of God the Light by the Gift we are brought to bring forth these fruits which are contrary to those which the Spirit of Error leads the Children of disobedience to bring forth Gal. 5.22 23. For although we the Children of Light are accounted to be in Delusion and Errour Gal. 5.22.23 yet it is but by you who bring forth the Cursed fruits which the Spirit of Errour leads you to bring forth so in the Light Life and Power of God we stand over all false Accusations and Reproaches and Persecutions and in the patience of Gods Lamb we bear them all and our love goes forth to your Souls who wilfully oppose your selves and we declare unto you that the long-sufferings of the Lord towards you is to draw you to Repentance Rom. 2.4 and I have directed you to that which will shew you what you ought to repent of Therefore consider your wayes speedily all you that forget God lest he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you Psal 50.22 for verily this I declare unto you in the presence of the Lord that if you go on and continue in stubbornness and Rebellion against the Pure God and despise his love and reject his counsel and still refuse to hearken to the Light of his Son in your Consciences which reproves you for Sin and is freely given to you to lead you out of Sin unto God if you wilfully do not resist it Mark when the measure of your iniquity is filled up then will he arise upon you at unawares in his fury Wrath Indignation Mat. 24.50.51 and his eye shall not at all pitty you but he will bring his Plagues and Righteous Judgements upon you which shall consume you both root and branch if you will not be gathered in the day of his long patience and forbearance which is the day of your Visitation wherein you may come to know the things belonging to your peace if you do not wilfully resist the Power that is offered and committed unto you But if you resist the Power then the Lords righteous Judgements will assuredly come upon you and you will receive to your selves Condemnation and if you continue in your wickedness until the day of your visitation be past then shall the Light in all your Consciences which hath oftentimes shewed unto you your evil deeds arise and witness to the Judgements of God that they are just Zek. 2.7 so whether you will hear or forbear Remember you are warned in your Life time By a Friend to your Souls and a Lover of the Creation of God GEORGE FOX the Younger A few Queries to such Professors as stumble at the Light the Word the Kingdom and Spirit of God within and tell People that none can be free from Sin in this Life and yet say that they own the Scriptures 1. Qu. ARE not all by Nature Darkness and doth not the Light shine in Darkness yea or nay 2. Qu. Can any come to see themselves to be Darkness but with the Light which shineth in the Darkness yea or nay 3. Qu. Is there any way to come out of Darkness and Death and to receive Life and to be made Children of the Light but by believing in and following of Jesus Christ the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World yea or nay 4. Qu. Must not all be turned from Darkness to Light and from Satan's Power to the Power of God before they can receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified yea or nay 5. Qu. Can any come into the true Faith which purifies the heart and gives victory over the world without which none can please God but by hearing the Word of God yea or nay 6. Qu. And is not Christ the Light the Word of God and is not Christ the Light the Author and Finisher of the true Faith which saves and justifies yea or nay 7. Qu. And is not the Word nigh in the Mouth and in the Heart that men may obey it and do it and is not Christ the Light the Word that Prophet which all that hear him not are to be cut off yea or nay 8. Qu. And is it not Christ the Word which discerns and reveals the thoughts and intents of the heart and is not he the ingrafted Word which is able to save the Soul and is not he the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation and is sufficient which hath appeared unto all men and is not he the Word of God's Grace which is able to build up and keep from falling which People are to be commended unto yea or nay 9. Qu. And is not God Light and is not the shining of him in the hearts of People which gives them the knowledge of himself in the face of Jesus Christ yea or nay 10. Qu. And is not Christ the Light the hope which purifies as God is pure which Anchors and stayes the Soul to be known within are not People tossed like a Ship in a tempest without an Anchor till Christ the Hope be felt within to stay and Anchor them and is not Christ within the Hope a Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations and are not all they in the reprobate state who know not Christ within them yea or nay 11. Qu. And is not God's Kingdom Light and is it not like a little leaven that is hid in Meal and as a grain of Mustard-seed that is sown in the Earth and like a Pearl hid in the Field or like good Seed sown in the Field both on stony thorny high-way and good ground and is not the world the Field where the Seed of the Kingdom is sown and is not the world in mans heart so is not Gods Kingdom within men yea or nay 12. Qu. And is not the manifestation of the Spirit given to every man to profit withal and do any worship the Father of Truth aright but those that worship him in the Spirit and in the Truth and is not the Light the Truth yea or nay 13. Qu. And is not Christ the Light that Word which reconciles to God and is it not he that must open the understandings of men before they can understand the Scriptures and are not People in Errour and in jangling and strife about the Scriptures till Christ the Light the Spirit of Truth the Power of God from whence Scriptures were spoken be known and owned to guide and lead them yea or nay 14. Qu. And is not this the Cause of so many Sects and Opinions and Divisions as are and of such strivings as are about Scriptures and Religions because People know not or own not the Spirit of Truth from whence Scriputures were spoken forth to lead and guide them and is it not like that People should run into Sects and Opinions and Divisions and Strife if they know not or own not the Spirit of Truth to guide and lead them and if the Spirit of Truth were known and owned to
Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the VVorld Joh. 1.9 Drunkard thou hast a Light given thee which comes from Christ and that is the Light which lets thee see that thou shouldst not be drunk so here thou hast learned thy Condemnation which is the Light Swearer and Lyar and Fighter and Quarreler thou hast a Light given thee which comes from Christ who saith Swear not at all and with this Light thou seest thou shouldst not swear nor lye nor fight nor quarrel for the Light in thee witnesseth against these things so here thou hast learned thy Condemnation the Light Scoffer Scorner Mocker Railer cursed Speaker foolish Iester vain Talker Couzener and Cheater the Light that shines in thy Conscience though thou canst not comprehend it Joh. 1.5 because thou art darkness it is pure and eternal and never consented unto evil but stood and stands a VVitness for God against all evil Mark this Light this pure VVitness oftentimes hath appeared and doth appear unto thee and in thee and lets thee plainly see that thou shouldst not act any of these evils before mentioned and it often checks and reproves in secret when thou dost so act so here thou hast learned what Condemns thee which is the the Light Eph. 5.5 13. Proud one Wanton one Lustful one Covetous one who art an Idolater Backbiter Whoremonger Gamster Sporter and Prophane one who walkest on in laciviousness and excess of the Creatures in Revellings Banquetings and abominable Idolatries and whoever thou art that acts any manner of unrighteousness whatsoever it is sin and it is of the Devil but the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the VVorld that is the Son of God who is made manifest for this very end that he might destroy the works of the Devil 1 Joh. 3.8 and He mark the Son of God hath given thee a measure of his Light and that is the measure of his Light in thee which lets thee see that thou should not act any of these abominations before-mentioned but it oft appears in thee to convince thee of thy evil deeds and reproves thee and judgeth thee for thy wickedness so here thou hast learned thy Condemnation which is the Light which makes manifest unto thee thy abominations And thou who makest a Profession of the Saints words but art found to be out of their Life and in thy dark carnal mind and imaginations run'st into their words the Scriptures and calls them the VVord of God and thy Rule and the way to know God and yet thou livest contrary to the Scriptures and art out of the knowledge of God whom to know is life eternal Mark the Light wherewith thou art enlightned withal it comes from Christ who lighteth every man that cometh into the VVorld and his Name is called the VVord of God Rev. 19.13 and he is the way to God and no man knoweth the Father save the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him Mat. 11.27 and this Light which comes from the Son of God oftentimes appears in thee and shews thee that thou art out of the Saints Life though thou profess their VVords and the Light lets thee see that thou art a Thief and a Robber and art climbing up another way in thy imaginations than by the Door Joh. 10.1 which is Christ from whence the Light doth come and this Light in thee which makes manifest to thee thy condition it oftentimes confounds thee and thy imaginations which thou hast raised out of thy dark mind concerning the Scriptures which were given forth in the true Light and the Light oftentimes convinceth reproveth and judgeth thee of and for thy hypocrisie and dissimulation and feigned love and humility and will-worship and lets thee see that thy worship is not that Worship which the Lord requireth for that is in the Spirit and in the Truth which God requireth Joh. 4.22 23 24. and thou being out of the Light not being guided by it art out of the Spirit for the Spirit is Light and the Light is the Truth and so out of the true Worship in the false worshipping thou knowst not what so here with the true Light thou art condemned and so hast learned but thy Condemnation Therefore all People both young and old high and low rich and poor bond and free who yet live in any of these evil deeds before-mentioned mind that which makes manifest your evil deeds unto you which is the measure of the pure God which he hath given you to profit withal and this measure in you convinceth you of sin and reproves you for it now mind to stand in that which doth convince for that is the Power and as you stand and believe in that which doth convince you it will lead you into true Repentance never to be repented of for it will bring you to repent of and to forsake all your evil deeds and hard speeches Jud. 15. which you will see in the Light which never consented unto sin that you have acted and spoken against the living God so believe in the Light which shews you sin and evil and wait in the Light as it ariseth and appears in you to shew you your estates and conditions now if you believe in the Light and wait in it you will come to receive Power from Christ from whence the Light doth come to overcome evil and to withstand the Tempter when he appears to tempt you to evil and the Light believing in it will preserve you out of the evil and lead you out of the death and loss that ye are in unto Christ the life and Saviour of the Soul But if you hate the Light which shews you sin and evil you hate Christ for I am the Light saith Christ John 8.12 and if you hate the Light you hate the way to the Father for I am the way to the Father saith Christ who is the Light Joh. 14.6 and if you hate the Light you hate the Truth and you hate the Life for I am the Truth and the Life saith Christ the true Light who lighteth every man that cometh into the World Joh. 1.9 and 12.46 and if you hate the Light you hate the Covenant of God for I will give him for a Covenant to the People and for a Light to the Gentiles saith God Isa 42.6 and 49.6 and if you hate the Light you hate the Power for all Power is given unto me both in Heaven and in Earth saith Christ the Light Mat. 28.18 and if you hate the Light you hate the Word of God and so you hate God and Christ who are One John 10.30 Mark for in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God all things were made by it and without it nothing was made that was made in it was Life Mark in the Word was Life and the life of the Word was the Light of men and John a man sent of God bare witness of the Light that all men
find some tender-hearted ones cannot bow unto and so with good words and fair speeches they will thus seek to deceive the hearts of the simple and all this is but for their Bellies Therefore take heed of such And take heed of joyning any longer to such as are settled upon their Lees who as one might say are even glued to a Form which is void of the Power For seeing they were to be turned from who had the Form of godliness because they denyed the Power much more are they to be turned from who stick in a Form which cannot he truly called a Form of godliness and therein contend and fight and strive against the Light which is the Power And of this sort there are many in several of the Sects whose searedness dryness hardness is exceeding great though they profess much of godliness in words yet in much perversness wilfulness and crookedness they oppose the Life and Power of the same and will neither enter the Kingdom themselves nor suffer those that gladly would but in a ridgid austere manner seek to keep the People subject to them that they may be Lords over their Consciences Oh Friends you that are tender-hearted come out from among such for the Lord's hand will be stretched out against them in a terrible manner And all wait in the tender Principle of the Fathers Love and Life which hath visited you and begotten sincere desires in you after himself and the Knowledge of his wayes that so you may be strengthned in the inner man and feel your Faith Hope and Patience increased that so you may be able to stand in the Tryal without fainting feeling the Lord to be your strength and continual Preserver This is the sincere and hearty desire of him who is a sufferer with the true Seed where ever it suffers and yet I am gathered in the Spirit into the everlasting Kingdom and Covenant of Peace rest and quietness where nothing can make me afraid By a Prisoner for the Testimony of Jesus who am freely given up to his Will and in patience do wait to see his Kingdom set up over all the Kingdoms of the Earth that he over all may Reign whose Right it is GEORGE FOX the Younger A TRUE RELATION Of the unlawful and unreasonable Proceedings of the Magistrates of HARWICH in ESSEX against the People of the Lord called QUAKERS Also the manner of their Imprisoning of GEORGE FOX the younger whom they with ROBERT GRASSINGHAM accused to the PARLIAMENT And also the manner of the PARLIAMENTS Proceedings against them IN the Year 1656 it was so ordered of the Lord that there came unto the Town of HARWICH some of the People called Quakers and one of them spoke a few words to the People as they were coming from the Steeple-house and so they passed into an Inn but the then MAYOR hearing thereof sent unto them commanding that they should depart the Town which they had not freedom in the Lord presently to do but after a short space they went out And it being upon them to return again they did so and lodged at that Inn all night and the next day they peaceably passed away so not long after the Woman that kept the Inn was commanded to come before the Magistrates of the Town who appeared to be offended with her for lodging of those People and made her to promise them that she would lodge no more such Persons by threatning to take away her License if she did so great was their envy at the appearance of the Truth in that Town But it pleased the Lord that shortly after some of the Inhabitants thereof were convinced of the Truth and so a way was made for Meetings there and several received the Truth in the Love of it in and about that Town so that they could not for Conscience sake pay to the repairing of the Steeple-house any longer and therefore had not freedom to Bury their dead in the ground belonging thereunto but they joyned together and bought a parcel of ground to Bury their dead in as did Abraham the Father of the Faithful So in the Year 1659. it was so ordered of the Lord that one who lived a little out of that Town died and several People were accompanying the dead Body to bury it in the place purchased for that end but one of the Magistrates hearing of it sent the Constables with a Guard commanding them not to suffer the dead Body to be laid in that place though the grave was made and by the command of that Magistrate the dead Body was taken away by force and buried in the Steeple-house Yard Also in the eleventh Month of the same Year there dyed another Friend near the same Town and several Friends came along with the dead Body to have buried it in the place afore-mentioned a Grave also being made but Miles Hubburd the now MAYOR and the other Rulers would not suffer the dead Body to be laid therein but caused it to be taken away by force and so they carried it and set it by the Sea-side where it lay above ground part of two dayes and one night and then it was covered over with small stones but by whom I know not Of these things a Record is kept by Friends in Harwich Also in the 3d. Month in the Year 1660. I being in Essex in the work and service of the Lord whereunto he hath called me by his mighty Power and therein sent me forth to publish his Everlasting Truth which he is spreading abroad in this the day of his Power by which he is gathering those that breath and thirst after his Rightcousness out of the dark Wayes and Worships of this World into the true and living Way and Worship which Christ Jesus the true Light in the dayes of his flesh spoke of which is in the Spirit and in the Truth I say as I was labouring in the Work of the Gospel in that County I had much drawings in the Spirit of Truth to appoint a Meeting in the Town of Harwich and that such thereabout who had desires to hear the Truth of God declared might have notice given them that in the Will of the Lord I purposed to be there on the 13th day of the Month aforesaid it being the first day of the Week so notice was given of the Meeting some dayes before and upon the first Day in the Morning there were about forty peaceable People as Men Women and Children coming in a Boat over a River which runs by the Town unto the Meeting but the Magistrates of the Town hearing thereof sent some Officers to the water-side to hinder them from coming on shore who were peaceably come to wait on the Lord and to hear the Truth declared so these Officers with a great number of rude People did hinder those peaceable People from coming on shore and forced them back again also the same Morning Robert Grassingham sent two of his Servants with a Boat to have
and for you do I oft Pray to the Father of Life that ye may be kept stedfast in that Life which ye have felt and tasted of and that nothing may move you from that hope and confidence which God hath begotten in you by the working of his mighty Power Oh dear Babes let the Love of our God break and melt you into the meek tender Spirit of the Lamb and let the consideration of his Mercy and Grace which to you he hath shewn overcome you and make you sick of Love Oh how can I express his Goodness for it is beyond utterance yea his loving kindness to you-ward hath been exceeding large who in an acceptable time hath appeared and visited you with his tender Love the Light of the World and by his unresistable Power hath he caused you to feel the day spring from on High even the breaking forth of Light in your hearts and inward parts yea this did he do for you who were as Sheep without a Shepherd scattered upon the Mountains in the cloudy and dark day Oh Friends how did his Love reach unto you when ye were Enemies unto him how plainly did he shew unto you the evil of your wayes which had separated you from his presence and how tenderly did he hold forth his hand of Love to lead you out of that which had made you miserable and how did he give you strength to walk when ye were lame and inclined your hearts after that which he shewed unto you to be Good and how did he manifest his eternal Power and Righteous Judgement in you against the body of sin and how did he beget and quicken a Righteous Seed in you which cannot live but in his presence and how mightily hath he opened the eye of your understandings by his eternal Spirit that ye are brought to see the false Wayes and Worships of the World wherein ye were once intangled and he hath also given you to see the Way to himself and the Worship which he regards in the Spirit of Truth wherein you are come to know that which only can give satisfaction and make you eternally free Oh let the unexpressable Love of the Father never be forgotten by you my dear Friends but all keep to and dwell in that eternal Immortal Power of an endless Life which ye have felt and tasted or and let your minds be kept to the workings and operations of the same that so none of you may be daunted by the enemy within or without but all wait in the eternal Light the Foundation of God which can never be shaken that so your minds may be girded up and you kept upon your watch and your ear kept open to the Lord that so when he calls ye may answer and when he teaches ye may observe and obey that so your souls may live and that ye may see his eternal Will in all conditions and be contented therewithal then will you feel the peace which none can take away And Friends give all diligence to obey the Word of Wisdom that ye may be known to be its Children and that ye may feel and witness your growth into the nature of the Immortal Seed whose Kingdom is not of this World that so your Redemption from the earth and all earthly things you may know through the blood of the unspotted Lamb of God which blood is the Life which he gave a Ransom for many which Life is manifested in your mortal bodies that through Faith in it ye may be saved And know this my Friends henceforth you are not your own for you are bought with a price and you are called with an holy calling that you might glorifie the Lord in your Bodies and Spirits which are the Lord 's Oh my Friends let not your delight be placed in the things of this World for then will you be intangled but wait in the feeling of the pure Power of the Lord God that ye may be kept and preserved thereby that so ye that marry may be as if you married not and that ye that have of this world as if ye possessed not and that ye may be kept in the living Wisdom of God in the ordering of all things that are given unto you that so the Glory of God and the honour of his Eternal Truth may be minded in all things and that your minds and hearts may be drawn out of all created things and ye kept single and chast unto the Lord that so if it were his Will that ye should be separated either from Wife or Husband outwardly or Children or Houses or Lands or any outward thing for his Name sake that ye may be kept in that temper and frame of mind and Spirit that ye may resign up all freely without murmuring that so ye may be known to be followers of the Lamb whithersoever he goeth for my Babes it is given unto you as well to suffer for his Names sake as to believe and hereby shall the World know that ye are redeemed from the earth if ye in patience and innocency give up to the Will of God in all things Therefore dear hearts wait in the Power and Life of God that ye may feel your strength and courage and boldness for the Lord increased that when you are tryed ye may stand in that Spirit of Life and Meekness which will give you eternal Peace in all your sufferings and Tryals for the Lord will try you that ye may see and know him alone to be your strength and that the world may know that ye are a People saved by the Almighty God And this know that ye that are faithful shall not be proved beyond your strength for the Lord will be with you in all your Tryals and the more that you are persecuted for his Name the greater shall his power be felt in you and the more your Enemies afflict you the greater shall be your joy and this shall torment your Enemies So Friends let patience have its perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing for the Lord will make up his Jewels and he will take away all the dross and nothing shall remain but that which will abide the Tryal in the fire for the Lord hath been loaded with the sacrifices of many who have professed his Name but have not been subject to the leadings of his Spirit but have grieved it from day to day Therefore will the Lord God try all Professions and the chaff shall be blown away and all false coverings shall be stript off and men shall appear as they are yea the chaff which some time seemed to joyn to the Wheat shall be driven to and fro until the fire consume it or until it mix it self with the mire where the Swine wallow but God will have regard unto his Seed which is weighty And Friends a day of Calamity will come upon â—hem who have worshipped and do Worship 〈◊〉 â—â—known God at a distance and pretend the Worship of
for God in their Professions p. 163. 17. A True Relation of the cause of his Imprisonment by the Magistrates at Harwich p. 193. 18. His Faith touching 4. Particulars Demonstrated 1. Concerning Jesus Christ the Saviour of the World 2. Concerning Justification 3. Concerning the Resurrection 4. Concerning Everlasting Glory and Eternal Misery p. 208. 19. Englands sad Estate and condition lamented p. 212. Several Epistles to Friends who are gathered into the Light of Life 1. A General Epistle and tender Greeting sent unto the Flock of Christ Pag. 230. 2. An Epistle to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in Sincerity p. 241. 3. To the Called of God who believe in the Light of the Lamb. p. 245. 4. The Breathings of true Love from the Immortal Seed in the Prisoner for the Lord unto his People p. 250. 5. To the Tribulated Fock of Christ in Bonds or elsewhere Salutation p. 263. 6. Touching compelling of Engagements p. 267. 7. That none can hinder the Determined Will of God p. 269. 8. Concerning his laying down the Body p. 270. 9. For the Common-wealths men both in the Parliament and Army p. 272. COMPASSION TO THE CAPTIVES WHEREIN Is shewn unto them the Way of God Which is but one which is not known in the many Sects and Opinions that are in the dark World but in the Light which comes from Christ which condemns the World with its deeds So they that live in the many Sects and Opinions their wayes are seen and denied by the Children of Light who dwell in Him who is the Way the Truth and the Life With something in plainness to the Officers and Souldiers of the Armies in General in England Scotland and Ireland Also a strong and terrible Alarm sounded out of the Holy Mountain against the Inhabitants of the Earth Given forth for the Innocent Seeds sake which is scattered abroad in the dark World By me who suffers for the Testimony of Jesus and keeps the word of his Patience in the common Goal of Edmonds Bury in the County of Suffolk where I have suffered above forty nine weeks through the envy and cruelty of Sions Oppressors I am known to the world by the name George Fox the Younger London Printed for Robert VVilson at the Black-spread-Eagle and VVind-Mill in Martins le Grand 1662. Compassion to the Captives Wherein is shewn unto them the Way of God which is but one which is not known in the many Sects and Opinions which are in the dark World But in the Light which comes from Christ c. THerefore this is unto you in whom there is any desires to know the way of the pure God who are scattered abroad in the dark World and are yet groping in the dark in the many Sects and Opinions Jam. 4.3 You ask and receive not because you ask amisse you have been wandring from Mountain to Mountain and from Hill to Hill but yet you have found no resting place for you have sought in your own wills and have run in your own imaginations and have not at all considered what it was that guided you but in darkness ye have walked and ye know not whither 1 John 2.11 and ye have joyned some with one Sect and some with another and in your own wills have contended each of you for your Opinions and yet ye have not been satisfied in your minds many of you whither that was the Truth that ye contended for or not for doubtings have oftentimes arose in your minds and you have been many times struck with fear and then you have sometimes in tenderness desired that you might know the way of God aright and ye have been some of you brought somewhat down and then you have been afraid to run into those evil Practises which formerly you have acted and delighted in Yet this hath been but for a time for ye knew not what that was that struck you but in your Imaginations you have consulted and then in your own wills you have sate down and said within your selves that you would never act such wickedness again but this being in your wills you have not found Power to resist the Temptations of the wicked one Neither have you found any Power over your lusts for by them you have been drawn away Jam. 1.14 and so have run into the same wickedness again and then some of you have been ready to despair and other times you have accounted God an hard Master as the slothful servant did Mat. 25.18 24 25. for you are yet in the same Nature and Practice that he was in for your Talent also is hid in the Earth and your earthly minds are above and rule and you are subiected by the Powers of the Earth so that those weak desires that yet remain in you towards â—he lâ—â—ing God are greatly oppressed by the Earth and kept in Bondage and Captivity by the Powers thereof and Leanness and Barrenness is in your Souls now while you continue thus striving in your own wills or imaginations profess what you will you cannot have any true Peace nor rest in your minds neither can you receive any satisfaction to those desires which are real after God I say while you thus act Therefore consider your wayes speedily and hate not the Covenant of God nor contemn his Promise any longer Now this is the Promise of the Lord speaking of his servant whom he hath chosen even the Son of his Love saying I will give him for a Covenant to the People and for a Light to the Gentiles that he may be my Salvation to the ends of the Earth Isa 42.6 49.6 And Christ Jesus the Son of God saith I am the Light of the World John 8.12 And John who was a true Minister of Christ and bore witness of him saith He lighteth every man that cometh into the world John 1. chap. 9 v So you have all received a Light from Christ and this Light shineth in Darkness but the Darkness cannot comprehend it And this is the Condemnation of the World that Light is come into the World and men loved Darkness rather than Light because their deeds were Evil And he that doth Evil hateth the Light neither will he bring his Deeds to the Light lest it should reprove them John 3.19 Therefore you that desire to know the Way of the Pure God be not high-minded but repent and come down to the Light of Christ in your Consciences that is the Light which shews you Sin and Evil and this the Way Christ Jesus the Light he is the Way to the Father and no man cometh to the Father but by him Joh. 14.6 Therefore as the Light appears in you to shew you the Evil of your doings take heed to the Light and wait in it that you may see Condemnation pass upon that which hath led you into the Evil of the World and that you may come to be sensible of a guide to your minds to guide you out of the Evil that so the Cross
the Serpent the Subtilty the Devil which abode not in the Truth he appeared likewise in you and begot a hurrying and a confused noise in your minds and then presented many things unto you and stirred you up to do them that so he might draw ye from hearkening unto the Light wherein you should have waited to have heard and known God's Voice and Counsel and to have seen and heard what God had required at your hands and thus the Subtilty which is the Devil who was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the Truth sought to draw you from the Light which is the Truth that so he might murder the Righteous Seed which God had begotten in you unto which Seed the Promises are Now your minds being drawn from the Light which convinced you of sin you entred further into sin and then you could not find any power for to resist sin because you went from the Light which shewed you your sin wherein ye should have waited to have received power against sin and then the Seed suffered in you by the sin which ye were entred into exceedingly and trouble increased more and more in your minds this hath been the condition of some of you and then the Subtilty drew you into reasonings and consultings what to do that so the burden which you felt and the trouble in your minds might be removed So ye hearkning unto the Subtilty he then presented several things unto you to be done some of which once were commanded by God to be done by them unto whom the Command came and so the Subtilty perswaded you that you must do those things likewise before ye could have peace and witness the burden and trouble removed which ye felt So he haing drawn you out of the sensibleness and feeling of the Light and Power of God your understandings became wholly darkned as unto the Counsel of God and then these things which the subtil enemy presented exceedingly pleased the affectionate part in you and some of you he perswaded to act such things as God never commanded any to act and so ye going from the Light which never changeth and hearkning unto the Subtilty which leads into changeableness here ye began to run into Sects and Opinions and Heaps and Parties and Divisions yea here is the ground and rise and beginning of all Sects and Opinions in the world peoples going from the Light and Power of God which leads into the Substance and into oneness of mind and hearkning unto the Subtilty which leads but into the likewise of Truth and into self-separation and Divisions and changeableness of mind and when the Serpent had drawn you into several Opinions and Practices in your VVorship then he fed you with knowledge that so each of you might be able to plead and contend for your Opinions and Practices and then he begot a strong hot hasty will in you which hath been called Zeal for God whereby he drew you into hot contentions one with another and so by little and little he raised up a secret envy and prejudice in you one against each other till at length some of you brake forth into rage and scorn giving one another scornful Names And thus the Mysterie of Iniquity wrought in many of you until the Seed grew weak in you as to your feeling and became as a dead thing unto you being thus strangled in you by your going from the Power into those things that the Power of God never moved or drew you to act but the Serpent which abode not in the Power So then you were not sensible of such a burden indeed as ye were once sensible of when the Seed which God had begotten in you was more quick and lively and then the Subtilty perswaded you that now you were right because you felt not such a burden and trouble in your minds as you once did and then a joy sprung in you for a time and then the Subtilty perswaded you that you were now entred into the VVork and Service and VVorship of God and that he had given you some reward because you were not sensible of such a burden trouble in your minds as ye were before you acted those things in your VVorship and thus the Subtility beguiled some of you But this condition continued not long with you for God's eternal VVitness which ye had as it were slain and made merry over it that arose and appeared in you again for the Seeds sake and disturbed and broke that false peace and joy and perswasion that you were got into through transgressing and going from that which is pure of God in you and acting those things in the Transgression which God never required at your hands and then with God's witness the Light you saw your selves wrong again and the Light judged you for your forwardness and then you begun to loath those Practices in your worship which before you delighted in and then something you came to feel stirring in you again which was not satisfied but breathed and groaned and cryed unto the Lord and then you were in a fine tender condition again But then the Subtilty soon appeared in you again and presented some other new things unto you and called those which he had formerly led you into old empty weak and beggerly things and thus he wrought in the subtilty to draw you from hearkning unto that which made manifest your Condition unto you and thus he hath drawn some of you into most of the Sects and Opinions that be in the World and through them and thus in the subtilty hath he wrought in you to save his head or life for he knew that if you had hearkned unto the truth of God as it appeared in you and had obeyed it that then God's Power would mightily have been made manifest in you whereas the Seed immortal would have been raised up in you which would have bruised his head So take notice how the Lord's love the Light hath followed you and checked and reproved you for your hastiness and forwardness and hath shewed unto you the emptiness and deadness of all the profession and worship that ever you have run into And sometimes when you have been brought into lowliness and tenderness by the Power of the Lord which hath smitten you then the Lord hath opened mighty things in you unto his Seed which breathed and thirsted after his Righteousness and could not be satisfied without it and then the Serpent hath wrought in you again in the subtilty to lead you from that which opened and from the pure and so lead you up in the boasting Nature to hold forth those things in the fleshly Principle which the Lord opened unto his own Seed and thus he hath kept you out of the Life and Power of Truth and he hath filled some of you with strange imagimations and expectations concerning God and Christ and his appearance without you and so all along he hath strove to keep you from minding
which all things were created and made and are upheld that therein ye may be ordered in the particular and that therein ye may use and order all God's Creatures to his Glory and then all false Weights and Measures and Wayes and Worships will be destroyed and then shall Truth Equity Righteousness and true Order and Mercy prosper and run down as a River So let your Faith stand in Christ Jesus the Light and Wisdom and Power of God and then true Worship true Weight true Measure shall be set up and established and then shall the Lord be exalted over all the works of his hands and so ye will feel his blessing unto him belongeth the Dominion and Honour for he is worthy of it for evermore Amen By George Fox the Younger The Words of the Everlasting and True Light Who is the Eternal Living God and the King of Saints which he gave unto me his servant to declare unto the Inhabitants of the Earth and unto all such as have any true tender desires in them after Righteousness and Truth HEarken O ye Nations and give ear ye Inhabitants of the Earth Thus saith the Lord God of Heaven and Earth whose Name is the Light I am the Lord and there is no other that can save I the Light Created all things and formed and made you all of the dust and I breathed into you my Light my Life that ye with it should have been guided and led in my Wisdom to have ordered all things which I have Created and to have ruled over them all that I in you might have been honoured and exalted over all the works of my hands which I the Light Created But from me the Light ye have departed and ye have hearkned unto the Subtil Serpent which is the Devil who abode not in me the Light the Life the Truth which Created all things whom I have cursed above all the Beasts of the Earth who is the Seed of Enmity and ye hearkening unto him he hath begotten you into Enmity against me the Light and so hath begotten and led you into the Curse and so he is become your Father and Leader whom I have cursed and all that ye bring forth and act in him I have cursed because it stands in the Enmity against me the Light yet I the Light have looked upon you and pittied you because of the loss that ye are come into and the darkness that is come upon you all through your departing from me the Light And I the Eternal God have sent him who was glorified with me before the World was by whom I made the World who is not without me nor I without him but he is in me and I in him and He and I and the Spirit that proceed's from Us are one Being and Substance Mark I the Eternal God have sent him into the World who was glorified with me before the World began and he is called my Son because he is the Express Image of my Glory and bears my Name the Light the Life the Truth which is but one and he is my Love unto you the World and that is he that lets you see the Enmity and darkness that ye are in and how years departed and gone from Me the Life and for this end I have sent him a Light that ye all through him the Light might believe that so he who shews you your Sins your Enmity your Darkness ye believing in him might receive power to come out of it and that he might save you from the curse which ye went into when ye hearkned to the Serpent whom I have cursed who is become your Leader But I have sent you the Light to be your Leader to lead you from the Serpent and out of all that which he hath led you into Mark out of Enmity against me out of Darkness and so out of all unrighteous words and deeds and thoughts And I the Eternal God have given my Son the Light power to plague and to judge to condem and to destroy all those that will not hear him the Light who makes manifest unto you your unrighteous words deeds and thoughts which the Serpent hath led you into and because ye live in these I cannot have fellowship with you nor reveal my secrets unto you but my anger is kindled against you but if ye would hearken unto my Love the Light which lets you see all that ever you have done and own him to be your Leader and receive him and give up your selves to be guided by him then you shall feel his Power in you which I have given him to lead you out of Enmity and Darkness and the curse and out of all Sin which was the cause of the curse and so to destroy that Nature in you which the Serpent hath begotten ye into and to beget you again into the Nature of himself the Light in whom I am well pleased and then my anger would be turned away from you and I should have fellowship with you again as I had in the beginning and the Serpent's head ye should come to witness bruised who drew and led you out of me the Life the Tree of Life which I shut you from because of your disobedience ye should come to know it and to feel it and to feed upon it again and I should delight to do you good But O ye disobedient ye are from this because ye despise Me my Son my Spirit who are one who are Light and Life which is not far from you for I the Light give unto every one of you Life and Breath and you and all things are upheld by me the Light whose presence filleth Heaven and Earth and I have long spared you and my patience and long-suffering towards you hath been exceeding large but you in your imaginations have put me a far off and ye will not own me the Light the Life in you because my appearance in you hath been and yet is to make manifest Sin and Evil in you and to check and reprove you for it and to call you out of it and therefore you are offended at me and you whom the Serpent the Prince of the Power of the Air hath led out of me into airy imaginations you scorn me the Light in you and count me a low poor weak thing not worth the taking notice of because I have been patient towards you and have tenderly meekly and lovingly made manifest unto you Sin and Evil in its appearance and hath reproved you for Evil gently therefore you have disobeyed me and dishonoured me and called me a Natural Light and ye have said I the Light am not able to save those that believe in me and many of you have got my words which I the Light spoke in my servants of old and ye in the Enmity give other meanings to my words and so with my words mixed with your own meanings and imaginations ye fight against me the Light and Life within you and so against my
to resist all that which is contrary unto me and I will destroy all the works of the Serpent in you and bruise his head and I will purge out all your iniquities and forgive all your trespasses I will change your nature and I will make you new Creatures if ye will hearken unto me and obey me the Light in you and I will make you partakers of my Divine Nature and I will judge and condemn and consume all that in you which is contrary to my Nature if ye will abide in the Light and I will take away all Darkness and earthly-mindedness and I will reveal my secrets and mysteries unto my Seed in you and I will cause you to delight alone in me the Light of Life and I will feed you with the Bread of Life and ye shall drink of my Life and ye shall be satisfied and I will manifest my Power more and more in you and if ye will be faithful unto me and obey my voice and wait upon me the Light then I will make the crooked wayes strait before you and the rough wayes smooth and I will destroy the Power of Darkness within and without you and if ye will follow me I will lead you out of the World and Worldly cares into patience into meekness and into stilness and quietness of spirit and whatsoever you suffer for my Names sake I will be your exceeding great reward and I will be your dread and ye shall be the dread of Nations I will be your Glory and ye shall be the Glory of Nations and I will reign over you and ye shall reign over all the World in my Light and Life and Power and if ye continue in me the Light I will give you Dominion over all your Enemies within and without you and I will make them all bow before you and I the Lord God of Light and Life will be your Redeemer and Saviour your Rock your Shield and your Defence and if ye will wait in my Life it shall be your Life and I the Life will destroy the destroyer within and without you and I will bring you out of all trouble and restlesness and dissatisfaction and I will be your peace and your rest and your satisfaction and ye shall lie down in me the Light of Life and none shall make you afraid These things shall you come to witness in the work of your regeneration and much more than is here expressed if ye be faithful unto me the true Light in you who have no fellowship with any thing that is Evil and then I wil purge all Evil out of you and even as I am so shall ye be also yea I will work this work and perfect it in you if ye continue and abide in me the Light Now if any should say that here is nothing spoken of Christ in what I have here written I answer what I have here written is the words which the Father who is one with Christ the Son gave unto me to write in which words the true Christ is owned and a Testimony given of him and no other But further in the Fear and Wisdom of God for the satisfaction of the simple I do declare in plain words That I do believe in the true Christ the Lord of Life who was glorified with the Father before the World began and I do believe that he was in due time made manifest in that body of flesh who was called Jesus and that in him the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily who was supposed to be the Carpenter's Son whom the Jews Crucified without the gates of Jerusalem and I have remission of Sins through his blood who is the Lord of Life and he was buried but he is risen and Ascended and sits on the right hand of the Majesty on high This is the Christ I own who also was and is Crucified in Sodom and Aegypt by the rebellious yea he is Crucified afresh and put to open shame now by those that trample the blood of the Covenant the Light of Life under their feet and count it an unholy or a natural thing and such act despightfully against the Spirit of Grace and such Murther the Seed which keeps the commands of God and such will God the Light overthrow and burn to ashes as he did Sodom and Gomorrah but all that love and obey the true Light which is the fire shall be saved and preserved by it and shall remain unhurt but all that hate and disobey the Light in them that is their condemnation the Light These are faithful and true sayings and things also that must shortly come to pass and he witnessed Postscript READER WHo ever thou art be moderate and take heed of disobeying and despising the true Light for if thou dost thou disobeyest and dispisest the True and Eternal God who is Light and that is his Name whereby he is and will be known in this Age and Generation Therefore stumble not at the Light which lighteneth every one which cometh into the World for if thou doest thou stumblest at God his Name at Christ the Word by which all things were made and are upheld at the Door the Way the Truth and the Life at the Rock at the Elect Stone and these all are but one and if thou stumble at these what ever thou art thou shalt be broken But they that obey and believe the true Light they shall be made Children of the Light and shall be taught of God and shall walk in his Light G. F. A Word to the People of the World who hate the Light to be witnessed by the Light in them all VVherein is shewed unto them what the Light is which is the condemnation of the VVorld with its deeds and what the Spirit of Truth is and what it leads them into who are led by it and what the Spirit of Error is and what it leads them into who are led by it And also they are here exhorted to repent whilst they have the Light to believe and walk in the Light lest darkness come upon them and they into it be cast where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Also a few Queries to such Professors as stumble at the Light the Word the Kingdom and Spirit of God within and tell People that none can be free from sin in this Life and yet say that they own the Scriptures LIght is come into the VVorld and the VVorld hates it Joh. 8.12 and the whole World lyeth in wickedness 1 Joh. 5.19 And this is the Condemnation of the VVorld that Light is come into the VVorld and men loved the Darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil saith Christ Joh. 3.19 20. And every one that doth evil hateth the Light neither cometh to the Light lest his deeds should be reproved But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the Light for whatsoever doth make manifest is Light Eph. 5.13 and Christ Jesus he is the true
through Him might believe Mark through Him who lighteth every man that cometh into the World John 1.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. and God is Light 1 Joh. 1.5 and God and Christ are One Joh. 10.30 1 Joh. 5.7 So you that be turned from the Light which shews you sin and evil mark what you are turned from you are turned from the Way and from the Truth and from the Life and from the Covenant of God and from the Power of God and from the Word of God and so from God and Christ from whence the Light doth come and into the Darkness you are turned and gone and the Prince of Darkness ruleth in you Eph. 2.2 that so you cannot find any power over your own perverse Wills nor over your Lusts nor over any Sin there being gone from the Light in your own particulars in which Light if you believed and waited in it you would receive power to overcome sin but you not believing in the Light you believe in him who leads you from the Power of God into sin and there he perswades you that you must live in sin so long as you live upon the Earth and you have believed and received this Doctrin of him and you teach it to others and so are become the Devils Ministers and so you deny the end for which the Son of God was made manifest which was to destroy the Works of the Devil and to take away sin 1 Joh. 3.8 Mat. 1.21 and yet many of you feed your selves with hopes of Life and Salvation but your hopes are vain and will perish be not deceived God will not be mocked for such as you sow such shall you reap Gal. 6.7 8. Ye that live after the flesh fulfilling the lusts thereof you shall surely dye if ye repent not speedily Rom. 8.13 and you that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap Corruption The day of the Lord hasteth greatly wherein you must give an account unto him who will judge you righteously and reward you according to your deeds done in the Body and all you who have been slothful and have hid that in the Earth which the Lord gave you to profit withal you will be turned into utter darkness Mat. 25.30 John 12.35 Therefore while you have the Light believe and walk in it lest thick darkness come upon you even such darkness as may be felt the day of your Visitation prize lest the things that belong to your peace be wholly hid from your eyes Consider there is a time when the Candle is lighted and when you may see if you search with it what is in the house but mark this time will not alwayes continue with the wicked for the Candle of the wicked shall be put out Prov. 24.20 Yea the Spirit of the Lord shall not alwayes strive with man Gen. 6.3 Therefore cease from your dark imaginations which several of you have got into for whosoever followeth the imaginations and thoughts of his own heart which all who believe not in the Light do they run on in darkness and know not whether they go and such are under the wo putting darkness for Light Light for darkness calling the Spirit of Truth the Spirit of Error and the Spirit of Error the Spirit of Truth Isa 5.20 as all the world do who lye in wickedness and hate the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the Word which Light reproveth you for your wickednes and this Light you call a Spirit of Delusion and Error and you say that those who are guided by it are deluded and led into Error Oh! take heed of Blasphemy against the pure God who is Light Mark the Spirit of Error what it is and what it leads into it is that which abode not in the Truth and it is a Murderer and was so from the Beginning and they who walk not in the true Light they walk and are guided by this Spirit and some by it are led to murder some to steal some to be drunk to swear to lye to cheat and cozen one another to fight to game and some it leads into vain laughter foolish jesting corrupt communication cursed speaking wantonness lust whoredom fornication and into covetousness which is Idolatry into pride variance strife railing back-biting envy wrath and malice false accusing the Innocent and into all manner of ungodliness into feigned love self-seeking dissimulation hypocrisie and feigned flattery and to hate the very appearance of Truth Eph. 4.29 and 5. Gal. 5.19 20. Now examine with that which reproves you for sin in secret and it will let you see that you bring forth many of these cursed Fruits before-mentioned and so are deluded and guided by the Spirit of Error now the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World comes from the Spirit of Truth and that is the Truth and it witnesseth against all these evil deeds before-mentioned which are out of the Truth and they who believe in the Light which makes manifest sin and evil and wait in it they receive power from him from whence the Light came John 1.12 to abstain from evil and to overcome sin and evil and this I witness and that Spirit which tempts the Creature to evil is the Spirit of Error So we who believe in the true Light which is the manifestation of the Spirit of Truth which is given to every man to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 we by it are led out of Error and Delusion into the perfect Truth of God and to act those things which are well-pleasing in his sight Mat. 11.29 they being learned and wrought in the Light which comes from the Son in whom the Father is well pleased Joh. 3.21 and this true Light in us is our Guide and Teacher and this brings us who wait in it to understand the Scriptures of Truth which was given forth from the Spirit of Truth and it brings us into that which the Scriptures speaks of into the Life and Power of God and to witness that which the World talks of for they will talk of Faith in Christ Jesus though they witness not what they speak but we who believe in the Light are made by the power of God Children of the Light and we witness Faith in Christ which Faith purifies our hearts and gives us victory over the World Act. 15.9 1 Joh. 5.4 and the Light leads us into meekness into soberness and love unfeigned into holiness and uprightness into sound and pure Judgement into Mercy into Patience when we are reviled and persecuted and at all times into long-suffering and Truth in the inward parts to do unto all men as we would they should do unto us yea it leads us who abide in it into all Truth Joh. 16.13 and this is not of our selves for it is the free Gift of God who freely gave his Son for a Covenant of Light which ligheth every man that cometh into the World and we who have received the Gift
either in things Religious or in things Civil betwixt man and man than we desire all others might enjoy And if such a Government as this be set up then if he that is Chief in taking care and seeing that Justice may be done to all without respect of persons if he be called a King a Judge a Protector or a General we shall not be against either or any of the Names Or if the care and trust be laid upon more if they be called by the Name of a Parliament or a Council or a Committee or King and Parliament or any we are content and shall willingly submit unto Righteousness from them or any of them as our duty And it is that which is unrighteous which is called a Government wherein Oppression Partiality and Cruelty is exercised either in things relating unto conscience in matter of Worship or in things civil betwixt man and man that we stand against and if such a thing be set up and called a Government and if the chief in it be called a King or a Judge or a Protector or a General or a Parliament or a Council or a Committee or King and Parliament we cannot stand for any of the Names nor submit unto the unjust things commanded by them any other wayes than through a patient suffering under it And this according to the strength of the Lord we shall be willing to do VII How we resolve in the strength of the Lord to stand for that which is righteous and against that which is unrighteous c. THe way how we shall stand for the Righteous Government and Governours is by yielding all due lawful obedience unto them and their Commands and by labouring in the Power of the Lord to bring down and to keep under the evil lust in People which is the cause of all Wars and Rebellions and Transgression And as much as in us lies we shall endeavour to live peaceably with all men and perswade others unto the same And so by a Godly Conversation we shall be patterns unto others And this will be an adorning of good Government and Governors and a help unto them And this we resolve in the strength of the Lord to do Also the manner how we shall stand through the Power of the Lord against that which is unrighteous though it be called a Government and against unrighteous Governours is by bearing our Testimony against them in the Power of the Lord and by yielding no other obedience to them than in submitting patiently to suffer and endure whatsoever punishment the Lord shall suffer them to lay upon us And this shall turn against them daily and weaken them and bring shame upon them For Persecution is to them that persecute us a token of Perdition but unto Us of Salvation and that from the Lord. VIII Concerning a Government and Governours wherein there may be something seen to be good and something bad c. ANd as concerning a Government or Governours wherein there may be something good and something bad This I say in such a case whatsoever is good in either we shall be ready through the Lord's strength to submit unto and own and we shall labour to preserve and cherish that And as the Lord shall move us we shall be willing to shew the Governours in plainness what is wrong in them and in the Government and if they refuse to hear us and afflict us we shall in patience yield our Bodies to suffer under that which is bad in either however we shall discountenance it and labour through the Power of the Lord in a Spiritual Warfare to destroy it that so it may further appear that we are not against Magistracy but for it it being God's Ordinance and that we are only against that in Magistrates and People which would and which doth defile and pollute the place of Magistracy IX Concerning Plotting or using a Carnal Weapon and from whom we expect Deliverance c. ANd I further testifie in the Lord that I do not intend neither have I any such thought in my heart either to plot for or against Thee or any other upon the Earth for I do not expect deliverance by a carnal Sword and yet I know deliverance shall come with or without the help of man and in vain have been and shall be all the strivings compellings and murderings about Religion Church and Worship for man may as well say to the Sun in the Firmament Stand thou still Or to the Sea Be thou dryed up as hinder one jot of the Lord 's mighty workings in this his day for his Work yea his strange work shall be brought to pass and mine eye sees it and not any mortal shall be able to hinder it And into the belief of this I know that the Lord hath gathered several thousands into the same mind with me that are called by the name of Quakers and we could desire if it were the Will of God even that all men were of the same mind And those that are otherwise minded we shall leave them unto the Lord to do what he pleaseth with them And we are freely given up unto the Will of God and we have committed our Cause unto Him and He shall bring it to pass that so it may plainly be made manifest that we are a People saved by our God from whom we expect deliverance And he hath made us willing to wait until he bring it to pass And this we are confident of that the Everlasting Gospel which is the Power of God shall again be Preached unto all Nations Kindreds Tongues and People and that the Whore of Babylon the Beast and his Horns and his Names which have prevailed against the Bodies of the Holy People in the night of Apostacy shall cease to prevail against the Saints and that Babylon and her Merchants shall be thrown down and confounded and then shall the Saints of the most High possess the Kingdom And we do believe that God will overturn and overturn until he hath brought to pass the thing that he hath decreed which is to establish Righteousness in the earth and then shall there be Judges as at the first and Counsellors as at the beginning and Kings shall become Nursing-Fathers and Queens shall become Nursing-Mothers and the Kingdoms of this VVorld shall become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ and hereof we have an assurance in the Spirit of Truth and yet we never expect to know Christ after the flesh to reign but he shall reign over all the Earth whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and all Powers shall serve and obey him who is King of Saints X. Concerning Revenge and what may follow if it be sought and what if not c. TAke heed of seeking Revenge O let not the Enemy of thy Soul within or without get Thee into Blood Vengeance is the Lords and he will repay it Therefore wherein thy Enemies went beyond their Commission against thy Father or
of Tythes and forced Maintenance which hath cost some their lives and many a great part of their Estates who for Conscience sake have been made to witness against it Undo every Heavy Burden and break every Yoak and let the Oppressed go free And let Christ Iesus the everlasting King have the preheminence in all things Col. 1.18 for these things the Lord will have to be accomplished and brought to pass and if you will not submit to him in this his work he must and will remove you And this further consider Oh! take heed that none of you upon your Beds or elsewhere devise Cruelty and Oppression and how to avenge your selves upon your Enemies and then when you are assembled together confirm it by a Law because you have power so to do for the Lord abhors that who is appearing to give to all men according to the fruits of their doing and he will not respect any man's person Now if by your Strength you can hinder the Sun from rising and setting in its season and if you be able to stop the Thunder and Lightning from having its operation or to hinder the Wind from blowing and the Rain from descending then may you hinder the Decree of the Lord and by your Strength you may stand in Power and Peace and flourish for a long Season though you serve and avenge your selves to the full and though you rebel against the Lord and oppress his Heritage Lambeth-House the 28th of the 5th Month 1660. Written as moved and given by that eternal Power which only can preserve and deliver the righteous by a Prisoner for the Lord who am given up to his Will in all things G. F. the younger A MESSAGE OF Tender Love Unto such Professors as have attained any true sincerity simplicity and Zeal for God in their Professions Or who after their Backslidings and Apostacy from the former appearances of God unto them are now in this the day of Tryal which is begun brought to feel any fresh Desires and living breathings and thirstings renewed in them towards the Lord. OH ye Professors who have tasted of the Word of God's Grace in any measure and who have formerly had any true Tenderness in you and Zeal for God Oh friends in Bowels of much Tenderness and Love am I drawn forth to write unto you yea my soul breaths mightily to the Lord for you who have now any true hungrings and thirstings renewed in you after his Righteousness and in whose hearts there are any true simple desires retained to know the Will of God and to do it Friends The Eternal Being which giveth being to all his Creatures hath largely manifested his love unto the World in giving his onely begotten to be the Light of the World who doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World that all through him might believe and inasmuch as he in the fulness of time sent forth his onely begotten full of Grace and Truth into the World in a body which he had prepared him therein to do his will which body the onely begotten of the Father freely gave and offered up for a Sacrifice for Sin and so according to his Grace he tasted Death for every man and by his offering himself once for all he hath put an end to all the Sacrifices and Offerings mentioned in the Law which could not make the Comets thereunto perfect nor those that offered them as appertaining to the Conscience So Christ the one Offering is become the Propitiation for the sins of the whole World who wrought Eternal Salvation for all them that obey him And here is the one Offering which perfects for ever them that are sanctified And he having accomplished the Will of the Father in that body which was prepared him of the Father in which he came into the World he again left the World he not being of the World and ascended unto the Father from whence he proceeded and sate down on the Right Hand of the Majesty on High and is now Glorified with the same Glory that he had with the Father before the world began yea the same that descended into the lower parts of the Earth is also the same that ascended far above all Heavens that he might fill all things and being one with the Father and in the Father and the Father in him his presence filleth Heaven and Earth and being the Son in the Father he hath Power as the Father to quicken whomsoever he will that all men might honour the Son as the Father by whom all things were made that were made in whom we live move and have a being and he hath a Name given him above every name to which all things must bow which is called The Word of God or Jesus because he is a Saviour and saveth his People from their Sins This is he that is given to be the Head of the Body which is the Congregation of the Righteous the fulness of him that filleth All in all that he in all things in whom all fulness dwells might have the Preheminence being the express substance of the Father's Glory the very vertue of his Being one with him in Nature and one in Name for as the Father is Divine so the Son is also Divine and as the Father is called the Light so the Son is also called the Light the Father is called The Mighty God so is the Son also Yea the Son's Name is called Wonderful The mighty God the everlasting Father mark that the Prince of Peace of whose Government there shall be no End Now in the Father there is Life and in the Word the Son there is Life and this is one and this Life proceeding from the Father and the Son is that one Eternal Spirit which is not to be limitted Yea God is a Spirit and Christ is the Lord that spirit yea he is the second Adam the Lord from Heaven the quickning Spirit by whom the free gift is come upon all men to justifie them that believe in the Life and he that believeth not he is condemned by the Life which is the Light that doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World so the gift that is come upon the unbeliever that condemns him because he believeth not in the Light but loves the Darkness better Now Friends This is he the Light who giveth you a Being and upholdeth all things by the word of his Power and hath been near unto you ever since ye have had a Being and he hath beheld all your actions yea he hath discerned all your thoughts none of them could be hid from him for he knew them long before This is he that telleth unto man what his thought is and The Lord of Hosts is his Name This is he who hath reproved you and set your sins in order before your eyes Oh! How oft hath he brought you into a sensibleness of your Conditions How oft hath he smitten you for Sin and broken you into Tenderness by his
to pass of late it is exceeding righteous and just with him to suffer those things to be effected for truly as you know he was much provoked thereunto and his patience towards many of you was very great yea he spared you long and yet many of you whom I now hope are brought to see your brck-slidings regarded not his goodness but walked very carelesly and some of you wantonly before him yea many of your minds ran into the earth and its pomps and vanities again after a tenderness had been begotten in you towards the Lord and a loathing of such things and Covetousness and Pride encreased among you and so lusts and fulness and ease was then delighted in and the honour of this World sought and received one of another and not that which cometh of God onely and those that could not give you that honour that perisheth such by some of you were hated and mocked at and yet you professed much of Religion in words But alas the hearts of many of you were removed far from the Life of Truth in which the Lord is worshipped and so the Sincerity and Zeal which once appeared in some of you for God and the love which had sprung in you to him and one to another in the day when you were low and tender grew cold and died in you as you departed from the measure of the Life of God And thus the Lord became grieved and pressed with your back-slidings and his Soul loathed your Sacrifices and he then saw that a day of Tryal would be better for you than a day of Prosperity So in Righteousness as from the Lord is this day brought upon you and also in love to your Souls and so it shall prove unto you if ye will now turn unto the Lord with all your hearts and humble your selves under his Mighty Hand Yea some of you who lately have had the enjoyment of great Estates and outward Liberty and Honour and Companions and have now lost them or part of them I do believe that you will be made to confesse to the Glory of God that it is his love to you in suffering them to be taken from you yea some of you will come to see that the Lord is just and merciful unto you in suffering your Idols to be stript off taken away For you will see how some of you have Idolized men the World and its honour and glory and Forms without the Power of an endless Life Oh Friends I have a secret hope for a Remnant of you that the Lord by this kind of dealing with you will bring you near unto himself and that a day shall come wherein you shall be made to say that It was good for us that we were Afflicted But Friends you that come this to witness you must mind the free Grace of God that bringeth Salvation which to all men hath appeared yea ye must own and receive it in its pure Teachings and wait in the Virtue of it to receive Power to deny and forsake the Ungodliness and Worldly lusts which it will make manifest unto you that you have been addicted unto and must wait to feel it drawing you into Godliness Righteousness and Soberness and into Patience and Contentedness with the Will of God which is a precious thing Truly they they that do not wait to come into and to be kept in Patience in this day of Tryal their sufferings will be great And if the fretting impatient murmuring Nature be given way and leaned unto that will aggravate the Sufferings exceedingly and beget Torment in the mind Therefore you who desire to come into and to be kept in true Obedience unto the Lord in this the day of Tryal be watchful in the Light and abide in the pure Fear of the Lord which is the beginning of Wisdom and take heed of the subtilry of the Serpent who will seek more and more to beguile you and to lead you aside from the way of God Verily Friends if you do not retire your minds inwards unto the Life of Jesus which is the light of men you will be deceived yea if you do not receive the spirit of Truth to be your guide and Leader and obey the same you will still run into those things which cannot profit you and the renewed desires in you towards the Lord will be strangled Now I know some of you have formerly found the Lord's Leadings and Teachings in some measure in the day when he drew you out of Episcopacy so called and raised up a zeal in you against the Lording spirits in the Bishops and against the dark way of their imaginary Worship and if you had kept low in the pure Fear of the Lord I know he would have further appeared unto you But here was the loss of many of those that the Lord had appeared unto Mark they did not abide in his Tender Fear neither did they continue waiting upon him for Teaching in the measure of Life in which he had appeared unto them but many of them going from his Witness in themselves they soon began to imagin another Form of Worship which is called Presbitery and many sate down and setled in that and did not mind the Leadings of the Life which had appeared and in some measure quickened them and so much Deadness and Barrenness came upon such as would not be subject to the drawings of the pure Life of God But those that kept their integrity in any measure and waited upon the Lord the pure Life opened things further unto them as they were able to bear and they were drawn a little further and a fine Freshness and Tenderness and Love appeared in them for a time But so soon as they had settled themselves in another Form which is called Independency then many of them not willing to follow the Leadings of the Life any further then the Articles which they had drawn up and agreed upon would admit of whereby the freshness that had appeared in some of them began to wither Yet some who still desired to go on according to the Leadings of the Life the Life opened things further unto them and they left the other but they not continuing in the true waiting upon the Lord to be led by him several of them also ran into another Form called Anabaptism wherein many began to settle But some of them I do believe took up that far more simply than others for they being pressed outwardly to it by their Teachers and also finding in the Scriptures that the Saints of Old Practised such things they letting in reasonings and not waiting in the pure Life that had stirred in them to be led by that in all things their eye became vailed whereby they could see no further but looked upon that to be their duty to wit to go in the water and so durst not omit it But the pure Life which had visited them sprang up afresh and wrought mightily in some of them and shewed them the