of Ages the Power of God the Wisdom of God the Son of God the Light of the World which whoso followeth shall have the Light of Life and in him receive Power to become the Sons of God and so come by the light to the Teachings of the Father and receive the Anointings that they will not have need of your teachings For the Pastors are become Bruitish and have not sought the Lord therefore they shall not prosper and all their Flock shall be scattered Jer. 20. 21. And as Troops of Robbers wait for a man so the company of Priests Murder in the way by consent for they commit Lewdness Hos 6. 9. Written by a Servant of Jesus Christ a Witness against Deceivers a Prisoner at Exon called Humphry Smith THE First Second Priesthood Declared according to the Scriptures That both Priests Professors and People may come to see with the Light of Christ which Priesthood this belongs to THe First Priesthood and its Ministry stands without and consisteth of the outward things The Second Priesthood and its Ministry stands within and consisteth of the inward Work and Paul who was made a Minister of the Spirit which is within he said Work out you Salvation with fear and trembling 2 Cor. 5. 6. Phil. 2. 12. The first Priesthood being made in the time of the Oath under which Priesthood the Swearing is upheld and the People continue in the Swearing and in the Strife The second Priesthood is made with the Oath the Confirmation thereof is the End of all Strife Debate and Dissention and the End of the Lust from whence the Wars Fightings and vain Janglings doth arise And the Confirmation of this Oath and the second Ministry which is confirmed by this Oath puts an end to all Oaths and Swearing the Word of the Oath being come and become Flesh which Word was before the Oath and the World and since the Law which Word is the Son who saith Swear not at all Heb. 6. 15 16. Chap. 7. 20. Mat. 5. 34. James 5. 12. The first Priesthood and its Ministry under the first Covenant had a command to receive Tythes of the People yet they were not to sue People at the Law if they did not bring the Tythes but were to receive the Tythes and Offerings when they were brought their command was to receive them And these Tythes were given unto the Stranger unto the Fatherless and to the Widdow that they might eat and be filled as well as the Levite and the Priest Deut. 26. 12 13. Now that Priesthood must needs be of Antichrist which is not agreeable to the first Priesthood and it is also contrary to Christ Luke 10. 4 5 6 7. 2 Cor. 6. 3. and so on 2 John 9. 1 John 2. 22. The second Priesthood and its Ministry is of the New Covenant where the Law is changed by which the first is made and this is not of the World neither upheld nor maintained by the things of the World neither is made by a Carnal Commandment but by the Power of an Endless Life Heb. 7. 16. Mat. 10. 7 8 9. Gal. 1. 12. 16. The first Priesthood was after the Flesh where the Lusts were not crucified whence the Wars and Fightings come where the likenesses were found among such as were not come to the Substance for Abraham came from the Wars and gave the tenth of the Spoils unto him who was made like unto the Son of God Heb. 7. 3. Chap. 8. 5. Gen. 14. 18. The second Priesthood who is of the Spirit who comes of Abraham according to the Flesh is the Power of God and the Substance of the former Likenesses which Substance being come it puts an End to the Wars and so an end to the Spoilings and also an end to all that which causeth the Spoils and if so then an end to that of which Tythes were first given and so the Substance of the Likenesses being come the Blessing is received in him and the Multiplyings known and the Increases of God witnessed and the Spoils divided at home the strong man being bound and his Goods spoiled Heb. 12. 22 23 24. 1 Thes 3. 12. Col. 2. 17 18 19. The first Priesthood is of the first Covenant which makes nothing perfect and stands without as in Tables of Stone and divers Ordinances written by Moses a Minister of that Law which condemns and yet is glorious in its time 2 Cor. 37. 8 9. Heb. 7. 9. The second Priesthood is of the New Covenant which is written in the Tables of the Heart by a Mediator of a better Covenant in which Covenant there is a coming to be presented Perfect in the Head unto which by the Ministry of the Word of Life they come to be joyned 2 Cor 3. 2 3. Jer. 31. 33. Heb. 8. 6. The first Priesthood stands in divers Washings and Carnal Ordinances until the time of Reformation until which time the outward Ordinances yet standeth and the outside Worships yet are which Worship being daily performed yet the daily comers to these Ordinances are not made perfect as pertaining to the Conscience Heb. 9. 10. The second Priesthood is Eternal purging the Conscience from dead Works whereby also the Spirit of Truth is received and so the worship in Spirit and in Truth is known which worship the Lord delighteth in and such seek the Lord and find him and he is merciful to their Iniquities and their Sin he remembers no more but they are blotted out as a thick Cloud And so being made free from Sin and become the Servants of Righteousness then Fruit and Service is brought forth and performed unto God well-pleasing in his sight Heb. 9. 14. 1 Cor. 6. 11. Rom. 6. 22. The first Priesthood stands in divers and carnal Offerings for Sin and Confessions of Sin Morning and Evening and yet the Sin not taken away Heb. 7. 22. Ch. 10. 1. 11. The second Priesthood stands in one offering for Sin whereby the Sin is taken away Zach. 13. 1. 1 John 1. 7. Rev. 1. 5. Ron. 6. 2. 7. 18. Heb. 10. 17. Under the first Priesthood the Vail is over the Heart and they that are there cannot see to him that is the end of the Law who is made under the Law to redeem them that are under the Law 2 Cor. 3. 13 14 15. Under the second Priesthood the Vail is rent and the broken Heart is known with whom God is and so him that is entred within the Vail is seen even him that is the end of the Law and the Prophets Heb. 9. 24. Ch. 10. 20. The first Priesthood hath the Shewbread which the carnal Eye may see and the natural Man perceive and so the Worship stands in outward shew in some form and place where the Life is not and such may worship they know not what being not come to the Truth which makes free to worship in Heb. 9. 1 2. John 4. 22. The second Priesthood hath the Bread of Life which comes
with much desire waited for that impowered them to do that which before they were commanded to do after they were endued with Power or had the Power in them And so what they were commanded to do they were to wait to receive Power in themselves from God to perform and Christ did intend to give them Power to do that which he commanded And as he commanded them to go and teach he also required them to tarry and so not to go until they had received Power so to do and so it was the Power of the holy Ghost in them which made them Ministers and these were and such are truly Ordained Ministers And after they had received Power from on high even the Spirit or Life of Truth and were filled therewith and so had it in them then they went to do that which was commanded them then they went to teach the Nations and converted Thousands and turned Sinners and brought Souls to God and then they were called Christians and then were People brought to be of the true Church which Christ buildeth upon that which flesh and blood revealeth not And this is the entrance into the Church of God 2 Thes 1. 1. the receiving of the Spirit and in this God is worshipped and not else for this hath excluded all other Worship and those only are the true Worshippers who come in thus by the Door which is Christ the Light and Spirit of Truth sent into the Heart from God And if all the prudent learned Divines so called in Europe or all or any of the wisest Orthodox men in any other Quarter of the whole World can prove by the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament any other true Worship of God who is a Spirit now extant among men and to be performed especially among them called Christians with acceptance to God but only that which the Spirit of Truth leadeth such unto as receive it then let them bring it forth that we may see it and prove it by plain undeniable Truth of Scripture or otherwise I shall look upon their Proofs Words Ways Actions Practices Performances Duties and several Worships as things of no value Or if there be any other entrance into the true Worship of God than this Spirit that God sendeth or the Light which leadeth to it or if there be any other Worship which God doth or will accept to be after this spoken or prophesied of in the Scriptures of Truth whereby this shall ever be done away or ended from being the true only and alone Worship of God whilst men have a being upon Earth then let the wisest of the Sons of men bring it forth and produce there strong reasons therein that we may plead together and that the entrance into and the true Worship it self of the only true invisible God may be declared over all the World for the satisfaction of every tender Heart concerning this For this I am satisfied in that Christ Jesus who is the end of the Law and who finished his work when he was upon Earth is made a quickning Spirit and is the Way and Truth of Life which bringeth into the Worship of God and he is the begining and the end and he leadeth to the beginning of Gods Worship and he is the end and the Rest of all the faithful in whom all the Promises are Yea and Amen and without him all is as nothing and all that come before him are Thieves and Robbers and he it is that abideth a Priest forever and his Spirit of Truth is it which all People and Professors whatsoever should first wait to receive thereby to be led into that true Spiritual Worship which alone God accepteth lest they and their Worship and Building fall together in a day when there is none to deliver And then thus I will Query If Christ own dear Disciples who had forsook all and followed him not Priest or Baptists did not come to receive this Spirit by hearing all the words which he he spoke unto them but by waiting after the words were ended Then whether those that have not forsaken all nor so much as the Worlds fashions do now come to receive the Spirit by Reading Hearing or Professing the same words of Christ now written or any other part of Scriptures Or whether a Proud man hath received this Spirit or a Lyar or a Prophane person or any Wise or Prudent man whatsoever by any means or way of his And whether any such ever did have can or may by any industry or other way or means attain to this Spirit which leadeth in the true Worship of God but as it is freely given forth from God And then whether all people are not to be led by that Spirit which God freely giveth into the Worship of God because Christ said The Spirit should lead which indeed doth lead into all Truth and nothing else doth so And they that have not received this from God to lead them are not yet come to be led by that which the Sons and Children of God were and are led by And the Ministration of the Spirit which all are now to be taught by is inwardly to be known in the most nearest secret invisible manner and is more out of the sight Comprehension and reach of mans Wisdom than any other Ministration and it is given forth from the clear Fountain it self unto the Souls satisfaction of man when he is come to the end of words or having heard much or all the words that can be spoken of it remaineth unsatisfied in a restless longing desire to find receive feel and enjoy the thing it self which the words declared of and that which satisfieth the true thirsting Soul comes clearly from God to the refreshing of the inward parts of man and filling of the empty barren hungry Spirit which cannot be saâ—â—sâ—ed without Gods indewllings and thus the Disciples were led along and at last in a foolish way to the great Professors they waited among them in Jerusalem and the Lord had regard unto them and sent his own Spirit unto them and then they were filled with the Holy Ghost And the secret invisible hand of God whose Power was and is felt in my heart having out of the sight of flesh and blood in the hidden counsel of his secret Will led me by the vertue of the operation and drawings thereof through those things which thereby I come to leave behind and to receive and feel that which now goeth before and is my Leader in whose Covenant of Life Eternal my Soul is now satisfied and so by good experience of the Lords leading and from an experimental knowledge and sensible feeling and present enjoyment of the incomes of the Spirit of Truth and Life which filleth the inward parts with the holiness of it self and giveth power to do the things required before of God even from the right and good understanding thereof is this written That where it meets with the like condition in a weaâ—y Traveller
already what need we have any further witness Therefore make him a Pass to go to Aegypt again and let him be whipt out of the Town for there is an Act of Parliament against such as wander up and down under the Name of Aegyptians Then some asked When I came from thence others mocked So I was a sport unto them as Sampson was unto the Philistians Judg. 16. 25. and I stood silent but at last the Lord moved me to speak saying Why People are you altogether blind in the things of God Of Aegypt and Sodom I was where our Lord was crucified Rev. 11. 8. and in Darkness and Bondage did I dwell being a Child of Wrath as well as others but the Lord by his living Power hath brought me from the Land of Darkness to the Light and from Bondage to the Land of Rest and into the Liberty of the Sons of God Then Theophilus Andrus said Speak on for I never heard the like of this before But I was not to be subject to their Wills but to stand in the counsel of God Question But you have had some outward Beeing or Family had you not Answer I had a Farme of 30 l. by the year at little Cowrne in the County of Hereford not thirty Miles off this place but I have now left part of it and my Wife and Children are in the rest and there I was a great Professor and a publick Preacher in many places thereabout daily and then I was owned by the Justices and great men of the Earth and many Hundreds did resort to hear me where I came and I was then beloved of many for the World loves his own But now I come to witness the Power of that which then I did but profess and now am I hated by the World And after other words from them called Justices and others and they could not entangle me in my words then the Priest with the subtilty of the Serpent seeing they could not ensnare me he then began like those that came to Christ and feigned themselves just men that they might take hold of his words and deliver him to the Power Luke 20. 20. And like as the Saduces came to entangle him concerning the Resurrection saying Moses saith thus but what sayest thou So the Priest George Hopkins among his many subtil Questions said Thus Solomon saith The just man falleth seven times What say you or the like And there is not a man upon Earth that doth good and sinneth not How do you expound that A. I am redeemed from the Earth Q. But do you not walk on the Earth A. I walk in the Light which leads out of the Earth Q. But are you not upon the Earth A. As for this outward Body being upon the Earth Enoch was for a time upon this outward Earth yet he walked with God Q. But do you walk with God A. They that are led by the Spirit of God are the Sons of God as God hath said I will walk in them Q. But Solomon saith There is not a just man upon Earth that doth good and sinneth not Now therefore answer to the Question do you sin yea or nay A. He that is born of God sinneth not Q. But are you free from sin yea or nay A. If I were not free from sin will it therefore follow that no man is Q. Do you believe that any man can be free from sin whilst he is here A. Yea I do believe it Then the Priest said it was a Popish Tenure and he could shew me a Book that the Papists do hold That men may be free from Sin in this Life Then I said the Papists do hold that there is a God and that Christ dyed for Sinners and so do I Therefore if the Papists do hold a Truth must I deny it because they hold it or must the Truth therefore be called a Popish Tenure because they hold it The Priest said Nay but in such things as these that are in dispute between the Papists and us which is That men may be free from Sin and that they are justified by Works wrought in them I answered It is God that worketh in us both the will and the deed who hath wrought all our works in us and for us And I have heard that the Papists do hold that there is a Purgatory which I deny to be purged in from Sin after Death but I seldom hear that they did hold that men might be free from sin here And if they are free from sin whilst they are here then they need not hold that there is a Purgatory to purge them after Then I asked the Priest if men should be free from sin whilst they are here The Priest said Nay Then I asked him if men should be purged from sin after Death The Priest said Nay Then I said if thou wilt not have men cleansed from sin neither before Death nor after Death then when wilt thou have them cleansed The Priest said What if God will forgive men and cleanse them from their sin at the very time of their Death as Christ did the Thief on the Cross Ans Thou art not to question what God will do or may do in that but canst thou prove by Scripture that God doth so And if thou wilt say the Thief was purged from sin when Christ spoke to him then that was before his death So when the Priest was almost taken in his own Snare then the Serpents Wisdom began to twind out of that and asked me How I was justified But I seeing his subtilty was not careful to answer him in that matter Dan. 3. 16. but stood silent as Christ did before the high Priest Mat. 26. 62 63. So then there was a stir among the People because I was not hasty to utter words before the Lord but after the Priest had urged very much then I said Thou dost wait to ensnare me and if I should say that I was justified by Faith in the Blood of Christ thou wouldst but seek to entangle me in it Then the Priest asked If I were justified by the Blood of Christ Ans Yea. Qu. Are you justified by that Blood of Christ that was shed at Jerusalem A. By the Blood of Jesus Christ the Son of the living God who was the express Image of his Fathers glory in whom dwelt the fullness of the Godhead really who suffered at Mount Calvery by Jerusalem for Sinners am I justified Q. But are you justified by the Blood of Christ without you or within you A. Though Jesus Christ has shed his Blood for Sinners yet I remained in my sin until I came to witness the Blood of Christ in me Q. Are you not justified by the Blood of Christ that was shed for you A. If the Blood of Christ was not shed then Sinners could not be justified by it Then the Priest said You do not answer me plainly whether you are justified meerly by that Blood which was shed upon the Cross
laying heavy burdens upon the neck of the Poor Is not the Poor Oppressed and the Rich live in Oppression Is not the Fatherless the Widdow and the Stranger oppressed within your Gates Have you not evil intreated the Servants and Messengers of the Lord of Hosts whom he sent to Warn you and some to be Signs and Wonders among you as Isaiah who walked naked and bare-footed Isa 20. 3. 1 Sam. 19. 24. that you may see your Nakedness and repent of your Loftiness and come down from your high Mountains where you are making your Nests above the Stars of God in your Airy Imaginations from the first Wisdom of the first man from the Earth Sensual and Devilish where the Prince of the Air rules in all the Sons of Disobedience who are wise to do Evil and subtil foxes in that Knowledge which puffeth up and there you stand like strong Oaks and fed Horses fatted for the day of Slaughter whose Sins are ripe unto Judgment whose measure of Wickedness is even at the full you your selves the Servants of Sin fitted for the Wine-press of the Wrath of the Lord God Almighty who is coming a swift witness against you and from his presence you shall not fly Therefore prepare to meet the Lord for the day is at hand that your Iniquities shall be rewarded upon your own Heads and you shall receive from the Lord the just Reward of all your Doings and every mans Heart shall be made manifest in the sight of God and by the Witness of God in every mans Conscience shall God be acknowledged to be Just by which the Mouth of Proud Flesh shall be stopped and the Conscience shall be awakened by the Witness of God that did always testifie against Deceit Sin and Hypocrisie and when the endless Judgments of God are upon you and his everlasting Torments have taken hold upon you then shall my Witness in every mans Conscience witness for me that in love to your Souls I was moved to write this for a Warning to you all that to the Cross you might come to the true Light of Christ that lighteth every man that cometh into the World that all men through him might believe even in him that is the Light the Corner Stone refused by all you wise Builders who build above the Light which to you this day is a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offence even Christ the Light the true Teacher that in secret condemns for Sin who is the Heir and is now come whom all you Wicked Husband-men that have not brought forth Fruit unto God are now slaying in your own particulars and persecuting in us his Members that if possible you might murder the Heir Christ the Light and so the Inheritance be yours But it is in vain for you to kick against the Pricks the Light in your Consciences which checks in secret for Sin is and will be your Condemnation whilst you fight against it and hate it and the measure of the Breath of Life will kindle a Fire in your Bowels like a stream of Brimstone forever which shall never be quenched nor depart from you Wicked and Ungodly men whose Sins have exceeded many and whose ways are right in your own Eyes and hate to be reformed and despise stone persecute and imprison them whom the Lord hath sent to warn you whose blind zeal is like Jerusalem's from whose Eyes the things of God are hid and your Madness like unto Saul's who thought to do many things against the Name of Jesus Christ the Light And do not many of you fight against the Light and so are found Fighters against God who is now come to try you and to search you and according to your deeds shall you all receive And now who among you will hear this Who among you will regard Are you not covered with a deep sleep that so the Destroyer may come upon you unawares Who hath an Eye now to see and a Heart to understand Who will regard this and return from the Evil of his ways Who will lay it to heart unto him is the day of Grace offered let him return and that with speed and let the rest look for their Portion according to the words written Let not this be slighted for it was written for a Warning aforehand unto you all upon the 30th day of the 8th Moneth 1656. by a Servant of Jesus Christ a Prisoner at Exon known by the Name of Humphry Smith Some of the Effects of the Priests Ministry in Devonshire YOu that have been the Teachers and the Leaders of the People long you who say the Priests Lips preserve Knowledge and they shall seek the Law at his Mouth now consider what have you taught the People and what have they learned of you Is it not to persecute the Innocent and to hale out of your Synagogues and to stone and to beat them whom the World knows not whom the Lord hath sent as Lambs among Wolves into the Towns Villages Market-places and Synagogues to witness and declare in the Name of the Lord against all Unrighteousness and preaching Repentance unto all even to them of the highest place of Worship and to a Crooked and Perverse Generation who have been long learning of you that connot your selves cease from sin 2 Pet. 2. 14. neither are they by you brought to the knowledge of the Truth so as that they need not any man to teach them but are still learning and are not come to the knowledge of God whom to know is Life Eternal but are found this day in that in which the knowledge of God is not and in that nature which murdered Abel and stoned the Prophets and crucified Christ and slew his Apostles and yet you all pro-fess the Scriptures but upon you the Scriptures are fulfilled who are in these days haling and causing to be haled out of your Synagogues and persecuting from City to City the harmless Lambs of Jesus Christ who saith unto his These things shall they do unto you because they know not the Father nor me John 16. 2 3. Doth not your evil Savour come up into the Nostrils of the Lord And is not your Nakedness seen by all the Children of the Light who walk in the Light Are not both you and your Hearers a Seed of Evil Doers And are you not fierce Despisers of them that are good And do you not daily cry out against those that are dead unto Sin and alive unto Righteousness And do you not even hate him that walks in the paths of Peace and the steps of Innocency Is not there a noise amongst you against the Lambs of Christs Are you not stirring up the Rulers against them as your fore-Fathers did Acts 4. 1 c. and c. 5. 17. John 11. 47. Are you not seeking to your earthly Magistrates to defend your Profession with their carnal Sword which must be by Persecuting and Imprisoning the Lambs of Christ who break not your Magistrates Law nor yet the
the day long and in this have I believed that the Lord will hear my Cry and pity the People that are destroyed for lack of Knowledge that the Witness of God in them may arise and that the Prisoner of Hope may come to Deliverance And in this have I not been hasty as to utter their Shame for I was my self a Preacher in the Pulpits but in a Mournful state oft times many Moneths or Years have I born this Burden neither have I now uttered or written this out of Prejudice towards the Persons of any men but in the Mournful state of my long burdened and grieved Spirit from the true sence of the Sad Shameful and Miserable state that is coming upon them and the Eternal Wo and Misery that is like to follow after for evermore The which I desire they may escape by speedy returning from the Way that they are in now it is so plainly made manifest to be so exceeding Evil. H. S. IDOLATRY Declared Against THe Great and Mighty God who made the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea and made all men of one Blood upon the face of the whole Earth and breathed into man that which is of his own Life that by it man might seek after him and find him who is Infinite Incomprehensible Eternal and Glorious even he dwelleth not in Temples made with Hands Acts 17. 24. neither is he worshipped in one high place or another by any of the Professing Jews who deny his Son of whom he gave Testimony That in him he is well pleased Neither is there any Worship or Service accepted with him but that which cometh from them who are led and guided by the Spirit of Truth and in it Worship the Father who is a Spirit and delighteth not in those Oblations that are Vain proceeding from the vain Minds of such who take his Name in Vain of whom he saith In vain do they Worship me And of all such I say their Faith is Vain who are yet in their Sins and found among the Gentiles who sacrifice unto Devils and not unto God being Children of Wrath and Strangers to the Covenant of Promise whose Prayers the Lord abhors whose vain Bablings cast an ill Savour in the Nostrils of the most High and their coming together is not for the better but for the worse even to feed and nourish the young Serpents and to encrease in that Knowledge which puffeth up and encreaseth sorrow the which knowledge the Hireling Priests Lips preserve which the Devil once taught saying Ye shall be as Gods knowing Good and Evil and all they who encrease in this Knowledge encrease in that in which the Knowledge of God doth not stand neither can be received and so the Wo from the Lord God will come unto all them that continue their seeking the Living among the Dead crying for their place of holy Worship which is to be laid Desolate and living in Unrighteousness and in all Ungodly Practices without the fear of God and talking of him with that Mouth which is full of Cursing and Bitterness the Heart being not turned to God nor the Mind unto the Light of his Son who are themselves in the Jaws of Satan and are sometimes made sensible of the Power of the Devil working in them stirring them up to Wrath and moving them up to Envy Pride and Unrighteousness and the Lusts of the Creatures and the Vanity of the Mind but feel not at all the Power of God to work in them the newness of Life and his pure Image who made man Holy and Upright neither are they willing to receive that Power in them by which they might come to overcome their Sins and be led up to him who is the God of the Spirits of all Flesh whom all the World not knowing is ignorant by Worshipping and denying his Son who maketh an end of sin and Contemning the Just One who is a man of Sorrows and denying him who is led as a Lamb dumb and slighting him who is the Light and refusing him who is the living Minister not made by a carnal Commandment but by the Power of an endless Life who teacheth all to profit who learn of him and none teacheth like him who saith Learn of Me then not of another not of a Hireling not of one that pleadeth for Sin but of him that maketh an End of Sin whom God the Father hath given a Light to the Gentiles a Covenant to the People that all men through him might be saved who hath spoiled Principalities and Powers and all Authorities and now all Dominions and Authorities are to be subject to Him who said The true Worshippers shall Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth And Truth is that which maketh Free but the Worshipping the Unknown God in a Synagogue Idol Temple or Steeple-house doth not make Free neither makes an end of Sin but all them that are there are in their Sins and have not received Power to Overcome their Sins but are following such Teachers which Peter said should come in the latter dayes who cannot themselves cease from Sin And these Teachers Peter said and so say I that they are cursed Children beguiling such unstable Souls who are carried about with airy windy Doctrines after the cunning Crastiness of men who still lie in wait to deceive against whom we bear Testimony from the Spirit of Truth which guideth us not to handle the Word of God deceitfully nor to make Merchandize of the People neither come we with Flattering Titles but in the Power of the Lord and in the Demonstration of his Spirit of Truth do we declare against all Unrighteousness of Men whether Priests Rulers or People without Respect of Persons and we declare his Name in the World who is the Light of the World and publish him among the Sons of men who is Gods Power that saveth his People from their Sins who is the true Prophet whom all are to hear that all might come to learn of him and be guided by him in the Way of Everlasting Peace that so such as are Strangers to the Covenant of Grace being yet in their Sins and are the Outcasts of Israel might now come to be taught of the Lord and hear the powerful Voice of his Son and not follow Strangers any longer nor the dumb Idol Shepherds who are become Bruitish Jer. 10. 21. and cannot understand Isa 56. 11. that from them all such who fear the Lord might be gathered Ezek. 34. and may come to know the one Lord whose Name is one and the one Truth and the one Way and the Worship of the one true God and not follow them any longer who are Strangers to the Life of God nor such as cannot cease from Sin who are all in the Curse being not reconciled unto him who was made a Curse and so they come not to receive that by which the Curse is taken away and such are without God in the World and of such the Lord hath
said You have we aried me with your Sacrifices And so say I to you now you have wearied the Lord with your Words and yet many are saying Wherein have we we aried him I say in this have you wearied the Lord in that you say such as do Evil are Good in the sight of God Mal. 2. 17. Therefore thus I declare unto you who are yet in your Sins meeting together in the Idol Temples Your Service is not the Service of the true God neither is your Worship that which the Lord accepteth for he accepteth none but the Worship in Spirit and in Truth not in one high Place or other but your Worship is in some High-Place Idol-Temple or Steeple-House where all manner of Viperous Beasts are round and unsanctified Persons meet together who commit all Abominations and live in all manner of Filthiness and yet lean upon the Lord and say Is not the Lord among us no Evil shall come unto us Whereas they are an evil and an adulterous Generation adulterated from the Spirit of Truth in which the true Worship stands and are ignorantly worshipping in a Temple made with Hands in which God dwellcth not neither is his Power there received to overcome the Sin and so the People are wearying themselves for very Vanity and travelling to bring forth Death and labouring for that which profits not neither do they come to meet the Lord in the way of his Judgments nor find the Path of Life where the Unclean can never come neither yet do they know the Bread of Life nor drink his Blood that cleanseth from all Sin nor come to be translated into the Kingdom of the Son of God but remain in that Ground which was eursed by reason of man's Rebellion Gen. 3. 17. Heb. 6. 8. which Ground being not removed with the mighty Power of God the Blessing cannot be received nor the Understanding opened to know and receive that which the Natural Man perceiveth not the Eyes of their Minds being darkened through the Ignorance that is in them the Vail being over the Heart when that is read every day of their Worship which discovers Sin but makes nothing Perfect which Worshippers did and do Crucifie him that comes to take away the Sin But now he is come who hath forever perfected those that are sanctified and he that sanctisieth and they who are sanctified are all of one But they that are not sanctified are not of the one but are in the many Opinions in the Lusts of Ignorance and Wayes of Unrighteousness being not come to the one Faith which purifieth the Heart nor to know the one Baptism one Church one Way one Truth one God the Father of him who is the one Light which lightneth every man that cometh into the Wâ—rld of the which Light which is but one there is given a measure to every one of you which Light shineth in Darkness though not by it comprehended which Light will let you see that you your selves are out of God's Covenant in the World's Worship not reconciled to God upholding Idol Temples and Heathenish Customs with Bells and such things which the People of God never used but did and do deny forever and exhort you and all others to leave worshipping the Beast or upholding that which is not the true Worship of the true God practised by men of Sin in Steeple-Houses every First-Day Wherefore all People every where leave your Idolatry which you have learned and received by Tradition from the former Papists and Heathen who worship the Work of their own Hands and bow down to their own Inventions as you long have done and for this many Hundred Years have been learning and yet are not come to the Truth neither to believe in it but remain in Unbelief and Ignorance and your long time of Ignorance God winked at Acts 17. 30. But now Light is come in which God is calling to you and all men every where to Repent and forsake your Idolatrous Worship which by you a sinful Generation is practised in a Steeple-house one day in seven and Catn's Nature remaining in the inward parts from the which Idolatry all that sear the Lord God of Abraham are now to come from the Uncleanness of that Worship which is upheld by the Heathen for verily the Hand of the Lord God Almighty is stretched sorth against it and them Wherefore all People turn your Minds to the Lord God of Life who dwelleth in his People and not in Temples made with Hands and hath given to every one of you a measure of the true Light of his Son which Light in you will let you see your secret Sins and will teach you and shew you plainly of the Father if you love it and come to be led by it to do God's will so may you come to worship the Lord God of Life in Spirit and in Truth with the Children of the Light and of the Day which hath dawned upon many who need not any man teach them but are all taught of the Lord Glory and Honour and Everlasting Praises to his blessed Name forever and ever Amen Given forth as a Testimony against all Idolatry and Heathenish-Worship from the true Love of God the Father in pity to the Souls of them who have Eyes and see not and Ears and hear not that they may come forth of Darkness to follow Christ Jesus the Light of the World who is bringing the Blind by a Way that they know not Isa 42. 16. Therefore is this to go abroad among all People and read in Steeple-Houses Streets Market-places private Meetings and Families that all may consider what they have been doing in the dark Ezek. 8. 12. By a Servant of the Living God a Sufferer for the Testimony of his Name in the Common Goal and House of Correction at Winchester Humphery Smith The 4th Moneth 1658. Man driven out of the Earth and Darkness By the Light Life and Mighty Hand of GOD Wherein plain and simple Truths are brought to light that so the cause of Stumbling may be taken from before the Eyes of both Rulers and all sorts of Professors in Herefordshire c. Also something related of the Wonderful Power of God in the Work of Redemption and Restroration With a plain Self-denyal by him that takes up the daily Cross Behold the Lord worketh wonderfully every Morning he bringeth his Judgments to light he hath brought me back from the Grave and saved my Soul from Hell and set my feet upon a Rock THE Living Truth of the Lord God which he hath revealed in me by the mighty Operation of his Word of Life which living eternal Truth being my Life and shall last for evermore and be as a Standard of the Most High lifted up to all the scattered weary Souls that they may flow unto it and have it to be unto them a place of Refuge and Defence to fly unto in the day of Distress and by it come to be made Free and in it
them that follow him their Captain know right well and before him all the mighty of the Earth are as a tottering Wall and as a broken Hedge and he it is that rideth upon the Wings of the Wind whose Power is unlimitted whose Wayes are past finding out who descended into the Lower parts of the Earth from whence the wicked never knew him to arise But I with the rest do witness he is risen through the Earth and his Feet stand upon it and is become the first Fruits of them that slept and is ascended up on High and hath Dominion over all and is crowned with Glory and Honour eternally in the Heavens and hath given Gifts unto men and from him the Gift of Eternal Life is come And this is my Beloved O ye Daughters of Jerusalem and this is my Friend and Redeemer O ye Sons of men even he who hath redeemed my Soul from Hell and brought me back From the Power of the Grave this is the Prophet of whom Moses did write should come and is come and there is not another than he that is raised up in the midst which is Christ the Light of the World in the Heart this is he that hath done wonderous works for in and by me and many more who are thereby made living Witnesses unto his Name whose Name is a strong Tower and a Rock of Defence he is a sure Dwelling-Place he is the Rest of the Soul and the â—oy of the Living And since he hath put the Sword of his Spirit into my hand and his Word of Life into my Mouth and Wicked thereby have been cut down like the Grass and the Mighty have been trampled upon as the dust in the Streets the tall Cedars have been as the Brambles and the strong Oaks have been rooted up the Prophet became a Fool the Pastors became Bruitish and the Spiritual Man was as Mad but the Seed hath been refreshed and the weak nursed up the tender Plant preserved and the Hungery fed And for his Names sake will I not keep silent until my Testimony be finished and until Jerusalem be made a Praise over all the Earth and her Righteousness break forth as the Morning and her Comliness as the Brightness of the Sun and till I see the Destruction of her Enemies and her Adversaries overturned forever for Powerful is our King who is come to reign Oh! who can with-hold the Pen from writing and the Tongue from declaring VVhen the Lyon hath roared who will not hear VVhen the Lord hath spoken who can but prophesie How can I but declare his Wonderous Works and proclaim his Name where-ever I come and confess him before men though I should suffer much more Prisoning Dungeon and VVhipping than I have done surely his Name I will declare in the World who is the Light and give my Testimony of him that saves from Sin whose Name is called Jesus the Light of the World which is the elect precious and Corner but stumbling stone even to both the Houses of Israel but it is he that is come to rule the Nations with his Iron Rod and dash his Enemies in pices like a Potters Vessel and judge the Earth in Righteousness and the people with his living Truth and now the Sinner shall not stand in Judgment nor the Wicked in the Congregation of the Righteous for he utters his Voice like Thunder against the Wicked and is dreadful against all the Double-minded he condemns the Unjust with an utter overthrow and pulls down the Unrighteous from their Seats Oh! who of the Wicked can stand when he thunders from Heaven and pierceth through the secret parts of the Heart And though I do speak an Allegory yet I do not speak contrary to the Scriptures but according thereunto from the Spirit of Truth and though I speak of the Operation of Christ in his Members yet I do not deny the Works which were wrought by him in his own Person and though I preach Christ within the Hope of Glory yet I do not preach another and though Paul travelled in birth again until Christ was formed in the Galathians yet he did not desire another Christ should be formed in them And though Paul said God had revealed his Son in him yet it was not another Son and though I say the Son of God is come and hath given me an understanding yet it is not another Son but the same that ever was who worketh all our Works in us And though I preach him The Makeâ—â—â—â— End of Sin yet I do not preach another but they who preach a Christ that doth not make an end of Sin nor save them who preach him from their Sirs do preach another Christ seeing the true Christ maketh an end of Sin And though I say the Prophet is come who is mighty in Word and Work and raised up in the midst or in the Heart yet it is not another but the same whose Wonders appeared outwardly whilst he was in the form of a Servant upon the Earth And though I preach him to the World the Light of the World yet it is not another but the same who said I am come a Light into the World and I am the Light of the World Joh. 8. 12. And so he being come a Light into the World he is to be preached as he is the Light that all men through him might belive and mens minds turned from Darkness to him who is the Light in the Darkness and it is most right and proper to preach him the Light who is now come and is the end of the Law to all them that believe in the Light and the end of the Prophets who preached him that is the Light under various Names or Terms as King Priest Prophet a Son a Child the Mighty God and David called him Lord and he is called a Saviour a Redeemer a Mediator c. who being come saith I am the Light and so its right and sound Doctrine to preach him as he is The Light of the World and lighteth every man that cometh into the World which is the true Light and we that preach this do not preach another but him who said I am the Light By me who refused the Glory Treasure and Preferment of the World and did chuse rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God and though I profitted much in that Religion where the carnal Ordinances are yet that profiting came to be accounted as Dross Dung that he might be received who makes an end of Sin who being now come his Love constraineth me his Name to publish who is the true Prophet whose Name is called Jesus who hath and doth save from Sin for whose Name sake I have been often brought before Rulers haled and beat out of the Synagogues numbred among Transgressors tryed at Assizes as an Offendor yet there denyed the Liberty of a Murderer being six times imprisoned twice stript naked and whipt with Rods and since put into Bridewell once
should cry after us A Quaker A Quaker And whether such be willing to suner as much for their prophane Swearing as they would us and as we have done for not Swearing at all And whether such can be content to suffer as great Punishment for going to an Ale-House needlesly on the First-Dayes or any day as they would have us suffer for not going to the Steeple-house the First-dayes which to us is needless And whether they would have such Laws made against them for such things and such their practices as they would have made against us for our practices in Liberty of Conscience as pertaining to the service and Worship of God And if Liberty had been so much promised them in this their Wickedness as hath been to us in the matter of Conscience would they have had that promise broken And whether they would be haled out of their Ale-houses Tipling-houses and Whore-houses as oft as they meet there or could be found there by any Officer Souldiers Boyes or People as they would have other sober persons haled out of their own Houses and peaceable private and Publick-Meeting-houses wherein they meet to serve God And would they receive every such time the like usage or abuses by any Boyes or Persons that should find them there or take them in such things and that would stone them for their Whoredom and Drunkenness at the present or would they receive the like Punishment afterwards when they were brought before a Magistrate in Imprisonment or otherwise If not then whether all such men as these who would have the King break his Word be not absolutely of the Devil And would they not limit the Spirit of God and his Worship and Servants and tolerate the Spirit of the Devil and have liberty for his service and his Children therein And then whether it be good or safe at all for the King to hearken unto the Counsel of such men or in the least to incline thereunto in this matter And whether the Lord God will ever bless their Counsels herein which lead to Destruction And whether the King be in the least to receive or consent to the Counsel of such men herein or their Petitions in that matter and so become a Breaker of his Word and Promise This will I leave to Gods witness in themselves and in the King Council Parliament and all other Magistrates and other inferiour Officers and People whatsoever to answer yea or nay And further I might enquire in like manner concerning the matter and manner or form and place of Worship whether they would be deprived of theirs as they would have us of ours and be haled out as they have haled us and suffer so much therein as they have caused us and have Laws made against them for it as they have made against us and have another manner of Worship and Place and Teachers imposed upon them than what they are perswaded of to be Right And how do such come to be more certain that their way of Worship is right in things they have no Scripture nor example therein for than we do come to be certain that our way is right which we have Scripture and example therein for And how came they to know that their worship is better in a temple made with hands in which God dwelleth not and the Apostle declared against Acts 7. 44. than ours is in the Spirit of which God is John 4. 24. and in the Truth which is his Son in whom the fulness of God doth dwell Col. 2. 9. and in the Light where God doth dwell for Christ said I am the Light John 8. 12. And he that hath Immortallity dwelleth in the Light 1 Tim. 6. 16 And whether such as are compelled to a Worship which they are perswaded is not right and that God doth not accept are they not therein made Hypocrites And if they would compel us from such a Worship that we are perswaded is right and also compel us to such a Worship that we are perswaded is not right whether they themselves would be done so by And if not how do they love their Neighbour as themselves and do unto all men as they would be done unto according to the command of Christ Mat. 7. 12. And wherein are such like unto a Christian Spirit which the true Christians were in and them that by the Holy Ghost were made Overseers of the stock of God who said that it seemed good unto them and to the Holy Ghost to lay no greater burthen upon the Gentiles thâ—n to obstain from Meats offered to Idols and Blood and things strangled and Fornication which were necessary things Acts 15. 28. These things in brief at present are offered in plainness and love unto the consideration of all Rulers and People by one that truly desireth Peace amongst men being an Innocent sufferer for the cause of God in the place of my late long and sad Sufferings in a close unsavoury Prison at Winchester the 28th of the 9th Month 1661. being known amongst men by the name Humphry Smith If a Ruler hearken to Lyes all his Servants are Wicked Prov. 29. 12. Bewise now therefore O ye Kings be instructed ye Judges of the Earth Psal 2. 10. Judge righteously and plead the cause of the Poor and Needy Prov. 31. 9. The King that faithfully judgeth the Poor his Throne shall be established forever Prov. 26. 14. Thou shalt not wrest Judgment thou shalt not respect Persons neither take a Gife for a Gift doth blind the Eyes of the Wise and pervert the Words of the Righteous That which is altogether just shalt thou follow that thou mayest Live and Inherit the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee Deut. 16. 19 20. The People that are gone out of the way it were them that knew not the way of peace Rom. 3. 12. vers 17. But Christ who is our Way and unto us the Prince of Peace hath taught us to give the Back to the Smiter and to turn the other Check Forty Four Queries propounded to all the Clergy-Men of the Liturgy by one whom they trained up in the best things set forth in the Book of Common-Prayer Eleaven Reasons why these Queries are proposed BEcause your manner and way of Worship and practice First in many things hath been these twenty years by many Zealous persons very much questioned who ought to be satisfied or stopt by sound Arguments and Doctrine and words of scripture-Scripture-Truth or else a true Reconciliation in the hearts and minds of both cannot easily be 2dly Because it is most agreeable to the Law of God and most according to the Commands of Christ and doth most suit with the Doctrine and Practice of the Apostles and is professed even by you in the Book of Common-Prayer To love thy Neighbour as thy self and not hurt the Body of any man by word or deed to Love Enemies to do good unto all and to convince Gain-sayers with sound Doctrine and words that cannot
miserable Offendors And seeing that following is said to be the Absolution and Remission of Sins with the words of Almighty and most merciful Father c. together with the Absolution and Remission of Sins following be a true Confession Repentance and Remission from the bottom of the heart Or is it false and feigned If false is it no tâ—loaked of more sin and dissembling with God and deceiving their own Souls If true how then are such after Confession and Remission Miserable Sinners before they depart as in the Letany And if the Confession Repentance and Absolution be right and true and from the bottom of the Heart and such thus pardoned and so made clean run afterwards and that again and again into the very same Sins whether they be not like the Dog and the Sow that turn to the wallowing in the Mire and the Vomit again V. Whether after true Confession and Repentance such may thenceforth live a godly righteous and sober Life and that pure and holy according to the latter end of the Confession and of the Absolution VI. Whether all such as have erred and strayed from the ways of God were before they did so err made Members of Christ and Inheritors of God And whether any were made such Members c. but such as have tasted of the good Word of God and the Power of the World to come And whether such as have so tasted thereof and after err and stray from the ways of God can be renewed again by Repentance If not is not their Repentance false or not effectual like Esau's If true how then is the Scripture true seeing it speaks as afore-mentioned of not being renewed by Repentance VII Whether such as were made Members of Christ Children of God and Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven and are now erred and strayed from the ways of God so that they are Miserable Offendors and that against God's holy Law as themselves confess can then in that state and in that very hour sing unto the Lord and heartily rejoyce and come before GOD'S Presence with Thanksgiving And whether such Miserable Offendors are the People of God's Pasture and the Sheep of his hands VIII Whether all such as in the beginning of the Letany do themselves acknowledge four times over That they are Miserable Sinners can call God their Father by saying Our Father which art in Heaven Or can such Miserable Sinners make others the Children of God by sprinkling a little Water upon their faces And whether God hath such fourfold miserable Children Or are those that are truly the Children of God at the same time in such a fourfold miserable state Or are such miserable men truly the Ministers of Christ IX Whether God's people may be delivered by him from See Letany 6 7 8. Particulars all these things following that is to say from all Evil and Mischief from Sin from the Crafts and Assaults of the Devil from God's Wrath and from Everlasting Damnation from all Blindness of Heart from Pride Vain-glory and Hypocrisie from Envy Hatred and Malice and all Vncharitableness from Fornication and all other deadly Sin from all the Deceits of the World the Flesh and the Devil And whether such as are delivered from all these things be not delivered from all Sin And then are not such free without sin If not then what Sin is it they are guilty of who are truly delivered from all these And whether such as pray to be delivered from all these and do not believe that they shall be so delivered do not therein sin against God and so instead of being delivered out of sin by their praying add sin unto sin being it is written Whatsoever is not of faith is sin X. Whether shall I own that man as Christ did and believe See Letany the 14th Particular him who said We know that God heareth not Sinners or else miserable Offendors who in their Prayer say We Sinners do beseech thee to hear us O Lord and so believe that the Lord doth hear them though their continual fruits and the Scripture testifie otherwise XI What and where is the way of Truth which all such See Letany the 26th Particular as have erred and are deceived are to be brought into seeing when one sin was committed the creature was deceived and if deceived and in sin then unclean and no Vnclean thing shall enter into the Kingdom of God And whether Christ who is the Way and the Truth be not in the Kingdom of God And whether all such as are not only yet unsaved from their sin but are miserable Offendors and that against God's Righteous Law and yet in the same Nature Way Words Worship and Practice as were their fore-Fathers whom they confess were in Iniquity have not all these erred and are yet deceived seeing Christ saved his from sin And whether such do yet rightly know the Way of Truth themselves which they should be brought into in which there is no sin XII Whether all men are capable of the Mercy of God And whether Christ hath not lighted every man that cometh into the world And whether God doth shew to all men that be in Error the light of his Truth to the intent they may return into the way of Righteousness according to the Collect appointed for the third Sunday after Easter And whether the Word be not the Truth John 17. 17. And is not the World in the heart And hath not God shewed that to all men though they be in Error XIII Whether men may with the help of God's Grace cast away the works of Darkness and put on the Armour of Light now in the time of this Life And whether the works of darkness be not Sin the works of the Devil And whether the Armour of Light be not the Power of God And whether the Power of God be not sufficient to defend from the Enemy and his Power and able to defend from the Devil and his works XIV Whether those that in this life have put on the Armour of Light are not to let it shine before men that God may be glorified And whether it be not for God's glory when his people are by the Light defended from all the works of darkness And whether those that now deny the Light and would hinder the children of Light from letting their Light shine before men which saveth them from sin be not them selves against the Common-Prayer and the late Reformation of it against GOD CHRIST and Scriptures seeing that God is Light and Christ said I am the Light and the Scriptures testifie of him that is the Light who commanded his to let their Light shine And then is he a man or below the principle of a man who hideth his Light under a Bushel XV. Whether any men in their Youth Infancy or full See publick Baptism about the midst and Catechism a â—ittle after the beginning Age may forsake the Devil and all his works the vain
way works worships and nature of such to serve the living God in the newness of the spirit through Faith and Patience and to walk in Innocency before the Lord for evermore Such shall come to rejoyce in the Truth and the Arm of the Lord shall bring them more nearer to himself that they may come to see the Lord in his Glory and to praise him in the Land of the living and to behold Sion in her perfect Beauty and to feel their Unity with Gods Elect and to enjoy the Covenant of Everlasting Peace that shall never be broken to be bound up together in the life of Immortality Wisdom and Righteousness to shine forth as the Morning like the Jewels of the Lamb and to be beautified with Meekness as the Members of the unspotted of God Oh! the Crown of Rejoycing and Everlasting Felicity that is set before you to whom I am not able to express the infinite bounty and goodness of the Almighty Oh! who can hold when the Lord hath spoken or conceal his loving-kindness when the Almighty giveth utterance The Lord hath enlarged my Heart let me not therefore enquire among you where there is room to receive it Oh! let there be an inward search whether that the door be open and the straitness taken away that he which was with you may find entrance in you and you truly come to feel the receiving of his life to the glad Tidings of your Hearts From such an outward Prison cannot keep me nor from them the vast distance of Miles cannot with-hold me Behold I say in the Name of God I am near unto you And when you are assembled together with one accord in the place where the Light is a Ministry to the work this read among you in the fear of the God of Heaven then shall many of you know it so to be that the Lord hath given me of his unlimited Spirit which I freely let forth unto you And the breathings of my life are that you might receive benefit thereby and be comforted together And be strengthened in the inward man that the Devil may not prevail nor the love of the World overcome the innocent desires which God hath begotten let no unbelief nor slavish fear hinder you in your spiritual progress toward the attainment of the Crown of Life in the Kingdom of blessedness which God hath certainly prepared for the upright and innocent And now behold I turn unto my Brethren the called and chosen of God whom my Soul hereby saluteth unto whom I cannot by words sufficiently express my Love neither have I room to publish the enlargedness thereof in writing neither will usual phrases of Speech satisfie my broken Heart Oh! blessed be the day that ever you were called and the hour of your Visitation and the time of the Conception of the Seed in the Womb and the season of the forth-coming thereof into the liberty of Peace Blessed be the Lord forever on your behalf who hath chosen you to the riches of life and brought you to the Well-springs of Mercy and caused you to drink of the Rivers of his strength which hath daily been renewed unto you Oh! blessed be the God whose love hath not been with-held from your Souls and who hath not with-held counsel from your Eyes Friends God hath opened my Heart unto you receive me therefore as in the Bowels of Mercy that now we may praise the Lord forever Oh! that your Souls may with me forever magnifie the unutterable Power of the God of Heaven and that you may this day with me drink freely of the Cup of Eternal Salvation that then we may rest together as in a Bed of Repose in the delightsom Arms of our Father's love that forever we may sing the Song of the Lamb and sound forth the Praises of the Almighty together that you may know the Lord is with me and that the holy One of Israel is indeed become my everlasting Support And unto you all Friends Erethren and fellow Members of the heavenly Body these are the pourings forth of Gods infinite Love free for all that can receive it And thus in few words as unto you my Brethren even desiring to be felt and received in that which comprehendeth all words and is more than words can express in which the words end which was before the words were where my dwelling is and you that truly know me know it so to be where-with you in the eternal Beeing and Substance of all living I rest in the Fountain of Mercy desiring daily in my pourings forth of my Soul unto God that you all may walk blamelesly and be preserved in the Truth of your Hearts to stand stedfast in the day of Tryal at hand And so in the power of Wisdom which is the Refuge of the Innocent the Lord God Almighty of Heaven and Earth preserve you all and keep you all for evermore Amen And hereby you may likewise know that I am in health and strength of Body and Soul and that my Heart is sometimes enlarged with the Power of Gods Love and my Spirit at Liberty which is out of their power to imprison by whom my Body is shut up in the close unsavoury Prison of my late and long sad Sufferings in the common Goal at Winchester where this is written by him that God hath called herein to be your Servant in obedience to his blessed Will known to the World but unto you in that which is nearer than this Name Humphry Smith Concerning TYTHES TYthes at first were not required but given only of the Spoils of the War only once by Abraham unto him that was made like unto the Son but the Substance being come even Christ who was before the Wars and before Abraham he redeems out of the Lust from whence the Wars arise and so bringeth to an end of that from whence Wars come and so to an End of that from whence Tythes were first given and so to give nor pay Tythes any longer being redeemed out of Lust and Wars and Fightings by the Blood of Jesus who said I am the Light that abideth a Priest forever and his day Abraham rejoyced to see who brings to the End of the Tythes and makes War with that and slayes that which caused men to Slay one another in the Wars who comes to save the Life who is Greater than Abraham who being now come denyeth fighting and saith He that taketh the Sword shall perish with the Sword And so that was to perish whereby Tythes were first given then must there needs be an end of Tythes which also perisheth with the using and the Law for the Tythes which had a shadow of good things to come decayes and waxes old and vanisheth away the good things themselves being come and good will towards man and the Covenant of Light to joyn the hearts together For Tythes were never given nor paid until after men had killed and slain and done violence and wrong one to another