in this present world and it will teach them for to do unto all People as they would be done unto themselves and it will teach them for to deal and to do justly to all men and to love and shew mercy unto all People and to walk in Lowliness and in true Humility before the Lord and these things the Lord requires of every one and it is the duty of every one so to do And now if this good Spirit of Christ did bear rule in every ones Heart it would lead and guide them in all Truth and Righteousness and it would lead and bring them out of all the wicked and ungodly Ways and Worships and evil Practices which are acted and done amongst all the Sons and Daughters of men which are now in the fall and live in Sin and Transgression against God and so are found to be in the unregenerate state and such are dead in their Sins and Trespasses tho' their Bodies be alive in this World and if this good Spirit aforesaid did bear rule in every Heart there would not be that Killing nor Destroying one another neither about Religion nor no earthly thing whatsoever and therefore I would have all People to take notice that there are two Spirits a good Spirit and an evil Spirit and the good Spirit comes from God and the evil Spirit comes from the Devil and the good Spirit leads People up to God to have fellowship communion with him in spirit in their hearts souls and this is the only Communion which is spiritual that is alone necessary and needful for every one to know in truth as to their Everlasting Happiness with the Lord when time here in this World shall be no more to them And the evil Spirit draws and leads people from God into all manner of Sin and Wickedness some into one kind of Sin and some into other kind of Sin so that all People upon the Earth are Sinners and live in Sin so long as this evil Spirit guides and bears rule in their hearts and every one is a Servant to whether of these two Spirits he doth obey and to whether of these two Spirits be yields his Members servants unto his Servants they are to whom they do obey whether it be unto that spirit which leads them into Sin and Evil which is the wicked Spirit or it be that they do obey the good Spirit which leads and guides all them that are led and guided by it into all Truth and Righteousness and out of all Sin and Iniquiry And whosoever hath not the Spirit of Christ they are none of his let them profess what they will or be of what Judgment or Religion soever if they have not the Spirit of Christ in them for to teach and instruct and counsel them they are none of Christ's Servants nor Ministers read these Scriptures Rom. 8. 6. to vers 15. Rom. 6. 12. to the end 1 John 3. 4. to vers 11. Tit. 2. 11. to the end John 1. 1. to vers 13. 1 Cor. 12. 7. And all them that do love and believe in the Light and Spirit of Christ in them which shews them Sin and reproves them in their own Hearts and Consciences many times when they do sin insomuch that I have heard several people say when they have sinned I pray God forgive me when as at that time no Person outwardly did speak to them but it was the Light and Spirit of Christ in them that shewed them that they had sinned against the Lord at that time and whosoever minds and takes heed to that Light and Spirit of Christ in them and believes in it so as to obey and follow it it will not only shew them their Sins and evil Deeds which they have done and committed against the Lord but it will beget a perfect hatred against all Sin in them that do truly love and believe in this Light and good Spirit aforesaid and it will beget secret crys and breathings unto the Lord in their hearts and souls that he would be pleased to pardon them and to give them power for the time to come to forsake the evil of their Ways and Doings that they might never sin against the Lord any more and this hath been my state and conâ—â—â—ion and many more of the People of God and now we can say in truth to the praise and glory of the Lord it is spoken that we that were Sinners and Unbelievers and were dead in Sins Trespasses in days years that are past and gone as well as others and then at that time when we were in that sad and miserable state and condition as aforesaid the Lord was pleased out of his infinite love mercy goodness for to reveal and make known himself unto us even at that time when we were Enemies Aliens and Strangers unto him by wicked Works which we had done against the Lord notwithstanding all our Profession of Religion and fair pretences which we made that we did love the Lord and believe in him and did worship and serve him as we thought then but it pleased the Lord of his great love and kindness to us to appear in our hearts by his Light and good Spirit which he manifested and revealed in us at that time and the Lord was pleased by his Light and Spirit for to search our hearts and to let us see the deceit and the evil that was in our hearts by reason of Sin and Iniquity which the Enemy of our Souls which is the wicked spirit had wrought in our hearts and we knew it not when we lived in our sins and took pleasure and delight therein and so instead of denying our selves from doing those things which did offend and displease the Lord we did those things which did offend him and grieve his holy Spirit as too many do now and when we did those things which grieved the Lord we did not then walk in the strait and narrow way that leads to Life and Peace with the Lord but we were then walking in the broad and wide way that leads to Hell and Destruction which many Thousands are now walking in that live in their sins and take pleasure and delight therein but now the Lord out of his free love and grace and mercy hath called us out of the evil of the World and the vain Conversation that people live and walk in both Professors and Prophane and he hath revealed and made known his Mind and Will unto us what he would have us for to do and what he requires of us which is to live the Lord with all our Hearts above all visible things that are in the World and also to fear serve honour and obey him in Truth and Righteousness and to do justly with all men and to love Mercy and walk Humbly with God and now we find that the Lord hath made a Remnant of us freely willing for to serve and obey him and to do his Will in what he makes known
came upon them thus to destroy them And they have taken away Goods and Chattels from us worth many Thousands of Pounds And all these Cruelties and Wickedness they have done and acted against us is only because we could not for good Conscience-sake pay them Tythes and Money for their Preaching as Ministers of Christ which we know in our own Hearts and Consciences and also by the Scriptures of Truth that neither Christ nor his true Ministers never ordained any such wages nor they never practiced any such things nor never took Tythes nor Money for their Preaching nor never preached such a Doctrine as these Tything Hireling-Priests do now But on the contrary they denyed all such ungodly ways and practices and spoke against them and said That Covetousness is Idolatry and the love of Money is the Root of all Evil And that these things ought not to be done nor practiced amongst the Ministers of Christ and as the Apostle Paul said so say we If any one Preach any other Gospel or any other Doctrine than that which the Ministers of Christ preached unto the People formerly let him be accursed And the Ministers of Christ were endued with Power fâ—â—â— on High and they were taught of Christ and the Gospel which they preached they neither received is of man neither were they taught it of man neither did they learn it at any outward Schools of humane Learning neither did they buy it for Money but the Lord did reveal it unto them by his holy Spirit which He gave unto them freely and so they Preached freely without any Tythes or Money neither did they go to Law nor compel nor cast any sort of People into Prison because they gave them not Tythes nor Money for their preaching And therefore I do affirm that all the Priests and Clergy-Men that are in the whole World that either preach or teach to any sort of People for either Tythes or Money or both they are all guilty before the Lord of that great Sin of Covetousness and the love of Money which is the Root of all Evil besides many other great Sins which they are guilty of in the sight of God And the Wicked and the Unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God nor any Covetous Man who is an Idolater hath any Inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ or of God Read these Scriptures 1 Cor. 6. 9 10. Eph. 5. 3 4 5 6. Col. 3. 5. 6. Heb. 13. 5. Luke 12. 15. And whereas many of you Clergy-Men and others have falsly accused us in saying That we deny Authority and will not be subject nor obedient to Authority c. To which I Answer not only for my self but in the behalf of my Friends who are in scorn called Quakers And this I can certainly say and declare unto all sorts of People that we do really own and honour Authority in our Hearts such who are Men of Truth and hate Covetousness and all such as punish Evil-Doors and incourage them that do Well and all such Magistrates as these I do believe are ordained and appointed of God to be a Terror to the Wicked and them that do Evil and such are a means to hinder the Wicked form acting such gross Wickedness as many of them would do if it were not for fear of an outward Law and of such Magistrates as they know will punish them for their Offences and such Magistrates as those that are a means for to incourage and strengthen people in doing that which is good and to suppress Vice We are willing for to be subject and obedient to them in all things that are Temporal which is lawful and expedient to be done And all those Magistrates which now bear Rule or may hereafter come to bear Rule amongst us we can promise and ingage unto them That we will never Plot nor Contrive any Evil thing against them nor any of them whereby to hurt or wrong them any manner of way We shall never rise up in Rebellion against any Governour or Government whatsoever as to sight against them with any Carnal Weapon and if they should be suâ—fered to make Laws against us as many have done formerly and command us to dâ—â— at which we know is a Sin against the Lord if we do it or if they should require any thing of us which we cannot do for Conscience sake yet notwithstanding we shall not resist them by force of Arms but by the help of the Lord I hope we shall be made willing by him for to give up our Bodies and Estates to suffer for Christ's sake whatsoever the Lord may suffer them to do against us And this the People of God did in all Ages that were and are faithful and obedient to him in what he manifested unto them as for instance Did not the Rulers Imprison Peter and John and afterwards they threatened to punish them and commanded them That they should not speak nor teach to any man in the Name of Jesus And they answered and said unto them Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye And they said further We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard And they departed from the presence of the Council rejoycing that they were worthy to suffer shame for the Name of Christ and daily in the Temple and in every House where they came they ceased not to Teach and Preach Jesus Christ And the Rulers and Chief Priests and Pharisees and such like wicked People persecuted many of the Ministers of Christ and did imprison and abuse them exceedingly and some they killed only for preaching the Gospel and speaking against their ungodly Ways and evil Practices which they lived and walked in yet notwithstanding they could not put them to silence by all their Cruelties and Persecutions which they inflicted upon them neither could they hinder them that were living from preaching the Gospel And so it is good for every one of us to be faithful unto the Lord in what he makes known unto us and trust him and be willing to give up to suffer for his sake if he calls us thereunto and he will appear in his own good time for our deliverance out of all our Troubles and Tryals both inward and outward wherein we shall have cause to bless and praise the Name of the Lord for his great love and kindness to us who is worthy to have all the Honour Glory Praise and Thanks for unto him alone it doth belong both from me and from all that know him experimentally both now and for evermore Read these Scriptures 〈…〉 and Chap. 〈…〉 Acts 4. Chap. 6. 8. vers to the end Acâ— 7. 5â— vers to the end And now I shall menâ—ion something concerning false Prophets who they are anâ— now they may be known because such things have been cast upon 〈◊〉 that have spoken in our Meetings that They were false Prophets and if it were possible
his Works and all things above expressed they say that They do forsake them all which is a Lye in the sight of God and his People And these Persons and People which do so promise and say as aforesaid they are such as live and act in sin and evil which is of the Devil who is the author of all sin and evil that is committed against God by all the Sons and Daughters of men in the fall who are unregenerated and not born again of the Water and Spirit of Life and these people which do thus say and promise as aforesaid they are such as do not believe that Perfection from Sin can be attained unto in this Life and that none shall be set free from Sin so long as they live in this World such as these take upon them to be called Godfathers and Godmothers and the Children which these people stand up for and promise so on their behalf are taught to ask them Blessing and to call them Godfathers and Godmothers which thing is unwarrantable in the fight of God the Maker and Creator of all mankind and of all other Creatures whatsoever And how dare any People be so bold and wicked as to take upon them for to be so called as aforesaid And further where do you find or read in all the Scriptures that any of the Ministers of Christ did Marry any People or did say Prayers over the Dead or Churched any Women as it is called and all these things the Clergy-Men aforesaid do and practice for Money besides their Tithes and Money for Preaching And further where do ye find or read in all the Scriptures that any of the true Bishops and Ministers of Christ that were ordained and appointed by him did assume to themselves and did take upon them such high Names and Titles as to be called Lord and Masters as these Bishops and Clergy-Men do â—ow And where do ye find or read in all the Scriptures â—â—at Timothy and Titus were called Lord Bishops which were true Bishops and ordained of God And where had they any Bishopricks and many hundreds of Pounds by the Year as these Bishops have now And are not these great Names and Titles and these rich Bishopricks which they own and have gotten to themselves contrary to the mind and will of God and contrary to the practice of the true Bishops which were ordained of the Lord and contrary to the Scriptures be not a means to beget them into Pride and Highmindedness and Self-exaltation and not into Humility and Lowliness of Heart so as to be gifted and qualified as the true Bishops were that were ordain'd of God And where do you find or read in all the Scriptures that ever any of the true Prophets or Ministers of Christ were called Master as a Name or Title to set up Self above the common sort of People And did not Christ cry Wo against all such that went in long Robes and had the uppermost Room at Feasts and love Greetings in the Markets and the Chief Seats in the Synagogues and are called of men Rabbi which is Master And Christ said unto his Ministers Be not ye called Masters for one is your Master even Christ and ye are Brethren and be that is the greatest among you shall be your Servant And the Apostle Paul who was a true Minister of Christ said That though I be free from all Men yet I have made my self Servant unto all that I might gain the more And so he was not called Lord nor Master as a flattering Title amongst men which upholds Pride and Highmindedness as these Bishops and Clergy-Men are now And did ever the Ministers of Christ demand ten Shillings for a Mortuary and take it as these Clergy-Men do now And further where do you find or read in all the Scriptures that any of the Ministers of Christ set People to sing David's Psalms which are put into Rhime and Meter by Hopkins and Sâ—erhould and others And whether they that sing David's Psalms now and are not in his state and condition that he was in when he spoke those Words which are recorded in the Book of Psalms do not such sing Lyes in Hypocrisie yea or nay For though those Sayings were true in David because he was in that condition which he spoke of at that time when he spoke those Words but those Sayings are not true in them that know nothing of his condition for he was in several conditions as may be seen in the Book of Psalms And how can people sing so long as their Souls are in Captivity and they themselves in bondage to Sin and so people must come to know Salvation and Redemption wrought by Christ in them from their Sins and Iniquities before they can sing in Truth And further where do you find or read that the Ministers of Christ had a Book of Common-Prayer or a Mass-Book provided for them for to read to people for Money as these Clergy-Men do now Or where do ye find in all the Scriptures that any of the Ministers of Christ or any other People that were true Believers and Followers of Christ did ever read and say their Prayers in a Book when the Lord moved them by his holy Spirit to pray unto him but they waited upon the Lord until they were endued with Power from on High and then they preached and prayed according as the Lord by his Spirit in them did help and assist them and gave them utterance for to do and perform what the Lord did require of them as appertaining to the Worship and Service of God And now I shall propound one thing more which is of great Concernment Where do ye find or read in all the Scriptures that ever any of the Ministers of Christ or any true Christians or Saints who were true Believers and Followers of Christ that any of them did compel or demand any Money of any sort of People for mending and repairing those Houses and Places where the true Ministers and People of God meet for to worship him in And now I have something more to declare unto all that profess Christianity and Salvation by Christ which do say and believe that they are already Saved and Redeemed and Justified by Christ and his Righteousness without them although they be of that Faith and Perswasion that They must live in Sin as long as they live upon the Earth and that none can be set free from Sin in this Life c. To which I Answer That all that are of that Faith and Perswasion are deceived by the Deceiver and that Faith and Perswasion was never begotten by the Lord but by the evil one who is the author of all Sin and Evil For I do affirm that all People that know Christ spiritually and experimentally to be their Saviour and Redeemer and that he hath already saved and redeemed and justified them then no such persons nor 〈◊〉 will any more plead for Sin nor a continuance in 〈◊〉 term
of Life but all such people do believe that Freedom from Sin is to be attained unto in this Life and all such People that are truly saved and redeemed and justified by Christ as aforesaid they hate Sin and every appearance of it in Thoughts Words end Actions both in themselves and in all others where they see Sin 〈…〉 ed acted and done against the Lord But mark what followes That before any can come to know experimentally that Christ hath saved and redeemed and justified them they must first come to know Sin to be mortified killed and destroyed in their Heaâ—â— by the working of the Power and Spirit of Christ in them and also they must come to know Sanctification to be wrought in their Hearts by the power of the Lord in them before that they can come to know or to witness Justification by Christ and his Righteousness For all that are or shall be truly saved and redeemed and justified by Christ they are and shall be saved and redeemed and justified by Christ from their Sins and from their Iniquities but not in their Sins nor in their Iniquities for Christ Jesus neither saves nor redeems nor justifieth any Man or Woman is their Sins but from their sins and whosoever he she or they are that live and act in Sin and Evil and takes pleasure and delight therein and pleads for a continuance in Sin term of Life and believes that there is none that can be set free from Sin in this Life their is no such persons nor people that are already say 〈◊〉 nor redeemed not justified by Christ and his Righteousness But some may object and say Did not Christ come to save Sinners and to justifie 〈…〉 It is true that he did so but he came not to save Sinners in their sins nor to justifie the Ungodly in their Ungodliness but from their Sins and from their Ungodliness as they in love and obedience to God came to forsake their Sins and their Ungodliness And there is no Man nor Woman upon the Earth that can know Christ in Truth and experimentally to be their Saviour and Redeemer and Justifier any further than he doth save and redeem and justifie them from their Sins and from their Ungodliness so as to mortifie and destroy Sin in them But some may say That the Righteousness of Christ is imputed unto us It is true it is so unto his people but the Righteousness of Christ is not imputed to any one that lives and walks in Unrighteousness and takes pleasure and delight therein read these Scriptures Mat. 1. 21. Tit. 2. 14. 1 John 1. 7. Rev. 1. 5. Gal. 2. 17. Psal 143. 2. Exod. 23. 7. And now whereas I have heard many People say That the Quakers Religion is but a new upstart Religion and is but of a few Years standing c. To which I Answer That I can make it appear by sufficient Grounds and Reasons that our Religion and Principles and Doctrine which we preach and hold forth unto all people where we come it is of above sixteen Hundred Years standing and we are in the same Faith Hope and Belief of God and Christ and walk in the same Light Life and Spirit of Christ and in the same Way and Practice as to the Worship of God and Christ and his Ministers and Disciples did Preach and Teach and Practice and hold forth unto all people where they came above sixteen Hundred Years ago And now all you Clergy-Men aforesaid that say you are Ministers of Christ and the Scriptures are your Rule to walk by Answer all these Things which are here laid to your Charge by plain Scriptures without wresting or perverting any of them to a wrong sence and answer in plainness without your Logick or Syllogisms or without using any of your Hebrew Greek or Latin which any carnal earthly-minded Men may have that are brought up Schollars at your Schools which are in capacity to learn humane Learning which may be bought for Money And so it appears plainly both in the sight of God and his People by your wicked ungodly Actions and Practices which you have done and acted both against the Lord his Truth and People that you have received nothing from God as the true Ministers of Christ did and doth row neither were you brought up at Christ's School nor never were taught of him as the true Ministers of Christ were and are now and so what you have you and your Friends have bought with Money and so you sell it again for Money to those that are willing to be taught by you which knows no better teaching and so you are a means to bring up people that are your Hearers in Darkness Blindness and Ignorance as you your selves are in and so you all live without the true Knowledge and Injoyment of God in this world And so the People of the Lord that are taught of him by his Holy Spirit cannot for good Conscience-sake buy any of your deceitful Wares nor cannot give you any Tythes nor Money for preaching which speak and preach against Perfection from Sin in this Life and say that None can be set free from Sin in this Life and so you deny the sufficiency of Christ and his Commands and your Faith and Belief stands in him who is the author of all Sin and Evil which is the Devil and so your speaking and preaching as aforesaid doth incourage and strengthen the Wicked in their Wickedness and you are a means to beget them into Unbelief that they may believe as you do that their is no Perfection from Sin in this Life And so neither you nor they that are your Hearers do press after Perfection because you do not believe that such a good state and condition can be attained unto in this Life and so your Doctrine and Principles and Practices are all quite contrary to the Doctrines and Principles and Practices of Christ and his Ministers and all true Believers and Followers of Christ and also quite contrary to the Scriptures of Truth in every thing that you do and practice concerning the Worship of God and therefore you are to be disowned and denyed by all good Christians that truly fear the Lord and loves him in Truth and in Sincerity of heart and all your Preaching and Praying is abomination in the sight of the Lord and he will not hear nor answer the Prayers of the Wicked that live and delight in Sin and Wickedness and walk and act in such wicked Wayes and Practices as these Clergy-Men do now which is all quite contrary to the 〈◊〉 Way of God And now I have something to mention and lay before you all that are called Christians of all sorts of Professions and Religions whether they be called Quakers or any other sort of Professions or Religions whatsoever that do say and believe that God is your Father and Christ is your Saviour I desire that every one would seriously weigh and consider their own Ways and Doings and