Worship the God of the Spirits of all Flesh and feel it in the inward parts according as the Lord requireth by which Truth man comes to be sanctified for the Word that liveth and abideth forever is Truth which comes to be ingrafted into them who believe in the Light and in it wait for the Promise of the Father even that Spirit of Truth which the World cannot receive for they know it not it being in Gods Wisdom hid from the Wisdom of the World who know not him that may be felt after and found who is near unto every one of you whose measure of Light in you is it you are all to know by it to come to know the eternal Power and Godhead as they did who had not Scriptures Rom. 1. 19. for the Light of Christ in you is that which is to give the Knowledge of God 2 Cor. 4. 6. who hath assuredly revealed his Son in me and led me in the straight Way to Life Eternal and the enjoyment of the Truth which is Immortal the which being to me a Pearl of great Price and more precious than a thousand Rivers of Oyl And that none may be hindred from receiving of this which I have most assuredly found to be more excellent than the Royalty of Diadems or the Excellency of the most purest Gold or the most Renownedst Glory Beauty or Riches that the natural Eye can behold and that all who breathe after divine Refreshings and the Rest that never shall be shaken and the attaining to the Covenant of Life and Peace may come to be gathered into the One Fold of blessed Happiness and rest upon the Rock of Ages and never more be moved henceforth and forever And that if possible all Murmurings Reasonings concerning me or what I was may be taken out of the Minds of all People of all sorts and that all Jealousies Whisperings and Heart-burnings in the Wrathful Nature may be passified and cooled with the over-spreading Streams of God's free Love which truely is shed and groweth in my Heart and streameth forth as a Well-spring of Life toward the Seed that is yet oppressed in them among whom sometime I walked in Darkness wallowed in Unrighteousness and afterwards stood up as a tall Cedar in the height of Profession preaching great and high things daily unto others whereby then I was admired by many Hundreds who thereby came not to receive Power to overcome their Sins neither yet attain to that which the Souls of many of them thirsted after whom since I have often mourned over in Pity and in the Bowels of my Father's Love to the Soul in Bondage in them from whom I have been long and far absent in Body And that none of them by looking and wondering at me or any thing that hath befallen me may stumble thereby at the Light or Truth it self or be thereby kept from receiving the living Truth or from giving heed to that which all the Wise Master-builders refuse nor that they by looking at what I was before I received and lived in the Truth and at that which justly came upon me for my former Rebellion against the Light nor at the Judgments of God that came upon me within or without because of my unwillingness to follow him who said I am the Light follow me and said He that will not leave Father and Mother Wife and Children Goods or Lands for my sake is not worthy of me and he that will not deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me is not worthy of me And what a Cross it was for me to leave what I did let that of God in all that knew me judge But I say that none of them who are Colonels Captains Justices Professors nor People by looking out at any thing concerning me may not be with-held from receiving the Truth and so kept from that which is the way to the Father and the Door to the Rest for evermore Therefore hath it lay long of late years and often upon me and that from the hand of the Lord to lay something before your Eyes O ye Rulers Professors and People of Herefordshire and thereabout endeavouring thereby to remove any cause of stumbling by reason of what I was or of any false Reports raised upon me whereby the whole Truth of God might be Evil spoken of And this have I waited long to declare among you either in Words Writing or Print thought thereby Shame might come upon my former Course of Life when I lived in all manner of Sin and Iniquity except it were actual Adultery Fornication and Murder and though also hereby Contempt may come upon all that great Profession I was in when I preached daily in the Synagogue or upon all that I then spoke or preached out of the Innocent Life of God or if hereby at present suffer I Reproach as it is like I may by many yet the Reproach of Christ is greater Riches to me than the Treasure Glory and Preferment of England And first Concerning my Call out of the World or my going out from my House Country and outward Employment THe Light of Christ which condemns the Evil Deeds comes from him who calleth his out of the World and from their Employments to follow him who putteth forth his Sheep and thrultech forth Labourers into the Harvest and Abraham of whose Seed I now am went out of his Country and from his Fathers House Gen. 12. and him God blessed and encreased mightily and the Lord also called and thrust forth me who at last was obedient to the Command of the God of Abraham and ever since his Presence hath been with me and his Blessings have I found and the Encreasings of God have I received Praises to the Lord God of Life for evermore who hath called me by his Word of Power through his Grace which did teach me to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to obey his blessed Will which was and is my Sanctification in Jesus Christ who did also call Matthew from the receit of Custom to follow him and Peter and John from their Employment of Fishing and made them fishers of men and Paul also being called left his Employment of Tent-making after a time and was Obedient to the heavenly Vision and those then became a Wonder and a Gazing-stock to many yet they continued on Travelling through many Countries as I since have done preaching the Word of God with boldness And one of these men who were called from their outward Employment said Every man wherein he is called there abide and whereunto they were called they did abide and so do l and when the Priests and Rulers would have stopt their Mouthes by their Commands they said Whether it be lawful to hearken unto God or Man judge ye But these Ministers of Christ did not say he that is a Husbandman there abide for Noah was a Husbandman yet a Preacher of Righteousness and Elisha a Plow-man and Amos a Herdsman neither did they
abused or smote with Envy which is of the Devil Either man or Beast and that whereby I was led into any manner of Hypocrisie or Double-mindedness or any manner of Evil whatsoever which was Unjust in the sight of God though not seen by Man or any secret Evil that then lodged in the dark Corners of the stoney Heart then in me whereby any thing did arise in me or proceed from me which was contrary to the Humble Meek Innocent Upright Life of the Lamb of God who is now come and hath taken away the Sin of the World and is Pure Humble Meek and Lowly whose Life and Power of Love constraineth me to declare openly against all that which was done or said by me in Envy either openly or secretly against any Creature for there is nothing done in secreet that shall not be made manifest And let all who knew me before who are saying I was an honest man be warned of the like Evil and leave it considering that if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Ungodly and Sinner appear for many did look upon me to be either a Godly or an Honest man yet am I made willing to let open Shame come upon all that which then was in me contrary to the Righteousness of God for he alone is to be exalted and the Transgressor is to be ashamed Psal 25. 3. And every mouth shall be stopt and every one stand guilty before God and the Shame and Nakedness of all both Priests and Fathers and People shall appear as much as mine when Gods Witness in them arise though they cover it for a time by deceitfull Flatteries Promising Liberty but are as deeply the Servants of Corruption as I was And I do assirm in the presence of the Lord God that there are a Generation of Professors who follow Sermons and have gathered themselves into outward Forms who are grown up into a Profession and Knowledge in the Letter who are further off the Life of God than the Publicans and Harlots and are grown into Pride Hypocrisie secret Deceit Arrogancy and Covetousness and some of them for a time denied the Priests and then for their own ends got into their places and so are more Abominable than they and the Tree of Knowledge they feed upon but the good savour of pure Obedience unto God in all Self-denial they have cast behind their backs and are become an ill Savour among all men And the Lord God will visit them for these things and in the Day of his sierce Wrath will all such want a Hiding-place and when the day of Howling and Astonishment come upon them as it hath passed upon me then shall they know that the Sinners in Sion shall be afraid and Horrible Fearfulness shall surprize the Hearts of the Hypocrites and then shall they find that God will not be mocked though they deceive themselves with vain Hopes which shall perish with all such Professors if they Repent not ard strip themselves bare from all their false Coverings which in the day of the Lord which they put afar off will certainly be all too Narrow For because of the greatness of my Profession without the Power that overcomes all Sin therefore was the Wrath of God the more upon me and I never came to receive Pardon for Sin nor Power over it nor to receive the Life of the Son of God until his Judgments had confounded all that Wisdom which I had learned from and among the Priests and Professors And this is absolutely true and may be a Warning unto all them And all that is herein declared of the Strivings in me and Judgments of God which came upon me is very short of what it was neither indeed can it be ever declared being then confounded both within and without not having any man to be a Director unto me nor then to guide me in Gods Wisdom neither did any man bring me unto that Condition nor lead me through it but even the Lord alone in whose Judgments I now rejoyce for evermore but this especially would I have all people that then knew me to consider That at that time when I was in Distress I knew not well what I should do or spâ—ke among men neither what I should be being become a Fool for Christs sake and my Wisdom being confounded and my Understanding brought to nothing Read 1 Cor. 1. 1 9 vers 27. And so that is true which I have writ in that book in Answer to Edmund Skipp wherein I said That we were but in measure leaving of the World and entering into a little of that which is Eternal at which time before-mentioned I was brought to be silent from my publick Preaching and waited on the Lord with a few foolish contemptible Ones in the Eyes of the World at which time having lost my Earthly Wisdom and not received that measure of the pure Wisdom of God which since he hath given me whereby to order all my Words and Actions in Prudency and Moderation before the Eyes of all People and others also might then with me therein fall short whereby some to this day may stumble at the whole Truth of God looking at what happened among us in that time when the Judgments of God was often on us by which Judgments his Sion is now Redeemed and so they looking at that and watch ever since for Evil may be kept thereby from receiving the precious tryed Stone which the wise Master-builders also refuse though we now know he is laid in Sion redeemed with Judgment for a Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of Offence even to both the houses of Israel But let all take heed of stumbling at the stumbling Stone the Light of Christ for other causes of stumblings especially by me I have hereby endevoured to remove out of the way and minds of all that are willing to receive the Truth or believe in the Light John 12. 36. And as for Edmund Skipp if ever he come again to that which convinced him of Evil and made him in publick deny his peaching for Hire and Tythes though after he strated aside and stumbled in the Dark not minding the Light of Life which once he honestly desired after in him to which Light if he return and love the Witness of God in him which hath ever since stood a Witness for me and hath let him see his Barrenness and without a true Eternal Rest and if he to that be obedient which is manifest of God in him and by it be led into Meekness and Plainness without Prejudice he may come to receive the living Truth of Jesus Christ for which this day I suffer Bonds for I did never yet look upon him to be so utterly Reprobate as not possible to receive the Faith that purifies the Heart and Respects no mans Person for truly my love hath been to the Seed oppressed in him though that which hath exercised him in Rashness against the Truth of God I do deny forever
walk in the Light and continue in faithfulness in your Measures enduring the Cross unto your Wills that by it the Carnal may be crucified and that which is Earthly mortified and all the fleshly Lusts subdued and the ground of Unbelief removed that you as Obedient Children to the Light may walk not as do others in the Lusts of Ignorance and Wayes of Unrighteousness where all the Ungodly lie and are without his Fear not knowing that in which the Power of God doth stand and many of them are Murmurers and Complainers who dwell in all Unrighteousness from among whom Redemption you are to find that a true Separation you may come to know that the Unclean you may touch no more and that which defiles to be no more entangled with For the Lord our God is pure his living Truth is to be known in the inward parts and that which makes Free received in the Heart and pure is the Lord in his Ministration of Life and free in the Discoveries of his Love his unsearchable Riches are made known unto his Jewels and his Secrets revealed unto them that abide in his Fear whose Fear is a Fountain of Life whose Love is streaming forth as a River of Oyl unto the broken hearted and in him the Fatherless find Mercy and he giveth strength unto the Faint he cherished the Babes as a Nurse and feedeth the Young with Milk he gathereth the Lambs with his Arms and nourisheth the tender Plant he confoundeth the Proud in his Judgments and removeth the Ground of the Wicked Kings before him are as the Drop of a Bucket and Ungodly Rulers as the Smoke before a mighty Wind His Wonders are seen among the Living and his Judgments made known upon the Wicked they that come to him find Mercy but his Enemies he turns into the Land of Darkness the Ungodly are not able to come near his Presence when he is Angry the Wicked stand afar off but there 's no Darkness in which they may be hid nor shadow of Death in which they can be covered for his Hand will find out all the Rebellious and he will reward them all according to the Pride of their Heart then shall they be banished from the Lord as the Chaff before the Wind and none of their strength shall save them But all you that wait for Sion's Redemption and call that love his Appearance who are willing to take up the Yoke deny themselves and follow the Light thus I say unto all such The Lord God of Life is at hand he is hastning his Mercies to the simple and reaching forth his hand to the Helpless your Redeemer is near your Deliverer is at hand for the Lord God hath not cast off his People neither will he leave or forsake his Chosen Ones With the Brightness of his Power is he appearing to judge down that which kept his own in Bondage and lay low that which did the Just oppress that from under the Oppression it may now arise that the Hungry may be fed and the Naked come to be clothed with the Everlasting Righteousness of God who brings his Righteousness near unto the Humble and clothes them with the Armour of Light that so they may be able to stand where the Wicked cannot endure Wherefore all you my dear Lambs in whom there is honest Desires begotten after the living Truth of my Father who are in measure made willing to walk as Children of the Day and to undergo the Reproaches and Revilings of Wicked and Ungodly men and desire the Kingdom that is not of this World from the honest Simplicity of your Hearts that you may come to rest in the Kingdom of the Father forever Unto you I say my Heart's Desire and Prayer to God for you is That you may be enabled through the Power of him who is the Light to undergo all your Tryals within and without and that none of you may faint in your Way nor be weary of well doing but that you may come to shew forth the Works of Righteousness by a chaste Conversation in the midst of a crooked and perverse Generation by whose Filthiness the Just is grieved And my dear Lambs grieve ye not the Spirit of the Lord neither be you Envious against the Evil-Doers let not Wrath arise in any one of you but be Examples of Love and Meekness one unto another and all come to know what a true waiting upon the Lord is in the Sincerity of the Heart to receive that which the World never knew even the Spirit of Truth which comes from the God of Peace in which the Blessing is received and leads in the way of Righteousness and will joyn your Hearts together in the Everlasting Covenant of the Father which he is establishing with all his faithful Ones among whom you may now come to be gathered and find an eternal Inheritance with them that are sanctified who come to be made one with him that sanctifieth who now cometh to purge away the filth and cleanse that which hath not been cleansed that Sinners may be converted unto him and the Filthy redeemed from their filthiness before the day come wherein it shall be said He that is Filthy let him be Filthy still Wherefore let the Day of your Visitation be dearly prized knowing that God who is Light will not alwayes strive with man and it s his Everlasting Love in that he hath visited you and passed by the Wise and the Mighty and made your Hearts sometimes soft and tender by the powerful Drawings of his Everlasting Love which by your Obedience and Belief in the Truth comes to be more and more shed abroad in your Hearts which Love will constrain Obedience to the Light in which Light Gods Power is received which Power maketh Sons who cry Father unto him that begeteth after his own Image whose Image comes to be renewed in the Children of the Light which Light is now come and we are Witnesses of it and testisie what we have seen and declare unto you the Message that was from the beginning and so preach not another Gospel unto you but the same which is the Power of God which I neither receive of men nor learn of men but by Revelation in which the Father is known which to the World is a Mystery and sealed from all them who believe not in the Light whose Deeds are Evil but manifest through the Operation of the mighty Power of God which worketh mightily in me that I might reach forth unto you also and that you might feel the Operation of the Fathers Love that is manifest in my Bonds to you who through many Tribulations with the rest of the Lambs of Christ are to wait for Deliverance from the Bondage of Corruption in the which you have long continued but now Christ Jesus the Light of the World is come to redeem them who through fear of Death were all their life time subject to Bondage and the Bonds of Iniquity are now to be
of Israel Who can declare his Mercy to the Afflicted or utter his Bowels of Compassion to the Spirits in Prison What Tongue can declare the unsearchableness of his Way of Life or make known the Infiniteness of that which passeth Knowledge He hath been a Father to the Fatherless he hath given Light and Life to them that sate in Darkness and in the shadow of Death he is found of them that sought him not he spreadeth forth his Arms to gather them that asked not for him he giveth Gifts to the Rebellious and he is grieved with those that receive not the Tenders of his Love and complaineth from the grief of his Soul when Israel will have none of him He delighteth not in the Death of the Wicked but waiteth long for their Return If Israel backslide yet afterwards return with true Repentance forsaking the Evil he sheweth Mercy even to the Prodigal and he heals the Backslidings and loves them freely that none may say their Destruction is from him nor that he appointed them thereunto nor charge him with Injustice in the day of his Judgments when the Just shall arise to the Resurrection of Life and the Unjust to the Resurrection of Condemnation forever that every Moath may be stopped and every one stand Guilty before the Throne of his Judgment and every Tongue confess to God That he is Righteous in all his Wayes and that all his Judgments are Just and True And out of his Fatherly Pity from the freeness of his Love hath he visited many of you even with a Message of Life and Salvation by the Word of his Power making known that unto you which hath been hid from Ages and Generations and is yet hid from all Ishmaels Princes and Nimrods Builders yea even from all the Wise and Prudent of the Earth even that is he revealing to many of you who are willing to become Fools and suffer the loss of all for his sake who saves the Soul and that not for any Works of Righteousness which you have done but of his own free Love through the Power of his Immortal Word is he begetting Sons and Daughters to himself that he alone might be honoured who worketh all their Works in them that his Workmanship all such might be created a new in Christ Jesus unto good Works in them to walk in Newness of Life bringing forth Fruits unto God who with the Light of his Son in whom he is well pleased hath convinced many of you of the Evil of your Ways and the Blindness you were in when you were Children of Wrath even as others and his Light of Life hath shined in you to let you see the want of a Saviour and feel the burden of your Sins that the Word of Repentance you all might receive and come to be led by him whom God the Father hath sealed for a Covenant of his Eternal Love and sent for a Light to be a Leader to the House of Joseph and a Deliverer to the House of Israel and to inherit the Gentiles and possess the utmost parts of the Heathen that the Brightness of his Power might shine over all the World and the sound of his Voice be heard to the utmost parts of the Earth that the Outcasts of the Earth might be brought to the one Fold and the Seed of Abraham be gathered from the four Corners of the Earth that Redemption might be known from under the Shadow of Death and that the blind which have Eyes and the deaf which have Ears might come forth to the Light of the Son who looseth the Tongue of the Stammerer that it may speak plain that those who Err in Judgment might learn the Doctrine of the Son of the Father's Love who comes to lead the blind by a way they know not and lead them in Paths that they have not known and with Weeping and with Supplication doth he lead them that walk in the strait and narrow Path of Life where those that abide in the Fear shall not stumble but walk in the Uprightness of Innocency through the Power of the Father's Love continuing in the way of Holiness where only the Ransomed of the Lord do walk the which Way of Holiness the Lord God hath made known to many which reached unto your Hearts whereby it was at the present made soft and tender and you received the Truth with love rejoycing that you came to find the way to Eternal Peace and many began to say one to another This is the Way let us to walk in it and for a time many walked in Humility and pure dear and tender Love began to spring up in you one to another and the Enemies of your Souls began to be subject to you and the tenders of God's Love was over you to do you good at your latter end but behold before you came to the Land of Rest the Lord tryed you by suffering the Enemy to present Hardship Straits and many Difficulties to come on the other hand to present the Glory of the World and the Favour of great Men and some the Enemy draws forth their Minds from the Strait and narrow Way into carnal Liberty and Ease in the Flesh and so to contain an Easier way whereby the simplicity in many is betrayed into the Power of the man of Sin who worketh strongly to keep his hold in one Deceiveableness or another to keep in Bondage the Life of the JUST to keep his Head from being bruised by the Power of the Seed of the Promise which under the Subtilty in many hath cryed for Vengeance upon the Head of that which Murders the Just and when times of Tryal come by Judgment and Famine and Want have come upon others then have they started aside like a broken Bow and caused th Offence of the Cross to cease and then hath Unbelief come in and the Enemy caused Questionings of the living Truth and Consultations about the Way of Life and such grew weary of their Tryal like their Fore-fathers in the Wilderness even letting the Enemy draw back their Hearts to the Flesh Pots of Aegypt which God by his mighty Power had redeemed them from and was leading them by the right Hand and in the narrow Way that they should go And others the Enemy who still seeketh to devour the begotten of God hath drawn forth their Minds into a sottish careless Condition not regarding the stirrings of Gods Spirit with them by the Light of his Son in their Hearts and so not minding that his Spirit will not alwayes strive with them and having seen before the straitness of the Way the Enemy will work by all Subtilty to keep such from it and from the Meetings and Society of them that in the strait Way abide keeping them still from the Cross which would be his Death and the Life of that which would give Peace and Victory over him and all his Wiles And others coming to see that they are come so far so that they need not Words
being the Lord God of Life hath given his Son a Light in the Heart that man might be led taught and guided by him out of sin and giveth power to all them that love follow and obey him to overcome their sin whose light being in Man a free gift from God and that by no other Name Way or Means man can ever be saved Therefore that is a Temptation which leads out from that in the Heart Which in it is given there to make an end of Sin to follow that which doth not make an end of Sin nor minister Power to them that follow it to overcome their sin so that they cannot receive that which cleanseth from all sin such have the root and ground in them from whence sin cometh but the Root of Jesse in whom there is no sin they are only professing and talking of without them And that is a Temptation that leadeth man to commit any manner of sin whatsoever and keeps man from believing in him that maketh an end of Sin and keeps man in sin and from Repentance and turning from sin whilst that of God in the Conscience is striving with him against sin perswading him that he cannot be free from sin and to put off the time of true Repentance until Gods Spirit by the Light in the Heart hath ceased striving and then such think all is well because that which judged and condemned them for the least appearance of Evil hath ceased striving with them that so they are now quiet and not judged as formerly for what they do though they do the same things for which formerly they were judged but let such assuredly know That that which was sin is sin still though they instead of coming through the Law are gone back from the Law which did discover it and come to that state again which was before the Law or a worse where Death reigns and Sin is in the World though not discovered by the Law to them who have despised the Law and so become dead to that which should fulfill the Law and also dead in that which doth transgress the Law even so dead in sin that now feeling the weight and burthen thereof neither yet feeling any thing of God in them striving in them against it and is not their latter end like to be worse than their beginning And are not such as these who have got a Profession more hardned in their Sin and pleading more strongly for their continuance therein than the Publicans Harlots and Prophane And that is a Temptation which draws forth the mind to fear love serve obey or respect any man or created thing glory honour or whatsoever may be named more than God or to deny obedience to God for the attaining or retaining thereof or to let any of the most glorious Creatures of God fill and take plnce in the heart that in it room may not be found for the Power of God to enter so that the life virtue and substance of all things in which there is full satisfaction cannot be received And that is a Temptation that leadeth forth to seek or love the praise of men for if that was out of the Faith which received Honour from men then that must needs be of the Devil which would compel Honour to be given to it that is it in man of the Devil which would have the begotten of God honour and worship it which would take the due honour and praise from God to whom alone belongeth all Dominion Glory Honour and Obedience and Praises forever and ever And that is a Temptation which draweth forth the Mind to worship any other God but he that made all Men of one Blood and is above all and through all and in you all who dwelleth in his People and what of him may be known is manifest within whom all may feel after and find whom the World by Wisdom doth not know who abhorreth the Sacrifices of them whose Hearts are Uncircumcised and is wearied with the Peoples Words Mat. 2. 17. and grieved with their Iniquity who heareth not the Prayers of men of Sin but waiteth to be gracious unto such who wait for him in the Light of his Son who was led as a Lamb dumb and is of the Seed of David who was dumb with silence and opened not his Mouth while the Wicked was in place But when the wicked thing is removed out of his place and the humble Seed of the Shepherd raised up in his Throne upon his Hill of Holiness having his Enemies under his Feet then he speaketh with Authority and not as the Scribes Thus man coming into the fear of the Lord and waiting in the Light of his Son in the Heart with it may he see and discern between that which discovereth and condemneth Sin and that which tempteth to Sin out of which that man may be redeemed and kept out of Temptations is this written in love to the Seed over which the Beast the Dog and the Swine do vaunt themselves who have nothing to do with this but only to receive the Cup of Astonishment which to the Serpents is to be poured forth who are not to feed upon this which is written A Direction in the way to that within the Vail by which Temptations are overcome TRuth is that in which the Power of God doth stand and in the Truth there is no Lye and all them who receive Truth from God in it they receive his power whereby they are made his Sons in his power to stand in obedience to his will which is that by which they are sanctified and by obedience of Faith thereunto are preserved keeping in stedfastness by the mighty Power of God out of that which doth defile are preserved in that Dominion and place of Holiness into which the Harlots out of the Truth and Power and all proud Boasters and such who are intruding into things they have not seen and all Murmurers who complain for want of Power do not enter Therefore all People who profess the knowledge of the Truth and yet have not received the Power of God in which no Sin doth stand wait ye all in the Light to know the Vail rent and the ground to be removed from whence the Words come which darkens that in which the counsel of God should be received and wait to feel Judgment and Condemnation upon the Earthly that over the Seed doth rule and keep Judgment that through the Condemnation that may spring which never yet was found For certainly till there be a coming through the Ministration of Condemnation the Pearl is hid under the Earth and the Earthly bears rule over it whereby it still in Bondage lies and the Creature sometimes led by a fight of that which it doth not possess holding the Truth of God in that which is not his Righteousness for his Righteousness is revealed by Faith through the power of him that takes away the Sin and so it s not comprehended in by that mind which is
done it away with the same Power whereby before he came so to serve man under the Sin as to help him from under it and so to bring man with himself in his Power as it suffered by the Sin out of the Sin and out of that Power which captivated under or into the committing of Sin so to the end of it with Christ over it to live and reign forever as it is received in that way manner and operation which at first it doth come and shew forth it self in the Power of its sufferings whose Power and Virtue therein at first is known And so such who know Him in his suffering-state He permitteth chuseth and electeth to live and reign with him in his Ruling-state And so he that hath power to Reign hath power to Suffer and so to Suffer that he may Reign the exercise of whose power in his Suffering is in order to his Reigning and such as feel know and receive his Power first enabling them with him to suffer they with the same are brought to the end of sin and sinning by which the suffering came upon the Just for the Unjust and as man to this is joyned in his sufferings its Power worketh man's Redemption and so not of man or brings man back from under that power which held in the Transgression and Separation from the Bridegroom of the Soul and takes away that which captivates it and so breaks the Wall which stood between the desired Liberty and the present Bondage and so brings the true and lasting Peace and so both receive each other and are made one in each other and not otherwise It is certainly so And that man which truly suffered with it reigns with it who was joyned to it in its suffering till it came to reign and then to submit unto it and serve it in its Motions Leadings Rulings and Governings in the power of its Love which winneth the heart so to do as the chaste Wife to the Husband so with it in the Power of it man comes to reign over that which was both contrary to it and to the upright hearted man until all its Enemies are put under it and so under the man that is one with it and whose Life is in it being truly joyned to it of the Lord then not to be put asunder and so loving of it and in all things submitting to it more than the true chaste Virgin to the Husband living in the Power and the Power living in man and so both becoming one in Sufferings one in Tryals one in Tribulations one in Afflictions one in Joy one in Peace one in Liberty one in Captivity one in Riches one in Poverty And so truly one partaking with each other in all states unseparable may well in some measure be termed The Marriage of the Lamb which is come and more of it may be known and the Virgin being thus and more fully espoused to the undefiled unspotted of God they are thus far made one and she becomes the Daughter of the Husbands Father the King of Kings or the Adopted Child of God And thus the undefiled One of God and the Virgin of Sion becomes one in the unspeakable Unity which Unity being felt both as one preceive me and my Lines are understood and my Words received in Love And this is written and sent forth among all Friends who desire to hear of me and who have known me in the invisible Truth and such to whom the Lord hath made me serviceable in the precious things of the Kingdom of God which is of Peace and Righteousness where my Rest is that hereby they may hear from me and know that I remain in the labour of the Gospel which is very great and in the Fellowship of the Saints Your Brother in the unexpressible Love of the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour Humphery Smith From Cogshall in Essex in which parts very many of late have received the precious Truth the 12th of the 5th Moneth 1661. This is to all dear Friends who keep faithful in their measures to the end My dear Friends THe Father is well pleased in him who is meek and lowly in the heart and in Obedience unto him through the leadings of his Spirit of Power in which the Father's love is manifest which leads in the low Ground where the safe Way of everlasting Peace is known where all things are quiet and still where the small still Voice is heard whereby the dead come to live in the Powerful Life of the Fathers Love which compasseth about the seed as a Wall of everlasting Defence whereby there is boldness and courage comes in to Jacob the worm that it s then able to stand in that everlasting strength which is made perfect in weakness and to the weak â—â— only to be known that the weak then may say I am strong feeling strength ministred forth from that which is begotten of the Father wâ—ich never was comprehended by the earthly Wisdom which is all scattered as the smoke before the Wind when he ariseth that was laid in the Earth who hath long been as a Servant and is now to be served that he may be Lord over all who is a Man of Sorrows and leads through the suffering state that by the Obedience of Faith through the Power of the Cross which crucifies and brings to the death that which is to dye that the Vail may be rent and the way into the holiest of all made manisest and that received in the new ground which abideth forever even that which comforteth the weary Soul and satisfieth the longing Spirit and replenishâ—th the dry and barren Land with the Rivers of the Valley and the springs of the Desart that the meek in the Earth may rejoyce forever and through the Earth may grow as a Lilly in Summer For painly its the poor that receive the Gospel and the meek of the Earth that shall in her it Substance and it is the thing that is low that will last forever and that shall be set on the Throne and he that is low shall never fall neither shall his Footsteps at all be moved he leads the creature in the Father's fear and guideth the Tongue in Wisdom and its him alone that all are to wait for to receive and continue in even him that is acquainted with Grief who never openeth his Mouth in perversness but speaks Life in Wisdom through the Power of the Fathers Love which overpowers the Soul as an overflowing River of Oyl which makes all well and heals the grieved Spirit which none ever comes to find but such who alone walk with him who humbled himself to the Death of the Cross and became as a Servant though he was Lord over all in him there is safety for he is the Rock and the sure hiding-place even out of the sight of the World and from the Tempters power for the Devil hath nothing in him who is meek and low in whose mouth there is found no
his Goodness the praises of the Lord ascend up to Heaven whose Mercies refresh the Earth Oh that you might partake with me of the unspeakable Blessings of God and feel and receive in your selves the true Tenders and Offers of the tenderness of my Love hereby presented unto you that you might feel your Hearts begin to open therewith to receive the same that in the Life of the Spirit of Truth you may truly perceive me to be present praising the Lord with you and likewise pertaking with you of your sufferings having also Acquaintance of your Grief and being truly sensible of your manifold Tryals and Tribulations The Lord preserve you to the end thereof And Friends let not your hearts be sad neither be ye overmuch cast down with any thing whatsoever of which I forbare to mention neither be ye discouraged by reason of any thing that the Lord bringeth or suffereth to come to pass either amongst us or concerning us neither let the multitude of Tryals nor the length of dayes therein cause you in the least to distrust the Lord who in his secret Wisdom in the end of all things bringeth forth good unto such who in all conditions and under all Tryals do truly love and cleave unto the Lord their strength But why should I multiply words The intent of my heart is that you might have benefit by the increase of the same love of God and the Springings forth thereof of the which we have all received For you know the Truth which teacheth all things and a measure of that Life from whence all these words do come which do service for the Lord and are helpful to his Servants and comfortable to his Chosen people and for the refreshing of the tender Lambs and the building up of the members in the holy Unity to grow up in the holy Life for the honour of his Glorious Name forever in whose blessed Name Life Strength and Virtue is found the which indeed is become a true Refuge unto the Chosen Israel of God where they are succoured when none can help and where they are preserved when none other can uphold unto whom they can pour forth their Complaints in secret and Address themselves at every needful time whose complaints are never by him rejected nor turned back upon the Upright hearted as sometimes it hath been when help or comfort hath been expected from some of the Children of men who may also be tempted and in danger of being overcome but the Lord can never be overcome neither can he ever Err in his Understanding or mistake in his Judgments nor reject that which is truly simple and tender neither yet receive that which is deceitful though appearing or seeming never so Glorious Let all Friends whose hearts are tender in the tenderness thereof still return unto him from that which causeth a hardness and out of that which bringeth distrust to leave that which bringeth darkness into the mind and so to get from the barren places into the fruitful Habitation of the living Then shall Peace flow as a River and Unity shall flourish as the varieties of the various Flowers in the Field and Righteousness shall spread over all as the Morning dew and then the Beauty of the Righteous shall shine and the Glory of the Lord shall yet more abundantly appear and fruit shall encrease as in the Summer season and the Vineyard of the Lord shall yet again flourish in Righteousness and the Lord shall be glorified in his Saints who is greatly admired by all them that truely believe Oh! that the seed might lift up the head Oh! that the Plants of Righteousness might spring that the true Mourner might be comforted That fruit might abound in abundance That the weak might receive strength That the Seed of the Lamb may know the Boldness of the Lyon That all might be refreshed together and that you all might live and grow and encrease with the Encreases of God The Lord God of Heaven and Earth grant these things unto you and fulfill them in you that you may be filled with Virtue and wax bold and Valiant to the end in the noble Life of the honourable Power of God whose Name is blessed for evermore Amen From Winchester Prison is this sent forth towards you and the true Love and Simplicity of Heart by your Brother in the fellowship and Testimony of Jesus and the Bonds of the Gospel Humphry Smith To the Young and Tender and to the late Convinced People of God amongst the rest of the Elect and already Chosen whose outward Habitations are in and near the County of Essex To be read amongst them in much Wisdom Meekness Deliberation and most chiefly in the true fear of the Lord God THe sound of the everlasting Truth of the Lord God of Heaven and Earth hath passed through and amongst you and the Word of his Power in the dread of his holy Name hath been published within your borders and the way of everlasting Life and Righteousness hath plainly been declared to the understanding and the Covenant of everlasting Peace and Truth hath been tendred unto your Hearts and the Day of Visitation from God hath been freely offered unto your Souls and the things which belong to your everlasting happiness hath been set before your Eyes and those things of the Kingdom of God which pertain to the Sons of men to know in the power of his Wisdom and in the strength of his Might hath been demonstrated among you and the tender Call of God in the day of his love hath been unto you Oh that your Hearts might retain it forever and that your Eyes might be abundantly opened to see into the unsearchable things of God! Oh that your understandings might yet be more opened to receive the Riches of the invisible Truth of God! Oh that your Hearts might come to be more enlarged therewith and that you who have known the Call of God and felt the working of his Grace in your hearts unto a true Convincement might all come to live the Life of Righteousness end forever hereafter to walk from that more and more which you are truly convinced of to be evil either in Word or Deed or any manner of Practice whatsoever and to walk with more Circumspection and Integrity and Faithfulness to the Lord in obedience unto all things truly made known unto you to be right and justifiable in the sight of the God of Heaven This certainly is the breathings of my Soul unto the God of Heaven for your everlasting Well-fare And the true desire of my present enlarged Heart for your Eternal Happiness is That as the Lord of Heaven and Earth hath counted you worthy of his Call in the power of his Grace which bringeth Salvation unto all you may not judge your selves unworthy of the Kingdom of God but may cleave unto his Truth in the inward parts leaving all that which hath kept you from it whatsoever it be and all that which hath
upon him insomuch that in five days time he was so weak that he could scarcely help himself then he also sent a Letter unto Judge Terril signifying his Illegal dealing with him and also gave him to know that he was very Ill but there was little done in the thing so he grew weaker and weaker so that two men did turn him in his Bed and in the time of his Sickness he spake several precious words to Friends signifying unto them That he was given up in the will of the Lord either in Life or Death and as he lay under a great sit of the Feaver he said My heart is filled with the Power of God and then said It is good for a man at such a time as this to have the Lord to be his Friend Another time he said Lord thou sentst me forth to do thy Will and I have been faithful unto thee in my small measure which thou hast committed unto me but if thou wilt yet try me further thy will be done Also he said I am the Lords let him do what he will And near the time of his departure he cryed earnestly unto the Lord and said O Lord hear the inward Sighs and Groans of thine Oppressed and deliver my poor Soul from the Oppressor O Lord hear me O Lord uphold and preserve me I know that my Redeemer liveth Thou art strong and mighty O Lord with several other precious words Also about the same time he prayed unto the Lord That he would deliver his People from their cruel Oppressors and that those that were convinced or brought forth by him that the Lord would be their Teacher He lay very quiet and still and not any unsavoury word proceeded out of his Mouth all the time of his Sickness but he behaved himself like a Lamb and he was very sensible unto the last Moment he was faithful unto the Lord in his day and a Crown Everlasting is upon his head which shall rest upon him when all his Oppressors shall gnash their Tongues for pain and vexation of Heart as some of them have felt already yea and the full Cup of the Lords Indignation is preparing for all them who delight in Cruelty He was very meek and of a quiet Spirit very loving to all that had the least appearance of the Light springing up in them yea if any knew not the Light which condemns the sin then in the Meekness of the Love everlasting he would open unto them the way thereunto and labour mightily to bring them to the knowledge of it Oh! how great was his love to the eternal Truth which abounded in his heart and how would he groan for the lost Sheep surely his Love was more than my Tongue can express and his Courage did abound in a great measure he delighted not in vain Janglings nor Disputings of men of Corrupt Minds but in the simplicity of the Gospel of Peace which is his Crown forever and ever What shall I say his Life is swallowed up in Immortality and is no more to be seen in the visible yet he reigns over all Whisperers Back-biters and Slanderers of his innocent Life forever Thou Renowned Judge in Israel thou Valiant Souldier of the Lambs Host Peace is thy Portion forever Blessings will fill thine House and Fruitfulness will attend thy Seed as they abide in the Counsel of him who was the Bishop of thy Soul N. C. BUt O you Rulers of England what shall I say unto you Must you needs be made a perpetual Reproach unto all that come after you And is your delight wholly in Persecuting of the Innocent O Cruel Men O Merciless Men Will nothing but the Lives of Gods dear Servants satisfie your bloody Wills Surely the Lord God will visit you in his Wrath and sweep you away in his sore Displeasure yea in the dreadful Flames of the Burnings of his Vengeance will he cast you Oh! you Unsatiable Vigorous Tyrannical Idolatrous Men What! is Cruelty your Delight And is it Blood that you thirst after as after Wine which will not satisfie your Lustful Desires And is it nothing but the eternal Truth which you would not have so much as come into your Coasts worse than Barbarians How do you evilly intreat those who come in the love of the Lord to preach Repentance in your Streets and you take away the Lives of such who come to publish Salvation unto poor Sinners Surely your Unjust Dealings are come up before the God whom you so much contemn in his Servants and your Unrighteous Actions against them whom he hath sent in his own Name are pierced into the Bowels of the God of the Humble hearted who will surely plead with you in his Indignation and utterly destroy you in his Wrath if you Repent not speedily and humble your selves under his Righteous Judgments Wherefore I say Repent Repent for the Consumation is at hand yea the swift Vengeance of the Eternal God is nigh to be revealed upon all the Disobedient and the utter Wo and Calamity of all the Merciless with the cruel hearted is coming yea nigh to come which shall make a final End of all the Rebellious and Stiff-necked Ones whose Hearts are hard as the Adament Wherefore Awake Awake sleep not in your Wickedness in this day which is coming as a Thief in the Night upon you but arise up from Cruelty and shake your selves of the Garments of the Pollution of Blood which hath stained you Cleanse your selves of your Idolatry and clear your selves if you can of the Lives of Gods Servants which have dyed in your Prisons but if you cannot then known be it unto you That God will not spare the best of those that have had a hand in these things and shall persist therein but will destroy them utterly and Curse them from his Presence for evermore and in this I shall be clear of all your Blood when it comes upon you Nicholas Complin Written the 21th of the 4th Moneth 1663. William Jenings's Testimony concerning Humphry Smith THis is my Testimony for that man of God viz. my dear antient Friend Humphry Smith who dyed a Prisoner for the blessed Truth in Winchester Prison I being with divers more Friends in Prison with him for the Truth 's sake a long time before and also at his departure have this to say of him viz. That he was a man whose deportment and behaviour amongst us in Prison was comely yea even as a Father that takes care for his Children even so was his care and oversight over us he was a faithful Overseer indeed and one that minded the Lords business and certainly it s well with him He was kept very sensible in his sickness whereof he dyed was not heard to speak one unsavoury word although his exercise was not small through much weakness and in the time of his weakness near his death his crys were to the Lord for the preservation of his People who were dear and near unto him so that
he left a good savour behind him for even such as were not Friends in the Prison where he dyed were made to speak well of him he was so innocent in his Conversation towards all People William Jenings South-hampton the 11th of the 12th Moneth 1682. The Testimony of Nicholas Gates concerning Humphry Smith DEar Friends Brethren and Sisters in Christ Jesus and all tender hearted People to whose hands thess Testimonies of our dear Friend Humphry Smith may come these few words arose in my heart to signifie concerning him I having had good experience of his Labours and Travails in the preaching of the Gospel of Christ Jesus with many more who were often comforted and refreshed in the sence of the Lords blessed Power which attended him in the living Testimonies he did bear concerning that Gift of God which is to be known in man he was a faithful Labourer in the work and service of the Lord and a patient Sufferer under the many Tryals that did befall him in his day he never murmured at the Exercises that he met withal through Wicked and Vnreasonable men he constantly testified of and unto the Light of Christ in the inward parts of men and women directing all to that of God in their own hearts affirming with the holy Apostle who said That which was to be known of God is manifest in man He was very powerful through the help of the Lord to the convincing of many and turning them to the Light of Christ in themselves his Testimonies yet live in the hearts of many though he be outwardly removed from us and many have cause to praise the Lord in that he raised him up with many more Brethren and Sisters to testifie of and concerning the Light of Christ within man by which we are made nigh unto the Lord who were afar off To whom be Praises and Thanks-giving forever Nicholas Gates senior Alton the 10th of the 12th Moneth 1682. James Potler's Testimony concâ—rning Humphry Smith GOd having raised up Humphry Smith with many other Brethren to publish and make known his Name in this the Land of our Nativity after a long and tedious Night of Apostacy and though the Name of the Wicked shall Rot yet the Righteous shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance and many are the seals of his Ministry that were begotten to a lively hope in Christ Jesus through the Word of Life in him besides the many Testimonies left upon Record by him which though he be taken away yet live in the hearts of many bearing Testimony that he was of God and that his Word dwelt plentifully in him yet I being a Sufferer with him for more than a years time in that streight noisom Prison at Winchester and in my measure sensible of his faithfulness to God in that work and service which God had called him to I say the Love of God in my Heart to his Truth and to my deceased Brother constraineth me to give in my Testimony in few words with others of my Brethren to the many Testimonies left by him That he was a man that loved the Lord with an upright heart and that it was as Meat and drink to him to do the will of God delighting more in it than in his daily Food being diligent and laborious in his day and time desiring to spend and be spent for the Gospels sake He was a man very bold and valiant for the Truth and for the Testimony thereof suffered many sharp and hard Imprisonments in several Prisons in this Nation besides very much cruel and inhumane Usage by Wicked and Unreasonable men He was released out of Prison that time which I was Prisoner with him but was afterwards taken from a Meeting at Alton where much of the Lords heavenly Presence was manifested through him by a company of rude Souldiers and had before some Magistrates and committed to the same Prison at Winchester again where after he had been continued some time it pleased the Lord to visit him with sickness which with much patience he passed through yet in all the Lord was good unto him and preserved him in Peace and Contentedness and Submission to his Will magnifying the Name of his God through all being kept sensible and in good and perfect Memory to his decease JAMES POTTER Winchester-Prison the 8th of the 12th Moneth 1682 Edward Waldren's Testimony concerning Humphry Smith I Hearing that the Work and Testimonies left upon Record of that true and faithful Servant of the Lord in whose work and service Humphry Smith was found unto the last are printed in one Volumn I found much stirring and freedom to write this Testimony concerning him that it might be inserted in the Book he being a man that I greatly loved having Acquaintance with him and by him first convinced of the unchangeable Truth and Way of the Lord through the powerful Operation of the Spirit and Word of God that dwelt plentifully in the heart of this faithful Servant of God who loved not his Life to the Death for his Testimonies sake by which he overcame and was found faithful to the end which he finished with joy as by his last words spoken to some Friends doth manifestly appear a little before his decease or laying down of the Body in this close strait nasty stinking Prison or County-Goal in Winchester to the which I this day and time belong and am a Prisoner under the sentence of Praemunire for nothing else but obeying the Doctrine and Command of Christ Jesus because for conscience sake only towards God I cannot Swear at all Humphry was the first in scorn called a Quaker that ever had a publick Testimony for God in the Town of Andever it being a great Meeting in which by his powerful clear Testimony several were convinced though he was then opposed by rude Souldiers Not long after he was cast into this Prison some of those that were convinced by his Testimony that had a love raised to the Lord and some knowledge of his Way and Truth some of these in Andever being thereby led forth to visit Humphry in Prison both Priests and Professors began to stir and be in a rage against and at the breaking forth of Truth in that Town I then being weary of Priests and seperate Professors seeing their Pride Avarice Evil Lives and Conversations though under a specious pretence of God and Godliness but void of the saving knowledge of both I being sensible that this was my Condition and finding and feeling the Judgments of the Lord and the weight and burden of Sin and Iniquity being in the bondage of Corruption like them I had been among under all groaned to be delivered from under the weight and burden thereof into the glorious Liberty and Freedom of the Sons and Daughters of God and being unacquainted with the Way of the Lord or how to do his Will or to have any entrance into the Kingdom that consists in Righteousness Joy and Peace in the holy Ghost which
the Priests and Professors could not teach but were almost as ignorant as those that in time past had not heard of any such thing and void of the saving knowledge of Jesus the way of God and could not say that he was the Christ by it I then hearing that in this Prison was that faithful Servant of the Lord and having longing desire to see him went with some of Andever that used to visit him there being that day a Meeting in the Prison which day I hope shall never be forgotten by me nor that faithful and able Minister of the new Testament knowing that which only and alone is made alive by the Spirit and quickned and reached unto by the Ministers thereof which Humphry Smith was one to the turning of many from Darkness to the Light from the Power of Satan to the Power of God by which alone People come to receive Remission of sins and an Inheritance among them that are sanctified through the great Mercy and Loving-kindness of God was he an Instrument in convincing and turning me off and from the Worlds by-Paths and crooked Ways of the Wicked which were and are Darkness in which there is no Peace to them that walk therein to the Light of Jesus the Way of the Lord and Path of the Just which is a shining Light which shineth more and more to the perfect Day and to the fear of the Lord which ever was and is the beginning of Wisdom and will be forever to all that do abide therein a Fountain of Life to depart from the Snares of Death I have cause forever to praise the Lord in the behalf of this tender innocent faithful man to God's Truth and People his Memorial cannot pass into Oblivion by any that had a true knowledge of him dear Humphry Smith whose Health was impared him suffocated and visible Body destroyed by this bad corrupt Prison though thou wast here destroyed thou art greatly rewarded God having proved thee and found thee worthy for himself The Memorial of the Just is blessed the Righteous shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance and the Name of the Wicked shall Rot but they that were and are wise shall shine as the Brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to Righteousness as the Stars forever and ever Edward Waldern Winton-Prison the 8th day of the 11th Moneth 1682. Humphry Smith's Testimony concerning his Father COncerning my dear Father who to his unspeakable gain but to my great sorrow and loss the Lord took from me to himself whilst I was young besides the natural and dutiful Remembrance of so dear a Father I and many others who knew him can say of him The Righteous shall be in Everlasting remembrance in which I may say by way of Introduction unto many who never knew him and have since received the Truth unto whom these his works may come for their encouragement to read them That the Lord of the Harvest who among other faithful Labourers sent him forth into his Harvest did sanctifie and prepare him to so good a work and prospered it in his hand so that many were turned to God by him notwithstanding the great Opposition of Malicious Cruel and Ungodly Men by whom he suffered more especially in Cromwel's time Imprisonment Dungeon Whipping and much Affliction and Hardships but being zealous for the glory of God and the good of Souls he valiantly endured it all and broke through the Ice-like hardness of envious Professors who having been first some-what warmed by that which formerly stirred up good desires in them after God but not keeping thereto became the sooner and harder frozen And as his diligence was great in this great work so was their Envy great in endeavouring to hinder him therein by many long and hard Imprisonments which brought great Sicknesses upon him yet upon all occasions he was given to Hospitality apt to teach and in his place taking care for the Church of God As his Admonition was tender so his Reproof was sharp not neglecting the one nor refraining the other but dealing with every one according to their Condition not sparing me his only Son any more than another having in his last Letter to me written a little before his Death these words among many tender Expressions And now although as I said before thou art my only Son yet if thou refusest the Instructions of thy Father and shalt reject the Counsel of God and not walk in Gods holy fear nor keep in the way of Truth then let the Judgment of Friends pass upon thee let the Law of God seize upon thy Conscience c. The last time I saw him was about a year before he dyed at which time he gave me such Advice and Warning as thereby I perceived I should never see him again so great a sight of things and men had he that I may truly say he had the necessary Gift of Discerning of Spirits with frequent Visions and Revelations from God by which he foresaw and prophesied of many things some whereof he saw fulfilled others are since and the rest will certainly be fulfilled in their appointed time some of them are herein extant dispersed among his Works which are now printed for thy benefit sober Reader it being agreeable to words he wrote to me in a Volumn of Books he caused to be bound for me That I should keep that Book safe and not spoiled any way that in years to come Ages may read and see my love to the Seed This in short I have written concerning him knowing there be many still living who have a larger Testimony in themselves concerning him And some who were his Fellow-Labourers in the Word and Doctrine whom he did and I do love and in Honour Prefer counting them worthy of double Honour some of them having more knowledge of him are able as they see meet to give a larger Testimony concerning him I shall conclude desiring that my self and all the Children of faithful Parents may walk in the good Way they walked in and not like that Generation mentioned Judges 2. 10. Who arose after the Death of Joshua and the Elders which knew not the Lord nor yet the Works which he had done for Israel but that we may follow the Lord fully and faithfully and he may raise up in us the same Love Zeal Diligence and Vallour as he did in our Parents is the earnest Desire of Humphry Smith Saffron-Walden in Essex the 13th of the 9th Moneth 1682. Dear Friends BE pleased to take notice that dear Humphry Smith was a man that suffered many long and crueâ— Imprisonments for his Love and Testimony he bore to Gods blessed Truth and People in his day which occasioned part of his Writings to be scattered about in Manuscript and not found till part of this Book was printed whereby some few of them are mis-placed as to the years in which they were written but the following Table of Contents will direct to the particular Heads of such collected
to the Protector the corruption of those that are put in Authority under the Protector who act contrary to the Protector 's Laws against those that have been faithful And there is not any Friend at any time that can by any means since the Sessions gain or have for Money a Copy of our Indictments And let all People take notice that all that is printed in this Book is all but a short Declaration to what might be printed of the Persecutions of Priests Magistrates and People of this Town against the Saints From the Dungeon in Evesham by him that is known to the World by the Name of Humphry Smith A WARNING TO THE Priests Magistrates Rulers A Inhabitants OF EXON That they may be Preserved from the Wrath at hand With some of the Effects of the Priests Minstery in Devonshire whose Fruits have exceeded many and are now brought to light that the simple may return from them who profit not unto Christ the Light who reacheth all to profit and is come to teach YOU who are this day fasting for Strife and Debate that you may smite with the Fist of Wickedness and that you may exalt your selves in Pride vain Glory and Oppression one over another and persecute and imprison the Just and be as Lords over Gods Heritage exercising Authority one over another seeking honor one of another each man seeking his own Interest and not the good one of another pleasing your selves in lying Vanities corrupting your selves in those things which the Righteous Law of God forbiddeth sporting your selves in this the day of the Lord which is stealing upon you all as a Thief in the night so is he coming upon you unawares who are this day mocking God and your own Souls and are with and in Cain's nature offering a Sacrifice to God but the just Witness of God in the particular is murdered and you with your Sacrifices are shut out from the Lord God of Sabboths whose Rest you come not into but are feeding upon the Serpent's Food which is to know and not obey and the young Serpents are nourished and the old Serpent's Head is not broken Iniquity lodgeth in the Heart and Wickedness ruleth in the inward Parts From the Image and Life of God you are all fallen and are gone astray from your Maker and are erred from the right way and gone a Whoring after your own Inventions and have committed Fornication with strange Flesh the Thoughts of your Hearts are Evil and on your Beds do you imagine Mischief one against another and by Deceit and Defraud have you filled your Houses with the Treasures of Aegypt and Darknese is in your Dwellings even thick Darkness that may be felt and from your Eyes are the things of God hid and a Vail is over you and the Seed is in Bondage the partition Wall is yet standing and you are found without among the Dogs and the Sorcerers and the wild Beasts of the Field in the Nature of the Wolf subtil and devouring both the Lamb-like Spirit within and the Lambs without the Flock of God is scattered and the Thorns choak the Seed the fruitless Trees are not cut down the Brambles cover the Ground and Fruit to God is not brought forth but wild Grapes and Leaves and Airy Imaginations in the Subtilty above the Light where the Serpent is twining to keep his hold and this is the Reasoning in mans Will which is not brought to the Cross neither are the Corruptions of the Flesh crucified but you go on in your Sins from day to day and even hate to be reformed Was Sodom and Gomorah guilty of any Sin that is not found this day among you Are you not drinking down Iniquity as the Ox drinketh down Water Nay do you not even say in your Hearts that you are delivered to commit all these Abominations Wo Wo unto you the Lord God of the whole Earth hath a Controversie you his Judgments are as swift as lightning he is coming and is come to try you and to weigh you all in the just Ballance and now all your Coverings are too narrow all you who have made Lyes your Refuge and turned the Grace of God into Wantonness sporting your selves in this the mighty Day of the Lord and are found in Excess Pride Drunkenness and Gluttony ye painted whited Walls guilded Tombs painted over with Saints words but Enemies to the Saints Life even for you am I made to take up a Lamentation for the Wo and Misery coming upon you by reason of your Haughtiness and the Stoutness of your words through the hardness of your Hearts which are not circumcised nor purified by Faith but in them Perversness and the Love of this World hath gotten a room instead of God and so the old Bottles are full of stinking stuff and the Inn is filled with the Guests of this World and there is not room for Christ the Light Life and Son of God to be born up to take away the Sin of the World though you profess him and talk of him yet you complain for lack of Power whereas we bear Testimony That he is come who is the Power of God and unto him that saves from Sin is all Power committed both in Heaven and Earth in whom and by whom alone this Sonship is received and the Victory over the World which knows not God among whom you are seen in the Light that comes from Christ the Son of God who made all men of one Blood to dwell upon the face of the Earth and upholds all by the Word of his Power in whom we live move and have our beeing as the Poets have written and as the Wise and Learned of the Earth have said who came not to feel after find him before whom the Hills tremble and the tall Cedars bow he who is coming to turn your Waters into Gall of Wormwood and your Coverings into burning Pitch and his Jealousie will smoke like Fire against you who are as Stubble ready dried cut off from the stock and withered Wo unto you Workers of Iniquity is not your day at hand that you must depart forever and be no more seen Hath not Hell enlarged her self for the double-minded Ones Yea now is the day wherein the Wrath of God shall be revealed from Heaven upon all Unrighteousness of men who hold the Truth of God in Unrighteousness This shall come upon all you who have chosen your own way and are departed from the living God Is not this the Fast that the Lord hath chosen to loose the Bands of Wickedness Observe Wickedness is a Band which must be broken before man comes to offer up living Sacrifices well pleasing unto God who requireth to let the Oppressed go Free and that you break every Yoke Consider is the oppressed Seed of God let go Free the Seed to which the Promise belongs or is not the Iniquity born upon the Shoulders of him that is the Light whereby he is pressed down And are you not
the day long and in this have I believed that the Lord will hear my Cry and pity the People that are destroyed for lack of Knowledge that the Witness of God in them may arise and that the Prisoner of Hope may come to Deliverance And in this have I not been hasty as to utter their Shame for I was my self a Preacher in the Pulpits but in a Mournful state oft times many Moneths or Years have I born this Burden neither have I now uttered or written this out of Prejudice towards the Persons of any men but in the Mournful state of my long burdened and grieved Spirit from the true sence of the Sad Shameful and Miserable state that is coming upon them and the Eternal Wo and Misery that is like to follow after for evermore The which I desire they may escape by speedy returning from the Way that they are in now it is so plainly made manifest to be so exceeding Evil. H. S. IDOLATRY Declared Against THe Great and Mighty God who made the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea and made all men of one Blood upon the face of the whole Earth and breathed into man that which is of his own Life that by it man might seek after him and find him who is Infinite Incomprehensible Eternal and Glorious even he dwelleth not in Temples made with Hands Acts 17. 24. neither is he worshipped in one high place or another by any of the Professing Jews who deny his Son of whom he gave Testimony That in him he is well pleased Neither is there any Worship or Service accepted with him but that which cometh from them who are led and guided by the Spirit of Truth and in it Worship the Father who is a Spirit and delighteth not in those Oblations that are Vain proceeding from the vain Minds of such who take his Name in Vain of whom he saith In vain do they Worship me And of all such I say their Faith is Vain who are yet in their Sins and found among the Gentiles who sacrifice unto Devils and not unto God being Children of Wrath and Strangers to the Covenant of Promise whose Prayers the Lord abhors whose vain Bablings cast an ill Savour in the Nostrils of the most High and their coming together is not for the better but for the worse even to feed and nourish the young Serpents and to encrease in that Knowledge which puffeth up and encreaseth sorrow the which knowledge the Hireling Priests Lips preserve which the Devil once taught saying Ye shall be as Gods knowing Good and Evil and all they who encrease in this Knowledge encrease in that in which the Knowledge of God doth not stand neither can be received and so the Wo from the Lord God will come unto all them that continue their seeking the Living among the Dead crying for their place of holy Worship which is to be laid Desolate and living in Unrighteousness and in all Ungodly Practices without the fear of God and talking of him with that Mouth which is full of Cursing and Bitterness the Heart being not turned to God nor the Mind unto the Light of his Son who are themselves in the Jaws of Satan and are sometimes made sensible of the Power of the Devil working in them stirring them up to Wrath and moving them up to Envy Pride and Unrighteousness and the Lusts of the Creatures and the Vanity of the Mind but feel not at all the Power of God to work in them the newness of Life and his pure Image who made man Holy and Upright neither are they willing to receive that Power in them by which they might come to overcome their Sins and be led up to him who is the God of the Spirits of all Flesh whom all the World not knowing is ignorant by Worshipping and denying his Son who maketh an end of sin and Contemning the Just One who is a man of Sorrows and denying him who is led as a Lamb dumb and slighting him who is the Light and refusing him who is the living Minister not made by a carnal Commandment but by the Power of an endless Life who teacheth all to profit who learn of him and none teacheth like him who saith Learn of Me then not of another not of a Hireling not of one that pleadeth for Sin but of him that maketh an End of Sin whom God the Father hath given a Light to the Gentiles a Covenant to the People that all men through him might be saved who hath spoiled Principalities and Powers and all Authorities and now all Dominions and Authorities are to be subject to Him who said The true Worshippers shall Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth And Truth is that which maketh Free but the Worshipping the Unknown God in a Synagogue Idol Temple or Steeple-house doth not make Free neither makes an end of Sin but all them that are there are in their Sins and have not received Power to Overcome their Sins but are following such Teachers which Peter said should come in the latter dayes who cannot themselves cease from Sin And these Teachers Peter said and so say I that they are cursed Children beguiling such unstable Souls who are carried about with airy windy Doctrines after the cunning Crastiness of men who still lie in wait to deceive against whom we bear Testimony from the Spirit of Truth which guideth us not to handle the Word of God deceitfully nor to make Merchandize of the People neither come we with Flattering Titles but in the Power of the Lord and in the Demonstration of his Spirit of Truth do we declare against all Unrighteousness of Men whether Priests Rulers or People without Respect of Persons and we declare his Name in the World who is the Light of the World and publish him among the Sons of men who is Gods Power that saveth his People from their Sins who is the true Prophet whom all are to hear that all might come to learn of him and be guided by him in the Way of Everlasting Peace that so such as are Strangers to the Covenant of Grace being yet in their Sins and are the Outcasts of Israel might now come to be taught of the Lord and hear the powerful Voice of his Son and not follow Strangers any longer nor the dumb Idol Shepherds who are become Bruitish Jer. 10. 21. and cannot understand Isa 56. 11. that from them all such who fear the Lord might be gathered Ezek. 34. and may come to know the one Lord whose Name is one and the one Truth and the one Way and the Worship of the one true God and not follow them any longer who are Strangers to the Life of God nor such as cannot cease from Sin who are all in the Curse being not reconciled unto him who was made a Curse and so they come not to receive that by which the Curse is taken away and such are without God in the World and of such the Lord hath
Captive that a Gift may be received which Gift is Eternal Life and this Life is in the Son by which Gift all that are in the Son-like Obedience do witness being made Heirs with him in the eternal Covenant which is established upon better Promises then the first therefore he taketh away the first that he might establish the second which is witnessed in the Son-like Obedience by the which we are made the Righteousness of God through him the which is a Mystery to the dark World whose Mouthes are now open to speak Evil of that they know not calling the Great and Mighty Works of God The Delusions of Satan and the conditions now witnessed in the Sons and Daughters that the Prophets and Apostles both passed through to speak of those things they now call The Works of Antichrist But he is an Antichrist that denyeth the Father and the Son Now see who is an Antichrist No man knows the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son reveals him He that denies this Revelation denies both Father and Son that is an Antichrist Now to know the Father is Eternal Life and he that saith He knoweth and hath fellowship with the Father and walketh in Darkness is a Lyar and the Devil is the Father of Lyes And he that liveth not in the Truth which is Jesus Christ he must needs Lye because he is out of the Truth and therefore found an Enemy to the pure Truth as it is in Jesus who is the Truth and Life it self by whom the World is and shall be judged when the Lord shall come in flaming Fire rendering Vengeance on all that know him not This Day is even at hand yea even now the Lord is coming a swift Witness against all unrighteous Ones who hold the Truth of God in Unrighteousness living in their ungodly Practices sporting themselves now in the Day-time spending their time upon their Lusts living in their own Wills speaking forth the Saints Words but are Enemies to the Saints Conditions Oh! consider consider the Lord is Just in all his Wayes and he is come to judge the Earth with Righteousness he will plead with all Flesh before him all Faces shall gather Paleness and in him who is pure Light are all the Secrets of all Hearts laid open for nothing hideth from him who is a God of consuming Fire and of purer Eyes then to behold Iniquity Oh be ashamed and confounded all ye Inhabitants of the Earth and of the Sea for the Devil is come down unto you and rageth because his time is but short To thy first in page 6. where thou sayest It must needs be the Spirit of Antichrist and Delusion that doth mis-inform the Heart I Answer The Heart it self is deceitful and out of the abundance of thy Heart thy mouth speaketh page 8. or else thou wouldest not speak as though a Deceitful Heart might be misinformed by a delusion for Deceit and Delusion is but one which lodgeth in the Hearts of all the Children of Disobedience who are all in the Death the Curse and the Fall unless they come to witness Restoration the Stoney Heart taken away and a New Heart given which is by the putting off the Old Man with his Lusts and Corruptions and the New Man put on which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. But in the Light in thy own Conscience see when ever thou couldest witness thy Redemption and thy heart free from Delusions as thou speakest or from the power of Darkness when thou by thy own Relation to me went from one Parsonage to another and that not without thy Gown as thou callest it upon thy back that thou hast looked upon as it was indeed Antichristian and then after at Bodinham thou didst sue the poor People for Tythes to my knowledge witness one poor man thou didst sue for one Shilling and wouldst have constrained the poor man to have paid Charges for that one Shilling if I and some other had not spoke to thee after thou hadst often refused the one shilling without Charge though the Light let thee see Tythes to be contrary to Christ yet then lived contrary to the Light in thy own Conscience as thou wast made to confess in my hearing and hundreds more that thou hadst acted in it contrary to thy Conscience two years and before that time thou didst confess unto me and to others How thou wast going to take counsel of men how to sue for thy Tythes and the Lord met with thee yet the Devil had like to have taken thee off of the work of the Lord again divers times as thou confessedit Then thou layest groaning under the burden of thy Tythes yet thou resolvedst to keep them another year yet I had thoughts to the contrary and was made to tell thee at J. B's house in Hereford on the sixth day that thou wouldest e'er long roar against thy Tythes like a Lyon and on the next first day after it was so and thou wast made to acknowledge the Lord in it and sent thy Man with those few words to me Brother Smith the Lord hath done a strange Work in me this Morning and I shall alter strangely this day therefore pray earnestly for me and make what haste thou canst to come unto me Now this is that which thou now callest Delusion for this was the greatest Power that ever thou couldest witness but thou wast made to see by the Light the Emtiness of thy own words both in Speaking and Prayer before as thou callest it witness that in Margarets Grave-Yard where thou spokest words the which were a burden to thy Life after acknowledgedst That it was nothing but Flesh though thou didst strive much in thy own strength And at Len. thou toldest the whole Assembly That thou hadst long spoke after the manner of men but now they must expect no more such from thee and that thy Praying was as dead as Ditch-Water but now thou shouldst wait to Pray in the Spirit and speak by the Spirit and the like at Cliston And then thou wast convinced that thou must leave all even Glebe-land too and so live on thy own Land and build on thy own Land as thou callest it and thou then wast convinced of more Deceit in thy Heart therefore thou wast not at all freed from Deceit but always lived in the Antichristian state where thou art yet witness thy own hand in page 5 where thou confessest Thou hast got a sinful Heart which is a Heart in Sin and full of Sin and we know that none but the Pure in Heart shall see God but Sin is of the Devil and is the Work of Darkness and none that walk in Darkness have fellowship with God 1 John 1. 6. Here thou discoverest plainly that the Old Heart is not yet taken away therefore thou wast not at all nor yet is free from Delusions Therefore for shame leave off thy judging the Hearts
thou never hadst thou saidst but now That thou wast but in part convinced of the way And hadst thou the Comforter long ago and lost him now the Way and the Comforter is but one the which is Jesus Christ John 14. 6. 17. 26. chap. 17. 23. I know that if Jesus Christ had been brought forth in thee without which there is no true comfort who is the substance of all Tythes Types Forms and Shadows that thou couldst not unto this day have remained a Parish Priest and so upheld an Antichristian Priesthood halting between many Opinions neither according to Aaron Levi nor Christ but living in thy own will and so living above Christ who lived not in his own Will for saith he Not my Will but thine be done John 6. 38. And now who will regard thy writings when thou acknowledgest That the Comforter which is the Spirit of Truth is departed from thee Now it appears thou art a Lyar indeed now thou hast no Truth born up in thy Understanding thy former Enjoyments as thou callest it which were indeed nothing but Comprehensions got up in the Wisdom of the Serpent Oh! art thou not ashamed that the World should now read thy Confusion which thou didst soon make up in thy Writings Art thou not ashamed in such a condition as this when thou confessest thy former Enjoyments and Comforts are departed from thee even now to writ against those that thou acknowledgest to have large Experiences and much of the Power of Truth through Christ page 50 Oh! take heed lest it had been better for thee that a Millstone had been hanged about thy neck and thou cast into the Sea Oh! canst thou not look back on him whom thou hast thus pierced to wit the Life of Christ in others Now thou mayst read with Shame and Tears that which thy own hand hath written from own sinful Heart look in page 5 8 and 18. which was then in the apostatized condition without the former Comforts as thou calledst it page 53. Now thou art found to be a false Apostle indeed Oh! remember from whence thou art fallen and do thy first Works yea Repente'er it be too late Rev. 2. 5. Oh though thou canst strive with man there is no striving with thy Maker who will come a swift Witness against all deceitful Workers who livewithin the power of what they speak or write much more against those that write filthy Abominable Lyes Oh! if thou lovest either Christ or thy own Soul return return unto the Light of Christ in thy own Conscience which will let thee see the Deceit of thy own sinful Heart out of the abundant Deceit thereof thy Pen hath run so largely in Confusion Now I charge thee in the presence of the living God in as much love to thy Soul as ever that thou return to the Light of Christ in thy own Conscience and mind that which cheks thee in secret I tell thee man in love there is something yet in thee which will witness me to be true See one more page 64. where for thy own defence not for the defence of the Truth thou sayst Thou wast necessitated to fly unto the Practices and Truths of other men to wit Baptists where it is plain thou hadst not the spirit of Christ to fly unto and speak from as the true Apostles had witness one Acts 6. 10. Therefore thou art both seen in the Light proved by Scripture and thy own Writings to be a false Apostle and a false Minister 2 Cor. 11. 13 14 15. Much more might be said and proved both from thy Writings and Actings but I desire the good of thy soul by this which is sufficient at present to prove thee to be one of the Wandering Star Jude 13. A Word to all Professors in the World BEing it was ordered of my Lord God and Father of Lights that something must go forth in Print as from me who am the least of all Saints I was even as freely engaged in my Spirit out of tender Love to your Souls to present a few Lines from that measure of the Spirit which is brought forth in me Oh! My Friends my Friends the hour is not only coming but now is witnessed in me that the dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live John 5. 25. and the Voice of the true Dove is heard in our Land to wit this Earthly Tabernacle that is made the Temple of the living God who is now fulfilling his Promises in us that walk not after Flesh but after the Spirit even in us is the Lord establishing his New and Everlasting Covenant even the sure and certain Mercies of David which is by the Life of Jesus Christ in us fulfilled and witnessed whereby we have fellowship with the Father and are in measure brought to live in him and he in us where we have Joy Rest and eternal Peace which passeth all Understanding and all the Worlds Comprehension where all the Children of the Light meet and see face to face for the Lord hath brought again Sion who is become the Perfection of Beauty out of which God now shineth Psal 50. 2. and is become our Glory and we his Isa 46. 13. O Praises Praises be unto him who hath redeemed us out of the Nations Kindreds and Tongues to serve the living God in Newness of Life and not in Oldness of Letter that so now we may offer up eternally living and eternal Sacrifice and Praise for evermore who hath in measure redeemed us from the World and out of all Darkness that is therein and hath translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son and made us Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light which is the Eternal Light of Life for God is Light and in him is no Darkness at all and all those that live in him are the Children of the Day who walk in the Day even the pure Light in the which there is no occasion of stumbling our Feet being guided in the Path of Peace which is the true and living way in which the way faring man though a Fool shall not Err Isa 35. 8. which is the pure way of Holiness leading up into the full Enjoyment of the Father who hath long waited to be gracious unto us and now in the Day of his Love and Power hath gathered us in his Arms of Love and brought us home unto himself who were before the Out-casts of Israel wandering with you from Mountain to Hill but did not find Rest unto our Souls but now the great and mighty Power of the Lord hath raised up his own Seed in us to cry Halelujah unto him to whom alone be all Honour Glory and Obedience and Eternal Praises forever even forever and ever for he that was lost is found he that was dead is alive and behold he liveth for evermore Now my Friends the whole World lieth in Wickedness and all the World by Wisdom knows not God the
Cross of Christ is to the Joros a Stumbling-block to the Greeks Foolishness for Christ is this day as he was ever a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offence to both the Houses of Israel 2 Cor. 1. 13. therefore are they this day speaking Evil of that they know not for say they concerning these Sects call'd Quakers We know that it is every where spoken against Acts 28. 22. But in the Way that men call Heresie do I Worship the God of my Father Acts 24. 14. and am not ashamed to own the Power that shakes the Earth for if I should be ashamed to own the Power of Christ before men then he might justly be ashamed of me before my Father which is in Heaven but I own and witness the same Power which made Moses exceedingly fear and quake The which overpowered Daniel that he had no strength left in him Dan. 10. 8. Which Power made Habakkuk Tremble his Lips Quivered Rottenness entred into his Bones Hab. 3. 16. the which Power struck down Paul Acts 9. 3 4 5 6. which caused the Goaler to come in Trembling Acts 16. 26 27 28 29. Therefore I say unto all serve the Lord with Fear and Trembling Psal 2. 11. and work out your Salvation with fear and Treambling Phil. 2. 12. for now I know the Lord to be with them that Tremble at his Word Therefore O foolish People without Understanding which have Eyes and see not Ears and hear not Fear ye not me saith the Lord Will ye not Tremble at my Presence Jer. 5. 21 22. Are you worse than Devils that Fear and Tremble Isa 2. 19. And now the mighty Power of the living God hath shaken the Earth and the Heavens that now that which cannot be shaken may remain Heb. 12. 27. Now all you that will enter in with the Bride-groom wait to receive the same Power for the Lord Jesus Christ is come tendering himself unto his own John 1. 11. and I witness that as many as receive him receive Power to become the Sons of God John 1. 12. O be not Fools and slow with Heart to believe all that the Prophets and Apostles saith for the Lord is still a God with Power he is the same yesterday and to day and forever whose everlasting Love is shed abroad in our Hearts by which the Love of the World is cast out For if any man love the World the Love of the Father is not in him John 2. 15. But we are bought with a Price and after glorifie God in Body Soul and Spirit which is the Lord's 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. Being made Ministers nof of the Letter which killeth but of the Spirit which giveth Liâ—e 2 Cor. 3. 6. Giving no offence in any thing that the Ministry of Christ be not blamed but in all things approving our selves as the ministers of God in much Patience in Affliction in Necessities in Distresses in Stripes in Imprisonments in Tamults in Labours in Watchings in Fastings by Pureness by Knowledge by Long-suffering by Kindness by the Holy Ghost by Love unfeigned by the Word of Truth by the Power of God by the Armour of Righteousness on the Right hand and on the Left by Honour and by Dishonour by Evil Report and Good Report as Deceivers and yet True as unknown and yet well known as Dying and behold we Live as Chastened and not Killed as Sorrowful and yet always Rejoycing as Poor and yet making many Rich as having Nothing yet Possessing all things 2 Cor. 6. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 and 10 Verses Now the Light of the glorious Gospel in the Face of Jesus Christ hath shined into our Hearts whereby the Grace that was to be brought in at the Revelation of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1. 13. is now in us witnessed even the Grace the Apostle exhorted to hope for and the Prophets searched after 2 Pet. 2. 20. the which Grace and Glory is now made manifest in the Sons and Daughters whereby the everlasting Gospel is sounded forth in the Ears of many Thousands in England blessed are they that hear the joyful sound thereof For verily verily as the four Hundred and Thirty years Bondage in Aegypt was at last accomplished and as the Captivity in Babylon had an end and the Lord brought again the Captivity of his People even so now the many Years of Apostacy is over and the Lord hath heard the Cry of his own Seed and is come down to deliver Israel out of all Distresses and to gather the Out-casts Psalm 147. 2. And to bring home that which is driven away and to bind up that which is broken and to strengthen that which is sick but he will destroy the Fat and the Strong and will feed them with Judgment Ezek. 34. 26. but his own shall be delivered from the many Shepherds which have destroyed the Flock of Christ and they shall feed no longer Verse 20. yea verily People the mighty Power of the Lord is risen in England to gather his from the Corners of the Earth and they that have been long in the High-ways to Destruction being â—lind and Lame shall now be compelled to come in to the Supper of the Lamb and eat of the hidden Manna But many of the Children of the Kingdom shall be cast out For for Judgment is Christ come into the World that they that see not may see and they that soe may now be made Blind Joh 939. And the Sword of the Lord is drawn against the man of Sin to cut it down Root and Branch and to set up the Kingdom of Christ in Rightcousness and true Holiness And this Work of the Lord shall certainly go on and Men Devils nor the Gates of Hell shall never prevail against it The just Complaint of the Afflicted against the Rulers who oppress the Innocent to be delivered to the Judge of the Sessions at Winchester the 8th Moneth 1658. YOu that are set to rule over others should not let secret Envy Ambition and Prejudice so rule over you as not at all to hearken to the Counsel of the Meek nor receive Instruction from the Simple whom the Lord preserveth but you should let Haughtiness and Arrogancy be done away for God resisteth the Proud And you should come to that which is meek low sober and humble with it to know a ruling over that which hath captivated you under the power of Sin and Satan who hath so blinded the Mind that the Meek of the Earth are become your Enemies for telling you the truth and the Day upon you is come in which you cannot endure sound Doctrine But this I tell you That they who hate Reproof are bruitish and every man is bruitish in his Knowledge yea O ye men your Pastors are become bruitish and have not known the Lord though this be a hard saying to you who are your selves in that which is to be ruled with the Sword of God's dreadful Power who will execute Judgment upon all and with his own eternal
Power without Hands may break in pieces that made with Hands or the greatest tallest or most glorious Image that hath been conceived in the dark mind and set up on high above the humble suffering Seed to be worshipped within in the Power of the Light is resisted with all his Wiles though therein he bringeth Scripture to uphold his Kingdom and Dominion over the other to have it bow down to him and worship him who abode not in the Power which by the Power is resisted and denied forever And so that which denies the other and is Humble and Low it is that all are to wait to receive and joyn unto from it Power to know in it to stand against the other which did it oppress and by secret subtilty being exalted doth alwayes endeavour to sit in the Temple of God shewing it self as God being covered with a Profession of the Truth which in the Truth doth not abide yet to the Truth in words may confess and acknowledge that which saveth from Sin to be the begotten of God and may believe and tremble and yet remain an Enemy to the same tempting him by many Glorious Presentations to bow to that and worship that which abideth not in the Power that so thereby over the Power it may always rule in the Deceiveableness of Unrighteousness wherein many are ensnared others tempted and some Overcome whose latter end is worse than their beginning Oh! who can declare the Depth of the Ground of this Mystery of Iniquity or utter forth the Innumerable Transformings and Changings of that which still seeketh by all subtilty to keep from the Obedience to the Life of the Power by which man was made and from which he was led by that which said Ye shall be as Gods which against God doth stand in that ground which by him is cursed And how can the unsearchable Love of the Father be uttered with words who so loved the World that he gave his Son to them that asked not for him that by his Light might be seen the Deceiveableness of the many Workings of the Powers of Darkness in the Mind that is darkened which from the Darkness to the Light is to be turned with the Light in the holy Fear to watch against every appearance of the changeable Powers of Darkness which sometimes appeareth as an Angel of Light against whose Appearance all are to stand armed with the Power of him who is the Light and to feel the Power of the Word which is as a Fire and yet to resist that which the Devil darteth in which is also like unto Fire that the tender Simplicity after which my Soul breatheth may not be betrayed by that which still seeketh to devour and to keep from the Power of the Cross and turn aside from the narrow Way of Life and that in it all the innocent Friends of Christ may be kept to follow the Leadings of that which from the God of Truth and Love and Peace to them hath come by it to be led out of and from all that which in the Truth did not abide Therefore is this given forth even from the Breathings of my Life appealing to the pure Witness in you all which the Changeableness of Iniquity doth always stand against the which in Gods living Power let all that feel it keep against the other to stand and keep out of all Satan's Wiles to be preserved to the end of all that which hath an End that then when time shall be no more you may rest and abide with and in him that is the Truth whom the Devil hath nothing in to receive the Blessings of the Father and the tender Mercies of the most High to refresh you and overcome you with the Power of his Love that it to you all may be the Bond of Everlasting Peace in which with all the humble and faithful I am bound up and in it with them for evermore do rest Humphry Smith Winchester-Bridewell 1685. THE Love of God Declared AND SATAN'S VVILES DISCOVERED THE Lord God of Life and Father of Infinite Love Preserver of all the simple Deliverer of all the innocent whose Power reacheth unto the Heavens and his Goodness to the Sons of men who never forsook the Faithful but was near unto them in the hour of Temptation and knows how to make War for the Innocent to escape and deliver the Oppressed in the day of Distress whose Mercy endureth forever whose Love can never be fully declared whose Glory is beyond all Expression whose Wayes are past finding out whom my Soul honoureth forever to whose Infinite Fullness and Incomprehensible Power be Blessing and Glory and Honour from the Power of my Life to the Throne of his Love forever and ever Even he who is the Fountain from whence cometh the Breath of the Life of the Souls of all Mankind He I say from the Throne of his Power through the brightness of his Love with his Eye of Fatherly Pity hath look't down and taken notice of the Wants the Groans and the Cryes of his captivated Seed which hath been long oppressed with the strong and cruel Bonds of Iniquity which separated man from God and grieved the Spirit of the most High who bowed the Heavens and came down to visit the Captives and relieve the Oppressed which is acceptable to many and a time of everlasting Comfort for by him the weary come to be refreshed and the weak receive Everlasting strength for the Lord hath Compassion on the Needy and comes to clothe the Naked with the Righteousness of his Son for his Spirit reacheth unto that which is in Want and his Compassion is extended to the Lowly in Heart which long breathed after Life and Power to overcome the Evil but knew not the way to obtain it and therefore in the restless Wilderness under the burden of Sin did long Travail as in a wearisom Land of Darkness having little hope towards God being often in much Distress when no Eye pitied even then had the Lord Mercy for his own Name sake and he remembred his Covenant with Abraham his Friend and had Compassion on the Seed of the barren Womb which was as the Root of a Plant hid in a dry Land whom the Lord came to visit in the Power of his Infinite Love and said to the dead Live forever which Word of Power reached through the Earth making way through it unto the Seed that it through the Earth making way through it unto the Seed that it through the Earth might spring by the Virtue of his Life as a Lilly in the Spring that so the Prisoner might grow up out of Captivity and receive the early and the latter Rain and the Dews of Heaven that as a tender Plant it may grow and become as a Tree and be fruitful as a Vine bearing much Fruit over the Earth Oh! the Infinitness of the Fullness of the Fountain of the Father's unexpressible Love unto the Prisoners of Hope and the captivated Seed
Peace with God and his Blessing to be with you alwayes and be a Comfort to your Parents and all that truly fear the Lord. Written by a Member of Christ whose love was to little Children and so is mine who am called Humphery Smith THE True and Everlasting Rule From God discover'd AND That which proveth all things Published from the Spirit of Truth To the which Rule the Scriptures also bear Testimony that the Simple and Honest-hearted may see what Rule they are to walk by to come to perfect Peace and Rest with God for evermore Also A Testimony of the true Prophet who was to come and is come and there is not another his Work witnessed and Truth declared from a feeling-sence and experience according to Scripture Wherein also is shewed That the Prophets of God and Ministers of Christ did preach the Light and so those who preach the Light now do therein preach the same Doctrine as the Prophets Christ and his Apostles did With an Invitation from the Spirit of Christ By a Servant of the Lord and a Sufferer for his Truth in the House of Correction at Winchester in Hampshire called Humphry Smith The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee of thy Brethren like unto me unto him shall ye hearken Deut. 18. 15. To the Flock of GOD whom he hath gathered in Glocestershire Herefordshire Worcestershire Wiltshire Oxfordshire Buckinghamshire Hampshire Dorcetshire and Devonshire TO you my dearly beloved Lambs and Babes in Christ Jesus chosen of God the Father before the Foundation of the Word called to be Saints sanctified with the living Truth in the inward parts justified by him that is near redeemed with the Blood of the new Covenant glorified as a royal Diadem in the hand of the Father preserved through believing and obedience by the mighty Arm of unlimited Power compassed about with Salvation anointed with Oyl of Joy and Gladness of Heart who are beloved of my Soul and the Joy of the whole Earth who are chosen and faithful and true who through great Tribubation the Kingdom do come to receive who have not loved your Lives unto the Death who did once walk in the Shadow of Death whose feet now come to be guided in the Way of Everlasting Peace to whom the hand of the Father's infinite Love hath been reached forth as unto tender Babes who come to be born and nursed up by the Womb and the Paps that are free which is the Mother of us all who know the first-born which is blessed for evermore who are become the first Fruits unto God and to the Lamb who have received the Testimony of Jesus who have washed your Robes in the Blood of the Lamb and have received the fine Linnen which is the Righteousness of God and the Righteousness of the Saints whose Sins are done away forever whose Nakedness is covered who have put on the pure Robes and are adorned as a Bride for her Husband who are clothed with Righteousness as with a Garment and are all Glorious within and are able to stand upon the Sea of Glass mingled with Fire and before the Throne out of which proceeds Lightnings and Thunders and Voices who have cast down all your Crowns at the fect of the Lamb and come to wait on him forever and ever who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is worthy of all Glory and Honour and Praise and Thanks and Obedience and Dominion from all his for evermore The Salutation of me the Prisoner of Jesus Christ with my own hand unto you my dear Ones unto whom at present my Bowels of Love from God the Father are poured forth with whom I am in the Spirit of Love and Meekness among whom I have passed through good Report and evil Report yea that which is not to be named who am as one of the least yet not the least in Love unto you who are unto me as the Children of my own Bowels bound up with me in the unspeakable Life of the Father which from all the World is hid for evermore where Life and Immortality dwelleth forever and is daily felt by all you that abide faithful in the Obedience and keep your Garments unspotted of the Flesh abiding in the pure Fear and godly Humility your Bread is continued and your Waters are sure and your Souls are made as a watered Gardâ—n and Peace and Life springs up in you and you may delight your selves in Fatness and find the replenishings from the Fountain of God's living Mercies and grow up in the holy Life as Trees of Righteousness the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified The Church of the first born are you come to be the Pillar and Ground of Truth made lively Stones elect and precious growing up a holy Building unto God the Father who will dwell in you his holy Temple forever and ever who are founded upon the elect precious and Corner-stone the sure Foundation the Rock of Ages the Light of the World whose light is your life which is shining forth unto the Sons of men that they may see your good Works which are wrought in and by you and hear your seasoned words which ministers Grace unto the Hearers and answers Gods Witness in all and makes for your Advantage who are as Plants of Renown a Habitation of Holiness Vessels of Honour Clusters of Grapes who receive nourishment from the Vine whose Fruit never fadeth whose Rivers are never dry whose Rayment never waxeth old whose Glory never fadeth whose strength is renewed as the Morning your Dread is upon the People and your Terror upon the Heathen your Enemies are all as stubble before you and your God in the midst of you is a consuming Fire Dreadful is his Presence in you unto all his and your Enemies the Workers of Iniquity who shall fall before you as the Grass that is cut down and wither as the Blossom that is cut off Paleness shall cover the faces of all your Enemies before you shall all People be much pained Sorrow shall take hold upon them in the Night-season then shall the Arrows of the Lord reach into their Bowels Astonishment of Heart shall be upon them and they shall fly when none pursues and be in Distress and none shall deliver Arise against them O ye my Lambs in the strength of the Lord who teacheth your hands to war and your fingers to fight let the Beast be overturned forever let the Whore have blood to drink let her Merchant be spoiled forever and all her Children dashed against the Stone and broken to pieces as a Potters Vessel with the Power of the Light let the Darts of your hands who handle the Word of Life strike through all the false Prophets and reach unto the secrets of all their Hearts to the renting open of their Chambers of Darkness and the cutting down of the Enemies of the Most High and fear not let not your hands be slack the Lord
the King and God might bless and prosper him for their sakes as he did Pharaoh for the sake of that one faithful man Joseph after the King had released him out of Bonds But by this time many might say unto me as a Lord said unto the Prophet when he spake of things much unlike to come to pass How can these things be though God should make Windows in Heaven To which I answer That though I do not affirm that all those things shall come to pass concerning him yet I say that many are already and many more may come to the slate asoresaid And it would be his Happiness and more for his Honour than men can yet receive to be chief Magistrate among or over such a People and to have most of his Subjects so qualified and great would be his Peace thereby And thus further I say That the God of Heaven and Earth hath promised That a People shall be all Righteous and that Iniquity shall cease and the Nations shall learn War no more but every one shall rest under his own Vine and and none shall make them afraid and they shall be in League with the Stones of the Field and the Beasts of the Field shall be at peace with them And the Lord God hath brought many into the entrance of these things that with Christ in the Prophet they can give their Backs to the Smiter and their Cheeks to him that plucketh off the Hair And if it were well if that all the King's Subjects were come to the things aforesaid and to live in that upright state then it is not ill that some are come unto that state already And if the little that is begun towards this work were cherished might it not grow and encrease towards that state hinted at in the former brief Particulars touching the Honour of the King though there is an Honour which exceeds all this And certainly the Word of the Lord will stand forever though Men and their Powers and Heaven and Earth may pass away And assuredly the God of Righteousness hath begun his Work in this Nation and in the hearts of many of his little Ones And a Little One he hath said shall become a Thousand and a small One a strong Nation and the Kingdoms of this World shall become the Kingdom of our God and of his Christ And what if a Nation be born at once and Sion bring forth before her Travel and the Lord answer before his People call and hear while they are yet speaking and multiply the seed of Abraham as the Stars of Heaven and encrease the innocent flock of his Fold as the innumerable Plants upon the face of the Earth that Sin and Iniquity may have an end and Righteousness reign for evermore And if it be farther enquired How the King might have his Subjects truly principled and qualified as afore said or have such Subjects generally thus for his great Honour I Answer further to the everlasting Praise of God That there are many which may well be called some of his truest Subjects in his Dominions that are already truly principled and qualified as aforesaid and more are entering and growing up into the same Faithfulness Love Unity and Peace with all men and God will encrease them and it might be much for the Honour of God and the King to encourage them therein and much for the dishonour of God and dishonour and great disadvantage of the King divers ways if he seek or should be perswaded to seek the hindrance of these things or of his Subjects who are thus already qualified or the encrease of their Number therein or their encreasing in the honest noble honourable upright things aforesaid which things might make for the Honour of the King and will certainly be for the Glory of God And this is written by one that desireth the Peace of all the Nation and Unity amongst all men and that many more may come into the Righteous things aforesaid which would be for the Glory of God the Honour of the chief Magistrate the great Benefit of the Nations and much Comfort to themselves And that desireth the encrease of love truth and virtue which brings into the true honourable Nobility for the which this is written that men may come into the true Noble and Honourable Estate in the sight of God and all just Men among whom I am a true Friend to them all in love called Humphry Smith The 10th of the 4th Moneth 1661. To the Lambs of Christ MY dear Brethren who are Children of my Father whom he hath visited with the Power of his Eternal Love and gathered into his covenant of Light where Life and Immortality abideth forever who come to feel the Life of the risings of the Son of Gods Power with his Immortal strength you all in his Power to keep as living Branches of the Root to himself single and pure in the uprightness of Innoceny in this the day of his infinite love wherein the Glory of the Most High is revealed to the humble Seed which receives the Gospel of Peace and the Ministration of Life to those who in the Death did lie and by Captivity was long in Bondage kept which now from the Lord God of Life Refreshings comes to receive and Oyl of everlasting Joy to the mourning Plant whereby the everlasting Covenant of the Father is known in which I am with you forever you standing in obedience to the Power of the Word which operates in the Heart by which all things were made in which they are all enjoyed as you all in his Wisdom stand by it to be guided in the dominion of the Word with it over all to find Life and guidance with that which is Immortal in the strength whereof to stand as Pillars of Life for the living Truth of God against all his Enemies with boldness and cheerfulness through the Power of his Son whose Life you are to feel exercising you therein to which you are to yield Obedience with all humble Submission to the Fathers will abiding low in his fear and there is both Safety and Strength that the Fountain of the Fathers love may be opened in you as a Well-spring of Life to overcome you with the Power of himself that thereby you may be refreshed one in another and be opened one to another in the bowels of the Fathers love that it may overshadow you as a Tree in Summer and be to you as the refuge of a Rock in it to be hid from all the high and raging Waves Winds and Storms and from all secret Discontent or Swellings in the mind which are apt to hurt that which is little and tender which is to be brought forth into Liberty Peace and Life with the pangs of Sorrow and as with the anguish of a travailing Woman so is the Seed brought forth which lives forever which is fed with the Milk and preserved from the Storm and the Heat and fed with Food convenient and clothed
with Humility forever the little Child is you to lead in the peaceable Path of the Fathers love that you all as Lambs may follow him whose Power saveth from Sin in him trust compassed about with the Walls of Salvation and feeling the everlasting strength you all to preserve in the Power of his Might his Blessing to receive unto the Seed that you in it and by it may be fruitful unto God forever For dear Friends the Father is well-pleased in him who is meek and lowly in the Heart and in obedience unto him through the leadings of his Spirit of Power in which the Father's Love is manifest which leadeth in the low Ground where the safe way of everlasting Peace is known where all things are quiet and still where the small still Voice is heard whereby the Dead come to live in the powerfull Life of the Fathers Love which compasseth about the Seed as a Wall of everlasting Strength which is made perfect in Weakness and to the Weak is only to be known that the Weak then may say I am strong feeling Strength ministered forth from that which is begotten of the Father which never was comprehended by the Earthly Wisdom which is all scattered as the Smoke before the Wind when he ariseth who hath long been as a Servant and is now to be served that he may be Lord over all who is as a Man of Sorrows and leadeth through the Suffering state that by the Obedience of Faith through the Power of the Cross which crucifies and brings to the Death that which is to dye that the Vail may be rent the way into the Holiest of all made manifest and that received into the new Ground which abideth forever even that which now Comforteth the weary Soul and Satisfieth the longing Spirit and Replenisheth the dry and barren Land with the Rivers of the Valley and the Springs of the Desart that the Meek in the Earth may Rejoyce forever and through the Earth may grow as a Lilly in Summer For plainly it s the Poor that receive the Gospel and the Meek of the Earth that shall inherit Substance and its the Lowly that will abide forever and the Seed of the Shepherd that shall be set on the Throne and he that is low shall never fall neither shall his Footsteps at all be moved he leads the Creature in the Fathers fear and guideth the Tongue in Wisdom and it s him alone that all are to wait for to receive and continue in even him that is acquainted with grief who never openeth his Mouth in Perverness but speaks Life in Wisdom through the Power of the Father's love which overpowereth the Soul as an overflowing River of Oyl which makes all well and heals the grieved Spirit which none ever comes to find but such as alone walk with him who humbled himself to the Death of the Cross and became as a Servant though he was Lord over all in him there is Safety for he is the Rock and the sure hiding Place even out of the sight of the World and from the Tempters power for the Devil hath nothing in him who is meek and low in whose Mouth there is found no Guils And this is he that hath been long set at nought whose Tenders of Love constrains Obedience to himself because of the Beauty that is in him which from them is hid over whom the Vail is through which they cannot see the Comliness of his Love Oh all ye Lovers and Followers of Truth and Righteousness come ye all and sink down in your Minds unto him whose love springeth forth of the low Ground as a Well-spring of Life issuing forth abundantly as through a Rock that is hid under the Earth thence cometh Life to the Humble and there may you drink with me of the Cup of Blessings for from the Root of Jesse and the Foundation the Branch which is low doth spring forth the Life to the satisfying of every Branch and truly in him there is Life indeed and with him there is no want Who can desire another than he or who can complain that dwells in him where the Unclean doth never come where all things are at Peace and Rest is enjoyed forever Oh let none turn aside from him nor climb up above the measure of his humble Life nor reach beyond the Power of his Breathings forth neither grieve ye him through the unkindness of your forward Wills but love him as the Life of your Souls and prise him above all that can be spoken and tender his Love as the Apple of thine Eye that he to thee may be forever the Prince of Eternal Peace and the Power of thy Strength and the Blessing of thy Life that thou never mayst want Food nor Rayment nor want a shelter in the hour of Temptation nor look for another to help in the time of need And so my dear Lambs in him keep for evermore for it s he that comes out from God and keepeth them in perfect Peace who in his lowly Spirit abide from thence to feel the Fathers Love arise with it to love and tender one another So to that which is of my Fathers Life in you all I desire to be known and in it with you to have Fellowship forever which is more than â—â— to be declared by a multitude of Words or written in many or long Epistles the bowels of my Fathers love from the measure of his own Life in me is to his Image and that which is begotten of him in you all So the Life of the Power of the Lamb of God be with you all and the Blessing of the God of Love and Peace preserve you in all Humility of mind that the begotten of the Father through the Power of his Love may increase and grow up unto him who is the Life of my Soul who is blessed for evermore Amen H. S. Winchester-Bridewell To such in whose Hearts the Spirit of the Lord is beginning to move his Truth to declare YOu whom the mighty God of Power hath found in a Desart Wilderness polluted in your Blood without help or strength of your own whose Nakedness did once â—ppear and you in it stood guilty before the Bar of Gods Justice receiving the Condemnation due from him who then said unto you Live and since in the measure of that Word upon the Lord have waited to receive that which was promised of him who is the Father of the faithful This I say unto you the thing is great that you are come unto and entering upon to speak in the Name of the mighty God and to publish the Message of the most High to declare the Word of the Lord among the Heathen and minister Life to the Spirits in Prison to stand Witnesses for God to the People and to be as Guides and Examples to the Tribes of Israel Oh! how can you but be overcome with the dread of the Lord and filled with the Power of his Love How can your
Hearts be restrained from breaking and your Bowels from an unexpressible yearning after the advancing of the living Truth of God which he hath so freely made you partakers of May you not fall down to the Dust before the presence of the Lord and become as the smallest thing in respect of him Who can but fear before him and be astonished at the Power of his Might and bow before him who is the God of the Spirits of all Flesh that he over all may be honoured who is blessed for evermore And as through Humility you come to receive that which maketh Honourable even that which is Holy like pure Oyl to comfort and nourish you in that keep treasuring it up for your selves until you receive Power from on High or feel the higher Power that stands over all opening the Mouth of that which is to speak giving you Power and Wisdom your Life forth to minister to the reaching of that in all which can receive the Gospel and to the chaining down of all the Powers of the Prince of Darkness that would arise up against it And such as feel something stirring to speak Words and a great War and trouble within being neither quiet one way nor the other and by reason of fearfulness Words begin to go forth as from under a load and trouble and then feel the Earth lie upon the Seed let such take heed of speaking too much with a strangled and strained Voice but sink down again and wait to feel that rent and broken which is as a hard thing between thee and that which should rise up to speak that thou mayest feel it opened in thee as a place of broad Rivers giving thee room or as the opening of a Rock and the powerful issuing forth of a mighty stream of living Water pure and clear not mixt with Earth and Dirt and when thou hast felt this take heed of spending all upon others and another time take heed of that which would imitate such a Power again And also let such who speak in Meetings take heed of speaking above the Vail with a forward Zeal leaving the Light behind him lest he do more hurt behind him than he doth good before him and when the Vail is rent and a few Words spoken and the measure being declared the Vail comes on again upon a sudden and then some there be that change the Voice and continue in a form of strange words an hour after like a Priest Now the measure in such is owned the which they keeping to might increase but going beyond it the other will increase and that decrease but stopping with the Light when it stops and so become a Fool the Light would arise again Life speak and it s that alone which doth Service for God and other long Declarations of Words do but thicken the Vail over them that have felt Life though Death in others who have not found Life will feed upon the many words And such as are moved to bear their Testimony against the false Prophets or the Wickedness of men in it be faithful keeping in the fear and dread of the Lord that in his strength you may stand as a Wall of Brass against the Ungodly and spare not to thresh the Heathen so long as you feel the Hammer of the Lord up over them and then take heed of Disputations after and go not out of that which is your strength lest you fall before your Enemies and dishonour the Lord. But let every one take heed of running too soon for some such there are who run to Priests and others in the light airy Spirit and pride of Heart who are vain Boasters out of the Truth whose service the Lord abhors and likewise some such speak in Meetings whose Mouthes should be stopped Thus Friends from the dear love of my Life to you all and the living Truth of God for which I suffer in Bonds have writ these things in plain and few words to be considered of by you whom it concerns and the Lord God of Life make it a blessing unto you Winchester-Bridewell H. S. Sound things Asserted I. In the King 's own Words II. From late Experience III. From Scripture-Truth IV. According to Reason and Equity And certain things opened or propounded by way of Enquiry thereupon Offered in meekness and good will unto the consideration of the King's Lords Counsellors and other his chief Officers under him in all places of Justice Trust both Civil Military and Ecclesiastical Being intended for the good of the KING and themselves and all Persons under him and for the preserving of Peace amongst men The first Assertion I. FOrasmuch as you are set in Authority under the KING and so are to observe and to be Ministers of his Laws for the punishment of Evil and not to go beyond his Will and Proclamations and so to do that which is just and reasonable toward all his Subjects thereby to preserve them in Peace towards him and one with another II. In that the King hath freely engaged himself by Promise in his Declaration from Breda That no man shall be disquieted nor called in question for differences of Opinions in matters of Religion c. And in that he hath since he came to England doubled the Confirmation thereof in repeating the self-same words twice over in his Declaration Of Ecclesiastical Affairs bearing date the 25th of the 8th Moneth called October 1660. page 5 and 18. And since all this he having again renewed the same in a late Speech of his to the Parliament bearing date the 8th day of the 5th Moneth called July 1661. saying It is to put My Self in mind as well as You that I so often I think as often as I come to you mention unto you my Declaration from Breda And he further saith My Lords and Gentlemen let it be in no mans Power to charge either Me or You with breach of Our Word or Promise which can never be a good Ingredient to our future Security Page 5 6. III. In that he hath confirmed the same to us in particular in a late Proclamation entituled The Enlargement of Prisoners called Quakers bearing date the 11th of the 3d Moneth called May 1661. wherein he writeth us his Subjects called Quakers whereby Friends were generaly released out of Prison and that without Fees IV. In that the King hath promised the same by word of Mouth and granted that we should have our Liberty of Conscience and that we should not suffer therein engaging Himself thereunto in the Word of a King and in that he hath manifested the same towards us several times The first Queries upon the first Assertions THese things above written being rightly considered and truly understood this then would I learn from you or enquire of you whom the King hath set in chief places of Authority under him and let just witness of God in all your hearts answer hereunto Query 1. Whether all or as many of you whom the King hath
King and to know and receive and abide in and be led by the Spirit of Truth which the World cannot receive John 14. 17. And to know that Truth which God desireth in the inward parts where Wisdom is to be known Psal 51. 6. And is not the Word the Truth John 17. 17. And is not Christs Name called the Word of God Rev. 19. 13. And did not Moses say The Word was in the Heart And is not the Word there as a Hammer and like Fire Jer. 23. 29. And doth not that Word sometimes pierce and divide in the Heart and is it not there quick and powerful Heb. 4. 12. And is not Christ the Power of God 1 Cor. 1. 24. And did not he say I am the Light John 8. 12. and I am come a Light into the World John 12. 46. And did not he that was sent of God bear witness of the Light and say That it was the true Light or indeed the Light and Truth which lighteth every man that cometh into the World that all men through him might believe who was in the World John 1. 6 7 8 9 10. And did not he himself say Believe in the Light John 12. 35. And is not this he which is the Truth whom God hath given for a Light unto the Gentiles Isa 49. 6. And is not this he whom the Princes of this World hath not known 1 Cor. 2. 8. who was from everlasting when there was no Deeps nor Fountains of Water neither yet Mountains nor Hills Prov. 8. 24. And is not this he that is given for a Leader and Commander to the People Isa 45. 4. who will break the Yoke of the Oppressor Isa 9. 4. even him that is the Light whom they that walked in Darkness have not seen Isa 9. 2. who endeth the Strife with burning being born unto such as know and preach the Light Shall not his Name be called the wonderful Counsellor the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace the increase of whose Government and Peace shall have no end who shall sit upon the Throne and establish Judgment and Justice henceforth even forever Isa 9. 6 7. Is not this he at whose Name every Knee shall bow unto whom the gathering of the People shall be And are not the Kings to be brought unto his dwelling Isa 60. 11. And shall not the Kings of the Earth bring their Glory and Honour unto his beautiful Habitation Rev. 21. 24. and shall he not have a habitation in the Hearts of the Children of men in whom God doth come to dwell And may not this Truth and Power of God preserve the King Qu. 2. Again if the Kings Throne be upheld by Mercy and not by Cruelty nor Persecution whether then it be not good for the King to shew Mercy And how sadly even as it were without Mercy or Pity to Old or Young Widdows or Fatherless did several Thousands lately suffer by Imprisonment and divers wayes only concerning things which to them were matters of Conscience And should the King be perswaded moreover to break his Promise and restrain Liberty of Conscience and so thereby ruinate many Families impoverish many that now live well honest and comfortable and cause Children to starve in the Streets and Old People to perish with Hardships and Abuses and many more to lose their Lives in Prisons as some have done already who can lay down their Lives for Christs sake and that not for any Evil in the least done or intended by the said Sufferers but only truly and purely in matters of Conscience to God and whether this would not be unmerciful The third Query upon the same ANd is it not said in some of that part of the Book of Common-Prayer which is in it appointed to be read once a Year or upon that day called Ashwednesday Cursed are the unmerciful and should any man be first perswaded to be unmerciful and so brought liable to the Curse and then they themselves to curse him once a Year who cause him to be unmerciful and it may be much endeavour to make he himself say Amen to the Curse against himself and so curse one another And is it not dangerous for any man to come under the Curse and to be unmerciful lest God shut up his Mercy from him Therefore whether Mercy and Pity doth not become the King that therewith his Throne might be upheld And whether all the wise men he hath with all his Bishops and his armed men with all strength and Wisdom else whatsoever be able to uphold his Throne without Gods Mercy and if he would alwayes receive Mercy from God to have his Throne alwayes upheld thereby Whether it be not meet if not needful for him alwayes to shew mercy and to let all people but especially Gods Servants have Mercy from him or at least so much right as the Lord himself hath given them which is to Worship him in Spirit and serve him in that which purgeth the Conscience from dead works that they may serve the living God Heb. 9. 14. And seeing the King hath promised as aforesaid that such shall not be disquieted therein and whether these lines are not written for his good and in love unto the King 3. And seeing the same that said I am the Truth who was in the beginning with God Prov. 8. 30. said likewise By me Princes decree Justice Prov. 8. 15. Qu. 3. Then whether he be not the Power of God who said so And if so that he be the Power of God and that thereby Princes decree Justice or that which is just then what Power is that by which Princes decree Injustice And whether it be not Injustice for the King to be perswaded to break his Word and Promise and which Power are those men in that would have him do so seeing Christ is the Power of God by whom Justice is decreed And is it not just for the King to be as good as his word and may not all such as would have him break his promise remember That Lying Lips become not a Prince Prov. 17. 7. Moreover according to reason Whether many of them that do so much endeavour to have the King act contrary to his word or make void his promise by restraining sober honest Persons from the Liberty of their Consciences in spiritual matters and duties of prayer to the God of Heaven and waiting upon the Lord in his true service and fear of his holy Name whether such as these would be contented themselves to be restrained from the Wicked Liberty of their fleshly Lusts though that was never so openly promised them and so to be kept from all Whoredom Drunkenness and Swearing and such other works of Darkness wherewith they serve the Devil And can such be willing that all Boyes and all sorts of People as often as they see a Whoremonger or a Drunkard then all cry out presently A Whoremonger A Whoremonger or A Drunkard A Drunkard as they are that such
Devil one way or serve him another XXXVII Whether the man be not Head of the woman and then whether that which is head and above must worship that which is under And whether such a joyning together as this for the one to worship the other be of God and whether God's People in time of Law or Gospel were ever joyned together in such a Covenant and whether it be not contrary to all Scripture and good understanding And whether it be not time to have this put away as is mentioned in the beginning XXXVIII Whether it be not a piece of gross Apostacy See visitation of the â—ick and Popery for proud covetous Priests who are in divers Sins generally to pretend power to absolve the Sick from Sin with these Words I absolve thee from all thy Sins And whether most of the same Priests will not themselves acknowledge that they are miserable Sinners and Offenders And can such forgive the Sins of others and cannot leave Sin themselves Or can they pull the Mote out of anothers Eye before they have cast the Beam out of their own XXXIX Whether the Priest though he by his own confession a miserable Sinner doth absolve the Sick from his Sin that so he is then free from it Or doth he not If he doth whether he doth not more for another than God hath done for him And then whence had he that Power so to do and whether any true Members of Christ can believe it If not whether therein the Priest be not a most miserable blind Leader of the Blind and a foul Deceiver of Mankind both at their coming into the World by a pretended Regeneration and at their going out of the World by as false an Absolution And whether ever there were any greater Deceivers than these XL. Whether the People that dye in their Sins and the Priests that live in their Sins be not therein truly Brethren See Burial of the dead together in Iniquity seeing the Priest saith at the burying of the dead For asmuch as it hath pleased God to take our dear Brother here deceased XLI Whether the Priest doth give God thanks for the safe deliverance of no other Women but such as are Gods See Churching of Women Servants Or whether they are not to give God thanks for almost all Women after Child-birth And whether all Women that they are to give thanks for and do give thanks for be the Servants of God seeing they say Almighty God which hath delivered this Woman thy Servant Or whether most of the women they give thanks for be not Servants of Sin and led about with divers Lusts And whether it be not one thing to be a Servant of Sin and another thing to be a Servant of God XLII Whether the new Man which is within Children See Commination and People and to be raised up in them be not Christ and whether Christ be not the Light And whether he that is the new Man and the Light be not the Way and whether all they be not blind that know it not And if Christ the Light and the Way be to be known within the hope of Glory and that the Priests have caused Children and People who were so blind they did not know it to go out from that which is the new Man and the Light and the Way within and also teach them to go after and walk in something without Whether such Priests have not these many Years cursed themselves or read the Curse against themselves and causing the People to say Amen to it in saying Cursed is he that maketh the Blind to go out of his Way XLIII Whether the Priests themselves have not put their Trust in Man and taken one Man and Protector afteru aother for their Defence And whether some of them have not been unmerciful in taking more than Ten times the value in Goods of what themselves demanded from men And whether some have not been Fornicators and some Covetous Persons and some Slanderers and Drunkards and many Extortioners If not let Gods Witness and their own Fruits testifie If they are such then whether they have not a long time read the Curse against themselves and that from Year to Year in these late Ages as long as they durst do it saying Cursed are the Vnmerciful the â—ornicators and Adulterers and the Covetous Persons the Worshippers of Images Slanderers Drunkards and Extortioners XLIV Whether the Priests that did in our Infancy sprinkle us who are now in derision by them called Quakers did then by that Water and their Words make us or so many of us as they did so sprinkle the Children of God the Members of Christ and the Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven If not whether did not they grosly deceive us as also by after teaching and perswading us we are already regenerated and born again in our Baptism by which means hindering us what in them lay for ever looking after it and causing us to say we were that we were not and so made innocent Children speak Lyes we not knowing it to be Lyes If they did make us so then what have they since done in Reviling and smiting with the Tongue and Pen and writing against us the Members of Christ and persecuting us the Children of God and that so many Years together and in causing us the Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven to be Imprisoned Year after Year to the depriving many of us of our Healths and some of our Lives and many of their Livelihoods by spoiling of their Goods And by this time some other thing then what the former Composers of the Common-Prayer did put away which did burden mens Consciences are herein by way of Query made manifest to be abused yea even the Prayers abused and several of these things the Minds of People will never be quiet concerning as to own them again unless some better satisfaction in plain and sound Words be given them either by answer hereunto or otherwise in the like nature in Love and not by Severity for Love and sound Words may win the Hearts of those which Severity Bonds and Cruelty cannot force them unto till they are better satisfied concerning it Written by one that hath learned as he was taught To for sake the Devil and all his Works the Vanities of the wicked World to hold the true Christian-Faith and to keep God's holy Will and Commandments and walk in the same all the dayes of his Life H. S. An Epistle to all the Meetings in Dorsetshire ONce more am I moved to visit you with an Epistle of plain words from the free and powerful operation of divine Love unto the seed which in many lieth oppressed by reason of that which through disobedience doth hinder the growth thereof so that many come not into the Life of Truth which in the power of God was declared unto you whose hearts at that time were much broken and true desires in many raised but afterwards
Corruptions of the Flesh And walk in the Life of Righteousness to preach forth the Innocency of the Lamb in uprightness through a suffering state and therein to glorifie him whom in Spirit and Truth you are to serve forever more so your Life may be renowned with him forever and your Souls replenished in the bountifulness of his Love whereby Fruits in you may abound to the glory of his Grace and you become rich in every good Word and Work And all you that are weak who meet with many Hardships and Tryals and Temptations within and without be ye not therefore discouraged nor moved but still mind that the Lord is able to deliver and still on him in much Patience wait that in the due time you may come to reap And truly Friends in faithfulness you will come to know the Lord to minister strength to the weak and give power to the faint that the small thing in you may become great and the barren become fruitful for in him who is the Light the plentious Redemption is and he it is that succours and saves in the time of need and helps and delivers in the time of distress and he will not leave the Humble Comfortless nor forsake the Meek of the Earth neither can the Lord forget his Covenant of Peace with the Seed of Jacob though it be but as a Worm in the Earth And you who suffer Bonds Imprisonments or loss of Goods for his sake who hath called you out of the World dear is my love unto you and precious is the faithful suffering Seed in you to me who also with you suffer both within and in outward Bonds seeing the Crown of rejoycing that through a suffering state is manifest to the Seed which through suffering comes to live forever and the Life is that which will uphold in the measure whereof manifest in you The power of the Lord preserve you that you may feel Truth kept clear in you and preserved blameless by you that the Prisoner of hope in you may Reign over its Adversaries and you feel the Power of the Lord strengthning the spoiled against the strong that under it the other may bow that to the humble Life of the Lamb slain all Nations may become subject And all consider that he that is the Wonderful Counsellor who saith I am the Light In it therefore wait the counsel of the Lord to receive And all take heed of going out from that to set up a form of barren Words without neither build ye the things which began to be destroyed but all take heed of vain Talkers high Boasters and such who by a multitude of Words darken that in you which is to give the knowledge of him whose Kingdom consisteth not of Words for many see things afar off and speak too soon and too much and out of the true fear whose Words feed that above the Seed in many who live thereby and it burthens the Seed in some tender Lambs so that it which should live in them is kept in Death And so such Talkers with their many Words do scatter the Flock and cause Strife being separated from the suffering Seed within and so cannot suffer one with another and things are out of God's Wisdom and out of Unity and true Brotherly Love and then the Mouthes of the Heathen are opened against you all and the precious Truth of God suffers Therefore it s better all such were silent and that in the true fear you come to wait on the Lord that the power of his Life might be opened in every particular and then if that speak a Word or two it will hurt none but be received by all that fear the Lord and that my Soul loveth but this I know and feel that many Words are spoken which murder the Life in the Meek Therefore where these things are let it be searched into with the Light in every particular that the true thing in all may arise and act and lead and guide in Meekness and true Fear that the Power of God in you all you may come unto And let all your Meetings be kept as in the dreadful Awe and Presence of God and meet together often that the Seed through Death may come to which my Love is dear in which Love which comes from God his Arm of Power preserve you all which is both my Desire and Prayers to God whom in the measure of his living Truth I serve in my Spirit and for which now I suffer Bonds who to some of you may be felt in that which is more near unto many of you than the Name Humphry Smith To the despised rejected and persecuted Lambs of Christ in the County of Dorset YOu whom the Lord God of Life hath visited with his Everlasting Loving-kindness in a day of Salvation and in an acceptable year hath the Lord â—ought after you who from him were going astray in the frowardness of your Wills and haughtiness of your vain Minds whereby your Souls were kept in Death out of which the Lord is now come to redeem and gather you his long lost sheep in his everlasting Arms of unlimited Love home unto the rest eternal where Peace and Plenty is within the Walls that are Salvation and the Gate of everlasting Peace within which the redeemed of the Lord do dwell and their rest is gloriously glorified with the presence of the most High who comes to rule in the Kingdoms of men and set his Righteousness and Judgment in the Earth whereby the meek of the Earth shall rejoyce and the Mourning seed shall be comforted because of him that executeth true Judgment upon the head of the Wicked which ruled over the growing seed which cryeth unto the Lord in the hour of distress and mourned for him who is the bright Morning Star whose lightnings begin now to enlighten the Earth and shine out of Darkness to give the knowledge of God in the sensible feeling part of the heart which comes to be made soft and tender thereby so that its wrought into Gods love which melts the Hills and shakes the Mountains and divides asunder that an open way fair clear may be made for the longing breathing seed to spring out of Bondage and feel Gods Mercy showered down as the latter Rain upon a dry and thirsty Land whereâ—y the Lillies grow and the Vine yields her Increase and the Olive flowrishes and Clothing from the God of Righteousness comes to cover the mourning naked Birth who hath no strength nor help but from the Lord God of Mercy who is the Father of the Fatherless and the Helper of the Helpless who also hears the Cry of the Needy and knows the mind of the Spirit and hath pity on all Sion's Mourners and Compassion of all the faint and he is helping the Prisoner out of the Pit whereby the Captive comes to be set at liberty and the opening of the Prison Door is felt by the Lambs and Children of the Day who unto the day
which teacheth to deny Ungodliness should stand and remain And how wonderfully hath the Lord preserved his whole flock unto this day even so that with true gladness of Heart in living Praises it might truly be said That no Weapon formed against Gods Israel hath to this day yet ever prospered though no man hath appeared either in Field or Court on their behalf nor visible hand appeared for the defence of the flock of Heaven O! where is that Lamb of the fold who now stands in the Covenant of Redemption that cannot breath forth the Praises of God in the heart-breaking Power of his Love and the sensible feeling of his tender unspeakable Mercies Behold O friends the goodness of God is unutterable yea I have not words to express it and such that feel it may taste of it and drink of the fulness thereof beyond the narrowness of my broken speech and let such draw near unto me and let lose that which bindeth and closeth up in the Bowels that we may meet at the entrance of Wiâ—dom's Gate and live one with another and one in another so as the World did never â—now neither in their nature shall eveâ— understand for my heart is filled with Love and my dweling is enlarged with bouâ—dless Borders of Peace and my Life streams forth in meekness Behold there is none can stop it where the seed springs up as a Lilly and where the dawning of the day is witnessed where undefiled Love which cannot think Evil hath its resting-place and where the true simplicity of meekness remains Even there my Lines are read my Words are heard my Mind is Known my Language understood my Love received and even my Life takes entrance What shall I say I am with near or in the midst of aâ— the Innocent Lambs by the virtue of that Power and inviâ—â—ble Spirit which filleth all in all and in silence with you could â— long rest where the World should neither know nor yet perceive me the same Bread which I receive in the invisible Power break unto or disperce among the Lambs of God who can feed upon no other Even so the same is it which my Soul at present doth live yea behold I live who once was dead and my Life is hid among the rest with Christ in him from whence the heavenly Food and the Souls-saving and hearts-satisfying Power doth come And this is to stir up your Minds and to put you in remembrance of the Lords dealing with you and his large Loving-kindness towards you and his effectual work of Love in you that you may never forget him nor be unmindful of his fatherly Pity towards us all when we were all in our low estate and that you may feel the Revivings of his virtue and the Inlivenings of his power and the quicknings of his Spirit That you may grow therein and wax fruitful to God and come to be seated and established in the Land of Life blessed from Heaven with much more fruitful increase than the Land of Goshan That the fruit of Lebanon may be known and the Rose of Sharon and your selves as the Cedars that are full of Sap and your Life as the Vine that never wanteth Nourishment whose Fruit aboundeth to the glading of the Vine-Dresser that the Lord may rejoyce over his Heritage and delight himself in the midst of Zion and be glorified in his People and admired of all them that believe THe Lord God of Heaven preserve all every where in the Love Long-suffering Forbearance Meekness Gentleness out of the Strife or Self-seeking for surely Wo will come upon that Spirit wherever the Lord finds it and even the Lord knoweth the desires of my Heart in true simplicity hath been That his righteous Judgments might pass betimes upon every appearance thereof in my self Neither do I believe that God will ever prosper it in any nor any with it Therefore my Exhortation in the Everlasting Love of the God of Heaven is That you all every where live in true Brotherly Love and remember Joseph's advice to his Brethren That they fall not out by the way The Heavenly God of Power and Life and Virtue keep you out of all this in the Life of Wisdom and Meekness where Strife shall never inhabit nor Death enter within the Walls of Zion in which their dwelling is who keep themselves undefill'd and remain in the fear of God to whom I commit you all and to the Power of the Word of his saving Grace praying to the Lord for you That evermore you may continue in the Love of Christ From the feeling and refreshing whereof in the heart this is written unto you by him that in the Truth can serve the least of you being your Friend Humphry Smith ANd Friends this is a time of quietness and stillness or a time for you so to be and there hath been a large time of gathering and for convincing and now the Lord is proving and trying them that are gathered And after this time blessed and thrice happy shall they be that are found faithful in it and worthy to be Crowned with Heavenly Honour and to be further employed in Gods service and to remain as Pillars among the Flock of Heaven and as Lights to invite others home to the dwelling of God And now should all Friends be kept in Wisdom and take heed what words they use among men or concerning any men though they do contrive against us Had the Lord left us where they are and set them where he hath placed us then might we have been this day as ignorant of the Way of Peace towards Enemies and of the Path of Innocency and Righteousness as they now are but the Lord hath shewed us Mercy And I say the God of Heaven forgive them and defend us And all that dwell in this may come at last to see a time of greater Gathering than ever yet was Oh! my Pen cannot write it And if all were quiet in their own measures and little at all were moved in that measure either to write print or speak at this time waiting singly upon God Oh! he would plead for us and he alone would help us and keep us as in his Arms until the Indignation were over-past And this I write that you might know of my continual confidence in the Lord if he had or did not at this time raise up or make use of any of us to help him or to be workers together with him But a Remnant he hath whose hearts he enlargeth with prayer and some of them with strong inward desires and groans and some with utterance to declare the good will of God unto others in your Assemblies and some steadfastly to believe in God that he will never leave us and all this ascends up before the Lord even as one sacrifice And he that hath heard and had mercy on us when we were not his People and turned not back our complaints in that day O! how shall he now forget
hindred you and doth hinder from the Life and Virtue of it in your own Hearts this all to leave behind you forever and to give it away freely and as freely willing as a man would part with Dross for Gold and present mortal Honour for immortal Renown forever for behold the Glory of the World passeth away and all the Beauty thereof shall be as a fading Flower when it is fully ripe the strength thereof shall melt away like Wax before the Jealousie of our God and Aegypt shall be judged and Babylon confounded and the strength of the Oppressor brought down and the Lord will weaken the power of the Heathen and all the Earth shall know that he is the same God of Power and righteous Judgments as ever in the day when he cometh in the dread of his Power to assemble the Heathen to Judgment and to pour forth Floods of Indignation upon the Wicked when Anguish shall enter the dwellings of the Ungodly and intolerable perplexity seize upon the Consciences of the Unfaithful when the Hypocrite shall no longer cover himself nor the Adversaries of Sion rejoyce against her when the Lord shall reach forth his Hand and scatter his open Enemies as in the day of slaughter and consume the Bryars of the Earth as with endless Burnings and unquenchable Flames in the strength of his Fury when he pleadeth by the Fire of his Jealousie and the Sword of his Mouth with all the Wicked Ungodly and Unfaithful ones who make Flesh their Arm and depart from the Word of the living God in their Hearts which then they shall know to be Powerful against all Unrighteousness and quick in executing Judgments accordingly Oh! happy is the Man that then shall know a Refuge and blessed shall the People be whose God is then the Lord and full well will it be for them who then know a hiding place Then shall Sion alone rejoyce and Jerusalem be glad forever and only the redeemed of the Lord shall walk in the Paths of his Judgments and in the midst of devouring and consuming Fire which to them shall be as a Wall for everlasting defence round about them and as precious healing Oyl of Joy and Gladness in the midst and as pure Oyntment poured out into the Wounds of the broken-hearted Light shall shine forever in their Habitations and Wisdom shall be found in them like as in Daniel the Servant of God in the dayes of Old and only the Faithful shall stand and the Upright-hearted shall endure and God will keep his little Ones and the Weak shall be strengthened by him and the Poor of the Flock shall be comforted and the Feeble among men shall receive strength from God as the Morning and renewing of virtue as the dawning of the day and the Lambs of the Fold shall be kept and only Gods People shall stand yea they shall stand and the Gates of Hell with all the powers of darkness shall never prevail against them the Lord hath spoken it whose Words shall stand forever which shall seal it unto the Heritage of God and the Dross must be purged away and the Unbelieving must stand behind and the Careless will stagger at the Promises and they that seek themselves shall have Self enough but Self shall never help them in that day neither shall their own Wisdom stand them instead neither yet their Righteousness in the Day of God's Controversie when the great Oaks shall fall and the lofty Cedars shall bow to the Dirt when no covering at all shall hide but that which is put upon men by the Power of God's dwelling Spirit in the Heart of every individual by the virtue thereof and not otherwise And this moreover I say to every particularly unto you who were late astray from God and lately were convinced of the precious Truth of his Son that in the Name and Power of the Lord God of Heaven and Earth from him to you was I sent and that more chiefly to gather the Out-casts than to feed the Lambs who were already gathered and rather to call home the lost Sheep than to nourish them that were already brought home and to call Sinners to Repentance and for the opening the Hearts Understanding and Eyes of those who though they truly desired had not clearly understood the secret things of the hidden Wisdom of the Almighty And truly my Love was to Sinners and the true affections and breathing of my Soul for the Prodigals in them parts which were most chiefly my Message from God at that time and my Service of Love unto the Souls of such in them parts and to publish the Name of the Almighty in the great Congregations and surely my own Brethren even the gathered Flock of God attended in much patience whilst I thus performed my Service of love to you neither did I turn my Face from you to them nor with-held from you the Counsel of God in truth neither was I negligent in the Service to do you good neither yet sparing of my strength nor with-holding my Speech when God gave utterance but rather can truly say I could even have been spent for you in the discharge of my Conscience to the Lord my strength And now this is that which my Heart desireth of you and my Soul desireth for you That you all and every of whose Hearts then God touched with the feeling of his Love by the power of his Immortal Word through me his weak Earthen Vessel that you all may obey the Call and Visitation of God in the requiring of his Light in your own Hearts thereby willingly to depart from the wayes of the Wicked the professions of the Hypocrites and the paths of Ungodly men and to stand no long in the way of Sinners nor regard the counsel of them who hate the Light and Truth in the inward parts and to come out from amongst them that are unclean who live still more and more in that which pollutes them who live in their Sins professing God and serving the Devil until they have finished their Sins which then bringeth forth Death and he that dyeth in his Sins not believing in the Light which makes an end of sin cannot come where Christ is And so the Tree falling there it lieth and as Death leaveth Judgment findeth and as Judgment findeth so shall the Reward according to the deeds be And then shall every man stand or fall to his own Master the Servants of the Devil to their Master and the Servants of God to their Master and there is no more Masters but them two and no man can serve both though Thousands profess the one and serve the other who in that day must give an account whom they have served and not whom they have professed for they who professed God and served the Devil were Hypocrites and so are unto this day of whom the World is full And blessed are they who by the living Power of the Soul-saving Grace of God are truly redeemed out of the