worth which hath only stood in words and out-side worships and formes without the power and life of that which ye have professed Therefore honestly consider in time and turne in your minds to the Light of Christ Jesus in all your Consciences which is Gods witnesse in you all which will either accuse or excuse you and acquit or condemne you in every thing that ye doe or word ye speake or thought that ye thinke If ye doe turne your minds into it and waite in it by it you will come to see and examine and truly to search and try what is in your hearts and minds at all times and so come to be acquainted therewith and see what lodgeth there Otherwise ye will not know nor be acquainted with your own hearts which will then deceive you for they are desperately wicked and ye will not know that wickednesse that is there which is ready to joyne to any thing that is evill and to be led into any errour but as ye doe minde that of God within you which will searh your hearts and try your reynes And in this Condition have people been and are still in the World and in all their professions there and worships which stands in ourward observations and carnall ordinances and worships set up in mens wills and practised in the worlds spirit which knowes not God nor the things of God and are in their own wills and led by that spirit So their hearts minds are drawn out into those things to looke at the things that are seene which are temporall which are of the World from that which may be known of God which is manifest in them from the things which are not seene which are eternall and with which they should know the true and living God whom they have for a long time been thus ignorantly worshipping not knowing of him though he was not far from every one of them neither have they known the true worship of him which is in the Spirit in the truth in wch the true Church stands and is gathered our of the world and out of itsworships wayes and customes which are corrupt and are upholden by mens lawes made in their corrupt wills whereby they have compelled people to their worships which is not true but are all erred from the truth and true worship and true Church which is in God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the pillar and ground of truth wherein they worship God in the Spirit and in the truth and so have found the Father who is seeking such to worship him in this his day which now is dawned after the long night of Apostacy darkness which hath been over all people so that the whole earth hath been covered with darknesse and the vayle hath been over all faces and the whole Earth been corrupted by the abominable worships that hath been therein in this time of darknesse in the false Church which is the whore of Babylon the mother of harlots and the abomination of the Earth gotten up in the roome of the true Church with her false worships in Imitation of the true worship whereby all nations have been drunken with the Cup of her fornications And all the Emperours Kings Princes and Judges and Rulers of the Earth and they have all been making of Lawes to uphold her and she hath ridden upon them for they have been the beast which have carried her and the beast and the false Prophet which receives their power from the Dragon have made warr with the Saints and overcome them and their blood hath been shed by her which hath cryed and doth cry unto the Lord for vengeance and the Lord hath heard the cry of it And he is now risen to take vengeance upon all them that dwell upon the earth where the Devill hath been their King who is the Dragon that old Serpent who was cast out into the earth And now the time is come that he shall be bound and chained and cast into the pit and the beast the false Prophet with him shall be taken alive and cast into the Lake And the Lord God is come to Judge the great whore the false Church who hath set upon the Kings of the Earth made them drunke with her cup and to render vengeance with fury upon her and burne her with fire And all her Merchants shall cry woe and alacke who have been made rich with her merchandize and the great City shall fall in which they have been trading which is Babylon the mother of them all in what forme or profession of shew or colour or dresse soever they have appeared For the houre of her Judgement is come and strong is the Lord that Judgeth her Therefore woe woe from the Lord will be unto all that seek to uphold her and come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of her For all that drinke of her cup and partake with her in her sâ—â—â— must be sure to partake of her plagues And the decree of the Lord is sealed and gone forth against her and the warre is openly proclaimed against her and the Beast and the false Prophets who have gove forth to deceive And the Lambe is come forth and his sword is drawne and ho is riding on conguering and to conquer and with him are his Saints who are called and faithfull and chosen who are made willing to follow him whither soever he goes And the victory is determined the Lambe and the Saints shall have the victory and their weapons are not carnall but spirituall For with the sword of the Spirit which proceeds out of the mouth of the Lambe shall all his enemies be slaine and great shall be the day of slaughter of Gods enemies who have the Beasts marke or his name or are of the number of his name they shall all be slaine both small and great even all whose names are not written in the Lambs book of life who was staine from the foundation of the world And this the Lord is now bringing to passe in this his day not by might nor by power but by my Spirit will I doe this saith the Lord And therefore blessed are all they who have an care to heare and an eye open to see what the Lord is doing and a heart to understand and receive his counsell and to doe his Commandments and his will and to answer his requirings Written by a Friend to all your soules a lover of truth and righteousnesse and a sufferer for the testimony of a good Conscience towards God Who am called by the name of Henry Fell Written at Thersord in Norfolke the place of my Imprisonment the 5th month in the yeare 1660. THE END 2 Thess 2.9 10 11. Isa. 5.24 Isa. 66.15 2 Tim. 3.5 Iude 10. 2 Pet. 2.1 2. 12 Cor. 4. Acts 20.29 Math 12.30 Rom. 8. 1 Iohn 4.5 1 Iohn 4 8. 1.3.12 13. Iohn 8.44 1 Iohn 2.22.4.20 2 Cor. 4.4 Isa. 5.20 1 Cor. 2.8 Math. 15.14 2 Pet 1.19 Rev. 3.17 Iohn 1.9 Iohn 12.35.36 Isa. 55. Mark 8.18 Ephef 2.1 Isa. 47. Rev 3.18 1 Cor 2.10 11 12 c. Heb. 3.10 Rom 1.21 Matth 5.13 Mark 9.5 Matth 15.11 Mark 7.20 Matth 15.18.19 Eccles. 9.2 Mal: 3.15.18 Luke 6.45 Ier 17.9 Psal. 32.9.39 Iames 1.26 Iames 3.2 Iohn 4.23 24. Matth 7 2 Pet. 1.3 4. Matth. 7.15 16 17. Ieremy 23. Isa. 56. Rom. 16. Ezek. 34.2 3. 10 c. Iohn 10. Iohn 10. Ephes 2.12 1 Thess. 5.7 Iohn 10.10 2 Tim. 3.6 Isa. 3.12 1 Tim 〈…〉 Iohn 3.19 20 2 Cor. 6.17 Rev. 17.4.9 10 11 12 15 20. 1 Cor. 3.13 Iohn 3.19 Ierem 3.23 Rev. 6.15.16 Matth. 7.23 Luke 13.27 Matth. 7.20 Gal. 7.17 2 Thess. 2.8 Heb. 2.14 1 Iohn 3.8 Iohn 8.29 Iohn 1.11 12. Matth. 6.9 Romans 10. Luke 17.20 Matth. 3.23 Heb. 12.13 Acts 13.41 Iohn 16.25 13 verse Rom. 8. 1 Pet. 4.10 1 Tam. 17. Iohn 17.3 1 Ioh. 5.19 20. Iohn 1.16 Rom. 11.6 1 Cor. 1.29 Luker 35. 1 Cor. 2.8 Rom. 2.19 20 â—â— Gal. 5.22 Math. 23.31 Deut. 12.85.18 Iam. 5.6 Math. 13.14 Mark 9.12 Ioh. 5.37 38. Joh. 3.19 20 21. Joh. 8.12 John 1. 1 Cor. 12.7 1 Iohn 9. Ezek. 13.3 Ier. 14 14. Ier. 23.25 Isa 50.11 1 Ioh. 11.12 2. Tim. 2.19 Isa. 53.2 3. Isa. 6 13. 2 Col. 1. Rom. 1. 2 Tim. 3.8 1 Tim. 6.10 21. Judg. 3. 1. Cor. 2.5 1 Tim. 3.9 Math. 29.48 49. Luke 18.8 Luke 1.78 Math. 24.14 Mark 16.15 Isa 49.8.42.6 Isa. 28.18 Exod. 5. 2 Gor. 11.15 Matth 12.29 Luke 11.12 Matth. 10.34 Acts 26.18 Isa. 42. Iere. 31.31 Pro 6.23 Psal. 19.7 8 9 10 11. Psal. 119.97 98 99. Rome 7. Rom 7.1 Rom 10.4 Mat. 23.27 Mat 23.13 2 Pet. 2.14 Iohn 1.9 Iohn 12.35 2 Pet. 1.17 18 19. Mal. 4. 1 Pet. 2.11 Luk. 10.30 31 32.33 Iohn 10. Hosea 6.9 Math. 25. Rom. 10.3 Rom 8 Iohn 1.34 Rom 4.7 Rom 6.2.6 7. Rom 6.18 Rome 8.10 1 John 1.7 1 John 3.8.9 I Joh 3.6 I Iohn 5.18 Rom 8.3.4 Rom. 8.2 Rom. 6.18 20. Ephef. 1.1 1 Gor. 15.55 56 57. Ioh. 5.25 28. Rom. 5.12 19. 21. 1 Cor. 15.46 48. Heb. 4.12 Iohn 11.26 Ioh. 8.12 Iob 28.22 Luke 10. Math. 5.16 1 Cor. 15.14 Isa. 42. Isa. 49. Rev. 1.8 2 Tim. 3.8 2 Tim. 3 6. Ioh. 8.32 I Cor. 10.2 Rom 6.3 4. Gal. 3.19 Math. 16.24 1 Coll. 20. 2 Coll. 14. Cor. 1.18 c. Mat. 11.30 1 Iohn 4.5 Iohn 26.40 Iohn 11.25 Iohn 14.6 Isa. 28.17 Col. 2.3 Col 1.26 Ephef. 2.3 Rom. 8.11 1 Cor. 2 12 13 19. Isa. 9.24 Math. 2.29 Mark 2. 24. Ezek. 3. 1 Tim. 4.1 2 Pet. 1.20 21. Iames 41.5 Chron. 6.16 Isa. 6.22 Math. 7.16 17 18 19. Joh. 1.9 10. Math. 13.11 Titus 2.11 Rev. 3.7 2 Cor. 4.16 Acts 17.23 Iohn 4. Rev. 17.2.18 18.3.9 19. 19. Rev. 13.4 17. 3. Rev. 12.9 Rev. 20.3 Rev. 8.4 Rev. 17.4 Rev. 14.4 Rev. 21.27 Zach. 4.6
false Teachers amongst you saith the Apostle who privily shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and many shall follow their pernitious wayes by reason of whom the way of truth should be evil spoken of And that perillous times should come that men should be lovers of themselves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection truce-breakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good traytors heady high-minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God 2 Timothy 3. Now all those before mentioned were and are erred from the Spirit of truth which was in the Saints the holy-men of God who spake forth the Scriptures which declares of these things that there was such then and that there should be such Therefore now behold all People and see whether the things which the Apostles prophecyed of concerning the false Teachers which should come be not come to passe abundantly in the Generations since their dayes and also in this our age insomuch as the whole world hath been deceived by them and led after them and they have drawn them into many Religions Sects and Opinions and set them to kill and murther one another about Religion and about the Scriptures and about their worships and Laws to compel men to them being all erred from the Spirit and from the Truth and now know not the Truth nor the Spirit which was in the Apostles and Saints in which Spirit they worshipped God in their dayes and those then that got Christs words and the Prophets words and had not his Spirit but were arred from it and were out of the Life and out of the Truth which they did professe in words These I say the Saints and true Christians who were followers of Christ and had his Spirit with it they tryed the spirits of the other who had it not and found them not to be of God nor to be beleeved nor received but turned from for they were false Spirits and false Prophets which were gone out into the world from Christ and from the Saints that had the Spirit of God in them by which they tryed the other and found them to be of the world and Antichrists in the spirit of this world and by it led which cometh from him who is called The god of this world who had blinded their minds And so they were not true Prophets or Seers or true Ministers of Christ nor true Teachers but false Teachers false Ministers false Prophets and Antichrists and blind guids gone out into the world in the worlds Spirit and so with that spirit they could not confesse Christ come in the flesh though in words they might say he was come in the flesh as all the Priests and Professors who are called Christians do now at this day in words confesse him but not with the Spirit confesse him as their fruits make it manifest Now saith the Apostle hereby know ye the Spirit of God Every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God And every Spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ as come in the flesh is not of God and this is the spirit of Antichrist whereof ye have heard that it should come and even now already is in the world Ye are of God little children and have over come them because greater is he that is in you then he that is in the world They are of the world therefore speak they of the world and the world heareth them We are of God he that knoweth God heareth us Hereby know me the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of Error John 1.4 1 2 3 4 5 6. verses Now if those had not had Christs words and confessed him in words to be come in the flesh while they were out of his life and of another spirit then the Apostle would not have called them Antichrists and Prophets and Teachers but he would have called them Jews or Gentiles or Heathers but this was it which did differ them from the Jews and unbelieving Gentiles and Heathers then Namely They had the words of Christ and the Saints and the Prophets and did professe them as the Priests and Teachers and Professors do now the Scriptures but are erred from the life of Christ and from the Spirit that was in the Saints who gave forth the Scriptures as they were then whom John speakes of erred from the life and Spirit of Christ and the Saints and so were Antichrists and false Prophets and false Teachers and Deceivers which were gone out into the World from the Saints life and Spirit and so the World heard them as they doe now the Priests and false Teachers and they drew people after them then from the Saints the true Church and so set up false Churches and Religions in the World and false worships in imitation of the true Church and true Religion and true worship of God which is in the Spirit and so by this means deceived people then at the first and scattered them from God and led them into confusion and darknesse and disorder and errour and so they broke out into many Sects and Opinions and Religions and wayes of Worship being once gone from the true Worship which is in the Spirit of God alone in which the unity is where this is wanting there cannot be unity nor gathering unto God nor true worship of God And so after the Apostles decease they being erred from the true Spirit who did professe themselves to be gatherers could not gather unto God but did draw people more and more from God and so the whole world went after the false Prophets and false Teachers And these were the grievous Wolves which entered and scattered the Flock which the Apostle spoke of before which should come and Christs words were fulfilled who said He that is not with me is against me and he that gathereth not with me scattereth So he that is not with Christ but is against him the same is Antichrist he that gathereth not with him but scattereth there is the grievous Wolfe that scattereth the Flock and spoyles the Sheep of the Lords pasture and makes havock of them And such are all they now at this day who are called Ministers and have been accounted gatherers and Divines and are called Orthodox men but are found to be Wolves in Sheeps cloathing who doe scatter the Flock and make havock of the Sheep of Christ and spoyle their goods and cast into Prison and whip and stock and cut off eares and wound and hang and banish c. and cause people to hayle them before Magistrates and stone and beat them knock them downe in streets for dead and haile out of the Synagogues and Steeple-houses and reproach and scoffe and scome and speake all manner of evill falsely against them who are true Christians that not only confesse Christ come in flesh in words but also in works and walke in that
spirit which confelseth him come in the flesh who walke harmlesly innocently and righteously before all men in meeknesse in patience in humillity in lowlinesse in truth and uprightnesse before the Lord in all their dealing and abide in Christs Doctrine to speake the truth in all their communications their yea to be yea and their nay nay who will not swear nor lye nor cozen nor cheat nor defraud their neighbours who are no fighters nor quarellers who resist not evill but doe good for evill and pray for enemies and blesse them that curse them who are not in the envy and hatred and malice and persecution but are persecuted for righteousnesse sake who covets no mans silver nor gold that are willing to deny themselves and their reputations in the world and forsake the worlds friendships to follow Christ and suffer the losse of all for Christs sake and the Gospell Now are not those grievous Wolvs Antichrists that turn against such and rent such c. I say are not these the grievous Wolves that are entered and the Antichrists that are gone out into the world And is there not now very many of them Antichrists and Wolves in Sheeps cloathing among the Professors and the Apostate Christians or Antichristians Who are out of the life of Christ and the true Christians Such are not with Christ but against him and such gathereth not with him but scattereth and rents and tears his Lambs and Sheep and persecutes Christ and his Church the true Christians who are followers of him and are gathered to him by his Spirit in them And if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Now the Antichrists who are gone out into the World and the Wolves come in Sheeps cloathing who inwardly are ravening Wolves these have not the Spirit of Christ in them nor are his and so do turne against him and his and they are of another spirit which their fruits doe make manifest whereby they may easily be known The true Christians knew them so merly and did bear their testimony against them so we know them now and have and doe beare our testimony against them for their fruits have appeared more plainly in this then in any age since the Arostles dayes Therefore now come all ye Priests Teachers and Professors in the world who are called Christians try your selves and examine your selves and see what spirit ye are of who act these things before mentioned against the true Christians and Sheep of Christ who by you in scorne are called Quakers who hear his voyce and follow him and yet ye confesse Christ in words to be come in the flesh But what spirit is this in you by which ye are led to act these things wherein ye are now found Is this the Spirit of Christ or the spirit of Antichrist gone out into the world which lyes in the wickednesse where there is many Antichrists and the world hears them for they are of its own but who are true Christians and followers of Christ Jesus who is not of this World and are led by his Spirit these the World will not hear nay the Priests and Professors therein but cry against them and speake all manner of evill against them falsely for Christs sake by whose spirit they are gathered out of the world and say hang them away with them they are not fit to live upon the earth and so would murder and kill and destroy By this we know that this spirit is not of God nor doth confess Christ come in the flesh but denyes him who came not to kill but to save mens lives and to destroy the Devill who was a murderer from the beginning and therefore we cannot beleeve that spirit but deny it and declare against it to be that spirit of Antichrist gone out into the World and the same spirit that was in the Scribes and Pharisees and Jewes who would have Jesus crucified Barrabbas released who was a Robber for he was of their own spirit and therefore they chused him before Jesus who was of another Spirit and bore witness against them for their hypocrisie and therefore they hated him And so now they that are of God in the Spirit of truth have tryed this spirit which the Priests are in now and have found it to be the spirit of errour which neither knoweth God nor loveth him For he that loveth not knoweth not God for God is love And so all who are found persecuting for conscience sake and compelling men to sweare and to worship God in their wayes which they have set up and hating and envying of people and reviling and reproaching for matter of Religion and worship c. are found to be of that spirit which is not of God which loves not nor knows not God who is love but is of the Devill who was a Murtherer from the beginning and a Lyar from the beginning and the father of all lyars and murtherers and Persecutors and envious ones who is out of the Truth from whence all lyes and murther and envy and pride and hatred and persecution and strife and emulations and enmity cometh and all the deeds of darknesse And he is the god of the world who hath blinded the minds of all men of the World that beleeve not lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ who is the Image of God should shine in them So he it is that makes people darke and blind to worke the works of darknesse and to act as blind men where they are walking in the darknesse and love it and put darknesse for light call good evill and evill good and know not whither they go nor know not the truth nor the way of God but persecute it and call it errour and heresie as it was in all ages past even so it is now for Truth was never persecuted under the name of Truth but of erruor and they who did persecute it were alwayes blind will be for they are out of the Truth and therefore they know it not as the Jewes did not know Christ for if they had known him they would not have crucified the Lord of life saith the Apostle So all the worlds Professors now are blind who doe persecute they are all groaping in the dark as the men of Sodom did who wearied themselves to find Lots doore Gen. 19.11 And so it hath been in the World in all their professions that hath beâ— since the dayes of the Apostles they have been fighting and â—â—â—ing and persecuting one another and hating and speaking evill one of another and even wearyed themselves by setting up of this forme and that forme of worship and making Lawes to compell to them which they have called Church Discipline and by running from one way of worship to another and from Mountain to Hill and have been climbing till they are weary and groaping in the dark till they are weary to
the right hand and the left the Sheep and the Goats him that serveth God and him that serveth him not between the righteous and the wicked between him that sweareth and him that feareth an oath So then ye will not put darknesse for Light and Light for darknesse nor call evil good nor good evil nor put bitter for sweet not sweet for bitter nor call that which is corrupt holy nor the proud happy as they did in former times who wereblind and as they do now who deny the Light of Christ and teach people that it is but a natural light c. These are they now who are blind and without discerning and tasting and savouring of the things of God and their hearts are hardned through the deceitfulnesle of sin and they are without feeling Now the Light of Christ wil let you see what is in your hearts and in your minds and in your thoughts and what ye think and what ye speake For a good man saith Christ out of the treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things and an evill man out of the treasure of his heart bringeth forth evill things Now whose minds are turned to the Light of Christ within it will let you see what treasure you have in your hearts and what ye do bring forth or whether ye be the good men which brings forth good things good words and good deeds good desires good motions good thoughts and good affections or whether ye be the evil men who out of the evil treasure of your hearts brings forth the evil things as evil thoughts evil words and evil deeds c. This will let ye see whether the good things be there or the evil things be there at all times if ye do minde it and shew ye what ye bring forth and what ye keep in secret which ye would not have seen for that is the evil doer who doth not doe truth that would not have his work seen and so doth not love the Light because the Light will reproove him but the good man who doth truth he loves it and brings his deeds to the Light to be proved And the Light will let ye see if there be any deceit or hypocrisie in your hearts or desperate wickednesse there and it will reprove for that and will search your hearts and try your Rains and let you see what rules there and what Reigns there in your hearts and in your minds and desires and affections and whether ye have any Rains to hold in your desires and affections that they should not run into the lusts and vanityes of the world and of the flesh yea or nay And it will let ye see whether ye have the girdle of truth to girt up the loins of your minds to God or whether they are at liberty and loose and tossed to and fro as the raging Sea yea or nay And it will let ye see whether ye have a Bit and Bridle for your tongue which otherwise will be unruly and thereby you will offend if ye use it as your own I say the Light will discover this unto every one whose minds are turned to it and wait in it and who hearken diligently to it and beleeve in it and obey it they shall come to know their souls to live For obedience to it is life and disobedience to it is death And now whilest men who have been in power to govern the Nations have been making laws without to bind mens consciences and to limit them and compell them to this or that worship and have been talking long of Reformation and Church-Government and have gathered-Churches as they have called them and made Leagues and Covenants and Assemblies of Divines so called to make confessions of Faith Catechismes and set-Forms of worships as Directoryes c. to worship God by and to settle Church-Government and have Laws that all that would not worship God in such a way and such a Form as they had set up to fine them imprison them and whip them and stock them and banish them and hang them or cut oft their ears c. These have been the Reformations in the world in the Apostacy among the Apostate Christians since the dayes of the Apostles ' Among the Protestants and Papists with their Laws and Statutes and Customes and Ordinances without and carnal Weapons and Goales and Whips and Houses of correction and Inquisitions and Fires and Faggots and Courts and Pennance and Stools of Repentance so called now all these things have been and are in order to their Reformation and worshipping of God and to bring people to the Kingdom of God But now mind People what hath all this produced For they have all this while begun at the wrong end of the work and their labour hath been in vain hitherto and will be and little Reformation hath been wrought among people all this while for many himdreds of years past but one Generation hath exceeded another in wickednesse pride and covetousnesse drunkennesse uncleannesse deceit and hypocrisie c. I say what hath it brought sorth but to make people hypocrites not Saints false Christians not true Christians and Wolves in Sheeps cloathing to professe God and Christ in words but in works to deny God And professe the Scriptures to be their Rule and yet they are walking as contrary to that which they call their Rule as if they had no Rule at all nor no Scripture at all nor no Law at all to bind them to this or that form of worship These are but Babels builders whose work the Lord is comingto confound throw down their languages is already confounded and they are all on heaps still After all their bustle and stir which the many builders have made for many hundreds of years about Religion and worship and Reformation and they are as far from the true worship as they were And people do not yet know the Truth nor the true worship of God which is in the Spirit And the Lord is seeking such to worship him as worship him in the Spirit and in the Truth for God is a Spirit But all the world Teachers and the Priests and Professors therein do not know the Spirit of God nor know not the truth yet and so were not like to worship God in it or to find him in their outward worships and carnal Ordinances and Doctrines and Commandements or in the outward Observations and Forms which men have prescribed Nay God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth Now all this while people have been erred from the Spirit of God and the Wolf hath been covered with the Sheeps cloathing and the Wolves nature still retain'd and lived in and not the Sheeps nature They have been all inwardly ravening Wolves and not in the true Christians nature which is the Divine Nature Innocent and harmlesse and separated from sinners Now it hath been contrary
sect or opinion or judgement or Religion soever they be of who deny the Light which Christ Jesus bath Lighted every one withall to be â—ufficient to lead to salvation 〈◊〉 I say they know not that which makes free from sin and death and brings to life no can they beleeve that when it is declared to them but say none can be free from sin on this fide of the grave and account it errour to say that any can be free from sin here or be righteous here without sin and say the most righteous man sins and he that is borne of God sin which is Blasphemy so to say and this is and hath been their doctrine in the world amongst the Priests and profelsors the Antichrists and Anrichristians who are out of the life of Christ and the true Christians that now their nakednesse appeares to thein shame because they have not submitted to the righteousnesse by faith in Christ Jesus that they might be covered with it who is the true Light to beleeve in the Light that by it they might be led unto Christ Jesus from whence it comes who is Gods righteousness and thereby know the righteousness of the Law fulfilled in them and know the kingdome of god within which cometh not with observation as Christ saith and the righreousness in which it stands and the power in which it stands is within and the Law of the Spirit which makes free from the Law of sin and death and the life which is eternall which is the gist of God through Jesus Christ in whom the Law of the Spirit of life is But now all who are pleading for sin and say None be free from sin here they are still under the Law of sin and death which Paul sayd he was made free from Sin is still a Law to them and they are servants to it and so they are free from righteousness as the Apostle said While ye were servants of sin ye were free from righteousness but being made free from sin ye became the servants of righteousness That at sin had reigned unto death so righteousness might reigne unto life through Jesus Christ our Lord And againe His servants ye are whom ye obey whether sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness Therefore come all ye Teachers and Professors of the World what say you Can none be made free from Sin and Death here while he is upon Earth what is there not a living man amongst you all who is quickned Is there none of you come up out of the Grave that can truly say Oh Death where is thy Sting Oh Grave where is thy Victory Thanks be to God who hath given me Victory over Death What are you all as Graves which men go over unawares Have none of you heard the Voyce of the Son of God yet which they that hear shall live Are you all dead in your sins and trespasses unquickned yet in the Fall in the first Adams state in the Disobedience by which Sin entare dinto the World and Death by Sin Are you all there still where Death reigns Is there none come to Life which is through the Obedience to Christ Jesus the second Adam the quickening Spirit the Lord from Heaven Have none of you the Word of God abiding in you which Word is Quick and Powerfull and the enterance of it gives Life Come forth and answer for your selves What are you all shur up in the unbelief untill this day and have not beleeved in him whom God hath sent who is the Resurrection and the Life who saith he that beleeveth in me shall live for ever he shall never dye for he hath Life in himself and he gives Life to every one that beleeveth What are you all searching the Scriptures which testifies of Christ and thinke to have eternall Life in them and you not yet come to Christ that you may have Life him whom the Scriptures testifies of and saith He is the trus Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the World that all might beleeve in the Light and become Children of Light and he who followeth him should not walke in darknesse but he shall have the Light of Life and know Christ Jesus who is the way so the Father the Truth and the Life who saith No man cometh unto the Father but by me I am come a Light into the World c. What doe you not beleeve Christ Or doe you thinke to find another Way to the Father an easier Way then Christ or a broader Way a Way which is not a Crosse to your Wills or a Way where you may walke your selves without a Guids that ye may goe whither you list but that 's not the Way to God as Christ told Peter when he was young he girt himself and went whither he would c. Answer me plainly to these Queries Oh ye Priests and Professors who have been so long talking of the Scriptures but have been out of the Truth and out of the Life of Righteousnesse and out of the Light and out of the Way who have been wandering in the Darknesse not knowing whether you goe and seeking the Living amongst the Dead and are erred from the Truth in your hearts and hold it in the unrighteousnesse professing the true Words but are and have been out of the Truth and so could never be established there for none can ever be established but in the Truth and in the Righteousnesse But ye have been out of the Life and so are dead men still and are yet in the Graves and have not heard his Voyce that should raise you up yet because you have not hearkened diligently that your souls might live though you have been long talking of him and searching for him without in the Observations and have been saying Lot here is Christ and Lot he is there in this Form or in that Forme of Worship and in this or that Ordinande so Death hith heard of the fame of Wisdome and hath been talking of the fame of Wisdome which is justisied of her Children but ye who only have been talking of Wisdome and speaking of it while you were in the Death and did not learne the Way to Life ye are but soolish Children and are not justified for you have all been but as the foolish Virgins the best of you who have had Lamps but wanted Oyle and so ye are in the darke still your Lamps are not burning nor your Lights shining neither hath your Light so shined before men that they may see your good workes and glorifie the Father But you have all professed that which ye did not possesse and so are found in the hypocrisie and your righteousnesse hath been like the Righreousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees whom Christ told should in is wise enter into the Kingdome of Heaven Now all that are but there will be shut out though you have
the hidden things of dishonesty comes to be laid open to the view of all men For the day is come and coming which reveals all things and which will prove every mans work of what sort it is And every man shall receive a reward according to his deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil Therefore all people in whom there is any fear of the Lord or any desire after the knowledge of his way or any love to his truth or to your souls peace and welfare It is high time for you to look about you and to consider your wayes what ye have beendoing and what ye are doing for the times of ignorance God hath winked at but now he calls all men every where to repent For it is not a Profession of the words now will serve you without the possession of the life for that will not be accepted of God But all to repent and turn from the evil of your wayes which ye have long been reproved for by the light of Christ Jesus in you which is Gods witnesse in all your consciences which otherwise will be your eternal condemnation for your profession of Christ will not serve you nor hide you nor your mountains nor your hills where ye have been gotten up high and looking for salvation from them but it hath been all in vaine Come down from them to Gods witnesse in you and hearken to that what that doth testifie to you for that is true and will not lye nor deceive you for that is of God and leads to God And with the Lord Jehovan alone is Salvation and with him is everlasting strength For those mountains will all fly away from you which ye now do trust in and they shall not hide you from the face of the Lamb though ye may call to them to cover you and to the Rocks to fall upon you nay though ye seek death it shall fly from you Therefore I say in time all be warned and hearken diligently that your souls may live And away with all your false and deceitful coverings which are but as so many Fig-leaves sowed together to cover your nakednesse which will not endure long and your profession will wither suddenly and your nakednesse will then appear more to your shame then if ye had made no profession at all to have that pluckt off wherewith ye have been covered all this while which made ye seem to be some body when that is gone then ye will be naked and as it were like no body and have nothing to cover your shame from the eyes of all for Christ Jesus disowns ye who are workers of iniquity and ye must depart from him and not name his Name For it s not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven saith Christ But while ye have been seeking to be justified by Christ and yet lived in sin and are found sinners ye have not been doing the will of God for thereby ye would make Christ the Minister of sin who came to destroy sin and the Devil who is the Author of it and therein he did the will of the Father and plased him And so as many as receive him and beleeve in his name to them he gives power to become the sons of God and to doe his will in earth as it is done in Heaven which ye have been praying so long and saying these words but do not beleeve in your hearts that any shall ever attain to that here which you pray for therefore it s not of faith for with the heart man beleeveth unto righteousness c. and ye are not like to recelve that which ye cannot beleeve so ye are not come to the measure of faith even as a grain of Mustard-seed for he that hath it shall say unto this Mountain be thou removed into the Sea and it shall be so saith Christ But these are all parables to all you Professors in the world unknown as it was to them to whom they were spoken then But who comes to the Light of Christ Jesus to beleeve in it they read the parables and they know the faith that removes the Mountains and brings them down and exalts the valleys and makes the crooked ways straight and the rough wayes plain and prepares the way of the Lord in the Wildernesse and make straight paths for his feet and such knows the kingdome of God to come where his will is done on sarth as in Heaven and where the daily bread is received and sins forgiven and enemies loved And Christ said to those that did not know nor beleeve If I toll ye of earthly things and ye cannot beleeve how should you beleeve if I tell you of Heavenly things John 3.12 And again I speak that which I have seen with my Father and ye speak that which ye have seen with your father John 8.39 Therefore all ye Professors of the Scriptures and Teachers of the Prophets and Christs words and the words which ye have received by tradition from your fathers It s no wonder if the things declared of by the Prophets Christ and the Saints be strange to you that ye neither know them nor can believe them seeing ye me all erred from the Spirit of the Father even that Spirit which was in the Prophets Christ and the Apostles and Saints which shews plainly of the Father and shewed them things to come which was and now is the Saints Comforter which Christ said he would send Even the Spirit of Truth which should lead them into all Truth and should bring all things to their remembrance This the Saints did receive in former times by which they did plainly declare what they had heard and what they had seen and tasted and handled of the word of life And this the Saints do now receive even the same Spirit of the Father which was in the Saints and is now in the Saints and shall be in the Saints to the end of the World as Christ said by which the Saints do now know the Scriptures which were spoken forth by the Spirit of God in the holy men of God and understand them and witnesse the thing they speake of So that they are not a Book sealed to us nor parrables to us who come to enjoy the things they speake of which is freely given to us of God as they were to them who spake forth the Scriptures as the Apostle said 1 Cor. 2.11 12 13. We have not received the spirit of this World but we have received the Spirit which is of God by which we know the things which are freely given to us of God which things we declare in the plain demonstration of the Spirit and not with words which mans wisdome teacheth comparing spirituall things with spirituall But the naturall man perceiveth not
the things of God for they are foolishnesse to him neither can he receive them because they are spiritually discerned And so with this Spirit which we have receiv'd of God the Father the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ doe-we speaks of the things of God which we have seen with him by which Spirit the Saints are now led to declare forth the Truth to the world as it is revealed in them from the Father of spirits as the Children of God did formerly by the same Spirit who said As many as are the Sons of God the same are led by the Spirit of God And so now it is as every one hath received the Gift of the Father so to minister to others and according to the abillity which God hath given from whence every good and perfect Gift doth come from the Father of lights with whom is no variablenesse nor shadow of turning And this we know and declare that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his which is the gift of the Fathers love and he that hath it hath received it freely from the Father from whence every good and perfect gift doth come Mark Who receives a gift from God they receive that which is perfect that which is heavenly that which is free and that which comes from the Father of Lights and so with that they see and know and can freely declare of the things of God of the heavenly things of that which is perfect of that which is holy of that which is true of that which sins not of that which is born of God which overcomes the World as the Saints did of old who said hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit 1 John 4.13 No otherwise can any one know him now truly but by his Spirit which quickens and makes alive unto God For it is life eternall to know thes the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent saith the Saints and herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldnesse in the day of the Lord for as he is so are we in this present World And we know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding and we know him that is true and we are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ This is the true God and eternall life and this we have not of our selves but this we have freely received from God as the Saints had and this we freely declare and testifie to the world as they did that so others might come to receive of the same from him in whom the fullriesse of the God-head dwells of whose fullnesse have we all recelved and grace for grace And so we have nothing to boast of or glory in of our selves for it is by grace which is the free Gift of God that we are what we are that no flesh might glory in his sight but that all the Honour and the Praise and the Glory might be given unto God alone from whence every good and perfect gift cometh And now Oh all ye Priests and Teachers and Professors unto whom these things seemes strange which we declare of so that ye cannot beleeve them but get up into rage and envy against us to persecute and reproach us and speak all manner of evill falsely against us as your forefathers did the Scribes and Pharisees who were Hypocrites against Christ and the Saints in former times who did declare of those things then which the blind guides did not know nor could beleeve and therefore did they persecute them and haile them before Magistrates and cast them into Prisons and put them to death though the things which the Saints did declare were true and the same which Moses and the Prophets the holy men of God had declared of which should come to passe and so did come to passe according to their words yet now the Scribes and Pharisees and Jewes who had the words of Moses and the Prophets and were the greatest Professors of Religion then that were in the World they having the words but being out of the power out of the Life of Abraham and Moses and the Prophets that declared those things by the Spirit of God these I say being erred from the Spirit did not know the things which the holy men of God did foretell of to come The holy thing which was to be borne which is called the Son of the living God and when he was come they did unto him as they listed crucified the Lord of Life because they knew him not Though they said they were Abraham's children and knew God and were Moses Disciples and were called Jewes and rested in the Law and made their boasts of God and that they knew his Will and did approve of the things that are more excellent and were confident that they themselves were guides to the blind and a light to them that are in darknesse and Instructers of the foolish and Teachers of babes which had the forme of knowledge and of the truth in the Law Thou therefore saith the Apostle that teachest another teachest thou not thy selfe c. All these were untaught themselves though they were teachers of the Law they were Transgressors of the Law and when Christ Jesus came who was the substance the holy Seed the end of the Law who fullfilled it and brought in everlasting righteousness who was the Way to God the Truth and the Life they knew him not but slew him And so it is at this day the Professors of the World who only have the name of Christians persecute them that are in the true Christians life and nature for they were blind Leaders of the blind as Christ told them and that they were of their father the Devill who was a lyar and a Murderer from the beginning for whom God hath sent him ye beleeve not but seeke to kill him And so though they had the true mens words and the righteous mens words and the just mens words yet they were erred from their Spirit and therefore they knew not the just and righteous One and Holy one of Israel but were in the murtherous spirit and in the lying spirit which is of the Devill who did not abide in the truth and in the envious spirit and in the persecuting spirit which is not of God as all ye Priests and Professors are found in at this day which spirit I say is not of God nor received of God For the fruits of Gods Spirit is Love Meeknesse Gentlenesse Patience Long-suffering Charity c. But the fruits of your spirit is the contrary as the fruits of theirs was coutrary who persecuted the Saints in former times as the Scriptures declares and plainly makes manifest And so now ye come to be tryed and seen and manifest and declared against by the same Spirit as was in
the Saints formerly and the testimony thereof we know is true and your deceit and hypocrisie comes to be laid open as theirs were whom ye have been crying against for many yeares the Scribes and Pharisees and Jewes who crucified Christ and killed the Saints and Prophets and have been envying against them and have a Law made that none of the Jewes should come into this Nation c. and speake against them as they did against the false Prophets and their fore-fathers that slew the true Prophets and said if they had been in the dayes of their fore-fathers they would not have done so but Christ told them not withstanding that they were the Children of them that killed the Prophets and they built their Tombs and garnished the Sepulchers of the righteous And he called them Whited Walls and painted Sepulchers and Serpents and a generation of Vipers c. Therefore come now ye Professors and Teachers and Priests own your fore-fathers the Scribes and Pharisees and Jewes which are gone before you whom ye have cryed against and said ye would not have done as they did And yet have ye not done and are doing many of the same things as they did in persecuting of the righteous for now have ye not slaine the Prophet in you which Moses spake of Saying Like unto me will the Lord raise up a Prophet in the midst of you him ye shall hear in all things c. And are ye not slaying and persecuring the righteous and killing the just who doth not resist you and are painting and garnishing the Sepulchers and building the Tombs of the Prophet and of the righteous And are in your faire outside Worships as they were to be seen of men and crying 〈◊〉 this Forme and the other Forme of Church government and this Ordinance and the other Ordinance and this way of Worship and the other way of Worship and crying up this Learned man and the other Rabbi and are in your Observations as they were and have set up the Jewes Tythes which were to the first Priesthood and so deny Christ Jesus the second Priesthood and have set up Sacraments and Sabboths and Schools and Colledges and Churches which God never commanded and giving them Saints names as the Papists do and call the Papists old Masse-houses Churches and so are crying up dead things and dead Names and Ordinances of men and Doctrines of men and things which may be touched tasted and handled which all perish with the using And by these things have ye kept people in the Death while they have seemed to live and have made a great stirre and bustle in the World for many hundreds of yeares by crying them up and setting them up and your Ministry or Ministers as the Oracles of God and the maintenance for them and have killed some for witnessing against these things and have been ready to kill one another about these things and could not agree about them and one hath built a Wall and another hath dawbed with untempered Morter and so have been dawbing and dawbing to keep it up from falling and whiteing of it to make it appear beautifull to please men and to be seen of men And all this invented Worship and Imitations which ye have set up and brought people into are but as so many Tombes and Sepulchers of the righteous and these have been cryed up by the Priests for Divine Institutions and Orthodox and Canonical and whiteed over with large Pretences and plausible Arguments and undeniable Consequences as they have called them and the poor people have received all this for Gospell and Ordinances of Christ and of his Church as if Christ had been there present who is the true Prophet and the Righteous Seed which the Promise is to when as there was nothing but Tombes and Sepulchers of the Prophets and of the Righteous which they had garnished And so people while ye have been in these things ye have been all in the darknesse and in the Death and have been all as Graves which men goe over unawares being erred from the Spirit which quickens and makes alive which Spirit was in the Prophets by which they Prophesied and declared forth the Truth which came to passe accordingly to the Jewes That in seeing they should see and not perceive and in hearing they should hear but not understand which also is come to passe in these our dayes among all the Teachers and Professors who have been thus dawbing and building and painting the Tombes and Sepulchers and whiteing the Walls the just hath been killed and he hath not resisted you and the Prophet lyes flain in you all and ye understand not nor hear him nor see him neither have perceived nor known his Voyce who is the true Light that lighteth every one that all in the Light might beleeve him whom Moses said was like unto him whom the Lord would raise up a Prophet from the midst of them whom ye should hear in all things And it shall come to passe saith he that whosoever will not hearken unto this Prophet shall be cut off from amongst the people And so Moses saw and declared of concerning Christ that which ye do not know nor see nor hear though ye have long been talking of him and naming of his Name but it was but death speaking of the fame of Wisdome because ye have been erred from his Spirir which is the Spirit of truth which convinceth the World of sin and reproves them for sin but this the World cannot receive which doth reprove them for their sins and evill deeds because they love their sins and evill deeds and not God Now they that love the Lord hate evill but he that loves not God nor receives the Light of Christ nor beleeves in it which is the true Pro and faithfull Witnesse of God he loves his evill deeds but hates the Light which reproves him for his sins and evill deeds and therefore the Light is his condemnation as Christ saith and so this is not their Comforter who beleeve not but love their evill deeds But this is he whom we have received and followed even Christ Jesus who is come a Light into the World and denyed our selves and our own Wills for him and taken up his Crosse and we know the Prophet raised the Spirit of truth come which is our Comforter in all our troubles and leads us into all truth and brings all things to our remembrance and knowledg which were spoken before by the Prophets Christ and the Saints which Spirit is in us which was made manifest in the flesh and dwelt amongst the Saints and they saw his Glory who was the begotten Son of God and did hear Testimony of him who said unto them who beleeved in him I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever Even the Spirit of truth whom the World cannot receive Mark Because it
And this we can declare forth freely unto the Nations round about which we have freely received of him even of his Spirit of truth which was the promise of the Father To lead us into all truth whereby we are come to know the Leadings of the Spirit and know that we are the Children of God and taught of God and led by his Spirit and this is it which doth comfort our hearts and assure us that we are his Children And as many as are the Sons of God the same are led by the Spirit of God as the Children of this world are led by the spirin that is of the world which is of him who is called the God of the world whose work it is to blinde the mindes of people as we were also at well as others while we were in the vaine conversation and walked according to the course of this world even the Prince of the power of the ayre that spirit which now worketh in all the Children of disobedience And they may be easily known for they are full of ayre and talke of that which they possesse not of others conditions and not their own and so have been in travell as it were but have brought forth nothing but wind have a form of godlinesse but want the power and are talking of the Spirit of God but are led by the spirit of this world and are disobedient to the manifestation of the Spirit of God which reproveth them for sin and checks them secretly when they doe evill But all who receives it and are obedient to it they know the movings of the Spirit and the teachings and leadings of the Spitit and what it is to be borne of the Spirir and what it is to live in the Spirit and to walke in the Spirit and to mortifie the deeds of the body by the Spirit and so to be quickned by the Spirit and what it is to be raysed up from the Dead with Christ by his Spirit dwelling in them Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ the same is none of his Therefore how can any of the Priests and Teachers and professors in the world confesse Christ come in the flesh and know not the Spirit which is of God c. Who say they have not the same Spirit that was in Christ the Apostles and Saints and say none have the same Spirit now which they had Therefore I say truly they are not like to know that Spirit who are erred from it nor confesse Christ come in the flesh who are of another spirit which not being the same must needs be the spirit of this world which is the spirit of Antichrist by which they cannot know the things of God for none knowes the things of God saving the Spirit of God neither were they like to discerne them or demonstrate them by the Spirit which they have not but are erred from it nor know the Scriptures which were given forth by the Spirit of God in the Prophets Christ and the Apostles but give their private interpretation of them and meaning which they add to them which is of no private Interpretation for the Spirit of the Lord was but one in all them that spoke them forth and them who are in the same Spirit and Life now reads them and knows them again as they were spoken and knows the Interpretation of them which is not private but publique and plaine and manifest But all who are of another spirit they are erred not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God as Christ sayd and so they neither know that which hath been spoken by the Spirit of God formerly not what the same Spirit speaketh expressely now not what the Scripture meanes where it is spoken plainly and expressely And truly it is no wonder now to see it so for people and their teachers are so farr erred from the Spirit by which the Scriptures were spoken forth that it is become a strange thing which cannot be beleeved even amongst all forts of professors who are called Christians For one to say he is moved by the Spirit of the Lord to speake or to pray or to doe any thing else as the servants of the Lord were in former times and this is become a scorne and derision amongst them which is a shame to them and doth plainly manisest what spirit they are of Now if they were Children of God or Sons of God who are led by the Spirit of God as some of th one professe themselves to be mark this diligently then must they needs know the meaning of the Spirit of God and the leadings of it otherwise it could not lead them and they not know it And they would be in the spirituall feeling and tasting and savouring and discerning of the things of God in themselves and of the fruits of the Spirit in others brought forth and try all Spirits with that and know them and love the good and not mocke and scoffe at them And so I say then it would not be a strange thing unto them if they themselves were come to know a motion or leading by the Spirit of God in themselves which would manifest that they were the Children of God and Sons of God that they were of Christ who have his Spirit and are led by it and so were true Christians and followers of Christ and this would be a true restimony to themselves and to others And then surely they neither any of you would mocke or scoffe or scorne at any who can witnesse the same But now the want of this hath caused your nakednesse appear to your shame and to the shame of all your blinde guides whom ye have so long been following for teaching who have caused you to erre by their lyes otherwise they might have brought you to have known the truth before now and to have raught you better manners then to have scoffed at it and at those who have declared it amongst you and walke in it whom you in scorne call Quakers and utter forth evill words which corrupts the good manners howsoever if it were so that we were not in the truth but in the errour and not moved by the Spirit of the Lord as ye say but erred from it then we were but where ye are Now Friends this I say and testifie in the Lord and know assuredly that my testimony is true and Gods witnesse in all your Consciences shall beare witnesse to it to be true and the Scriptures of truth will beare witnesse to the same That ye cannot say in truth whom any of you doe scoffe or scorne or mocke or reproach any of us or others that ye are moved thereunto by the Spirit of God or led unto it by the Spirit of God or taught by the Spirit of God to doe so or taught by the Scriptures to doe so which the holy men of God spoke forth which ye call your rule Neither can ye say