midst of them and the fruits of the earth excellent and comely for them And then they that are thus purged shall sit with Christ in the heavenly places there being an abundant enterance ministered to them into the everlasting Kingdom 2 Pet. 1.11 Thirdly He chargeth it with making the obedience and suffering of Christ superfluous except onely as a pattern Ans Christ came to do the Fathers will â—o obey to suffer Totast death for every man to fight with and overcome the devil to offer an holy spotless Sacrifice for all mankind that through him they might witness atonement and acceptance And the Lord saw the use of this and we witness the use of this and find every thing in its proper place and service in him who is Gods Covenant of Life and Peace in us and to us But the work of this day is not to Preach up a notional knowledge of these things the Christian World so called hath been drowned and dead in them long enough but to bring to that measure of the Spirit to that sence of Grace and Truth which is by Jesus Christ wherein the benefit of these things is truly reaped and injoyed And indeed that is the work committed unto us from the Lord who gave us this Testimony to bear whatever men may think or speak of us And whereas he speaks of our laying hold of passages in his Printed Sermons to favour our Cause Answ That is his mistake as to me It was for his sake I mentioned it There was indeed at that time somewhat stirring in him which would have gathered him had he known and obeyed its voice and not run out into lofty notions concerning it He had some sence then of a Glory aproaching which he might have from the true Prophet Though even then he ran out in his imaginations concerning it and did not rightly apprehend nor know how and when it appeared He hath further charges against us Of crying up Works against the workman mans grace and righteousness against Gods Conformity to Christ against Christ Yea to make a Christ of our righteousness a Saviour of our Conformity Answ O what will this man do when the Lord shall shew unto him that he hath charged not so much us as the Spirit and Power and pretious appeaâ—ance of the Lord Jesus Christ with these things We cry up works no otherwise then we are taught of God and as the Apostles and Prophets have cried them up Faith is necessary and Works are necessary in their places And the Justification of each follow them And he that receiveth the Spirit of the Son and therein doth Righteousness is therein estâ—emed of God Righteous as the Son â— righteous 1 Joh. 3.7 God Justifieth us in his Son and loveth his holy Seed to therein and the Faith that comes from him and all the Works that are wrought in him and out of this holy Root of Life and Power is no man nor his Faith nor his Works Justified Then for mans Grace and Righteousness Where doth he hear us speak of mans Grace O what doth he mean Will he misrepresent the cause of his neighbour or brother to make it bad And for mans Righteousness we do not cry it up or put it on but testifie men must be uncloathed of it And we our selves were fain to part with it and put it off before we could be cloathed with Gods Righteousness But the Works of Life the Works of Gods Spirit the Works of the new creature the Works of the new Covenant these are not mans Works nor unrighteous Works condemned by God but Justified in and through him that works them The Works wrought in us are truely acceptable and we in him who Works them who is our Righteousness And concerning this Peop e these Children of the new Covenant which the Lord hath Begotten and brought forth in this our day that Scripture is fulfilled in them and upon them Their righteousness is of me saith the Lord. Isa 54.17 Well as long as the Lord saith so we matter â—ot though others say that our Righteousness is of our selves and that it is our own Righteousness being assured that Gods Testimony in our hearts as to this thing will stand He aggravateth this charge thus And this to be done by those that have been so far enlightened and that account all the Relig on and Profession in the world below them as carnal Answ Indeed we magnify Truth Life the Anointing the Spiritual the inward appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ to which we have been turned and in it made Spiritual And all other Knowledge Faith Profession Religion which hath not its rise here we cannot but call carnal For the enlightning Spirit of the Lord hath given us this Testimony to bear against all the dead notional Professors of this Age who build from the Letter or rather their apprehensions of the Letter out of the Life all which cry up names of the Foundation and corner Stone but refuse reject dâ—ny and turn frâ—m the corner Stone himself and have neither skill nor patience to try what he is in this his Pure Pretious Living Powerful and Glorious Appearance in the Spiritual Light of his inward day after the long thick Darkness of the foregoing night And wo would be unto us if we did not thus testify For for this cause we were bâ—rn and brought into the world to testify to the present appearance of our God and of his Christ in this our day Glory to him who hath called and chosen us to and in a true and pretious mâ—asure and degree of his own pure Life made us faithful therein This saith he is so far from giving us a list nearer heaven that I cannot more properly resemble it then to the coming forth of Amalâ—ck who met Israel by the way when they were come forth out of Egypt and smot the hindmost of them c. Answ Do not talk of having a list nearer heaven O learn the Way the holy Way the living Way wherein no dead unclean thing can walk Learn to know Gods Spirit in your selves from that which opposeth his Spirit Ye have been long learning after your old conceivings and apprehensions of the Letter O at length come to learn the Truth as it is in Jesus which discovers sin and death and the body of it and crucifies and puts it off and makes room in the heart for him that is true and pure And then for Amalecks smiting Israel O how greatly are ye mistaken ye take your selves for Israel and us for Amaleck whereas if your eyes were annointed ye would see that we have been begotten and born of Gods Spirit through the Word of Life which was from the beginning wherein we have been Circumcised with the Circumcision made without hands that we might worship God in his own pure Spirit and in his living Truth and that our God hath inwardly appeared to us and led us out of Egypts Land and out of Babylon also and all
committed before For though the Lord visit me with Life quicken me thereby make a change in my heart and state yet it is his Mercy to acccept me and to pass by for his name sake my former debts and trespasses against him Alas the new Covenant is wholly a Covenant of Grace and Mercy and the giving of Christ drawing the mind to him accepting and Justifying in him are works of Grace and Mercy towards this So the Spiritual Israel may well sing this Song in the Land of Holyness and Redemption O praise the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever I can truly set my Seal to this thing that the more Holy and Righteous the Lord maketh me in his Son the more sensible am I of his Love Grace and Mercy in Justifying of me And it is pretious to me to witness Justification and acceptance with him in and through his Son He saith further But this is the Bounty the Freeness the Munificence the Richness of the Grace of God to call things that are not as though they were Answ Take heed of abusing that Scripture God sent Christ to Renew to Redeem to Change to make Holy and Righteous to make people such as the Father might be pleased with accept and Justifie And as Christ maketh them so the Father receiveth and accepteth them as such But God doth distinguish and call things as they are He doth not call an ungodly man an holy man a justified man But when he hath changed him new created him in Christ Jesus took him out of his old stock and planted him into the new then he accounteth and calleth him so and not before It were better for men to wait upon God to understand what his Spirit meant in what he spake then to put formed meanings of their own upon his words He wrests my words charging and reproving me as if I said The Love of God was a bare thing Answ Those were not my words nor did my words so signifie but my words were that it is not by bare Loving or meer Loving or only Loving that God makes a man Righteous which is very true manifest For there is besides his Love in and through that Love the sending of his Son and revealing of his Son drawing to and Transplanting into his Son to make Holy and Righteous in him For Holyness though it may be distinguished yet it cannot be devided from Righteousness nor can a man posibly be Righteous in Gods sight unless he be also Holy in some measure His reflecting words hereupon I pass by though very unjustly and unchristianly cast upon me without any just occasion given him by my words which I desire the Lord may make him sensible of that he may be forgiven it He blameth me for saying we make no finite thing our Righteousness and yet he saith We make the measure of the Spirit which each member of Christ receives our Righteousness Answ A measure hath the same nature with the fulness A measure of the Spirit and Life of the Grace and Truth which comes from Jesus Christ hath the same nature that the fulness haâ—h All the Life all the new Creation that comes from him and dwels in him is Righteous and found Righteous where ever it is found Yet I do not remember that we have thus expressed it that that measure is our Righteousness but it is he who is the fulness who is revealed in that measure and it is he who is our Righteousness our Wisdom our Sanctification our Redemption But it is in the holy pure measure of the heavenly gift that he is made thus of God to us not out of it He saith The Lord our Righteousness Redeems us not properly by the Life and Spirit of his Godhead though that was in the work supporting enabling him and carrying him up in that great undertakeing but by the death and sufferings of his manhood Answ This is strange Doctrine to make the manhood the main Redeemer and the Life and Spirit of the Godhead but the supporter and the carrier up of the man in the work of Redemption Whereas it was the Word which Created all which also Redeemed he that left his Glory and made himself of no reputation but came in the form of a servant to do the will It was the Spirit and Life of the Father even the Eternal Son which took up that body appeared in that body offered it up a pure and acceptable Sacrifice to the Father finishing the work therein which the Father gave him to do Joh. 17.4 5. He saith Shall we think to answer the Law by our obedience Answ We do not look upon the Law of Moses which was given to the Jew outward to be the dispensation of the new Covenant or to be the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus But those who are in the new Covenant and have Gods Law writ in their hearts and his fear put there which preserveth from departing from him and his Spirit put within them to cause them to walk in his wayes and to keep his Statutes and Judgments and do them and who live in the Spirit and walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit the Righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in these Yet they do not magnifie and cry up their own obedience nor call it their Righteousness but him from whom their obedience comes For in the measure of his Grace and living Truth the Soul is one with him and all that he is and all that he hath done is theirs and it is he himself that is the Righteousness of all that are in him And they that abide in him parâ—ake of his Righteousness from day to day which floweth in like a stream upon them I wish he could consider in what Spirit it is that he calls the white Stone a Ticket for the Righteousness Doth he know the white Stone with the new name It is no less then the Foundation Stone then the Righteousness it self And what doth he talk of bringing that as a Ticket for the Righteousness He seemeth to pass by some things which I spake in tender love and weightiness of Spirit to him as the Judgment of man in his day but let him take heed least when be comes to appear before God he then find it was the Judgment of Gods Spirit in the Light of his day Which day is inward and Spiritual which believers are to hasten to and which approacheth in every heart as the night spendeth and passeth away And all true Christians and Believers ought to wait for the passing away of the night and the dawning of this day and the arising of the day Star in their hearts He saith Christ is now ready to be revealed Answ I believe he is to be revealed fuâ—ther and in fuller glory But he is truly already revealed as the Saviour Shepheard and Bishop of the Soul and many are gathered home to their resting place in him which while they were
of sin by the new and pure Law of the new Covenant and the Advocate known and Repentance given by him upon all occasions to those that wait upon him and the Sprinkling of the Blood and Remission upon Repentance This is the new and Living Way of the Lord Jesus Christ which he hath consecrated for all his made known in the dâ—monstration of his Spirit which will stand for ever Whereas mens aprehensions about those things which they have gathered and comprehended of themselves out of the Scriptures in the supposed Light of their natural Reason and Understanding are but Dreams and will vanish even in their own hearts if ever the true Light arise the e. He saith This state can never fall nor be finally fallen from Answ There is a way of coming to Christ and there is a way of preservation in Christ For there is a Power that Redeems and men are preserved by that Power in subjection to it And so every one That thinketh he standeth is to fear and take heed lest he fall And not to boast and say I am in a state of Justifycation which is firme and cannot be moved and it cannot fall nor be finally fallen from For ye are kept by the power of God through Faith unto Salvation Keep to the Power which preserves Hold that fast which thou hast let no man take thy Crown Keep the faith make not shipwrack of it and of a good Conscience O that men knew the right Doctrine and way of coming to Christ which they cannot do till they are taught of the Father Joh. 6.45 and the right Doctrine and Way of standing and abiding in him For truly mens professed coming to Christ believing and standing at this day is generally notional outward without but not in the inward Life and Power it self without which no man can come to him nor stand and abide in him He chargeth us With setting up a Covenant of Works alwayes doing and never done a Covenant to be performed by us for our selves not by Christ for us Answ I would he saw in the true Light how unjust and untrue this charge is For the Lord God of Life knoweth that he himself hath taught us the new Covenant and thereby taught us to wait upon himself in his Son to work all our works in us and for us And this we dayly experience that we can work nothing but as he works in us Therefore our whole course is a waiting on him in stilness to witness him appearing and doing all in us And blessed be his Name we do not wait in vain But if he think all works are excluded out of the new Covenant he greatly erreth For the Works of Gods Spirit are required and have a place therein And God and Christ the King and Shepherd is the Judge of his People in the new Covenant and justifieth or condemneth according to the Law thereof In the faith and obedience he justifieth In the unbeliefe and disobedience he condemns without respect of Persons And it is a pretious thing in the Gosple Ministration to come to God the Judge of all and to witness true judgment set up by God in a mans own heart that by the ministration of the pure judgment there the Soul may come to learn Righteousness of the holy Teacher and Shepheard even the Lord Jesus Christ who is just and faithful under his Fathâ—r in the impartial Ministration of the new Covenant Hereupon several charges he brings against us through his own mistakes and misapprehensions of us As First That our Doctrine imployes Free Will and power in the creature Answ We have never experienced Free Will nor Power as of our selves but as we have bin turned to Gods Power and received it from him nor did we ever testifie to others that they could receive and embrace Truth in their own will by their own power O that this Person had true discerning of and were severed from that Spirit which thus chargeth us For whoever receives this Testimony concerning the inward Light of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never find himself able to do any thing therein by his own will and power But there witnesseth Gods begetting him out of his own will by the Life and Power of Truth Secondly He chargeth it That it maketh the Election of God altogeâ—her frustranious Answ Election of the Seed in the Seed it doth not at all make frustranious But mens wrong apprehensions concerning Election out of the Seed the true Doctrine of Election doth not conâ—â—â—â— with He hath chosen us in him so that in him to wit in Christ the choice is and he that will make his Election sure must make the Seed sure to him growing in the nature thereof wherein the Election is to the truely obedient He saith Our Righteousness with God is the Foundation Answ But is there not somewhat which is the Foundation of our Righteousness with God And can we be Righteous with God til we come to that Foundation and be made Righteous by it Must we not first believe in him And is not faith a gift which comes from the holy Root and maketh a change in them in whom this gift is found Doth not Faith make a difference between them that believe and them that believe not So that so soon as ever there is true faith and it thus works the State is changed And there is no Justification before faith For in the unbelief is the condemnation for ever He that believeth not is condemned already And what is he justified there too at the same time Was Abraham our Father justified in the unbelief and disobedience Or in believing and obeying God for what saith the Scripture Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for Righteousness That which I spoke of he saith Is but the fruit and superstructure Answ When Christ directs men to the Seed of the Kingdome doth he direct unto the fruit and superstructure I spoke there of the Seed of the Light of the holy Spirit of the quickening Virtue Is that the superstructure Or is that the fruit of mens being made Righteous Nay must they not turn to that receive that believe in that even in the Light of Gods Spirit for they are the true and right believers before a man can come to be made Righteous or accounted Righteous in the eyes of the Lord For none are Righteous but in him And all are out of him till they be gathered into him He instanceth in one passage of mine in a Book entituled The Sum or substance of our Religion who are called Quakers the words are these This is the sume of all even to know and experience what is to be brought down into death and kept in death what to be brought up out of the grave to live to God and Reign in his Dominion and what to be kept in subjection and obedience to him who is to Reign Now to experience it thus done in the heart the flesh brought down the
the Lands whereinto we have been scattered in the cloudy and daâ—k day And that this is Amalecks spirit in you several sorts of Professors through your dark imaginaâ—ions and conceivings about the Letter which riseth up against us and this Spirit in you feareth not that God who hath appeared and by his own holy Arm of Power hath led and is leading us So that we may take up the complaint of the Prophet in this day Who hath believed our Report and to whom is the Arm of the Lord Revealed For though we speak what we have heard seen and felt of the Life which is Eternal and of the Word which was in the beginning yet ye are so far from the Witness of God in your own hearts that ye cannot receive our Testimony but oppose it with your dead dry notional conceited imaginary knowledge which will stand you in no stead at all when ye come to appear before God Then he proceedeth complaining against us thus Ah Sir In stead of clapping us on the back and ministring to us in our journey you clog our March and fall upon our Rear In stead of serving the Kingdom of Christ which the Church is now in Travel of you deny the first Principles of the Gospel and wholly dâ—â—own the hope of Christs second Appearing and Kingdom knowing or acknowledging as no other Saviour so no othâ—r Kingdom but a Principle or a Light in your selves Answ God is Light and in him is no darkness at all And this is the message of the Gospel 1 John 1.5 And Christ who is one with the Father he is one and the same Light with him and we confess we look not for another besides him nor for another Kingdom besides the Kingdom which is revealed in him for the Kingdom which is revealed and manifested in and by him is the Spiritual Eternal Everlasting Kingdom and there is not another We do not say the Fulness or that the full Glory of the Kingdom is now revealed or enjoyed nay we confess we have but the earnest in comparison but a mea ure a proportion but this is the same in nature and kind with the Fulness it self And all that is of Christ of his Spirit of his Nature is saving the least measure of his Grace that appeareth in any heart bringeth Salvation with it the least touch of his Finger hath pure Life and saving Virtue in it Yet this is not distinct nor sâ—parate from the Fulness and so it is not another though it be not the Fulness But whereas thou complainest of our not ministering to you in your Journey but clogging it Oh that ye knew what your Journey is and whither ye are marching and traveling in that present spirit wherein ye act We acknowledge it Gods great Love and Mercy to us to deliver us from that spirit and from that way of Knowledge Religion and Worship wherein ye still abide And what we have seen and known from the Lord that are we required of him to testifie to you and if your eyes were opened by the Principle of Light from him in the holy Anointing ye would bow to the Testimony But judging of it in a contrary wisdom and spirit ye not only turn from it but fight against it and reproach and slander us for our faithfulness to the Lord and good will to you which the Lord make you sensible of and forgive you that at length ye may know and receive him who is the desire of all Nations in his pure living inward and spiritual appearance And as for denying the first Principles that belongs to your selves for do ye not deny that Light which is the foundation of all and wherein and whereby all the misteries of Gods Kingdome are seen and instead thereof set up a notional comprehensive knowledge of your own conceiving comprehending and gathering from the letter whereas no man can understand the letter but as he comes into the abidâ—s in the Light This we have experienced in our selves formerly for we were but guessing at and imagining concerning the Letter until and further then we were turned to and our minds gathered into and comprehended in the Light of Gods Spirit And as for disowning the hopes of Christs Kingdom the Lord knoweth that is far from us for we our selves bless him for what of his Kingdom is already appeared and wait and hope for the further and fuller appearance thereof But this we confess another Spirit another Christ another Light another Life another Power another Kingdom besides him who hath already appeared we do not expect For he is our King and Kingdom both and the least proportion of his Life and Spirit received bought with the loss of all and so purchased and possessed is no less then a Pearl of great price and an heavenly Kingdom to him that enjoyeth it He addeth further If Christ be but a Principle then we are no other and onely Principles shall be saved and no Persons Is this your Gospel Answ Christ is the promised Seed to which all the promises are in which Seed all the families of the Earth are Blessed as they are gathered unto and grafted into Him But he is not only the Seed but the seeds-man also who soweth of his Life of his Nature of his Spirit of his heavenly Image in the hearts of the Children of men He giveth a measure of the Grace and Truth unto them the fulness whereof he hath received of his Father Now this measure of the Light Eternal is very pretious and is that wherein he appears and manifests himselfe Yea indeed glorious things are both spoken and witnessed of the Seed of Life of the Seed of the Kingdom of the Grace and Truth which comes by Jesus Christ But we never said that this Seed or Measure of Life is the Fulness it selfe but that which the Fulness imparts to us and brings Salvation home to our doors by And if any man will receive Châ—ist he must receive that from Christ wherein he manifests himselfe There is a difference between the Light which enlighteneth the fulness of Light which giveth the measure of Light the measure of annoynting to us and the measure or proportion which is given the one is Christ himselfe the other is his gift yet his gift is of the same Nature with himselfe and leavens those that receive it and abide in it into the same Nature so that not onely the gift is one with him but we also are one with him in the gift Come be not thus wise after the flesh nor do not strive so in thy wisdome and knowledge out of the Truth to Triumph over the Truth and Truths Testimony in this the day of Gods great Love and glorious Arm of Salvation revealed in the midst of his People which he hath gathered out of Babylon and the dark knowledg thereof into the Light and Kingdom of his own dear Son where he giveth them Eternal Life and of the fruits of the Good and Heavenly
but in every thing makes its requests known to God by prayer and supplycation with thanksgiving and the Peace of God which passeth all understanding keeps the heart and mind through Christ Jesus Surely the Apostle had learned himselfe when he taught others this in every state to be content He knew how to be abased and how to abound c. O glorious state O pure state of pure Life in the heart And what if I should add O perfect state The Apostle James saith Let patience have its perfect work that ye may be Perfect and Intire wanting nothing or in nothing Jam. 1.3 When Paul had so learned Christ that abundance could not lift him up nor want deject him or cause him to repine or distrust what did he want of this perfect state His next words are If you have no sence of this your state is never the better to be liked Answ Christ led Captivity Captive and the same Power is revealed to lead Captivity Captive in us And truly when God leads our Souls out of Captivity putting his fear within us writing his living powerful Law of Life in our hearts and putting his Spirit into us leading us in the way of holiness and causing us to walk therein we find this a better state then when we were groaning under deep Captivity Further he saith If your Peace and Joy stand in seeing no sin your selfe in your selfe I suppose it should be I shall more then suspect it not to be the Peace and Joy of Paul and all the Saints but a delusion Answ Our Peace and Joy is in him who is without sin and it abounds in us in his cleansing and delivering us from sin and we have found hâ—m remove sin as far from us as the East is from the West and as he removeth transgression from us and bringeth sin and the power of Sathan to an end in us he giveth us of his Peace and Joy And truly we do not only witness him destroying sin and the works of the Devil but breaking the very head of the Serpent casting him out And peirceing Leviathan that crooked Serpent and slaying the Dragon that is in the Sea And though such as he may suspect our peace and joy yet while Christ gives it us and maintains it in us it is very sweet and pleasant to us and the time may come that he may wish from his heart that he might pertake with us therein He concludes the matter thus We are without sin in him but in our selves nothing but sin Answ He spake of delusion just before a greater thâ—n this I do not know For Christ doth make a real change if any man be in Christ there 's a new Creation there 's a real Change The man is not what he was before but he puts off that which is old and puts on that which is nâ—w and so is really changed in his state and in the sight of God and is not what he was before The heart when it is really renewed and washed by the Water Blood and Spirit it is not the old abominable wicked deceitful heart that it was before If this be his knowledg and experience let him keep it to himselfe for my part I desire not to pertake with him therein but to be like Christ my Lord and Master even sanctified throughout in Soul Body and Spirit that I may become wholly his and the Enemy of my Soul have no part in me He saith Christ shall appeare without sin to Salvation Answ I grant it But when and how Doth he not inwardly appear without sin to salvation to those who have waited for hastened and come to the inward day Doth not Christ appear without sin to Salvation inwardly in the day of his own Spirit Is not Salvation then witnessed for Walls and Bulworks Is not the glorious Salvation of the Gospel brought forth in the Gospel-Day And is there not in the Life and Dominion of Grace a pure Defence about all the Glory Is there any sin in the Grace and Spirit of the Gospel which appears and shines in the Day of the Lord And doth not this Grace bring Salvation to them that wait for the revealing of it He seemeth to clear himself of watching for our haltings Answ Had he not watched for our haltings and received things into and considered them in the prejudiced part he could not have writ such a Paper against Truth and Us so far from true Understanding and Judgement as this is But he saith He hath watched for our Repentings Answ If we should repent of having our eyes opened by the Lord and turning to his Truth and receiving his holy Spirit and of having the precious Promises of the Scripture made good to us and fulfilled in us we might justly loose our Portion and Inheritance of Life for ever We have repented from dead Works but we cannot repent of Gods pure Truth and the living Way Spirit and Power thereof But this I can tell him and that from the Lord whose Name I reverence and worship in That the Lord watchâ—th for his Repentings and turnings from that spirit in him which darkneth him concerning and prejudiceth him against the Truth He beseecheth me in Love c. and requireth me to clear my self of Free-Will Falling from Grace denying Election of Persons and Imputed Righteousness Answ What the Lord requireth of me that I must mind and I have divers times exprâ—ssed my heart nakedly in these things The Principle of Life which the Lord hath raised in me in that is the freedom to good and in that am I made free by Jesus Christ my Lord. And I had rather witness him upholding me by his Power than contend about a Notion of Falling or not Falling away And my care hath been about making my Calling and Election sure in him who is sure to those that are of him for ever And I have witnessed the righteoâ—sness of the Lord Jesus Christ revealed in me and imputed to me and my soul cloathed therewith in his sight blessed be his Name O that the Professors of this Age might come to the annointing and see those things in the annointing Then would they know the Truth and harmony of the Scriptures therein But men by the Letter without the Spirit can never discern or find out the mystery of Life but only gather into their mindes and retain a litteral knowledge that killeth He bids me Love the Truth better than a Party Answ The Lord knoweth he hath taught me so to do For had it not been for the evidence and demonstration of Gods Spirit in this People I could never have owned them For O how low was the knowledge they held forth in my eye before the power of the Lord reached to my heart raising up his own Seed in me wherein I knew them And the Lord also knoweth that 't is in him that I love and discern and honour them to this very day Yea I see his Name written on their
Fore-heads and them brought forth in the glorious Image and heavenly Life of his Son though it be hid from the wise Eye of the Professors of this Age and in the true Light with the true Eye which God hath opened in me have I seen it He speaks of Clinging together and keeping up a Party against all right Answ Nay nay This is the gathering of the Lord Jesus Christ by his Spirit and Power after the long night of darkness and we are kept up by the same Spirit and Power and Life of Truth which gathered us He saith It is not a calling for a Work within which will give you Authority to lay wast Christ and the Gospel in the most Fundamental and concerning Truths thereof and those above mentioned c. And above all the rest denying the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and making him but a Light or Notion or Principle in the heart of Man Answ This is but his own mistake not a true and just Charge against us as he will one day see The Lord hath not taught us to lay wast nor do we lay wast any Truth of the Gospel but own every thing in its place And though our Religion do not lie in Notions concerning him but in the Principle of Life it self evâ—n in the Grace and Truth which is by Jesus Châ—ist which is a measure of Light from him the full Light yet we do not learn thereby to deny the full Light but the more to acknowledge it And we own him to be the true and full Light and his outward appearance in that Body in the fulness of time to fulfill the Fathers will therein and his appearance in Spirit and Power in the hearts of his People in the Day of the Gospel and his setting up his Spiritual and glorious Kingdom there where he reigns as King on the Throne of David over the Spiritual Israel of God Come consider seriously do not ye your selves fall short of not only the Principle and Power of Life but also the true knowledge of things according to the Letter He confesseth There is too little Power and without it profession is little worth Answ O that the Professors of this age knew the Scriptures and the Power of God and had that knowledg which comes from and stands in the Power For then that evidence and demonstration of Truth would be witnessed which puts an end to the disputes and reasonings of the mind And then the great care would be to live the life of that which God makes manifest and requires in the New Covenant He saith To pull down the Pillars and Principles of the Gospel is the work the Divel imploys his Power in Answ I grant what he saith is true and wish he knew how rightly to apply it but there is a great error and mistake in his judgment about it For the Lord is pulling down that which men have built up which they may in their mistaken judgments call Principles and Fundamentals and is building up that which men have trampled on even the Tabernacle of David which hath long been fallen down and the City of the living God which hath long been trodden under foot of the false Christians and the Power of the Devil is greatly at work to oppose this appearance and mighty work of the Lord in this day Let him take heed of blaspheming the Lords Power calling it the Devils and owning the Devils Power for Gods He concludeth thus Come to the poynt what singular thing do you more then Moding and Wording it save only that out of you have risen men that have more audatiously lifted up a Standard against the Sealed and Experienced Truths of the Gospel then ever I have heard or read of any before you You talk of words and boast of perfection I tell you an humble sence of a mans nothingness driving him out of himself to live and glory in Christ alone is more then all such boasted perfections a thousand times Sir accept my zeal for your Soul Ans We are a People many of us who have gon through great distress for want of the Lord our God and exceedingly waited and long'd for his Living and Powerful appearance And for my own part this I can say that had not this appearance been in Power and in the evidence and demonstration of his Spirit to my Soul reaching to and answering that which was of him in me I could nâ—ver have ownâ—d it so deeply was I jealous of it and prejudâ—ced against it And since my mind hath been turned to the pure Word of Life even the Word which was in the begining I speak as in the Lords presence it hath had singular effects on my heart The Light hath so searched me as I never was searched before under all my former professions and the Lord hath given me a true and pure discerning of the things of his Kingdom in the Light which is true and pure and singular quickenings have I met with from his Spirit and the faith which stands in his heavenly Power and giveth victory and dominion in him blessed be his name And the love which he hath given me is not notional but ariseth from his circumcising my heart and answereth his Nature springing forth purely and naturally towards him and those of his Image and all his Creatures yea towards those who are enemies to me for his Names sake I might mention the patience also and faithfulness to his Truth with the longsuffering Spirit which cannot be worn out which his Spirit testifieth in me to be of a singular nature with many other things Nor am I alone or the chiefest but have many equals yea there are such as far exceed me in the Heavenly and Divine Image of my Father And the fruits are according to the Root of Life in us and so acknowledged by all who look upon us with the true Eye with the Eye of Gods giving and opening Now the same that hath wrought thus inwardly in us the same hath required some outward behaviour and expressions from us which are foolish and weak to the eye of mans wisdom but chosen of God to hide the Glory of his Life from that eye which diâ—cerns it not but dispiseth thâ— day of small things And though this be the least part of our Religeon yet subjected to because it is of God who we dare not disobey in the least yet the Spirit which is contrary to God casteth this upon us as if this were all or at the least the main wherein we differ from others Some call the living words of Truth from us when God according to his good promise giveth them us but Canting and thou callest all that is singular in us but Moding and Wording of it Alass it is in the main we differ from you we holding our Religion as we receive it from God in the Light and Life of his Spirit you as you apprehend it from the Letter Christ is our Rock and Foundation as
by the Spirit of the Father which is the knowledge and confession of all the Children of the true and heavenly Mother which is the Mother of all that are born of the Spirit He repeateth â—hose words of mine That we do not make any finite thing our Righteousness but Christ of God is made into us Righteousness This he saith Is well spoken aâ—d wisheth we may alwayes abide on this confession Answ These words arose in me from an inward feeling of him who giveth Righteousness and of the Righteousness given and the Lord preserving me in that Life I shall feel so for ever and confess so for ever And truly I can testifie of no other Righteousness For blessed be the name of my God I feel the Righteousness of his Son revealed in me dayly from Faith to Faith In his name I have been gathered in his name I live and in him I feel Righteousness and indeed there is nothing but Righteousness Holyness Truth Life and Salvation and the like in him And he that is truly in him is Righteous and Holy in him there being in him a new creating of all that are there and a renewing into the holy and heavenly Image which consists in the Righteousness and Holyness of Truth He desireth me to give a plain answer to this Question Is Christ of God made our Righteousness by faith in his blood or in his Spirit Answ A pretended Faith in Christs blood without Faith in his Spirit is but dead and notional Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood saith Christ ye have no Life in you It is the Spirit that quickeneth the Flesh saith he profiteth nothing Now the Faith must be in that which quickeneth And the Faith in that which quickeneth is Holy and Righteous and the man who is found in it is Justified through that Faith in the quickening Power in the sight of God Thus Abraham was Justified in the sight of God and thus are the Children of Abraham to be Justified even through believing in that holy Power and Spirit which requireth obedience and Justifieth the obedient and condemneth the disobedient for ever Rom. 4.24 He saith He fears a Snake in this green grass when I say from his Life Virtue and Power revealed in us is our conformity to him Answ It were better and safer for him to fear at home For the Snake is in his own grass and many notional high soaring expressions without true knowledge But can there be any conformity to Christ without his Life Vitrtue and Power inwardly revealed what else can conform unto and bring forth in the Image and likeness of Christ He saith He feareth lest I make this Life and Virtue our Righteousness which is indeed the fruits of it .. Answ Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge and runneth out from the Truth into his own imaginations What was Christs Righteousness Was it not the Life the Virtue the Spirit of the Father in him he being one with it in the Faith of it and in the obedience to it And is not the Righteousness of the head and the body the same communicated from the head to the body Are they not all of one and the Righteousness one and the same in both So much of Christs Spirit so much of his Righteousness And out of his Spirit out of his Righteousness for evermore For the Righteousness of the Son is revealed and communicated from Faith to Faith in his Spirit And so Christ is indeed made Righteousness to them that are found in his Spirit and they are covered with the garment of Righteousness and Salvation who are covered with his Spirit He saith Our Righteousness is before this Answ What is our Righteousness before any of the Life Virtue and Power of Christ revealed in us Is God a respecter of Persons Doth he Justifie any out of the holy Covenant before he hath made a change in him How doth this man with his vain imaginations turn the whole way and councel of God upside down He brings a Scripture to prove this The Spirit is life for righteousness sake Answ That Scripture which is Rom. 8.10 speaks of those in whom Christ is and dwels And there indeed The Body is dead because of sin and the Spiritis Life because of Righteousness This is plainly spoken and plainly felt and known as it is spoken O that he had the true sence and understanding of it as it is in Jesus He saith Righteousness is in order of nature before Sanctification Answ That which is holy is Righteous There is nothing Righteous in the eyes of the pure God but that which is holy The Head was really holy and Righteous and they that are in him pâ—rtakes of his Holyness and Righteousness and are really Holy and Righteous in him And Faith which purifies the heart and through which Sanctification is must needs be in order of nature before the Justification which is by it for God Justifieth no unbelievers but believers only Yea the wicked must forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and turn unto the Lord which cannot possibly be without some degree of Sanctification before the Lord will have mercy and pardon the Soul its sins Isa 55.7 and chap. 1.16 17 18. He saith Justification is an act of Grace passed upon us by God freely without respect to us as Godly nay properly reflecting on us in that moment as ungodly Answ I charge this in the sight of God for absolutely false Doctrine and contrary to the Gospel For God Justifieth no man as ungodly but calleth upon men to repent and turn from their ungodlyness and he will have mercy upon them Justifie and save them Now mâ—n are not ungodly in turning from their ungodlyness but changed And so their state is in some measure changed before Justified If Abraham was ungodly when God called him Yet in forsaking his own Country and following the Lord and offering up his Son he was obedient and not ungodly and in that obedience he was Justified A man may have notions of Justification in his mind and accordingly take himself to be Justified when he is not But there is no man Justified by the Lord till he be changed translated into him in whom God Justifieth out of the place of condemnation into the place of Justification For till men are changed by the Spirit and Power of the Lord they are but darkness and in the darkness where no Justification is It is the Believing the Obedient the Children of Light that are Justified by the Lord. He saith Were we godly before or at that time it were no act of Grace to pronounce us Righteous Answ He that witnesseth Salvation in Christ Jesus witnesseth it to be a continued act of Grace Grace appears to the Soul Grace teacheth Grace enableth Grace maketh a change from the ungratiousness of the heart and state and then Grace or God by his Grace in and through Christ Jesus forgiveth the sins that were
scattered up and down upon the barren Mountains before the Shepherd appeared and made himself manifest they could not find He seems to strike at the peace and joy which is of God and to give it a dash Because minds estranged from the Enlightenings and Convictions of God have much peace in their wayes and such are under delusions Answ We do not tell men of the peace and joy we have in our God boastingly but in a faithful way of Testimony concerning and invitation to what we once wanted but now have found under the leadings of the true Shepherd And the peace and joy which he gives is an evidence and assurance in the hearts of those to whom it is given by him And they that have been greatly distressed for want of the Lord and his powerful Arm of Salvation having met with it it riseth up from Life in them to testifie and say to others Lo this is our God we have waited for him and we will be glad and rejoyce in his Salvation And O that â—e also were stripped of this dead notional comprehensive knowledge concerning the Saviour that ye might meet with the Saviour himself and receive that knowledge from him which is Life Eternal And this with the true peace and joy thereof from him ye would find no delusion He speaketh Of suffering loss and of phrases and expressions better saith he to suffer loss in these then themselves to be destroyed Answ Let him apply this home O that he saw how those phrases and expressions and imaginary knowledge which he hath brought forth in this Letter stands in his way to hinder the true knowledge and that he cannot possibly receive the true knowledge without being emptyed of these and parting wiâ—h them for the excellency of the knowledge of the Truth as it is in Jesus And without the true knowledge of Jesus men cannot but perish and be overtaken with destruction Then for being helpful to establish Persons in Grace Answ Such kind of Doctrines as these do not tend thereto They may establish men in such a notion of Grace as he hath formed But they neither tend to lead to nor establish in the Grace it selfe but keep men from it Nay I can truly say it from him that is true that he himself cannot receive the Grace the thing it self till he part with these notions And O that he might know the Stone cut out of the Mountaine without hands to dash his Image that the living one who gives Life might be received by him in that measure of Grace and Truth which he inwardly dispences to all that travel out of the darkness of their own imaginations and conceivings upon the Scriptures into his pure Light The maine reason he giveth why he is not satisfied with that which I sent him concerning the sum and substance of the true Religion is because it fights with his notions even a stating of our Righteousness with God according to his imagination which is absolutly a meer dream which he hath dreamt of in the night and not seen in the Light of the day For the cry of the Spirit of the Lord is in the Gospel day Open ye the gates that the Righteous nation which keepeth the Truth may enter in This is the Truth as God haâ—h revealed by his own Spirit in this our day But to say this speaks of our state in him without witnessing it in our selves is but a meer dream And men cannot bring forth fruit to God nor be lovely and pleasing in his eyes but as their fallow Ground is ploughed up the Thornes Thistâ—es Bryers and that which is unclean and unholy removed Christ he saith Is the heavenly man and mansion in whom we are thus blessed and in whom we sit down in a state of Rest and Riconcilliation Heavenly and Divine before and without the consideration of any works of Righteousness which we have wrought c. Answ If he means this concerning the full sitting down in Rest it is directly contrary to Scripture For none sit down in that full Rest before and without consideration of Works of Righteousness wrought by them For that great Judgment is a time of rendering to every man according to his works Rest is the Reward of the Traveller And his Travels are not despised but considered in his Reward Mark every one that improved the Talent had a reward from his Lord. And come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you For I was an hungred and ye gave me meat c. Math. 25. And the Apostle is of the same mind with Christ when he saith It is a Righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to them that trouble you and to you rest c. 2 Thes 1.6 7. So that Persons do not sit downe in eternal blessedness in Christ before or without consideration of any works wrought by them And then for sitting down in an heavenly divine state of Righteousness Rest and Peace in him here It is a glorious State to be travelled to Theâ—e must be a translating out of the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of the dear Son first The Kingdom must first be come and the Soul prepared to enter into it at the Gate which the Spirit opens to him in the way of the Gospel For it is one thing to know somewhat of Christ and to begin to become a Disciple and another thing to learn of him so to deny a mars own Wisdom and will as to come to receive and be born of that which is true and living of him and to learn to wait aright for the opening of the gate and entering into the Kingdom and Land of Life and to be prepared to sit down with him For their is a state of Discipleship wherein a man hardly knoweth a settlement so much as how to watch with Christ rightly and constantly But it is a great matter to be able to dwell and abide with him None can do this But he that can dwell with devoâ—ering fire and everlasting burnings For the pure Word of Life is a fire and he that sits down in the heavenly place in him must sit down in that fire This he Reckons the firm stable state which indeed is no state at all There is not a state in Christ without being in Christ And then the state is according to the Souls being in Christ For then the Work of Regeneration the Work of Sanctification the Work of Justifying c. goeth on and a man is with God according as he is framed and new created in Christ and not otherwise So that the Life and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ is found Judging and Condemning whatever is not of God and Justifying onely what is of God in him For the Soul then comes into the new Covenant which requireth and Justifieth that which is new all that is wrought in God and condemneth all that is wrought out of him And so here is the true sence and knowledg
wherein I am renewed in him is my Acceptance with the Father he is my Advocate he is my Hope and Joy for ever He hath destroyed that in me which was contrary to God and keepeth it down for ever He is my Shepherd his Arm hath gathered me and his Arm encompasseth me day by day I rest under the shadow of his Wings from whence the healing virtue of his saving health droppeth upon my Spirit day by day Oh I cannot tell any man what he is unto me But blessed be the Lord I feel him near his Righteousness near his Salvation daily revealed before that eye which he hath opened in me in that true living sense wherewith he hath quickened me And now ye that have high Notions and rich comprehensive Knowledge concerning these things but not the thing it self the Life it self the Spirit it self the new and living Covenant and Law of Life it self wherein alone Christ is livingly revealed Ah how poor miserable blind and naked are you in the middest of all your Traditional Knowledge and pretended Experiences concerning these things Come be quiet a while and cease from bitterness of Spirit and reviling the Work and People of the Lord For the Lord knoweth and will make manifest both who are his and who are not his All the living Stones are his but the great Professors of the Words of Scripture without the Spirit and Life of the Scriptures are not his nor never were nor never will be owned by him Come learn to distinguish from God by his Life by the Anointing by the everlasting infallible Rule and not by words without Life where the great error and mistake hath been in all Ages and Generations The great Way of Deceit hath long been and still is a by Form of Godliness without Power Be sure ye be not thus deceived for if ye miss of the Power which saves ye cannot but pâ—rish for ever And what if the Appearance of the Spirit and Power of our Lord Jesus Christ Inwardly which is that which saves be as strange to your Sence Understanding and Judgement as his Outward appearance was unto the People of the Jews Take heed of their Spirit take heed of their Judgement who judged according to the appearance of things to them which they imagine and conceive from the Scriptures but judged not the true and righteous Judgement which only the Children of the true Wisdom can A Post-script THERE are four or five things very pretious which were generally witnessed in the dayes of the Apostles among the true Christians which are all mentioned together Heb. 6.4 5. First They were truly enlightned The Ministers of the Gospel were sent by Christ to turn men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God Act. 26.18 1 Joh. 1.5 and they were faithful in their Ministry and did turn men from the darkness and power of Satan to the Light of Gods holy Spirit and they were enlightned by it and received power through it and so came to be Children of the Light and to walk in the Light as God is in the Light Secondly They tasted of the heavenly gift What is the heavenly gift which Christ gives to those who come unto him and become his sheep He gives them Life Eternal Life Joh. 10.27 28. He brings them out of death and gives them a savour and tast of the Life which is Eternal This was it which the Apostles testifyed of even of the Life which was manifested in that body of flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 1.2 and they that turn from the darkness to his Light he gives them a tast of the same Light Thirdly They were made pertakers of the holy ghost The Gospel is a day of bringing forth the Spiritual Seed and of pouring out the holy Spirit upon them The Law State is a State of Servants the Gospel of Sons And because true believers in Christ are Sons God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into their hearts to cry Abba father And God cannot deny his own Spirit to his Children that ask it of him he knoweth how absolutly necessary it is to the state of a Son And whosoever truly receiveth Christ Christ doth give him power to become a Son which power is in and with and cannot be separated from his Spirit Yea the Spirit of Christ is so necessary and inseparable from him that is Christs that the Apostle expresly affirms That if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 Fourthly They tasted of the good word of God Of that Word from which the gift comes of that Word which was in the begining of the Word which is ingrafted into the hearts of those that truly believe Which Word is able to save the Soul Fifthly They tasted of the powers of the world to come Of the power of the endless Life whereof Christ is the Minister and according to which he ministers Life in that Holy True Living Inward Spiritual Temple which he pitcheth and reareth up for an habitation to God in his own Spirit Now in the Apostacy and night of darkness which hath come over the Christian state these things have been greatly lost For there hath bin none that have bin found able to turn people to that Light which the Apostles directed to None could tell men where the Light is to shine and where men were to expect it and wait for it None were able to direct men to the Seed of the Kingdom within to the Word of Faith the Word of the Kingdom nigh in the heart and mouth Much less were they able to instruct men how they might know and distinguish it from all other Seeds and the voice of the Sheepherd from all other voices Here it came to pass that though at times God visited and opened mens hearts a little warming them by the breath which came from himself yet they not knowing how to turn to the Lord and wait upon him for preservation in the gift and measure of his own Grace the good hath soon been stolen away from them and the building which hath been raised up in them hath not been a building of Life according to the Spirit but a building of Wisdome or Knowledge concerning the things of God according to the flesh and so the building that hath been raised up in mens Spirits hath been Babylon in stead of Sion But the Lord hath had a remnant all along the Apostacy who felt some begettings of Life and had in measure some sence and tast of the heavenly things These mourned after that state which was once enjoyed and felt their want of it travelling from Mountain to Hill seeking their resting place which none could rightly inform them of Now for the sakes of these God hath at length appeared How appeared may some say Why thus He who is Light hath appeared inwardly causing his Light to shine inwardly causing his Life to spring inwardly So that he who is Light who is Life who is Truth is felt and known in his own inward visits breakings forth and appearances For God who is a Spirit his appearance is Spiritual his day is Spiritual his kingdom is Spiritual his Light is Spiritual his Life is Spiritual his day-star is Spiritual and his day dawneth and his day-star ariseth in the heart Thus The Day-spring from on high did visit us who satt in darkness and in the region of the shadow of death And here we have met with what the Apostles met with the very same Light of Life the very same enlightning Spirit and Power and have been enlightned by it and tasted of the same gift The very same grace that appeared to them and taught them hath appeared to us and taught us and of it have we learned the same lessons in the same Covenant of Life wherein they learned and now can we seal to their Testimony in the same Spirit wherin they gave it forth and witness to the same eternal Life and the same holy oyl and anointing our eyes having been opened and being kept open by it And though their be great disputes about our Testimony in this our day and the present Professors rise up against us as the former Professors did against them yet let but any man come rightly to distinguish in himself between that which God begets in the heart and all other births and let that speak and judge in them that will soon confess that our Testimony is of God and given forth in the authority and by the commission of his own Spirit True wisdome is justified by the Children that are born of her It is the other birth that doth not nor can own her The other birth can own former dispensations according to the Letter of them but not the Life and Power of the present I have known the breaking down of much in me by the powerful hand of the Lord and a parting with much though not too much for Christs sake The Lord hath brought the day of distress and inward judgment over my heart He hath arisen to shake terribly the earthly part in me yea what if I should say that the powers of heaven have been shaken also That he might make me capable to receive and bring me into that Kingdom which cannot be shaken And now that which God hath shaken and removed in me I see others build upon and they think it shall never be shaken in them But such know not the day of the Lord nor the terrible searching of his pure Light nor the opperation of his Power which will not spare in one what he hath reproved condemned shaken and overturned in another He that knows the Living Stone within and comes to him as to a Living Stone and as built upon the revelation of his Spirit Life and Power revealed inwardly against the power of darkness is not deceived all that otherwise build I mean upon an outward knowledge concerning Christ and not upon his inward Life their building will not be able to stand in the day of the Lord. I wish they might have a sence of it in time that they might not perish for ever but experience that Life and Power of our Lord Jesus Christ which redeemeth and preserveth out of the perishing state for ever and ever Amen THE END