and all flesh must be silent from speaking of the things of Gods Kingdom which they have not seen handled tasted and felt by the working of the Spirit of God in their Consciences and this is to witness the Scriptures fulfilled when you have experience of the same conditions and of the same operations and manifestations which the Servants of the Lord passed through and had experience of and so that you may speak what you have heard and seen and handled and tasted of the Word of Life All that will be saved must come to this and witness it IX Again Whosoever will be saved must believe in Jesus Christ and receive him and they must take up his daily cross and follow him and must know him to mortifie and crucifie them to the world and he must work the same things in you by his Spirit spiritually as he wrought without you in his Person or else you have no part in him nor salvation by him For it is not enough unto eternal life only to believe that there was such a one as a Christ and that he did and spoke such and such things at a distance without you for many may make a belief and a profession of this and yet perish but Him that was of whom you read without you must you receive and witness within you and you must know Him as he was before Abraham was and before the world was and He himself by his Spirit in you must give you the knowledge of Himself what He was before the beginning what he is now and what he shall for ever be X. Again Every one that will be saved must come up out of the Apostacy into which all Christendom hath been fallen and must come into the same Spirit Life and Power as the Apostles were in from which Life spirit and Power all Christendom have been Apostates and they have held the words and practices of the Apostles without the same Life and Power and made Sects Churches and Ministers but out of the same Life and Spirit as the holy men of God were in and all that will be saved must be restored and recovered into the same Spirit and Life in their Churches Ministry and Ordinances as the Apostles of Christ Jesus were in and this is Restoration when People come again into the same Life and Spirit of God which the Apostate Christians have all wanted and been in the Form of Ministry Churches Religion and Godliness without the Power And unto this is the Lord God restoring People his Day is dawned and his everlasting Light is risen and his Name will be known in the Earth And none can be saved with the salvation of God but who believe receive and understand these things A general Objection answered Object 1. And whereas there is a great cry by some people of late That there must be no more Private Meetings but all People must come to Church as they say and that there must be no more Conventicles c. Answ. As for Conventicles I understand you mean Meetings out of Publick Steeple-houses and that there must be no private Meetings for Preaching and Prayer but all People must be forced to come to Publick Places of Worship Now I say if the Authority that is now set up and hath the Power doth exercise it self in this way then the God of Heaven will be provoked against it to overthrow it and confound it if it proceed contrary to the End of just Rule and Authority ordained of God which is for the punishment of them that do evil in things between man and man but not to impose upon mens Consciences in things relating to the Worship and Service of God But the Lord God is wholly Judge in such matters and not any man and if any men should erre in their minds concerning Faith and Doctrine and the Worship of God that belongs to the Lord to punish and not to any Earthly Authority And what must not the People of God come together to worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth Must not People conveen together in this Age as the People of God did in Ages past Did not Christ many times preach in the Desert and sometimes in a ship by the Sea-side and sometimes on a Mountain as you may read in the Scriptures And did not he often preach unto the Pharisees and sometimes to his Disciples out of the publick Synagogues And might not the Iews have called those Meetings Conventicles because they were not in their Publick Synagogues And also did not the Apostles and Saints after the Resurrection of Christ when they returned from Ierusalem meet together privately for they went into an Upper Room and waited upon the Lord and continued with one accord in Prayer and Supplication And again at another time they were about an hundred and twenty in number that were in one place to wait upon the Lord and Peter preached unto them and were these Meetings Conventicles because they were not in a publick Synagogue but in an Upper Chamber and in a private place And thus the Saints of old met together as ye may read Act. 1. and worshipped God in Spirit and in Truth and preached and prayed and must not the People of God now meet together to pray and wait upon the Lord but they must be reproached with the name of Conventiclers and threatned and punished for so doing Oh how blind is this Generation and how contrary to the true Christian Spirit in their practices And did not Philip preach Jesus unto the Eunuch in a Chariot as they went on the way and this was not in a publick Synagogue as in Act. 8. And did not Peter preach to Cornelius with many others in Cornelius his house and this was a Meeting and not in a Synagogue Acts. 10. And did not the Apostles and Saints meet together in an Upper Chamber where Paul preached until midnight amongst the Saints Act. 20. and was this a Conventicle and an unlawfull Meeting Might not the Iews have said this was an Unlawful Assembly being in a Chamber and not in a Publick Synagogue And again Did not Paul preach in his own Hired House for two whole years together and received all that came in unto him Act. 28. And here were Private Meetings out of Publick Synagogues But did the Iews threaten them and inflict sufferings upon them because they met in private houses and would not come to their Synagogues and Publick Worship or did they reproach them with the name of Sectaries and Conventiclers when they met together to wait upon the Lord sometime in praying and sometime in preaching And thus you may see by many Examples that the Saints and true Christian Churches in the dayes of old met together sometime on Mountains and sometime in Deserts and sometime in Upper Chambers and sometime in their own hired houses and not in the publick Synagogues but they were gathered from the Temple and first Priesthood and from the Worship which God had
once commanded which stood in outward things and Ordinances and when they had received the substance they denyed the shadows types and figures and did not uphold them any longer And they were gathered by the preaching of the Gospel into the second and new Covenant and they met together in private Houses and upper Chambers and by the Sea-side to preach and pray and to worship the Lord and we do not read that the Iews persecuted them for so doing And will you that have the name of Christians persecute the People of God though they meet together in private houses and their own hired houses and cannot come to your Temples and Steeple-houses And will not you suffer such to meet together out of your Publick Places but you will persecute them and call them Hereticks and such like Is not this worse than ever the Iews did to the Apostles And so you are out of the Example of the true Christians who met together and preached and prayed often and not in a Synagogue or Publick Place but you cry against them that do so and threaten to persecute for it and thus you shew your selves out of the true Christan Example and in this you are worse than the Iews and more cruel if you should persecute People for meeting together to wait upon the Lord in their own houses or in what place or time as the Lord should move their hearts but if you proceed in this way and will not permit the People of God to meet together in their own houses and not in your Idol-Temples then the Power of the Lord will confound you and God will break you to pieces and you will feel his heavy Wrath upon your Consciences and God will smite you with his Judgments inwardly and outwardly Now for your restraining of people from one way of Worship and forcing them to another and compelling them about Religion by cruel Laws and Commandments of men this is of Antichrist for you to do and of the Devil for all forcing of People to this kind of Worship and from another and imposing upon their Consciences in matters of Gods Kingdom this is also of Antichrist and contrary to Christ and his VVay for he won People by sound Doctrine and by Love and by a good Conversation and so did his Disciples for they never forced any by outward violence to their Worship nor to their Church-government and Ordinances but it was the practice of the Beast and the Dragon that first forced People and compelled them to worship since the dayes of the Apostles Rev. 13. It was Antichrist that first imposed upon People in the Ignorance of their Consciences and contrary to their Consciences by the Commandments of men false Faith false Worship false Ministry false Doctrine and false Religions so that now if you should force any contrary to their Consciences to your Steeple-houses to hear and say your Form of Prayers we shall say then you are Antichrist and of the Devil if so be you should endeavour to compel any either against their Consciences or in the Ignorance of their Consciences to your way of Worship or Religion Therefore take heed how you meddle in these things lest God confound you and as for us we are the People of God we fear his Name and worship him and cannot bow to the Devil and we need not be forced to worship the Lord for his Spirit leads us into all Truth and we need none of your outward Prescriptions or Form of Prayers for the Spirit of God teacheth us in all these things when and where and how we should worship the Lord God who is a Spirit and will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth which is free and not by outward force and all the Worship that is otherwise and not in the free Spirit of Christ is of Great Babylon whom the Lord will confound and destroy Another general Objection answered Object 2. Again Whereas it is said by some Now there must be no more private Preachers Unlearned men and men not Ordained must not now preach any more Lay-persons must not be Preachers that are not so qualified nor so and so ordained and this is the present talk among some people Answ. To this I also answer and say VVo to them that would stop or quench or limit the Spirit of God in Sons or Daughters for such are denyers of the Scriptures and the Power of God and such bring guilt upon their own Consciences and work fearful Abomination against God And what must not the Spirit of the Lord speak now where it is in this Age as it did in the dayes of old as you may read in the Scriptures for was not Elisha a Plow-man and was not he called from the Plough 1 King 19. and became a Prophet of the Lord unto the House of Israel and had the Spirit of Elijah poured upon him and would not you have said he was a Lay-man a Plow-man unordained not fitting to preach if you had lived in his dayes And was not Amos called from following the Flock who had been no Prophet nor no Prophets son but an Herds-man Amos 7 14 15. and it was lawful for him to preach the Word of the Lord though he was but an Herds-man and had been no Prophet nor Prophets son which if he had lived in your dayes you would have called him a Lay-man an unfit person unlearned and one not ordained for the Ministry and you like Amaziah the wicked Priest of Bethel would now quench the Spirit as he would have done in Amos who was a Trades-man and such an one as you now call Lay-men who are not as you say fitting to preach And did not Christ Jesus himself chuse Fisher-men and sent them forth to preach the Gospel and such as were men of Trades and unlearned in Books as it is written Act. 4. 13. When the Rulers saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived they were Unlearned they marvelled and these were Ministers of Christ and preached the Everlasting Gospel whom you would have called Lay-men and men unfit to preach had you lived in their dayes And Paul himself by occupation was a Tent-maker it is said and he laboured with his hands and yet was a Preacher of the Gospel and there are multitudes of Witnesses in the Scriptures of these things how that men of Trades and unlearned in Letters and Books and never were brought up at Schools and Colledges but followed the Plough and were keepers of Cattel and some followed fishing such as these in old time had the Spirit of God given them and they preached the Gospel And what if the Lord at this day give his Spirit to such as these and send them forth to preach the Gospel even to such as were brought up and educated it may be at Handy-craft Trades and are labouring-men and are not learned at Schools and Colledges will you limit the Lord and quench his Spirit and reproach his Wayes and Servants and
the hearts of the People but the Seed of Corruption brings forth fruit in them and your Vineyards are like barren and untilled ground that is unplowed and undigged and unplanted with Trees of Righteousness Oh ye have been unprofitable Vineyard-dressers and ye have laboured for your selves and not for the Lord as is manifest and ye have been idle and lazy and the God of Heaven is weary of you and the time is at hand he will pluck you up by the roots and visit you with great destruction and your name shall be a Reproach amongst men for ye have not sought the Lords honour but your own and ye have been changable in your wayes for your own advantages ye have preached for filthy Lucre and through Covetousness made merchandize of People and ye have traded with the Scriptures and made a Trade of Preaching the Gospel and ye have made Traffick of the Souls of men and these things have you done and the Lord hath kept silence and he hath forborn to smite you and therefore have you been hardened the more in your Transgressions as though the Lord took no notice and you have filled your hands with dishonest gain in your unrighteous wayes and your sins are increased every day against the God of Heaven you repent not when you are warned but reject reproof and go on without fear ye are a company of proud men heady and high-minded men ambitious and self-seeking persons even such as the Prophets Christ and the Apostles marked forth for Deceivers and your fruits and works do prove it ye have been covered with the Sheeps cloathing in your unrighteous natures and your Iniquities are almost full and the Lord will bring unresistable destruction upon you in a day when you cry Peace peace then sudden destruction will come Wo unto you because of your Iniquities the Earth is weary of you which ye have corrupted through your false wayes and the Kingdoms groan under your Oppressions and the Earth will spue you out and the People whom you have deceived shall rise up in Judgment against you the dreadful Day of the Lord is at hand upon you ye Apostates from the Life and Faith of Christ Jesus for of that race you are even of them Apostates that went out in the Apostles dayes that went in Balaam's way and Cain's way for ye are of the spirit that kills and persecutes people about Worship and Sacrifices and Religion as Cain did and ye go for Gifts and Rewards even as Balaam did These things are so the Witness of God in your Consciences shall answer and all People shall acknowledge the truth hereof in the day when God pleads with all the wicked All People Return and Repent of your Iniquities the dreadful Day of the Lord is at hand ye Sinners and Transgressors ye hypocritical Professors and prophane Persons the Day of Vengeance is at hand Whither will you fly and where will you leave your glory where will you seek a defence or where can you be hid the Mountains will not cover you nor the Rocks will not fall upon you the wrath of the Lamb you cannot escape even the long-suffering of God will be turned into a flame of anger and patience will be turned into sharp rebuke the wrath of the Lamb will utterly smite you and the Cup of Gods Indignation you must drink all the Earth must tast of it and the Wicked shall drink the dreggs Wherefore all ye Inhabitants of the Earth forsake your Transgressions that the Lord may not cut you off for ever but let God arise to destroy your Iniquities and to save your Souls let him take vengeance upon your Inventions that he may forgive you Oh! why will you dye why will you perish the Lord would have you to return that he might save you And this is the day of your Visitation the door of Mercy is yet open for a little season and the Lord yet calls unto you for a moment but the time is at hand that he who is filthy shall be filthy still and that determination shall be passed Come ye Blessed and Go ye Cursed the doleful sentence shall be pronounced to all workers of Iniquity Into everlasting Burning must they depart prepared for the Devil and his Angels and shall not see the Countenance of the Lord to refresh their souls but in the presence of the Lord and of the Lamb shall the Wicked be tormented Wherefore hear and tremble all ye Transgressors that live and act contrary to your knowledge and against the Witness of God in your own Consciences and this is your great sin for which the wrath of God cometh not because you have acted in Ignorance and without knowledge but because you have acted against the Light in your Consciences and sinned against your knowledge and done the things which you knew were evil before you did them and because hereof you are not to be excused but the burden of your own sins and the guilt of them will fall heavy upon you in the Day of the Lord For this is the Condemnation of the World that Light is come into it but you have loved Darknesse rather than Light and followed evil deeds and loved them and this contrary to the Light that is come into the world and which hath enlightned your own Consciences Certain Propositions of Faith laid down which every one must believe or else they cannot be saved I. NOw none can be saved from the Wrath of the Lord but they who are saved from their Sins for Sin brings the Wrath of God upon the Consciences of men and Anguish upon Soul and Body and who are not saved from Sin cannot be saved from Wrath for Wrath pursues the Guilty and he that doth evil sin lies at his door and continual anguish upon his spirit because of sin and the load and burden of the body of death oppresseth his soul and anger from God kindleth in his breast because he hath sinned and he knows he is guâ—â—â—y of Transgression and the Lord wounds him in his Conscience and no man in that state can speak peace unto him nor can any save him from the Wrath of God because he is not saved from his Sin nor from the guilt of it but his grief and burden is because he hath sinned against the Light in his own Conscience And therefore whosoever will be saved from Wrath must be saved from Sin and Christ must purifie his heart and the Blood of the Lamb must sanctifie him and his Conscience must be cleansed from the guilt of Transgression and Christ must live in him and he must live the life of Faith which gives victory over all Sin or else he cannot be saved with the Salvation of God eternally II. Again Whosoever will be saved with the Salvation of God must own the Light of Christ Jesus in his own Conscience and he must believe in this Light and walk in it even the Light in his Conscience that convinces him and
checks him for his evil deeds and that lets him see what sin he is guilty of you must believe in this Light and follow it and depart from that and forsake that Iniquity which it convinces you of and do that Good which it moves your hearts unto or else you can never be saved for if your continue in evil-doing contrary to the Light of Christ in your own Consciences you are in a condemned condition and you cannot be justified of the Lord while you are accused by the Light within you of such and such sins and that you are guilty of them and forsakes them not for the God of Heaven condemneth and justifieth men according to the Witness of the Light in their own Consciences for it is Gods Evidence to bear witness for God and to accuse or excuse every man in his sight and according to its evidence God justifieth or condemneth all the children of men III. Again Whosoever will be saved must be born again of the Seed of God and must be changed and renewed in mind and heart and spirit and old things must pass away and all things must be made new and a new nature must live in you and the Image of God must be brought forth which is in Righteousness and true Holiness which is like unto God and this is the new Creation which every one must witness to be wrought in them that ever enters into Gods Kingdom For saith Christ Except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God for it is not a profession of Religion made with the lips nor the practises of Duties and Ordinances taken on the performed in the old nature and a holding of truth in unrighteousness this is not the way of Salvation but it is the regenerating and making like unto God being his Image of Justice Truth and Righteousness it is this in which men may be saved everlastingly IV. Again Whosoever will be saved must receive the Spirit of God and it must dwell in them even the Spirit of the Father and they must be taught by it and led into all Truth to do the Truth and speak the Truth in all things even the Spirit of Truth must be received to teach and to lead in all the wayes of God it alone must teach and all the Hireling-Teachers of the world must be turned away from by whom peoples souls have been deceived all such as have run and God never sent them that have cryed up Teaching and Ministry and through whom people have not received the Spirit of the Father all such Teachers must he denyed their Church and Ministry and the Spirit of the Father must only teach and lead and you must walk in the Spirit and not after the Flesh for if you walk after the Flesh in the wayes and works of it you are in the state of Condemnation and not of Salvation and the Spirit of God doth not teach you but you are out of the New Covenant of God in which Covenant all are taught of the Lord and in Righteousness are they established the Spirit of God is put within them and the Law of God is written in their hearts and they need no man to teach them but as the Spirit teacheth and this is the New Covenant of Peace with God into which all must come to witness this or else they cannot be saved V. Again All that will be saved must be sanctified cleansed and purified from all unrighteousness by the Spirit and Word of God whereby every heart must be made clean and every conscience sprinkled with the Blood of the Lamb and the body of Sin and Death must be put off and the bondage of Corruption must be broken and Iniquity must be forsaken and turned from and Sin must be judged in the flesh and Purity Holiness and Righteousness must live and reign in all that will be saved and Sin and Transgression and the guilt of it must be removed and you must shew forth the Image of God in Holiness and Righteousness and must be pure as he is pure in kind and quality and you must walk in Holiness and Righteousness being freed from Corruption and from the wayes of Sin and Death being sanctified in Body Mind and Spirit by the Word of the Lord and Sin must be blotted out and Transgression must be covered and Iniquity must be remembred no more and in all things you must cease to do evil and learn to do well if ever you will be saved VI Again Whosoever will be saved must witness Christ revealed in you and He must live in you and you must be followers of him whithersoever he goes and your Bodies must be the Temples of the living God and God must walk in you and dwell in you according to his promise and he must be your King your Judge and Law-giver and Teacher Father and Master and he must be all in all unto you even God the Father who is blessed for ever you must know him near you and feel his presence in you to be your joy life and peace and you must have fellowship with him in Spirit and must worship him in Spirit and by the Spirit without respect of Dayes Times or Places Every one that will be saved must come into this and witness it for this is the way of the Salvation of God VII Again Whosoever will be saved must live in the power of Godliness and must deny all Forms of Religion without the Power all Profession of Scriptures Ordinances Church-member-ship Praying and Preaching which is not in the Power of God and by his Spirit must be denyed and that part that holds it that holds the Form of Godliness without the Power must be crucified and every one must come into the Power of the Spirit of God and must witness that to work in them to will and to do and no more professing of the things of God but as they are witnessed by the work of his Spirit in their hearts you must not hold Truth any longer in unrighteousness nor make a profession of it in your unrighteous minds no more talking of Justification and Redemption nor of any of the matters of Gods Kingdom but according as they are witnessed by the working of the Spirit of God in the heart and every one must feel in himself the evidence and testimony of the Spirit of God to witness the Truth in his heart or conscience of what he professeth with his mouth VIII Again Whosoever will be saved must witness the Scriptures of Truth fulfilled in themselves the things that they have read of without them must be wrought within them wrought in their hearts by the same Spirit as gave forth the Scriptures they must passe through the same conditions as the holy men of God did and the same truth that the Scriptures declare of must be revealed in the heart by the same Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures and none must profess more than they do enjoy from God