Scriptures of Truth and from the Saints life Where do you read that the Saints made Images and set them up and bowed unto them and worshipped before them Or did they pray unto Images or make an Image of Christ or of the Saints and fall down before it and pray unto it Or did they ever sprinâ—le Water one upon another and called it Holy Water And did they ever pray by their Beads and use Crosses and Crucifixes And had they a POPE to rule over them and to order them in the Worship of God Who first made Cardinals and Fryers and Nuns and erected Abbyes and Monasteries Who first set up Houses of Wood and Stone and called them Churches Are not you the Inventers of all these things which are come up since the dayes of the Apostles Who made Saint dayes and called them Holy Dayes And who set up Colledges to make men Ministers And who gave the Colledges their several Names And who brought up Tythes and gave them to the Ministers made at Colledges And who made a Law to compel the payment of them unto such a Ministry Who first brought up Bread and Wine and called it Sacrament And who first gave Power to the Colledge-Ministers to communicate it unto People at certain Times and Dayes And who first ordained that every Receiver of it from their hand should give them two pence for so doing Who first brought up those Easter Reclignings and Midsummer-Dues and Ten-shilling-Sermons Whether was this the Saints practice who lived in the Life and Power of God Or are not all these things come up in the Invention since the Spirit of Truth was lost and ravened from How will you clear your selves before the Lord when he calls you up to the Baâ— of his Justice to give account of your doings How wil you make these things with much more that might be mentioned warrantable or lawful seeing that the Scripture doth not declare of them nor the Saints who were by the Power of God Redeemed and Regenerated into newness of Life they did not live in them nor set them up From what Root then doth all these things spring Do they not come up from the Carnal mind that is at enmity with God And is it not the flesh that brings forth such a Birth as this Have you not committed shameful Whoredom and run into deep Fornication who are so far degenerated from the holy Spirit and from the Scriptures that your Birth is not at all shaped or formed like unto that which is true So that your Birth is conceived in the Adulteress Womb and is a Child of Whoredom and there is no Scripture to prove it lawful Your building Houses and calling them Churches your setting up Crosses in many Towns making Saints Dayes praying to Saints erecting Colledges calling them Christ's Colledge and John's Colledge and such like Names your making Ministers at them and your giving them the tenth part of Peoples Encrease to maintain them and making a Law to compel it with much more by you brought forth in the Mid-Night of Apostacy Have you not erred exceedingly from the Scriptures and from the Spirit that gave the Scriptures forth And so are neither found in the Saints Life nor Practice Therefore be stil and hearken to the Lords Counsel and reject it not it is near you to reprove you for your abominable Idolatries Turn to it for it is Truth and there is no deceit in it the Lord hath placed it in your Consciences to be a Witness for him from which none can hide their Counsel nor cover their secret Thoughts and Cease from your doings and give over making Likenesses and forming Images and turn to that of God in you which the Imagination cannot comprehend nor the Invention make any Likeness of Bow down and worship it and be subject unto it in all things it is CHRIST the Power of God the Heavenly Image who is jealous of his Glory and wil smite all other Images and Image-Makers For Babylon must fall before him and Antichrist he wil destroy with the brightness of his Appearance Oh ye people your Way is corrupted and is not found right before the Lord though you challenge the first place after the Apostles and set your selves on high with that you call your Mother Church yet the Lord hath found you out and all your deceitful workings and Whoredoms and Abominations whither your hearts have run out of God's fear that your Mother Church doth now appear and is made manifest in this Day of God to be MYSTERY BABYLON THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS which hath made all Nations drunk with the Wine of her Fornication and hath handed forth a Golden Cup full of Abominations by which she hath deceived the Nations But the Day hath declared you and your Work is seen of what sort it is and it is not like the Saints Work who drunk of the Cup of Salvation And thus have you spread your Skirt over the earth and have pollutted it with your abominable Idolatries and have caused many to drink of your Cup of Fornication and have bewitched them with your Sorceries and the abundance of your Delicacies But the Lord is rending your Skirt and taking away your Covering and your nakedness appears to your shame for you are seen to the bottom and your Root is the corrupted heart of the old Man in the degeneration and you lye in the Fall and in the Transgression where not one doth good and the Lord hath no pleasure in you neither doth he require your Worship nor your Offerings at your hands but is weary of them Therefore Arise out of yâ—â—r Idolaâ—ry and depart from it for it is polluted and the Lord will suddenly come upon it and destroy it with a sore destruction And cease from your Cruelty and Blood-thirstiness and lay by your Stocks and Whips and Prisâ—ns and do not use such Weapons to defend your Religion for that makes you manifest to be out of the Saints Life who never used such things to compel any to Conformity or to punish such as differed from them in Practice and Worship Therefore all turn to that by which they were guided and in which they walked and lived the Spirit of Truth by which they were led into all Truth and were kept from Idols and as it is made manifest in you wait to receive it and then fight against Spiritual Wickedness in High Places that sin and transgression may be cut down in your own particulars that you may live no longer in Pride and Haughtiness Envy and Malice Riotting and Drunkennesse and such like filthinesse which you like to retain and have a love to more then the Light that doth reprove you for them but all come to the Light that in the Light your Minds may be ordered and exercised and it wil gather you into a measure of the same Life the Saints enjoyed and raise your souls from Death and it wil destroy all your Images and Bastard-Births which in the
Earthly corruptibâ—e Wisdom you have formed and brought forth and as you obey and believe in it it will lead you to God where Life and Eternal Salvation is obtained and Peace and Unity is enjoyed and possessed for ever Depart from Vanity and live A few Words of tender Counsel to the PRELATES with all that wâ—lk in that way generally called PROTESTANTS BEhold your WAY ye People and consider what is brought forth by you Look into the GLASS of Righteousness and see whose Image it bears Are you come to that which was in the beginning And doth the Light shine out of Darkness in you Your VVayes and Doings must come to tryal and your VVork must be seen of what sort it is for the Light maketh all things manifest You deny the POPE and those with him in words and you have got the Name of PROTESTANTS to be your Covering but when your Works are brought to trial they savour of the Popes Root and your fruit hath both one taste and your Births are Simeâ—n and Levi you are in the Apostacy and in Darkness you abide and there you wander form the Way of Truth and then you make a Way in your Inventions and seâ— up a Worship in your Wils and drinks of the Whores Cup and the Beast's Mark is in your FOREHEAD You have an Observation which you make to your selves and you set up the Kingdom there and the Customs and Traditions you walk in which by the Popes Power was first instituted and you uphold and maintain his Birth which was nourished and brought up by him in this Nation of England when his Power extended over it and his Skirts covered it and you strive to preserve it and to give more life unto it and to set it up as a lawful Child and so in your COUNCELS makes Laws to establish it and to compel all to worship it and do not consider from what Root it springs or whether it be according to the Scriptures of Truth or the Saints life but you run in haste in your own Wills sets up what seems right in your own Eyes and then make Laws to uphold it and to compel all to be conformable to it under penalties and punishment And what have you more to say for your PRACTISE and WORSHIP then the POPE hath for his Or is your Birth more like the Truth or the Saints Practice then his whom you seem to deny What Scripture have you for your made-Church of Wood and Stone And who first ordained it to be a Church and consecrated it to be holy And what Scripture have you for your formed PRAYERS and your LETTANY and to make them up together in a Book and call them COMMON PRAYER Who first instituted COLLEDGES And who gave them their Names And who first ordained that men should be made Ministers at Colledges And who first appointed TYTHES to be paid to that Ministry And who first made a LAW to compel such a Maintenance Who first made and ordained LORD-BISHOPS and ARCH-BISHOPS Vicars and Curates And who first divided their BISHOPRICKS and Diocesses And how came they to rule over other people to make Vicars and Curates under them How came up HOODS and TIPPETS and SURPLICES And who first ordained that Ministers should be clothed with them in the time of their Worship And who first set up ALTARS and ORGANS and made Singing-men and Singing-boyes Have you not found out many Inventions and observe the Customs and Traditions which hath been brought in when Darkness over-spread And so you are found to be out of the Saints life and errs from the Scripture of Truth and your Root is the corrupted heart of the old man and your Likeness bears his IMAGE Behold your Birth Is it not after the Flesh and a Child of Whoredom It is not like the Form of that which was brought forth by the Saints that lived in the Truth and worshipped God in Spirit and Truth Oh! Arise ye people here is not your REST it is polluted and God will destroy it with a sore destruction Therefore come out of BABYLON partake no longer of her sins lest ye be destroyed with her Plagues And be not violent towards others that God hath separated from amongst you neither force or compel any people by a Law to conform to such a VVorship or bow to such a Likeness or uphold such a Church or maintain such a Ministery least you draw Judgement speedily upon your selves For BABYLON must be destroyed and the Inhabitants thereof scattered therefore doth the Lord visit in his Love that his Seed might be gathered before his Wrath take hold in Judgement For God hath a Seed amongst you which groans and is pressed under your Corruptions and Abominations and his Bowels yearns towards it And in tender Love is this declared concerning you that you may turn to the Lord in this day of his Visitation wherein his Arm is gathering from off the Mountains and Hills and bringing into the Fold of his Reâ—â— for he is making haste and cutting the Work short in Righteousness Therefore all fear before him who is mighty to save and mighty to cut down and destroy and all encline to his Counsel whose VVord is near you and secretly reproves you in your own Conscience for the evil of your doings turn unto it for that was in the beginning and made and created all things and saw that they were good Hearken when the Word near you reproves you and obey believe and follow it for it teaches right things and your understandings it will open and bring you to consider the fruit of your doings and let you see your practise and Worship to be vain and it will lead you out of Confusion Warring and Fighting and destroying one another about your Religion and it wil bring you to know the pure Religion and undefiled before God which no carnal Weapon can either set up or pull down And so will you come into unity with God and one another and know the Rest and everlasting Peace that endures for ever Be not high-minded but fear A few Words of tender Counsel unto those called PRESBYTERIANS with all that are walking in that WAY HEar ye zealous PROFESSORS who are mounted up on high and in your Imaginations stand exalted What taste have your Fruit And what is the form of your Birth For you must come to the proof and the Tryal must pass upon you the Light hath found you out and makes you manifest and you are seen to be of the old Root though your Branch put out something higher the savour of your Fruit is bitter and the Form of your Birth is uncomely your Work doth not answer what you seem to profess you are run into observations and are setting up the Kingdom in words and make to your selves a Likeness and would compel subjection to it You have forgot the day of your Distresse when many of you suffered under Compelling Laws because you could not bow nor
fellowship one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth them from all sin And this is John's Testimony unto the Saints gathered in the Light and then he exhorted them to abide in it and walk in it and receive the Teachings of it For saith John You need not another Teacher but the Annointing which you have received of him and abideth in you Mark the Annointing which the Saints had received it did abide in them and they needed not that any man should teach them but as the same Annointing taught them all things and is truth and no lye 1 John 2.27 And in the Truth received they lived and it did abide in them and by the same Spirit of Truth were they led into all Truth and had Fellowship and perfect unity one with another in the Truth and they were dear and tender over one another and loved one another with an unfeigned Love and these were they that were born of God and were Children of the Light and of the Day and they were not of the Night nor of Darknesâ— but out of that state were redeemed and saved by the Power of Christ and in his Light they were led into the holy City which John in the Spirit saw descending out of Heaven from God having the glory of God and her Light was like a Stone most precious and the City had no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it for the Glory of God did lighten it and the Lamb is the Light thereof and the Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the Light thereof and the Kings of the Earth bring their Glory and Honor into it Rev. 21. Mark all that are saved must walk in the Lambs Light which shines in the Holy City and thither the Kings of the Earth must bring their Glory and Honour and all must be laid down at the feet of him who reigns for ever for unto the Lambs Power must all be subject he is greater than all there was none before him neither is there another after him the Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the Ending the First and Last Rev. 22. Mark I am Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the Ending the First and Last And here Moses and John meets in unity and their Testimony agrees in one and all the Dispensations and Administrations did hold forth this excellent Glory which unto John was revealed in the Spirit and from the beginning to the end of all that is declared and written in so many Words it is but a Testimony of him whose Name is called the Word of God Rev 19 Mark The WORD is his Name and it was in the beginning and by it was all things made that are made and all the Holy Men of God received it and had a part in it and by it they all obtained Life and they testified that there was not another Name given whereby any could be saved And this is declared in Words and is called Scripture of Truth but is not the Word whereby Life and Salvation comes For that was in the Beginning and is the same this Day and abides for Ever CHRIST the Power of God the Salvation of God without any variableness or changing and what Moses saw him to be in his time John saw him to be the same in his time and as he was made manifest unto them so they testified of him and exalted him above every Name and laboured to gather people unto him and many believed in him and were united to him and by one Spirit were baptized into one Body and had fellowship and communion in one life and in the Spirit they worshipped God with one accord and served him with one consent And this was glorious in its time and a Service accepted of God for they were single and upright to God and worshipped him in his own Spirit and his living presence was amongst them and the Light of his Countenance did shine upon them and their hearts were made glad and rejoiced in him and they offered up a living Sacrifice of Praise unto his Name Then did Antichrist begin to work amongst them and with his subtilty entered and prevailed over some of them and through his deceivableness entangled them and drew them from their obedience unto the Power in which they were gathered then did those forsake the rest that in the Power were kept went out from them and turned the Grace of God into wantonness and made Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience then Night came upon the Disobedient and the Vail spread over them and darkness covered them and they lost the Life and Power of God and went out from the Spirit and from the Truth and so became false Apostles and Deceivers holding the Form but denyed the Power had the Sheeps Clothing kept the Words but inwardly ravened from the Spirit And these Apostates who were gone from the Life and Power of God and had lost the Leading of his Spirit they turned into the Flesh and joined to the Harlot and committed Whoredom and generated in the Flesh and conceived a false Birth and in their own strength brought it forth and it turned a Persecutor of the Birth born of the Spirit and exercised Dominion and Lordship over others and sought to pervert the Right Way of the Lord and to turn people from it and after the Saints decease who by the true Spirit were guided then the false Apostles and Deceivers prevailed and drew people unto their Way which stood in the Form out of the Power so that the people were covered with gross Darkness and their minds blinded that the things of God were not at all perceived then they sought out many Inventions and made many Likenesses and set up Forms and every man's Way seemed right in his own eyes and all became observers of their own Way so set up the Kingdom in their observations and all crying that Christ was in that Way which they had made and observed Now Christ beheld the coming of such and exhorted to beware of them and not believe them nor go forth after them for he declared that they were false who shall cry him up in any observation or set up the Kingdom of God in any such thing therefore saith Christ The Kingdom of God is within you Luk. 17. So in this dark Night of Apostacy that was entered people ran into Confusion and did not understand one another And when this glorious Day was lost that the Saints lived in who gave forth the Scriptures and that people were gone astray and erred from the leading of the Spirit and had no union with the Life and Power that the Saints enjoyed then they got their Words and in the strength of their Imaginations they set up a Way and formed a Likeness then centered in the Form and rested there for Life so was the Light and Day of God lost and no Morning in them appeared but gross Darkness was over them and
quickning Spirit and the faith that they have made is not held in a pure conscience but is conceived in the heart that is degenerated and corrupted So people being from that of God in them which he makes manifest unto them 〈◊〉 god of this world rules over them and blindes their mindes that those things which are eternal they cannot perceive then doth he lead forth their mindes into the temporals and they make haste thither and opens their eyes to look at the things which are seen and this is pleasing to the carnal minde which is willing to turn any way that it may escape judgement And what was by the Saints given forth and appears in writings without them that their life is in and that they contend about and all strives to set up their own Conceivings and teach for Doctrine mens traditions and minde not the measure of God in themselves but stretch beyond it in the comprehension and run into other mens lines and labours and are all upon the earthly root and in darkness and confusion in their practise and worship that from the crown of the head to the sole of the feet the Image hath no whole part in it but is full of putrifaction and corruption and every branch rotten and deceitful and no good fruit is found for the bringing forth of all is from the heart that is deceitful and corrupted which lyes fallen and degenerated from God and cannot bring forth any thing that is pleasing to him or accepted by him for as is the root so is every branch in its nature from high to low and through all these appearances there is not a sound part found but some of them abominable filthy others have healed the sore sleightily and are all out of the life power of God and are all found wanderers in the night of Apostasie and in the darkness have taken the Whores Cup and do drink it and received the mark of the beastâ— and do bear it and this is Babylon the Mother of Harlots and the abomination of all uncleanness who hath held forth a Golden Cup in the night of Apostasie and hath through her Sorceries and Inchantments bewitched many to receive it and drink it untill they have been drunk with the Wine of her Fornication and have committed Whoredome with her that many children have been begotten and many Bastards brought forth of flesh and blood and of the will of man which is the birth that persecutes the Son and Heir And unto all those is the Cup of Gods indignation poured forth and they must all come under the severity of his Judgement because they are Bastards and not Sons for these adulterous births have provoked the Lord and grieved his Spirit and he hath long forborn and spared But on Babylon he will be avenged and all her Brats and Children he will dash in peeces in the fierceness of his anger and not one of them must stand though never so seemingly glorious for the day is come and the true Birth is born whose right it is to Reign and his glory he will not give to another nor his praise to graven Images he is the Son and in him is life and his life is the light of men all must bow before him and all that is contrary to him must under his feet be troden down for unto him alone belongs the issue from death the same that was and is and is to come Everlasting Powerful God over all for ever and ever Hear ye wise and consider ye prudent of the world Is not this your Way and Is not this the fruit of your doings Do you not walk in darkness and are you not building in your Imaginations and setting up your own inventions and brings forth likenesses and Are you not from that which was in the beginning and from the Saints life and Do you not want rest and peace to your souls Be stayed and feel Gods witness in your own selves which will return a true answer in your own bosomes And now a few words of â—ender Counsel from the Lord God unto you all that you may see the form of the Image and how uncomely every part of it is that you may not love nor delight in it any longer for the Lord will destroy it together and the little Stone cut out of the Mountains without hands will dash it all in peeces and there will not be a man upon the earth found to save or uphold any part of it So all watch to the Morning that the day may break upon you and the Light shine out of darkness in you that your eye may look into the Glass of Righteousness the pure Light of Christ in your own consciences and there you may behold both the Ill-favoured and Well-favoured Harlot and what Image you all bear and what Cup you all drink of and what Mark is in your foreheads and if you be diligent and incline to the Lords Counsel and hearken to his witnes in you your understandings wil open and you will see to the beginning and know that which was before imaginations or any inventions was found out and you will come into unity with the Saints life and know every word you utter forth to be spoken in the life and all flesh silent before God and so will your gatherings be unto Christ who is set up for an Ensign that all may come unto him and be saved and you will feel his life in you revealed and in his face behold the express Image of the Faâ—hers glory and his Power he will make known in you and baptize in the death and every formed fleshly birth that exalts it self against him and he will save you as you in him beleeve and redeem you from your vain conversations which you have in the world and give you life and peace for ever A few Words of tender Counsel unto the POPE with all that walk in that way who are called PAPISTS HEar and consider you that set your selves on high and boast in the Works of your own hands you are weighed and tried and your Way and Work is proved and you are found to be out of the Saints Life and from the Scriptures of Truth for the Lord spake by Moses saying Thou shalt have no other Gods but me thou shalt not make to thy self any Graven Image nor the Lâ—keness of any thing in Heaven above or Earth beneath or Water under the Earth thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them For I the Lord thy God am a Jealous God Exod. 20. Are you not found Transgressors of the Holy and just Law of God making to your selves Likenesses and bow down to them and Worship them and forget the Lord who saith Thou shalt have no other Gods but me And are not these your Gods which you make to your selves and sets them up to Worship And do you not adore them and bow and cringe to them and doth not this practise erre from the
judging according to the flesh but according to the Spirit and sees to the Root and Principle from which all things springs up and grows and they do not judge according to the outward appearance but judge Righteous Judgement for such as Discern no further then what outwardly appears and then judge according to that others from the same ground may draw as true a Judgement against them and here people are not to Judge lest they be Judged which is a place much alleadged against true Judgement but who so Judges one of another it is not in the Spirit of Truth which doth Dâ—scern through all Appearances but it is in the flesh which cannot perceive beyond what doth appear And so all the false Births give Judgement one against another and cannot bear the Judgement of one another then they are provoked and angry one with another and run into Confusion and Distraction Warring and Fighting and Destroying one another about their formed Religion none being come to the Spirit that gives a discerning through what appears and gives true Judgement in the ground but all born of the Spirit hath true union with it and the flesh and the deeds of it is subdued under it and they are no more in the flesh but in the Spirit and have received Christ Jesus the Lord and walk in him and are spiritual and the spiritual man Judgeth all things and he himself is judged of no man And whether you can receive it or no you are all truly tried and judged not in the flesh but in the Spirit and your ROOT and FOUNDATION is seen and Discerned and is not found to be that which was in the beginning but that which the Subtilty generated since the beginning and so doth he rule over you and blind your mindes that you cannot see nor discern further then what appears and the mystery of the Kingdome is hid from your eyes and you run into the Words with your carnal mindes and earthly Wisdome and from what is written draw something to your selves and form up a Likeness in your conceivings and bring that forth in the strength of your own wills and this is your Foundation and the first Principle of your Religion and so the HARLOT hath brought forth many Children which in her Womb hath all been conceived and yet are not formed one like another but all differ in their Shape and Likeness and then strive one with another and yet are all Children of one House and all of one Kingdome but no Love nor Unity found amongst them but Envy Hatred and Malice and all one against another and divided into Heads and Parties which is an evident Testimony of the Ruine and Fall of your House and Kingdome For a House divided against it self cannot stand Therefore come out of it lest it fall upon you and utterly destroy you and all come to that where peace and safety is for God hath prepared a sure Refuge and Resting place for all that will come and he hath gathered many into Unity and perfect Peace therein and they rest in his love and are preserved in his power and he alone is their Strengâ—h and sure Defence so hath the Lord made his Power known in this his day and hath gathered a Remnant to that which was in the beginning which was the Saints Life and from which the Scriptures were declared of which they all testified that is now made manifest which the false Apostles ravened from and many Sons and Daughters are come to glory in it and this is the Spirit of Truth which leads into all Truth that cuts down Transgression and Reigns over the head of the Transgressor and doth discover clearly all the deeds of Darkness which is come up since the dayes of the Apostles and are practised by such as are in the Apostasie and this comprehends all but cannot be comprehended of any it is Pure Everlasting Unchangeable and no Variableness there is in it all that in it do beleeve have found the Author of Eternal Salvation and are come to the Wisdome and Righteousness of God and to the enjoyment of Eternal Life which is in CHRIST JESUS the Lord whose Glory and Majesty is spreading over the Earth and who is gathering a holy people to Himself that in them his Praise may be shewed forth who alone is Worthy God of Gods and King of Saints who by all his Reâ—eemed Ones is over all Exalted Magnified and Praised for Ever and Ever THE END
revealed and both the Law and Prophets bear witness unto him and the Scriptures throughout testifies of him and declare his unchangeableness who through all abides the same what he was in the beginning he was the same to Moses and to David and all the Prophets and Holy men of God who all received a measure of his unchangeable life and were thereby inspired and as that in them moved so they spake and declared and their Testimony agreeâ— in one for they were all come to that which vvas in the beginning and all declared the same thing according to its manifestation unto them that from Moses until John all the true Prophets boâ—e their Testimony unto CHRIST the Power of God whom they knew to be freely given of God to be a LIGHT and a LEADER that he might be salvation unto the ends of the Earth as they received they Ministred and truly testified of his Power and what they knew him to be made unto them so they declared of him and witnessed him to be a King a Judge a Law-giver a Rock a Fortress a Deliverer And so according to the Manifestation they Ministred and not by Tradition or Custom That the Testimony of John agreed with the Testimony of Moses and they both witnessed the same Thing and had Union with the same Life So John was come to that which was in the Beginning and in that he was the greatest of all the Prophets and was sent of God to prepare the Way and to make the Pathes streight for he was near to be revealed in glory of whom Moses and the Prophets had testified and John declared of the Word which was in the beginning by which all things were made And he testified That in the Word there was Life and the Life was the Light of men John 1. mark The Word in the beginning is the Life and Light of men by which all things were made This was his Testimony who was sent of God to bear witness unto the Light and he did not declare of another then the holy men of God had done the same that Moses and the Prophets had testified of and he was sent of God to bear witness unto this Truth which was in the beginning and he did not testifie of that to be the Light which Moses and the Prophets had written before him neither did he testifie of himself to be the Light but that is the true Light saith John that enlightens every man that comes into the world John 1.9 Here was the Light shone out of Darkness in John the Morning and the first Day was come unto him as was unto Moses and he beheld his Glory as the Glory of the onely begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth Then God sent him to bear witness unto the Light which in him was made manifest that all in the Light might believe and he called unto others to behold him and said he was the Lamb of God and was come to take away the sins of the World John 1.29 Mark He beheld him and his Glory and felt his Power and what his Power tooke away then he declared him as he knew him and not from any Tradition or Writing before him though then there was much written which did truly testifie of him Weigh this Truth all ye Priests and Professors and ponder it in your hearts Have you beheld Christ and seen his Glory whose Name in Words you declare Have you felt his Power to take away your sin If yea then why do you teach for Doctrine mens Traditions and build upon other mens labours and stretch your selves beyond your own measures running into the Lines of what others have written And if nay then how dare any of you make mention of his Name or speak of his Glory or of his Power seeing you have not beheld him yet made manifest in your selves You are not sent of God no not one of you who cannot witness in some measure the glory of the onely begotten of the Father revealed in you Therefore let all flesh be silent and the mouth of Iniquity for ever stopped and let none speak more of Christ or his Glory and Povver then they knovv a measure of his Life made manifest in their mortal bodyes by vvhich they come to know their sin taken avvay For John testified that the giving forth of the Law vvas by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ John 1.17 Mark Grace and Truth vvas come unto John by Jesus Christ and he had beheld and had felt the Virtue of it by vvhich Moses Administration vvas fulfilled in him And this is John's Record who vvas sent of God to bear Witness unto him in whom is life the same vvhich was in the beginning of vvhom Moses testified that so their Record agrees in one and their Testimony is unto the same Life in Unity for they vvere gathered unto Him vvho vvas in the beginning and vvas made manifest through Generations to be a Light and a Leader and all that believed and obeyed him had Life Eternal in him And this is he that vvas made under the Law to Redeem them that vvere under the Law and in fulness of time came and vvas made manifest to Israel and vvas the end of the Law for Righteousness unto all that did believe and so he fulfilled the Ministration of Condemnation which could not justifie any because of its weakness he brought in a Ministration of Righteousness which did exceed in Glory And this was the Word in the beginning which became flesh dwelt amongst them they beheld his glory and received him and as many as received him unto them he gave Power to become the Sons of God even to as many as believed in his Name And John preferred him before all saying He that comes after me is preferred before me for he was before me and his shoo-latchets I am not worthy to unloose I baptize with water but he shall baptize with the Holy Ghost and with Fire whose Fan is in his hand he must encrease but I must decrease saith John And when he came and was made manifest unto Israel of whom Moses and the true Prophets had testified and whose Glory they saw was to be revealed he Ministred forth of his own Fulness and of his Fulness they received who upon him waited and in him believed Then he confirmed the Testimony of all the Holy Men of God saying I am the Light of the World he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the Light of Life John 8.12 And this Testimony the Pharisees could not receive but told him he bore Record of himself and his Record was not true These were the wise Generation and the Scripture-learned ones in that day who had the Law and the Prophets read amongst them every Sabbath and yet did not behold his glory when manifest amongst them of whom Moses and the Prophets had testified nor did not believe his own
have declared of them then examine and try your selves whether you be in the Faith in which they were made partakers of the Divine Nature for the words which from the Life are Ministred will not give unto any a Possession of the Life neither are they the WAY unto Life but they are a true DECLARATION of Him who is the WAY TRUTH and LIFE and the Light being believed in which from the Life is made manifest it leads to the enjoyment of the Life from whence it comes and then is the knowledge of the Lâ—ght of the Glory of God revealed and known in the face of Christ and the Understanding is then opened and the Scriptures known and set in their right place so that you have neglected the needful thing which is but ONE and have chosen the wrong part and cumber your selves with many things having got the Saints words and want their Life You are dayly cumbred in your minds about their Meanings and know not what they meant when the Truth is spoken by them in plainness So being from the WORD you are from the Saints Life the WORD that was in the Beginning was their LIFE and they witnessed that LIFE to be the Light of men and in the measure of that Life received they gave forth the Scriptures which none upon the earth can understand without Union with a measure of the Word of Life from which the words were Ministred forth So that you are found to be amiss and wandering in a way that doth not lead to life and all that you have formed and brought forth is but the Work of your own hands conceived and generated in the Earthly Corruptible part which fled the Hour of his Judgement and could not abide his coming in Judgement So you never came to the Judgment-Seat where the MIGHTY falls and the LOFTY bows where the EARTH trembles and the HILLS melt and all Flesh is put to silence You did not wait in the Way that in the Victory over the Corruptible you might have come to life in the Incorruptible but you started aside when Judgement came to be laid to the line and could not abide such a Tryal so you fled it and retained the Corruptible and saved your life in it and the Birth after the Flesh is seated over God's Witness and that is the Birth you set up and strive to make it fair and beautiful and to enrich it with the choicest things that it may appear beautiful unto men and if you have but Scripture to speak you are perswaded the thing is right and so you carry on your practise in words and set up your Kingdom in words but you want the Power and the Flesh never came into subjection to learn silence but speak though it be not permitted And thus do you run in the many things and cumber your selves with them and labours to set them where they ought not to be you would set the Words above the WORD and give them the Name of the WORD and call them the Word of God and in this you erre and knows not the Scripture nor the Power of God for CHRIST is the WORD of God and his Name is called so Rev. 19. And the Words are nor CHRIST but a true Testimony of him So amongst the Words you find how the Saints in some things walked and what they practised and then you strive to make that thing to your selves and to observe it and do it as near as you can And here you are found transgressors of the just Law of God who saith Thou shalt not make to thy self any Graven Image nor the likeness of any thing Now what difference is there in the Ground betwixt You the Pope though in the appearance there seem to be such a great space And though you read of such things which the Saints performed and in which they were accepted if you want their Life and make the thing to your selves you are found Transgressors of the Law and comes under Reproof for doing that in your Corruptible Wills which they had peace in as they performed it in the Incorruptible Life and yet in the appearance no difference found in what is done So you read that after they received the Word and believed they went into the Water and were baptized and you come to observe and do the same because you read that some of them walked in such a practise and you say you believe in Christ and you receive his Word and you go into the water and are washed and call it Baptism And here is no difference found in the Likeness of the thing but yours appears the same as theirs did in the outward practise But come up to tryal the Light makes all things manifest as they are and doth not judge according to the appearance but judges righteous Judgemment they did receive the Word and they did believe and some of them went into the water and were baptized unto John's Baptism and after that were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Acts 19. And then the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake and prophesied Can you read this Scripture not see your selves where you are Who would be alwayes swimming in the Water would not come to the Holy Ghost and Fire that his Name you may know in which Salvation is and his Fan you may feel which in his own hand is placed which purgeth the Floore from all filthinesse and prepares the Temple to exalt his own Name in This is the Baptism which they witnessed who in his Life believed and in which they were baptized into his Death and there were buried with him and so came to the Resurrection through the operation of his Eternal Power you are not come to know this Practise but are satisfied with your going into the Water and coming out again when neither filthinesse of Flesh nor Spirit is cleansed from you but the pollution still abides and the Old Man lives And so you are short of the Saints Condition whose practise you pretend to follow and that Spirit by which they were baptized into one Body you are not found subject to and this was not water that baptized them into one Body neither was it water that baptized them into Christ and by which they put him on but it was the Eternal Power of Life in which they were baptized and in which Baptism Self was buryed and all the Affections and Lusts of the Flesh were destroyed and here was not Self standing in them neither did they make any likeness for that part to glory in but judged it down in the Power and in the Power were truly baptized into the death of the Corruptible Earthly part and could no longer live to themselves and then was the entrance Ministred into the Fathers House where Daily-Bread they received which did refresh the Immortal Soul Now because they were made Witnesses of such a state who believed followed the Light and denyed themselvs took