity than I have heard by Report 1 Kings 10.7 And many can now say that a Greater than Solomon is now come whose infinite Wisdom and Power whose excellent Glory and Majesty the Tongues of Men and Angels are incapable and insufficient to set forth who is filling his latter House with the Splendor of his own Glory for transcending and surpassing the Glory of the Outward Temple which was typical figurative of that which is not built with Hands and many Sons are coming from far and Daughters from the ends of the Earth to behold the Beauty and Comliness and Holy Order of the House of the God of Jacob which he is establishing atop of all the exalted Mountains and Professions without Possession and above all swelling Notions and Hills and Nations are flowing unto it according as the Lord spake by the Mouth of the Prophet Isa 2.2 Beautiful foâ—â—â—tuation is Mount Sion the Hill of God and it is now fulfilled in these latter days that many are come to say Let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord and to the House of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his Wayes and we will walk in his Pathes These are the true Jews in Spirit the Circumcised in Heart Ear whose Praise is of God and not of men such are the true Worshippers who worship the Father in the Spirit and in the Truth which is that living true and standing Worship set up and established above sixteen hundred years ago by our Lord and Saviour in that blessed Conference held with the woman of Samaria at Jacob's Well who hearing of the Disputes various Opinions about the Place where men ought to worship said Woman believe me The Hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor at Jerusalem worship the Father for the Hour cometh and now is that the true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and Truth and such is the Father seeking to worship him John 4.21 23. This Woman by this Converse with Christ being converted to the Faith in him went her way into the City and gave this Testimony of him Come see a Man says she that has told me all that ever I have done is not this the Christ And many of the Samaritans believ'd on him not only because of the saying of the Woman who told them That he had told her all that ever she had done but because of his own Word And we know say they that this is indeed the Christ Now these men were directed unto Christ by the Declaration or Preaching of a Woman who was not despised by them because of her Sex but they received her Invitation came to be made Believers in him who had told the Woman all that she had done and well were it for the People of this