at Jerusalem and meet together and wait for the Power to endue them and being met together with one accord in one place mark again being met together there was a Gospel meeting according to the Commandement of the Lord And in that meeting the holy Ghost fell upon them and they spake as the spirit gave them utterance mark again they did not go forth before they had received the Power nor they did not speak before the Spirit gave them utterance but having received the Spirit and Power they then speak in the Spirit and went forth to declare the things of God in his Power and in the Spirit and Power which they had received they gathered Meetings distinctly both from Jews and Gentiles and they continue their Meetings and did not cease to meet after they had received the Spirit and Power and they were not only separated from the Jews and Gentiles as to their worship but they also received power to testifie against the worships which Jews Gentiles observed for Stephen testified against the temple-Temple-worship and Paul against the Athenians Worship and this was their love to God his Truth and Worship and also love to the Souls of such as were ignorantly worshipping and herein they discharged a good Conscience towards God forasmuch as they labored to open the understandings of ignorant Worshippers by testifying against their Worships and as they met together and worshipped God in his Spirit and Truth so they kept their Meetings in his fear and did not forsake the assembling of themselves but with all diligence observed the Way and Order of the Spirit which they had received of God to meet together and to worship God in and their Meetings were formed and ordered of the Lord and by his appointment they were not formed ordered or appointed of man or by man but the Hand of the Lord was in the forming ordering and appointing of them and they that somtimes observed them and then departed from them they departed from the holy Commandment given of God and so it doth clearly appear that the Meetings of the holy People called Quakers are constituted ordained and commanded of God forasmuch as they answer to the Saints Meetings in primitive times being formed and appointed of God as their Meetings were and being also observed in the same Light Spirit Life and Power and so their Meetings are no new thing if truly examined and compared with the purity of Gospel times but their Meetings are of the first constitution and appointment of God amongst Christians and so hath the first place in Christian Practice Service and Worship for as they stand by the Appointment Commandment of God so they are more worthy to be observed then any Meetings that stand by the appointment and commandment of men and all that truly love God they do observe them as his Command and by keeping his Command they manifest that they love him and many that doth manifest their love unto God in assembling and meeting together according to his Appointment and Command and his Command is not grievous but joyous unto them for by observing and keeping his Command they have found him in his own Way and so keepe their Meetings unto God and not unto men and this is the glorious Light that is broken forth again through the Night of Apostacy and in which Gospel-meetings are ordered again as was before the Apostacy and the Everlasting Gospel is preached again as in the Apostles dayes and Christianity is known again as was amongst them and the worship of God is observed again in their Light Life and Spirit and the Way of Life and Peace is walked in as was by them and so all things are made new by the appearance of Christ in his Light and Power and yet nothing new in it self as to the ground but only made new by a separation and distinction from the old for all that man hath constituted ordained and set up as to Worship and Religion it is of the old nature and so old things but Christ makes all things new and yet in himself before all things and he hath brought forth that again which Darkness hath overspread since the primitive times which being so large a time kept under darkness it now appeareth new distinctly from the old and though this be new as to the appearance of it out of the old yet Christ who brings it forth in himself he is the beginning of all and so he is the first and good Old Way as in relation to foregoing Ages and also the last and new and Living Way in relation to succeeding Ages and he hath gathered a people to himself who walks with him as in the new and living Way and in him they meet and worship God and enjoys his Presence and having found the Lord in his own Way walking with the Lord in his own Leadingâ— they cannot walk in any other way nor meet to worship God in any other manner for there is but one way that leadeth unto God and in which he is worshipped and that is Christ the Light Truth and Life and that way being found all other ways are to be denied as leading from God that is the ground why such as have found the new and Living Way and walk in it cannot walk in the old and dead wayes which by the old nature of men are set up and prescribed but cleaveth to the Way which God hath prepared and appointed that they should walk in and therefore the holy People called Quakers who walk in the Light and Spirit cannot walk in the wayes or observe the worships in any Form or Profession which is made and set up by men as knowing that Christ Jesus is not their way nor that their worship is constituted and ordained of God and therefore they cannot meet with them nor walk with them nor worship with them but meets in the Spirit and walks in the Spirit and worship God in the Spirit who is a Spirit and this is a Gospel-Meeting and Way and Worship as in the Primitive times and all other meetings wayes and worships are constituted and set up since the primitive times and they are all to be denied and forsaken as having no life in them for though the Lord might once appear in Meetings Wayes and Worships which were of a lower degree then that which now he hath revealed and that the sender in heart did meet with something of God in such Meetings Wayes and Worships yet that doth not bind the Lord to a continuance in such meetings wayes and worships neither is it a sufficient ground for any to continue in them now the Lord hath appeared in a higher and greater Manifestation of Light for what any have met withal as from the Lord in lower Dispensations it was fourth drawing and bringing them higher not that God would fix himself in that dispensation or fix any unto it but only condescended unto low things to bring forward into higher and
so to lead on from that which is below into that which is above and so to lead on from that which is below into that which is above and so to the greatest which is Christ the fulness who in the appearance of his Light and Life doth swallow up all lower Dispensations though as to time they might be of God and so many have seen the goings on of the Lord in his Light and in his Light have followed him from the lower into the higher and so are come to live and walk in that where his Presence remains and to as many as have so followed him and abides with him they know the place of his Rest and also knows their rest in him and so they know the Lord to live in them and walk in them and that he is their God and they are his people and in such a Meeting Way and Worship the Lord is found and he abides and continues there in his Love Mercy and Goodness therefore all below are to come up into it and all gone from it are to return if they would walk with the Lord for there is not another way wherein any doth walk with the Lord or the Lord with them but in his Light Life and Power and in that to meet and worship him according to his own Appointment and Command for as the Lord is gathering into himself all lower Dispensations and gathering in one such as have been scattered in them so all are to mind the Lords gathering that in the Light by which he gathereth they may come to be made perfect in one mark in one is the perfection which is Christ the Light and Life and Power and Wisdom of God in whose Light Life Power and Wisdom is the Gospel unity and Fellowship not in outward Forms and Professions and lower Dispensations but in the Light and Life of Christ Jesus who is above all and greater then all in his Light the Saints had Fellowship as the Scriptures testifie and in his Light the Saints have Fellowship in this day and so by one spirit they are all baptized into one Body and are one Body under the Government of Christ the head and this is the universal fellowship in the universal Light where the Spirits of just men are now known who are gone before and the spirits of just men now will be known by such as are to come and so a perfect unity in perfect Light of Christ by which Light the faithfull are bound in a bundle of Life and so in the unity of the Light and Spirit the Saints now meets and worships God and build up one another in their most holy Faith and edifies and comforts one another according to the practise of the holy men and women in times past and they keep the unity of the Spirit which unto them is the bond of Peace and though some may lose the unity by going from the Spirit and some that may profess the Truth be not in unity as not walking in the Spirit yet neither doth weaken or break the unity of such as lives and abides in the Spirit for the Spirit changes not though some that profess the Truth do not walk in it or some may withdraw and depart from it therefore the unity in the Spirit is certain and everlasting and it is the bond of Peace to all that live in it So all are to come unto this Light and Spirit in which the Saints meet and worship God and in which they have unity and fellowship with God and one another there is nothing below it will endure nor nothing exalted above that will stand for as the Light and Spirit is the beginning so it is the ending unto all that abides in it for all truth is only comprehended in the Light and Spirit of God and from thence received and there is not any other things or things in which true and lasting peace can be found but in a measure of that Light which comes from God as the Fountain they that have fixed themselves below the Light they must be dis-joyned from that unto which they are fixed and stand-loose from all things which they have made and set up in Worship and Religion and mind the Light which is only true to lead them forward into all truth for where any are fixed to things below the Light and will not be dis-joyned and separated from them by the Light they are â—entered in mortallity or the corruptible body which presseth down the Soul and whatsoever any may pretend as to their Meetings Wayes and Worshipps to be of God yet they are all formed and framed in the corruptible part and so are all corruptible offerings which have not the Savour of incorruptible Virtue therefore all Forms and Professions distinct from the Light with all their Meetings Worships and Worshippers they must all forsake their Meetings 〈◊〉 being in the corruptible part and as such where the living God is not to be found and all come to the Light and Spirit of God which openeth the eye and understanding and gives the knowledg of God and of his Way and Truth all to come unto that and follow it and live in it and so come to the Assemblies of the Righteous and to the Meetings of the First-born of God and with them to worship God in his Spirit and Truth and to have unity and fellowship with them in the Light which is their Guide and Way and so come to keep the holy Commandment given of God for until the holy Commandement of the Lord God be kept the mind remains in sin and transgression and there is none in that state which are in the Saints Worship and Fellowship and so they must come to the Light to be redeemed from the vanity of their minds because the Pure and Holy God is not worshipped with such a mind therefore the Light must be followed as a Leader to bring out of vanity into Truth and Purity and so to Serve and Worship the Pure and Holy God with a pure and holy mind and with a sincere and upright heart and unto this all must come before their service and worship be accepted of God or before they can come to have true and lasting peace with him therefore let the wicked forsake their way and the unrighteous their thoughts and turn to the Lord who would not the death of them that dye and so come out of all Forms and Professions below the Light and Life and come to the Light and meet with those that meets in the Light and worships God in Spirit Truth and so come to keep the Ordinance of God and who are willing to come in the drawings and leadings of the Light and Spirit the Lord standeth ready to receive them and will in no wise cast them off as being yet the day of his Visitation Oh therefore let all come whilst the hand of the Lord is stretched forth to gather them and whilst his Arm is open to receive them let them come in the Light and in the Spirit and bow before the Lord and worship in his holy Temple that all who are drinking the cup of Fornication may come to the cup of Salvation and praise the Lord. And all that have been formerly donvinced of the everlasting Truth and for a time assembled with the holy Congregation and kept the holy Commandment given of God and now have lost their Guide and Way and forsaken the Assemblies of Gods chosen and departed from the holy Commandment and from the worship and ordinance of God and are gotten into created likenesses and are bowing and worshipping at there own Altar that they all may feel that again which first convinced them from which they are gone that by its Power it may cause them to return and so in the Light and pure Spirit to come again to the worship and ordinance of God that as they have departed from the ordinance of God and broken the Covenant and gone from the true fellowship so to return unto that again from which they are departed and gone and to return in submission and lowliness of mind and tenderness of heart that the Lord and his people may delight to receive them and may have pleasure in them Oh let all return from the barren Mountains and broken Costerns and return to the Lord whom they have grieved by departing from him and let them return to that which reconcileth and maketh peace that they may not wholly lose the benefit of former mercies nor the benefit of present and future Mercies but return to the Light and live in it where mercies alwayes aboundeth that as there was a beginning in the Truth of the Gospel so to return unto that which in the beginning did lead in the Gospel Way and Practise and so return to the Gospel Meetings and to the Gospel Minnistration and to the Gospel Fellowship and this whilst it to today and whilst the dore is open and whilst the Lord and his people are willing and ready to receive let it bear a weight upon every heart concerned for as much as everlasting peace and happiness consisteth in it Oh wander not longer in desert places nor feed no longer upon corruptiple thing but feel the Seed and Life and Vertue and with the Power of the Lord God judg down that spirit which is gotten up that the first-born which is gone into captivity may shew it self again and the Truth and order of the Gospel may be lived in again and the Ordinance of God kept again and Gospel fellowship come into again that all who are departed may return and find rest for their Soul Notingham 9th Moneth 1668. W. S. THE END
by the Power is alwayes helped in the needful time and here the Righteous dwell safely under the Banner which is spread over them they do not depart from the Testimony of the Word of Life neither do they utter words as a Testimony out of the Life but lives and dwells in the Life as in their Habitation and they that do not dwell in this Habitation they utter words from a wrong motion but who keeps their Habitation in the Life the Life is in their Ministry and Testimony for such lives in the Word of Life and so preaches the Word of Life in its own power and the sound of that Word of Life and Power goes thorow death and darkness and reaches the true and faithful Witness and this is a joyful sound by which the Captive is made glad and this sound is gone forth into the World and the words of it to the ends of the Earth many that were in the Graves are raised up by it the dead hath heard the voice of the Son of God and lives for it hath quickned and given Life to as many as received the Testimony of it into their hearts and they that keeps it and abids in it they live by it and such cannot forget it nor the benefits they have received by it but estemes it and prefers it above all other things and so they do not let the benefits slip out of their minds but retains them in that from which they have received them and so they keep in the beginning and goes forward in the beginning for it clearly manifesteth that such as depart from the Way of Truth and from the holy Commandement given of God that they have not kept in the beginning but lost it and so have lost the sence of benefits which in the beginning they received and now makes merry above the Witness and grows wanton upon the Earth and what can the end of these things be but distress sorrow and misery for all that have known the Lord in any measure and have turned their backs upon him they cannot lie down in peace except they repent and therefore that all might mind their own conditions and not to resist and strive against that which seeks their eternal good but submit unto it with a lowly and humble mind that the vapours which darkens their understanding may be removed and the night vision cease and the Word of Life become precious to them as in the beginning for the Lord hath gathered a Flock which keeps together in his Light Life Power and Wisdom and he is their Shepherd and Bishop of their Souls and as they abide with him they cannot be scatter'd any more for the good Shepherd leads them and keeps them and the Bishop of their Souls overseeâ— them and takes care for them and the Pasture of his Life is their delight and well-being and so the Lord God exalts his everlasting Truth over all and his Work prospers against every assault that would lay it waste and in the pure Truth springs and spreads and triumphs and the Lamb and the Saints have the Victory and must have the Victory and the Victory they rejoyce and are exceeding glad for they know that their labour is not in vain in the Lord and by many infallible proofs the Lord doth evidence that they are his and that the labour of true Labourers doth stand in his Councel and Wisdom and the Lord God is a Witness for them that they labour in his Service for as much as he makes them useful both to the gathering and confirming many and having such a certain evidence of the Lords Power with them they minde their Labour and service and though some which in the beginning was the fruit of their Labour be gone from that in which they then received their Testimony and now reckons their Labour and Service to be useless yet the Lord reckons their Labour and Service useful for himself and many that standeth as the seal of their Apostleship and Ministry and having the seal they continue their Labor in the work of God and cannot cease to publish the everlasting Gospel but goeth on with the Lord and the Lord with them and they are a blessing in his Hand for converting sinners from their way and for establishing the righteous in their goings and whosoever rises up to oppose the work of the Lord in the Gospel ministration they must certainly fall and wither as the mown grass for the good Seed is sown and many have received it into the ground and fruit is brought forth according to increase and the Lord God hath his honour and glory by it and this is the sweet savour which proceedeth from the Almighty to season the Earth for the Earth hath brought forth corruptible fruit which is unsavoury and now the Lord God is seasoning the Earth with the savour of his Life and the Testimony of Life spreads abroad that the Earth may be seasoned and the Everlasting Gospel is preached over the Beast and the Whore and false Prophet and many have received it into their hearts and walks according to the Truth of it and because of the good savour they are in love with it and so the Truth and Power of the Lord God judges down and goes over the head of the Serpent and the Lamb reigns and must reign and under his Government the Saints rejoyces A short Testimony unto Gospel Meetings and Fellowship c. THe Everlasting God having called and separated a people by the manifestation of his Light Spirit and Power from the ways customs and worships which are observed amongst such as be in the Fall and in the Apostacy he hath gathered them into a new and living Way and into a holy and spiritual Worship and in the leadings of his Spirit they follow him according to his Mind and Will and in his Wisdom and Counsel he orders them to meet together and to wait upon him in his fear not in the way nor after the manner as others do who know not his Mind and Will in what they do but as a distinct and separated people from all that meet according to the commandment of men they meet according to the Commandment of God and this is a meeting according to the Truth of the Gospel for the Saints in Primitive times did not meet to wait upon God and worship him amongst the Jews in their Synagogues and Temple but by the Light and Spirit were separated from their Worship and in the Light and spirit they met together in such places and at such times as the Lord ordered and appointed and they met distinctly and apart both from the Jews and Gentiles in their way and worship and did not meet or joyn with them to observe their practise as may be seen in the Scriptures of Truth for when Christ ascended he commanded his Disciples to tarry at Jerusalem until they were endued with Power from on high so mark he commanded that they should tarry