your Food and know his Reign And quench not the Spirit and stop not the Power Quench not the Spirit but dwell in that which doth stop and quench the Deceit And to you this is the Word of the Lord God And all Friends mind and heed the Life and Power of the Lord God for all that are out of it are and will be confounded Therefore dwell in that which condemns it in which will be your Peace G. F. For Friends to dwell in Love and Unity THE Word of the Lord God to all Friends Epist 126. Dwell in Peace and Vnity with God and one with another that to the Lord ye may be a sweet Savour and to one another A sweet Savour and also in them that hate the Light that ye may all come to witness the Sonship and to be Heirs of God and in the Spirit have Unity The Bond of Peace which is the Bond of Peace And the Seed of God and the Life mind G. F. ALL Friends every where do not delight in Apparel Epist 127. do not delight in the Creature more than the Creator Apparel and Riches Trust not in uncertain Riches which fade and pass away but in the living God trust and love the Riches that endure and fade not away Delight not in the World that ends but in the World that hath no End that there ye may all come to have an Assurance of the Endless Life G. F. To all Friends to keep in the Power of God out of the Cares of the World ALL Friends to that which is pure take heed Epist 128. that with that all your Minds may be kept up to God who is pure Grow as the Lilly that as the Lilly ye all may grow and receive Wisdom from God how to use the Creatures in their places to the Glory of him that created them For Wo is unto you that Lay up for the latter Day with Covetousness ye act in that Nature contrary to the Light taking Thought for to morrow what ye shall eat and what ye shall drink and what ye shall put on Look at the Life which is more than Food and the Body which is more than Raiment and consider the Lillies and Ravens The Lillies Ravens and the Earth and who feedeth them and cloatheth the Earth That in the Faith ye may stand and with it ye may come to see him who is Invisible He who lays up for the Latter Day with Covetousness he goes from that which should keep him out of Days The Ancient of Days up to God the Beginning of Days here the Ancient of Days comes to be seen and the Life out of Death springs and a diligent Serving God is known and every one for his Family provides For he is worse than an Infidel that doth not That which was before Days were Mind which brings to be Diligent serving the Lord and that keeps down the Destroyer And that keeps down the Covetous and the fleshly Principle and that which would run out into the Observation of Days And that keeps the Life up out of the Earth and keeps from trusting in the Riches Trasting in Riches that be uncertain and brings to trust in God who is living who is the Condemner of all the Gods who have Eyes and see not who keep People under their Dominion from the Light But all who to the Light take heed see God who is Living who all things seeth G. F. MY Dear Friends and Brethren Epist 129. Keep in the Seed of Peace which was before the Enmity and Adversary was in which ye will all have Life and Peace and Vnity and Dominion and in that ye will know Christ Jesus to reign The Reign of Christ who was before the World began in whom ye may know your Election and a Sitting in the Heavenly Places in Christ Jesus above all the Earthly Places below and Mens evil Traditions and vain Customs sitting in Christ Jesus keepeth out of them for he was before they were And let all Friends every where pray to the Lord to exalt his Truth to his Glory and his Kingdom which hath no End but is from Everlasting to Everlasting G. F. ALL Friends Epist 130. Dwell in the Truth in my Father's House there are many Mansions said Christ And ye all that do know the Life To all Friends to dwell in the Truth the Life of God the ãâã c. go not from it Heed not Words without Life but heed that which lets you see and know the Father For Mountains will arise and may arise But this is the Word of the Lord God and a Charge to you all in the Presence of the Lord God Heed the Power and Life the Power which ye have formerly known and tasted of and that will keep you until the Day of Salvation and that brings you to know the Kingdom of God to stand in Righteousness c. and that will bring you to comprehend Deceit The Deceit of the World and to fathom it and bring you to be over the Deceit of the World So ye that know the Power of the Lord God heed it and it will remove Questionings out of your Minds it will remove that which causeth Trouble to come into your Minds The Power is the Gospel But if ye go from the Power the formal Part gets up in you and the Wonders you 'll run into But the Power of God it is the Gospel and ye that have received the Power of God ye have received the Gospel and he is cursed that preacheth any other yea if an Angel from Heaven For Christ is the Power of God to whom the Angels must bow And Christ Jesus who was born of a Virgin crucified and is ascended and there is no other all of you that are turned to the Light wait to have him born in you every one in particular I am the Light of the World saith Christ by whom the World was made who doth enlighten Every Man that cometh into the World Christ the Light the Bread of Life Who is the Bread of Life that came down from above and who eateth of this Bread lives for ever Now Every one of you having a Light from Christ the Bread of Life wait and with and from it you 'll see know and have your Food in due Season Now every one that comes into the World having a Light from Christ Jesus who is not of the World and being turned to this Light which he is lighted withal he is turned to Jesus Christ from whence it comes And here none shall say Lo here is Christ or Lo there is Christ but every one with the Light which comes from him Christ is seen with the Light shall see Christ and shall see the Father through the Spirit that proceeds from the Father and the Son and the Glory that he had with the Father before the World began and shall have Dominion
that lets in the Wills of the World upon the Life of Friends and so ye come to suffer by the World But at such Meetings let the Wisdom of God guide you that some may be there to preserve the Truth from suffering by the World that all Burdens may be kept off and taken away So will ye grow pure and strong And when there are any Meetings in unbroken Places ye that go to Minister to the World take not the whole Meeting of Friends with you thither to suffer with and by the World's Spirit but let Friends keep together and wait in their own Meeting-Place So will the Life in the Truth be preserved and grow And let Three or Four or Six that are grown up and are strong in the Truth go to such unbroken Places and thresh the Heathenish Nature and there is true Service for the Lord And to you all this is the Counsel of the Lord The Grace of God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirits Amen G. F. To the Church of God in Lancashire Friends EVery one in particular who are of God and not of the VVorld Epist 15. walk out of the World 's vain Customs Ordinances and Commands and stand a Witness against them all in the Testimony of Jesus and witness him the Substance of all waiting in the Light of God and walking in it then will ye have Unity one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse you from all Sin for through it and by it we do overcome which Blood of the new Covenant is but one There shall ye witness the Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World Oh wait all in that which is pure to be fed alone of God with the Eternal Living Food Go not out among the Swine who feed upon the Outside the Husk among the Merchants of Babylon and so forsake the living Bread but as ye have received Christ Jesus in him walk that ye may all honour the Lord Jesus Christ and adorn his Gospel And be famous in his Light and bold in his Strength which will carry you above the World and above all the Deceits of it Oh in Love watch over one another for good and for the better and not for the worse And dwell in that which is pure of God in you lest your Thoughts get forth and then evil Thoughts get up and Surmising one against another which ariseth out of the vailed Mind which darkens the pure Discerning But as ye dwell in that which is of God it guides you up out of the Elementary Life and out of the Mortal into the Immortal which is hid from all the fleshly ones where is Peace and Joy Eternal to all that can witness the new Birth Babes in Christ born again of the Immortal Seed in it wait my Life is with you in perfect Unity bow down to nothing but the Lord God Bow down to nothing but the Lord. Satan would have had Christ to have bowed down but he would not the same Seed now the same Birth born in you now which is the same to day yesterday and for ever The Tempter will come to you and if ye look forth and hearken to his Words and let them in then ye bow down under him and worship him But I say unto you and charge you in the Presence of the Lord Mind the pure Seed of God in you and the mighty Power of God will cherish you up to the Lord God above all Temptations not to bow down to any thing but feeding upon the Immortal Food ye will feel your selves supported and carried over him by your Father and your God whi is over all blessed for ever Who is the Vertue of all Creatures the Wisdom of all Things all Holy Praises be unto the Holy Glorious Lord God for ever G. F. TO all you Epist 16. My dear Friends who have tasted of the immediate working Power of the Lord and do find an Alteration in your Minds and do see from whence Vertue doth come and Strength that doth renew the Inward Man and doth refresh you which draws you in Love to forsake the World and that which hath Form and Beauty in it to the Eye of the World and hath turned your Minds within which see your Houses foul and Corruptions strong and the Way narrow and straight which leads to Life Eternal To you all I say Wait upon God in that which is pure Tho' you see little and know little and have little and see your Emptiness and see your Nakedness and Barrenness and Unfruitfulness and see the Hardness of your Hearts and your own Unworthiness it is the Light that discovers all this and the Love of God to you and it is that which is Immediate but the dark Understanding cannot comprehend it So wait upon God in that which is pure in your Measure and stand still in it every one to see your Saviour to make you free from that which the Light doth discover to you to be Evil. For the Voice of the Bridegroom is heard in our Land and Christ is come amongst the Prisoners The Prisoner of Hope to visit them in the Prison-Houses they have all Hopes of Releasment and free Pardon and to come out freely for the Debt is paid wait for the Manifestation of it and he that comes out of Prison shall reign So Meet together all ye that fear the Lord God and think upon his Name his Mercies endure for ever his Mercies are in Temptatations and Troubles his Mercies are in Afflictions in Reproaches and in Scorns Therefore rejoyce ye Simple ones which love Simplicity and meet and wait together to receive Strength and Wisdom from the Lord God and in departing from Sin and Evil ye will be able to speak to the Praise of the Lord And meeting and waiting in his Power which ye have received in it all to Improve your Measure that God hath given you for ye never Improve your Measure so long as ye rely upon any visible thing without you Labour in Love but when ye come alone to wait upon God ye shall every one have a Reward according to your Deserts and every one your Penny who are called into the Vineyard to labour Therefore be faithful to God and mind that which is committed to you as faithful Servants labouring in Love some Threshing and some Ploughing and some to keep the Sheep He that can receive this let him And all to watch over one another in the Spirit of God So God Almighty bless guide and prosper you unto his Kingdom where there is no Tribulation When your Minds run into any thing outwardly without the Power it covers and vails the pure in you G. F. Dear Friends PRize your Time Epist 17. and the Love of the Lord to your Souls above all things The Light shew Sin and Evil. and mind that Light in you that shews you Sin and Evil. Which checks you
become one with the Harlot And such Joyn together to put Christ to Death afresh So therefore dwell in that which is Pure and Eternal which guides the Mind to God here is perfect Peace to those whose Minds are stayed upon the Lord Which if the Mind goeth from there the Peace is lost and there getteth in the light airy Spirit in that Nature The light airy Spirit And if the Mind go back to fetch up things again and speak them forth there will lodge the Airy Spirit too the there may be true Experiences and if the Life speak them forth by which they were opened it keeps down the Airy Spirit Therefore Mind the Substance that keeps you in your present Conditions and that which doth disobey or rebel against the Word of the Lord in that Nature lodgeth the Airy Spirit and that which hearkens to things that are spoken out of the Life without that lets in the Devil And so ye come to be possessed with evil Thoughts and Doubts and Carnal Reasonings and Bondage and Troubles these things in you will rest until the Life be risen again within to cast all that forth which the Earthly Ear and Mind hath let in Now if ye hearken diligently ye will learn your Safe-Guard and Judge forth that which is not Pure which defiles that the Just may have the Dominion And here ye will see what stains and what defiles and the pure Eye and Ear will be opened to hear God and the Wizzard and the Inchanter and the Sorcerer and the Soothsayer all that will be kept out and Judged For none of that must live in Israel where there is to be no Transgression For where they live Truth doth not and where Truth doth live that doth not but is all judged out G. F. To Friends for all to wait and walk in the Truth ALL Friends and Brethren every where Epist 33. in the Life and Power of the Lord wait and from it none walk but that to the Light of Christ in every one ye may be made manifest that the Fear and Dread of the Lord may be in all your hearts that nothing may reign Keep your Meetings but Life it self And so all your Meetings in every place keep waiting in the Light which from Christ doth come the Saviour of your Souls that his Presence in the midst ye may all feel who are gathered together in his Name and Power in his Light which is his Name and from the World's Gatherings are turned And if any be moved who are turned to the Light with the Power which comes from him To be moved with the Power to the Service for the Lord. to any Service for the Lord to it be Obedient and ye will see Christ with you to the End of the World But if any go before they are moved and so from the Light walk he is a Stumbling-block and is to be Judged and Condemned by the Light and is out of the Wisdom and out of the Fear and soweth to the Flesh and reaps Corruption and by the Light is Condemned For that answereth not the Light in every Man's Conscience neither doth it reach to the Life the Spirit in Prison but it manifesteth Weakness and Foolishness and Nakedness which is from the Light and contrary to it And such are Stumbling-blocks and do not answer the Witness of God in the Conscience Therefore wait all in the Light for to receive the Power from him who is not of the World that ye may be preserved from Nakedness and Weakness For that which goes from the Light and is not guided with it The Slothful runs into the Lust and there is the Slothful which is to be Judged and that that will offend to which the Wo is for it answereth not that of God in the Conscience Neither is it Honourable nor of good Report for that which is Honourable and of good Report answereth that which is of God and answereth the Light of Christ in every Man in the World with Wisdom which from the Light doth come even from him by whom the World was made Therefore all Friends this is a Charge to you all and a Command to you all in the Presence of the Living God In the Light Life and Power and Wisdom of God walk that to that of God in every one ye may be manifested in the sight of God and it may be your Witness that ye are of God in every Man's Conscience which witnesseth against the World and for him who is not of the World And wait all in the Light for the Wisdom by which all things were made with it to use all the Lord's Creatures to his Glory and none to stumble one another about the Creatures for that is not from the Light for which End they were Created and with the Wisdom Wait for the Wisdom by which all things were Created by which they were made ye may be kept out of the Mis-use of them in the Image of God that ye may come to see that the Earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof and the Earth may come to yield her Increase and to injoy her Sabbaths and all such that walk Contrary to the Light may be turned to the Light that with the Light they may see and condemn that which is contrary to it So that in the Wisdom of God ye may all be kept and in the Fear of the Lord and his Righteousness established which is far from Oppression where all Bonds of Iniquity are broken and the Prince of Darkness Judged out and the Prince of Peace reigns under whose Dominion keep and walk And all that cause Strife are to be Condemned and shut out which have their Eye without and are Condemned by the Light the God of the World having blinded the Eye of the Vnbeliever Therefore ye Believers in the Light wait in the Wisdom that with it and in it ye may be ordered to the Glory of God that among you nothing may reign but Light and Life and Wisdom and Power the Dread and Fear of the Lord be among you and Truth and Righteousness reign which will answer the Light of Christ in every Man And all that is Contrary let it be Condemned with the Light which comes from him by which the World was made who was before the World was who lighteth every Man that cometh into the World Though they believe not in it yet ye may answer the Light in every Man tho' it be their Condemnation So being kept in the Light which cometh from him by whom the World was made who was before it was made ye come to receive the Wisdom by which all things were made and with it to order and use them to the Glory of God For that which is not from the Light nor from the Wisdom is the Offender which is to be Condemned with the Light which comes from the Life and to it in you all take heed that your Hearts may be
one shall see the Lord. And let your Conversation be as becometh the Gospel To Friends in Cumberland the Holy Power of God which is the Gospel of Christ the Holy One who suffered by the Vnholy Ones And keep in the Lowly Mind and the Humility of Christ that the Fruits of your good Conversation and Translation and Regeneration in your Lives may appear The Fruits of a good Conversation as a People redeemed from the Pleasures of the Flesh and the Spirit of the World and the beggarly Lusts and that ye may obtain the Promise of the Eternal God and the Power of the Truth through the Word in the Heart the hidden Man that ye may obtain Victory over that which wars against your Souls through which ye may be arrayed and adorned and by that ye may be preserved and kept from that which is not of the Father the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life in the Simplicity and Innocency of Christ Jesus over all the Subtilty and feigned Deceit through which ye may esteem nothing in Comparison of that which is of God and him above all through Christ the Light the Truth the Power of God manifested in you False Liberty And keep out of all false Liberties and that which would lead you out of the Fear of God and in that ye will be preserved in the Sense of the Power and the Truth of God in your own Hearts In that every one watch through which Knowledge and Virtue is ministred unto you and Peace from the God of Virtue and Peace And keep out of all that which tends to Strife and Whisperings and Backbitings and Tattlings which draws from the Witness Watch and Fear of God within which leavens into the Fleshly Lusts and Nature and then that Judges and yet is in the same thing for which he Judges others which Nature and Judgment all is for Judgment and Condemnation So be Wise and keep your First Love break not Wedlock with the Lord Jesus Christ keep your first Habitation keep your Garments clean for such as so do they are blessed that ye may shine as Lights to the World Be Examples in Virtue and be Examples in Virtue Righteousness and Holiness walking in the Truth in all Patience and Quietness looking at the Lord your Strength and Christ Jesus the Conqueror and beyond all the Hills and Mountains that ye may be a good Savour to the Lord having Salt in your selves Let your Lamps be burning and your Lights shining and then ye will see over all the Unsavouriness that is in Adam's Family in the Fall who live in Christ the Power of God that never fell and keep Marriage with him the Holy One the Just One the Light the Truth and Power of God who makes an End of all Vnholiness And so walk in the Righteousness that your Feet may be kept in the Way of Peace And keep both your Tongues and Hands and Bodies and Lips and Minds and Words out of all that which would defile and corrupt you and bring you under the Indignation and Wrath of God and his Hand to be turned against you So keep in the Fear of God and keep in his Truth which ye at first received for Truth never changes And walk in the Spirit and then the Lusts of the Flesh will not be fulfilled and then Strife is kept out that which would be high and get up through which comes Strife and Wars So keep your Fellowship in the Spirit in which is the Unity and Bond of Peace Fruits of the Spirit and the Fruits of the Spirit will appear Righteousness Holiness Goodness Peace Soberness and Gentleness Chastity and Virtue through which ye may have Fruit to feed the Hungry and to relieve the Sick and Poor For the Unfruitful walks not in the Spirit and so bears not Fruit and so the Curse comes and Briars and Misery So eye the Lord God in all things in the Spirit who is a Spirit in that ye may distinguish his things and the things that are of your selves and what is of Men and what is of God and what to keep alive and what must dye So be Obedient to the Spirit and to the good Power of God that hath quickened you and live in it that ye may dye no more for that gives you Life For they that are made alive and come to dye again and to be Twice Dead Twice Dead plucked up c. and then come to be plucked up by the Roots such lye dead upon the Earth and corrupt it So let not the World let not things visible draw your Minds away from the Lord. Do not mind the Body more than the Lord do not forsake the Lord but be of good Faith in the Truth of God and live in it then ye live in Christ Jesus who is your Way who is your Teacher who is your Prophet who is your Priest who is the Bishop of your Immortal Souls Christ that never fell nor never changed nor never will change And here ye come into the Seed the Top-stone The Seed the Top-stone that is atop of the World set and before the World was who will remain when the World is gone who was full of Grace and Truth and Virtue and Life by whom Grace comes that brings Salvation who is every one of your Teacher in your selves So know Christ the Head and Salvation in which there is Peace and no Condemnation for the Condemnation is upon them that are out of the Light And so live in Vnity in the Light before Darkness and Enmity was in which ye have Peace and Love to God to Christ and to one another G. F. An Epistle to the Travellers in the Lord's Way with a Testimony against the False Prophets and them that hold them up FRriends Epist 38. All are to receive your Spiritual Bread and Water from the Father of Life by which ye may be strengthened and watered from the Father of Life in your passing and travelling on in your Spiritual Journey heartily and comfortably that ye may come to your heavenly Rest The Spiritual Travel being come and coming out of the great City of Sodom towards the City of heavenly Jerusalem where ye shall abide Eternally for ever Reason not with Flesh and Blood that shall never enter take not Counsel of that which draws thee nearer to Carnal things and draws thee to Consult with Carnal Reason Carnal Reasoning and so draws thy Eye and Mind to Visible things and so brings thee to wander from going on thy Journey and if thou followest that thou goest to Death Hell and Destruction and to the Pit and the Snare and that gets Dominion over thee and comes to rule over thee which ought not But every one wait in the pure Spirit to guide you to God then ye shall see the Promise of God fulfilled in you and the Springs of Life opened to you and Refreshment
are to depart from God as Cursed to Everlasting Punishment where then will ye find him that ye talk of with your Mouths and call your Saviour Ye that live in your vain wicked profane Ways and take him to be your Cloak and say Ye are Redeemed by him and live in your Wickedness Go ye Cursed he will say I know you not Plagues Wo and Misery will be poured upon you all Let every one that nameth the Name of the Lord depart from Iniquity None can call him Lord but by the Holy Ghost and where the Holy Ghost is come there he is Lord and King This is witnessed in all his Saints where he is so but in Cain's Generation it is not but he persecutes it But he is risen and come in his Saints who is Lord and King who will reign over all the World and bear the Government upon his Shoulders The Lord is King in his Saints For the Lord is King in his Saints he guards them and guides them with his mighty Power and doth preserve his Seed and Children from the Seed of Evil-doers into his Kingdom of Glory and Eternal Rest where they find Joy and Peace and Rest Eternal All Glory and Praise be to the Lord God Almighty for ever G. F. ALL Friends in Westmorland Cumberland Bishoprick New-Castleside Northumberland and Lancashire Epist 39. Wait in the Measure of the Spirit of the Living God that with it all your Minds may be guided up to the Living God To Friends in the North. and to it take heed that ye may have Dominion over these Spirits that are in the Earth that in the Spirit of the Living God ye may all know one another and with it come to reign over the World in the Power of the mighty God which upholds all things and wait to receive Wisdom from God who created the Creatures to his Glory And the Lord God Almighty keep you all in the Spirit and be with you all And all of you Live in the Life live in the Life that with it ye may come to know the Father of Life and all being led with the Spirit of the Living God the Lord's Presence ye will enjoy and all that is contrary with it will be Judged So the Lord God Almighty preserve you in that which is Pure up to himself who is Pure to receive his Wisdom and that with it and in it ye all may come to be ordered to his Glory who is God over all to whom be all Honour and Glory God blessed for ever that with it ye may come to see the Lamb of God the Saviour of your Souls who was before the Letter was G. F. FRiends Epist 40. I do you all Warn and Charge to be faithful in the Measure of the Life of God Be Faithful which he hath given you And watch over one another that with that which is Pure ye may discern and Vnity have with that which is Pure And take heed of any Lightness and Frowardness which is Contrary to that which is Pure but in that wait and dwell Lightness and Frowardness to shun which doth that Judge in particular and general that the Garden of the Lord may be dress'd and ye in his Wisdom preserved and kept The Mighty Power of the Lord keep you all in his Spirit and with it up to himself your Hearts joined together And see that ye Meet together and be led together in the Spirit and in the Power of the Lord and that out of all Mens evil Wills ye keep which contrary to the Power and Light are This is the Counsel of the Lord to you G. F. FRiends Epist 41. to you all this Exhortation is from the Word of the Lord Dwell in the Life Friends to live in what they profess that with it ye may see the Father of Life And dwell in the Light with which Light the World is Condemned which Light comprehends the World's Wisdom which Light comprehends the World and their Knowledge and all the Deceivers which are entred into the World who are turned from the Light with which Light they are condemned that is the World which hates the Light because their Deeds are Evil and they will not bring their Deeds to the Light because the Light will reprove them they hating it Deceivers and Anti-Christs and you that live in it And all the Deceivers and all the Anti-Christs they are such as are turned from the Light which oppose Christ To you all my Brethren who dwell in the Light which is the Condemnation of the World and of all the Deceivers who are turned from the Light it is not possible that those Deceivers should deceive you who are the Elect which dwell in the Light which comprehends the World I do Charge you all in the Presence of the Living God to dwell in what ye speak and profess and none to profess what he doth not dwell in and none to profess what he is not a Sayer and not a Doer such beget vain Talkers So with the Light all such are to be condemned from the Life So I charge you all in the Presence of the Living God to Dwell in the Light which is the World's Condemnation The Light is the World's Condemnation who hates it Tho' they may profess all the Words declared from them that were in the Light of Christ they hating the Light in the particular with the Light which never changes are they and all their Profession to be condemned and Wo is the End of it and them from Christ who is the Light Wherefore to you I speak Friends that dwell in the Light and love it that to the Light in all Consciences of them that hate it which Christ Jesus doth enlighten them withal ye may be made manifest which is the World's Condemnation In the Light all Friends dwell which comprehends the World which is its Condemnation The highest Religion to it must bend and bow and all that is to be Condemned which is Contrary to it And all Friends dwell in the Light which is Eternal which comprehends the World that with it ye may comprehend the World and rise up and go on in the mighty Power of God as mighty Men of War in the Power and Strength of the mighty God of Life the Lord of Hosts who is with you your Shield The Lord of Hosts is your Armour Buckler and Defence and Armour who arms you over all the Wicked to reign triumph and trample God Almighty bless you and prosper his Work that to the Light in all Consciences ye may be made manifest to the Measure of God which is Pure which is given to every one that with it all may see what is contrary to God And to you this is from the Word of God G. F. To Friends concerning the Light in which they may see their Saviour and the Deceivers TO all Friends every where scattered abroad In the Light dwell
Light That ye may receive the Wisdom from above which is neither Earthly nor Sensual nor Devilish with which ye may be ordered to the Glory of God and with that order all that ye have to order And to you this is the Word of the Lord. G. F. Honouring all Men P. S. is reaching that of God in every Man for that brings to seek the Honour of God the other fades and reacheth not to that of God in Man For the Saints Honour all Men. which were to honour all Men they were in that of God which did reach to that of God in all Men And they that are not in the Spirit of God do dishonour the Son and mis-call Men honouring and fetting up that which is out of the Truth which is to be troden under Foot G. F. This is to be sent among Friends who be in the Light ALL my Dear Brethren Babes of God Born of the Immortal Seed Epist 54. whose Dwelling is in the Power that upholds all things Concerning the Light which Power is made manifest which hath brought you to him that was in the Beginning before the World was and with the Life to Comprehend the World and that which is in it and what it is Life comprebends the World and what it lies in All my Dear Babes of God who are in the Arms of the Almighty dwell in the Light that ye may be manifested to the Light of God in all Conseiences that to the Light which is of God Peoples Minds may be directed and they come to receive the Life and to witness it that gave forth the Scriptures that with the Light ye may see them who act contrary to the Light who are for the Sword who are for the Hammer and who are for the Fire Here not a Deceiver shall stand nor a false Prophet nor an Anti-Christ False Prophete and Anti-Christs who do oppose the Light but with the Light all such are seen and comprehended Which Light is Eternal and was before the World was which comprehends the World which Light is one in every Man's Conscience Which Light is the Condemnation of all that hate it and of all that Profession that is acted in that Nature contrary to the Light My Babes dwell in the Light in the Immortal Seed of God and grow up in it and be cloathed with Christ's Zeal having his Mind that with the Light ye may see them which be from the Light turn'd and act contrary to the Light who with the Light are to be condemned And so all they that make a Profession of the Scriptures declared from the Light and act contrary to the Light that comes from Christ Jesus and yet profess his Command their Zeal is without Knowledge and they will persecute For they Self-Righteousness that be in the Self-Righteousness are in that Nature that acts contrary to the Light who with the Light are to be condemned which Light leads to Christ and brings to witness him the Lord of Righteousness Therefore dwell in the Light that to the Light in all Consciences ye may be made manifest to turn them from the Darkness to the Light and so to Christ from whence it comes that with the Light every one may see their Salvation Christ Jesus and so ye may bring every one to sit under the Vine Christ Jesus and bring every one into the Light which comprehends the World which is the World's Condemnation False Prophets Anti-Christs and Deceivers and all them that hate it And bring every one to the Light which condemns all evil Deeds and Works of Darkness and Works of the Flesh that with the Light they may all see what shall enter into the Kingdom of God and what not And bring all into the Light that they may see the false Prophets and the Anti-Christs and Deceivers A Bruitish Knowledge which are all in that Nature which acts contrary to the Light in which Light is Unity with which Light are they all condemned And to you this is the Word of the Lord. And who turns from the Light and gets the Words of them that knew what they declared from the Light and makes a Profession of them this Knowledge is bruitish But who dwells in the Light and with the Light sees Christ his Knowledge is from that which is Eternal with which Light the other is Condemned which acts contrary to it though he may have the Words declared from it And all who are turned from the Light and make a Profession of the Words declared from the Light and gather there a great deal of Wisdom yet their Minds are turned into the Earth which is a Seat for the Devil there is the Sensualness there is the Devilishness and Earthliness there is the Wisdom that is from below which is acted in that Nature contrary to the Light with the Light that is comprehended and with the Light that is condemned That Wisdom is from below But the Light leads the Mind up to Christ from whence it comes to receive the Wisdom which is from above and condemns that which leads from the Light for that is pure and gentle which is from above but the other is Sensual Earthly and Devilish Perverse and Envious and is with the Light comprehended and condemned Which Light is against the false Prophet whose Words Knowledge and Wisdom is not from it G. F. THE Word of the Lord God to all my Brethren Epist 55. Babes and Soldiers that are in the Spiritual Warfare of our Lord Jesus Christ The Spiritual Warfare Arm your selves like Men of War that ye may know what to stand against Spare not pity not that which is for the Sword of the Spirit Plague and Famine and set up Truth and confound the Deceit which stains the Earth and cumbers the Ground The Dead stinks upon the Earth and with it the Earth is stained therefore bury it And wait in the Light which comes from Jesus to be cloathed with his Zeal to stand against all them who act contrary to the Light which comes from Jesus and yet profess the Words declared from the Light which are only Sayers but not Doers Sayers and not Doers All such are to be troden without the City under Foot and Wo proceeds from the Lord against all such and the Stone is falling upon such and fallen to grind them to Powder Arm your selves like Men of War the mighty Power of God goes along with you to enable you to stand over all the World and Spiritually to chain to fetter to bind and to imprison and to lead out of Prison to famish to feed and to make fat and to bring into green Pastures So the Name and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you And go on in the Work of the Lord that ye may trample upon all Deceit within and without And all they who are gathered together with the Light and their Minds turned towards Christ Jesus
whose Light doth Justifie you who then shall condemn you Therefore in that dwell which doth Condemn all the Evil in the World G. F. AND all Friends every where pray to the Lord to give you Dominion over all and that in his Power and Life and Seed ye may live and reign And all Friends submit your selves one to another in the Fear of God and be one with the Witness of God in all One with the Witness of God and look at that and that will keep you down from looking at the Bad but looking at the Good keepeth your Minds over the Bad with the Lord. G. F. To Friends Concerning the Covenant of Light and Life FRiends every where Epist 63. to the Measure of the Life of God in you all take heed that with it your Minds may be guided up to the Living God from whence Light and Life doth come and Vertue A Note concerning the Life and Strength and Nourishment so that with the Life ye may be kept from that which vails and clouds and darkens where the Mist of Darkness cometh over you Wherefore to the Measure of Light take heed that with it all your Minds may be guided up to the Father of Life from whence Life cometh that the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Christ Jesus ye may all come to enjoy So that in Peace Patience Righteousness and Temperance and Godliness ye may be kept and all grow up in brotherly Kindness Brotherly Kindness and be kept from that which causeth Strife and Sects and Divisions so that nothing may rule but the Light of God among you To that which is pure and lowly take heed that Mastery and Strife may be thrown down and the Evil Eye and the Eye that is out from the Life of God may be known and pluck'd out so that the Light of the glorious Gospel may shine and that ye may all know it And so all awake to the Righteousness of Christ the Righteousness of God whom Man was departed from Christ the Righteousness of God who enlighteneth every one The Righteousness of Christ that cometh into the World that all Men through him might believe So all having a Light from Christ Jesus the Righteousness of God he is the Way to the Father whom God gave for a Covenant of Light Life and Peace Therefore every one in your Measures Wait that ye may see him and come to witness the Covenant of Life and Peace with God receiving his Gift Christ Jesus the Son and Mediator So this I warn you all in the Presence of the Living God to wait every one in the Measure of Light and of Life that ye may all come to witness the Seal of the Covenant The Seal the Covenant and be led and kept with that which will keep you Spotless and Clean and Holy and Righteous where Power is received from him who hath given you a Light so that in the Light ye may all have Vnity and in it be kept and all that which is contrary to it with it may be Condemned And in this Covenant of Light and Life the Gift of God know one another and him by whom the World was made who was before the World was who is now again manifested Glory and Honour for ever be unto the Lord That the Crown that is Immortal ye may all come to see and receive and your own Crowns lay down at the Feet of Jesus And so his Light being come to all your own Works are ceased from and your own Thoughts which if ye follow them they will lead you into Error Therefore wait in the Light which comes from him by whom the World was made to receive Wisdom from him that in it and with it ye may be preserved from the World and out of the World to him by whom the World was made and that Wisdom may be Justified of her Children Wisdom Justified of her Children and ye kept all Low in the Fear of God from all Strife and Deceit and Dissension and Pollution and Hypocrisie and Dissimulation single with the Measure of Light which comes from the Father of Life Every one to feel with the Life of God the Arm of the Lord God not to be shortened but to reach to every one of you all and to carry you all in his Arm and gently to lead them that are with young So feeling the Presence of the Lord God with you ye receive Vertue into your Souls from the Living God who nourisheth his own living Plant and Plants So the Lord God Almighty preserve you in the Light which shews to every one their evil Deeds and reproves for them this is the true Light which if ye come to it and love it ye come to Christ and love him by whom the World was made and it will let you see the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of your Souls and how ye have gone astray like Sheep without a Shepherd For it is that which restores you to Christ the Bishop of your Souls who is the Prophet that must be heard And all who will not come to the Light which cometh from Jesus Christ but hate it because their Deeds are evil they do know that the Light will reprove them Therefore this is their Condemnation The Light of Truth the Light which is your Teacher who come to it and receive it ye receive Christ and he giveth the Power to become the Sons of God which many do witness blessed be the Name of the Lord. Therefore wait every one in your Measure to know the Scripture fulfilled in you which came not by the Will of Man but was learned of God which is for the perfecting of the Man of God through Faith in Christ Jesus and is to be read and to be fulfilled and to be practised which was given forth from the Spirit Therefore every one wait in the Measure of the Spirit to learn of him as they did which gave it forth G. F. To Friends in the Ministry ALL Friends Epist 64. who are moved of the Lord to speak the Word of the Lord whom the Lord hath made to be his Mouth speak not your own Words to feed the sensual part of Man in your own Wills for there God is not honoured and Wisdom is not justified But ye that are moved to speak in Steeple-Houses or to the Priests who have not the Word of the Lord Speak the Word of the Lord faithfully but the Letter speak the Word of the Lord faithfully neither add to it with your Reason nor diminish from it with a disobedient Mind but speaking the Word of the Lord faithfully it is sharper than a Two-edged Sword to cut down all Deceit and as a Fire to burn up the Chaff and it purifies you that speak it And so as an Hammer it will break down all the Contrary And the Word is but One which sanctifies all and cleanseth the Heart and sanctifies and reconciles
it condemn Let this go to all them that dwell in the Light whose Minds are turned towards Jesus the Way to the Father Let that be burnt up which the Light doth discover to be evil and condemns it And to you this is the Word of the Lord. G. F. Concerning Tithes ALL Friends who are in the Eternal Light ye see the Figures Epist 73. the Shadows and the Types the Beginning and Ending of them and with the Light ye come to see the Substance of the things shadowed and figured forth So all in the Light dwell Christ the Substance of the Types that with it ye may come to know the Ministry of Life and the Ministry of Condemnation that with the Light ye may come to witness the Substance Christ Jesus And with the Light ye will see what the Apostle meant when he spake of Tithes and Offerings and of the Changable Priesthood and when he spake of the Substance of those things he had before spoken of who with the Light denied the First Priesthood the Tithes and Offerings that were Changable And now with the Light the Changable Priests are denied and the Vnchangable Ministry of Life witnessed and the Law that gave Tithes and the Commands about them with the Light ye see are ended And with the Light God is seen who was before those things were and the End of those things ye come to see Christ Jesus the Sum and the Substance of them So all ye Summons by Writs to Answer that are Summoned with Writs which come from the Courts ahove to Answer because ye connot pay Tithes Keep to the Light in you which comes from Jesus Christ that with the Light ye may all come to see Jesus the Sum and Substance and the End of all the before mentioned Tithes and Offerings And so according to the Light of Christ in them all speak that to it their Minds may be guided and declare the Truth to them which is agreeable to that of God in every one's Conscience And bear Witness to the Sum and Substance The Sum and Substance Christ Jesus Christ Jesus and shew forth that to them all And declare it to the Highest Judicature in the Nation when that ye suffer for the Testimony of Jesus that ye witness to the Substance Christ Jesus who is ascended far above all the Principalities and Powers and that ye witness to the Ministry of Life And shew forth the Substance to them if ye have an Opportunity shewing to them that ye suffer for Conscience sake And so over the World stand and over all their evil Works and bring all Mens Works to the Light And being guided by the Light it will let you joyn to none of their vain Inventions that are acted and made in that Nature that is contrary to the Light it will bring you to witness the Sum and Substance Christ Jesus over all the World And so if the Spoilers take your Goods let them go and let them take the Coat also And keeping to the Light which comes from Jesus to that of God in every one's Conscience ye will be manifest and keeping clear your Consciences with it all that which is contrary will be condemned And so every one to the Light keeping it will let you pay no Tithes to the Hirelings nor Join with them therein but it will bring you to witness the Sum and Substance Tithes and Offerings in the first Priesthood Christ Jesus For the Tithes and Offerings were ministred in the First Priesthood's time and it was glorious in its place but with the Light it was and is seen the Beginning their Time and the End of them and with the Light the Sum and Substance Christ Jesus is witnessed And all in the Light dwell to guide you that to that of God in all Consciences ye may be made manifest that they that Imprison you for Tithes and resist the Light of Christ in their own particulars that over them all ye may stand being guided by that which is pure that it may lead you to act that no Condemnation upon your Actions may come For who Contrary to the Light doth act upon his Actions Condemnation doth come That so over all the World ye may stand in the Light which doth it comprehend and condemn and with it ye may witness the End of the Shadows And unto you this is the Word of the Lord God And none to act any thing in your own Wills But who act Contrary to the Light and pay Tithes go to the Changable and with the Unchangable are cast out from the Children of Light And so the Children of Light are one in the Light and with the Light see the Body and Christ Jesus the Head and are all one in him Where did any Sue one another for Tithes under the first Priesthood Suing for Tithes But with the Light the Primitive Christians witnessed Christ Jesus the Substance of the things typified in the first Priesthood's time To the Light of Christ Jesus in all your Consciences which comes from Christ I speak that ye may see what ye act and that such as are Sued for Tithes may look to the Sum and Substance the Unchangable Priest Christ Jesus G. F. MY Dear Friends Epist 74. Live in the Immortal Seed and Power of the LORD GOD that ye may Meet in that and in that feel one another The Spiritual Weapons And live in the Spirit in which ye will have Vnity and Peace and the Spiritual Weapons to cut down the Spiritual Enemies of your Peace And dwell in the Life and Power of God that ye may have Dominion and come to witness that ye are the Heirs of the Power of an Endless Life and of a World whereof there is no End and so in this keep your Meetings And dwell in the Peaceable Seed which destroyeth that which causeth Troubles Wars and Fightings in that dwell which was before that was in that will ye have Life and Peace Everlasting AND living in the Seed ye will see the Everlasting Commander that saith Swear not at all Swear not as all and the Witnesses of the true Seed say the same And this is the Command of the Royal Seed which is the Everlasting Commander among the Believers and to all others and they that believe not in the Light it condemns them being in the Evil. The Oath did bind to God in the time of the Law and the Prophets but Christ the Oath of God the Everlasting Covenant ends the Law and Prophets who bringeth up to God and destroyeth the Devil and endeth Strife and Oaths and fulfils the Law and the Prophets And the Everlasting Command of the Royal Seed is Love Enemies To love Enemies which the Jews were allowed to destroy for ye are all Brethren not ruling in Lordship like Jews and Gentiles but the Greatest shall be as the Least amongst you for the Seed is one in all and that is the Master who
and Low that nothing may reign Keep Low but Life among you and unto the Power of God be Obedient And Friends the going from the Life and Power into the Changable things there is the Strife which the Life is over by which Power of God all things were made wherein Wisdom is received to order all things to his Glory So the Seed Christ in you all know which doth go over the Earth and inherits the Promise of God that ye may be all Heirs of the Promise of God And Cease from your own Words The Promise of God but in the Power live for it breaks down Rocks Mountains old and Sandy Foundations and the Bond of Iniquity and makes up the Breach between God and Man and breaks down that which made the Breach So the Seed know one in another which Seed is Christ who according to the Flesh was of Abraham and according to the Spirit the Son of God And this is the Word of the Lord God to all Friends and a Charge to you from the Lord God To live in Peace one with another and that the Peace Life and Wisdom of God may rule you all G. F. To all Friends to abide in their Callings TO all Dear Friends who are called who are enlightned Epist 79. whose Midns are turned from the World's Worships and Teachers having your Eye to the Light and Guide within which is leading you out of this dark World and your old vain Conversations towards God and the World which is without End Mercy and Peace from God the Father be multiplied among you Every one of you abide in your Calling waiting upon God where he hath called you And take heed of Reasoning with Flesh and Blood for there Disobedience Pride and Presumption will arise and there ye will grow up to be Trees Fruitless Trees that bear no Fruit and as a Fig-Tree which beareth Leaves and no Fruit and as Wells without Water Oh! Therefore mind the Pure which would lead you out of this Corruptible Heathenish dark World and its vain Ways and from Destruction and Death to Life And so the Lord God of Power bless you guide you and preserve you on in your Way towards the holy City being called out of the unholy City for he that hath called you is Holy Now many are called but few are chosen Oh! Therefore abide in that which hath called you which is Holy and Pure up to him who is Holy and Pure and let the Time past of your eil Ways be sufficient wherein ye have lived in Wickedness and in the Ways of this untoward Generation lest your Minds do turn back into Egypt and the World and so cause the Worthy Name of the Lord to be blasphemed which hath called you by turning aside and growing into Hardness of Heart and turning from a pure Conscience and making Shipwrack of it and of Faith For ye may see how far many may go and did go and were led out of many things yet did turn again into the World So mind your present Guide and your present Condition and your Call what ye are called from and what ye are called to for whom the Lord hath called and chosen The Lord's Free-Men are the Lord's Free-Men And so abide every one in your Calling with God where God hath called you and there walk in Newness of Life and not in the Oldness of the Letter for he that turneth from him that calleth walks not in the Life of God Therefore all Friends walk in the Truth and in the Love of it up to God and every one in particular mind your Guide that ye may grow up in Wisdom Improve your Talents and improve your own Talents and the Gift which God hath given you And take heed of Words without Life for they tend to draw you out of the Power to live above the Truth and out of your Conditions which Nature will not have Peace except it have Words But every particular submit to that which is of God in you to guide you to God And be ye all Servants to the Truth and diligent in your Callings and serve one another in Love in which ye can wash one another's Feet Serve one another in Love So serve one another in Love and do not lavish out your selves without the Fear of God such are Clouds without Water which have the Words but not the Power flowen up into the Air which have a Light and yet are as Wandring Stars which lead up into the Presumption and thou that art there thy Garments are defiled for thou goest from the Spirit which should sanctifie thee for ye are sanctified through Obedience to the Spirit Therefore every particular Walk in the Spirit and obey it then ye will have all Vnity one with another in the Spirit and ye will see Knowledge Tongues and Prophecies shall cease Prophecies scall ceafe but he that cometh to the End to him who openeth all Truth is blessed Therefore all Friends Obey that which is pure within you and know one another in that which brings you to wait upon the Lord that ye may all witness a living Soul and your selves to be come out of Death For these things ye must all find within there is your Peace and there Refreshing comes into your Souls from the Lord And standing still in the Light within and therein waiting ye will see your Saviour Christ Jesus raising you up out of Death by which Work he is glorified For the Works of the Lord praise him which are Wonderous to the World Now every one in particular mind the Pure in you The Chast Virgins for the Chast Virgins follow Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the Sins of the World and who are not Chast will not follow him For that in every particular of you which is not Chast will not submit to the Pure which would guide you to God but rather submit to their own Thoughts and follow them and run after them and their own Wills and seek to accomplish them and so run out into that Generation whose Thoughts were not as God's Thoughts nor Ways as God's Warys Therefore watch all and abide all in your Callings the Light is that which will let you see your Transgression and your Running aside and the By-paths and Crooked ways and the Generation of Serpents and Vipers And this Light is Christ which sheweth these things Now before these things be known and judged of aright Judgment must be brought sorth into Victory and set up in the Earth where this State is witnessed Now the Woman which is the Church must be subject to her Husband in all things Jesus Christ is the Husband The Woman subject to her Husband in every thing she must be subject to him Who are in the Flesh know nothing of this in the first Nature for it the Mystery which the Apostle speaks of and so it is a Mystery still but where it is
you this is the Counsel of God To go amongst Friends evey where G. F. Dear Friends in the Eternal Truth of God Epist 83. whose Minds by the Light of Jesus Christ are turned towards God Meet often together in the Fear of the Lord and to the Light take heed that with it all your Minds may be kept up to God from whence it comes And in all your Meetings wait Low in his Fear Wait Low Meetings that ye may come to know the Life and Power of Truth one in another And all ye whom the Lord hath made Over-seers over his Church in your several Places Over-seers of the Church be faithful to the Lord and watch over the Flock of Christ with all Dilignce ye which are Strong watch over the Weak and stir up that which is Pure one in another see that in order all your Meetings be kept Be faithful unto the Lord where he hath set you and ye shall not lose your Reward Servants be faithful unto your Masters Masters and Servants not with Eye-service serving them as Men-pleasers but in Singleness of Heart as unto the Lord that ye may come to undo the heavy Burdens Being faithful in your Places where the Lord hath set you there is your right Service And take heed of forward Minds and of running out before your Guide for that leads out into Loosness and such plead for Liberty and run out in their Wills and bring Dishonour to the Lord and the Unbridled Will gets at Liberty and an Exalted Spirit gets up and Pride and Haughtiness and high Words Pride And such are they which add to the Burden and do not take it off Therefore all wait Low in the Fear of the Lord and be not hasty nor rash but see the Way be made Clear and as the Lord doth move you so do and return with speed when ye have done to the Place where ye were abiding and be faithful there that the Truth of God be not evil spoken through you as they speak of Vagabonds and Wanderers that it may not be so amongst you Vagabonds and Wanderers For such are Vagabonds and Wanderers which run before their Guide And Masters rule over your Servants in Love with all Diligence and Meekess knowing that ye have one Master in Heaven And Friends in all Places where any do go abroad as they do pass by Examine them Whether they are going and what about And if they cannot give a good Account to exhort them to return back and abide faithful in their Places until they see their Way mad Clear So Farewell in the Lord. The Eternal God of Power and Wisdom direct and guide you to his Eternal Praise that his Name may be honoured and glorified in you and through you all Be Diligent Be diligent every one in your Places where the Lord hath set you for the Work of the Lord is great and God Almighty keep you to be faithful Labourers in his Work From one who is a Lover of your Souls and whose Care is over the Church of God that it may be kept in Order and that all that are guided by his Spirit may be lead into all good Order London the 15th of the 3d Month 1655. G. F. To Friends to sit under their own Vine MY Dear Friends Epist 84. Sit every one of you under your own Vine and there none shall make you afraid and in that ye will bring forth Fruit to God abundantly to his Praise And in the Vine as ye abide Heirs of Christ ye will all become Heirs of Christ and come all to know the Seed which is Heir of the Power of the World where there is no End and Heirs of the Kingdom and so possess that And live in the Seed The Seed the the Top-Stone the Top-Stone which was before Enmity was in which ye will feel Vnty and Vertue and Love and Peace in that keep your Meetings G. F. An Epistle to Friends that with the Light they may see their Salvation FRiends Epist 85. All to the Light which Jesus Christ hath enlightned you withal that heed that with the Light of Christ the Saviour of your Souls ye may all come to see and enjoy Rest and the New Covenant ye may all witness where ye need no man to teach you saying Know the Lord. The Light shews Sin and Evil. And this Light shews you Sin and the Evil of the World and the Lust of it and the vain Fashions of it that pass away and the Unrighteousnss and the Ungodliness of it for they are not in Covenant with God but are contrary to the Light and to be condemned with the Light Therefore to the Light I direct you that with it ye may see your selves then in it stand that with it ye may see Jesus from whence it comes And not to join with your vain Thoughts nor that which doth consult and set and frame Ways there is the Idol-maker The Founder of Images and the Image-maker and the Founder of the Images whom ye will see with the Light if ye to it take heed And so the Founder of the Image will be destroyed and with that ye will come to hear the Voice of the Son of God and who hears his Voice shall live Stephen Moses And Stephen who was stoned to Death witnessed the Substance and Moses Words fulfilled who said Like unto me will God raise up a Prophet him shall ye hear He heard this Prophet and denied the First Temple and Priests The First Temple denied and so to deny that which God had commanded was more than to deny these which God never commanded Therefore consider in your Life-time how much time ye have spent in Hearing of othem and what Assurance ye have of the Eternal Inheritance which never fades away G.F. To Friends in London THere is something drawing towards you see to it Epist 86. Take heed of the Earth and keep a-top of that which will cumber the Mind and Dwell in Love and Peace one with another Keep a top of the Earth G. F. FRiends In the Power of the Lord go forth Epist 87. and gather with it into the Fold and spread the Name and Truth of the Lord abroad and in his Service be Diligent Concerning Preaching the Truth to the Heathen and all that are out of the Truth and for his Truth be Valiant on the Earth and for his Name 's sake And dwell in that which will pierce the Hearts of the Heathen and will overturn their Heathenish Customs and take away their false Covers and in that Power of the Lord be diligent answering the Witness of God in all Consciences And dwell in Peace and Love amongst yourselves Pierce the Hearts of the Heathen Confound the Deceit and bring the Truth over the Heads of the Heathen to the answering the Witness of God in them all And that is the Word of the
Seed Christ that never fell nor never will fall nor never changed nor never will change In this Seed Christ is Peace and Rest out of all Troubles out of all Whimsies Christ the Rest foolish Dreams Imaginations Fancies false Visions false Revelations For the Seed in which the Blessing is is felt and the Life and the Light and the Righteousness and the Truth that answers the Witness of God in all Men and Women whether they will hear or forbear And so all that are in Adam in the Fall both Men and Women and there remaining in the Fall they never are in Rest nor Peace Adam in the Fall his Travels but are in Travels Wars Strife Fightings the Lusts being the Ground of all this And Whimsies and Imaginations Fancies false Visions false Dreams Arrogancy Pride Ambition Swellings Puffed-up-ness that beings Shame and covers them with Shame which they possess that are in the Fall out of Christ the Second Adam that never fell For in Adam in the Fall is all the inward foul Weather Storms Tempests Winds Strifes the whole Family of it in Confusion being all gone from the Spirit and the Witness of God in themselves and the Power and the Light in which Power Light and Spirit is the Fellowship with God and one with another through which they come out of Adam in the Fall into the Second Adam that never fell The Second Adam the Quickner the Quickener who awakens Old Adam's Children in the Fall out of their Sleep of Sin and brings them out of his Ways up unto himself the Way Christ that never fell nor changed and out of and from his Teachers and Priests and Shepherds c. that change and fall to the Priest Shepherd and Prophet that never fell nor never changed nor never will fall nor change nor leave the Flock in the cold Wealther nor in the Winter nor Storms nor Tempests nor the Voice of the Wolf doth not frighten him from his Flock For the Light the Power the Truth the Righteousness did it ever leave you in any Weather or in any Storms or Tempests And so his Sheep know his Voice and follow him who gives them Life Eternal abundantly who saith to all that are Dead in Adam I am come mark I am come that ye Dead in Adam might have Life Christ the Second Adam is come that the Dead in the first Adam might have Life and might be quickened and might be awakened to Righteousness who are asleep in the Vnrighteousness And so he doth invite all Adam's Posterity to come to him that all through him might believe and come to Light and come to Life and come up into Peace and Rest for in the Second Adam ye have Peace ye have Rest So they have no Peace nor Rest in the Old Adam in the Fall but in the Second Adam Christ that never fell is both the Rest Christ the Rest and Peace and the Peace and the Life But in Adam in the Fall is neither Rest nor Peace nor Life but Darkness and Trouble and Sorrow and Burdenings and Changins And this Adam's Sons and Daughters in the Fall do inherit and possess in the World Therefore all come out of Adam in the Fall and haste to him that never fell nor never changed in whom ye have all both Rest and Peace and Life that was with the Father before the World began And so Meeting in the Name In in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ that never fell keep your Meetings ye who are gathered in his Name and then ye will see over all the Gatherings of Old Adam's Sons and Daughters that be in the Fall and out of his Name But ye being gathered into his Name that never fell Christ Jesus fell the Seed of God over all that set that makes to suffer which was before that was and will stand and remain when that is all gone So Farwell G. F. MY Friends Epist 124. Be faithful and keep your Meetings and in that Light wait which comes from the Head Christ in whom are all your Lives from whence ye have your Light which is the Life in the Son The High Calling in Christ And ye which do witness the High Calling in Christ Jesus and are redeemed by him out of the World and are become New Greatures walk above the World and be not Hasty but in the Light and Life wait that with it your Minds may be directed and guided and joined together with that which is Immortal and Undefild in one Spirit up to the Immortal God And that with the Spirit One Baptism One Faith which he hath given you ye may witness the One Baptism into One Body and ye all with the Light may see the One Faith which Christ is the Author and the Finisher of and that ye may all see the End of you Faith the Salvation of your Souls with that which gives you the Victory over the World And fear the Lord and take heed of Strife and live in Peace and Love one with another believing all in the Light which maketh manifest that all ye may be the Children of the Light And this Belief giveth the Victory over the World He that is of this Faith is born of God and he that believeth in the Light shall not abide in Darkness nor shall ever be confounded For he believeth in that which manifesteth that which is to be confounded and trampled upon and he shall not be condemned but shall have the Light of Life And he that believeth not in the Light is with the Light condemned already And he that heareth not the Voice of the Son of God doth not live but is in Death Therefore he that heareth not the Light which comes from Christ the Life The Voice of the Son of God heareth nor the Vioce of the Son of God and he cometh not to Life And the Hour is come that they which have been in the Graves have heard the Voice of the Son of God and do live and they that do not hear the Voice of the Son of God do not live but are in the Death and the Grave And they that come to believe in the Light hear the Voice of the Son of God and live and out of the Condemnation are come and live over Death and the Grave and Hell and so come to Life G. F. FRiends to you all this is the World of the Lord Epist 125. Know the Seed of God in one another which Seed is Christ Look not out then ye will not Wonder but will be a-top of the Wonderer The Seed The Wonderer which is Christ being known in one another which the Promise of God is to every one of you know the Promises fulfilled in you whereby ye all may witness the Blessing of God fulfilled to you and in you And so in this the Lord God Almighty preserve you all to his Glory and that ye all may know the Flesh of Christ
over all the contrary in the Male and in the Female having a Light from him that gives the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus Which Light shines in your Hearts and there shall every one feel their Treasure in the Earthen Vessel and the Power which is of God Now whosoever goes from the Light which they are enlightned withal they go into the Darkness and they go into the Wonders and run out gazing Lo here Lo there is Christ and saying Lo he is here Lo he is there I am come a Light into the World saith Christ which every one that cometh into the World is lightned withal which Light is the Covenant and every one who are in the Light are in the Covenant with God And so Friends every where keep your Meetings this is the Word of the Lord God to you and do not heed the Lo-here's or Lo-there's neither be troubled but heed every one the Life of God and do not gad abroad from the Truth within that ye may be kept out of all high-swelling Storms Bustlings and Tempests and with it ye may be kept over the World to him and in him that is not of the World And take heed of denying the Truth whosoever do they go from the Light within them and so go into the Darkness and into the Wonders The Wonderer And who go from the Light within go from the Emanuel from the Saviour within Christ Jesus and from the Truth in the inward parts and from the Wediator between you and God and from the Vine and so ye bear not Fruit to the Glory of God And going from the Light within ye go from your Peace and from the Covenant of God and going from the Light within ye go from the Life where every one receives the Light of Life And who go from the Light within go from the Increase of God who go from the Light within go from the Anointing within them and so continue not in the Son nor in the Father All who go from the Light within go out of the Covenant of Eternal Life But every one walking in the Light within which he hath received he shall there receive the Bread of Life Christ whom the Light comes from And so having your Food within ye shall not go forth to gather it but he that is in the Light and believes in it comes to know the Garner where-into the Wheat is gathered The Bread of Life and the Chaff that is to be burned with unquenchable Fire and the Floor throughly purged and the Immortal Crown is known Therefore all Friends keep in the Power and know the Power of God in one another and the Life that stands in God that out of all Dryness and Barrenness ye may be brought and kept in the Living and Eternal Spirit and Power And so the God of Glory keep you from the Evil that is in the World in Glory and in Vnity every one in your Measures Now the Power of God will never be shaken that which is to be shaken or tossed is out of the Power and the Power remains Therefore dwell in the Power which throws down all that which may be shaken or tossed and raiseth up that which can never be thrown down nor shaken And to you this is the Word of the Lord God And dwell in that and keep in that which keeps you out of and above the Knowledge of that which entreth into the Sensual Part for both these will fail Therefore in the Power and in the Life of God dwell which comprehends the World and reacheth and fathometh over it all in that dwell and live there will be your Peace it will keep you out of the Strife and Combustions and Heaps For this all comes to be fathomed Strife and Combustions chained and kept down by the Eternal Power and bound and bundled up for the Fire and judged down and all that which brancheth forth from it that nothing may reign but Life it self and all the Contrary the Filth amd Dross with the unquenchable Fire is to be consumed and burned Wait all this to know here is the Path of Righteousness and Purity and nothing shall stand but the Mountain of the Lord Glory to the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness which is felt and seen And all being kept in the Light and walking in that which ye are enlightned withal ye cannot be in the Strife for the Enmity is out of the Light and the vain Boaster which comes to nothing but is judged and condemned And when that ye are Met together in the Light hearken to it that ye may feel the Power of God in every one of you So here comes your Ear to be opened to hear the Counsel of the Lord God and here the Eye comes to be opened to see the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of you ye all sitting under you Vines So every particular wait on him who received not Honour of Man neither glorified himself but the Light which enlightneth every one Man's Honour that cometh into the World is a Witnesse against all them that seek their own Glory or glorifie themselves or bear witness of themselves Now they who receive Honour from Man are from the Light both he that gives and he that takes it and it is to be stained and the Light stains it and condemns it So every particular of you to you this is the Word of the Lord God Know the Son of God to be revealed in you And know the Seed which is Christ to which the Promise of God is that ye may all witness the Seed of the Woman to bruise the Serpent's Head in every one of you The Serpent's Head That ye may all witness ye are come to him that was in the Beginning and to the Seed of the Woman which bruiseth the Serpent's Head in every one of you in your own particulars Then ye all will come to feed on the Bread of Life that comes from above And such are Redeemed out of the Transgression who are here that witness this But where the Seed of the Woman hath not bruised the Serpent's Head and that which abides not in the Truth reigns there is the Transgressour So that which is out of the Truth reigning the Serpent being Head The Seed of the Serpent and his Food he sows his Seed his Seed goes forth from him and his Food his Meat is Dust for he could not feed upon Life that abode not in the Truth which is the Life He that abides not in the Truth which is the Life his Food is Dust and he it is that is tormented And who are out of the Truth are out of the Worship of God for who are the Worshippers of the Father they must be in the Truth and in the Spirit And being in the Spirit and in the Truth they are in that the Devil abode not in but is out of and all
read Gen. 6. And therefore mind God's Ordinance and then ye will know God's Joyning by his Spirit and by his Power And be not corrupted with them that follow strange Flesh and corrupt themselves that creep among you and would be called by you Name Bastard-Quakers which the Priests and the World call Bastard-Quakers And therefore keep the Gospel-Order which is the Power of God before the Devil was and the Government of Christ Jesus which destroys the Devil and all his Works G. F. ALL Friends every where that are Convinced with Truth and profess it and own it About 1660. Epist 191. Keep to the Single Language the good Spirit the Light of Christ Jesus leads to it and that which goes from that The Single Language which doth not live in it is to be judged And then if Man or Woman seek to get Gain by speaking the improper untrue Language and flattering Language of the World which is in Confusion the Lord may take that Gain away from them For Plural and Singular was the Language of God and Christ and all good Men and of the Prophets and Apostles Singular and Plural but the Confused World that lies in Confusion cannot endure it who live not in the Fear of God neither follow the Example of good Men but are in the double Tongue quenching the Spirit and hating the Light of Christ Jesus which is Single And so al Friends train up your Children in the same Singular and Plural Language all Masters Mistresses and Dames or whatsoever ye are called Friends Children that do take Friends Children that are in the Singular and Plural Language it is not fit for you to bring them out of it neither to Force nor Command them otherwise to please your Customers nor to please Men for if they should pay Two or Three for One that would displease you who would have them to speak Two or Three when they should speak Singular Thee and Thou to One. And so do not lose that Testimony which slays the World's Honour and do not go into the Custom of the World's Fashions or Commands nor force others from that which is the Language of God and Christ and all good Men and Women into that which is Contrary to God and Christ and all good Men and Women for there must be 1660 and always was a Distinction betwixt One and Many For if in your Practice ye should not do it but let one have many things when he should have but one thing ye would think to suffer Wrong and your Servants to do that which were not Righteous and so do not they speak that which is not Righteous when they say Many for One and Non-sense and Confusion And therefore keep to the proper sound Single Language For indeed I did hear some Apprentices and Servants that were troubled at their Apprentces and Servants for saying Thee and Thou to one and because they would not say the word You and such who have known the Language from their Childhood And therefore that Selfish Man-pleasing and Daubing Spirit ust be put down with the Spirit and condemned with the Light else ye will presently be ridiculous to the World and to all Men and they will say Ye are not so as ye were in he Beginning and so follows the Customs of the World and not the Practice of Christ and all good Men. And so this is written that all may Fear the Lord and they who have done so may do so no more and that others may be warned and not to go into such things But mind the Truth and Spirit of God the Light of Christ Jesus that none of the Free-born may lose the true Language and speak half the World's Language and half of the People of God For to say to Friends Thee and Thou and to the World You that is Hypocrisie Hypocyifie and therefore for all Hypocrites and Hypocrifie and Dissembling to be kept under Judgment for that is a Dissembling with the Witness of God For ye see the Outward Jews when they went from the Law of God in process of time spake half Hebrew and half Ashdod Half Hebrew half Ashdod And therefore to prevent all Dissembling and Hypocrifie keep to the Spirit of God and Light of Christ Jesus that the Jews inward may not have a Mixed Lanugage no more than the Jews outward to speak half the confused Language of the World and half the true Language Nor to the World speak confusedly to speak the Plural for the Singular and when ye are among the World speak as the World doth and when ye are amongst Friends speak as they do This Spirit is not from the Spirit of God but is Hypocrifie and for Judgment And so let the Truth have its Passage in all things and speak True Words and not False with the Light ye will see who act contrary to it will be condemned by it So let Friends be distinct from all the World in their Language in their Ways in Love and in their Conversations for in that ye are over the World and Judge them by Scripture Scriptures Grammar and Accidence by Grammar and Accidence and all other Teaching-Books for ye have them all on your side to hammer them down withal who follow neither Scriptures Grammar nor Accidence nor their own Teaching-Books and are Judged by them all and the Spirit of God also which leads to one and to divide and distinguish Singular from Plural many things from one thing and One from Two and Three and many Men and Women from One many Ways from One many Churches from One many Fellowships from One and the many Words from One and the many Gods from One and the True Christ from the many Anti-Christs and false All this is distinguished and known by the One Spirit the Light and Power of Christ Jesus which gives an Understanding Let this be sent abroad that all may read it over G. F. FRiends In the Fear of the Lord God live departing from Sin and Evil Epist 192. as it appears in your own particulars and therein ye will receive the Wisdom of God by which all things were made and created A General Etistle to Friends concerning divers Particulars with which Wisdom they may be ordered to the Glory of God that created all things and with that Wisdom use all things and order all that are under your Hands and Dominion to the Glory of him that created them And in this ye will feel the Lord God going in and out amongst you and to be with you and his Blessing and Presence with you in your Actings and he over all giving you Dominion in his Wisdom Power and Life that with that ye may come to answer that of God in every one with which your Minds should be guided up to God And in that ye will be a good Savour to God and in the Hearts of all People that live up to the Witness and are
upon the Mountains publishing Peace binding up the Broken-hearted having Oil of Gladness for them that mourn And this is the Word of the Lord God to you keep ye a-top of the Heads of all the Mountains of Sin and Opposition in Innocency Meekness and true Humility in the Fear of God that in his Dread and Wisdom ye may all be kept Dwell in the Light and in the Fear of the Lord staied And dwell in the Light of Christ that doth Enlighten every Man that comes into the World that all through him might believe and bring all to believe in the Light to give them the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ from whom the Light comes that they are all enlightned with and that they may come into the Covenant of Light with God and his People And so dwell in the Power of the Lord God that ye may comprehend the World and see over it all And keep ye over all the unclean Spirits and Execute true Judgment answering to that of God in every Man and here is the Saints Honour And this is the Word of the Lord God to you Consultings Enter not into consultings with the wrong Nature lest ye Consult with the Adversary whose Head must be bruised and lest in the mean time that blind your Eye and raise up a light Spirit in you and take you Captive But dwell in the Power Dread and Fear of the Lord God that ye may answer that of God in every Man and stop the Mouth of that which Opposes that ye may blind the Eye that will not see the Light and the Ear stop that will not hear it for that must be judged For that is it that keeps all from Conversion and that is the Seed of the Serpent which must be bruised with the Seed of the Woman yea the Head of it And keep a-top of the Head of it that ye may answer that of God in every Man and be kept a-top of the contrary and tread it under feet And so the Lord God Almighty keep you in his Power and Wisdom Bind the Vnruly and by it bind the unruly and when ye have bound them then ye may speak to them and by it to fetter them then ye may catch them when ye will when they are fettered And get the Yoke upon the wild Heifer then will ye save your selves from a Push The wild Heifer and bring them down and order them with the Power and reach to the Witness And see that ye keep the Bit in the wild Horses Mouth The wild Horse whereby his Head may be held down And howsoever see that he be bridled then with the Power he will be ordered though he Snuffs and Snorts the Bridle being kept in his Mouth he is held down by it Though he cries Aha aha that is above the Witness And when this is done being kept in the Power ye will know him that Rides meekly upon the Foal of the Ass the Colt the Foal of the Ass to Jerusalem the highest place of Worship who brings the Prisoner out of the Pit where there is no Water Christ The Foal of the Ass the same to day as yesterday and for ever And the Lamb gets the Victory he that sits Meekly upon the Colt the Foal of the Ass He it is that gets the Victory he by whom the World was made who is not of the World that treads upon the Highest Worship in the World Lay Hands upon no Man suddenly I warn and charge you all in the Presence of the Living God but touch the Witness of God in every one G. F. DEar Friends in Jamaica and else where Epist 195. who know the Truth of God and have been Sufferers for the same All live in it Live in the Truth which the Devil is out of that ye may all be preserved in Peace and Freedom For Truth brings to the Noble Mind Spirit and Nature and Seed which never will bend to Sin and Vnrighteousness nor Vngodliness whatsoever nor to the Author of it And therefore all walk in the Truth that ye may all come to honour the Lord God in your Lives and Conversations in your Words and Dealings Just Dealings doing Truly Justly and Righteously unto all People that God may be glorified amongst you And that ye may come to be as Lights to the World and the Countries about you so that by your Light they may come to walk out of their dark unrighteous ungodly and corrupt Ways which the Corrupt People walk in which the holy and the sanctified Ones are of a more Noble Nature and Seed than to tread in those Paths And therefore all mind that in which ye may honour God and his holy Name into which ye are called that ye may answer the Lord God for all his tender Mercies and great Riches that he hath plentifully manifested and inriched you withal The Love of God That the Love of God may fill your Hearts which hath abundantly been shed in you that so it may abound one towards another and to all the Creatures of God for their Good that they may come to the Way of Life and Peace and that they seeing your Good Works may Glorifie your Father which is in Heaven And so let Truth Righteousness Holiness Pureness and Justness be your Jewels and in your Eyes esteemed above all for Unrighteousness Unholiness and Ungodliness is but Dross and is not of God nor Christ And therefore Live in the Truth which the Devil is out of and in the Life which was before Death and the Devil the Power of it was and in the Light which was before Darkness was and the Devil the Prince of it and in this ye will have Fellowship with God with Christ and one with anothr And so no more but my Love Things here are well and Meetings are quiet and large in this Nation and this part of the World Farewell Ye may Write unto us and let us know how things are with you G. F. DEar Friends in the Power of the Lord dwell Epist 197. which will keep you all in Vnity dwelling in it and all be bold in that threshing down all Deceit and wait to have all your Minds guided with that which is Eternal up to God who is Eternal And walk wisely in the Wisdom of God I Charge you in the presence of the living God and take heed of acting in your own Wills Self-Will judged contrary to that which is pure of God in you And know the Power and Life of God in one another which gave forth the Scriptures which was before the Scripture was which Life the Saints had Vnity in one with another So in the Life God Almighty preserve you And Meet together every where I Charge you in the Presence of the Lord and wait together upon God to have your Minds guided by that which is of God up to him Vnrighteousnes with
Dealing and Wisdom that presseth all the other down and to answer the good and just Principle in all People and that will win People to deal with you Doing Truth to all without respect to Persons to High or Low whatsoever Young or Old Rich or Poor And so here you Lives and Words will preach where-ever ye come All Husbandmen and Dealers about Husbandry whatsoever Cattle or Ground Do rightly to you all this is the Word of the Lord God Do rightly holily justly honestly plainly and truly to all Men and People whomsoever ye have to deal withal wrong not any in any case though it be never so much to your advantage Deny your selves and live in the Cross of Christ the Power of God for that destroys Injustice and without Holiness none can ever see the Lord and out of Righteousness there is no true Peace Therefore all of what Sort soever or what Calling soever Do justly whether ye be Masters or Servants Fathers or Mothers Sons or Daughters to one another and to all Do that which is Just and Righteous uprightly and holily in that you will hve Peace and see God So in all Husbandry Speak Truth act Truth doing justly and uprightly in all your Actions Speak Truth in all your Practices in all your Words in all your Dealings Buyings Sellings Changings and Commerce with People Let Truth be the Head and practise it And in all your Words let Truth be spoken This brings Righteousness forth and Deceit to the Judgment-bar Wrong no Man nor covet nor cheat nor oppress nor defraud any Man in any case but keep your Dominion in the Truth in Righteousness Holiness and Equity in the Power and Light and Wisdom of Christ In this ye answer the Light of Christ in every one and are a blessing to the Lord God and to your Generation ye are serviceable and come to walk in the New Life in which the Righteous Holy God is served In which Righteousness ye have Peace and in which Holiness ye see God For the Kingdom of God stands in Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost So speak the Truth whether Merchants or Tradesmen and all sorts of People whatsoever in all your Occasions and in all your Tradings Dealings and Doings The swift Witness speak the Truth act in the Truth and walk in the Truth and this brings Righteousness forth For it answereth the Witness of God in every one which lets every one see all the Deeds and Actions they have done amiss and Words which they have spoken amiss So the Witness of God Within them ariseth a swift Witness against them for their Words which they have spoken amiss and for their Actions which they have done amiss and brings them to the Judgment-Bar and to Condemnation Here Righteousness goes forth and here the sweet Savour to the Lord God begins to ascend and Truth and Equity ariseth both to be acted and spoken So all Friends of what Calling soever that dwell in the Power of God The Just Principle in all and feel the Power of God and the Light of Christ Jesus Dwell in that act in that that ye may answer that of God in every one upon on the Earth with your Actions and by your Conversations and by your Words being right just and true This goes over the unjust untrue unholy and unrighteous in the whole World and reacheth to the good and true Principle of God in all People which tells them when they do not do equally justly righteously and holily So that is the Word of God to you all Friends of what Calling soever ye be Live in the Power of Truth and Wisdom of God to answer that just Principle of God in all People upon the Earth and so ye answering of it thereby ye come to be as a City set upon a Hill which is above that Mountain that is in the whole World that lies above the Just Principle of God in every one there which the Power of God goes over So let your Lives preach let your Light shine that your Works may be seen that your Father may be glorified that your Fruits may be unto Holiness and that your End may be Everlasting Life Dwell in the Power of the Lord God and Light and Life with which ye may feel and see before the Unrighteousness was in this ye will know the Everlasting Righteousness brought forth which answered the Righteous Principle of God in every one to which they must come down to lead them and guide them to teach them to speak and act Truth justly righteously and holily And that hath the Dominion which doth justly holily and righteously speak act and think and this hath the praise of God and they who do so come to answer that which God requires To love Mercy do justly and to walk humbly with God And this is more than all the Talkers of Justice Righteousness and Holiness Talkers of Justice whose Life denies what their Tongues profess and talk of By that God and Christ is dishonoured So these are no good Example neither serviceable in their Generation nor Creation nor any but they who live in the Power of God and in his Wisdom in which they have the Righteousness Peace Truth Holiness Justice and Equity These are comely and savoury both God and Man And all of what Trade or Calling soever Keep out of Debts Owe to no Man any thing but Love Go not beyond your Estates Keep out of Debts lest ye bring your selves to Trouble and Cumber and a Snare keep low and down in all things ye act For a Man that would be great and goes beyond his Estate lifts himself up runs into Debt and lives highly of other Mens Means he is a waster of other Mens and a destroyer He is not serviceable to the Creation but a destroyer of the Creation and Creatures and cumbereth himself and troubleth others and is lifted up who would appear to be some Body but being from the Honest the Just and Good falls into the Shame Therefore dwell every one of you under your own Vine that know Redemption from the Earth and seek not to be Great but in that and dwell in the Truth Justice Righteousness and Holiness and there is the Blessing enlarged And no one of what Calling soever run into Debt Vsury and Exaction for many People have been wronged thereby they that have taken of them who by it have appeared great and lived above what they were and so would seem to be Therefore be true and honest holy and righteous every one in that which ye have Owe nothing but Love Owe to none any thing but Love and in that ye will feel the Blessing and come to be serviceable in the Creation serving one another in Love and not in Oppression and Taxation And that keeps all down in the Power Wisdom and Life of God and bends all minds to strive for one anothers good and to help one another in
and Praise be to his Name for ever And God accepts you in his Son the second Adam the Seed Christ Jesus who reigns But God is displeased with People as they be in Adam in the Fall as they are out of Christ And so in him be faithful who is your Crown let no Man take your Crown from you Yea I say be faithful to him who was the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World who reigns and sits down at the right Hand of God till all his Enemies be made his Footstool he who was Glorified with the Father before the World began sit down in him the Amen and faithful Witness Let this go among Friends and dwell in Peace and Love forbearing one another and so fulfil the Law of Christ From Lancaster Castle the 1st Month 1664. G. F. Two General Epistles to be read in all the Congregations of the Righteous who are gathered out of the House of Adam in the fall into the House of Christ that never fell to be read amongst them ALL Friends every where Epist 232. who are gathered in the Name of Jesus Christ that never Fell nor Changed yea into him that never Fell being Gathered ye will see over all the Gatherings of Adam and Eve in the Fall from the Garden of God and the blessed State and from the Image of God and the Righteousness and the Holiness that he was in before he Fell wherein all is in the confusion in the Fall The Sons and Daughters of Adam are broken into the many Gatherings being in the Fall from Righteousness and Holiness and the Image of God and the blessed state that they were in before they Fell and so are from the Witness of God the Spirit and the Light in their own Particulars And so as Jacobs prophesie was on his Death-Bed to his Sons how that the gathering of all Nations should be unto Shilo unto Christ Jesus mark to Christ Jesus that never Fell who was with the Father before the World began in whom is the Light Life and Peace and Rest in this Gathering and so that Gathering is out of Adam in the Fall up into Christ that never Fell and in him is Safety and Peace and in this Gathering you have every one a River yea of Living Water in your own Bellies which River comes from the Fountain for all Nations are Blessed in him Christ Jesus that takes away the Curse that stood over all Nations and destroys the Devil the Author of it and spreads over the Blessing again and all are Blessed in him and therefore bless and curse not And all they that are saved walks in the Light of the Lamb and so comes to the holy City that comes down from God out of Heaven into which there is no unclean thing enters in which City there is no need of the Sun nor Moon the Lord God and the Lamb is the Light thereof Of this City which fences out all Bad and Unclean and Unrighteous and the Adulterer and Idolater and the Liar and the Power of the Lord God goes over all the Bad and they that come into this City are Seved as I said before and walks in the Light of the Lamb. And therefore Friends all know the Blessed Truth which the Devil is out of which Truth makes you Blessed through which you come every one to have a Crown and so to Feed upon the Tree of Life through which you come to Live for ever the Leaves of which Heals the Wounded Nations So you that have bought the Truth sell it not for Trifles neither give it nor leave it for that which the Tempter will tempt you unto is out of the Truth to outward things but consider all the Faithful all along how they Suffered and by whom and for what in all Ages since the Fall from the Foundation of the World since the Lamb hath been Slain not joyning to Men in any thing which the Sons of Adam have invented and set up the Sons of God nor the Faithful could not joyn to They followed the Lord his Counsel and his Word and Promises and went through the great Tribulations to the Rest as Pilgrims and Strangers to all the Sons of Adam's evil Ways Religions and Worships them that were in the Worship of God and in the way of God Christ Jesus that never Fell saw over them all And take heed of the rough Garments and rough Spirit of Esau's rough Nature but mind the plain Jacob that supplants rough Esau and mind the constant Truth and take heed of the unconstant and such as are given to changing which the Son gives not himself unto for he ends the changings the Son Christ doth that never changes and as every one hath received him so walk in him that never changes walk not in the Traditions of the Jews that changed nor the Gentiles nor the Apostate Christians but in him as I said before Christ Jesus that never changed and the Way that never Fell nor never changed nor never will change and then you will see over all the ways of the Priests the Shepherds the Prophets and the Teachers of Adam and Eve's Sons and Daughters in the Fall that do change and do fall and stumble and are turned by every Wind you being in Christ Jesus that never fell nor never changed in whom you have Life and Peace and Rest For to Preach Christ the Way the Prophet Priest and Shepherd that never fell and People to receive him they come out of all them that doth fall both Prophets and Shepherds and Priests ways and this is opposite to them all in which they took Counsel against them that Preached Christ the Word which was in the beginning before the Jews Ways and Traditions were or the Gentiles or the Apostate Christians and he will be when they are gone So to Preach Christ is not to Preach up the Jews Traditions nor the Gentiles nor the Apostate Christians nor to follow the Traditions of their Fore-fathers but to follow the Word neither receive them nor them that Preach them and to follow that which lives and indures and remains for ever And this is the Word that makes the Jews to Grieve and the Gentiles and the Apostate Christians to Preach the Word which was before their Traditions were and their Inventions and this is the Word which makes wise Men and wise Women and the Word is the Seed which Seed is sown in the Field and the Field is the World and there is Stony Thorny and High-way Ground and Good Ground and so this is Vniversal Doctrine the Vniversal Seed hits the Stony Thorny and High-way Ground and falls upon all only it is the Good Ground that brings forth Fifty Sixty or a Hundred Fold Increase and such as is the High-way Ground they are so full of the Fowles and of the Air that it takes it away and such as are sown among Thorns they are so full of the Cares of the World and the Deceitfulness of Riches
Meetings in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ that never fell Epist 241. in which you may see over all the Meetings that are gathered by all the Sons of Adam that are out of the Power and Life You that are gathered in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ that never feel him will you feel in the midst of your Gatherings in the Light Life and Truth And so look over all the Wicked's Prisons at the Seed of God Christ which was before they were and will stand when they are all gone And so never heed the Wicked's Tempest Storm nor Hail nor his Arrows nor Instruments of Cruelty let nor the Back and the Hair the Cheek and the Shoulder be ever turned from him though many Weapons be formed against him and his followers yet they shall never Prosper for the Seed Christ shall reign over all and will stand when they are gone which was before they were And so be Faithful unto the Lord God and be Valiant for his Truth upon Earth Shewing that something will oppose it or else what need the word Valiant be spoken And so mind the Truth and not the Wicked's Persecutions and the Living Way which is Christ Jesus who never fell nor changeth in which you may see over all Adam's Sons and Daughters Ways in the Fall who do change being in the Way Christ Jesus that never fell who doth not change in this Way you have Life Eternal in which you see over all in the Fall in which is Death and so Christ being the Way he that forsakes his Way forsakes his Life and he that doth not come out of the Way of Adam that fell into the Way of Adam that never fell lives in Death So let all haste and run for their Lives into Adam that never fell out of Adam that fell for Adam's Ways that fell are the Ways of Death but Adam that never fell is the Way of Life In Adam in the Fall is Trouble and Unquietness but in Adam that never fell is Peace and Rest In Adam in the Fall is Shadows and Turnings but in Adam who is the Living Way is no Shadows nor Turnings So every one in Adam that never fell Christ Jesus who never changeth the same yesterday to day and for ever then you are in the Living Way in which you all have Life in Christ the Living Way which never fell And so He is the Way and he that forsakes the Way Christ forsakes his Life In this all may sound forth Who hath any thing against this Way Christ who nevr fell nor changed 'T was Adam changed and Eve changed and their Sons and Daughters in the Fall are in the falling changing changable Ways But who are in Christ that never fell sees over them all in the Fall that turns about with every Wind as it ariseth And so in your Way live all in Christ Jesus so will you feel Light Life and Power that Life which was with the Father before the World began In that all Feed and in that feel Power and that way never changeth with the Winds and Tempest and the cry is Haste haste out of Adam and Eve's evil Ways in the Death Fall and Changings and run run out of them into the Second Adam the Life and the Way that never fell nor changeth G. F. The Saints Weapons are Spiritual that the Blessing of God may come upon all Men. WE are not against any Man Epist 242. but desire that the Blessing of the Lord may come upon all Men and that which brings the Curse may be destroyed and in patience do we wait for that and with Spiritual Weapons against it do we wrestle and not against any Man or Woman's Person For amongst Us Christ is King who bringeth the Blessing and destroyeth that which brought the Curse And whoever dwells in Righteousness Man or Woman and loves Mercy and doth Justly and walks Humbly with God and hath the Humility which goes before the Honour we are not against But whosoever doth Unrighteously or doth not Justly nor Righteously nor walk Humbly before God and will have Honour before Humility God will overturn such by his Power And in that let your Faith be for we look not at Persons but at the Power of God and know the reign of Christ amongst us And as it is said God save the King or God bless the King we would not have him nor any Man destroyed but saved and so blessed And the saved Man will not suffer any thing to rule that destroys and so our Mind is and we would that all Men were saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth which the Persecutors are out of And all Friends dwell in the endless Power of the Lord in which the Supremacy is known and the Power which hath no end whose Dominion is over all Dominions and will stand when all other have an end and in that is the Patience felt which runneth the Race and obtaineth the Crown and that hath the Wisdom which is sweet and cool and pure whereby the living Truth hath the Supremacy and Dominion and in that keep your Meetings G. F. ALL my Dear Friends Epist 243. this is your Day to stand in him that stood stedfast and reign'd over old Adam and the Devil and all the Persecutors Old Adam did not stand but Christ the second Adam the heavenly Man stood and never fell Ye I say in him stand for now is your time to stand in the Life over Death and in the Light over Darkness and in the Seed that bruises the Serpent's Head in whom you all have Life Dominion and Peace The Lord is coming upon the Wicked in his Thundering Power for they are ripe For they are all corrupt with Blood and their Flesb is rotten and they are all fallen into the Pit being led by their Blind Guides into the Pit and Ditches where they are rot and stink being putrified with the heat of their Lusts G. F. To Friends in Barbadoes Virginia Maryland New-England and elsewhere OH Epist 244. You all that have tasted of the Power of the Lord God and of his Truth that is pure and doth not admit of any impurity nor change O! therefore the holy Truth mind which will let nothing that is unholy in you live For nothing that is unholy can enter into the Kingdom of God and none that are disobedient to Truth must enter into the Paradise of God for because of Disobedience was Man and Woman put out of Paradise And therefore all every where mind the pure Power of the Lord God and the Truth which first Convinced you and whatsoever is gotten up through the Carnal Reason and your Eyes going from the Power of God and that which doth Convince you let that be purged out of your Hearts if not it will lift up your Hearts to Consultations Subtilty Questionings Reasonings and Disputes Oh! I fell too much of that which hath gotten up into the wrong understanding
part through which wrong Liberty gets up which will bring a Plague into the Heart which is worse than an outward Plague O therefore consider the Life and the Power of God hath not the Supremacy in all your Hearts for I feel some Minds and some Bodies have let in that which hath defiled them and doth defile them O Cleanse cleanse cleanse and joyn to the pure Immortal Power for the Power of the Lord God will make room for it self either in cleansing or in vomiting or casting out them and that that doth not joyn to the Power of God Sodom that Whorish and Adulterous Spirit it must to the Fire and gainsaying Core into the Earth And it will throw down that which hath been lifted up The Beesom of the Lord is going forth to sweep the Candle of the Lord is lighted to search every corner of your Houses for the Just walks in the Path which is a shining Light which admits of no rubbish in it O come out of all these things which you have entertained in your Minds which you received not from them that came to minister unto you in the Beginning O dwell in the Power of the Lord God for to keep you low and take heed of getting up into Conceitedness and the Air and to set up that which pertains not to the Kingdom of God but to Strife which never the Apostles nor the Saints since in the Power of God set up for if you do the Power of God will sweep it and you all away And O you that come to be Vessels of Honour and Vessels of the Mercies of God have esteem of your Bodies for such as defile their Bodies are neither Vessels of Honour nor Vessels of the Mercies but of Wrath and are for the Wrath. Therefore keep out Strife keep out Fornication and the Adulterous Spirit keep out the Lusts of the Eye the Lusts of the Flesh and Pride of Life which is not of the Father that that which is of the Father may be received and have an entrance into every Vessel O be not lifted up with a vain Mind and let Balaam's Nature be slain that erreth from the Spirit and raiseth Stumbling-blocks and such as keep not their First Habitation in the Power of God and his Truth become Enemies to such as are Heirs of the Kingdom and the Power of an endless Life Therefore all Friends and People mind that which first convinced you that Power of God which first awakended you and arise and live in it that all your Eyes Minds and Hearts may be kept single and naked to God and to one another and uncloathed of all that which is contrary and is got up since For the Seed and the Life of Christ Jesus reigns and rules Glory to him for ever I have been uncapable to write or receive Writing along time or to speak or bear to be spoken to but have been as a Man buried alive for else I should have writ to you before now and therefore O Dear Friends give no occasion of stumbling keep tender for hardness of Heart is worse than an outward Plague for that brings Destruction many ways And so grieve not the Spirit in others nor in your selves And whatsoever is decent and comely follow honest and of a good report that makes for Peace and not for Strife under pretence of Love for that 's not of God For God who is Love is not the Author of Strife and Confusion but of Peace So I desire you to let Copies of this be sent into Virginia Maryland and New-England to be read amongst Friends in all their Meetings Things are pretty well here Friends being in Love and Unity and the Dread of the Lord God is amongst us who reigns and will reign G. F. An Epistle to be read in all the Assemblies of the Righteous ALL my Dear Friends every where Epist 245. live in the Noble Seed Christ Jesus the Saviour and the anointed One and the Righteous Holy One that your Minds Hearts Souls Spirits and Bodies may be Righteous living in the Righteousness of Christ Jesus in all Love Vertue Truth and Holiness without which none can see God For the Lord loveth the Righteous and the Righteous are in Peace and all Workers of Iniquity their Mouths shall be stopp'd The Throne of Iniquity must down and the Chamber of Imagery in every Heart for the Lord must have the Heart for it is to be his Offering and Sacrifice All Lips must be pure and Hands clean that confess the Lord Jesus Christ and all Tongues and Eyes single to God and one to another and all mind the Lord's Business in the Truth and be given up to him and in it serving the Lord God in newness of Life that all your Feet may be guided in the Way of Peace and to walk uprightly before the Lord in his Way which is Christ Jesus the Light which is Perfect This is the Way of the Just which is a shining Light and in this Way is the Living God well pleased with you And you that grow rich in the World in earthly things who have had a stirring in you formerly in the Service of God take heed lest your Minds run into your outward Businesses about outward things and therein be lifted up above the good and just Spirit and so leave the Service of the Lord and his Business in minding your own For outward Riches and the things of this World will pass away with the outward Riches therein for they have Wings but the Word of the Lord which lives and abides and endures for ever will remain Labour for the Riches of it for that will endure with you and seek the Kingdom of God which will never have an end that stands in Righteousness and in Holiness in which you have Joy and Peace in the Holy Ghost then all outward things will follow which is below So that in Righteousness Holiness and Truth as just Men and holy Men and Men fearing God and as righteous Men Sons and Servants and Children of God you may all live in all Righteousness Holiness Pureness Truth Justice and Equity in all manner of Life and Conversation so that your Conversations may shine as Lights of the World knowing that all Unrighteousness Uncleanness Unholiness Unjustice Untruth and Impurity is not of God but is out of the Kingdom of God and likewise all Cheaters and Cozeners who do enrich themselves by Falshood and all Drunkards Adulterers Whoremongers Fornicators Murderers Idolaters and Lyars these Works and Workers are out of the Kingdom of God and his Power and they are of their Father the Devil who is out of the Truth And therefore in the Truth live which the Devil and his Works are out of and that Truth makes you free In which Truth and Spirit is God worshipped All that do violence cursed Speakers and Swearers are out of the Truth and the Command of Christ Jesus and therefore live you in the Love of God in
leads into here are all manner of Uncleanness Unrighteousness Falsities Puffing-up and Pride and all the crooked rough cross Ways and Mountains of Sin which are become as Graves and Prisons for the Just Adam's State before he fell is beyond all this who fell into this but Christ that never fell is a State beyond Adam and he is to be heard and followed that never fell and in him are People to sit down who is the Rest and Peace and Life who destroyeth the Devil and his Works and makes and end of Sin together with Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness which hath dishonoured God so bruiseth the Head of the Serpent and breaks his Power and crusheth him to pieces that the Seed Christ may rise in all which honoureth the Father Now this being manifest and known in all then the Lamb is known to have the Victory which hath been slain from the Foundation of the World and then in the Seed you come to know your Election before the World began And here the Lord's Words are fulfilled his Glory he will not give to another who destroyeth that that took the Glory to it self which brings up to that Noble Seed and Plant in Man which gives the Glory to God And here as you live in the Seed Christ Jesus your Election you know before the World began and Reprobation since the World began For Core Cain Ishmael Esau Sodom and Egypt Spritual and Temporal have been since the World began For Egypt is Thraldom Bondage Anguish and Darkness and Sodom is Whoredom and Cain disobeyed the Voice of God and Core gain-said the Law and whoever feels all this Nature in them they are Vessels of Wrath and let them not complain and say Why hast thou made me thus For there are Vessels of Honour and Vessels of Dishonour Vessels of Mercy Vessels of Wrath And it is not in him that willeth and runneth but in God that sheweth Mercy Now Esau the First Birth signifieth a Worker Jacob is the Second Birth signifieth a Supplanter and when Jacob hath supplanted Esau the First Birth the prophane Nature Jacob is called Israel that is as much as to say Thou hast Power with God now So where the Election is risen and hath put down Cain Core Egypt Sodom the First Birth slain which brought all the Wrath into the Vessel and the old Bottle broken Here is a new Bottle that holdeth the new Wine and Vessels of Honour and Vessels of Mercy in the Election before the World began and you have all things made new a new Heaven and a new Earth And all Friends that be in any manner of Sufferings Imprisonments or Banishments for Christ and his Truths sake live in Christ and sit down in him in whom you have all Peace Life Vertue and Rest in Christ Jesus who was before all that was that makes to suffer and will remain when it 's all gone and was the First and Last the Beginning and Ending the same to day yesterday and for ever In him sit down and live that doth not change then your Religion doth not change your Worship doth not change your Way doth not change for Christ being you Way who is the same to day yesterday and for ever and your Fellowship and Vnity and Community doth not change being with the Father who doth not change but is the same from Everlasting to Everlasting And they whose Religion Fellowship and Worship changes and gads about and changeth their Ways are fickle and have itching Ears after the Ways that change from Christ who doth not change who is the Way the same to day as he was yesterday to be walked in And all Friends that are in any Temptations or Troubles look at Christ who bruiseth the Serpent's Head your Adversary your Enemy your Troubler your Tempter your Defiler your Accuser he Wicked One fear him not but look at Christ Jesus that bruiseth his Head breaketh his Power and Strength and crusheth him to pieces in Christ have you Peace which was before the Devil was Reign in him Christ Jesus who is your Light and Life and Salvation and fear God and give glory glory to him for ever For this Serpent the Enemy the Adversary the Devil the Wicked One the Dragon the Accuser the Tempter he tempted Christ to the Creatures to the Glory of the World and to worship him to destroy himself but Christ bruiseth his Head breaks his Power and Strenght and crusheth him to pieces and destroyeth him and his works So in him live and rejoyce in whom you have Peace and Life and Dominion in him who was before the Serpent was the First and Last the same yesterday to day and for ever Ah my dear Friends and Brethren every where the Power of the Lord God is over all live in it that you may feel a Vnity and Fellowship in the Power of the Lord God that through that Power of the Lord God you may all come to be Heirs of the Power of an Endless Life through which you may Inherit Eternity and so to feel Life Eternal abiding in you the Manslayer hath not Eternal Life abiding in him that is he that envies his Brother So all the Persecutors that envy their Brethren have not Eternal Life abiding in them Under this all the Persecutors about Church Religion Worship Faith Ministry and Fellowships and Envious Persons having not Eternal Life abiding in them are comprehended Therefore you all fee this Eternal Life abiding in you And he that hath the Son of God hath Life Eternal abiding in him and so in this Eternal Life you have an Eternal Fellowship with God and his Son and with one another And in this the Law of Life that is in Jesus Christ passeth Sentence on the Law of Sin and Death in every Man and Woman and brings it to the Exceution Through which Law of Life Righteousness flows and runs down as a stream and also Justice and Truth Here by this Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus Mark in Christ Jesus you come to know the Lamb's Throne and the Throne of Iniquity thrown down its Mouth stopped and the Chambers of Imagery thrown down and the Houshold of God raised the Fruitless Trees thrown down and the Plant of God raised up which is of his own planting a Tree of Righteousness whose Fruit is unto Holiness whose end is Everlasting Life So mark here the Fruits of this Tree and the End of this Tree By this you distinguish Man's planting and Man's plucking up and God's building you will distinguish from Man's building and Man's plucking down and Man's gathering together you that are gathered in the Name of Jesus distinguish and their scattering Oh therefore be valiant for the Truth which you are come to the knowledge of and worship God in that Truth which the Devil is out of and abode not in this makes you free from the Devil and his Works that ar out of Truth Here in this Worship in the Truth and in the
Christ the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sins of the World pointed his Disciples to him and shewed them Christ and they forsook him and went to Christ For John came for a Witness to bear Witness of him who was the true Light and that He that was to come after him was preferred before him for he was before him Yet when John was cast into Prison he questioned whether Christ was he or whether he should look for another and sends to Christ And Christ answers his Messengers and saith unto them the Blind receive their Sight Christ the Messiah and not another and the Poor receive the Gospel c. And as for these Papists and Protestants and Jews they question whether Christ the Light that lighteth every Man that cometh into the World be the Spiritual Divine Saving and Heavenly Light And further mark Christ's own Words John 12.46 He saith He is the Light of the World that teacheth you how to believe to wit All his Disciples as Christ hath taught them who saith Believe in the Light Now believing in the Light you believe in that which doth make manifest all things for that which doth make manifest is the Light The Light maketh manifest all things and therefore to beleive in the Light is to believe in that which doth make manifest Christ to be their Way their Teacher Priest and Mediator Interceeder Saviour and Redeemer And he that believeth in the Light he believes in that whcih makes manifest all false Ways and false Religions and false Worship and false Teachers and Antichrists For they that believe in the Light it manifests all true Ways and true Religions And so they are no true Believers True Believers believe in Christ as both outwardly and inwardly manifest neither Protestant nor Papists who only believe Christ is come from Scripture as the Jews believed Christ was to come from Scripture But I say they are no true Believers but as they also believe in the Light as Christ the Heavenly Man doth teach For the Jews they may teach their People to believe from the Scripture the Papists and Protestants may teach their Children to believe from the same but not believing in the Light they are no true Believers as Christ hath taught for Christ who is the Saviour he teacheth People how to believe and saith Believe in the Light Which is plain that they are no true Believers that do not believe in the Light neither Jews nor those that have got the name of Christians for Believing in the Light they become Children of the Light And so it is plain they are no Children of Light but who Believe in the Light nor Children of the Day For Children of Darkness may profess Scriptures the Devil may bring Scripture and Protestant and Turk and Papist and Jew may bring Scripture with a dark Spirit and hold them in the Unrighteousness but there is no true Believer in God nor in Christ Jesus but who Believes in the Light which the Scripture testifies of shewing there is no Salvation Redemption Justification Sanctification but to them who Believes in the Light that manifesteth all things nor seeing Christ who died and is risen for them And therefore the heavenly Man the second Adam the Lord Jesus Christ teacheth how to believe and saith Believe in the Light The second Adam the Lord Jesus teacheth how to believe while you have it and this Light will manifest him to be their Way their Truth and Life which Light comes from him who enlightneth every Man that cometh into the World that all through the Light might believe And so they that believe not in the Light as Christ hath taught are no true Ministers nor no true Messengers nor true Disciples nor no true Christians nor true Preachers of Christ Jesus who believeth not as he hath taught them but they that lay away Christ's teaching and teach one another to deny the Way that Christ hath taught to Believe in are keepers of People in Darkness out of the Light and call it Natural created and made and conscience and so with their Darkness and Blindness give the Light such names who with their Darkness cannot comprehend it for he that believes in the Light The Light distinguisheth Truth from Error it lets him see the Scriptures the Prophets Christ and the Apostles words and by it they do distinguish the true Prophets words from the false the holy Mens words from the unholy the sanctified from them that are not sanctified Christ's words from Anti-christ's the true Apostles words from the false So Christ the Light teacheth his People to believe in that which manifests all things and they that believe in the Light hath the Witness in themselves of Christ in whom they do believe they have the Witness in themselves that he is their Redeemer and Saviour and their Way their Truth and their Life for with the Light they see him they believing in the Light that doth make manifest and after they believe in the Light become Children of the Light they witness themselves that they are sealed for their Belief in the Light stands in Christ the Light who hath bought and purchased them and after that they are sealed by the Spirit of Promise having God's Mark or Stamp set upon them they can set to their Seal That God is true in all his Promises in all his Prophets concerning Christ Jesus who taught them to believe in the Light With the Light they see and come to know the three that bear Record in Heaven and the three that bear Record on Earth Three that bear Record on Earth the Spirit the Water and the Blood first the Spirit that beareth witness in the Earth which mortifies them which circumcises them which leads them into all Truth in which Spirit is their Fellowship and a Bond of Peace that keeps down that which troubles them by which Spirit the Believers are Baptized into one Body brought out of the many Bodies and so by the Spirit they are brought to the one Head The Spirit which is Christ Jesus tho' there are many Heads in the World by which Spirit they are sanctified by which Spirit they are instructed by which Spirit they worship God by which Spirit they are covered by which Spirit they pray and by which Spirit they sing praises to God who is a Spirit by which Spirit they have an understanding the Spirit of Wisdom and Knowledge which is to know God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent which is Life Eternal 2dly They come to know the Water The Water which is a Witness in the Earth by which Water they are washed their Minds their Souls their Spirits and in their Bodies with this pure Water and this is a Witness in the Earth with the Light they that Believe in it it manifesteth these two Witnesses in the Earth and with the Light they see the Pope's counterfeit Holy Water which he hath set up since
thing to say have Patience let that Gift be exercised and speak to one another by your selves alone But exercise the Gift oft Patience for that was the way before any thing was spoken against any of the Church and that will shew the Spirit of Order and Government and the Spirit of Love and of Patience and Humility and keep down Passion and that part in your selves that cannot bear all things nor endure all things whereby the Love comes up that will endure all things and bear all things which edifies the Body and by which the Body is edified for the Spirit of the Prophets is subject to the Prophets this shews the true Spirit for that which cannot bear all things many times is forward in Judging that cannot bear all things nor endure all things and so goeth out of the true Love and Edification which breeds Confusion and Distraction and destroys more than ever it will beget to God And also goes out of the Church Order first speak to him alone for by that he may win his Brother Speaking publickly makes Strife some owning and some disowning and that Spirit must be shut out by the true Spirit that keeps Order and Unity and Fellowship and the true Love which edifies the Body And so every one which feels the Power stirring in them to Minister when they have done To live in the Power wherein they minister let them live in the Power and in the Truth and in the Grace that keeps in the seasoned Words and that keeps in a stablish'd and seasoned Life And so all may Minister as they have received the Grace so every one is a Steward of the Grace of God if he do not turn the Grace of God into Wantonness and so to Minister in that Love and Grace and Power that keeps all things in Subjection and Order and in Unity in the Life and in the Power and Light by which you may see that of God in every Man and answer to that which God hath shewed unto People For the true Labourers in the Vineyard do answer that of God the true Ministers brings People to that which is to instruct them viz. the Spirit of God True Ministers reacheth to the Witness of God in Mens hearts and so are Ministers of the Spirit and Ministers of the Grace they answer the Spirit and the Grace and Truth in all in which all that do Minister have Unity and through which they have Fellowship with God and Christ G. F. Not to be over-thoughtful of the things of this World FRiends Epist 268. Did not God provide for Man and Woman before he made them Did he not make all things in Six Days And the sixth Day he made Man in the Image of God in Righteousness and Holiness And therefore Christ who is the Son of God who comes to restore Man up again into the Image of God Not to be over-thoughtful and leads Man up into his Image in Righteousness and Holiness as he was in before he fell Doth he not reprove such as take thought and told them of their little Faith and that they could not add one Cubit to the Stature that God had made and it was the Practice of the Heathens and of the Gentiles to take thought So it 's clear before God made Man he took care for him but after Man was fallen from the Image of God and his Righteousness he took care and toiled though he cannot add one Cubit to his Stature in the Lord's Work For thou maist sow thy Seed in the Ground or Garden thou maist have much Cattel But trust in the Lord for all and other things but yet there is no increase but by the Lord neither of thy Seed nor of thy Cattle for is not the Earth the Lord's and the Fulness thereof Mark and doth he not give the increase who upholds all things by his Word and Power who is the Creator of all and provided for Man before he made him and set him in Dominion over all the Works of his Hands which Dominion Man lost Man lost Righteousness and Holiness in his disobeying the Command of God Christ restores Man into the Image of God which Christ comes to restore Man to and sets Man above all again as he was in the Beginning and up to his own State beyond Adam before he fell to him that never fell And so all that believe in the Light as Christ commanded in the Light they see they cannot add Cubit to the Stature and so they come to grow in the Faith in Christ and in God And so herein hath the Lord the Praise of his Works and all things praise him who hath created them all to his Honour and to his Glory and to his Praise and Man to glorifie him in Righteousness and Holiness in the Image of God and of Christ Jesus above all other Creatures in the Covenant of God in the Covenant of Light and Life in Christ Jesus Him by whom the World was made by him they praise and please God and in their pleasing God they Honour God and Christ G. F. Concerning the single Language ALL Friends Epist 269. that do believe in the Light as Christ hath commanded you and are become Children of Light keep to the proper Speech Proper Speech Thou to One and You to many that is Thee and Thou to a singular and You to many as you may see throughout the Scriptures it was the Language of God and Christ his Prophets and Apostles and all good Mens though it is the Practice of the First Birth and of the Flesh to say You when they should say Thou therefore take you heed of Flattery to please Men and of letting the World's Spirit over you though they have learn'd in their Grammar and Accidence and other teaching Books the Plural and Singular Language yet they speak Plural when they should speak Singular to One. G. F. FOR all that be gathered in the Name of Jesus Epist 270. and are mad a live by him and quickned by him they come to the Flock of Christ and know where they feed at Noon-Day they are gathered into the Name of Jesus Christ Salvation in no other Name than the Name of Jesus whose Name is above every Name and know that there is no Salvation under the whole Heaven but in the Name of Jesus in the Testimony that they have of Jesus which is the Spirit by which they see Jesus and see his Pastures of Life see his Springs of Life and his Rivers of Life and his Bread of Life and see the Foot-steps of the Flock the Testimony of Jesus the Spirit by which they see him and his Flock and they see the barren Mountains they have been upon and come off from And therefore all you that be gathered into the Name of Jesus and walk in the Path of the Just where the Footsteps of the Flock are quench not the Spirit in any and if any
standing that by it they may be ordered and directed in his Holy Service and Business in his Holy Church which Christ is the Holy Head of as they are directed and ordered by the Lor's Power and Wisdom to praise and magnifie and glorifie him with Thanksgiving both in your mesn and Womens Meetings and all other Meetings in the Name of Jesus Christ for he is in the midst of them their Prophet Priest Teacber Shepherd Bishop and Counsellor opening with his heavenly Power feeding with his heavenly Food counselling with his heavenly Counsel sanctifying them to present them to the Holy God without Spot over-seeing them with his Holy Power and Spirit that God may have the Praise and the Glory through Jesus Christ in all and through all who is bleffed for ever So Friends are not to meet like a Company of People about Town or Parish-Business neither in their Mens nor Womens Meetings Frienas to feel the Pewt of God in their Meetings for the Affairs of Truth but to wait upon the Lord and feeling his Power and Spirit to lead them and order them to his Glory that so whatsoever they may do they may do it to the Praise and Glory of God and in Unity in the Faith and in the Spirit and in Fellowship in the Order fo the Gospel and the Devil and his Instruments cannot get into this Gospel which is the Power of God and that makes him rage and he would not have the Woman to have a share in it who first deceived the Woman and now would again nor the Men neither Nor he cannot get into the worship of God which is in Spirit and Truth which the Devil is out of and therefore keep your Possessions in the Power of God and your Habitations there within and in Christ Jesus who bruises the Head of the Serpent who is the Head of all false Orders and Disorders and has made the World like a Wilderness and he in his Instruments is against the Order of the Gospel and the Power of God that Men and Women should be in the Possession of and the Dignity thereof And this many spoke evil of in the Apostles Days and so they do now but the Power stands and the Order of it over his Head and his Instruments and Christ is the same to Day as Yesterday and so for ever and of the increase of his Government there is no End So all that be Heirs of Christ and of his Power and Righteousness are Heirs of his Government and they see there is no End of the increase of it And you may see how the Apostle after he had convinced People he brought them into Order of the Gospel and the Jews after they came out of Egypt they were brought into the Order of the Law of God And as the Christians come to believe in Christ then they are to come into the Order of the Gospel So as I was first moved of the Lord God G. F. moved first to preach the Gospel to go up and down the Nation to preach the Gospel then after the Lord moved me to go up and down to exhort and to write that all People might come into the Possession of the Gospel and the Order of it which is the Power of God which was before the Devil was which is not of Man nor by Man and his Word by which all things are upheld and ordered to the Glory of God And Christ is a Priest after the Order of Melchizedeck So you may see there was a Heavenly Order in the Power and Spirit of Christ's Priesthood as there was of Aaron's of whose Order Christ came not And the Apostle saith to the Church Let all things be done decently and in order And this Order was in the Power of God the Gospel 1 Cor. 14. Afterwards to exhort to the walking in the Order of the Gospel where all Decency is And the Apostle saith Though he was absent in the Flesh yet he was present with them in the Spirit rejoycing and beholding their order to wit the Churches Order and their stead fastness in Christ And as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him So this was the Spiritual Order of the Gospel which the Apostle in Spirit beheld and does admonish them unto in whom their walking should be to wit in Christ the Spiritual heavenly Man and not to walk in Old Adam who was without this Spiritual heavenly Gospel-Order which is the Duty of all true Christians to walk in Christ and his Gospel-Order And it 's said in Psalm 37.23 The steps of a good Man is ordered by the Lord and that is by his Power and Spirit And in Psalm 50. To him that ordereth his Conversation aright will I shew forth the Salvation of God and whoso offereth Praises Glorifies me saith the Lord. So they that offers up Praises by the Spirit they glorifie God which all must keep to and not quench And all whose Conversation is ordered aright it is by the Power of God the Gospel for they are kept by the Power of God unto the Day of Salvation and this is the right Order and everlasting Order which all must keep and walk in by which all Conversations must be ordered aright that all may see their Salvation Christ Jesus who is the Head of the Church and who fees and receives him has Life Everlasting and through him they have Peace with God So all in him live and meet in whom you have Life and Peace that is Everlasting that none can take away which Peace is not this World's Peace And also the whole Church of Christ which are the Believers in the Light Children of the Light living Stones that makes up the Spiritual Houshold over which House Christ is the Head True Believers a Chosen Generation c. all such Believers Men and Women are a Chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation a Peculiar People that they should shew forth the Vertue of Christ that hath called them out of Darkness into his Marvelous Light So into him the Life to wit Christ Jesus by whom the World was made here in him they know their Election before the World began So a Royal Priesthood Christ's Church is called offering up Spiritual Sacrifices to God who is a Spirit and this Royal Priesthood has a High Priest made higher than the Heavens to wit Christ Jesus and this Royal Priesthood is not after the order of Aaron whose Order was proved by his Rods bearing Fruit laid over Night in the Tabernacle and in the Morning brought forth Fruit but your Order is proved by your Rods budding and bringing forth Fruit in the Morning of God's Day which are the Fruits of the Spirit through which Spirit you come to offer according to your Order which is in the Power of God the Gospel the Spiritual Sacrifices To offer up Spiritual Sacrifices c. the first Fraies of the Spirit to God who is a Spirit according
People Glory to his Name for ever Amen Great Persecutions are in most Counties in England and may are imprisoned in many Places and their Goods spoiled and we had a very large Yearly Meeting here and very Peaceable and Quiet And the Lord's Power and Presence was richly manifest in our Meetings and the Lord wonderfully supports Friends in all their Trials and Sufferings and Friends generally are in much Love and Vnity one with another Now Friends we desire that at your Quarterly Meeting you may write over an Epistle to the Yearly Meeting in London of the Affairs of the Church of Christ and the Prosperity and the spreading of his Truth there for we had a large Epistle from the Half Year Meeting in Ireland which declares that Friends were all in Vnity there and likewise and Account was given from Scotland that Friends were in Vnity there Account from divers parts of Friends Love c. and likewise an Epistle was read in our Yearly Meeting here from the Yearly Meeting in Holland which gives an Account that Friends are in Love and Vnity there and in Freezland Germany and other places but at Embden and Dantzick they are under great Persecution and we have lately a new Meeting set up beyond Holland who have been under much Suffexings and Persecutions but they stand faithful so the Lord. And at Algier in the Turks Country Friends there have set up a Meeting amongst themselves which are Captives about Twenty Friends A Meeting of Captive Friends at Algier and some other of the Captives have been Convinced at that Meeting And one Thomas Tilby a Captive Friend hath a Testimony for God and speaks there among them and their Patroons or Masters lets them meet and one of their Masters spoke to a Friend as he was going to a Meeting and thought he had been going to a publick Tipling House and he stop'd him and ask'd him whether he was going and he told him to Worship the Great God and he said it was well and let him go and some of the Turks said They had some among them of their People that would not buy Stolen Goods I have written a large Epistle to them to incourage them and that they might Preach the Gospel abroad in those Parts both in their Words Lives and Conversations and this Meeting there among the Turds may be of great service And now Friends all be careful of God's Glory and seek the good one of another and strive all to be of one Mind and Heart and that the Peace and gentle Wisdom of God may order you all And be curteous and kind and tender-hearted one to another and so the Lord God Almighty in his Holy Spirit preserve you all in Vnity and Fellowship one with another Amen And Friends you may send a Copy of this to the Caribbe Islands to be read in their Quarterly Meetings and you may read it in your own G. F. DEar Friends Epist 316. All that feels the Life and Power and Spirit of the Living God who are made alive by Christ Jesus the living heavenly and spiritual Man and sp are come to feed upon the Heavenly and Spiritual Things which Christ your Shepherd directs you to according to your Capacity Age and Growth and so to know him that God has sent to Feed you above all the Feeders that Men have sent To look to Jesus Therefore look unto him who with his Net which is his Power hath gathered you out of this great Sea the World And now do not build like the Fools upon the Sand of the Sea-shore but upon the Rock and Foundation which is Christ the Life that will stand over Death Tempests Winds and Storms and so looking unto Jesus that is your Saviour that has saved you out of the Flood you may walk upon the World's Sea looking unto him that will finish it and so in truth you can say Faith is your Victory this is your Victory even your Faith that Jesus has been the Author of the heavenly and spiritual Man And Faith comes by hearing of the Word by which all things was made and created and by which all things are upheld which lives and abides and indures for ever which Word was in the beginning with God and God was the Word which Word became Flesh and dwelt among us who beheld his Glory the Glory as of the only begotten Son of God who is risen whom you come now to hear and see and not only so but come to be made partakers of his Glory and of his Resurrection from the Dead So blessed are they They are blessed who have a part in the first Resurrection and you that comes to have part in the first Resurrection that on you the second Death may have no power and such as doth they know a dying to Sin here and putting off the Body of Sin and Death and a crucifying the Old Man with his Affections and Lusts and a putting him off and to be dead from the Rudiments of the World And so they that die with Christ shall live with him and they that are risen with Christ can never touch taste nor handle the Doctrines Commandments and dead Rudiments of Men of the World but let such put on the New Man which after the Image of God is created in Righteousness and Holiness and such comes to live in Christ and walk in him and have their part or lott in the first Resurrection in Christ Jesus and the second Death hath no power over them but they live in him that hath Power over Death Hell and the Grave and over the Devil and the Power of Death Christ Jesus who was before he was the First and Last but they that will not believe in Christ the Resurrection and the Life are for Condemnation with the Devil Hell and Death which is to be cast into the Lake of Fire and over such the second Death hath Power And therefore all that comes out of Death and partake of the first Resurrection and know that they have been Dead in Sins and Trespasses and are quickned by Christ Jesus and know a living here in Christ and a dying here with Christ while upon the Earth for John spake it whilst he was upon the Earth the second Death shall have no power over them and they that does not the second Death hath power over them which as I said before must be cast into the Lake of Fire that burns with Brimstone and such has not the Blessing as they in the first Resurrection but the Curse Wo and Misery And therefore all you who are the first Fruits to God in the Resurrection by Jesus Christ and who know him the Resurrection and the Life and are translated from Darkness to Light and into the Kingdom of his dear Son that stands in Righteousness and Holiness and Joy in the Holy Ghost that you may shew forth righteous and holy Fruits so that you may glorifie God the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ and may beas lights to the dark World and Salt to season the Vnsavoury for every Sacrifice which was offered up to God it was to be seasoned with Salt Every Sacrifice to be seasoned with Salt so every Sacrifice now that is to be offered up to God it must be seasoned and made savoury with this heavenly Salt of his heavenly Spirit so that all may give a good savour to him and be as a sweet smelling Sacrifice to the pure holy God that made all to his Glory and you cannot bring forth this holy righteous and pure Fruit unto God but as you abide in Christ Jesus the Truth who did descend and ascend far above all Principalities Thrones and Dominions that he might have the Preheminence above all and that ye in Him might live above all unto God and so every one of you that has received Christ Jesus the Lord over all So in Him who is your Lord walk who is the Amen and there all the Living can Praise God together and the Living gathers in the Name of Jesus the Name of him who was dead and is alive again and lives for evermore who is the First and Last And here you all know that there is no Salvation in any other name under the whole Heaven but in the Name of Jesus who is a Priest made highter than the Heavens So in his Name keep your Meetings To keep their Meetings in the Name of Jesus in whom you have Salvation and these are the true Meetings and true Gatherings who feels Jesus Christ in the midst of them their Prophet their Councellor their Leader their Light and Life their Way and their Truth their Shepherd that laid down his Life for them that has bought you his Sheep who feeds you in his Pastures of Life and your heavenly Bishop to over-see you that you do not go astray again from God And so it 's through him you overcome and he that overcomes shall go no more forth out of his Fold out of his Pastures who shall sit down in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus who is your Priest that offered up himself for you and Sacrifices you and makes you holy and clean that he may present you blameless up to the the holy and pure God and here you come to witness and know him in his Offices by his Light Spirit and Power and all your Mens and Womens Meetings in the Power of God which was before the Devil and his Power was Of the holy Order of the Cospel in the Holy Order of the Gospel keep them you being Heirs of the Everlasting Gospel the Everlasting Power of God that will last for ever a joyful Gospel in joyful Order a comfortable Gospel so a comfortable Order a glorious Gospel and glorious Order So in this Everlasting Gospel the Power of God in which you have Everlasting Fellowship and Dominion over all Sin and Wickedness Vnrighteousness Vnholiness and all that is bad whatsoever you have Dominion over in the Gospel the Power of God yea over the Devil And this Gospel may every one testifie unto and to the Order of it that it is not of Man nor by Man neither is it received but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ sent down from Heaven which all the Believers that have part in the first Resurrection lives walks and keeps in the Order of this Gospel and so has Power to Admonish Exhort Reprove and Rebuke with all Authority such as talks of Christ and does not walk in him such as profess him and does not possess him such as lives not in the Religion that was set up above Sixteen Hundred Years since such as profess Christ the Way and walk not in the Way the Truth and the Life all such talkers and not walkers are dishonourers of God and causes his holy Name to be blasphemed among such as make no Profession And therefore all Friends that knows that you are alive to God by Jesus Christ and knows your translation from Death to Christ the Life and from Darkness to Christ the Light so that you may all come now to be helps meet in your Restoration by Christ Jesus into the Image of God and his Righteousness and Holiness as Man and Woman was in before they fell For before they fell they were meet helps to subdue the Earth they had both Power over all that God made while they kept in the Image of God and his Righteousness and Holiness and so all that God made was blest and good to them and so none can renew up into the Righteousness and Image of God but Christ Jesus And therefore I say in him live and walk and keep his Gospel-Fellowship and Order so that Men and Women may be meet helps in the distinct Men and Womens Meetings one unto another in the Gospel the Power of God Men and Women helps meet iâ their services in the Restoration as Man and Woman was in before they fell So if the Men has any thing to communicate unto the Women or the Women any thing to the Men in the Righteousness and Wisdom and Power of God in the Gospel-Order in which the heavenly Fellowship Vnity and Order is kept they may as Brethren and Sisters So here is the Foundation of our Meetings and our Men and Womens Meetings is testified unto by the Spirit of the Everlasting God that the Foundation of them is Christ of the increase of his righteous glorious and spiritual Government and Peace there is no end nor of the glorious everlasting heavenly Vnity and Order of his Heavenly Gospel which the spiritual and heavenly Minds keeps and walks in accordingly which is not of Man nor by Man so Man has no Glory but God and Christ alone who is Almighty Omnipotent Immortal Everlasting and Eternal and dwells in the Light blessed for ever the Inexpressible God And so all keep the Vnity of his Eternal Spirit which is the Eternal Bond of your Heavenly and Eternal Peace of your King of Kings Lord of Lords and Prince of Princes Peace Amen All Friends be faithful in the Lord's Power and in his Spirit to the Lord God and his Truth that is over all and will keep you over all as you all do live and walk in it to the Glory of God and bring forth Fruits that is heavenly to his Praise So live in the Possession of Life Eternal which was before Death And so in this Power of Christ nothing can get between you and the Lord your Everlasting Home So with my Love Swarthmore the 10th Month 1675. G. F. To all the Elect and Chosen of God in Christ Jesus before the Foundation of the World FRiends and Brethren Epist 317. It lies upon me from the Lord to write unto you these following Lines First I was sent out by the Lord God in his Eternal Light and Power G. F. sent to preach the Word of Life to preach the Word of Life which was
have the Life and the Truth which Death and Darkness cannot get into which is out of the Truth tho' they may talk of the Words of the Truth but keep in the pure Religion that was set up above Sixteen Hundred Years ago and this pure Religion which is undesiled before God will keep you from the Spots of the World and above all the spotted and dirty Religions that are not pure but are defiled before and in the sight of God And in this Religion in your Mens and Womens Meetings that are in the Gospel of Christ and in the Order of it you will see that nothing is lacking being ordered by the holy pure peaceable and gentle Wisdom of God from above and so keep in the Worship of God in the New Covenant in the Spirit and in the Truth which the Devil that foul Spirit who is out of the Truth cannot get into nor his Company And so in the Seed of Life which bruiseth the Head of the Serpent all dwell and sit down who is the Amen the First and Last in whom you have Peace with God and then nothing can get between you and the Lord God G. F. To the Yearly Meeting in Yorkshire MY Friends Epist 350. In the Service and in the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ the Second Adam in his Power Light and Truth live over Death and Darkness and him that is out of the Truth So all in the Seed that bruises the Serpent's Head stand up for God's Glory and Honour All to walk as becomes the Gospel in which Seed you are all one Male and Female and in which Seed you all have Peace and Vnity that is Everlasting And in this heavenly Seed see that all walk as becometh the glorious Gospel of Christ Jesus which hath brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel by which you do see over him that hath darkened you And this Gospel the Power of God will keep you in Life and in Immortality in which you may all see your Work and Service for the Lord God in Holiness and in Righteousness and in Godliness that the Lord God may be glorified in you all and among you all who is over all blessed for ever Amen And Friends see that all your Children and Families be trained up in the New Covenant of Grace and in Life and Peace and circumcised and baptized with the Spirit That Families be seasoned with Truth that they may all eat of the Spiritual Food and drink into one Spirit in the New Covenant and to feed upon the Substance as the Jews did on the Shadows in the Old which faded away And the Power of God the Gospel is the Authority of your Mens and Womens Meetings and every Heir of the Gospel is to Labour in their Inheritance and Possession in the Restoration into the Image of God in Righteousness and Holiness being made by Christ that never fell helps meet in the Restoration as they were before the Fall who is the First and Last the Foundation and Rock of Ages in him sit down in Life and Peace and Rest the Amen that nothing may get between you and the Lord God and see that nothing be lacking among you then all is well So with my Love in the Lord Jesus Christ London the 3d of the 4th Month 1678. G. F. FRiends Know what the Lord doth require of you Epist 351. and all have a Sense of that in your selves that he doth require which is to do Justly and to love Mercy and to walk humbly with God Now the Lord who is Merciful and Just Holy and Righteous Pure and Perfect he doth require The Lord requireth but in propoation to what he giveth That Man and Woman should do Justly and Righteously and live Godlily and Holily by the Holy Light and Spirit and Truth and Grace that the Lord hath given every Man and Woman to profit withal And so to answer the Holy Pure Righteous Just God of Truth in all their Lives and Words and Conversations and so to glorifie him upon the Earth And the more the Lord gives the more he requireth and the less that he giveth the less he requireth But the Lord requireth of every Man and Woman as he giveth who will judge the World in Righteousness by the Man Christ Jesus according to the Gospel the Power of God that is preached to every Creature under Heaven that is according to the invisible Power manifesting that there is something of the invisible Power of God in every Man and Woman So here the Lord Jesus Christ doth not Judge according to the hearing of the Ear and to the seeing of the Eye for with Righteousness shall he Judge you according to the Light which is the Life in the Word Christ with which he doth enlighten every Man that cometh into the World to the Salvation of them that believe in it and the Condemnation of them that do hate it and that will not receive the Gospel nor the Grace which bringeth Salvation which hath appeared to all Men but walk despitefully against the Spirit of Grace and iurn it unto Wantonness So according to his Grace and Light and Gospel will the righteous God Judge the World in Righteousness by Christ the Heavenly and Spiritual Man who hath died for the Sins of the World though they deny him that bought them and tasted Death for every Man Such deserve his Judgment Send this abroad among Friends to be read in their Meetings Swarthmore the 11th Month 1678. G. F. An Epistle to Friends to keep in the Power of God in their Peaceable Habitations over all the Troubles of the World ALL my Dear Friends and Brethren Epist 352. who are gathered by the Light Grace and Truth and Power and Spirit of Jesus Christ to him the Head over all by whom were all things created the First-born of every Creature and the First-begotten from the dead know him and the Power of his Resurrection that you all may be Partakers of it and of Life Everlasting and may sit together in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus who is over all the First and Last and in him you have Peace who is not of this World for in this World there is trouble and the World did and doth hate Christ The World hated Christ before it hated them yea and his Light Grace Truth Power and Spirit and therefore it is no marvel if the World do hate Christ's Members that do follow him in his Light Grace Truth Power and Spirit and so with it receive him into them their Life and Salvation and so he that hath the Son of God hath Life who is the Fountain that filleth all that wait upon him with his heavenly Blessings and Riches of Life from Christ the Rock and Foundation that cannot be shaken though the Rocks and Foundations of the World may be shaken and cloven in pieces and the Pillars of the Earth may reel and stagger and all
this Immortal Word and so are of an Incorruptible Generation which is above the Corruptible and here is the hidden Man of the Heart that is Incorruptible known that hath an Everlasting Fellowship and hath an Incorruptible Crown and is an Heir of an Incorruptible Kingdom And now the God of this World and his Followers that abode not in the Truth in whom there is no Truth cannot endure to hear talk of the Order of Truth which is in the Light and Life and in the Gospel and in the Wisdom of the God of Truth For the World is full of Disorder and Confusion but the Living Eternal Immortal God of Truth is a God of Order and not of Confusion who hath sent his Son to destroy the Devil and his Works Blessings and Praises with all Glory and Thanks be unto him who hath all Power Might Majesty and Dominion now henceforth and for ever Amen G. F. DEar Friends Epist 357. All live the Life of the true Christians and not the Life of old Adam that went from God's Command and Voice nor like the Jews To live the Life of Christianity and such as have got the Name of Christians that say There is no hearing of God and Christ's Voice now which are out of the Life Power and Spirit Grace and Truth and Image of God that the true Christians were in and Adam and Eve before they fell so that none can live the Life of the true Christians and the holy Prophets and Apostles except they are in the same Power and Spirit Grace and Truth and Faith and Image that they were in which is a Life above the World and its God in whom there is no Truth no Life Light nor Power of the Living God abiding in them And therefore before any can live the Life of the Saints they must bow to the Name of Jesus their Saviour in his Light Grace and Truth and Power and Spirit which cometh from him who submitted himself to the shamesul Death of the Cross and destroyed Death and his Power who had no Sin nor Guile in his Mouth and is risen again for our Justification and so hath tasted Death for every Man and given himself a Ransom for all that all should now bow at his Name Jesus a Saviour and so to his Power and Authority bow who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given to him So all Men have bowed under Death and Sin by Transgression Christ submitted to the Cross and Death for us And Christ hath submitted to the Cross and Death for them and hath born their Stripes for Sin and Iniquity who had no Sin neither knew any to bring us out of Death and Sin Therefore every one must bow at the Name of Jesus as before whatsoever they do in Word or Deed it must be done in the Name of Jesus and before that they can confess to Jesus Christ to the Glory of God the Father they must all bow at the Name of Jesus and bow to his Grace and Truth Light Spirit and Power that cometh by Jesus which they know Him the Fountain the Rock and Foundation to build upon who brings out of Death and Darkness into Light and Life and a Kingdom and a World that is Everlasting and there to have Food and Cloathing that is Everlasting G. F. DEar Friends With my Love to you in the holy Peaceable Truth that never changes nor admits of no Evil Epist 358. but makes all free that receive it and tht walk in it To live in Truth which admits of no Evil. and is over all the Clouds without Rain and Wells without Water and Trees without Fruit And from the Truth floweth Justice Equity Righteousness and Godliness Mercy and Tenderness that brings a Man's Heart Mind Soul and Spirit to the Infinite and Incomprehensible God and from it a Love flows to all the Univerfal Creation and would have all to come to the Knowledge of the Truth and it bends every one to their utmost Ability to serve God and his Truth and to spread it abroad and it brings their Minds out of the Earth which makes them brittle and changeable and uncertain for it doth not change neither doth it touch with that which does change As to Vnity It makes all like it self that do obey it Vniversal to live out of narrowness and self and deny it So it brings all into Oneness and answereth the good Principle of God in all People and brings into Humility and the Fear of the Lord which is the beginning of his Wisdom and it brings all to have a care of God's Glory and his Honour and watches over all the Professors of it for their good to keep within its bounds and walk within its order which he that is out of Truth leads into all disorder in whom there is no Truth and the Truth makes all its Children free from him and in it to reign over him Thanks Glory and Honour to the Lord God of Truth over all for ever Amen The Lord who is the God of all Peace and Order The Lord is the Protect or of his People alone Protects and Preserves his People with his Eternal Power for the Devil's Power is not Eternal it had a beginning and must have an ending for the Eternal Power limits that Devourer and Destroyer And therefore Friends Patience must be exercised in the Truth and keep to the Word of Patience which Word was before the World was and abides and endures for ever and it will keep Friends over and out of all the Snares of the World and its Temptations So with my Love in the Seed of Life that reigns over all and in it the Lord God Almighty preserve and keep you all to his Glory Amen G. F. An Epistle to be read amongst Friends FRiends You that are Believers in the Light Epist 359. which is the Life in Christ To Gather in the Name of Jesus and are grasted into him who is ascended far above all Principalities Power Thrones and Dominions by whom all things were made and created all the Children in the New Covenant do Gather together in the Name of Christ Jesus whose Name is above every Name under the whole Heaven and in whose Name they have Salvation and not by any other Name under the whole Heaven And at this Name must every Knee bow and every Tongue confess Christ Jesus to the Glory of God the Father and they that have bowed their knee to the Name of Jesus and do confess him to the Glory of God the Father cannot Gather in any other Name under Heaven below the Name of Jesus but Gather in the Name of Jesus which is above every Name under Heaven in whom they have Salvation and so cannot not Gather in any Name below Christ for they do know that they have not any Salvation in whatsoever Name that they do Gather together in below the Name of Jesus And being gathered in the Name of Jesus he
but Love that every one of you may be adorned with a meek and quiet Spirit which is with the Lord of great Price and every one of you to be indued with Wisdom from on High which is pure and peaceable gentle and easie to be intreated and full of Mercy and good Works let the Fruits of this appear among you all and then you will all be gentle and easily entreated one of another And keep in the Vnity of the Spirit which is the Bond of the heavenly Peace and then none quenches it and all walking as becomes the Glorious Joyful Peaceable Gospel of Christ which is the Power of God which was before the Devil and his Power was and is over him in this Gospel you all know Life and Immortality brought to Light that you all see your Everlasting Glorious Fellowship in the Everlasting Gospel of Peace in this Gospel the Power of God that was before Enmity was and will remain when it is gone And therefore all you who know this Glorious Gospel of Peace live and walk in it keeping your Glorious Heavenly Comfortable Fellowship in this Glorious Gospel of Peace in which Enmity cannot come as before and in this Everlasting Gospel the Everlasting God who is over all from Everlasting to Everlasting will have the Praise Glory and Thanks who is worthy of all for ever and evermore London the 7th of the 12th Month 1680. G. F. To Friends in Yorkshire DEar Friends Epist 365. In the Lord's Power and Holy Spirit feel his Presence amongst you who hath drawn you with his Spirit to his Son and you that have received him he gives you Power to become his Sons and Daughters and so from the Son of God the second Adam you have Power to meet whose Power is above Adam's Power and his Sons and Daughters in the Fall And now my Friends If you do want Wisdom and Knowledge to order you in the Affairs and Service of God Christ the Treasure of Wisdom c. Christ is the Treasure of your Wisdom and Knowledge and so receive them from his Treasury which is above This heavenly saving Wisdom and Knowledge from whence you have your Grace and Truth Light and Life and the Gospel the heavenly Spirit yea heavenly Food and heavenly Bread and Water of Life from above and the unleavened Bread and sweet Milk of the Word and Water of Life to keep the Feast of the heavenly Man's Passover which is not to be found in any of old Adam's Sons and Daughters Store-houses in the Fall but his old mouldy leavened sowre Bread which makes his Sons and Daughters Hearts to burn one against another and Cloaths them with his old Rags which will not cover their Nakedness which they have stitch'd together which must be all cast off and trodden under Foot by the Spirit and Power of Christ which Power turns you to Christ who Cloaths all his Sons and Daughters with his heavenly Fine Linnen which will never wax old And therefore let all your Lamps be trimmed and Candles lighted that all of you may see your Work and Service for God and Christ in this his Day So that you may have the Blessings from above from him as the holy Men and Women of God had in the days of old so that there may be nothing lacking neither Spiritual nor Temporal And so let all things be done in Peace and Love in the Name and Power of Jesus amongst you and all condescend to one another in Meekness Patience and Quietness in the Fear of the Lord being all ordered with the Wisdom of God which is from above which is pure peaceable gentle and easie to be intreated that all your Hearts Minds and Souls may be knit together in the Love of Christ and that you may be all of one Mind and Spirit in him and whatever you do let it be done in the Name and Power of Jesus to the Glory of God the Father that created all and takes care for all Blessed for ever Amen London the 6th of the 4th Month 1680. G. F. A Letter to the Captives who met together to Worship God in Algier DEar Friends I understand by a Letter from a Friend Epist 366. a Captive amongst you dated the 20th of the 10th Month 1681 That you have a Meeting there in Algier of about Twenty I am glad to hear you meet and it is very well that you have so much Liberty from your Patroons and my desire is That the Lord may preserve you all that do meet in the Name of Jesus that in your Lives and Conversations and Words To preach Righteousness in Life and Conversation you may preach Righteousness and Holiness and Godliness and the Life of Truth so that you may answer the Spirit of God both in the Turks and Moors and the rest of the Captives that God's City may be set upon the holy Hill there which cannot be hid but that all may see it with the Light wherewith Christ hath enlightned every Man that cometh into the World And that Christ's Ensign may be set up in those Parts that with his Light in all Men they may all see it and flock to it and Christ the Ensign furnisheth all that come to him with heavenly Armour and Spiritual Weapons Now Christ enlightens every Man that cometh into the World that every one may believe in the Light and may become a Child of the Light and have Eternal Life and be saved and so the Gospel of Salvation the Power of God is to be preached to every Creature under Heaven And he that believes is saved and hath the Salvation for Christ by the Grace of God hath tasted Death for every Man And the Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared to all Men And therefore all Men if they will have Salvation it must be by believing receiving and walking in the Grace of God which brings it And the Lord pours out of his Spirit upon all Flesh and therefore all Men and Women must come to this Holy Spirit of God by which the Spirit of Enmity may be slain and crucified in them that in this Holy Spirit of God they may all be in Love and Vnity and with the Spirit of God they may all come to know the Eternal Immortal God and serve and worship him in his Holy Spirit of Truth which he hath poured upon them And in this all will honour God and glorifie him through Jesus Christ in his New Covenant of Light and Grace And so my Dear Friends be faithful and valiant for God's Truth upon Earth and do not deny the Name of Jesus To be valiant for the Truth in whom you have Salvation whose Name is above every Name under the whole Heaven that ye may all be with his Light built upon him your Rock and Foundation that stands sure And now my Dear Friends tho' you remain as Captives yet if ye be Christ's and God's Free-men who leads the Devil into
Captain of Salvation And Christ's Government in the Hearts of his People is by his Grace and Truth Christ governs by his Light c. in the Hearts of Men. that comes from Christ Jesus by whom all things were made who doth enlighten every Man that cometh into the World which Light is the Life in Him he saith Believe in the Light that you may become the Children of the Light and such have the Light of Life and by it comes under Christ's Government and Peace and his Order in his Light and Life Now they that hate his Light they hate the Life in Christ the heavenly Man and such will hate Christ by whom all things were made and created and hate his Order and his Justice and Judgment and his Light and Life And such are not like to come into his established Government and Kingdom so Christ who is the Governor the Counsellor the Orderer He orders and governs with his Light his Life in the Hearts of all the Believers in the Light and all the Believers in the Light have the Witness in themselves of Christ their Ruler Counsellor Orderer heavenly Governor and of his Judgment Justice and Peace and that of the encrease of his Government there is no End Now they that hate the Light which is the Life in Christ the Second Adam They that hate the Light refuse Christ to Rule over them the Lord from Heaven they are them that would not have Christ rule over them nor in them therefore it condemns them and what is the matter that all Men and Women do not see but are blind and are not in Vnity Is it not because they hate the Light the Life in the Second Adam and will not come to the Light nor wald in the Light And then is not the Light their Condemnation who are in transgressing Old Adam And how are they like to see or believe or have Faith in Christ that hated his Light and will not come to it which is the Life in the Second Adam And therefore all that hates his Light which is the Life in him are not like to see nor receive Faith from him that will not believe in his Light nor come to it but hate it and such will hate both the Divine Faith and the Author of it And therefore all that do hate the Light which is the Life in Christ which he enlightens them withal they hate his Order they hate his Government his Rule yea Christ the Second Adam the Lord from Heaven And all such haters of Christ his Light Life Order Government and Counsel are in a false Liberty though they may profess Christ or his Government in Words yet not believing in the Light and walking in the Light the Life of Christ they have no true Fellowship one with another but are in Confusion and have no true Fellowship with the Believers in the Light the Life in Christ nor with the Son and the Father for how should they For until they come to believe in the Light the Life in the Second Adam they cannot see their own States they are in a blind State for none sees nor enters into the Kingdom of God till they are Boru again and those that are Born again are the Believers in the Light the Life in Christ and so Bocome Children of the Light grafted into Christ and such do know and see the true Liberty in Christ Jesus the Second Adam All such do see and know that all false Liberty is out of the Light the Life in the Second Adam in Old Adan in the Transgression And Christ that doth enlighten every Man that cometh into the World which is the Life in him such comes to Christ Christ enlighteneth every Man and are grafted into him the Head and so holds Christ their Head by whom all things were made and created who is over all from Everlasting to Everlasting the First and the Last the Beginning and the Ending These are they that see his Order his Government and his Rule in their Hearts and receives his Law of Spirit and Life and live and walk in it which makes them free from the Law of Sin and Death These see Christ to be the Author and Finisher of their holy divine precious Faith And their Faith stands in Christ who is the Author of it who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given to him Christ hath all Power in Heaven and in Earth And the Mystery of this Faith they hold in a pure Conscience and do know the Law of this Faith and the Law of Love that God hath shed in their Hearts through Jesus Christ And so in this Light Faith and Life that they have from Jesus the Second Adam the Lord from Heaven they come all to be of one Faith of one Light and one Life and so of one Mind Heart and Judgment in this New Covenant of Light and Life so in it they are under the Government and Counsel and Order of Jesus that he establishes in his Everlasting Covenant of Light and Life in their Hearts The Law came by Moses and all the Jews were to be under the Law in the Old Covenant and this Law served till Christ the Seed came in his New Covenant He is come and now Grace and Truth is come by Jesus Christ the great Governor And now this Grace and this Truth is come form Him into the Hearts of all his Believers And with and in this Grace and Truth Christ rules in the Hearts of them that receives his Grace and Truth and with this Grace and Truth and in it every Believer and Saint receiveth Christ their Governor and his Order and his Counsel and heavenly Judgment and Justice from the heavenly Man in his established Government The Grace of God bringeth Salvation which he establishes with his Grace and Truth Now this Grace of God which brings Salvation which hath appeared unto all Men which does manifest that all Men have a Day of Grace and Favour Now this must needs be the special Grace of God which brings Salvation which hath appeared unto all Men. Now then not receiving this Grace and Favour of God but turning from this Grace into Wantonness and walking despitefully against the Spirit of Grace therein they are hardened and blind and turns that into Wantonness and walks despitefully against it which should teach them and bring their Salvation And therefore such comes to be blind and hardened against the Grace and Favour of God that truns it into Wantonness as I said before and walks despitefully against the Spirit of Grace and Truth and such turns against God and Christ from whence Grace and Truth comes and turns from and against his People that are established in the Grace of God that brings their Salvation Tho' such may profess God and Christ in Words only and his Grace and Truth their Profession will come to nothing except they receive his Grace and Truth into their Hearts They that
Spirit and Truth And thereforefore Friends you that have been turned to the Light and Truth and Grace of Christ and know the Power and Spirit of Jesus walk in the same and in it keep your Fellowship and your Dominion over all that which is out of the Truth and abides not in the Truth And that your heavenly Light may shine and you may all be kept in Love and Vnity in the same Light Power and Spirit to the Glory of God and the Comfort one of another Amen London the 27 of the 3d Month 1684. G. F. To the suffering Friends of Dantzick FRiends Epist 396. With my Love in the Lord Jesus Christ to you who is your Saviour and Prophet Christ the Prophet Shepherd High-Priest and Bishop of Souls that God has raised up for you to hear in all things your Shepherd that has laid down his Life for you whose Voice ye must hear who will seed you in his Living Pastures of Life who is your Priest that offered himself for you who sanctifies you that he might present you to God So is become your High Priest who is made higher than the Heavens so is a higher Priest than the Priesthood of Aaron and all the Priesthoods upon the Earth that are made by Men below For he is a High-Priest made higher than the Heavens Hebr. 7. And so is the chief Shepherd and Bishop of your Souls to Oversee you that you do not go astray from God who is your Sanctuary in whom you are preserved from the Destroyer who destroys the Devil the great Destroyer and his Works and bruises his Head and breaks his Power He namely Christ is your Saviour in him you have Rest and Peace Salvation and Life Eternal Now Dear Friends We do hear and understand that the Magistrates have cast you into Prison again in Dantzick and that they have proffered you your Liberty upon Condition that you would go away or forsake your common Meeting-place or divide your selves into several little Meetings Truly Friends we have had many of these proffers made to Us within this Twenty or Thirty Years but we never durst make such Bargains or Covenants to forsake the Assembling of our selves together as we used to do but did leave our suffering Cause wholly to the Lord Christ Jesus To Commit our Cause to God in whose Name we were gathered who has all Power in Heaven and Earth given unto him And the Lord at last did and hath tendered the Hearts of many of our Prosecutors both in England and other Places and therefore in the Spirit and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ it is good to be faithful who is God all sufficient to support and supply you all in whatever you do and strengthen you in all Conditions For if that should get a little Advantage upon you and get you into Weakness it would not rest so but get more upon you And therefore it is good to stand fast in the Liberty in Christ Jesus the Second Adam the Lord from Heaven who hath made you free out of the Snares and Bondage and Limitations of the Wills of the Sons of Old Adam And whereas some of the Magistrates have alledg'd That Christ departed out of the Coasts of the Gadarenes upon their Request after he had cast the Devils out of the possest Men and they enter'd into their Swine and run into the Sea This Argument is of no weight for you to go out of their Coasts or City who are settled Citizens and have Wives and Families for Christ went up and down from Place to Place and preached as he said The Son of Man hath not where to lay his Head though the subtle Foxes had Holes and the high-flown Fowls had their Nests And would they take it kindly themselves if the King of Poland their Protector who is of a contrary Profession should use the same Argument to them and say Be gone or else do not meet at your great Publick Places of Worship but meet in small Companies or else to depart out of these Coasts as Christ did out of the Coasts of the Gadarenes And if ye do not then you are disobedient to Christ's Example as they do apply it upon you And so let them weigh the Matter and their Argument with the just Law of God to do unto you as they would be done unto themselves And now Dear Friends I desire however that you walk wisely To walk wisely before all and gently and lovingly and meekly and soberly to all the Magistrates and all People that they may have no just Occasion in any thing against you For the Good must overcome the Bad as the Apostle says Overcome Evil with Good and dwell in that Love that can bear all things and endure all things And nothing can separate you from this Love which you have in God through Jesus Christ In this Love build up and edifie one another that by it you may answer the Good in all People and spread his Truth abroad and be valiant for that upon Earth So in his Holy peaceable Truth and his Seed Christ Jesus in which all Nations are blest God Almighty preserve and keep you to his Glory Amen And now Dear Friends To take beed lest Flattery prevail more than Cruelty you that have stood such hard and cruel Sufferings so long for the Lord's Name and Truth and could not be overcome by Cruelty take heed now lest you be overcome by fair Words and Flattery for in that there is a greater Danger G. F. An Epistle to Friends against Pride Haughtiness and the vain Customs and Fashions of the World FRiends Epist 397. Here you may see how the holy Men of God testifie against Pride Against Pride Haughtiness c. Haughtiness High-mindedness and the abominable Customs and Fashions and the ungodly Lusts of the World which is not of the Father but of the World And how Man and Woman came into these things by forsaking the Lord and so falling from his Image And how Christ renews them up into the Image of God again to serve him in Humility And all that are in the Image of God are of one Mind To all Friends and Brethren every where Peace from God and the Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied in you who by his Grace Light and Spirit are turned towards the Lord to receive it from him and that by it you may grow up in the Lord Jesus Christ out of the Worlds Nature and Spirit For Christ said unto his Believers and followers Ye are not of the World even as I am not of the World I have given them thy Word and the World hath hated them because they are not of the World And therefore as the Apostle saith love not the World nor the things of the World for the love of the World is Enmity to God And in the beginning God created Man in his own Image So in the likeness of God created he him Male and Female
Hunters gathering who gathered up People together to build Babel and confounded them Gen. 10.11 And Isaiah said All they Children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the Peace of thy Children and in Righteousness shall they be established Behold they shall surely gather together but not by me saith the Lord And whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake No Weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper No Weapon form'd against God's Heritage shall prosper and every Tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn This is the heritage of the Servants of the Lord and their Righteousness is of me saith the Lord Isai 54. And Christ Jesus saith Where two or three are gathered together in my Name there am I in the midst of them And the Apostle said to the Jews speaking of Christ That there is no Salvation in any other For there is no other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved Acts 4.12 but by Christ Jesus So here is the Saints true Gathering in the Name of Christ Jesus the Second Adam and none is able to pluck them out of his hand John 10. For Christ the Seed of the Woman bruises the Serpent's Head and Christ through Death destroys Death and the Devil the Power of Death and so doth reconcile all things both in Heaven and in the Earth into one The Devil abode not in the Truth and so he became a Devil The Devil not abiding in the Truth became an Enemy a Destroyer and a Serpent and Enemy and a Satan and Adversary to the Truth and to Righteousness and Holiness and to Man and Woman that God made in his Image in Righteousness and Holiness so he became an Enemy and Adversary and Destroyer who is out of the Truth and abode not in it in whom there is no Truth and so is called the Old Serpent and Satan and Devil Tempter and false Accuser and Christ through Death destroys Death and the Devil the Power of Death And when the Jews went from the Truth they became Enemies and Adversaries to it and Destroyers of the Righteous and the Just yea they were Adversaries and Accusers and Enemies to the Prophets and Christ Jesus and Apostles and Christ called the Jews Vipers and Serpents and said to them that made a Profession of the Scriptures of the Old Testament but were gone from the Truth of them that they were of their Father the Devil and his Works and Lusts they would do And here the Jews that went out of the Truth did not they become as Serpents Enemies Satans Adversaries and Judas's Betrayers and of the Devil Destroyers of the Just And when they which are called Christians became haters of the Light and Walkers despitefully against the Spirit of Grace Despisers of the Word in their Hearts and erred from the Truth and the true Faith and professed the Form of Godliness but denied the Power thereof and so denied the Spirit ot true Christianity These became as Serpents Enemies Satan Adversaries to true Christianity and of the Devil that seek to destroy it and Judas's Betrayers of it and of the Righteous and the Just where-ever it appeared to the unjust And this hath been the Work of that Spirit that did not abide in the Truth in all Ages to be as Enemies Adversaries and Judas's Betrayers who seek to deftroy the Truth but Christ the Truth doth destroy that destroying Spirit who is the Saviour And Christ said to the Jews and to the Scribes and Pharisees which were the greatest outward Professors and appliers of the Prophets and Promises of the Old Testament to themselves upon the Earth and yet the greatest Persecutors of the holy Men and Women and the Lord's Prophets upon the Earth I say that Christ said to them O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets Christ lamented over Jerusalem and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered they Children together even as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her Wings and ye would not Behold your Houses are left unto you desolate c. Matth. 23.37 38. Jersalem was the chiefest Place of Worship and the chiefest City among the Jews and the greatest Place of Persecution and yet the Lord Jesus Christ wept over this City and would have gathered these persecuting Professors who were without possessing of the Life of what they did profess but they would not come to him that they might have Life And these persecuting Jews Scribes and Pharisees Christ said unto them Te compass Sea and Land to make one Proselyte and when he is made he is two-fold mord the Child of Hell Matth. 23. Here you may see these Scribes Pharisees and Jews the great Professors and Temple-Worshippers without Life what they gathered into and what Disciples they made in their compassing Sea and Land they made them like themselves and the Devil and Satan and the Serpent who abode not in the Truth and seek to draw all out of the Truth and to make them as Serpents and Satan Adversaries and of the Devil Destroyers and so he rules in the Hearts of the Disobedient and blindeth the Eyes of the Heathen or Infidels and the apostatised Christians from the Spirit of Christ and the Life of Christianity they do seek to draw all from the Truth and Spirit of Christ and the Life of Christianity into Death Enmity and into Persecution and Destroying like the Devil Jews and Judas both in one Spirit according to their Measures that they have from the Devil but all that live and walk inthe Truth and the Spirit of Jesus labour to bring and draw and gather all into the Truth and to Christ their Saviour who destroyeth the Destroyer G. F. Concerning the pure and undefiled Religion that was set up above Sixteen Hundred Years ago Which all that do own God and Christ are to walk in DEar Friends Epist 399. You who profess the Light Faith Grace and Spirit of Christ and the pure undefiled Religion before God the Father To keep from the Spots of the World are to keep your selves unspotted from the World and to bridle your Tongues from evil Words which corrupt good Manners the Light of Christ Jesus letteth you see the Spots of the World and the Grace of God will teach you tho deny them and the Spirit of Truth if you be led by it teacheth you to mortifie and subdue them And now Friends Here is the pure and undefiled Religion which the Apostles in the Primitive Times did own and which now we do own This is pure Religion and is undefiled before God the Father and to keep unspotted from the World First This Religion is Pure Secondly It is undefiled before God the Father And that which is pure and undefiled before God the Father if you live in it and obey it it will keep you unspotted from the World and so from the Spots of the
is no Death nor Night and the Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the Light of this New and Heavenly Jerusalem For the Glory of God doth enlighten it and the Lamb is the Light thereof and the Lord God and the Lamb are the Temple of this New and Heavenly Jerusalem that is from above and the Lord creates this Heavenly Jerusalem So this Heavenly and New Jerusalem is not made by the Workmanship of Mens Hands nor of Wood and Stone neither are People cast in Prison for not mending or repairing a Temple there for there is no outward Temple in the Heavenly Jerusalem for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it And the New Creatures that are in Christ Jesus and dwell in Love they dwell in God Such are in the Temple in Heavenly Jerusalem and are in Joy and in Fellowship with the Father and the Son blessed for ever Amen And Christ said to the Jews The Bread of God is he that cometh down from Heaven and giveth Life to the World No Persecution in New Jerusalem signifying that the World is Dead in Adam and wanteth Eternal Everlasting Life and they that eat not the Flesh of Christ and drink not his Blood have no Life in them For Adam and Eve by eating of the Fruit which God forbid them brought Death and all died in him but they that eat the Flesh of Christ the Bread from Heaven and drink his Blood have Eternal Life and shall live for ever and they do live by Christ and they do dwell in Christ and he doth dwell in them So you may see Adam and Eve by their eating of that which God forbad brought them into Spiritual Death and by eating the Flesh and drinking the Blood of Christ as he commands brings Men into a Spiritual Life that is Eternal And the Lord saith Ezek. 37. concerning the whole House of Israel which were the dry scattered Bones That he would open their Graves Of the Restoration of the House of Israel and bring them out of their Graves and yet these dry Bones which were the whole House of Israel that were in their Graves could speak who were the scattered Bones and say Behold our Bones are dry and our Hope is lost we are cut off for our parts So it seems that the whole House of Israel scattered Bones who were in their Graves could speak these words Then they were alive outwardly and their Breath was in their Nostrils but they were gone from the Breath of the Almighty that gives Life and Understanding Therefore the Lord poured his Spirit upon them and caused Breath to come upon them that they might live to God and so that they might all have one Shepherd namely Christ and come into his Everlasting Covenant and Christ their Sanctuary and then God's Tabernacle would be with them and then the Lord will be their God and they shall be his People G. F. To the Yearly Meeting in Yorkshire DEar Friends Epist 411. who are the Sons and Daughters of God who have his Law written in your Hearts by which you know God and Jesus Christ which is Eternal Life to know and you that have put on Christ Jesus are the New Creatures and are in him Clothed with Christ the Son of Righteousness To be Clothed with Christ who is the Light of the World and you that believe in the Light have the Light of Life and are Clothed with the Son of God that doth not change and are the true and living Members of the Church of Christ Jesus that is in God and have the Moon that is changeable under your Feet So all changable Religions Worships Ways Churches and Teachers which are like the Changeable Moon and the Changeable World with its Changeable Fashions the true Church of Christ that are Clothed with Christ the Son that doth not change hath all these Changeable Things like the Moon that changes under her Feet for the Son of God never changes for all things were made by him who is the First and Last the Beginning and Ending So as every one hath received Christ Jesus the Son of Righteousness walk in him to the Praise and Glory of God Amen London the 31st of the 3d Month 1686. G. F. To Friends in West-Jersey and Pensilvania DEar Friends Epist 412. I am glad to hear that the Truth 's Concerns is so well as it is with you and that you have set up your Half Years Meeting there which may be of great Service Half Years Meeting in America For indeed all the faithful Men and Women in the Power of the Lord do keep their Meetings that they may take care of God's Glory and to see that all are diligent that profess the Truth to walk in it and all the Loose and such as despise Dignities and the Power of God and true Christianity should be Admonish'd and Exhorted and not to have a Name of Truth without the Nature of it And so that all may walk in the Truth and by it come into a holy Life and Conversation by that they may answer that which is good both in the People among you and in the Indians For through want of Order in the Power of God and his Light Life and Truth there has been so many runnings out some one way and some another way And therefore all that are Faithful in your Country being kept in the Lord 's Eternal Power To keep our Meetings in the Lord's Power in it keep up all your Men and Womens Meetings that the Power of the Lord God may sparead over all and by it all Deceit and Loosness may be kept under and this will ease all the Magistrates and their Courts of all Evil and Loosness by having it stop'd and kill'd in the Birth before it comes into Action and to see in your Meetings that Friends may give no Occasion to the Indians And if sometimes you should have some Meetings with the Indian Kings and their Councils to let them know the Principles of Truth To inform the Indians of the Way of Salvation so that they may know the Way of Salvation and the Nature of true Christianity and how that Christ hath died for them who tasted Death for every Man And so the Gospel of Salvation must be Preached to every Creature under Heaven and how that Christ hath enlightned them who enlightens all that come into the World And God hath poured out his Spirit upon all Flesh and so the Indians must receive God's Spirit for the Grace of God which brings Salvation hath appeared to all Men And so let them know that they have a Day of Salvation Grace and Favour of God offered unto them if they will receive it it will be their Blessing And so now you that are settled in those Parts which have had a Testimony from the Lord to bear to People of the Truth you should spread abroad God's Eternal Truth and have
the Mens and Womens Meetings and all the Heirs of the Power the Gospel both Men and Women are to take their possessions of the Inheritance of the Power of God which is over the Devil So in it nothing can get betwixt them and the Lord God And at the Settling of the Mens-Meetings in the Gospel the Power of God A Mens-Meeting of the Primitive Christians I let them see how they had a Mens-Meeting in the first Conversion amongst the Primitive Christians of such as were faithful Men and full of the Holy Ghost and these were to see in the Lords Power and Wisdom that nothing was lacking For since the Christians denied the Jews Temple 1650 Store-House and Priests where the Widows Strangers and Fatherless were relieved they set up a Mens-Meeting in the Power of God and in the Holy Ghost and they had Deaconnesses also to see that Widows Fatherless and Strangers were relieved and that nothing was wanting among them Now tho' this Practice hath been lost since the Apostles Days since Men have gone from the Power of God and the Holy Ghost that the Apostles were in and therefore are the Streets and Country so full of Widows Strangers and Beggars From whence Wants come and so full of Wants who want the Sense of the good Spirit and Power to open their Hearts as the Apostles and Primitive Christians were in But the Everlasting Gospel being preached again by the same Holy Ghost as the Apostles were in and received from Heaven as they received it and many Thousands having received this Gospel now again Mens-Meetings are set up as were in the Days of the Apostles in the Power of God and in the Holy Ghost And Womens-Meetings as Mothers and that they may be Teachers of good Things and so to see that nothing be lacking amongst them and so to do Good unto all but especially to the Houshold of Faith And now the Power of God is the Authority of both our Mens and Womens-Meetings and all our other Meetings which Power of God was before the Apostasie was from the Apostles and before the Fall and the Devil was and is over all and all are to take their Possessions of it and in it to do God's Service and Business So these Meetings are for the Converted and Elect before the World began and such as are Heirs of the Power and do possess it and what they do and act in the Spirit and Power of God they do it in that which shall never have an End to the Glory of God for ever Amen! G. F. UPon the Fourth Day of the First Month 1650 I felt the Power of the Lord to spread over all the World in Praise Praise Honour and Glory be to the Lord of Heaven and Earth Lord of Peace Lord of Joy Thy Countenance maketh my Heart glad Lord of Glory Lord of Mercy Lord of Strength Lord of Life and Power over Death and Lord of Lords and King of Kings In the World there are Lords many but to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things To whom be all Glory who is Worthy The Earth maketh Lords In the World are many Lords and many Gods and the Earth maketh Lords coveting after Riches and oppressing the Creatures and so the Covetous Mind getting to it self Lords it above others This Nature of Lordly Pride is Head until subdued by the Power of God For every one in that State doth strive to be above another few will strive to be the lowest O that every one would strive to put down in themselves Mastery and Honour that the Lord of Heaven and Earth might be exalted G. F. Friends FOrsake the Company of wild People and chuse the Company of sober Men Epist 1. and that will be Creditable in the End And chusing the Company of wild and light People To shun ill Company which delight in vain Fashions and ill Courses is dangerous and of a bad Report among sober People for the Eyes of such will be upon you And if they see ye are wild ye will come under their Censure Therefore love Gravity and Soberness and Wisdom that doth preserve G. F. Friends THE Children of the Devil Epist 2. how expert are they in Evil in all Deceit in his Kingdom and yet they may speak of the things of God but no Vulturous Eye nor Venemous Beast ever trod in the Steps of the Just though they may talk of the VVay For who have their Conversation in this World and only mind the Things of this World in vain do they profess Godliness But the Children of God who are conceived and begotten of him are not of this World neither do they mind only the Things of this World but the Things which are Eternal But the Children of this World do mostly mind the External Things The World's Love and their Love is in them and the other live by Faith the one is sanctified by the Word the other painted with the Words The Children of God are pure in Heart not looking only at the Outside The Favour of the World and Friendship thereof is Enmity to God Man may soon be stained with it O love the Stranger and be as Strangers in the World and to the World For they that followed Christ in his Cross they were Strangers in the World and VVonders to the World and condemned by the World and the World knew him not neither doth it them that follow him now So marvel not if the World hate you for the World lieth in hatred and wickedness Who love this World are Enemies to Christ and who love the Lord Jesus Christ and have him for their Lord over them they are Redeemed out of the World The World would have a Christ but not to rule over them the Nature of the World is above Christ in Man until Christ hath subdued that Nature in Man While the Nature of the World doth rule in Man Oh the deaf Ears and blind Eyes and the Understandings that are all shut up amongst them with which they Judge But who love the Lord Jesus Christ do not mind the World's Judgment nor are troubled at it but consider all our Brethren who have gone before us When ye think ye are past all Crosses when the Trial doth come ye will find a Cross to that Will which doth meddle with the things of God presumptuously that Man may live in Joy but the Spirit is in Bondage Fleshly Boastings Rejoyce not in the Flesh but in the Spirit which crucifieth all fleshly Boastings if that Will be fed then Carelesness cometh up and they fall into Flatness from the Spirit and are mindless of the Lord God such are soon up and down The Serpent tempted Eve to eat of the forbidden Fruit and she took and gave to her Husband and so they fell under the Serpent's Power and the Creatures out of the Power
when ye speak an evil Word and tells you that ye should not be proud nor wanton nor fashion your selves like unto the World for the fashion of this World passeth away And if ye hearken to that it will keep you in Humbleness of Mind and Lowliness of Heart and turn your Minds within to wait upon the Lord to be guided by it and bring you to lay aside all Sin and Evil and keep you faithful to the Lord and bring you to wait on him for Teaching till an Entrance thereof be made to your Souls There is your Teacher the Light obeying it there is your Condemnation disobeying it If ye hearken to the Light in you it will not suffer you to conform to the evil Ways Customs Fashions Delights and Vanities of the World and so lead you to Purity to Holiness to Vprightness even up to the Lord. Dear Hearts hearken to it to be guided by it For if ye love the Light ye love Christ if ye hate that ye hate Christ Therefore in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ consider of it and the Lord open your Understandings to know him G. F. ALL Dear Friends every where Epist 18. who have tasted of the Everlasting Power and are made Partakers of his Divine Nature Be faithful An Exhortation to Faithfulness and dwell in that which is Pure And take heed of the World 's evil Ways Words Worships Customs and Fashions neither let fair Speeches draw you out nor hard Speeches trouble you and make you afraid But fear the Lord God of Heaven and Earth who by his mighty Power upholds all things And be bold in the Power of Truth and valiant for it upon the Earth treading triumphing over and trampling all Deceit under Foot inward and outward having done it in your selves in particular ye have Power over the World in general And Meet together every-where and keep the Unity of the Spirit which is the Bond of Peace which Circumciseth Inwardly and puts off the Body of Sin and Baptiseth all into one Body with one Spirit And being written all in one another's Heart have all one Voice and the pure Language of Truth where in all plainness of Speech things may be spoken in Nakedness of Heart one unto another in the Eternal Unity in one Spirit which draws off and weans you from all things that are Created and External which fade and pass away up to God the Fountain of Life and Head of all things to whom be Glory Wisdom Riches and Honour God blessed for ever Who hath blessed us and given to us Eternal Life and this Life is in his Son and he that hath the Son hath the Father also And that which the World doth profess and make a Trade withal the Saints do enjoy and possess which the World doth not know but in the Letter And all Friends and Brethren in what ye know be faithful rejoycing and praising the Lord with all Thankfulness that the wise God should Call you and Elect you Oh! dwell in Love in your Hearts to God and one to another And the God of Love and Life keep you all in his Power and Love and Spirit to himself that ye may all be kept pure and stand pure and clean before him The Work and Harvest of the Lord is great My Prayers to God are for you that ye may be faithful and be kept faithful in the Work G. F. Dear and tender Friends MY Love is to you all in the Truth of God Epist 19. and my Prayers and Soul's Desire is to God To Friends in Truth that ye may be kept in the Simplicity of the Truth in Christ Jesus growing up in the Power of his Resurrection and to be made Conformable to his Death and to have Fellowship with him in his Sufferings and that all your Hearts may be knit together in Love and in one Spirit to God and be kept out of all the World 's evil Customs Fashions Words Works Manners Ordinances and Commandments which will all perish which the World holdeth up in the Carnal Mind The Carnal Eye and Mind and the Carnal Man doth act them For whatsoever is seen with a Carnal Eye is Carnal See if ye do find something in your Understandings made manifest which is Eternal to guide your Minds out of all External things which wither away and fade For the Cross is to the Carnal Mind your Carnal Minds going into the Carnal and Earthly things or your Eyes and Lusts into the Earth where Lightness Rashness Crosness Bitterness and Presumption is then the Tongae will run at random and is at liberty and he that hath not Power over his own Tongue his Religion is vain and the light Mind ruleth But the Light within which doth convince thee it will shew thee when the Mind goeth forth and shew thee the daily Cross which is to Crucifie that Carnal Mind For the Carnal Mind minds Carnal Things and the Cross is to the Will of Man for it shall never enter Therefore give not way to your Wills nor busie your selves nor Minds with needless and careless Words or such things for they will vail you and draw your Minds from God But keep within And when they shall say Christ is within Lo here or Lo there is Christ go not forth for Christ is within you And they are Seducers and Anti-Christs which draw your Minds out from the Teaching within you For the Measure is within and the Light of God is within and the Pearl is within you which is hid and the Word of God is within you and ye are the Temples of God and God hath said he will dwell in you and walk in you And then what need ye go to the Idols-Temples without you The true Church the Saints is in God but the Imitation of the Church is in the World without God The Seducers are in the World Anti-Christs and Deceivers are in the World and false Prophets are in the World and Covetousness is in the World and all Hypocrisie and all Heresie and Dissimulation and all Pride and looking for Honour is in the World and he that seeketh for it is of the Devil And all idle foolish Jesting and all light vain Talking which is not seemly nor convenient is in the World Therefore lay aside all Filthiness and Superfluity of naughtiness and fear God and give Glory to him and worship not the Beast for the Beast and the false Prophet must be cast into the Lake of Fire The true Figures and Types were outward and visible to the outward Eye and Mind but the Carnal Mind is to be taken away and destroyed For the Figures did Type forth the Substance when the Substance was come the Figures were taken away and Types were ended And the false Imitations of Christ and of God are in the World and the vain Worships of the World are the Worships of the Beast and are not of God For God is a Spirit and he that
worships him must worship him in Spirit and Truth The Beastly Nature in Man and Woman holdeth up the Beast and his Customs and Worships and the Plagues of God are to be poured upon the Beast and all them that worship the Beast and false Prophet And they that abide in the Truth worship not the Beast Inwardly nor Outwardly The Worship of the Beast denied but deny all the Beast's Worships and false Prophets and worship God in Spirit and Truth And they which do not abide in the Truth hold up the Beast's Worship and the false Prophets and they that do so shall have their Portion together Plagues will be poured upon such And ye that know God dwell in the Truth and tread upon the Deceit for God will be Glorified alone To whom be Glory and Honour for ever Amen G. F. TO all my Dear Brethren Epist 20. whom the God of Power hath enlightned with his Eternal Light and discovered unto you his Way of Truth and brought you out of the dark ways wherein ye have walked which dark ways all the World walks in But where the pure Light of God is witnessed it guides to himself The Light is but one which leads out of Darkness and the dark World into the World which is without End Therefore all Friends and Brethren in the Eternal Truth of GOd walk in it up to God and be not Sayers only nor Backsliders for the Backslider is a Sayer and not a Doer and there ariseth Ambition Pride and Presumption out of that Nature But dwell in the pure Light which God hath made manifest to you in your Understanding and turn your Minds to him and walk as Children of the Light The Backslider a Sayer and of the Day and be not Drunken in any thing nor run not to Extremes in any thing but be Moderate and Patient Wait for the Presence of the Great God and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and be not so Childish as to be tossed with Mens Words without Life And run not out after others Liberties which they have got into their Notions for thou that dost so wilt not abide in the Truth and so thou may'st come to be shaken and shake others who look at Words But wait every one in particular in the Measure that God hath given you upon God in the Fear of God then your Hearts will be kept clean and this is the sure Way And wait all to have the Son made manifest in you and the Son alone to set you free in your selves in particular The Son makes free and all that are made free by the Son are one But the first Nature that would have Liberty must go into Captivity which they that live in their Carnal Reasoning seek Freedom for But here is Man deceived in his first Birth But ye all in whom the Immortal Seed is brought to Light who are raised up to sit in heavenly Places with Christ Jesus and are become Children of the Day walk as Children of the Day and as Children of the Light and Let your Light so shine before Men that they may glorifie your Father which is in Heaven All loving the Light ye love the one thing which gathers your Hearts together to the Fountain of Light and Life and walking in it ye have Unity one with another and the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth you from all Sin The Knowledge of the Letter The Knowledge of the Letter which you formerly got into your Notions and Comprehensions the dark Mind gave dark Meanings to it and so kept you in the Broad Way but now wait all to have the same Spirit manifested in your Understandings which was in them which gave forth the Scriptures who were come out of the Broad Way Holy Men of God who had escaped the Pollutions of the World And if every particular of you know not a Principle within which is of God to guide you to wait upon God ye are still in your own Knowledge which is bruitish and sensual But waiting all upon God in that which is of God ye are kept open to receive the Teachings of God And the pure Wisdom and knowledge is that True Wisdom and Knowledge which comes from above which is to know God and Jesus Christ the Way which is hidden from the World and to walk out of your own Ways and out of your own Thoughts And dwelling in that which is pure up to God it commands your own Reason to keep silent and to cast your own Thoughts out and dwelling in that which is pure it discovereth all this So dwelling in the Spirit it keepeth all your Hearts to God To whom be all Praise Honour and Glory for ever From Judge Fell 's in Lancastire ' the 31st of the 11th Month 1652. G. F. To Friends at Kendal TO that of God in you I do speak Epist 21. that ye may watch over the Weak and see how the Plants of the Lord do grow And walk in the Joy and Love of the Truth Watch over the Weak serving God with Joyfulness of Heart and to you this is the Word of the Lord. And keep all that is bad down and out with the Light which condemns all Ungodliness so keep all that out which is for Condemnation that ye may all be preserved clean and pure that out of Condemnation ye may be kept and walk in the living Light So God Almighty be with you all And I charge you to read this among the Brethren and these Words mind with the Light that no Loosness be amongst you but own and be obedient to the Commands of the Lord that ye may stand out of and above all the contrary Commands of Man And so Fare-well G. F. OH Friends Epist 22. keep close to the Light in you and do not look forth at Words that proceed from a vain and light Mind but at the Power of Words The Power of Words For the Words of God that proceed from him are Powerful and Mighty in Operation to the throwing down of all the strong Holds of the man of Sin The Lord is coming in Power to gather his Chosen ones to himself and to Judge and Condemn the wicked One for evermore He will plague the Beast and burn the Whore and plague and torment the Disobedient and Rebellious and Backsliders very sore Therefore ye that know the Voice of the Lord hearken to it and see how ye stand in his Fear and how ye are brought into the Obedience of the Truth And take heed of looking forth at Man but keep close to the Light in you and see that your Minds be kept close to that and guided by that and being guided by that it will keep you clear and pure to receive the Teaching of the Lord. Have Salt in your selves and let your Words be few and seasoned Words few and savoury that they may be savoury And watch over one another in Love and walk in
daily coming in from the Lord and then ye will come to Walk with the Lord forsaking all Father Mother A forsaking all Wife and Children Lands Livings and all Here is Joining to the Lord as one Spirit and he that doth not forsake all is not worthy of him All who are in the first Birth and all who reason with Flesh and Blood stand here and are for Persecuting them who are born of the Spirit that are passing out of this City towards the City whose Foundation and Builder is God For in that City the Righteous Ones are slain by them who are of Cain's Generation All ye who are got up into his steps professing Christ and to be Ministers of Christ who stand in the Envy and have the Chiefest place in the Assemblies and are called of Men Master which Christ forbids Lye down all for shame who are in Pride and Oppression Professors Pride and Oppression and in the steps and places of the Pharisees and have got a Form of the Words which the Apostles said and which Christ said and have got it in Three or Four Languages the Lord hath discovered you now the Lord God Almighty hath discovered you by his Prophets and Servants All Honour and Glory and Thanks be to him for ever who now is come to rule alone in his Saints Rejoyce O all ye Prophets and Righteous ones The Beast which made War with the Lamb and the Saints the Lamb hath got the Victory over the Beast and the Ten Horns which pushed at him Powerful Father and Eternal God to thee alone be all Glory Honour and Thanks for ever Now all ye Teachers The World's Teachers and Hearers described and Hearers that hold you up I witness against you that ye may be Witnesses against your selves and that ye may witness your selves to be in Cain's Generation and in the Generation of the false Prophets and Anti-Christs and Seducers who have the Form of Godliness but deny the Power and in the Generation of them that ever slew the righteous Seed as it will appear Now All People take notice who are they that bear Rule by their Means Who are the Hirelings now that the Scriptures speak of Who seek for their Gain from their Quarters now Who feed themselves with the Fat now Who seek for the Fleece and cloath themselves with the Wooll now and so make a Prey of the People Where are the Hirelings now The Priests preach for Hire and the Prophets prophesie for Money Who sues Men at the Law now which Christ spake against which the Apostle speaks against who was a Minister of the living Truth which testifies against all such Practices Who goes in the Way of Balaam now for Gifts and Rewards Where are the Covetous Teachers now Who are called of Men Master now Who love the Chiefest Places of the Assemblies now Who goes in Long Robes now Who stand praying in the Synagogues now and speak a Divination of their own Brain which the Wo was pronounced against by Christ Jesus the Substance of all the Prophecies who cried Wo against all such Pharisees and false Prophets Who hale out of the Synagogues now Who stone and stock prison and beat now and hale before Magistrates This was the Jews Practice and Religion ye may say the Jews did so The Prophets of God they testified against these things and the Apostles they testified against all these Practices And Jesus Christ testified against all the evil Works of the World and all these Practices were held up in Cain's Generation So be ye Witnesses that ye are here in the Generation of the false Prophets False Prophets Generation and in the Chair of them that spake a Divination of their own Brain that are called of Men Masters love the Chiefest places in the Assemblies lay heavy burthens upon the people of them that seek their Gain from their Quarters and of them that go in the Way of Balaam Cain's Sacrifice and in the Generation of Cain Where any Prophet comes to Cry against any of you ye seek to Imprison him or to destroy him which Abel did not as ye may read but Cain who was the first Birth whose Sacrifice God had no respect to no more hath God to your Customary Will-worships Praying and Prayers than to Cain's Cain's Generation For Cain's Generation was and is the same that ever it was and is not of the Generation of the Righteous And except ye all be born again ye cannot Inherit the Kingdom of God So here be ye Witnesses against your selves that ye are in the Generation of Cain which ever slew the Righteous Seed and in the Generation of all the false Prophets Put it not far from you as they did which put Christ to Death If thou hadst lived at that day thou may'st say thou would'st not have put Christ to Death But thou shalt see the same Nature in thee now as was then For now is the Son of God come and ye are of the same Generation that they were seeking to put him to Death where he is manifest But the Eternal Glorious God of Heaven and Earth the same as ever he was is manifesting himself in his Sons and Daughters who are called out of that Generation and Worship For he said Come out from among them be ye separate touch no Vnclean thing Be ye Separate and I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters and this we witness and this is fulfilled The Generation of the Wicked we know and the Generation of the Faithful we know here is a Separation between the Precious and the Vile between the Holy and the Profane So all People weigh and see in what Generation ye are The Generation of the Righteous shall shine The Generation of the Righteous and Wicked distinguished the Generation of the Wicked are for the Fire prepared and to be turned into Hell Ye are the Stubble ye that are Proud are for the Fire ye that are Wicked ye are Chaff that the Wind drives to and fro ye that are Scorners are turned from God ye that are Heathenish know not God and all that are Heathen know not God the Lord will render Vengeance in Flames of Fire upon you The mighty Day of the Lord is coming that shall burn as an Oven The Fire is kindling in the Earth which shall burn up all Root and Branch Head and Tail the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it The Lord God of Power will reign O happy Day Praises Praises Praise ye the Lord ye Righteous Ones sing Praises to the Lord God Almighty for ever All ye Liars and Dissemblers must never inherit the Holy City in that State And all ye Liars and Dissemblers state which commit Sin and live in Sin know not God and who are disobedient and hold the Truth in Vnrighteousness the Wrath of God abides upon you All ye that work Iniquiquity and live and die in that
Sacrifice who is the End of the Levitical Priesthood he is the End of all outward Temples who is the Substance of the Prophets for they all witnessed of him He is Ascended above all Principalities and Powers Now to all Dear Ones the same Seed which is Christ the same Spirit is now manifest as ever was the same World is now as ever was the same Temptations and the same Devil and the same vain Worship of the World twining into another Form and Colour And Jesus Christ is the Way the Truth and the Life the Door that all must pass through and he it is that opens it the same Door that ever was the same Christ yesterday to day and for ever And all who follow Christ the Seed and are of his Generation and are brought out of Egypt the House of Darkness and from under the Law the Righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in them who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit as the Apostle saith which we do witness And the Seed's Generation hath passed thro' the Wilderness Temptations in the Wilderness where they have been tempted to Lust after the Creature Ye that have been in the Wilderness can witness this with me and the same Temptations even to Despair and to make themselves away The Devil before he would go out of his Kingdom he would destroy all But look at the Captain Jesus Christ who hath passed before who was tempted the Captain of our Salvation with the same Temptations to worship the Devil and that if thou wouldest worship the Devil thou shouldest have the Glory of the World if not be called a Devil as Christ was The Glory of the World and be called a Mad-man as he was and that none followed him but a Cursed People as they said And they that worship the Devil gave those Titles to him And thou shalt lose thy good Name and be a Laughing-stock to them that worship the Devil and as a Derision among them and a Mark for every one of them to shoot at and the Drunkards to make Songs of This is the Portion of them who deny the Worship of the World and the Glory and the Favour and the evil Fashions thereof and cannot Fashion themselves to it who are tempted to all these things But it is no Sin to be tempted but standing in the Power of the Almighty God ye will be enabled to stand against and above all the Wiles of Satan So dwell in the Power of Almighty God which carries through the Wilderness and through Temptations to the End and gets the Victory over all the Carnal Ordinances and Commands and Traditions of Men and he that overcomes ascends above them all And he that overcomes shall sit down with Christ in his Throne So every one must witness Christ born in them passing through Death to him through the World through the Law through Temptations through the Wilderness and out of the World and the Son of God ye will witness to arise who doth overcome who was born of God And the same Spirit that raised up Jesus Christ the same Spirit raiseth you up and quickeneth your Mortal Bodies and he that hath not the same is none of his So Fellowship with Christ in his Sufferings Examin your selves and see if ye have Fellowship with Christ in his Sufferings and be brought to be Conformable to him in his Death and to have Fellowship with him in his Temptations and Reproaches and Buffetings and Scornings and the Contradiction of Sinners and to be spit upon as he was and he that hath Fellowship with him in his Sufferings shall have Fellowship with him in his Glory And he that doth Confess him in this dark World him will he Confess before his Father and his Angels and he that doth deny him in this World him he will deny before his Father and his Angels in the World to come Now to all you who are Convinced and have your Understandings Enlightned and the Worship of the World doth appear to you to be Contrary to the Worship of God and Christ in Spirit and all the Prophets and Apostles who Worshipped the Living God in Newness of Life Lust not after the Creature in the Second Birth Beware ye enter not into the Temptation to lust after the Creature and give not way to the Lazy Dreaming Mind for it enters into the Temptations So there thou wilt be polluted with the Pollutions of the World then thou wilt be tempted to Despair and the Devil there gets Power upon thee if thou enter into Temptations and follow thy Imaginations in going from the Light of Christ within thee And then thou judgest with evil Thoughts and he will come with his Instruments his evil Angels to tempt thee from God's Worship to the false Worship Temptations to the false Worship or else thou wilt lose thy Credit or good Name or thy Place or thy Authority where thou art except thou wilt bow to him And every one will stare at thee and thou wilt be gazed at and wondered at So if thy Mind go from the Light and out of the Fear of the Lord then thou wilt Consult with Flesh and Blood which must never enter into the Kingdom of God and that Carnal Reason must never enter And then thou wilt take Counsel of the Harlot and so the Eye of thy Mind will be turned out from God and so thou goest under the Power of the Prince of the Air which rules and reigns in the Children of Disobedience and so under the Dominion of Satan And then though thou hast the Praise of the World and the Glory of the World yet disobeying that which should have led thee into the Kingdom of God and from under the Dominion of Satan thy latter End will be worse than thy Beginning The World's Honour And in the World there thou may'st have thy Honour and the fleshly Man is nourished and thy Glory and Renown may grow again among the Fleshly ones who are gone out from God and have disobeyed the Light in them which should have led them from under the Dominion of Satan under whose Dominion they are now up to God where there is Joy Eternal where there are Riches and Glory Eternal and where there is Comfort Eternal whose Kingdom is for ever whose Dominion is an Everlasting Dominion But thou who forsakest the right Way goest into Eternal Destruction Wo Wo is to thee For the love of the World is an Enemy to God and he that loveth the World the love of the Father is not in him And thou who settest thy Hand to the Plough and lookest back art not fit for the Kingdom of God And all who can Witness the Second Birth and are born again The Second Birth know the Promises of God in and to the Seed are Yea and Amen and ye coming out of that which was in Time ye come up to God who was before Time was This is a Mystery
Pure and in that wait which is Pure to have your Minds guided thereby which will let you see God and shew you your evil Thoughts and Judge them and is a Cross to your evil Desires Wills and Lusts I say Dwell in that which is Pure which will guide you to God but if ye lust as aforesaid then the Pure is vailed and the light Mind speaks at random with a drunken Spirit and not from the Mouth of the Lord. And there lodgeth the Dreamer and the lying Spirit and the false Prophet The Dreamer and false Prophet and that which is like the Truth but is not the Truth but dwelling in the Truth this will be discovered And wait upon God in that which is Pure for the receiveing of that which comes from God which is living which nourisheth up to Everlasting Life So God Almighty be with you G. F. To Friends Concerning the Cross of Christ the Power of God that leads out of the World to the World that is without End THE Cross is to the Carnal Part which is the Ground of Images Epist 51. the Ground of the Seducers and the Ground of the false Prophet and Anti-Christ the Cross is to that Ground Concerning the Gross to the Root and Life of it This being minded which is Pure and Eternal it makes a Separation from all other Lovers and brings to God and the Ground of evil Thoughts comes to be opened and the Cross is to that Ground The Ground of Evil Thoughts which Cross overturns the World in the Heart Which Cross must be taken up by all who follow Jesus Christ out of the World which hath an End into the World which is without End and all the evil things of the World must be denied For who loves the World the love of the Father is not in him but where the World is standing the Cross is not lived in But dwelling in the Cross to the World here the Love of God is shed abroad in the Heart and the Way is opened into the Inheritance which fades not away where nothing shall enter which is defiled For God is not seen but in the Eternal Light God is seen in the Light from whence all pure Wisdom comes This Treasure is not seen but with the Spiritual Eye nor received but with the Pure in Heart and by those who dwell and abide in the Eternal Light But the Carnal Heart may get the Words from them who had received the Wisdom who dwelt in the Fear of the Lord but they who live without the Fear may get their Words and yet know not Wisdom's Gate from whence those Words proceeded having the old Bottle Watch all therefore and see what ye do possess For all who gave forth the Holy Scripture who dwelt in the Fear of God they possessed th Life which those Words proceeded form and the Secrets of the Lord wer with them Therefore all in your Measure which is of God wait that it may guide your Minds up to God and followit and not your evil Desires nor the Lust of the World for the Fear of the Lord will keep your Hearts Clean A Clean Heart and the true Wisdom will be with you in the pure Heart And every one that hath this Light which Christ hath enlightned them withal the Deeds that are Evil ye know them so to be by the Light and this Light will be their Condemnation ye know it And all who witness this Light and love it their Eye is in their Head which is Christ if they be Ten Thousands G. F. ALL Friends in Westmorland Epist 52. Lancashire Cumberland Northumberland Bishoprick and about New-Castle whose Minds are turned to the Light To Friends in the North. Meet together and wait upon the Lord and keep your several Meetings in the Light of Christ that all your Hearts may be joined together and ye all kept in Vnity up to God the Father of Lights The Lord God Almighty keep you and preserve you that ye may all see the Blessings of God for he Blessings of the Lord are among you And that ye all with the Light may know your Minds kept up to God The Wisdom of God to receive the Wisdom of God by which all things were made that with it ye may come to order the Creatures and in the Wisdom of God ye may be preserved to walk wisely And that no Deceit nor Slothful Spirits be amongst you Slothful Spirits nor Hangers-on getting the Form c. who speak what they are not all such I do deny and with the Light all such are to be condemned Such cumber the Ground and stain the Earth that it cannot enjoy her Sabbaths nor yield her Increase They that are so and act contrary to the Light are by it to be condemned and with it I do them deny which Light is one in all your Consciences that with the Light your Minds may be kept up to God and all that which is contrary may be condemned to the Fire which is for the Fire And I warn you all in the Presence of the Living God to take heed to the Measure of the Grace of God The Grace of God that with it your Minds may be kept up to God and that ye may all come to profit in the Spirit And from you all God doth look for the Fruits of that Spirit of which a Manifestation is given you to profit withal And to you this is the Word of the Lord. O Friends mind the Seed of God and the Life of Christ And take heed of being hurried with many Thoughts but live in that which goes over them all and that in it ye may reign and live in the Seed of God G. F. Concerning the Duty of all Friends in Truth ALL Friends every where that have Wives or that have Husbands Epist 53. or that have Children or that have Servants or Servants that have Masters or Children that have Parents that are not Friends This is to you all that are in the Light which lighteth every Man that cometh into the World that they that act Contrary to the Light and believe not in it which know not the Word Chast Conversatior and will not be won with the Word speaking to them that your Chast Conversation ye walking in the Light which comes from the Word may answer to the Light in them which they hate and walk Contrary to that your Chast Conversation may Judge them and ye may win them by your Chast Conversation walking in the Light which answereth the Light in them wherewith they be enlightned which Light comes from the Word which casteth down all that is Contrary to it That they that act Contrary to the Light beholding your Chast Conversation and your Good Works the Light which they act Contrary to may make them Confess to your good Conversation and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven who are born of the Light Children of
Peace and Love be with you that to the Lord of Life ye may all be a sweet Savour and in the Wisdom of the Lord ye may all be kept watching one over another in that which is Pure and waiting for the Appearing of that which is Good G. F. FRiends know the Life and Power of God in your selves Epist 68. and one in another and to that Power be Obedient Know the Life and Power to Thresh down all Deceit within and without you in Wisdom and in that dwell which Comprehends the World and know the Rest which is for the People of God which he that believeth hath entred into So know the Life that stands in God and all know the Power of God for that Power shall never be shaken nor change but will shake down all that must be shaken and will change So in that the Lord God Almighty preserve you which giveth you to see where there is no Changing nor Shadow G. F. To Friends at Malton ALL my Dear Friends at Malton mind that which is Pure in you Epist 69. that ye may grow up in the Power out of the Form And take heed of Deceit and of Jarring one with another take heed of Strife and Confusion in your Minds But mind the pure Life of God in you according to your Measures to guide you up to God out of the Flesh and all the Ways and Works of it within and without which that which is Pure and Holy calls all unto So all walk in the Wisdom of God which is given into the pure Heart that none of your Nakedness may appear and Men see your shame but all wait in the Spirit upon God the Father of Spirits to be Cloathed with his Righteousness Be Cloathed with Righteousness So God Almighty keep you and bless you the Blessing of the Lord be with you and among you I am with you Present in Spirit joying and beholding your Faith towards God which ye have in Jesus Christ though Absent in Body AND all Friends Quench not the Spirit of God in you but live in the Authority of the Son of God and his Power whereby ye may be kept on Top of the World G. F. FRiends Epist 70. I do Judge all that in all which is contrary to the Life and Power of God even the Ground and Root of all Jars and Strife which is not of God Jars and Strife Judged but is out of the Life of God I Judge its Beginning and its Ending Judged it is by the Light And I do Judge with the Spirit of Truth all Foolishness Hastiness and Strife which is not of God And all Friends Wait in the Measure of the Spirit of God to guide you up to God and keep you all in Peace and Vnity Heed nothing P. S. but the Life and Power of the Lord God for all that is out of it is and will be Confounded G. F. To Friends to live in the Power of God in Christ that never fell DEar Friends Epist 71. all be Faithful in the Everlasting Seed in which ye have both Life and Power Dominion and Wisdom and Cloathing with that which is Immortal and the Blessing of the Lord and Peace in the Seed Christ that never fell nor changed nor will change in whom ye have Peace in whom ye have Blessings who takes away the Curse The Peace is in Christ For the Peace is in the Second Adam that never fell Christ Jesus and the Blessings and the Righteousness is in him but the Troubles and the Curse and the Unrighteousness and Misery is in Adam in the Fall and all deceitful Teachings Ways and Worships And so sit not down in Adam in the Fall but in Christ Jesus that never fell then in him ye will all have Life that was with the Father before the World began He ends all the Types Figures and Shadows first Covenant and Priefthood and Ways in the Fall in old Adam Christ that never fell who is the Way who is the Substance in him I say sit down and then ye will be all found in the endless Life For Adam lost his Habitation and Eve and the Apostate-Christians from the Righteousness from the Law and from the Power of God Therefore ye that are come to Christ Jesus the Substance the End of the Prophets in whom ye have Life as I said before which was with the Father before the World began in him live Serve one another in Love and love one another and serve one another in Love and in the Fear and Wisdom of God that is above Adam and Eve's Sons and Daughters Sensual Devilish Wisdom in the Fall And so keep your Meetings in the Name of Christ Jesus that never fell then ye will see over all the Meetings of Adam and Eve's Sons and Daughters in the Fall their Confused Meetings and Gatherings who are out of the Habitation of Righteousness and Holiness and so out of Peace So in the Life Christ live in whom ye have Peace keeping your Habitation in him that none be as the untimely Figs nor as the Corn upon the House top that is soon withered and gone But that ye may live in the Seed the Substance Christ the Life in whom ye have Riches that never fade away feeding upon the Tree of Life whose Leaves heal the Nations So live in Vnity one with another in the Life Christ Jesus that the Seed may be all your Crowns And so Fare-well My Love to all Friends in the Seed of God Christ Jesus who was with the Father before the World began G. F. AND Friends In the Measure of Life which the Father of Life hath given you Wait with it to be guided that ye all may profit in the Life and Spirit that the Fruits of it may appear To profit in the Life to the Glory of the Father of Life G. F. To Friends in the North. FRriends see that all Friends professing Truth there-aways Epist 72. in Order be kept that no Confasion no Pride Pride and Lust Judged Filthiness nor Vncleanness be amongst you but with the Light let all that be Judged down and Condemned and cast out that all in that which is pure may patiently wait to inherit the Substance And in that dwell which doth bring out of the Shadows Types Traditions Vngodliness Vnrighteousness Pride Filthiness Lust and Vncleanness So the mighty Power of the Lord God be with you all and keep you And all Friends dwell in the Life which from God comes the Father of Life that with it ye may see God and all may be nourished and fed with the living Food which comes from the Living God Ye Babes of God dewell in the Wisdom of God in Grace that ye may grow up in the Wisdom and the Grace of God So the mighty Power of the Lord be with you all and keep you in Obedience to the Light out of the Evil of the World which Light doth
have bought Buy the Truth and sell it nol and do not sell it for changable things for things that pass away and subsist but for a time But as the glorious Truth is springing and manifest among you live and walk all worthy of what ye are called unto the high Calling in God and Christ Jesus above all the World out of all that which doth change where the Life that is Immortal is felt and a Crown that fadeth not away a Crown of Life that endureth for ever Live in the Dominion of the Life that is hid in God and every particular it know in one another And live in the Power of God and of Life that ye may see over the Day of Tempest over the Day of Darkness and Blackness and Mists And feel and know and come into that which comprehends the World that ye all may be guided with Wisdom and ordered to God's Glory And be all obedient to the Truth which all the Enmity is out of Be obedient to the Truth and know the Life of God in you all that with it ye may all be guided and your Hearts joined together up to God the Father of Life that ye may all be Inheritors of the Power of an Endless Life and of the World Fell the Seed of God where there is no End and Possessors of Substance And feel the Seed of God in you all which inherits the Promise from God which Seed is a-top of the Serpent's Head And keep that under that feeds upon Dust which the Glory and Life is over which Seed breaks the Strength of all Men and inherits the Strength of the Almighty the Possessor of Heaven and Earth which Seed is Christ that gives the Dominion over the first Adam over the Earthly and brings down all that which stains So feel the Seed which is Christ in you all and ye all will feel the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the World who gives to see where there is no Shadow nor Change nor Altering nor Variableness wherein ye all may come to inherit the Blessings from God and come into the living Way For whose Way dyes they err from the living Principle of God in them The Principle of God for who walk in the Way that lives they answer the Principle of God in every Man though they act contrary to it that are in the Way that dayes and do not live but change and alter The Lamb must get the Victory And to you this is the Word of the Lord. So the Lamb must get the Victory in every one of you which is Christ in the Male and in the Female who brings into the Father's House from all the Congregations of the Dead and their Houses of Darkness wherein every one comes to have his Mansion and his Food of Life from God the Father of Life who is Blessed for ever-more Whose Kingdom and Glory is revealed and revealing and setting up in the Life and Power and Wisdom of God The Lord God Almighty preserve and keep you all in Love in Peace and Vnity one with another in the Light and Covenant with God and one with another which Light is the Condemnation of all that hate it AND my Dear Lambs and Babes and Plants the Lord God dwell every one of you in Your own Dwell in your own that ye may feel the pretious Springs of God AND Friends all dwell in the Authority of the Truth the Power of the Son of God and feel the Power and Dread of the Lamb which is to subdue all other Powers The Lamb subdues all other Powers All Power in Heaven and in Earth is given to the Son and his Authority stands over the World and will subdue it and make the Kingdoms of the World to become the Kingdom of the Son of God So live in Love Meekness Patience and in the Power and Wisdom of God which is over all the World SOVND Sound the Trumpet of the Lord of Hosts whose Terrible Day is come and coming and pleading with all Flesh by Fire and Sword The mighty Day of the Lord is coming upon all Flesh that all Hearts shall be ript up and made manifest Therefore whilst ye have time Repent This is the Message of the Lord to all Nations Let all your Laws be according to that of God in all Consciences G. F. THE Word of the Lord to all Friends Epist 82. who are brought into the Eternal Truth of God whose Minds are guided out of the Earth up to the Lord whose it is and have received Wisdom from God Wisdom Justified in the Diligent and the Slothful condemned that with it ye may come to know how to order the Creation with the Wisdom by which all things were made This I charge you and warn you all in the Fear of the Living God that no Creatures be destroyed through Slothfulness Laziness and Filthiness nor upon the Lust for if ye let that rule and be set up that is for Condemnation and that which sets it up if for Condemnation with the Light that leads to the Wisdom by which the Creation must be ordered And Friends to the Light in you all I speak See that there be no Slothfulness amongst you Slothfulness Judged but all keep in Diligence and Liveliness for he that is Slothful and gets the Form may have an easeful Mind but is an evil Example And all such must be Judged with the Light that they may come to know the Servant's place and be Diligent And such who have gone up and down a-Begging Beggars to inbour if ye have received any such amongst you with the Light which hath Convinced them see that they be kept in Diligence and not suffer'd to wander but be kept in Obedinence to the Light to receive the Wisdom from God how to labour in the Creation and see that they have things decent and necessary and their Nakedness covered that no Reproach nor Shame may come upon the Truth amongst such as are without but that with the Light all such may be Condemned who act contrary to it That in the Light which condemns the World ye may walk and receive the Light of the Son of God which the World stumbles at which is their Condemnation and in which the Saints have Unity And all being kept diligent and walking in the Light there will be no Slothfulness and then none shall have Self-ends in recceiving any but those Ends shall be Judged with the Light which is Eternal Nor no one can come in amongst you which hath such Ends to make a Prey upon you but ye dwelling in the Light which is Eternal he is Judged and Self-ends Self-Ends Judged with the Light which is Eternal which is one with the Light in his Conscience which condemns him Then if he own his Condemnation he is to be received amongst you in the Light in which ye all have Unity with Christ and with God And to
it ye may be guided up to God and in Unity kept together up to him the Father of Light and Life and God Almighty be with you And that the Dread and Terror of the Lord may among you be and Deceit confounded and that with the Measure if Life all your Mind may be guided up to God that so ye all in Peace and Love may be kept And let this be sent among Friends to be read in all their Meetings G. F. To a Friend IN the Will of God stand with thy own Will offered up Epist 97. as his was who said Not my Will but thine be done And beware of Striving in thy own Will against the Eternal Providence and Power The Eternal Providence and Power which is now working Invisibly cross and contrary to all the Powers of Darkness And in the Fear of the Lord wait that thy Duty to the Lord thou mayst know whose Everlasting Love is to thee whose Blessing reacheth unto thee if thou be faithful with faithful Abraham who received the Blessing and to his Seed after him So beware left through thy Forwardness and Rashness thou bring the Curse upon thee and so break thy Peace and Covenant with the Lord God Rashness The Everlasting God give thee Faith in Christ Jesus in whom the Promise is Yea and Amen G. F. DEar Friends stand in the Faith Epist 98. which gives the Victory over all the World in which ye all will have Victory and so come to be of Abrabam's Faith and know the Word that quickens you Faith gives Victory and reconciles to God and hammers down the Contrary So in the Power and Life of Christ Jesus live and in that ye all will be preserved to his Glory G. F. To all that make Mention of the Name of the Lord and that profess his living Truth FRiends Epist 99. A Warning and Charge to you all from the Presence of of the Living God To let all Lighness and Airiness Foolishness Wilfulness and Frothiness be Judged in Patience Lightness and Airiness Judged let it come to the Fire and be burned and Hay Wood and Stubble and all that which is above the Seed he that builds there is above the Foundation his Works are to be burned he will suffer Loss Therefore keep all down to the Seed of God and feel that a-top of all which Seed inherits the Promise of God that nothing may reign but the Seed it self which inherits from God So all come into the Authority of God which is not usurped which gives the Dominion over all the usurped Authority The one Power of the Son of God that ye may live all in the one Power of the Son of God which brings all into the Unity and subdues all things that cause the Enmity So the one Power the one Soul the one Heart the one Mind is witnessed here the Glory is revealed among you and the one Head Christ the Seed and ye are all of one Family Here is the Power of the Son of God known all Power being given to him which Power and Seed bruiseth the Serpent's head and breaks it in which standeth the Enmity So all Power is given to the Son to rule to subdue and to judge So live in the Power and ye live in the Vnity ye live in the Peace ye live all in the Subjection one to another in the Fear of the Lord The Seed is one ye live all in the Seed which is one which keeps a-top of the Head of the Serpent and keeps his Head down and bringeth it under So feel the Seed of God in every particular to be the Head in the Male and in the Female and then ye come to be Bone of his Bone and Flesh of his Flesh and to inherit every one the Promise of God in the particular whereby ye may come to be Inheritors in the Lord's Strength feeling it and possessing it in your own particulars So the Seed of the Serpent being kept down with the Seed which is Christ in the Particular he brings to see over all that is Contrary G. F. Concerning all fuch as set up outward Crosses FRiends Epist 100. in the Power of the Lord God dwell and live that over all the World ye may stand in that which fathoms it that ye may handle the Word of God aright The Word a Hammer which is as a Hammer and as a Sword to divide the precious from the vile and is as a Fire to burn up that which is hammered down and divided from the precious And in the Wisdom of God wait that ye may answer that of God in every one which Light will bring them off those things which they have set up in that Nature which is gone from the Light Which things the Light goes over and brings to see the Beginning and Ending of all those whom Christ said should come which John saw were come who went out from them whom all the World went after amongst whom have come up all these heads and Horns and Babylon Beast and false Prophet and Mother of Harlots who have sate upon the Waters which have been Peoples Nations and Languages And these have been from the Light and so from the Rock and from the true Foundation and the Kings of the Earth have drunk of the Cup of her Fornication And all Nations that have been from the Life and the Foundation of God have been in this Fornication from Christ the Husband So now People are to be turned by the Light to Christ their Husband the Rock the Corner-Stone and are to be brought from their outward Crosses to the Cross of Christ the Power of God within them and from the dead Image to the Image of God which they have lost through their going forth from the Light and thereby have lost the Power of God And all these Crosses of Wood and Stone Crosses of Wood and Stone and the Founder of them must all be thrown down by the Power of God which is the Cross of Christ and to the Light must they be turned which answers to that of God in every one before they come to feel Christ to rule and reign in them Then the outward dead Crosses of Stone Wood Silver or Gold they shall not need to have to put them in Remembrance of Christ or to bring him into their Minds for such as are come to the Light which Christ hath enlightned them withal and believe in it they feel the Power of God they feel Christ and his Cross which is the Power of God G. F. DEar Friends and Brethren in the Everlasting Seed of God Epist 101. which hath the Wisdom and Life Eternal and Dominion over all that is in the Fall in which the Blessing of the Everlasting God is known An Exhortation to Patience in the time of Suffering and his Life that never fadeth in which Seed that hath the Dominion nion over all that is in the
in Battle against all the Philistians The Armour of Light and the Enemies of God being led and guided with the Spirit up to God the Father of Spirits that what ye do beget may be to him and into his Image and that which ye do present it may be perfect And so Mind this Sow not sparingly for the Lord hath a Seed that-aways So the Lord God Almighty preserve you And stir abroad whilst the Door is open and the Light shineth and so go on in that which letteth you see the World to comprehend it and to see what is imprisoned by it and suffereth by it So the Lord give you an Understanding in all things and his Arm go along with you that ye may be to his Glory And the Blessing of the Lord be with you DEAR Francis and Edward In the Life of God wait that ye may be with it led and kept to receive Wisdom from God To Fra. Howgill and Edw. Burrough that ye may order all things there with it and to be manifest to the Witness of God in all that ye may beget to God that as good Plow-men and good Thresher-men ye may be to bring out the Wheat Good Plowmen So the Lord God Almighty keep and preserve you G. F. DEar Friends Dwell in that which keeps your Peace Epist 136. and comprehends the Deceit and answers that of God in every one To Friends to dwell in that which keeps Peace And let Friends keep their Meetings and never hearken to Tales nor things without but keep their Peace and know the Life and Power Vnion and Fellowship which stands in God in and with which ye may stand over the World in the one Power Life and Wisdom Meetings and therein be kept to the Glory of the Lord God So in that which is pure the Lord God Almighty preserve you G. F. FRiends Let God's Wisdom have the stay of your Minds Epist 137. and let it be the End of all your Words beware of that Spirit God's Wisdom that leads out of it into any thing There is a Day coming wherein some may wish that they had walked in Wisdom Weaknesses and Failings as touching the Weaknesses one of another or the Failings one of another for what know ye who may stand or who may fall in the Day of God's Trial Then many that have been unstable may wish that they had kept their Secrets in their Bosoms and in God's Wisdom sought to restore all Secrets and not to scatter as that Spirit doth which cannot bear and cover the Weaknesses one of another who are yet in the Wilderness where the Trials are many I have seen a great Danger in this thing Wherefore beware of that Spirit that cannot bear one with another Forgime and Cover or forgive one another for that which cannot will discover rather than cover and bring a Cloud over many wheresoever it is received and raise the contrary in many and vail the Just it may be in whole Meetings for want of Wisdom to be stayed in the Meek Spirit The Meek Spirit which trys all Spirits and gives clear sight of things For want of this many may be cast by and scarce ever restored again Therefore I say Tread over the Dead and that which works in that Nature and reach to the Witness in all so will ye stand for God and God will bless you in the Day of Trial. G. F. FRiends Epist 138. Ye that are the Prisoners of the Lord Jesus Christ in outward Bonds who witness him by whom the World was made who is the King of Saints and who are his Prisoners Note and come under his Dominion and Government Ye are not your own but purchased with his Blood which washes and makes you clean and justifies whose Bodies are his Temple Though he suffers you to be Imprisoned yet in his Power your Bodies are kept and your Spirits also ye standing Witnesses for your Master Standing Witnesses for your King for your Prophet for your Covenant of Light for your Wisdom of God him by whom all things were made for the Word and Power by which all things were made and upheld against the Powers of Darkness who are out of the Light out of the Truth who cannot bind stop nor limit the unlimited Power which is over it and comprehends it They who are born of the Word and in the Power which upholds all things over that and the Power of the Evil One have Victory and sing over the false Prophet The false Prophet For the Devil was the Deceiver who in the Truth abode not and there is the false Prophet who speaks of his own and not from the Lord and there is the Beast that makes the War against the Lamb and his Saints who witness the Testimony of Jesus and the Word of God Therefore mind the Word of God ye Children of the Light who are in the Light that comes from the Word mind the Word of the Lord which is as a Hammer and as a Fire and sharper than a Two-edged Sword And ye who are the Lord's are not your own but they who are in their own Time The Time in the Father's hand see not the Time which is in the Father's Hand their Time is always and they do their own Works and not the Works of God which the Son of God did G. F. FRiends Epist 139. Know the Praying in the Spirit and with the Vnderstanding then ye will come to know the Sighs and Groans that cannot be uttered Praying in the Spirit For such as have not the Spirit that gave forth the Scriptures to guide them are as the Pharisees were in the Long Prayers and in the Wrath and in the Doubting and do not lift up holy Hands This makes a Difference between Praying in the Spirit and the Pharisees long Prayers that devoured Widows houses AND None owns the Light as it is in Jesus but he that owns the Light that Christ lighteth them withal And none owns the Truth Light and Truth but who owns the Light that cometh from Christ the Truth And none cometh to the Father but such who owns the Light that cometh from Christ which leads to him Nor none owns the Son except he owns the Light that cometh from him FOR all dwelling in the Light that comes from Jesus it leads out of Wars leads out of Strife leads out of the Occasion of Wars and leads out of the Earth up to God Wars and Strife out of Earthly-mandedness to Heavenly-mindedness and bringeth your Minds to be in Heaven G. F. ALL Friends every where Epist 140. that do suffer for Tithe and are served with Writs to answer at London take Copies of your Suppoena's and Writs To Friends Concerning Collecting their Sufferings that ye may have them when ye Appear to shew them to the Court whereby ye may be kept a top of the Persecutors
And then there was a Time that the Apostles preached Christ in them to them that did believe and had received him Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates And Christ in you the Hope of Glory Christ in you the Hope of Glory And If Christ be in you the Body is dead And They that are Christ's have crucified the Affections and Lusts and all things are become new But this was spoken to them that believed who were the Saints to them Christ in them was preached the Substance of what the Prophets prophesied of and to believe in him who was risen the Resurrection Repentance and Faith But to the World the Apostles preached Repentance and to believe in Jesus Christ and taught Faith towards God But to them who were Redeemed out of the World in and to whom the Son of God was made manifest who were brought to God the Judge of all and to the Church in God and to the innumerable Company of Angels and to the Spirits of Just Men who were made perfect in him through Faith towards God preaching Repentance and the Doctrine of Baptism was needless Baptism in whom it was fulfilled to and in such as were brought to God He that can receive this may for to it there is no private Meaning There is a Time of preaching Faith towards God and there is a Time to be brought to God But such as are here deny the first Priesthood and witness the second with the Eternal Spirit of God who witness him without Father or Mother a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedech G. F. THis is the Word of the Lord God to you all Epist 152. In all Openings and Speakings let not the Man be lifted up for that will not be the Servant but the Master which is to be thrown down with that To Friends in their Openings from whence the Openings come Therefore that keep down which would be lifted up in the sight of the World Not to be lifted up for that doth often fall in the sight of the World but that being lifted up which answereth that of God in every Man this is of the Son of God who is exalted above the World and was before it was made and created And Every one dwell in the Seed and Life of God and in that know one another And Meet together and keep your Meetings that ye may see the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of you G. F. To Friends beyond Sea that have Blacks and Indian Slaves DEar Friends Epist 153. I was moved to write these things to you in all those Plantations God that made the World and all things therein and giveth Life and Breath to all and they all have their Life and Moving and their Being in him he is the God of the Spirits of all Flesh and is no Respecter of Persons but Whosoever feareth him God is no Respector of Persons and worketh Righteousness is accepted of him And he hath made all Nations of one Blood to dwell upon the Face of the Earth and his Eyes are over all the Works of his Hands and seeth every thing that is done under the whole Heavens and the Earth is the Lord's and the Fulness thereof And he causeth the Rain to fall upon the Just and upon the Vnjust and also he causeth the Sun to shine upon the Just and the Vnjust and he commands to love all Men for Christ loved all so that he died for Sinners And this is God's Love to the World Christ died for Sinners in giving his Son into the World that whosoever believeth in him should not perish And he doth Enlighten every Man that cometh into the World that they might believe in the Son And the Gospel is preached to every creature under Heaven which is the Power that giveth Liberty and Freedom and is Glad Tidings to every Captivated Creature under the whole Heavens And the Word of God is in the Heart and Mouth to obey and do it and not for them to ascend or descend for it and this is the Word of Faith which was and is preached For Christ is given for a Covenant to the People and a Light to the Gentiles A Light to the Gentiles and to enlighten them who is the Glory of Israel and God's Salvation to the Ends of the Earth And so ye are to have the Mind of Christ and to be Merciful as your Heavenly Father is Merciful G. F. OH Friends keep out of that State Epist 154. which is out of and below the Chast Nature for all Vnchastness by the Power of the Lord The Chast Nature and his Truth and Light is to be judged Therefore live in the Truth and in the Light of God that keeps you all Chast for in that is the Vnity and out of that is the War For from the Lusts are the Wars and Strife Oh keep over that Nature that Purity may flow and Righteousness spread and Truth flourish and Love and Peace abound in and amongst all the Family of God! Keep down the Vnchast keep down the Adulterous Eye The Adulterous Eye and keep down the Lust of the Flesh which is not of the Father but of the World and Lust is against the Spiritual Fellowship and Spiritual Union and Spiritual Dominion for that would be as a Lord to Lord above the Spirit which the Spirit of God is Lord over and Judges it Keep down the Lustful Heart and Eye for that leads from God and joins with the Adulterate in any thing or with any thing that is Evil keep Truth and a pure Conscience and there ye have an unspotted Life in which ye may see over the spotted Life where no Chastity nor Purity is Therefore live in that which keeps you Chast Follow the Lamb. then ye follow Christ the Lamb for there is the holy Joy and Peace and Comfort and Unity known in the Life and Fellowship with the God of Life For what is the Cause of all the Lusting Spirits to Envy and of the Wisdom that is Sensual Earthly and Devilish but a Living and a Going out from the Truth and the Life Which Truth and Life is the Mark of the high Calling of God in Christ where the Peace is And so the Spirit of this World lusts to Envy it lusts to Strife it lusts to Contention it lusts against the Spirit of God the Lusts of the Eye and the Pride of Life and the Lusts of the Flesh cloathed with Flesh covered with Flesh not with the Spirit such are unchast and follow the Lust not the Lamb and so live in that which the War proceeds from and in Strife and Contention And therefore Mark that Spirit with the Eternal Power of God Evil Thoughts for it Judges with evil Thoughts being in the Earth and thinks all to be like it self being in the Bad and in the Lust and in the Adultery it judges all to be
the other into Captivty where the Apostates are and so are become like untimely Figs or like unto the Corn upon the House-top Now this is the Word of the Lord God unto you all Keep your Habitations in the Light Life and Power which ye first received and felt in your selves that ye may be cloathed with the Blessing of the Lord which was before the Curse was And live in the Unity in the Light which was before Darkness was or the Power of it and in the Life which was before Death was and in the Truth which was before the Devil was and in the Power of God which was before the Power of Satan was All live in this that ye may be cloathed with that which is Immortal and attain to the Crown of Life and to know the Election before the World began He that is the First and the Last that is the Beginning and the Ending sit down in him not in Adam in the Fall but sit down in Christ that never fell and there that Life ye will come to know Sit down in Christ which was with the Father before the World began And so live in the Substance which is the Seed Christ who ends the Prophets first Conveant first Priesthood and all the Types and Figures and Shadows given after the Fall G. F. MY Dear Friends Epist 167. Be not carried away by good Words and fair Speeches Good Words and fair Speeches nor the Affectinate Part which is taken with them but every one have hold of the Truth in your selves and the Life and Light and Power of the Most-High by which ye may be staied upon Christ Bread the Staff of Life your Bread of Life he is the Staff of your Heavenly and Eternal Life Bread is the Staff of Life Now Friends who have denied the World Songs and Singing Songs and Singing sing ye in the Spirit and with Grace making Melody in your Hearts to the Lord. And ye having denied the World's formal Praying Praying pray ye always in the Spirit and watchy in it And ye that have denied the World's giving of Thanks and their saying of Grace and living out of it do ye in every thing give Thanks to the Lord through Jesus Christ And ye Giving Thanks that have denied the World's Praising God with their Lips whilst their Hearts are afar off do ye always praise the Lord night and day Saying Grace and from the Rising of the Sun to the Going down of the same praise ye the Lord. And ye that have denied the World's Fastings Praising Fastings and of their hanging down their Heads like a Bulrush for a day who smite with the Fist of Wickedness Keep ye the Fast of the Lord that breaks the Bond of Iniquity and lets the Oppressed go free that your Health may grow and your Light may shine as the Morning G. F. FRiends all every where who have tasted of the Love Epist 168. Mercy and Kindness of God and his Power ye are called to Holiness and Chastity Therefore keep out of inordinate Affections Inordinate Affections and inordinate fleshly Love and feigned Flattery and Desires which is below the Truth which will bring you to Infirmness And keep out of fond Affections and fond Love that draws out the fleshly Part the fleshly Eye and brings into Pride and Loosness and false Liberty and to abuse the Power of God Oh keep out of all Vncleanness whatever may be pretended and fleshly Desires for the Lust of the Eye the Lust of the Flesh and the Pride of Life are not of the Father but of the World And therefore keep down that which is not of the Father but of the World And take heed of dishonouring your Bodies and defiling your Minds but keep your Bodies clean from all Fornication Fornication and Adultery Adultery and Vncleanness for that which pretends otherwise and doth so defiles it and is out of the Truth and is contrary to the Law of God and contrary to Christ's Doctrine And therefore defile not your selves but live pure chast and holy as becometh the Saints for no Adulterer nor Fornicator hath any part in the Kingdome of God Such go from that of God in themselves and quench the Spirit of God and abuse his Power and go into fleshly Love and fained Desires and flattering Pretences covering it with a false Liberty and so are in the Bondage to the beggarly fleshly Lusts and whom they overcome they bring into the same Bondage and through their fained Flattery and dissembling Carriage rob and beguile and spoil Flattery to fulfil their insatiable ungodly Desires Wills and Lusts Therefore live in the Truth for all such things are out of the Truth and such as do the same whatsoever they be therefore all that go into Vncleanness under what fair Pretence soever are to be Judged G. F. TO all the Elect Chosen and Faithful Epist 165. who are of the Royal Seed of God living Stones Elect and Precious knit and built up together and united the Family and House-hold of God London the 11th of the 3d Month. and come to his Mountain that is established upon the top of all Mountains that walk in the Light of the Lord in Unity and Covenant with God in the Covenant of Life and Peace with him Who in this the Lamb's Day are the Gold tried in the Fire Who have been tried by Goods spoiling As Gold tried in the Fire by Bonds by Whippings by Mockings and Reproaches in the Day of the Lamb's Power and some have been tried unto Death and ye have proved to be the pure Gold that hath come out brighter and brighter Who have not feared the Waves of the Sea nor the Winds who fears not the storms nor the Weather whose Anchor holds which is the Hope the Mystery which Anchors the Soul which is Immortal to the Immortal God Among whom the Star or Jacob is seen and the Morning-Star is risen and the Sun of Righteousness shines and the Lamb's Voice is known the Charch in the Glory and Beauty is appeared and appearing The Mirriage of the Lamb. the Marriage of the Lamb and the Bride and the Wedding-day is known in which there is Unity and the Vigins sing Praises and follow the Lamb because of his sweet Ointment and the Virgins are upon Mount Zion And the Gospel is going forth unto all Nations Kindreds and Tongues and Life and Immortality is coming to Light thuough the Gospel which is the Power of God and the Mystery of the Fellowship is known The Mrstery of the Fellowship which is in the Power And for want of the Power the Gospel in which is the Fellowship hath Christendom been on Heaps and the Heathen Ignorant And now ye who know the Power of God ye know the Gospel and ye who are in the Power of God ye are in the Mystery of the Fellowship So Mark the Fellowship is a Mystery
Habitation They will say They must not Meet together such as are gathered in the Name of Christ Jesus that never fell who is above Adam that sell And thus the Devil would lay all wast and make the World like a Wilderness and break down the Bounds of the righteous Gardens and Plantations and would break them down into his Wilderness and lay them barren and wast And so when they are gone fromt he Truth themselves the Devil is got into them and would keep them from Meetings Meetings to draw others into the same who are gathered into the Name of Jesnes and are come to sit down in the heavenly Plate in Christ Jesus and are found with the Flock that lie down at Noon-day And so that fallen Spirit would bring the Saints to for sake their Assemblies and wouldmake them like a Wilderness if he cannot he will throw Dirt upon them and back-bite them and prejudice them and slander them and speak Evil of them and strive to sow discord amongst them and preach up some outward things amongst them to bring them into an outward Fellowship from the Immotal Power and Gospel-Fellowship and fill them with Earthly Wisdom and Knowledge Carnal Policy and Vnderstanding and carnal Policy with Quirks Tricks Turnings and Windings to over-word and ensnare the simple and to bring them into Questioning And so this Spirit is to destroy ruin and lay wast and to rob and beguile and would destroy if it were in its Power the Saints Fellowship and Worship and if it were possible to deceive the Elect. For sometimes it will come in the shew of Worship and fained Humility and other times with Esau's Tears but all the strength of it is set to lead the Innocent out of his Habitation and to destroy and devour him And so being adulterated from the true Spirit the true Light and the Fellowship in it Secret Evills it runs into all the secret Evils inward Adultery and outward Adultery Vncleanness and Fornication and being in the Evil Darkness and Vncleanness judges all like unto it self with its evil Thoughts and casts out its Flood of Evil-Speaking and Wickedness upon the righteous and just the Saints of the Most-High whose Garments are clean and pure And so this Spirit will cry down the Saints Fellowship in Spirit and Worship in Spirit and Truth and their Fellowship in the Power which was before their Forms were or the Devil either and when it cannot get them down and break their Fellowship to forsake their Assembling together which is contrary to the Apostles Doctrine and the Churches in the Primitive Times before the Apostasy and when they see they can neither break their Fellowship nor Worship Forms of Worship then they say Away with your Forms and cry down Forms to such as be in the Power of Godliness and that Spirit 's Work that doth so is to bring into such Forms in Time which are out of the Spirit and Truth and Power of God in which the Saints have Fellowship and Refreshment in which God is worshipped in that which is above and was before Time And that contrary Spirit its Work is to bring into the many Invented Forms in the Fall and sometimes runs out of all right Form into Confusion and out of all Orde of Life in which the Saints of the Most-high that walk in the Spirit are in the Fellowship and Power of Life having the Order of Life amongst them Keep your Habitation And therefore all Friends Keep your Habitation every where in the Truth of God and let your Lights be shining and your Lamps burning and have Oil in your Lamps and Salt in your selves to savour withal that ye may grow up into Christ Jesus by whom all things were made that wer made that through him ye may know all things And so Live in him that destroys the Enmity and in him sit in Christ Jesus in whom ye have Vnity Life Peace and Salvation The Honour was given to him that never changed nor never fell True Honour who is Christ Jesus and ye in him are partakers of this Honour and they that change and fall do not know this Honour but are a Dishonour to him G. F. FRiends live in the Seed of God that destroys the Devil Epist 188. who is the Author and Cause of Wars and Strife and brining of Men and People into the Earth where the War Strife and Pride is The Author of Wars here the outward Sword-men have not learned yet to beat their Swords and Spears into Plough-shares and Pruning-hooks Yet ye that are in that Seed see that ye Accuse no Man falsly that hath the Sword of Justice The Sword of Justice which is to keep the Peace and is a Terror to the Evil-doers and to keep down the Transgressors and for the praise of them that do well this is owned in its place But he that killeth with the Sword must perish with the Sword So there was a Time the Jews were to fight with outward Weapons with Sword and Spear Outward Weapons but there is a Time when Nations shall not learn War any more but shall come to that which shall take away the Occasion of Wars which was in the beginning before Wars were And Friends take heed of blending your selves with the outward Powers of the Earth ALL Friends dwell in the Life and Power and Seed of God 2. To Friends to dwell in the seed in which is their Safery in which ye may be kept in the Son of God's Kingdom and preserved in his Dominion out of all changable things in that God's Blessing will be with you In the Seed of God is the stayed State and in that is the Life and Peace with God and the Offering that satisfieth God and that perfecteth for ever them that are sanctified The stayed State And the Seed bruises and destroys the Serpent's head who is the Prince of the Air the Prince of Darkness the Tempter and the Troubler in which Seed is Peace and Life enjoyed and by the Wisdom of it to be ordered to God's Glory And there the Reign of Christ is known who is come to reign and to rule G. F. To Friends in New-England and Virginia MY Dear Friends Robert Hodson William Robinson Marmaduke Stevenson Peter Pearson William Brend William Leara and the rest of Friends in New-England and Virginia Epist 189. Concerning Judging Be faithful to the Lord in the Truth of the Lord God 8. Month 15. nd in his Power and Wisdom be valiant for it upon the Earth and spread it abroad and confound Deceit And dwell in the Power of God and stand in it which comprehends the whole World that through it ye may answer the Witness of God in every one and be a Dread to Nations And go on in Peace and Love and Vnity one with another and keep in the Wisdom of the Lord God that ye may be answerable to the
Royal Seed and Heirs of the Promise what are they to you who are Married to the Lamb who was Slain from the Foundation of the World against whom they warred and banded themselves and took Counsel together against the Lord and his Anointed who breaks their Bonds asunder whom neither Death Grave nor all the Powers of the World were able to hold nor contain but over all he rose the Seed and reigns till he hath made all his Enemies his Footstoole Honour and Praise be to the Lord the living God that lives for ever So all ye which are gathered in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ whose Name is called that Power of God the Word which was in the beginning over the Powers of Darkness before it was and compelling Worships Ministry Maintenance and Churches were this Gathering Meeting in the Name this Meeting in the Name the Power the unrighteous World cannot separate you from it for it is over it and was before it was In that Power have ye the Kingdom and Dominion in the Power reigning over all that which hath been out of the Power And ye that partake of the Power have Power with God in that we need not bid you keep your Meetings for ye are met and gathered into the Fold of Christ Jesus and are put forth by him and are brought from under that that leads from God by the Power of God In this Gathering by the Power into the Name of Christ which is the Power with the Power he is felt in the midst who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and Prince of Life and Peace and Prophet to open by his Power and Light in you all and a Priest for ever that lives to offer up the Spiritual Sacrifice and Praise to God and he being among you felt and in you all ye will have every one of you in your own particular Joy Peace Comfort Consolation Assurance Confidence and Satisfaction when all Gatherings Meetings Heaven and Earth Types and Figures and Shadows and Prophets and the Prophecies are ended And Swearing before the Law and in the Law and all invented Oaths since the Law and amongst the Heathen when these are gone past away and fulfilled the Election and the Seed and the Gathering in the Name of Jesus Christ the Lord of Life remains and stands and his Throne and Dominion in which there is no Curse but a Blessing So happy are ye who are partakers of this heirs of this Blessing and heirs of the Promise and of the Life and of the World that hath no End who have your Confidence and Assurance in him So all ye that have felt the Light and have been turned to it The Light in that Light ye feel the Covenant with God who is Light which brings to be acquainted with the Life of God and gives the Knowledge of Christ your Saviour and Redeemer which is the Salvation to the Ends of the Earth By which Light and Covenant ye are turned from Darkness and the Power of Satan that separated you from God who was the Enemy through whom ye had not Peace with God But now being turned from him into the Light and Power in this Covenant of Light and Power ye have Peace with God that destroys the Enmity and are come to receive it and so Heirs of the Kingdom that is Everlasting Be at Peace one with another and in Love and Tenderness and in the Wisdom of God order and preserve and nourish and cherish all things to his glory in which ye will feel his blessing and treasure and riches and Julness in you with you and amongst you So put on the Armour of Light that with it ye may be able to defend and see and walk and stand against all the Arrows and Darts that are in the unrighteous World The Armour of Light and before they were as Children of the Light and Children of the Day where the Darkness is past Put on your Breast-plate of Righteousness to save and preserve your Hearts and Minds and to keep you from all that which would defile and surfeit it or cause you to be weary or think the War or Time long For the Power is Everlasting and the Righteousness is Everlasting that destroys the Works of the Devil and him both whereby the Seed of God comes to be set on the head of it all The Shield of Faith Glory and Praise be to him for ever Put on therefore the Shield of Faith by which Faith your Shield ye have the Victory For Faith is a Mystery held in a pure Conscience by which ye have Access to God in which Faith ye please God in which Faith ye have Vnity which gives you the Victory over that which separates from God the Enmity In that Faith be Joyful which is the Faith of God's Elect that brings them over the World and to that which was before the Foundation of it And this is the Faith the Just lives by by which he is saved and justified by which he lives and conquers anmd hath the Victory over the Vnjust Glory to the Highest PVT on the Helmet of Salvation and take the Sword of the Spirit the Word of God your Helmet being on The Helmet of Salvation nothing can destroy nor hurt your Salvation Christ Jesus being your Helmet and your Head who destroys the Devil and his Works the Sword of the Spirit that mortifies that crucifies baptizes cuts off plunges under all Corruptions that have gotten up since the Transgression then in the Spirit ye will worship God and have Fellowship and Spiritual Weapons and come to be Spiritual Men and not as the Carnal World that rules and wrestles with Carnal Weapons and with Flesh and Blood The Stone cut out of the Mountain without hands will dash and break into pieces all the Cutters with Hands and Carnal-weaponed Men about Religion Church and Worship and his Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion hath no End This Stone is that which laid Nebuchadnezzar's head low and brought him to eat Grass like a Beast who knew not the Kingdom of the Most-high ruling in Men. So ye that know this Stone cut out of the Mountain without hands ye all know the Kingdom of the Most-high God ruling in you and his Dominion which s Everlasting and come to be his Temple For there was but One Temple in the whole World commanded of God One Temple as a Figure of Christ who would dwell in Man in Male and Female who should be the Temples of God in whom should be his Name and Power Blessings Honour and Glory and Praises be given to the Lord God for evermore by all them who witness this So all Dear Lambs and Babes and Brethren Happy and blessed are ye who the Seed do know which is Heir of the Blessings and the Power and Life and the Kingdom and the World that is Everlasting and without End Be shod all with the Gospel The Gospel
Bridegroom The Word of God cannot be bound which makes Rich which lives for Ever in which is the Life So do not quench the Spirit nor add to the Prophecy nor diminish that keeps you from the Plagues and to see your Names written in the Lamb's Book of Life There stands your Joy Everlasting through which ye see the White-Stone through which Light Power and Seed ye do overcome that which is gone forth from God So ye dwelling in the Son of God ye shall go no more forth but shall inherit all things So Farewell KEEP in the Power of the Lord God that goes over all the World Flight in the Winter that none of your Flight may be in the Winter And beware lest any of your Flight be on the Sabbath-Day which the signification of it is Rest but all in the Power of the Living God abide in which ye may feel Life Peace and Rest and an abiding Place a secret Chamber to turn into till the Indignation and Wrath of the Lord be past which is to come over all Transgressors And if the Judgment begin at the House of God first and the Righteous passeth the straight way to Salvation where will the Hypocrites and the Sinners appear Over whom the overflowing Scourge must come and pass Therefore in the Life Power and Love of God all dwell And the Apostle saith Forsake not the assembling of your selves as the manner of some is but edifie one another in the Light and the Life as the Day doth appear And to say That People must not Meet together to worship God they may as well say Ye must not be Christians For Persecutors were always blind Persecutors and they stopped their Ears to the Spirit of God in themselves formerly so were in the blind Zeal and turned against them who were in the true Zeal in the Spirit of God Let this be carefully Copied over and sent amongst Friends G. F. MY Dear Friends Epist 207. Look above all Sufferings that are outward at the Seed of God which was before that was which makes to suffer Suffernings for Tithes and the Seed of God Christ Jesus will stand when that which makes to suffer is gone And so in the Seed of God live and lie down in the same which is Christ the Life the Way to God the Father of Life The Tithes of the Jews and the Tithes of the Apostate-Christians must all be born Testimony aginst by them that be redeemed from the Earth and reigns above it in his Life and Power and Wisdom And so be of good Faith and never heed but make War in Righteousness with the Beast Dragon Whore and her Folowers for by the Lord many Walls and Troops have ye gone thorow and leaped over and the Lord hath given you Dominion over that which warred against you and by the Power of the Lord ye have Overcome and in the Power of the lord ye will Overcome all and in it will stand when all the contrary is gone And know your Portion and sit down in the Possession of it So every one of you to be in your Possessions and Inheritances and with the Shield of Faith and helmet of Salvation The Shrill of Faith and the Brest-Plate of Righteousness and the Sword of the Spirit the Word of God which was before Deceit was which will hammer and break and cut down all that which is contrary And being shod with the Preparation of the Gospel which is the Power of God which was before the Fall was In that Stand in the Power of God which was before the Devil weas and will remain when he is gone G. F. ALL ye Prisoners of the Lord for his Truth sake Epist 208. and for keeping the Testimony of Jesus Christ against all the Inventions Traditions Rudiments Will-Worships fained Humilities and Self-Righteousnesses that are in the Fall and are out of God's Power and Righteousness who have no Weapons but Carnal like themselves your Patience must overcome all the rough Spirits in the World and your Love must bear all things For Patience obtains the Crown which is Immortal which runs the Race So it is the Lamb must have the Victory over all the unclean airy Spirits and over him that is out of the Truth So be Meek and Low then ye follow the Example of Christ Patience obtains the Crown and come to bear the Image of the Just who suffered by the Vjust and put on his Righteousness who suffered by the Vnrighteous whose Back was struck Hair was pluck'd off and Face was spit upon and yet cried Father forgive them Here he kept his Dominion though a Sufferer who had the Victory which the Followers of the Lamb do in Measure attain to So put on Courage put on Patience Let your Loyalty be known for your King that hath conquered the Devil Death and Hell in walking in Righteousness Peace and Truth feeling the Power of God preaching and reaching the Witness of God in every one when Words are not uttered And let your Faith be in the Power that goes through all things and over all things and every one hearken to it So the Power of the mighty God then ye will know and his Arm how it works and the Hand how it carries you The Power and Arm of God which will bring you out of Tribulation and Thraldom and Spiritual Egypt into Peace And this is the Power of God in which live and dwell in which ye will feel him which was before Enmity was And be at Peace one with another then ye will live in the Prince of Princes Peace and in his Kingdom Dominion and Life in which is Vnity which was before Enmity was and which destroys it And so in the Power of the Lord God ye are made strong which goes over the Power of Arkness and was before all that was which is out of the Power of God And all People that are gone from the Witness of God in their own particulars they are all weak and feeble and staggering All Mens and Womens Strength is in the Power of God which goes over the Power of Darkness So feel all this in you to carry you through all and over all and in it preach and Work for God and let your Ear be lent to it and hearken to it in one another and by it feel the Seed raised up in one another which is Heir of the Power that ye may know each your Portion For all People that are gone from the Witness of God in their own particulars that are erred from it and hate the Light they are full of Darkness Sin and Iniquity and are far from Inspiration and Revelation Inspiration and Revelation while their Minds are erred from the Spirit of God in themselves that is hid from them So when their Minds are turned with the Light and Spirit of God towards God then with it they shall know something of Revelation and Inspiration as they are
Likeness may be defaced which is gotten up in the Hearts of Men and People since the beginning in Transgression So bring them to the Great Sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ The Great Sacrifice the Seed of the Woman who Offered up himself for the Sin of the World the Top-stone which is over all laid who is Restoring by his Power who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth who is Restoring all things into the place as they were in the beginning and Reconciling in one by his Power things in Heaven and things in Earth destroying that which made the Separation and broak Vnity which is the Enmity in Peoples Minds which the Light that doth enlighten every one that cometh into the World destroys through which all People come to have Peace with God and Fellowship who do believe in it So spread the Truth abroad and be Valiant for it upon the Earth Improve your Talent and be the wise Virgins with Oil in your Lamps The Talent and wise Virgins that ye may enter in with the Bridegroom Have Salt in your selves that ye may savour all things and keep your Consciences clean and pure unto God and all Men. Live in the Cross of Christ and rejoyce in it which is the Power of God and goes over all that which lives out from God and which is in the Transgression and its Fruits to which it is Death to this Cross the Power of God all must bend and bow And in the Power of God is the Fellowship of the Cross The Cross which keeps over all the Fellowships in the World and crucifies to them And so ye who are Heirs of the Power of a World that hath no end and a Kingdom that is Everlasting sit down in your Inheritances of the Power of the Kingdom of the Blessing of the Promise that are Heirs of the same that ye may increase in the Everlasting in the Blessing and heavenly Riches And though the Oppressors of the Earth will not let you have a Foot of Ground yet ye have the Power of God to stand in and so ye that are Heirs of that Oppressors and Christ Jesus whose the Earth is and all things therein and are in the Power of God separated from the Power of Darkness the Devil and are come into that which was before he was ye have nothing to lose for all yours is the Lora's For they that are separated by Sin and Transgression into the Earth drove there they strick fast and have much to lose whose Hearts are surfeited with the Earth and to that Glewed and all their Fellowship is out of the Cross of Christ the Power of God and are within the Power of Darkness and its Dominion over whom it hath the Supremacy which the Power of God goes over in which is the Son's Liberty and the Saints Fellowship that Lives for ever thorow which they have Eternal Life Let this be Copied over and sent abroad to the Isls unto New-England and Virginia G. F. ALL may Dear Friends and Brethren Epist 217. who of the mighty Power of God have tasted in which it hath brought you to the Measure of the Life of Truth Concerning Judging and to feel after God in it unto which ye are turned as a Way that is Living and has no End which is Christ Jesus who is the Way of Peace and destroys the Devil the Author of Strife All ye that are turned unto this living Way by the Power of the mighty God of Heaven and Earth Live in Peace one with another and Unity and do not Judge one another for that eats and wears out the Good and begets the Enmity and hinders growth in Truth Keep that down and live in Love and Peace that edifies And all every where unto you this is the Word of the Lord God Live in the Power of the mighty God of Heaven and Earth that goes over the unrighteous World The Power of the mighty God in which is the Strife and the Devil and his Works which Power of God was before they were in that ye will feel Vnity which was before Strife So dwell in that in which ye may have a Kingdom that hath no End and the Dominion that is above all Dominions upon the Earth In which Power of God ye may enlarge your Borders and spread Truth abroad both to Jews Christians and Heathens having the Power of God that goes over them all and was before they were With that Power of God ye will answer the Witness of God in all and bring them to that that with that they may have a part in the Kingdom of God and a share with you of the same in which ye will have Peace Life Joy Dominion and Prosperity And so it will be your Life to do good and to beget into Life up to God and in that Power that doth so Do good ye will not labour in vain But above all things take heed of Judging one another for in that ye may destroy one another and leave one another behind and drive one another back into the World and eat out the good of one another and so hinder Vnity hinder Growth in the Life and the Power of God in which ye should have Peace and Joy in one another and Love which edifies and overcomes and gets the Victory So go on in the Truth answering it in every one in the inward parts and in the Power of God which comprehends Deceit The standing Fellowship which was before it was in that is your Life and in that the Kingdom is felt that never hath an End and the Dominion over all Dominions in that stands your Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost which is the the Spirit of God that plungeth down that which made the Separation from God in that will be your Fellowship which will stand and remain when all the Fellowships of the Earth are gone In which Fellowship in the spirit ye will have Fellowship with God the Father of Spirits and all the Scripture given forth from the same Spirit and with all the Saints that gave them forth and with their Spirits through which Spirit of God ye will be brought and come to the Spirits of Just Men which are made perfect and to God the Judge of all In which as I said before ye will have an Everlasting Fellowship in which Spirit ye will have an Vnderstanding in which Spirit ye will come to worship God the Father of Spirits and in the Truth which the Devil and his Works are out of and all the Will-worshippers So in that ye will know the Royal Dominion and Royal Fellowship in which Spirit ye will have the Spirit of Wisdom in which ye will know how to pray to God who is a Spirit and to praise and glorifie the Everlasting God who lives for ever and ever Amen! And in that ye will come to know and see to the Beginning before the World began and that which
whom it cost his Blood and his Life to fetch Adam and Eve and his Sons and Daughters out of that State in the Fall out of the unjust State to set them in the State before they fell and not only there but to bing them into himself that never fell Now what Value and Price and Worth have they made of the Blood of Christ that cleanseth from Sin and Death and yet told People that they would bring them to the Knowledge of the Son of God and to a perfect Man and now tell them they must not be perfect on the Earth but carry a Body of Sin about them to the Grave As much as to say They must be in the State of their Father Adam and their Mother Eve in the Fall under the Wrath Curse and Woe and must not come to the State they were in before they fell to the Image of God in Righteousness and True Holiness And thus the Deceivers are not worth the setting Foot after and yet ask them for what End Christ came They will say To destroy the Devil and his Works And then ask them if the Body of Sin and Death be not the Devil's Works and Imperfection They will say Yes and so are in Confusion Christ came to destroy the Devil and his Works they say and yet they must carry them to the Grave and yet People are saved by Christ they will say but while you are upon Earth you must not be made free from Sin This is as much as if one should be in Turkey a Slave chained to a Boat and one should come to redeem him to go into his own Country but say the Turks Thou art redeemed but while thou art upon the Earth thou must not go out of Turkey nor have the Chain off thee So saith Satan's Messengers you are redeemed but must carry a Body of Death about you and cannot go to your Father Adam's House before he fell but you must live in your Father Adam's House in the Fall while ye be upon Earth Redemption to by the Blood of Christ But I say you are redeemed by Christ it cost him his Blood to purchase Man out of this State he is in in the Fall and bring him up to the State Man was in before he fell so Christ became a Curse to bring Man out of the Curse and bore the Wrath to bring Man to the Peace of God that he might come to the Blessed State and to Adam's State he was in before he sell and not only thither but to a State in Christ that shall never fall And this is my Testimony to you and to all People upon the Earth And so the Teachers of the World cried Men are redeemed but while on the Earth they must have Original Sin in them and that is the Devil for he is the Original or Sin and of the Body of Death and that they are redeemed but they must never come to the State of their Father Adam before he fell while on the Earth This is sad Tidings Are these Messenges of God or Messengers of Satan So you may see by this where the Shepherds have brought their Flocks and in what they sit in Adam and Eve in the Fall not in Adam and Eve before they fell a good blessed State but in Adam and Eve in the Fall a bad cursed State and not in Christ that never fell Now mark the Apostle said He hath quickned us who were dead in Sins and Trespasses and hath made us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the Ages to come he might shew forth his exceeding Riches and Kindness towards us Now the Ages are come Glory to the Lord God over all in the Highest for ever that this Kindness and this Riches is seen that the Apostle's Preaching is fulfilled who said He had quickned us and made us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus So mark in Christ Jesus Vs the Church Vs the Saints Vs the Believers and True Christians made us to sit together Here was their meeting here was their sitting in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus the Second Adam the Lord from Heaven him that was glorified with the Father before the World began him that never fell but fetch'd Man and Woman out of the Fall to the State that Man and Woman was in before they fell and they not to sit there in Adam in the Fall nor in Adam before he fell but in heavenly Places in Christ Jesus before Adam fell And there is the safe sitting in Christ the New and Living Way the Word of God the Power of God the Light the Life and Truth in the First and in the Last in the Beginning and in the Ending in him in whom is no Shadow of turnings nor variableness in him the Saints sit the Church in Christ the Head and there is the exceeding Riches and the Kindness known again For is not here Kindness and Riches for Man and Woman to be brought out of that State in the Fall to the State of Adam and Eve before they fell Christ his Blood the Prince of our Redemption And he that doth bring them thither is Christ and it is by his Blood it cost him his Blood his Life and he doth not leave them in the State as Adam and Eve was in before they fell but he sets them down in himself who never fell a safer State than Adam was in the before he fell Now who sits hee in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus the First and the Last the Beginning and Ending State of Innocency the safe Place in the Wisdom of God 1. They see where Adam and Eve sate before before they fell blessed and in a good State in the Image of God in Righteousness and Holiness 2. They see where Adam and Eve sate in the Fall with their Sons and Daughters fallen from Righteousness and Holiness and the Image of God where they have no Peace neither do they see God State under the Law nor have Dominion over the Creation 3. They see where the Jews sate in the Types Figures and Shadows and Temples and Oaths in the Offerings and Sacrifices and there were to sit till Christ the Substance came to end them all which Christ the Substance was before they was 4. They see where the Apostles sate in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus the Substance of all the Types Figures and Shadows who ended them all and was before them all and will be when they are all gone 5. States since the Law They see where the Gentiles sit in the Traditions Inventions Idols Temple which God never commanded 6. They see where all the Apostate Christians have sate since the Apostles Days in the Rudiments Inventions Handy-works and Traditions and cannot sit long in them therefore turn one against another 7. Now the Age is come that the Kindness and Riches of the Lord is seen which was manifest among the
you that suffer in the Truth and by the contrary for the Truth 's sake the Spirit of Glory will rest upon you and if you be evil spoken of for its sake being faithful on your parts Christ is Glorified AND Friends your House being built upon the Rock Christ Jesus by whom the World was made the Storms the Floods Rock Christ the Tempests you fear not but all whose House is built on the Sands the Floods the Storms beats down and washes away as you may see before your Eyes So Friends that are come to the beginning see over Storms and Tempests and Floods and live on the Rock which was before they were on that you may rest safe and in peace And Friends Fear not him that can kill the Body I say fear him not that can spoil thy Goods be not afraid of them for when they have done that they can do more for the Life is over them all they cannot touch that So mind that which is over them all G. F. DEar Friends whom Death Epist 224. Bonds nor the outward Creatures can separate from the Love of God in Christ Jesus Live in Peace and Love one with another and keep above that Sraightned Spirit of Strife which is below and out of the Power and Truth and Life of God Dwell in Dominion in Love in Life and in Vnity one with another in the Power of God which was before the Power of Darkness was and in the Seed of God which was before Enmity was and that you may all know Christ's Reign And feed in the Pastures of Life and none stain your Virginity nor Holiness where lieth your Beauty And all that Minister abroad walk as Examples to them you Minister to And keep in Peace that you may not destroy them that you do minister to So in the Fear of God live and spread the Truth abroad and set the Truth over all and in it live in which you will have Unity So my Love is in the Seed of God which is Immortal to you all G. F. FRiends keep in the Power of the Lord Epist 225. which will bring you over all to the Fine Linnen the Righteousness of the Saints and your Bread of Life and the same Power of the Lord will bring all your Persecuters to Rags and Poverty When they have done their Work they will have their Wages when the Righteous and Wicked have done their Work each shall have their Wages and so do not think the Time long For each must have their Day to do their Work in when the Wicked's Sun is gone down their Day is ended and then they are Reconed withal and payed and then the People of God's Day approches wherein according to their Works they shall have the Rewards of Life Eternal THE Power of God is over all P. S. and they that keep in it it will carry them over all G. F. MY Dear Friends Epist 226. in the Everlasting Seed and Covenant of Life be valiant for the Truth upon the Earth and dwell in the Power of the Lord God and never heed that which makes to Suffer but the Power of the Lord which was before it was and all live in that and spread the Truth abroad and every one improve your Lord and Master's Money your Talent to the advantage of your Lord. And be of good Faith and Valiant for the Truth you who are gathered in the Name of Jesus keep your Meetings in his Name over all the Meetings which are gathered by the Sons of Adam in the Fall and look over all Prisons and out ward Boads which are in time and will have an end at the Power of God look which hath no end in which your Life is and Peace Crown and Dominion and think not the time long that the Rod of the Wicked should lie on your Backs but rejoyce in Tribulations and Persecutions which is for the Trial of your Faith that it may be found more precious than Gold that perisheth For remember that Christ the Word was Tried and Christ is the Tried Stone and all the Prophets Apostles and Martyrs were Tried for their Testimony to the precious Pearl Seed and Truth and what Sufferings they had in all Ages were for the same by the dark World which was not worthy of them who were as Pilgrims and Strangers in the Earth and many of them forsook their Native Land and Country And so live in that which glorifieth the Lord you who know the Kindness Love and Mercies of God and are made partakes of the Heavenly Riches and of the Inheritance that never fadeth away and are Heirs of the Kingdom that never hath an end and are partakers of the Promises and Blessings that was before the Curse was and know the New Covenant made manifest in your Hearts and the Law of God there written and the Anointing within you to teach you and then you need no Man to teach you but as it doth teach you So abide in him and learn of him in whom God is well pleased and none turn to them which God is not well pleased with For you who are Children of God are not to look for Salvation from the Hills neither to look at the Arm of Flesh nor to put Confidence in Man who are redeemed from under the Curse and the Fear of Man and are bought with a Price the Blood of Jesus Christ and so are not your own and cannot do your own Wills nor other Mens but are to glorifie your Father which is in Heaven And so dwell in the Love of God together and in Peace and Unity and Fellowship in the Seed and Life For there is your growth and therein ye grow in Grace and Faith together The Lord God Almighty preserve you all in his Everlasting Arm and Hand which is his Power over all to his Glory bearing one with another in the gentle Wisdom which is peaceable and from above For how Joyful a thing it is for Brethren to dwell together in Vnity and hereby it is known that you are the Desciples of Christ if you love one another and a Mark that you are passed from Death to Life if you Love one another And so the Lord God preserve your Minds and Souls and Hearts all Holy and Pure to his Glory and all live and sit down in Christ the Seed who is the Faithful Witness the Amen the First and Last the beginning and ending No more but my Love is to you all in the Everlasting Seed Christ Jesus that never fell And Dear Friends keep low for there is no danger G. F. SIng and Rejoyce ye Children of the Day and of the Light Epist 227. for the Lord is at work in this thick Night of Darkness that may felt And Truth doth flourish as the Rose and the Lilies do grow among the Thorns and the Plants a-top of the Hills and upon them the Lambs doth skip and play And never heed the Tempests nor the Storms
that the Thorns choak it and the Cares of the World they are such Stony Hearts that the Seed hath not much Earth that when Tryals and Persecutions comes with its heats it is scorched by the heat of the Sun And therefore be ye all warned of these Natures both of the Stony and of the Thorny and of the High-way Ground and of the Fowles and of the Air. And Friends keep down feigned Flattery Keep in the Truth that brings to plain-heartedness that all may be the good Ground that you may abound in Goodness and Righteousness and Holiness for Peace is sown to the Righteous and Gladness to the upright in Heart and see that you walk in the Light and the Life that it may be your Life that you may have Treasure in your Vessels that you may enter in with the Bridegroom having the Oil in your own Lamps that you may inherit the Life that is above all the foolish Talkers which be out of the Peace the Second Adam in whom the Peace is and the Life for they that be in Strife about the Body of Christ are in Adam in the Fall and they are neither at Peace in themselves with God nor Christ nor them that be in Christ so whatever Men or People profess their End manifests them and crowns them with Death or Life So live in the Word which all ends in the Seed this keeps over all Pretences in the Substance and over the Airy Spirits that be out of the Life running up and down sowing Dissention Tatling and Back-biting and Whispering and setting one against another The Seed Christ is over that Spirit and he hath little room in their Hearts for they are abroad in the Fields Above the World lifting up themselves higher than the World but are worse to deceive the Simple but Truth and the Light and the Life is over all that in which all keep your Habitation for Adam lost his Habitation and so his Sons and Daughters who are in the Disobedience are in the Fall and the Jews lost their Habitation from the Love of God and so they lost their Authority and were mingled among the Heathen And the Apostate-Christians lost their Habitation from the Life and Power that the Apostles were in And so have brought all Christendom into Heaps and Sects about outward things being out of the Life and Word which was in the Beginning before the Apostacy and the Fall was So live in the Word in that you have Life and Dominion and Authority over all that which Adam and Eve's Sons and Daughters invented and also over all in the Fall In which Word you have Wisdom as I said before and there is a faithful Witness Christ whose Name is called the Word and he is the First and the Last the Beginning and the Ending the Amen And Friends keep over all the Bustlings and Wars and Strife and the Talkers of such things among the Sons of Adam in the Fall you that be in Christ Jesus that never fell in whom is the Peace who makes the First Adam's Sons and Daughters to break their Swords into Plough-Shares and their Spears into Pruning-Hooks that they shall not learn War any more for they that be there are in the foolish State but they that are in Christ are in the wise State and have Spiritual Weapons though accounted by the World foolish yea the Wisdom of God is so to the Wisdom of the World which is Foolishness And so you that the Lord hath blessed in outward things for his Truth keep over them and out of them serving the Lord who hath blessed you lest you be intangled So keep above them in the Righteous Life and Conversation that Righteousness may flow to all Men in all things Honesty and Truth and that which doth Justice and doing justly that may flourish for whose Conversation is ordered aright they shall see the Salvation of God keep out of all Heats and Passions and over the tempestuous Spirits the ground of which is Vncleanness all which are up and down and sudden which makes a Mountain of Wickedness and Vnholiness and keeps out of the Holy Mountain which they that walk in the Light of the Lord goes to and they are taught his Ways Take heed of a false Liberty in any thing to the Flesh but keep your first Love and Habitation in the Power and Truth of God for the lowly Mind the humble and meek and broken and contrite Spirit and Heart the Lord doth not despise but exalt Keep out of the many Words of the World and take heed of a liberty of going into them but keep in the Power of the Lord God over all which was before all and is over all that your Lives and Conversations may preach to all Men and adorn the Truth of God and speak in the Hearts of all Men. Forsake not the assembling of your selves together as the manner of some was in the beginning of the Apostacy which entred into the reasoning Part and so went from the Exhorting daily and the Building and the Fellowship and the Communion of the Saints in the Spirit and from the Flocks and the Garden of God which he waters with his Water of Life and feeds with his Bread of Life and sets open his broad Rivers of Living Water to drink And such as forsake the Assemblies of the Righteous some for fear of the Earth and Sufferings become quarrelling Spirits and so go out of the Path of the Flocks Footsteps and sits not down with the Flock at Noon-day in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus for there the Flocks meet and there they have all a Fountain through which they are all of one Soul and Mind and Judgment and Heart and Spirit and comes to be gathered out of all the Separations and Sects and Fellowships and Gatherings and Meetings of Adam and Eve in the Fall and sits down in Christ Jesus that never fell where the Fulness is and the Life in whom there is no Shadow no Variableness nor Turning in him that is the Way But Oh the Poverty the Shadows the Variableness the Turnings the Worships and Traditions and the Sects that be in the World among the Sons of Adam in the Fall Oh the Riches that is in him that never fell the Peace and the Life that was with the Father before the World began the Amen And Friends take heed of the vain Inventions and Arts of the World keep out of their Rhimes and their Verses for they are the Arts of Men and stirs up the light part and lifts up that that pertains to it self that is stirred up that will turn in the end to the Strife or the Earth But you that lives in the Word of God that never fell changes nor alters do not but as you are moved by it and that will stand and remain in whom you may know a Dwelling Life over Death and before it was for the Serpent that got into Adam and Eve by Disobedience they
of Iron Christ's Rod shall and will devour all the Serpents and Lying Wonders of the Spiritual Egypt and Sodom yea and all the Serpents that be in all Nations for all Nations are to be ruled by it And Moses Song was sung when his Rod had devoured the Serpents and the outward Egyptians in the Sea So the Lamb's Song shall be known as all the Spiritual Egyptians Serpents are devoured by Christ's Rod and the Spiritual Egyptians being overthrown in the Sea the Jews in Spirit shall rejoyce and sing the Song of the Lamb. The Abomination made Desolation that 's spoken of by Daniel the Prophet which should come in after the daily Sacrifice was taken way and should continue One Thousand Two Hundred and Ninety Days this Abomination that hath made Desolate from the Truth Light Life and the Power of God true Religion and true Worship and true Church and Fellowship So the Beast that John saw and speaks of which must continue Forty Two Months and the Whore the false Church upon the Beast which Beast should be Worshipped Forty Two Months the time of his continuing and the Whore should sit in her Scarlet the false Church upon the Beast The true Church this time has been in the Wilderness a Thousand Two Hundred and Threescore Days which is now come out again and the Man-Child is come down from Heaven to Rule all with his Rod of Iron and the Lamb and the Saints shall have the Victory who make War in Righteousness and are going on Conquering and to Conquer And so you followers of the Lamb be faithful and valiant for the Truth upon the Earth and heed not your Native Soil but mind the Birth that 's born and brought forth from the Womb of Eternity that separates you from your Mother's Womb by which you believe in God and fear not Man what he can do unto you neither look at the Hills for Salvation for the Lord can make the Rocks a standing Pool and the Mountains Streams And therefore dwell in the Power of God which was before the Fall of Man was whose fallen Spirit persecutes those who are come to taste of the Power of Christ's Resurrection and Life and in this Power of God you will not be weary nor faint which was before the fallen Spirit was that doth assault you and in this Power you will have stability content comfort joy and peace and keep over that Spirit let it not have power over you that may receive the Truth in a Notion and may be a little Civilized by it that is ready to joyn with every gain-saying Core and is ready to wander after every strange thing that 's new and so will follow strange Flesh who are uncleansed by the Power of Truth and unestablished in it and such often hath their Religion to seek that lives in Questionings and Disputings in carnal Reasons out of the Power of God in which is the Fellowship the one thing which is Christ the Substance in which all Stability is felt which has little room in such Hearts G. F. ALL you Prisoners of the Lord for his Truths sake Epist 234. and for keeping the Testimony of Jesus Christ against all the evil Inventions Traditions Rudiments Will-Worships feigned Humilities and Self-Righteousness of them that be in the Fall who are out of God's Power and Righteousness who have no Weapons but Carnal like themselves Carnal Your Patience must overcome all these rough and hasty Spirits in the World and your Love must bear all things for Patience obtains the Crown which is Immortal which runs the Race So it is the Lamb must have the Victory over all the unclean airy Spirits and over him that is out of the Truth So be Meek and Low then you follow the Example of Christ and come to bear the Image of the Just who suffered by the Vnjast and put on his Righteousness who suffered by the Vnrighteous whose Back was struck and his Hair was pluck'd off and Face was spit upon and yet cried Father forgive them Here he kept his Dominion a Sufferer who had the Victory which the Followers of the Lamb do in Measure attain unto So put on Conrage put on Patience Let your Loyalty be known for your King that hath conquered the Devil Death and Hell in walking in Righteousness Peace and Truth feeling the Power of God teaching every one of you when that Words are not uttered And let your Faith be in the Power that goes through all things and over all things and every one hearken to it So the Power of the mighty God know the Arm and how it works and the Hand how it carries you which brings out of Tribulation and Thraldom and Spiritual Egypt into Peace And this is the Power of God in which you will feel to before Enmity was and be at Peace one with another then you live in the Prince of Peace his Kingdom and Dominion and Life in which is Vnity which was before Enmity was which destroys it And so in the Power of the Lord God you are made strong which goes over the Power of Darkness and was before it was which is out of the Power of God And all People that are from the Witness of God in their own particulars they are all weak and seeble and stagger All Men and Womens Strength is in the Power of God that goes over the Power of Darkness So feel all this to go through all and over all Preaching and working in you and let the Ear be lent to it and hearken to it in one another And by it feel the Seed raised up in one another which is Heir of the Power that you may know each your Portion For all People that be from the Witness of God in their own particulars that be erred from it and hate the Light they are full of Darkness Sin and Iniquity Inspiration and Revelation while their Minds are erred from the Spirit of God in themselves is hid from them So when their Minds are turned with the Light and Spirit of God towards God then with it they shall know something of Revelation and Inspiration as they are turned with that of God from the Evil and emptied of that then there will be some room in them for something of God to be revealed and inspired into them And therefore in that they will have Prophesies and seeing things to come being turned from the Evil that hath darkened them and separated them from God in which they will see the Covenant through which they will come to have Peace with God G. F. FRiends Epist 235. You who now come to suffer by a Land-Flood keep on the Rock for there is Safety though a Storm be in the Sea and the Flood be great and the Winds great and the Way rough and crooked the Seed Christ can make all plain And so think not the Winter and Cold Weather nor the Night long for the Lillies do grow and the Gardens do give a good
before the World began Here the Glory of the Lord will fill every one of your Temples through which you will come to Praise the Lord in your Temple and to offer an Offering in Righteousness in your Temple by the Spirit a Spiritual Sacrifice to God who is a Spirit So here you are a Royal Priesthood offering up the Spiritual Sacrifices And was not the Jew outward to have Fire and Lamps burn always in his Temple And are not the Jews in Spirit always to have the Word which is a Fire in their Temple and the Light of Christ For doth not Christ say Have Oil in your Lamps And were not their Bodies that Lamp And was there not to be Salt in the Jews Temple to season their Sacrifices And so are not you to have always Salt in your selves doth not Christ say so by which you may savour and be seasoned that all your Sacrifices may be seasoned with Salt And you know that the Jews outward were not to offer the Blind the Lame the Unclean and the Halt in their Temple neither are you that be the Jews in the Spirit to offer the Halt the Lame the Unclean nor the Swine nor the Blind but the Spiritual Sacrifice with the Spirit to God who is a Spirit by which Spirit you see and by which Spirit you are made clean and sanctified and are enabled to mortifie that Swinish Nature by which Spirit you come to walk upright not to halt as you walk in the Spirit by the Spirit you come to offer to God the Spiritual Sacrifices And this is the standing Offering in the Temple which Christ your Priest dwells in who ends the Jews Priests that dwelt in their outward Temple and their Temple and ends their Offerings and Sacrifices and the Blood of Bulls and Goats Christ the Offering once for all their Offerings and Christ the Everlasting Covenant ends the first Covenant and Christ the Temple ends the Jews outward Temple where their Offerings and Sacrifices were and the Priesthood and sets up the Royal Priesthood with his Royal Garment his Righteousness that offers to God the Spiritual Sacrifices in the Temple And so Christ ends all the Types Figures and Shadows and variable things that were given to Man since the Fall and held up by the Law which they were not to add to the Law of God nor take from it which stood very nigh Two thousand Years Which Law served till Christ came and was good in its Place and was added because of Transgression when many transgressed the Image of God his Righteousness and Holiness and were fallen from it then the Righteous Law which is Good Holy and Just came a-top of Man and this served till the Seed Christ came with all its Shadows but Christ is come who was the End of the Law for Righteousness sake to every one that believes and in Christ is no Shadow Variableness nor Turning for he was before Shadows were glorified with the Father before the World began who is the First and Last the Beginning and Ending the Top and Corner-Stone the chief Master-Builder the Elect and Precious One whom all the Builders in all Ages rejected that were of Men and by Men and from Men whom the Heirs of the World cast out and could not abide that he should Reign whose Right it is though he be the Foundation of many Generations all the Heirs of the World know not his Generation they that are in the First Birth whose Building is not on Christ the Rock but on the Sand and therefore have their Houses of Religion and Worship so often been beaten down with the Storms of the Sea not being upon the Rock Christ Jesus which is above all the Storms and Tempests in the World and before the Sea was who is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Root of David and the Lamb of God which takes away the Sins of the World And the Lamb must have the Victory over all that are in the Nature of wild Beasts wild Heifers Doggs Wolves and Horses And is not this a Mystery to you all that the Lamb should take away your Sins that the Lamb should have the Victory over the Doggish Wolfish Heiserish and Swinish Nature in you like Horses or Serpents The Clean and Holy Lamb must have the Victory over all this in you and therefore joyn to him that hath the Victory who is the Captain of your Salvation who bruiseth the Serpent's Head Christ the Seed that is he that breaks the Serpent's Power and crusheth him to pieces destroying him and his Works Here Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords above all Principalities Powers and Thrones is he ascended Who opens and no Man shuts and shuts and no Man opens so he that opens to you by his Light none can shut from you who filleth your Lamps with Oil of Gladness and Christ shuts to all them that deny his Light for they deny him no Man among them then can open and that makes them go together by the Ears about their Worships and Churches and Scriptures and to Persecute one another Though they do profess Christ yet denying his Light they deny him These be Anti-Christs that be against him though they do profess him and such are by the Light condemned that are against the Power of God and the Gospel the Power of God is the savour of Death to them but a savour of Life to them that be in the Life And In me you have Peace says Christ and he gives Peace to them that are in him that no Man can take away But in the World you have Trouble saith Christ that is in Adam in the Fall from Righteousness and Holiness for in Righteousness there is Peace and in Holiness People see God and out of this Holiness they do not see God Concerning who drink the New Wine and who drink the Old and who are the Bottles that hold each And whose Teeth are set an Edge and whose not NOW all that are called Christendom they do profess to believe in the Name of Christ yet look upon them see what a confused Family it is worse than the Turks and Moguls and the Heathen for in the Turks Country there are Jews Christians and Turks and the Turks keep their Sabbath upon the Sixth Day the Jews upon the Seventh Day and the Christians upon the First Day and the Turks doth not Persecute them about Religion but lets them enjoy their Meetings And the Mogul it is said of him That there have been Sixty Sorts of Religions in his Country but he Persecutes none for their Religion but lets them have their Meetings And that all that are called Christendom professing the Name of Christ that they should Persecute one another and tear one another to pieces about Worship and Religion and the Steeple-House which they have given the Title of Church to which is a Title taken from the People and given to an House And that they should persecute one
Vpright and Watchful that wait upon the Lord to see such things and for the Priests People and others that come into your Meetings and see you that come together to Worship God and to meet together to wait upon him and to have Fellowship in his Spirit for you to sit Nodding it is a shame and an unseemly thing Therefore be Careful and Watchful and let it be mended and mind the Light and Power of Christ Jesus in you and that will condemn all such things and lead you out of and above such things and make you watchful one over another for your Good Let this be read in all your Meetings G. F. DEar Friends in the Truth of God that changeth not Epist 258. is my Love to you in that which is unfeigned and everlasting in the same Power and the same Seed of Life as ever was and was at the first going forth among you And so Friends the Lord in his everlasting and mighty Power hath moved some to go over in those parts to Declare his Word of Life and Everlasting Gospel And some have not walked afterwards as becometh the Gospel both them that have declared it and them who have received it whereby there hath been a stop to the progress of the Truth and Power of God that it hath not had its full Course and by that burdens have been brought upon the Just and Innocent and the Mouths of the World instead of stopping them they have opened them to speak evil of the Truth and Way of God And so Friends this is the thing in short and plainness all that have come over into your Plantations and Islands either to Minister or Plant or as Passengers to see the Country or Sea-men Masters of Ships Factors or Merchants that have dishonoured the Lord God and his Truth and have opened the Mouths of the World to Blaspheme God and to speak Evil of his Way and Holy Truth that the Righteous live in Such I say before mentioned that have gotten into Drunkeness or Loosness in Words and Life and have not been faithful in their Dealings or have shewed any immodest Carriages or are gotten up into those things which the Power of God did not set up in the beginning which faithful Friends have continued in and have gone into Sects and Jangles which is out of the Power of God which Friends are in who keep their Habitations in Christ Jesus in whom there is Peace And all such likewise who are gone into Uncleanness and such who pretend to preach the Gospel and are sate down in the Earth like Demas and have forsaken the Gift of God and sit down in the Earth and esteemed the Earth before it and so set up their own Business and slighted the Lord's And such who are gotten into the rotten Principles of the Ranters who wear their Hats when Friends pray who out of the Wisdom of God would manifest to the World a Separation and to shew that they are not of the Spirit Power and Mind as Friends were in at the first As also all such that raise false Reports which are forbidden by the Lord among his People These things are to be searched out to the bottom that Righteousness and Truth may flow and have its passage through all Hearts and all may come to the Habitation which they had at the first and all that is contrary may come to Judgment and Condemnation For the House must be swept and cleansed of all the things above-mentioned that hath gotten into any that all may come up into the Sanctified Life for the Ancient of Days is come and the Judgment is set and they that have kept their Habitations witness this And therefore Friends this is my Advice to you I would have you to gather up a List of all these things aforementioned in all your Istands and Plantations let them be searched throughly that what is for Judgment and Condemnation may be brought to it and that you may send an Account to Friends at London of such that come from thence that have been since Scandalous in their Conversations So that every one may come to that which did at first Convince them and to condemn their contrary Actions And that Papers may be sent to the World who have known their Transgressions to clear Truth and Friends and to fetch it out of their Mouths that so they may not feed upon any ones Transgressions that the Miscarriages of some may not be charged on the Body of Friends G. F. MY Dear Friends Epist 259. be faithful in the Truth which the Devil is out of in which Truth you have Dominion over him And live in the Power of God which was before the Devil was in which Power of God which is the Gospel is your Fellowship And live in the Light which was before Darkness was and the Power of it in which Light is also your Everlasting Fellowship and in this you will know God's dwelling which is in the Light And dwell in the Life which was before Death was and the Devil the Power of it and in this Life you will have Dominion over Death and the Power of it And so you do well that take heed to the Light and walk in it and they that do Evil do not take heed to the Light And so walk in the Light as Children of the Light and in that ye will have Fellowship one with another and with the Son and the Father And so mind the Ingrafted Word which is able to save your Souls and that will keep your Eyes and Minds over all that which is not able to save and keep your Feet on the top of that And so be of that good Faith which gives you victory and access to God in which you do all please God and have Unity one with another And so mind the Seed Christ which is over all that which makes to Suffer and was before that was and will stand when that is gone that makes to suffer in that Seed live and know it your Crown and Life and in that you will be one anothers Crown and Joy in the Lord God blessed for ever And so keep your Meetings in the Name and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ that never fell and the Seed Christ reigns in whom you have Life that was with the Father before the World began G. F. DEar Friends If the Truth make you free then are ye free indeed Epist 260. So then there are none made Free-men but by Truth and all that are Free-men they are made free by the Truth they are God's Free-men they are Free-Citizens they are Free-Holders of an Everlasting Inheritance and free of an Everlasting Kingdom and they are Free-Heirs of Salvation and they are free of the heavenly City Jerusalem which is from above and they are free of the Power of an Endless Life which was before Death was So they are not Captives they are not Bond-men they are not Servants nor Slaves But
Mark Free-Men and Free-Women And what hath made them Free-Men and Free-Women but Truth For if the Truth hath made you free then are you free indeed So free to worship God in the Spirit and in Truth which the Devil is out of for to serve the Lord God in the Spirit and in the New Life They are above the Serpent and from under his Controul and from under the Controul of old Adam and his beggarly Rudiments and Will-Worships and false Righteousness Truth makes free from all these and makes free to be Partakers of Christ Jesus and of his Blood and his Spirit and Mind who is the Prince of Peace and Prince of Life and makes free to be Partakers of the Divine Nature and Precious Faith and to be Members of the True Church and Gospel Fellowship and Power of God which was before the Devil was So stand fast in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free free from the Devil Dragon and Serpent and all Slavery and Servitude For Free-Men do walk in their Freedom for it is the Truth makes them Free and so to Triumph in Glory And so if the Truth have made you free then are you free indeed free from all the Will-Worships and from all the windy Doctrines from all the evil Inventions Traditions Imaginations and Notions and Rudiments of Adam in the Fall who are from Truth and free from the Devil who is out of Truth So it is plain none are free but by the Truth and all in the Truth are Free-Men And all out of the Truth are Slaves in Old Adam and Slaves to Sin and Satan and to his Will-Worship and to their own Self-Righteousness and to their Rudiments Doctrines and Traditions serving divers Lusts Pleasures and Corruptions and serving the Creatures more than the Creator who is God blessed for ever and serving the Desires of their own Minds and so as Slaves are kept in Bondage all in Prison all in the Bonds of Death and Jaws of Death for who are out of Truth are no Free-Men Though they be High Priests and Readers Preachers and Expounders as the great High Priests and the lofty Pharisees and Scribes were Professing the Scriptures yet not in the Truth and so not Freemen For they are in Malice and Envy like Cain Oppressors like Pharaoh raging Persecutors like Nebuchadnezzar and the Jews as Wild as Ishmael as Prophane as Esau out of the Truth are all those found fasting with Fists of Wickedness lifting up bloody Hands mingling their Sacrifices with the Blood of the persecuted praying to the Majestrates for Persecution All this is out of Truth and not in the Freedom so not Free-Men but doing the Devil's Lusts and Service as the Jews did And so if the Truth make you free ye are free indeed ye are free from all those things above-mentioned The Truth makes free from Envy and from Prophaness and from Wildness and from Wickedness and from the bloody Hands Free from the Fasts of those that hang down their Heads like a Bulrush free from the persecuting Spirits free from the false Prophets Deceivers Seducers Anti-Christs and all Anti-Christian false Prophets Deceivers and Seducers are Satan's Bond-slaves Vassals and Bond men and being with his Oars chained in his Gallies they carry his Wares and do his Work up and down the World which is the Sea But Truth makes free from all these free from the Hipocrites Hope which perisheth free from Nebuchadnezzar's Fury and it makes free from the wild Heifers Nature and from the Dogg Swine Horse Viper Cockatrice Serpent's Nature and from the Spider and his Webb and from the Oak and Cedar and the Bramble and Briar and Bear and Lion The Truth makes free from all these and brings Man and Woman into the Image of God And so if the Truth makes you free then are you free indeed And the Truth is Christ and Christ is the Truth which makes you free from all Falshood and makes you free from the World which lies in Wickedness and Vnrighteousness by which you come to be Free-Men of the World which hath no End And an high-way shall be there Isaiah 35.8 and a way and it shall be called the way of holiness the unclean shall not pass over it Mark The unclean shall not pass over it This Way which is called the Way of Holiness was spoken of by Prophesie and this Way is Christ who is the Way of Holiness who is above the Vnclean and destroys it and the Ground of it the Devil and so the Vnclean cannot pass over this Way of Holiness This is our Way who are in scorn called Quakers to wit Christ And this Way of Holiness shall be for the way-faring Men though Fools yet they shall not err therein where no Lion nor ravenous Beast nor Lion's Whelp shall go thereon All the ravenous Beasts are without in the Way of the World without Christ and God But the Redeemed shall walk in this Way of Holiness Christ Jesus and the ransomed of the Lord shall walk in this Way of Holiness and they that do return from the Way of the World to Sion shall walk in this Way of Holiness with singing and everlasting Joy upon their Heads And they that walk in this Way of Holiness Christ Jesus shall obtain Joy and Gladness and Sorrow and Sighing shall flee away And all that walk in this Way of Holiness their deaf Ear is unstopped and their blind Eye is opened And the lame Man here shall leap as an Hart and the dumb Man's Yongue shall sing And here he shall see Waters gush out of the Rock and Streams out of the Desart in this Way of Holiness And here he shall see in this Way the patched Ground become a Pool and the thirsty Land full of Springs and in the Habitation where Dragons lay shall be Grass with Reeds and Rushes which begins to spring Glory be to the Lord for ever And this Way of Holiness which the Prophets prophesied of is Christ Jesus the Way who said of himself I am the Way and he is over all the fallen Ways and before the Way of the Serpent glorified with Father before the World began And this is the Way of the way-faring Men who have been way-faring up and down from Religion to Religion from Worship to Worship from one People to another from one Minister and Teacher to another and could not sit down in any of their Ways but way-fared travelled and sought And now Glory be to the Lord for ever Thousands of these way-faring Men are come to find their Way Christ Jesus and though Fools yet shall not err therein that is they shall not err in their Way They shall not err in Christ Jesus for there is no Error in him for he was before Error was for Christ the Way destroys the Devil and his Works the Ground of all Error So though they be called Fools these way-faring Men by all the Sons of Adam that are set down in their
was and in the Truth and Power of God which the Devil is out of that every one of you may have your Penny that precious Penny and heavenly Treasure from God Almighty the great Lord who is the orderer and disposer and governour and ruler in the Vineyard among his Servants who pays them their Wages and gives them their heavenly Penny of Life Mark it is the Labourers in the Life And the Lord will give us the beavenly Penny Truth and Power of God that labours in God's Vineyard that have their heavenly Penny that Everlasting Treasure So see that you have it if you be in the Labour of Life you will have it Friends you see how Men and Women can speak enough for the World for Merchandize for Husbandry the Plow-man for his Plow but when they should come to speak for God they quench the Spirit and say and do not obey God's Will but come let us see what the Wife Merchants can say have they found the Pearl and Field and purchased the Field which yields those glorious glistering Pearls let us see what can you say for God and that heavenly Merchandise 1670 What can the Plow-man say for God with his Spiritual Plow Is the Fallow-Ground Plowed up Has he abundance of the heavenly Seed of Life So what can the heavenly Husband-Man say has he abundance of Spiritual Fruit in store What can the Thresher say his he gotten the Wheat out of the Sheaf the heavenly Wheat with his heavenly Flaile and let us see what can the Spiritual Plowman Husband-man and Thresher say for God And how they have laboured in the Vineyard that they may have their Penny some are breakers of Clods in the Vineyard some are Weeders some are cutting off the Brambles and Bushes and fitting the Ground and cutting up the Roots with the heavenly Ax for the Seed some are Harrowing in some are gathering and laying up the Riches so you may see here are Merchants Plow-men Harrowers Weeders Reapers Many sorts of Labourers in Gods Vineyard Threshers in God's Vineyard yet none are to find fault one with another but every one labouring in their places praising the Lord looking to him for their Wages their heavenly Penny of Life from the Lord of Life So none are to quench the Spirit nor to despise Prophesie lest ye limit the Holy One and every one is to minister as he hath received the Grace which hath appeared to all Men which brings Salvation so that the Lord's Grace his Light and Truth and Spirit and Power may have the passage and the rule in all Men and Women that by it he may have the Glory and from it in all who is blessed for ever and for ever The Lord hath said From the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentiles Now mark Friends this is a large Space wherein God's Name shall be great and the Lord further saith Holy and pure Incense is to be offered to God In every place Incense shall be offered unto my Name and a pure Offering for my Name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts Now mark Friends this heavenly Incense and pure Offering is a spiritual Offering which is to be offered by the Spirit to God who is a Spirit then here none quenches the Spirit of God in their own Hearts and all such comes under the Title of the Royal Priesthood offering up Spiritual Sacrifices which Royal Priesthood has a Priest that lives for ever Christ Jesus And Friends do not quench the Spirit nor abuse the Power when it moves and stirs in you be obedient but do not go beyond nor do not add to it nor take from it for if you do you are reproved either for going beyond or taking from it And when any has spoken forth the things of the Lord by his Power and Spirit let them keep in the Power and Spirit and that keeps them in the Humility that when they have spoken forth the things of God they are neither higher nor lower but still keeps in the Power before and after and being obedient to the Spirit and Power of God it keeps them from deadness and alive to God and keeps them in a Sense that they do not go beyond and run out as some you know have done and all that hath come for want of living in the Power of God and in his Spirit which keeps all things in Subjection and in Order and in the true Fear of the Lord always to feel the Presence of the Lord with you Come Fisher-men what have you catched with your Nets What can you say for God Your Brethren Peter and John Fisher-men could say much for God Read in the Acts and you may see it I would not have you degenerate from their Spirit Shepherds and Herds-men where are you What can you say now for God whose abiding is much in the Fields David Jacob and Amos your fellow Shepherds and Heards-men do not you see they could say much for God I would have you to be like them and not to degenerate from their Spirit Come Trades-men Tent-Makers Physitians and Custom-Men what can you say for God Do not you read that your fellow Trades-men in Ages past could say much for God Do not degenerate from their Spirit Do not you remember the Accusations of the wise and learned Grecians when the Apostles preached Christ among them that they were called Poor Trades-men and Fisher-men Therefore be Faithful The Preachers of Jesus Christ now are the same to the Wise of the World as then G. F. DEar Friends Epist 276. live in Peace and Love and Patience one with another for that doth edifie the Body and Strife doth not but doth eat out the Good To live in Peace and Love for the Body doth edifie it self in Love in which there is Nourishment and Vertue and Life from the Head so in that meet and build up one another Dear Hearts be faithful and live in the Life and Power and Seed of God and in Love and Peace one with another And so the God of Peace in it preserve you Peace be among you and live in that which keeps Peace for the Peace-makers are blessed And all strive for that which makes for Peace and they that are Lowest and so keeps receives the most from God G. F. MY Dear Friends Epist 277. when you were formerly in a Profession you took your Servants your Apprentices your Children along with you to your Places of Worship Care in training up Friends Children and Servants And now that you are come to Truth and are convinced that the same is the Truth of God through which you come to have a Portion and Inheritance of Life and Salvation and of a Kingdom and World which hath no end and into a Possession of that which formerly you did profess in Words Now therefore Friends you that are come to
great dishonour upon God Let care be taken that Truth suffer not about such things and that none buy out their Time without the Consent of their Parents or Guardians or And none buy eut their Times without Consent of Parents c. in the want of them to advise with the Mothly-Meetings For do you not see what Hurt hath been done in such Cases Wherefore keep all such under the Yoak and hinder and stop Wickedness and Loosness that would break forth So in all such things you should exercise the pure Wisdom of God the pure Reason Knowledge and Vnderstanding and in the Authority of it keep that none under a Profession of Truth be let into Loosness whereas Youth should be kept under a Bridle and Restraint and be nurtured and trained up in the Fear and Wisdom of God that the Power of God and God's Truth may have it's Passage through all and over all and all Lightness Frothiness Wildness and Loosness may be kept down So that the Good may be kept up in all to honour and to glorifie the Lord God Almighty who is blessed for evermore who Reigns among us G. F. The Substance of a General Epistle 1670 ALL Friends every where Epist 279. who are Friends of Christ the heavenly Man by whom the World was made and are become Friends of God through Christ Jesus who are quickned by Jesus and made alive by him who were dead in Old Adam and now are made alive by the Second Adam and have drank his Blood through which you have Life and by which you come from among the Congregations of the dead who only talk of his Blood and his Flesh And now being gathered in the Name of Jesus Friends to keep cheir Meetings in the Name of Jesus who hath made you alive in the Name of him whose Blood you have drank yea even of the heavenly Man's which is his Life and so are come out of your native Countries Religions and Worships and left the old Stuff behind who are gotten a top of the old House and will not go down again to fetch out any of the old Stuff I say ye that are gathered in the Name of Jesus the heavenly Man out of the Old Adam and are made alive by the heavenly Man keep your Meetings in the Name of Jesus Then it is he that is persecuted if you be persecuted and he Christ suffers in his persecuted Members that suffers for in all your Afflictions and Sufferings he is with you who are made alive by him and have drank his Blood and so are come to be faithful Witnesses of Christ Jesus as all that are made alive by him are and have drank his Blood for they that have not drank his Blood and are not made alive by him are no true Witnesses of Christ Jesus And therefore you that the Lord hath gathered and sought and searched out who have been scattered in this cloudy dark Day since the Apostles Days of Light and have been made a Prey upon by the Hireling Shepherds and have been left to the Wolves by the flying of the Hirelings whom you thought had been true Men and now the Lord hath sought and searched and found and gathered you from their Mouths to whose Mouths you have been a Prey and the Lord is known to feed you a top of the Mountains with his heavenly Bread and he hath set one Shepherd over you the heavenly Man who lives for ever who is the Shepherd over all the Living that are made alive by him and so the Lord hath the Glory of seeking and of gathering you out of the Wildernesses Pits Graves and Ditches of Old Adam and the Serpent and from him Brambles and Briars and so Christ by whom the World was made is the Rest of the Living that he hath made alive and is their Shepherd to feed them with Life and with the Springs of Life and is the Bishop of their Souls that doth Oversee them that they do not go out of the Pastures of Life and from the Springs of Life nor from the Fold of Life It is a glorious Pasture to be fed a top of all the Mountains in the Life in the Pastures of Life by the living Shepherd and to be overseen by the living Bishop and to be sanctified and to be presented to God by the living Priest and to be counselled by the living Counselsor to an Everlasting Inheritance and to a Kingdom and to a World that hath no End by an everlasting Priest that sanctifies and offers you to God without Spot or Wrinkle a perfect Offering who sprinkles your Consciences and Hearts with his Blood that you may serve the living God and not the dead Works among the Dead And now you having an Everlasting Preacher Christ the Everlasting Minister c. whom God hath anointed to preach and an Everlasting Minister that ministers Grace and Life and Salvation and Truth to you an Everlasting Prophet that God hath raised up who s to be heard all the Living hear him but the Dead talk but of his Fame So none can silence or stop the Mouth of them whom he opens or take away your Shepherd your Bishop your Minister your Freacher your Prophet your Councellor c. And therefore let him have your Ears hearken to him let him be set up in your Hearts who was set up from Everlasting to Everlasting by the Father whom all the Righteous Witness Christ Jesus who is your Possession being Heirs with him by whom all the living are made alive and so in him live by whom the World was made who was glorified with the Father before the World began So in Christ the heavenly Man you have rest but in old Adam the Transgressor you have no rest there is the Wilderness Sodom Egypt Babylon and Confusion For God blessed Abraham in his obeying of his Commands when he went from his Native Country and Relations yea and made him a Prince So they that are redeemed out of Kindreds and Tongues Christ makes as Princes to overcome the Prince of Darkness And Abraham was to walk before God who was perfect and he was to be perfect so must all who are of the Faith of Abraham Abraham saw Christ's Day and did rejoyce but Thousands now come to injoy the Day that Abraham saw The outward Jews did eat of the Manna in the Wilderness and disobeyed and perished The blessed effects of eating of the Flesh of Christ but they that eat of the Flesh of Christ and drink his Blood have Life Everlasting and this gives an Eternal Life by which they come to an Eternal Possession and to the Land of the Living as the outward Jews came to possess the Land of Canaan And so you that are Heirs of Christ the heavenly Man and are come to possess him whom he hath made alive stand fast now is your time to stand stand in the Life which was before Death or the King of it was
stand in the Light which was before Darkness or the Prince of it was and stand in the Power of God which was before the Devil was and sit down in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus who was set up from Everlasting to Everlasting And therefore keep your Faith in the Lord for he is the same who hath given you Dominion thro' Faith over the Mountains of Opposition by which they have been subdued and by which the Fiery Darts have been quenched And hath not this been fulfilled In all their Afflictions he was Afflicted Have Faith in Christ in time of Trial. and that the Angel of his Presence should be with them in their Trials and Sufferings So the Lord hath a tender Care of his Sheep his People that the Angel of his Presence should be with them in all their Trials And therefore let your Minds be out of all outward things and visibles and fear not the Fleece for it will grow again and if the Lord should try you now with the spoil of outward things after he hath blessed you with them to see whether your Minds be with them or with him Therefore now stand having on the whole Armour of God and his Righteousness and your Feet shod with the Power of God which was before the Devil was this will keep you from slipping and have on the Armour of Light to stand against Darkness and the Breast-Plate of Righteousness which is Armour-proof against the Devil and his Fiery Darts and keep the Shield of Faith and Sword of the Spirit the Word of God and the Helmet of Salvation that preserves the Head in all Battles with the Devil and his Instruments And thus with your heavenly Armour and Arms stand and keep your Possession of Life who are brought out of Spiritual Egypt Sodom and Babylon having one to go before you the Captain of your Salvation Christ Jesus who was before Moses and Joshua were and see how the Children of God all along in the Scriptures thro' Faith had the victory Daniel by Faith the three Children by Faith Abraham by Faith The Excellency of Faith Joshua by Faith and Caleb by Faith and the other Spies which had no Faith and the Elders among the outward Jews and the People how they fell through Unbelief but by Grace through Faith the Just were saved by Faith they had victory and by Faith they pleased God and therefore keep in the Faith and you will have the Water of Life and the Bread of Life from above and stand still in the Faith for the Just live by Faith and they that had not Faith to Believe they perished and Christ hath taught all how to believe To Believe in the Light who hath enlightned every one that cometh into the World he saith Believe in the Light which was a blessed Doctrine of the heavenly Man for you believing in the Light you believe in that which makes manifest all Things all Fruits all Creatures all Religions and Worship for the Light was before they all were and will be when they are all gone Therefore Believe in the Light saith the heavenly Man who teacheth what to believe in for whatsoever is made manifest is made manisest by the Light So to believe in the Light that doth make manifest all things that are reproveable therein you will become Children of the Light and Children of the Day and Sons of God And so will become Children of the Light and Daughters of God and Sons of Zion and Daughters of Zion the heavenly Zion the heavenly Joy and so herein you come to be of the Royal Family above all the Families of the Earth above all the Housholds of the Earth a Houshold of God the Workmanship of God the Planting of God the Building of God the Houshold of Faith which are Titles higher than all the Titles among Men in the World in the Creation Sons and Daughters and Servants and Hand maids every Man to enjoy something in the Houshold Every one to have an Inheritance of their own of Life that they may offer to God of their heavenly Substance who are called a Royal Priesthood that is a Kingly Priesthood over the Devil and over Adam in a Possession of a Spiritual Kingdom and of a World that hath no End and of an heavenly durable Substance and Riches which are Spiritual and so to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices to God who is a Spirit So now the time of Trying is therefore all to stand To stand faithful in time of Tryal and see if there be any thing able to separate you from Christ who is from Everlasting to Everlasting who is First and Last who makes an end of Sin and finishes Transgression and destroys the Devil and his Works and is the Top and Corner-Stone the Possession of all the Righteous the Rest and Sabbath of all the Righteous that have drank his Blood whom he hath made alive So in Christ you shall bear no burden for he destroys that which oppresses both Man and Beast and in Christ you shall not go out to gather your Meat who is your Sabbath and Rest but in old Adam there is no Rest in the second Adam the heavenly Man there is the Rest and in him to wit Christ the heavenly Man you need not go out to gather your Meat For he is the Bread of Life Christ is the Bread of Life and living Way to God that comes down from above in him stand and sit down in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus who was with the Father before the World began who is your Way to God which Way was set up above Sixteen Hundreds Years since before all these got up among the Papists and Protestants who is the New and Living Way to all who are made a-live by him and drink his Blood The Dead make dead Ways for the Dead to walk in but mind you Christ's Worship which was set up above Sixteen Hundred Years since by himself in the Spirit and Truth whereby every one comes to the Truth the Spirit of God in his own Heart in which Truth and Spirit he worships the God of Truth who is a Spirit and feels him always present Now to Worship God in the Truth is that which the Devil and old Adam is out of and this is the perfect and standing Worship and People that have lost this Worship that Christ set up they have set up so many false Worships among Protestants and Papists and compelling one another to them since they have lost the peaceable Truth in which the God of Peace is worshipped And therefor enow all prize the standing Truth To stand in the Liberty which Christ gives and walk as becomes the Gospel the Power of God which was before the Devil was which destroys the Devil and his Works and so Stand fast in the Liberty where with Christ hath made you free yea free from the Devil and old Adam for the freedom is in him in
Christ and not in the Devil who is out of Truth nor in old Adam yea Christ is able to deliever out of the Six Troubles and the Seventh Trouble the perfection of Trouble he who is the Perfection it self so he is the Deliverer and Mediator Who is our Deliverer Mediator and Intercessor and the Intercessor that makes Peace betwixt you and God So in Christ who is the Deliverer is the Peace and the Rest yea an everlasting Rest he was set up over all Troubles and Persecutions and Persecutors who was before they were glorified with the Father before the World began and he will be when they are all gone as I said before all that have drank his Blood and are made alive by him have Life yea a Possession that will never have an end but them that are Dead in old Adam are against Christ who is the Life till he make them alive by Believing in the Light and then they become the Congregation of the Living And these are them that are gathered together by the Lord and them that are not gathered together by the Lord but by Men to themselves they come to be scattered Now the Congregation of the Living they have drank the Blood of Jesus that are alive by him and so are gathered together by him the heavenly Man and he is in the midst of them to preserve them and exercife his Offices among them as a Shepherd and a Bishop and a Prophet c. And these are the living Members who have a living Head Christ Jesus and that saying comes to be fulfilled Thy dead Men shall live together with my dead Body shall they arise so come to live with Christ Jesus And they are the Congregation of the Dead that believes not in the Light nor drinks the Blood of Jesus but Death and Destruction talks of him and of God and his Prophets and Apostles words and they come to set their House upon the Sand To build upon the Rock Christ Jesus and so are the Fools and then a Storm arises upon the Sea and their House is presently in the Sea again and there they are drowned the House sits so nigh the Sea that in a little Storm they are drowned they are so nigh the World But the Wise Men sets their House upon the Rock and the Rock is Christ the Life who was before the World was and will stand over all and they that are built upon it the Storms and and Tempests cannot move their Rock nor their House So here is the Wisdom of the Wise who build their House upon him by whom all things was created who is the Rock of Ages So in all Storms they keep to their House and they meet in Him and are gathered in Him and He is their Head and Counsellor to order them and in Him they all please God and in Christ Jesus are one anothers Crown and Life and so through him they have all a Crown of Life who was with the Father before the World began So in him sit down over all the windy Doctrines that tosses the Chaff abroad in the World I say in Christ sit down in him who was before the World was for out of him is all wearisomeness but in him ye have rest G. F. ALL Dear Friends every where who have no Helper but the Lord Epist 280. who is your Strength and your Life Let your Cries and Prayers be to him from whom all your help and strength comes God is the only Help of his People who with his Eternal Power hath kept up your Heads above all Waves and Storms let none go out of their Habitations in the stormy Time of the Night and stand in his Lot the Seed Christ Jesus to the end of the Day There is the Lot of your Inheritance and in this Seed you will see the Bright and Morning Star appear which will expel the Night of Darkness that hath been in your Hearts by which Morning Star you will come to the Everlasting Day which was before Night was So every one feel this Bright Morning Star in your Hearts there to expel the Darkness G. F. DEar Friends The Truth of God mind and his pure holy Power Epist 281. which the Lord hath made you partakers of by his good Spirit Grieve not the Spirit O let not his Spirit be grieved by you Let that be mortified that would get up to grieve or quench the Spirit for that will corrupt your Reason Understanding and Knowledge and that which gives you to know God and Christ that 's Life Eternal And all have a care that you do not abuse the Power Nor abuse the Power nor crucifie to your selves the Seed a-fresh but let that be crucified by the Seed in which Seed you have Life Eternal And therefore prize the Truth above all things Now you have Liberty to spread it abroad for you are called to Righteousness and Holiness without which none shall see God Therefore mind your High Calling in God out of lod Adam into Christ Jesus the second Adam and keep your Meetings in the Name of Jesus and feel him in the midst of you who is your Life and Salvation and that all occasions and stumbling-blocks may be taken away so that the precious Truth may be minded by you all wherein all are to live in Vnity and walk in Peace Live in Vnity Peace c. with the God of Peace and one with another that all your Springs may be kept open and all your Fountains may run with living Water and all your Candles may burn and every one may have Bread on his own Table in his Temple and his Rod budding there that he may be known to be a Priest of the Royal Priesthood So that all may have Salt in your selves that you may be good for something for if you be not the good Salt you cannot make the Earth savoury Therefore all keep in the Sense of Truth and be digging for the Pearl in your own Field and to find the Silver in your own House that was lost and the Leaven in your own Hearts that where it works and is joyned to will leaven into its own Nature So in all your Meetings be faithful in the Power and Life that you may be watered by the Spring of Life that you may grow And so whatever Strife or whatever runs out Shun all occasion of Offence or whatever occasion of Offence has been let the Seed of God rise and put all that down in All that all you in the everlasting Seed the second Adam may have your Peace Familiarness and Kindness and Affableness and Courteousness and Gentleness and Love one with and towards another for the Power of the Lord God is over all and his Everlasting Seed Christ Jesus reigns over all in whom is Eternal Fellowship Peace and Vnity and not in old Adam for old Adam's Sons and Daughters may get the words of Christ and of the Prophets
through which Christ gives you Rain having purchased the Field wherein the Pearl lies and now is the Spring time that the Lilly and the Rose begins to flourish and the Power of the Lord God who is over all And keep your Testimony for your Religion that you have received from God and for your Worship in the Spirit and in the Truth that Christ Jesus hath set up and for your Gospel-Fellowship which is in the Power of God before the Devil was And see that all live in Peace and in the Love of God for Love edifieth the Body for he who is the Head of it is the beloved of God who is from Everlasting to Everlasting And see that every ones Affections be set on things above To set our Affections upon things above and not upon things below that be Earthly for now is the time to contend for the Faith that gives Victory which was once delivered to the Saints in which you have Vnity And so the God of Power preserve you all and keep you in his blessed Seed to wit Christ Jesus that none of you may be without a Minister without a Priest or without a Prophet or without a Shepherd or without a Bishop but let every one receive him in his Offices Then you all have One who will exercise his Offices in you all whom God hath given for a Leader and a Covenant yea an Everlasting Leader who was the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles and is to us this Day And so be Valiant for the Truth upon the Earth in the Seed Christ Jesus that through him who Destroys Death you may have a Crown of Life and through him you may be one another's Crown and Joy in the Lord yea I say through Christ who was glorified with the Father before the World began I am just now upon leaving this Island where I have had very great and blessed Service though I underwent very great Weights and Burthens and Sufferings and Travels But all is well and the blessed Seed and Power is over all to whom be Glory for evermore Amen Amen G. F. DEar Friends This is the Counsel of the Lord to you all who are brought into the Eternal Truth of God Epist 285. whose Minds are guided out of the Earth up to God and have received their Wisdom from God which Wisdom order all the Creatures To receive Wisdom from God that with it you may come to know how to order in the Creation with the Wisdom by which all was made This I charge you and warn you all in the Presence of the Living God That you suffer no Creature to perish for want of the Creatures and that none be lost through Sloathfulness Laziness and Filthiness and let not these things be which are for Condemnation with the Light that leads to the Wisdom To Order the Creation with which the Creation must be ordered And Friends let there be no Sloathfulness among you but all keep in Diligence and Liveliness For he that is Sloathful he is an evil Example and such must be judged with the Light that they may come to know the Servants Place and be Diligent And such as have gone up and down begging which you have received in amongst you with the Light which hath convinced them And to Inccurage Industry see that they be kept in Diligence and not wander but be kept in Obedience to the Light to receive their Wisdom from God how to Labour in the Creation and see that they have things decent and necessary and that their Nakedness may be covered that no Reproach nor Shame may come upon the Truth from such as are without but that with the Light all such may be denied who act contrary to it and in the Light which condemns the evil World ye may walk and receive the Light of the Son of God which the World stumbles at which is their Condemnation and in which the Saints have Vnity And all being kept diligent walking in the Light there will be no Sloathfulness For that is judged with the Light And Condemn that which is Evil. which is one with that in his Conscience which condemns him for Evil. This to go among Friends every where G. F. FRiends When you are met together Epist 286. in the Name of Jesus your Saviour let your Minds be over all to him and out of all things that changeth and perisheth and dieth of it self and will corrupt Our Mind to be over all things which perisheth and is visible up to him that is invisible the Lord God and his Son Jesus Christ that you may see him and feel him among you and in your Meetings in his Life and Light and Power and Spirit and that you may know that God is and that he is the Rewarder of all them that diligently seek him and to know that God is present And that which giveth the knowledge of him is the Light that shineth in the Heart in the Face of Jesus Christ and so see him in all your Troubles and Afflictions and that God is present God is present beholding our most secret Thoughts beholding all your Actions done in your Bodies and your Consenting to your Evil Thoughts Lusts or Motions the Thoughts what you will speak or act or Motions which you have not acted outwardly but if you do consent to do them in your Mind or Heart the Lord seeth them there to be done though they be not done outwardly to the sight of Men and so to God you must give an account of things done in your Bodies and of things done out of the Body for God both heareth and seeth what is done in the Body and what is said and done without the Body and therefore turn from the Evil that leadeth to destruction and judge it and your selves for cleaving to it and turn to the Lord and know him who is mighty to save and to reward all them that diligently seek him who is Almighty in his Power to save and deliver and to help in time of need So know him that was from Everlasting to Everlasting And here thou knowest God in his Power Light Kingdom of God stands in Righteousness and Life and Righteousness which his Kingdom stands in in that Righteousness and Power and Holy Ghost and Peace that never will have an End and is over all Kingdoms that will have an End and are unclean and any unclean and imperfect thing may enter into them and in them is Troubles Tumults and Sin and not Peace but Sorrow But into the Kingdom of God no imperfect thing entereth nor Sin nor any unclean thing For the Kingdom of God standeth in Righteousneass and Everlasting Peace and in Joy in the Holy Ghost G. F. FRiends Epist 287. Consider you that have known the Mercies of the Lord God To remember the Mercies of the Lord. and of Jesus Christ Look back and see how them that had known much of
God how soon they forgot him as in the Days of the old World and in the Days of Moses and in the Days of the Judges how they soon forgot God that had done great things for them and for sook God and his Way and Religion and Worship and followed such Gods as Men had made And in the Days of the Prophets how the People forsook the Lord God and in the Days of Christ and his Apostles how they were mostly gone astray from God though they kept an outward Profession of their Words yet denied Christ in his Light and Life and Power who was the End of the Law and the Prophets Many of old Time forsock the Truth and ran into Error And them that did receive Christ Jesus and believed in him in a few Ages after the Apostles how most of Christendom ran from the Life into Death and ran from the Light into Darkness and into Error from the Holy Sprit and into Babylon which is Confusion and from the Worship in the Spirit and in the Turth that Christ set up and follwed after the Worship of the Beast and the Dragon and went from the true Church after the Whore and from Christ the Way to God after the Ways that Men had made and from the Religion that is Pure from above after the Religions that Men have made And so now the Gospel is preached again Now the Gospel is preached again and the Living Way Christ to the Living God and his Religion and his Worship is set up and received of many and they come to the true Worship which is in God And all be Faithful All be faitbful and take heed of running back again where you were before lest you and your Children perish as others have done that forsook the Lord God for Mercies And therefore train up your Children in the Fear of God and in the Way of Christ and in his Worship and Religion that they may observe and keep in it when you are gone And walk in the Spirit and Truth And walk in the Spirit and keep in the Order of the Gospel in which God is worshipped and keep in the Order of the Gospel in the Power of God which was before the Devil was which Power of God will keep you Pure to God that nothing may get betwixt you and the Lord God And be obedient to the Law that God hath written in your Hearts and put in your Minds that you may be the Children of the New Covenant and that you may be the Royal Priesthood offering up to God the Spiritual Sacrifices And sitting under your Teacher the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation and seasoneth your Words and establisheth your Hearts And this Grace saveth and is sufficient saith God Almighty And you need no Man to teach you but as the same Anointing doth teach you to know all things which Anointing abideth in you And hearken all what the Righteosness of Faith saith speaking on this wise Rom. 10.6 7 8. The Word is nigh thee even in thy Heart and in thy Mouth to obey it and do it That thou need not say Who shall ascend to bring Christ from above or descend to bring Christ from the Grace c. for that is the Word of Faith which we do Preach G. F. To Friends in Carolina DEar Friends to whom is my Love in the blessed Seed Epist 288. which bruiseth the Head of the Serpent and is over all and changeth not which is the First and Last in whom you have Life and Peace with the God of Peace So you few that are that ways keep your Meetings Keep your Meetings in the Name of Jesus and meet together in the Name of Jesus whose Name is above every Name and Gathering is above every Gathering and there is no Salvation in any other Name but by the Name of Jesus and you Gathering in his Name where Salvation is he is your Prophet your Shepherd your Bishop your Priest in the midst of you to open to you and to santifie you and to feed you with Life and to quicken you with Life wait in his Power and Light that ye may be Children of the Light by believing in the Light which is the Life in Christ that you may be grafted into him the true Root and built upon him the true Foundation Who is the Foundation of his People who was the Foundation of the holy Prophets and Apostles and of all the holy Martyrs and is the Foundation of all his holy People now and is the Rock of Ages yea of the Ages of the Prophets and of the Ages of his Apostles and of the Ages of his People now and Martyrs who kept them above the Raging of the Seas and doth now which Rock the Wise Men builds upon the Rock that stands against all the Storms and Tempestuous Weather And therefore be valiant for God's Truth upon the Earth and his good Spirit and live in it by which you may profit in the things of God through which ye may answer the Witness of God in all and the Spirit which they grieve and quench which they are erred from through which he may be served and his Truth spread abroad So every one in your Measoures of the Spirit of God and Christ be faithful that in it you may increase and answer the Lord in a good Life and Conversation for all his Mercies And as every one hath received the Lord Jesus Christ so walk in him that you may serve the Lord in a New Life and worship him in the Spirit and Truth which the Devil is out of and by this Truth you may be made free by whith ye may be espoused and married to Christ Jesus for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and coming And therefore if you want Wisdom keep in the Truth that you may go to the Treasure of Life and of Salvation that you may be Heirs of the same and of Life and Possessors of it Yea I say Heirs of Life and Inherit that and that will be more to you than if all the World was your Portion and the Riches you lay up there will stand buy and be with uyou when time is gone and shall be no more For the Truth is the Truth and changeth not in which live and it will be your Peace and Joy everlasting And in the Seed Christ Jesus who bruises the Serpent's Head who was before the Devil was glorified with the Father before the World began and was from Ecverlasting to Everlasting the First and Last the Top and Corner-Stone in him live that you may inherit Life Everlasting and dwell in the Love of God in Christ Jesus that will edifie and build one another up and therein walk in all Holiness of Life and Conversation for that becomes God's House and dwell and live and walk in the Peaceable Truth that keeps you in Peace and in the Holy Fellowship of the Spirit the Bond of Peace by which
and as he is a Priest who offered up himself for you who is made Higher than the Heavens and that is Higher than all the Priests that are made upon the Earth who Sanctifies his People his Church and presents them to God without blemish spot or wrinkle So I say know him in all his Offices exercising them amongst you and in you I am glad to hear of some of your diligence in taking that great Journey to Carolina through the Woods for if you visit them sometimes it would do well And there is a People at that place you call New-Country as you go to Carclina which had a great desire to see me amongst whom I had a Meeting I received Letters giving me an account of the Service some of you had with and amongst the Indian King and his Councel and if you go over again to Carolina you may enquire of Capt. Batts the Old Governor with whom I left a Paper to be read to the Emperor and his Thirty Kings under him of the Tusrowres who were to come to Treat for Peace with the People of Carolina Whether he did read it to them or no remember me to Major General Benett and Col. Dew and the rest of the Justices that were Friendly and Curteous to me when I was there and came to Meetings and tell them that I cannot but remember their Civility and Moderation when I was amongst them And so the Lord redouble it into your Hearts and theirs the Love and Kindness which they and you shewed unto me I have been a Prisoner here about these Eight Months and now I am Premunired because I cannot take an Oath but the Lord's Seed and Power is over all blessed be his Name for ever and Glory and Honour to Him who is over all and is worthy of all Read this amongst Friends in their Meetings G. F. Worcester 1673. MY Dear Friends Epist 305. Live in the Seed that bruiseth the Serpents Head who is the Head of all false Teachers and Ways and false Worships and Religions But Christ is the Head of all the true Worshippers and in his Name keep your Meetings in whom you have Salvation and not by any other Name under Heaven And fit under your Teacher Christ Jesus that doth bring your Salvation the Grace of God that you may all witness that you have a Teacher from God that doth bring your Salvation and in your Hearts you have received him and believed in him and with your Mouths confession is made to Salvation that your Teacher hath brought you that you all may witness his Salvation to be your Walls and Bulwarks that doth surround your Camps and Tabernacles London 1673. G. F. To Friends in Holland FRiends Do not grow barren but in the Root abiding Epist 306. ye will spring upward and bring forth much Fruit in this Life To grow in the Root and in the Life to come inherit Life Eternal and so your Lives being hid with Christ in God you will be made conformable to his Image and know the Power of his Resurrection and the Fellowship with him in his Sufferings and the Fellowship with him in his Death that you may have Fellowship with him in his Resurrection and Life And as you have born the Image of the Earthly so also you may bear the Image of the Heavenly And as your Vessels hath been full of Wrath and Dishonour so your Vessels may be full of his Mercies and Praises to God and as in your Old Earth hath dwelt Unrighteousness so you may see and know the New Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness There is a Belief that God is not the Author of for such have not the Witness in themselves of what they do believe and a Belief may be of God and Christ and of the Scriptures and yet such may be in Death Faith for they are not in Christ the Light and so are not Children of the Light and there is a Faith which Christ is not the Author of and that Faith giveth not the Victory nor purifieth the Heart neither do they in it please God nor have they access to God and that is the dead Faith which hath no Works And there is a Hope that doth not purifie and that Hope is that which is not of Christ who saves and purifieth as he is pure but that Hope is the Hope of the Hypocrites Hope And there is a Way that may be defiled where all the Wolves Dogs and Beasts and the Vnclean passeth and hath many turning Ways in it and many crooked and rough and mountanious Ways in it and there is the broad Way that leadeth to Destruction and these are not the Way of Christ that leadeth to Life which is the narrow and strait Way And there arem any Names in the World by which there is no Salvation the Beast hath many Names which all the World wondereth after and receive the Beast's Mark that he marketh them with his Beastly Spirit and Power which he hath from the Dragon but there is but one Name under the whole Heaven by which People shall be saved and that is the Name of Jesus Salvation in the Name of Jesus only and they gathering in his Name by whom the World was made and receiving their Father the Lord God Almighty's Name and Mark in their Foreheads Christ is in the midst of them and they will not receive the Beast's Mark nor will not be marked by him And there are many Religions in the World all which are spotted and defiled with the World's Spirit with which they do destroy one another but there is but one pure Religion from above that is undefiled in the sight of God and that keeps from the Spots of the World Pure Religion and leads to visit the Widow and Fatherless in their distress and they that receive this pure Religion from God who is above it is by God's Spirit the fruits of which is Love and this pure undefiled Religion from God hath the Glory in all the Hearts of them that do receive it who is the Author of it and it is above all those Religions that are below that are made by Men's earthly sensual and devilish Wisdom who with it compel People to conform to them and such are not gentle pure nor peaceable as the Wisdom which is from above is And there is but one true Worship which the Devil is out of and his unclean Spirit and he cannot get into it The true Worship in the Spirit which Worship is in the Spirit and in the Truth which Christ the heavenly Man hath set up above Sixteen Hundred Years since and every one that cometh into the Spirit and into the Truth are the true Worshippers of the God of Truth who is a Spirit and all that are not in the Spirit and Truth are in the Beast's Worship out of the Spirit of God and in his Wrath under the Dragon's Power and there are many Instructors that
inwardly ravening Spirit who hath ravened from the Spirit of Christ who said Freely you have received freely give and Christ's Ministers coveted no Man's Silver nor Gold nor Apparel And keep up your Testimony in the Power of Christ for the Church that is made of Living Stones And for the true Church which he is the Head of who are the First-born written in Heaven a Spiritual Houshold a Royal Priesthood that offers up Spiritual Sacrifices So that every one may have something to offer from the Spirit to God who are of the Church that is in God gathered by the Power and Spirit of Christ to him who feed on the Bread that comes down from Heaven and drinks of the heavenly Wine and so become Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone and sits together in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus who is the heavenly and Spiritual Head of his Church which is written in Heaven c. And also keep your Testimony for your pure and undefiled Religion And for the pure Religion c. And for the Wisdom that is above c. And keep your Testimony for the Cross of Christ which is the Power of God by which the World is crucified to you and you to the World And you that were dead and are risen with Christ keep your Testimony for those things that you have sought and have found and received from above those heavenly Things where Christ sits at the Right-hand of God And likewise keep your Testimony for the new and living Way Christ Jesus and likewise for the Light of Christ which you believ in and become Children of the Light and of the Day The New and Living Way And keep your Testimony for your Men and Womens Meetings in the Power of God by which you are gathered out of the Apostacy and over it into the Everlasting Gospel-Order as was in the Apostles Days Which Gospel-Order is not of Man nor by Man but by Christ the Spiritual Man And all ye that are Ministers of this Gospel help and encourage all those Women in their Meetings Ministers of the Gospel to help the Women Labourers therein that Labours in the Gospel and the Women may in the same Power of God the Gospel help and assist you So that you may be helps meet together in the Restoration by Christ in his glorious Gospel and Order who never fell nor changed nor will change So that all the Plants that God hath planted may flourish bud and spring and bring forth Fruit to the Praise and Glory of God in his Power And this Gospel of Christ Jesus is Everlasting and Holy and Glorious which you all that feel it are Heirs of which hath brought Life and Immortality to Light in you which Gospel the Power of God was before the Devil was that had darkened you Now in this Power of God the Gospel is all your Comfort and glad Tidings and an Everlasting Joy in this Everlasting Gospel and an Everlasting Possession and Comfort in the Everlasting Order which is the Gospel of Christ Jesus who is the First and Last the Spiritual heavenly Man his Spiritual and Heavenly Order for his Spiritual and Heavenly Ones to keep and walk in And Friends keep your Testimony against the World's vain Ways Words Fashions Customs and Worships as you did at First and to your proper Sound plain Language And Friends keep your Testimony to the Lord in all your Sufferings and Afflictions for by the Testimony of Jesus and the Blood of the Lamb did and doth the Saints overcome and the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophesie by which they see him that gives them their Victory and they feel him that suffered for them and in all their Sufferings and Afflictions he suffers with them and is afflicted with them who is able to save to the uttermost and to help and succour you in all Distresses who is blessed for ever Amen And Friends To keep their Testimony for Christ our Counsellor Priest Bishop c. keep your Testimony who are Children of the New Covenant and are taught of God in whose Hearts God hath written his Law and put it in your Minds for your Counsellor and Leader which God hath given you and for your Prophet which God hath raised up whom you ought to hear and for your Shepherd that God has given who laid down his Life for you who hath Redeemed you from the World's Hireling Shepherds and feeds you in his Pasture of Life and brings you to Rest in his Fold And keep your Testimony for Christ your Priest who is made higher than the Heavens who laid down his Life for you and sanctified you and presents you to God without Spot or Wrinkle who is Holy Harmless and separate from Sinners And so keep your Testimony for your Heavenly Spiritual Bishop Christ Jesus who is the Bishop of your Souls who doth oversee you with his Light Power and Spirit And keep you Testimony for the Sufferings and Resurrection of Jesus Christ for they that suffer with him shall Reign with him But they that shuffle and flee in the time of Persecution To keep our Testimony to Christ c. and denies him before Men such he will deny or be ashamed of before his heavenly Father Who denies him or is ashamed of him before earthly Men such fear the Wrath of Men more than the Wrath of God and such are the stony Ground whose Blade is scorched up by the Heat of Persecution but the good Seed sown in the good Ground that brings forth Thirty Sixty and an Hundred fold in this Life And keep your Testimony for your Vnity in the Faith that gives you Victory and your Fellowship and Vnity in the Spirit which is the Bond of the Prince of Princes King of Kings and Lord of Lords Peace Amen G. F. To Friends in Nevis and the Caribee Islands DEar Friends To you all in Nevis Epist 319. and the Caribee Islands there abouts I have seen a Letter from some of you wherein I understand that there has been some Scruple concerning Watching or sending forth Watch-Men in your own way Truly Friends this I declare to you Advice to Friends to keep Watch in their own Way without Arms c. That it is a great Mercy of the Lord to subject the Govenor's Mind so much by his Power and Truth that he will permit you to Watch in your own way without carrying Arms which is a very civil thing and to be taken notice of For Could Friends obtain the same in Jamaica and other places they would willingly have done it and did profer themselves for to do it to the Governors But because that they would not bring Swords and Guns and other Arms to watch against the Spaniards as they pretended their standing Fine was about 17 s. each Man's neglect but they took often 30 s. worth for it and tied some of them neck and heels besides till the Blood
Springs and Fruitful and all that lives under God's Teaching knows it So serve God in the Spirit and in the newness of Life which is over the old that the Lord God's Presence may be felt amongst you and his Son a Prophet to open to you and a Priest to sanctifie you a Bishop to oversee you and a Shepherd to feed you the Rock of your Age and Ages the Foundation of your Generation and many Generations and who are in him who was elected before the Foundation of the World they build upon him who is the First and the Last the Beginning and Ending in him you have all Life and Salvation who is the Amen And my desire is To Incourage the Faithful Women in the Service of God that you may in the Power of God encourage all the Faithful Women in your Island in the Work and Service of God and now you have Six Mens Meetings if you had as many Womens Meetings it would include all the faithful Women in all the Corners of your Island and some of your ancient faithful Women to go from Meeting to Meeting till they are settled in the Power of God and that will keep all alive in the Lord's working Power and living Life And all that are not Faithful let them be admonished to Faithfulness that so they may come into the Light and Life and Service of God and Christ for all the Wise-hearted and Faithful Women in the time of the Law were to work about the Tabernacle of God and the Holy Things And they were called the Assemblies of the Women And all the Women in the time of the Law was to offer Sacrifices upon God's Altar as well as the Men. And now in the time of the Gospel which hath brought Life and Immortality to Light God doth pour out of his Spirit upon all Flesh and therefore live in the Gospel and its Order and all true Christians Men and Women doth offer their Spiritual Sacrifices to God who is a Spirit And therefore my Friends be valiant for God's Truth upon the Earth dwell in Love that will bear all things and let there be an Order entered in your Books To avoid provoking Words that there be no provoking Words spoken in your Meetings but if any have any thing to say let them speak to them in love privately And when ye have settled your Six Womens Meetings then you may have a Six Weeks or a Monthly as well as a Quarterly Meeting as you may see meet And so that all your Wells of Life may be kept open and every one have a fresh Spring springing up in you so that in every one of you the living Water of Life may flow so that ye all may be refreshed with the Fountain of Life and feel Christ a Bishop to oversee and a Counsellor to counsel and a King to rule in your Hearts and a Prophet to open and a Shepherd to feed you with his heavenly Food And so see that nothing be lacking among you To follow whatsoever is of good Report both inward and outward and whatsoever is decent comely modest vertuous righteous and of good report follow after and be stedfast upon Christ the Rock and Foundation And whatever you do let it be done in the Name of Jesus that is in his Power and mind the Gospel of Peace and its Ordr which hath brought Life and Immortality to Light that you may be preserved in Life and in Immortality by the Immortal Power And all to be Children of the Wisdom that is from above which is pure and peaceable and easie to be entreated keeping the Vnity in God's Holy Spirit in which is the Bond of the Prince of Princes Peace in whom you have all Peace Life and Salvation I received your Letter from your Quarterly Meeting and I am glad taht you are in the Lord's Work and Service And my desire is That ye all may stand up for the Glory and Honour of the Lord God and that his Blessings may abound among you And so if you do Write to New-England and Jamaica where I hear they have precious Men and Womens Meetings it might do well to encourage one another in the Work and Service of God So that the Women may all be helps meet to the Men in the Restoration in the Image of God as Man and Woman was in before they fell So with my Love in the Seed of Life to all Friends in the Island Swarthmore in Lancashire the 25th of the 8th Month 1676. G. F. To Friends in the Isle of Man MY Dear Friends be valiant for God's Truth upon the Earth Epist 334. and and live in the Light and Power and Spirit of God that you answer that of God in all by which their Minds may be turned to God And keep your Meetings in the Name of Jesus To keep your Meetings in the Name of Jesus in whom you have Salvation whose Name is above every Name under the whole Heaven that the Lord's Glory you may see to shine in and about your Tabernacles and his Presence among you to teach and order you and be you obedient to it So with my Love to you all in the Everlasting Seed that bruiseth the Head of the Serpent which Seed liveth and reigneth over all from Everlasting to Everlasting in his Glory in whom the Saints do sit down in their Peace and Rest and Joy for evermore Amen Swarthmore the 5th Month 1676. G. F. To Friends in Virginia and Maryland MY Dear Friends Epist 335. all dwell in the Love of God and in his Power and Truth that the Presence of the Lord God you all may injoy who is the Life of you all and the length of your Days who hath the Breath of all Mankind and the Spirits of all Flesh in his Hand and in him you do all live and move and have your being who is your Rock and Salvation and Fountain of Life and of all your Mercies and of your Water of Life And therefore serve and honour and fear and worship him in his Spirit and Truth and that you all may abide in the holy heavenly and spiritual Vine and in him bring forth heavenly and spiritual Fruits to the Glory of God who sent his Son to be a Leader Christ the Leader and Way to God and the Way to God who draweth all Men up to himself where he is ascended to sit together in Heavenly Places in Christ Jesus out of all Sin and Transgression by which Man was droven from God that made him barren and unfruitful And therefore be ye separated from the World to the Lord by the Word which was in the Beginning which divideth the Precious from the Vile that by that Word ye may be reconciled to God which Word reconcileth all things in Heaven and in the Earth in one which Word hammereth down that which made twain and so by the glorious Everlasting Word of Life you are born again of the Immortal
therein are his and he gives the increase thereof And therefore be not over eager after outward things but keep above them in the Lord's Power and Seed Christ Jesus that is over all in whom you have all Life Election and Salvation And write over Yearly from your Meetings how you are settled and how your Affairs go in the Truth and how your Men and Womens Meetings are settled And my Desires are That we may hear that you are a good Savour to God in those Countries So that the Lord may Crown all your Actions with his Glory So with my Love to all Swarthmore the 4th of the 1st Month 1676. G. F. MY Friends Epist 341. All you that do know God and Christ your Teacher and are come to be the Sons and Daughters of the Lord God and are in his New Covenant in which you all do know the Lord and need not any Man to say unto you Know the Lord And are Heirs of the Gospel of Peace and Salvation that hath brought Life and Immortality to light and that by the Power of God the Gospel you do see over him the Adversary and the Destroyer that hath darkned you And so doth know that the Power of God is the Authority of your Mens and Womens Meetings in it keep them and all other Meetings and all such as be Heirs of Grace and Heirs of Life and Heirs of the Gospel keep your Mens and Womens Meetings in the Power of God the Authority of them and they that crieth against them or you strive not with them for they will in God's time die of themselves and wither away but keep your Testimony of the Life and of Grace and of the Gospel and of the Order of it and your Faith in him your Teacher who bruises the Head of the Serpent the Author of all Disorder and ill Government even Christ the increase of whose Government in his Truth and Power and Righteousness there is no end Glory to the Lord God for evermore And so all strive to be of one Mind and Heart and Soul and Spirit To live in Vnity in the Love of God and Faith living together in Vnity and in the Love of God all drinking into one Spirit by which you are Baptised into one Body having one Head who is Heavenly and Spiritual and in the one Spirit by which you are Circumcised which putteth off the Body of the Sins of the Flesh So as you do keep to the Spirit of Christ it will keep you to be one Body and to him the one Head Christ Jesus the Amen G. F. MY Dear Friends and Brethren Epist 342. That Faith which is the Gift of God which all the Saints lived in and by which they pleased God and had Victory by which they had access to God and by To live in that Faith wherein the Ancients pleased God and in which Faith they did walk And all the Just in all Ages and Generations did live by the same Faith Do you all live and walk now in your Age I say walk in that Faith by which Enoch the Seventh from Adam was translated and by which he had this Testimony that he pleased God And also keep in that Faith by which Noah built his Ark wherein he and his Family were preserved and the old World that grieved God and his good Spirit were drowned And also walk in that Faith by which Abraham forsook his Father's House and Native Country and their Idolatrous Religion And live in that Faith by which Moses forsook Egypt and refused to be called the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter and chose rather to suffer Affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of the World for a season And by this Faith which is the Gift of God he saw God who is Invisible And by this Faith was Rahab the Harlot saved and her Family And by this Faith the Walls of Jerico fell down without any outward Instrument of War And by this Faith Jacob went down into Egypt and his Children and by this Faith he knew they should return again And the Jews that did not keep in this Faith their Carcases fell in the Wilderness but they that kept in this Faith entered into the Land of Promise And by this Faith had all the Valiants of God the Victory and his holy Prophets and Prophetesses as you may read all along in the Scriptures And by this Faith were they kept in the Fire and by it the violence of the Fire was quench'd and by it the Mouths of the Lions were stopped So by this Faith they had the Victory And by this Faith was Elijah taken up to Heaven And so as Christ Jesus saith Faith saves and makes whole To look unto Jesus And all are to look unto Jesus the Heavenly and the Spiritual Man the Second Adam the Lord from Heaven by whom all things was made and created who is the First and the Last to be both the Author and Finisher of their Faith Now Christ said When the Son of Man cometh shall he find Faith in the Earth For all both Jews and Gentiles were concluded under Sin and Vnbelief so Sin and Vnbelief was over them and they shut up under it So whosoever hath this true saving and justifying Faith Christ Jesus hath been the Author of it and is the Finisher of this Divine and Precious Faith So all Eyes must look unto him for he is both the Author and Finisher of this Living Precious and Divine Faith And this is the Faith of God's Elect by which Faith they have access to God and know their Election by which Faith they are translated from Death to Life and from the Darkness to the Light and from the Power of Satan unto the Power of God and from the Corruption to the Incorruption and from the Mortal to the Immortal and from the Natural to the Spiritual And by this Faith By Faith the Devil is resisted the Devil the Destroyer is resisted who abode not in the Truth and by this Faith the Fiery Darts is quenched of Satan the Adversary of Man and he thereby is overcome So by this Faith you come to know the Partition Wall broken down that hath been betwixt you and God So in this Faith are all the Houshold of Faith to build upon Christ Jesus who bruises the Serpent's Head who is the Author and Finisher of Faith and this is called the Holy Faith and the One Faith and by this one Faith which Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of by whom all things was made and created by it we do understand the Worlds were made by the Word of God and this is the Faith which all the Houshold of Faith are to contend for That Faith which Christ is the Author of this One Faith which Christ Jesus is the Author of which Faith is the Gift of God and is held in a pure Conscience And it is called the Mystery of Faith for no
this Adversary to Man and Woman and God's Order and Government and Teaching and Christ that does bruise his Head is the Head of all his People that fits under his Teaching and under his Order and Government which they are to walk in So the same Spirit is risen that rose against Noah in the Old World yea it is seen what the Sons of God run into then even that which grieved God by following that Spirit which led from God which led Adam and Eve also from God But Noah was preserved in the Ark over the Floods when the Old World was drowned but all God's People are preserved in Christ Jesus over the Floods of the World and that Spirit that led Adam and Eve into the Fall and to feed upon that which made them think they should be wiser than God had taught them I say they are preserved in Christ Jesus the Ark over all the Floods of the Adversary and from the Judgments that God brings upon him and them that follows him And as Noah was preserved in the Ark over the outward Floods that drowned the Old World so will God's People be preserved from the Fire and Brimstone that is prepared for the Wicked and the Devil and his Angels And the same Spirit is risen now that led Nimrod to build Babel a City to preserve him and them after the Flood but God did confound Them and their Work And so he will do all such Builders For you see how God did confound all the Jewish Builders yea the Wise Master Builders who rejected Christ the Corner-Stone and his Order and his Government and his Counsel And the great City Babylon which this Spirit and its Followers has built since the Apostles is come into remembrance with God which the same destroying Spirit has built that led Adam and Eve from God and from the Order he placed them in So this same Spirit which hath led Man and Woman from the Order the Apostles were in strives to lead People from it now where it is risen And the same Spirit that led Cain to kill Abel who afterwards built a City and the same Spirit that led Adam and Eve from the Command of God in Paradise leads from it now but God will lay Cain's City waste and there is no Lodging in it for the Saints who seek another City whose Builder and Maker is God And the same Spirit is risen now that arose in Pharaoh and in Corah Dathan and Abiram in Pharaoh to oppose the People and stop them from going out of Egypt and walking in the Law of God in which they might worship God which Law of God was Good Just and Holy and went over all Transgression and Sin which led into Death that it might reign and not the Lord and his Law And that Spirit that led Corah Dathan and Abiram who thought Moses took too much upon him and busied himself too much pretending that the People were Holy so would not have them go further but there to have made a stop and set down according to its Will But see how they were stopp'd and what became of Pharaoh how he was sunk in the Sea and the other into the Earth And what became of them that opposed Aaron in his Priesthood The Spirit of Coran risen now to oppose the Servants of the Lord. their Rods did not bud yet they would have been Teachers and Ministers but had not the Fruit in the Tabernacle in the Morning that they might see how to deal their Bread to the hungry and therefore they whose Rods did not bud God's Fire consumed them for they have nothing to offer to God but manifest Presumption and Rebellion And see the end of such And the same Spirit that rose against the Prophets in the Jews who resisted the Holy Ghost and rebelled against the Spirit is risen now and is the same Spirit that deceived Adam and Eve in Paradise which led the People from God and his Law and his Prophets But what became of these Jews and what was their end Some to the Fire some to the Sword and some to Captivity as you may read And those that rebelled against Moses and Joshua and Caleb wandred in the Wilderness till they perished and came not to the good Land And therefore keep under Christ Jesus's Teaching To keep under the Teaching of Christ who is the Prophet God has raised up like Moses whom all should hear and obey And the same Spirit is risen now that rose against Christ and the Apostles And Christ called them Serpents and of their Father the Devil the Destroyer the Adversary who had deceived Adam and Eve by his false Teaching and envied their Happiness and led them from God So you may see how these Jews high and low were gone from God and his Law and his Command by hearkning to and obeying this Spirit which had led Adam and Eve to disobey God's Command and therefore they would not receive his Son nor his Order nor Doctrine And what became of all these Jews was not their City laid waste and they scattered over all Nations and they destroyed of the Destroyer who had denied Christ their Saviour that wept over them and would have saved them from Destruction And such as came to John and was baptized by him and rejoyced in his Light for a season and many that followed Christ and said he was a Prophet yet at last these turned from him that descended and ascended and he told them that rejoyced in John's burning Light for a season God's Mind was not abiding in them and that they had not seen his Shape nor heard his Voice at any time and that they received Honour of Man but knew not Christ the heavenly Man that received not Honour of the earthly Man who received their Favour one of another And such as said he was a Prophet when he said They must eat his Flesh the heavenly Bread that came down from Heaven they forsook him for their Minds turned downward to feed upon that which was below And the same Spirit is risen now The same Spirit that rose against the Apostles is risen now that rose against the Apostles as you may see in their Epistles in the Romans Corinthians and in Peter Timothy Titus Jude and John Some got the Form of Godliness and denied the Power and some were Enemies to the Cross of Christ the Power of God others were getting another Gospel than the Power of God which brought them under the Curse others were speaking the things of God in the Words that Man's Wisdom taught them others their Faith was standing in Words and not in the Power of God others their Faith was standing in Paul and Apollo's which should have stood in Christ Which grieved the Apostles for their Faith should have stood in Christ whom they preached Others with good Words and fair Speeches deceived the Hearts of the Simple And therefore all they which preach'd Faith and made shipwrack of
for my Name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts And this heavenly Incense and Offering in every place is the Spiritual Offering in the New Covenant for the Jews was to offer but in one place in the Temple in the Old Covenant but in the New Covenant their Offering is in the Holy Temple of their Hearts in the Spirit with which they Offer the pure and holy and acceptable Sacrifice to God with that Spirit which God hath given them they have a living Sense of God their Creator and Father of all their Mercies who hath made them and hath made all things for them and redeems them by his Son Christ Jesus to whom be Praise and Glory and Honour and Thanks for evermore So let all bow at the Name of Jesus to his Power and Light and Spirit All are to low to the Name of Jesus for they have bowed to the Power of Darkness that foul and unclean Spirit who is out of Truth and in whom there is no Truth And therefore now all are to bow at the Name of Jesus for there is no Salvation in any other Name under Heaven but in the Name of Jesus whose Name is above every Name under the whole Heaven who is the First Born of every Creature and the First Begotten from the Dead whom God now speaks to his People by his Son and all are to hear him the great Prophet and every Tongue is to confess to Christ Jesus to the Glory of God the Father who is the First and Last who bruises the Serpent's Head And so through Christ Jesus Man and Woman comes again to God All Blessings and Praises be to the Lord God through Jesus Christ for ever and evermore Amen Swartmore the 10th Month 1679. G. F. DEar Friends every where that have received the Truth as it is in Jesus Epist 356. which is holy and pure and brings to live in him that is Pure and Holy The Truth is Peaceable and a Peaceable Habitation and the Truth is sufficient and able to make you free from him that abode not in the Truth To live in the peaceable Truth out of Strise c. and in whom there is no Truth and all that do not live and walk in the Peaceable Truth follows him that is out of the Truth into Strifes and vain Janglings and Disputings like Men of Corrupt Minds destitute of the Truth And now the Grace and Truth that comes by Jesus Christ is that which all People should be under in this New Covenant of Light and Life and Grace and Truth as the Law came by Moses in the Old Covenant and the Jews were to be under the Law But the true Christians who hath received the Grace and Truth comes to be under this Grace's teaching leading and eftablishing by which Grace and Truth they are united and joyned to Jesus Christ from whence it comes And this Grace and Truth is able and sufficient to make you free from him that is out of the Truth and to come to have a Peaceable Habitation in Christ Jesus their Eternal Rest and Sabbath For Christ Jesus saith to his Believers and Followers In me ye have Peace but in the World ye have Trouble and the trouble is in the World of Wickedness In Christ we have Peace And therefore God's People are not to love the World nor the things of the World for the love of the World is Enmity to God And therefore feel God's Love shed abroad in all your Hearts through Christ Jesus to carry all your Hearts and your Minds above the Love of the World and this Love is that which will preserve you in the excellent way of bearing all things and the Love of God fulfils the Law And the Fruits of the pure holy Spirit of the God of Truth is Love which is a peaceable Spirit but the foul unclean Spirit that is out of the Truth is a ravenous unquiet unpeaceable Spirit And the Faith that Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of it works by Love and the Spirit of Faith is a Peaceable Spirit which Faith gives the Victory over the unpeaceable unruly ravenous Spirit and by which Faith you have the Inheritance And the Glorious Gospel of Christ Jesus which is the Power of God the Gospel of Peace which is over the Power of Darkness and was before it was and it will be when it is gone and in this Gospel all the Heirs of it have an Everlasting Unity and an Everlasting Glorious Fellowship in the Glorious Gospel of Peace yea a Glorious Peaceable Fellowship and an access to God And the Wisdom of God from above is gentle and peaceable and justifies and preserves all her Children above the unpeaceable Wisdom that is below and this Peaceable Wisdom preserves above all the unruly Spirits and vain Talkers and Janglers such as talk of the Wisdom of God but lives not in it but in the Wisdom of the World And such as talk of the Gospel of Christ the Power of God Such as talk of the Gospel and live out of it have not comfort in the Scriptures nor the Spirit of God but lives not in it but do live in the Power of Satan the Enemy and Adversary and the Devil the destroying Power and Spirit and such have no comfort of the Scriptures nor of the things of God nor of the Grace nor of the Truth nor of the Wisdom of God nor of Faith nor Light though they may talk of all these things while they follow that unruly foul unpeaceable Spirit that abode not in the Truth in whom there is no Truth and where there is no Truth there is Confusion and Disorder Now the God of Truth is a God of Order from whom you have Grace Truth and Faith which is his Gift and his Spirit and Gospel and Wisdom that you may all live in the Order of it and as it orders you For God is a God of Order and his Order is known in his Light Grace and Truth and Spirit and his Gospel the Power of God and in his Wisdom And all his Children and People should live in the Order of his Light Spirit and Gospel and Wisdom and delight in the Order of it And all you that know God and Jesus Christ which is Eternal Life then in this Eternal Life you do know that the God of Truth is a God of Order and you love his Order in his Light and Life and Grace and Truth in his Gospel and in his Spirit and in his heavenly pure Wisdom by which all his Children are justified And in his Truth that makes free from him that abode not in the Truth in whom there is no Truth that all his Children should walk in the Order of Truth which hath made them free who are born again of the Incorruptible Seed by the Word of God The Truth makes free that lives and abides and endures for ever And so feeds of the Milk of
Stripes we are healed Did not he suffer the Contradictio of Sinners who died for Sinners and went into the Grave for Sinners and died for the Ungodly yea tasted Death for every Man who through Death destroyed Death and the Devil the Power of Death and is risen For Death and the Grave could not hold him nor the Powers and Principalities Death could not hold Christ in the Grave with all their Guards and Watches could not hold him within the Grave but he is risen and is ascended far above all Principalities Powers Thrones and Dominions and is set down at the Right Hand of God and remaineth in the Heavens till all things be restored And he is restorign with his Light Grace Truth Power Spirit Faith Gospel and Word of Life so that you read of some that came to sit together in Heavenly Places in Christ Jesus And therefore all must bow at the Name of Jesus their Saviou in his Light Grace Truth Power Spirit and Gospel for he hath bowed for you if you rise with him and you must suffer with him if you will reign with him and die with him if you will live with him And all that are dead and buried with Christ and are risen with him they will seek those things that come down from above where Christ sits at the Right Hand of God and there you will seek those things which come down from above and not things which are below For those which seek those things that are below are the Talkers of God and Christ and the Prophets and Apostles words but they are not dead with Christ nor risen with him and therefore they do not seek those things that come down from Heaven where Christ sits at the Right Hand of God But they are them that seek the things that are above To seck those things which are above that are dead with Christ and risen with him they I say do seek those things which come down from Heaven where Christ sits at the Right Hand of God and they have not only sought them but have found them and received them and come to sit together in Heavenly Places in Christ Jesus a safe established and heavenly sitting in the heavenly Rest and Habitation in Christ Jesus who is the First and Last and over all from Everlasting to Everlasting Blessings and Praises over all be to the Lord God through him for ever Amen God is a God of Order The Eternal Living God of Truth he is a God of Order and is not the Author of Confusion but of Peace in all the Chruches of the Saints Now the Author of Confusion and not of Peace is the God of the World who abode not in the Truth because there is no Truth in him and when he speaks a Lie he speaks of his own for he is a Liar and the Father of it Now the Jews which did the God of the World's Lusts and them called Christians that do were in Strife Confusion and Disorder For the Jews they went out of the Order of Aaron and oses going from the Spirit of God poured out upon the House of Israel and so went from the Lord and his Law into Confusion and Disorder which the living God of Truth was not the Author of Also the Christians who go from te Light Grace Truth Power Spirit Gospel and Faith which Christ Jesus is the Author of they go from Christ and his Order who was not madee a Priest after the Order of Aaron but after the Order of Melchizedeck who was without beginning of Days or end of Life an Everlasting Order And such go into Strife and Confusion that go from Christ which Christ and God is not the Author of but the World's God who got into Man and Woman by Transgression and Disobedience of the Command of God who is the Author of Confusion Strife and Disorder in whom there is no Truth For what Order can there be in the World's God and amongst his Subjects in whom there is no Truth For in whom there is no Truth there is no true Order and they that abide not in the Truth Grace Light Spirit Gospel Faith and Word of Life they abide not in the Order of God and Christ And such will cry against the Order of the Truth Light Grace Spirit Gospel Faith and Word of Life which bring into the Order of Christ and the Order of the Living Eternal God of Truth who is a God of Order and delights in Order having Pleasure in them that live in his Sprit and Law of Life and the Gospel and its Order For Blessed is the Man that delights in the Law or Order of God it was so under the Old Covenant Much more Blessed is the Man or Woman that delights in the Law and Order of Love and the Law and Order of Faith and the Law and Order of Life and of the Gospel the Power of God And none keep the Law of Faith but who keep in the Faith which Christ is the Author of which wourks by Love And none keep the Law of Life but who keep in the Law of the Spirit and walk in it which is in Christ Jesus the heavenly and spiritual Second Andam who was before old Adam who under the World's God out of Truth in whom there is no Truth nor true Order but Confusion and Disorder And therefore all who come to God who is a God of Order must come bythe Grace Truth Light Power Gospel Faith and Anoitnting the Word of Life within and such come to love the Lord Jesus Christ and to delight in God and Christ's Order So you may see that God is a God of Order who called Aaron and Moses and they had an Order from God And Melchizedeck had an Order and Christ is after his Everlasting Order Christ'r Kingdom is Everlasting And Christ the Truth hath an Everlasting Kingdom that stands in Everlasing Righteousness and Power and Joy in the Holy Ghost yea an estableshed Kingdom that will never have an end and cannot be broken and no imperfect defiled nor corruptible thind enters into is And all Christ Jesus's Subjects of his Everlasting Kingdom that see it and enter into it are born again not of the Will of Man but of an Incorruptible Seed by the Word of God and have the Incorruptible Milk of the Word of God by which the grow from Babes to Men of God and have the Fine Linnen the Incorruptible Cloathing the Righteousness of Christ which is the Linnen which they do wear in Christs Kingdom So all Christ's Subjects of his Kingdom are known by their Birth and Cloathing and live in the Order of hiw Gospel of Love Lifew Light Grace and Truth and no Man comes into his Kingdom and Order but by the Light Grace Truth Faith Power and Spirit and Anointing and Word of Life within through which they know Christ and his Everlasting Kingdom that stands in Power and Righteousness and Joy in the Holy Ghost
and by ti keep in the Order of the Law of Life whcih they have in Christ Jesus Such as folow the God of the World bate the Order of Truth And they that follow the World's God that are out of Truth and disobey their Creator the God of Truth and the Lord Jesus Christ I say all such obey and follow him in whom there is no Truth and such cannot endure to hear talk of the Order of Truth and of the Gospel or the Law or Order of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus which all they that do obey the Voice of the Lord and Christ Jesus in his Light Grace and Truth and Gospel the Power of God and his Holy Spirit and Faith and Word of Life within come into Unity and Fellowship one with another and with the Son and with the Father and in this they know the Order of Christ and God to be a God of Order and delights in his Heavenly and Eternal Order of Light Life Power and Spirit of God that is over Death and Darkness and the World's God who is a God of Disorder in whom there is no true Order but Confusion and into this holy Order of the Everlasting Light and Life he cannot come Glory to the Lord God and his Son Christ Jesus who is over all from evelasting to Everlasting and is the Rock and Foundation and Habitation of his People blessed for ever and evermore Amen G. F. POSTSCRIPT Here you may see by these following Scriptures how the Apostles loved the Good and holy Order of Christ in his Gospel Some Scripture Collections concerning good Order in the Church and Light and Life and Truth but as Job said The Land of Darknese is without any Order And Babylon signifies Confusion which is the false Church and is called a Woman and a City of Confusion who iw against the Order of the true Church and gets the Titles of the true Chruch that is called a City and a Woman which brings forth the Man-Child Christ Jesus and of the increase of his Government and peace there shall be no end who sits upon the Throne of David and upon his dom to order it to establish it with Judgment and with Justice henceforth and for ever So here you may see Christ doth in his Kingdom and them that have him have his Order Isa 9.7 And David saith Although mine House be not so with God yet he hath made with me an Everlasting Covenant ordered in all thins and sure for this is all my Salvation and all my Desire c. 2 Sam. 23.5 Again David saith Order my steps by thy Word and let not Iniquity have Dominion over me Psalm 119.133 Which is the Duty of every Christian to have their Steps ordered by the Word of God that lives and abides and endures for ever which Word is a Word of Order And David saith The Steps of a good Man are ordered by the lord and he delights in his Way I have been young and now am old yet I have not seen the Righteous forsaken nor his Seed begging Bread He is ever merciful and lendeth and his Seed is blessed Psalm 37. Here you may see how the Lord delights in him and them that walk in the Steps the Lord orders them with his Word And him that orders his Conversation aright shall see the Salvation of God Psalm 50.23 And this Order must be in the Light which is the Life in Christ the Saviour And the Apostle Paul after he had spoken many things to the Corinthians he said Therest will I set in Order when I come 1 Cor. 11.34 And he saith concerning the Collections for the Saints in 1 Cor. 16.1 As I have given Order to the Churches of Galatia even so do ye to wit the Corinthians So they were to practise the same Order which were the Believers in Christ which the Apstle in the Power of Christ had given to them For the Apostle had the Wisdom of God which he had ordained before the World began unto the Glory of his People then and now also 1 Cor. 2. And the Order that the Apostle did give to the Churches of the Galatians and the Corinthians was That upon the First Day of the Week every one of them lay by him in store as God had prospered him c. 1 Cor. 16.2 And in Acts 14. When they had ordained Elders in every Church and had prayed they commended them to the Lord on whom they had believed confirming the Souls of the Disciples Elders Ordained c. and exhorting them to continue in the Faith and that they must through much Tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God And as Paul and others with him went through the Cities Decrees to be kept they delivered them the Decrees for to keep that were ordaine of the Apostles and Elders which were at Jerusalem and so were the Churches established in the Faith and increased in Number daily Acts 16. And the Occasion of these Decrees was because some Men that went from Judea taught the Brethren saying Except ye be circamcised after the manner of Moses ye cannot be saved Acts 15. And these Decrees were to stop such Preachers For the Apostles and Elders said Forasmuch as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with ords subverting your Souls saying Ye must be circumcised and keep the Law to whom we gave no such Commandment Now it is clear the Apostles and Elders gave these Teachers no such Commandment to preach such Doctrine to Trouble the Chruches And the Apostle Paul after he had spent some time t Caesaria and Antioch he went over all the Country of Asia and Phrygia in Order strengthening all the Disciples Acts 18. So you may see how they were a Comfort one to another And the Apostle writes to Titus Titus in Creete Chap. 1. For this Cause I have left thee in Creete that thou shouldst set in Order the thins that are wanting and ordain Elders in every City as I have appointed thee So here Titus in the Sapirit of God did observe that which Paul in the Power of Christ did exhort him to But such as are against the Order and Pracxtice in the Light and Gospel cannot order their Speeches by teason of SDarkness And the Apostle saith Col. 2.5 Though I be absent in the Flesh yet am I with you in the Spirit joying and beholding your Order and steadfastness of your Faith in Christ As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him Here the Apostle rejoyced in the Order that kept them in the Faith and Steadfastness in Christ Jesus Therefore the Apostle saith Every Man in his own Order Christ the First Fruits c. For in Adam all died even so in Christ shall all be made alive And they that are alive in Christ Jesus are in his Order of Life and Light and in his Gospel the Power of God And the Apostle
saith 1 Cor. 14. 40. Let all things be done Decently and in Order And the Heavens and the Earth and all things therein All things ordered by the Lord. are governed and ordered by the Lord in his Power and Wisdom and all God's Holy Angels are governed and ordered by God and all God's Children and People are governed and ordered by God and Christ in his Light and Spirit and Grace and Truth and Power Gospel and Word of Life And the Lord hath set apart him and them that are Godly for himself Psalm 4. And God hath ordained his Arrows against the Persecutors Psalm 7.13 And it ought to be the Practice of all the true Christians now that are in the same Power and Spirit as the Apostles were in to let all thins be done Decently and in Order in the New Covenant of Ligth Life and Grace to the Glory of the Great God who is over all and orders all things to his Glory Amen G. F. AND now 1680 Friends you who are called into this glorious Liberty of the Sons of God Epist 362. stand fast in it And as the Apostle saith Brethren ye have been called unto Liberty Of ture Liberty only use it not for an Occasion to the Flesh but in Love serve one another Gal. 5.13 As free not using your Liberty for a Cloak of Maliciousness but as the Servants of God 1 Pet. 2. For there were some who while they promised themselves Liberty they themselves were Servants of Corruption Such were like the Dog and the Sow biting and renting and vomiting and wallowing in the Mire and as bad as the Synagogue of the Libertines that turned against Stephen 2 Pet. 2. and Acts 6.9 And therefore the Apostle was careful of the Churches Liberty in Christ when he said But take heed lest this libet of yours become a Stumbing-block to them that are Weak c. 1 Cor. 8. For the Apostle was so careful and tender that he would no have his true Liberty judged of another man's Conscience c. as you may see more at large in 1 Cor. 10. And the Apostle said Falss Brethren came unawares privily to spy out their Liberty which they had in Christ Jesus that they might bring them into Bondage to whom we gave place by Subjection no not for an Hour that the Truth of the Gospel might continue with you to wit the Galatians Gal. 2.4 And therefore he exhorts them to stand fast in that Liberty wherewhith Christ Jesus hath made them free To stand fast in the Liberty of Christ c. which is the Duty of all true Christians now for to stand fast in that heavenly glorious Liberty which Christ the heavenly and spiritual Man the Second Adam makes them free in and in this they will have Salt in t hemselves to discern between the true Liberty and Freedom and the false and know how to use their holy and spirtual Liberty and Freedom in Christ Jesus to the Praise and Glory of God So Friends the Lord God Almighty preserve you all in the heavenly Order of Christ Jesus in his holy Seed Life Pfower and Spirit that all may live and walk in it to the Praise and Glory and Honour of God and Christ Amen The 3d of the 9th Month 1679. G.F. DEar Friends and Brethren Epist 3â3 in the Lord Jesus Christ and blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual Blessings in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus and hath chosen us in him before the Foundation of the World And now that all may walk in him in Love who hath seen the great Deliverances of the Lord and hath been acquainted with his great Mercies that endure for ever Deliverance after Deliverance multitude of Deliverances out of great Trials and Temptations and hath seen how the Lord hath brought to Confusion the Enemies of his Truth both within and without from the Beginning and therefore in the Lord's Spirit and Power all that live in it that know the Lord are incouraged to trust in him God hath raised you up together and quickned you who were dead in Adam and made you to sit together in heavenly Places in Christ Jesus that you might shew forth the Riches of his Grace and Glory and his Kindness towards you through Jesus Christ By one Spirit are we baptised into one Body For by one Spirit we are all baptised into one Body wherther we be Jews or Gentiles Bond or Free and have been all made to drink into one Spirit And therefore endeavour all to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace and live and walk in the Spirit And the Fruits of this Spirit of God is Love Joy and Meekness c. And by this one Spirit you have access to the Father of Spirits and this one Spirit which baptises you into one Body both Male and Female knows your Service to God For the Spirit of God divides severally to every one of you as he wills your Offices and Places yet all in Vnity in the Spirit with which you are baptised into one Body and drink into one Spirit And the Apostle Paul who writ from Rome to the Collosians told them That they were compleat in Christ Jesus and said Though I be absent in the Flesh yet am I with you in the Spirit joying and beholding your Order and the steadfastness of your Faith in Christ And now the Lord hath gathered his People by his Power into the same Spirit that the Apostles and Churches were in in the Primitive Times And though they be absent in the Body or Flesh Men in one Room and the Women in another yea as far as the East is from the West or the North is from the South The Spirit present every where yet they are present in the Spirit rejoycing and beholding with the Spirit the Spiritual Order that the Churches and Apostles were in and the stedfastness of their precious holy and divine Faith which Christ the Second Adam is the Author and Finisher of and this is no Separation but they are the Houshold of this holy divine and precious Faith and live and walk in this holy Faith and Spirit of God by which they are baptized into one holy Body of which Christ Jesus the holy and spiritual Man is the Head And this I say again is no Separation thought they be absent in the Body or Flesh yet they are present in the Spirit and with the Spirit behold the Spiritual Order And this is not an imposed outward Form Order or Prescription as some Ignorantly think But they that do say and prescribe that Men and Women must meet all together outwardly in a Bodily Presence in one Room or else it is a Separation I say it is an outward Form an outward Order and Imposition and Prescription and fiercely Press it that know not the Spiritual Order yea I say if all Men and Women in
the World could meet outwardly together and are not in the Power and Spirit the Apostles were in they are in a Separation But God Almighty is bringing his People by his Son Christ Jesus and by the same Power the Apostles were in out of this Separation and Apostacy from the Apostles Spirit that began in the Apostles days into the same Spirit that the Church and the Apostles were in in the Primitive Times and though they be absent in the Body or Flesh yet they are present in the Spirit seeing and beholding in the Spirit the Spiritual Order and the Stedfastness of their divine Faith which Christ the Second Adam the Spiritual Man hath been the Author and Finisher of And therefore let no Man beguile you by enticing Words from this Spiritual Order Fellowship and Vnity And again the Apostle saith For I verily as absent in the Body but present in the Spirit have judged already as though I was present concerning him that hath so done this deed So here was a Spiritual Sight and a Spiritual Judgment yea a Judgment though absent in the Body by a Spiritual Sight of such as walk not in the Spirit but walk out of the Order of it 1 Cor. 5.3 And this is to the Spiritual-minded who can judge of these things for as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God and the Lord now by his Spirit is separating his Sons and Daughters from the Apostacy and Sin which hath separated from the Spirit that the Apostles were in that they may behold one another with joy and comfort with the Spirit in the Spiritual Order Fellowship and Vnity though they be absent in the Body and in the Flesh yet they are present in the Spirit and know one another in the Spirit of God And also All one in Christ the Apostle saith As many as are baptized into Christ have put on Christ There is neither Jew nor Greek Bond nor Free and here is neither Male nor Female but ye are all one in Christ Jesus So though these be absent in the Body one from another Jews Greeks Bond or Free Males or Females yet they are all one in Christ Jesus the spiritual and heavenly Man and with the Spirit joying and beholding one anothers Spiritual Order so the Joying Vnity and Fellowship stands in the Spirit of God and not in the outward Fleshly Bodily Presence and Carnal and Natural Sight And therefore keep your Spiritual Order To keep in the spiritual Order joying in the Spirit beholding your Spiritual Order and Stedfastness of your Faith in Christ Jesus and in this you will be all stedfast Men and stedfast Women and not tossed up and down with every windy Doctrine and the cunning Crafts and Slights of Men but stedfast Men and stedfast Women in the Faith of Christ as Trees of Righteousness the Planting of the Lord whose Fruit is unto Holiness and whose end is Everlasting Life and such have Fruit on their own Trees and Water in their own Wells and are not shaken with Winds Storms nor Tempests that may rise up within or without but are stedfast and unmoveable built upon the Rock and Foundation of Life Christ Jesus so that as every one hath received the Gift even so minister one to another as good Stewards of the manifold Grace of God And this is the Grace of God wherein ye stand that will teach you to live Godly Righteously and Soberly and brings Salvation so not only to talk Godly but to live Godly keeping your selves in the Love of God and building up your selves in the most Holy Faith which you have from Christ Jesus which makes you stedfast and unmoveable from him who is the Author and Finisher of it and with the Spirit of God in which you spiritually behold your substantial and stedfast Spiritual Order over all outward and carnal Orders and will out-last them all with which Spirit you all see your work and service for the Eternal Immortal God of Truth to whom be all Glory Honour Thanks and Praises in the Church of Jesus Christ throughout all Ages World without end Amen From your Friend and Brother in the Kingdom and Patience of Jesus Worplesdom the 22d of the 5th Month 1680. G. F. To Friends in America DEar Friends My Love to you all in the holy peaceable Truth Epist 364. and my Desires are that whatsoever ye do may be done in the Name of Jesus to the Glory of God the Father and all be subject one to another in the Fear of the Lord God so that ye may all come to dwell in the Love of God which edifies the Body of Christ who is the heavenly Man and let all Strifes and Divisions and Backbitings All Strifes Divisions c. to cease or Whisperings or Prejudices cease and be buried and so whatsoever is amiss or hath been amiss let it be put down by the Truth and Spirit of God that it may be uppermost which is a strong Bond to Vnite your Hearts and Minds and Souls together and to the Lord and be kind and courteous one towards another all studying to be quiet and to excel one another in Vertue and Purity and Holiness and Righteousness and Godliness in all your Words and Lives and Conversations so that you may all walk as become Saints and Christians every one esteeming and preferring one another above your selves in the Truth in Meekness and Lowliness of Mind and Humility for he that Inhabits Eternity dwells with an humble Heart Not to quench the Spirit And therefore do not quench the least Motion of God's good Spirit in your selves nor in any other but let Truth and Goodness be cherished in all and let all Harshness and Bitterness and Revilings be kept down by the Truth that it may have its passage through you all and in it you may bear one anothers Weakness and Infirmities and so fulfil the Law of Christ keeping down Revenge Hastiness or Passion as knowing Vengance is the Lord's and he will repay it on every one that does wrong without respect of Persons For Friends you there should be as Lights or as a City that cannot be hid Lights I say to to give Light in all People and also to be as the Salt of the Earth to be a good Savour and savoury to all People for he or she that is an ill savour hath lost the Salts savour and is good for nothing and is trodden under the Foot of Men and therefore take heed of loosing the Salts savour either in Word or Conversation for if you do you will come under the Foot of Men they will trample upon you therefore be Careful Fervent Circumspect and Faithful in the Truth and let your Moderation Temperance and Sobriety appear to all Men shewing forth the Work of the Lord and your Honesty and Justness in all your Words and Dealings between Man and Man and that you may owe nothing to any Man
Now a People following and doing that which is not Just is the Cause they do not live and inherit the Land Deut. 16.18 19 20. Ex. 23.6 And therefore do that which is Just that you may inherit Christ and your spiritual Land Thou shalt not oppress a stranger seeing you were strangers nor vex the Widows and Fatherless And the Lord saith You shall be holy Men unto me Again the Lord says Thou shalt not raise a false Report c. Put not thy Hand with the wicked to an unrighteous Witness Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil neither shalt thou speak in a Cause to decline after many to wrest Judgment Exod. 23.1 2. Again To Respect no Man in Judgment the Lord saith Ye shall not do unrighteousness in judgment thou shalt not respect the Person of the Poor nor honour the Person of the Mighty But in righteousness thou shalt judge thy neighbour Levit. 19.15 And Deut. 1.16 17. and Josh 7.24 I charged your Judges says Moses saying Hear the Causes between your Brethren judge righteously between every Man and his Brother and the stranger that is with him So let all the Strangers that are with you have righteous Judgment as well as those among your selves And again he saith Ye shall not respect Persons in judgment but ye shall hear the small as well as the great You shall not be afraid of the face of Man for the judgment as God's So long as ye judge Righteously And therefore now Friends my desire is That you all may be kept in the Power and Spirit of God and Christ in Humility and in that you will have a sense of all things that whatever you act it may be done in the Spirit and Power of Jesus Christ to the Praise of God the Father who is over all from Everlasting to Everlasting who beholds and sees all your Words and Actions that you may behold and see with his Spirit His and his Sons Divine Majesty among you Amen Read this in your Assembly and in your Meetings G. F. To suffering Friends at Horsham in Sussex DEar Friends Epist 368. Who suffer for your Testimony and to all the rest in your County I am glad to hear of your Faithfulness and of your standing for the Church which Christ is the Head of Two or three gathered in Christ's Name is a Church which is in God and are become his living Members and therefore wheresoever ye are in Prison or out of Prison where two or three are gathered in his Name there is a Church and Christ the Living Head in the midst of them a Prophet to open to his Church the things of his Kingdom and a Bishop to Oversee his Living Members that they be preserved in his Light Grace Truth Spirit and Gospel and he is a Shepherd to feed them with heavenly Food who gives Life Eternal to his Sheep which he hath purchased with his own Blood and a Priest who has offered up himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of the whole World who cleanses and washes and purifies his Church his People a High Priest made higher than the Heavens Heb. 7. And no Priest made below the Heavens will become Christ's Church and therefore feel and see Christ exercising his Prophetical Priestly and Kingly Offices and his ruling in your Hearts And all that will know the right Way or High-Way or Path to the Church in God 2 Thess 1. must walk in the Light which is the Life in Christ and that will guide them to Christ the Way to God the Head of the Church the Rock and Foundation of God that stands sure And now Dear Friends my Desires are that you may all live in the Love of God and in the Vnity of his Spirit which is the Bond of Peace in which you will be all Kind and Courteous one to another and so the God of all Peace and Power support you and strengthen you and uphold you throughout all your Trials and Sufferings that he may be glorified in you all who is over all from Everlasting to Everlasting blessed for ever from whom ye have Blessing and Life London the 20th of the 12th Month 1681. G. F. To the Flock of Christ Jesus every where to be read in their Assemblies GRace Epist 369. Mercy and Peace be multiplied among you all from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Fountain of all And God who hath called you by his Grace and gathered you to be a People by his Power and Spirit to his Son Christ Jesus your holy heavenly spiritual Head Life Rock and Foundation Now that you may all walk in Christ Jesus and abide in him your Vine and in him you will all bring forth heavenly Fruit to the Praise and Glory of God Christ saith In me ye have Peace in the World ye have Trouble In Christ we have Peace and therefore keep out of the Spirit of the World let not the Spirit of the World come into you for if ye do ye go into Trouble both inwardly and outwardly But if ye keep in Christ who is not of the World you keep in your heavenly Place and Region For He that hath the Son of God he hath Life and therefore keep in the Life in Christ and he that hath not the Son of God is in old Adam in Death without Life And Without me says Christ ye can do nothing without his Grace Without Christ we can do nothing his Light his Truth his Gospel his Power his Spirit his Faith ye can do nothing and If Christ be not in you ye are Reprobates and if he be in you and you in him you are in the Election and in the Seed in which all Nations are blest And therefore my Friends and Brethren both Males and Females keep and walk in the Seed in which all Nations are blest which bruises the Head of the Serpent and destroys the Devil and his Works which brought Misery and the Curse upon all Nations So that in this holy Seed you all may be the Children of the Kingdom of God that stands in Righteousness and Power and Joy in the Holy Ghost I say in the Righteousness of Christ which was before Unrighteousness was and in the Power of God which was before the Power of Satan and Dragon was and in the Peace of God that passes all the Vnderstanding of the World and was before the God of the World was and in the Holy Ghost which was before the unclean Ghost got into Man and Woman And so that you may all come to walk in the New Covenant of Light which was before the Prince of Darkness was and Life that is over Death 1601 and was before Death was Here in this you will have your heavenly Religion to walk in which will keep you out of all the World 's unruly Ways and Actions and ungracious Words and Languages that all your Words be seasoned with the Grace of
Jesus to outstrip the World in Vertue Chastity Modesty and Temperance and in that which is of good Report Our Light to shine before Men. For our heavenly Light ought to shine so before Men that they may see our good Works and glorifie our Father which is in Heaven And therefore all in the Church of Christ ought to live in the Spirit and Power of Christ in which they do Judge the World and all the fallen Angels So in this Heavenly Power the Vertue Purity Chastity flows and shines over all and they that do possess as though they did not and they Marry as though they married not They are all resigned in the Power of Christ that gives Dominion over the World which brings all into one Mind and to be of one Heart and Soul and to one Judgment and are a Chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation a peculiar People that shews forth the Praise of Christ who hath called them out of Darkness into his marvellous Light and as Living Stones are built up a Spiritual Houshold an Holy Priesthood to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ And so my Dear Friends To walk in Christ my desire is That in Jesus Christ ye may all live and walk who is the Seed of the Woman that bruises the Serpents Head that is the Head of all Wickedness and Strife and in this Seed Christ all Nations are blessed as they live and walk in him And the Blessings from above and the Blessings beneath rest upon them And in this Seed Christ all have Rest and Peace who is the First and the Last over all Blessed for ever Amen In him is my Love to you all as though I named you Read this in your Quarterly Meeting at York G. F. To the Six Weeks Meeting in Barbadoes DEar Friends Epist 384. In Christ in whom we have Peace Purity Holiness and Righteousness you must be kept Holy and Righteous to the Glory of God and Righteousness and Holiness and Puririty must wear and outlive all that is contrary to it and Patience and Meekness and Humility and Kindness and Sobriety must wear out Passion Envy Strife and Wrath High-mindedness and Loftiness and Wilfulness and therefore consider the Holy Men and Women of God must not strive but be gentle to all and in that alone keep their Dominion Not to strive but be gentle For truly Friends Love gathereth into Love and edifies the Body of Christ and let nothing be done with Strife but in Love to the Glory of God in the Name of Christ and in his Power so that you all may see and feel Christ among you ordering you all to his Glory with his Wisdom which is Pure Peaceable and Easie to be intreated so that none may be burdened nor oppressed in your Meetings but that the Life and Seed may reign in you all and so the Lord may have the Glory of all and ye may all have Comfort in him your Head And do not much strive with unruly Talkers but keep your Peace in the Spirit and Power of Christ that will overcome and wear out all that is contrary to it So that all may keep their own Habitation in Christ Jesus who is over all the First and Last and in his Power and Spirit live and walk that so you all may be Trees with Fruits and Wells with Water and have Bread in your own Tabernacles and your own Lamps trimmed and burning and that there may be no Strife among you but dwell in Love for he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God so God who is Love is to be your Salvation To condescend to the Meek c. And condescend to the meek and to every appearance of the Lord God and make every one's Condition in the Truth your own in that you will deny your selves and become all to all in the Truth so that none may be hurt in the Truth nor made to stumble nor the blind caused to wander but be directed into the right way and all as the tender Plants may grow together as the Lord 's Planting and he watering them and giving the increase and growth to his Glory so that the Lord may have the Praise and Glory of all his Works Amen And be careful in all your Meetings that they may be kept peaceable in the Wisdom of God that is pure and peaceable and easie to be intreated so that Wisdom may be justified of her Children That there be no Harshness or Fierceness but Meekness and Mildness and gracious Language which will edifie and season the Hearers and be of a good savour And this will honour the Seed Christ from whence Grace and Truth cometh and will be to your Comfort and shew forth whose Children you are for as Christ said Blessed are the Peace-makers they are Children of God And therefore all do this Work that you may have this Blessing And so with my Love to you all that are convinced of God's Truth as though I named you all and all to dwell in Love then you all do dwell in God as I said before and so the Lord God Almighty preserve you all in Christ your Sanctuary Amen You may read this in your Monthly or Quarterly Meetings Kingston the 7th of the 9th Month 1683. G. F. To suffering Friends in Prison at Bristol DEar Friends With my Love to all the Prisoners and the Faithful Epist 385. as though I named them It is the time now for all the Faithful to keep in Christ their Sanctuary To keep to Christ our Sanctuary in whom you have all Peace Rest Life and Salvation and by the Testimony of Jesus and the Blood of the Lamb whose Names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the Foundation of the World they were they that did overcome and did eat of the hidden Manna and had the new Name and therefore now is the time to keep the Word of Patience and the Testimony of Jesus for they that keep the Word of Patience the Lord will keep them in the Hour of Temptation which will come upon the whole World to try them which dwell upon the Earth for the Word was before the World was and the Tempter for all things were made by the Word And it is also the Word of Reconciliation the Word of Power the Word of Wisdom and the Word of Life and the Word of Salvation by which People are reconciled to God that are born again of the incorruptible Seed by the Word of God and they feed and grow by the Milk of the Word which lives and abides and endures for ever which strengthens all the Faithful in all Ages in all their Afflictions Imprisonments and Sufferings and it is the same to God's People now in this Day of Trial to preserve all his People every where in his Spirit and Power faithful to himself for he that endures faithful to the End shall be saved He that end ares
supply you and is near unto all that calls upon him in Truth and Righteousness Therefore cast your Care upon him for he Cares for you And so as you walk in the Truth to answer the Truth in your Patroons and others you will see in time you will reach the Good in them that they will give more Credit to you and Trust you more than them that disobey the Spirit of God in their Hearts So the Lord preserve you Faithful to himself Let us hear as often as you can how things are with you G. F. London the 4th of the 3d Month 1684. To the Quarterly and Monthly Meetings in England c. DEar Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ Epist 392. who reigns over all and has all Power in Heaven and Earth given unto him by whose Eternal Power our Meetings this Year have been preserved unto his great Glory and Honour and his living refreshing Presence has livingly been amongst us for which his People do give him the Honour Glory Thanks and Praise who is Lord over all and worthy of all blessed for ever and ever And therefore we desire and intreat all our Friends and Brethren every where who are of the Seed of the Promise and the Children of the Kingdom of God and of the New Covenant of Light and Life To walk as becometh the Gospel To Walk in the same and worthy of the same to the Glory of God And you that do profess the primitive pure and undefiled Religion which is above all the Religions in the World Shew it forth in Life and Practice And you that profess the Worship of God in the Spirit and Truth which Christ hath set up which is above the Jews Worship and all the Worships that the Men of the World have set up Be stedfast in the same for all Worships out of God's Spirit and his Truth are Idolatry And now dear Friends and Brethren who profess and possess that which is above all Religions Ways and Worships in the World our desire is To exceed in Vertue c. that you may always out-strip and exceed the World in Virtue in Purity in Chastity in Godliness and in Holiness and in Modesty Civility and in Righteousness and in Love with that you may overcome the Evil and with the Good overcome the Bad So that your Moderation and sober Life may appear unto all Men and answer that of God in all that so the Fruits of the Spirit of God may shew themselves forth in Meekness and Kindness and Humility from the holy Understanding and the pure heavenly Wisdom and the Word of Life and Patience by which all things were made in that you will be able to bear all things and endure all things through him that strengthens you And whatsoever things are lovely decent or comely and honest and of a good Report that answers the Truth in all That mind and practice that God Almighty may be glorified through you in the Seed in which all Nations are blest which bruiseth the Head of the Serpent that brought the Curse in which Seed no Enmity nor Strife can come in wich Seed Christ Jesus your heavenly Vnity and Fellowship is preserved And whatsoever Storms or Tempests should arise in the World keep in the Seed Christ Jesus your Sanctuary Christ our Sanctuary who was before the World was who is your Saviour that destroys the Destroyer in whom you have all Life Peace Rest Safety and Salvation in him who is the Amen the First and Last in him Farewell and from him the Blessings of the Lord rest upon you G. F. To Friends in Holland DEar Friends in the peaceable Truth The Glory of God all mind Epist 393. in all your Lives and Conversations and that the heavenly Fruits of the Holy Spirit of God you may all bring forth to his Praise living in Righteousness Godliness and Meekness Lowliness and Humility To live in Righteousness c. learning of Christ Jesus your Saviour who is meek For the humble God doth teach and they grow up in his Grace and Favour And therefore all take heed of going back again into the World's Ways Spirit and Words but keep to the holy Spirit of God that doth lead you in the narrow way that is to Life Eternal And in the Lord's Light Power and Spirit meet together and keep your Meetings in the Name of Jesus Christ who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given to him that you may feel his living and divine Presence among you and in his pure gentle and heavenly Love and Wisdom you may be valiant for the Name of Jesus and his Truth upon the Earth Not to be ashamed of Christ and not to be ashamed of Christ your Teacher and Prophet that God hath raised up in his New Covenant and Testament whom you are to hear neither be ashamed of Christ your Shepherd who hath laid down his Life for his Sheep whose Voice you are to hear who doth feed his Sheep and give them Life Eternal and none is able to pluck his Sheep out of his Hand his Power neither be ashamed of your High Priest who hath offered up himself for you and doth sanctifie you who is a Priest made higher than the Heavens neither be you ashamed of your Bishop and the chief Shepherd of your Souls to whom now ye are returned by his Grace and Truth who doth oversee you with his heavenly Eye that you do not go astray from God So in him let your Faith stand who is the Author and Finisher of it So with my Love to you all in the Lord Jesus Christ who is your Sanctuary in whom you all have Life Peace Rest and Salvation who is the Amen Greet ye one another with a Kiss of Charity Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus Amen This Charity keeps all God's People in the heavenly Love and Unity Amsterdam the 14th of the 4th Month 1683. G. F. DEar Friends and Brethren who are Elect and Chosen in Christ Jesus before the the Foundation of the World Epist 394. in Christ you have Peace and in the World you have Trouble But be of good cheer Christ hath overcome the World Christ hath overcome the World that lieth in Wickedness and all the Persecutors in it and in him you all overcome the Devil and his Works and without him you can do nothing but through Christ and his Power and Strength you will be able to do all things according to the Will of God And though for a time ye may suffer for the Name of Jesus and for his Truth and be cast into Prison and suffer the spoiling of your Goods the Eternal God knows and his Son Christ Jesus it is for him alone and his Truth 's sake we suffer and not for any evil doing or doing wrong to any Man And so the Lord hath given us not only to believe but also to saffer for his Name and Truth
's sake and so it is the Gift of God with his Eternal Spirit and Power that doth uphold us in all our Sufferings which hath made so many to finish their Testimony for the Truth in Goals and Prisons and not to love their Lives to the Death but love God and Christ Jesus above their Lives and all outward things as Practice and Experience have declared it And now dear Friends To be faithful to the end be faithful in Christ Jesus to the end that you may all have the Crown of Life and that Peace from Christ Jesus which the World and all the Apostate Spirits from the Truth cannot take away from you I say neither the World with their outward Persecutions and spoiling of Goods nor the Apostate Spirits from the peaceable Truth with all their Lies and Defamations and their filthy scandalous Books and evil Tongues though they be like the raging Waves of the Sea casting up Mire and Dirt whose Folly is manifest to all that hear and see them yet all this cannot disturb the Peace of the Righteous And all the restless unquiet unruly Murmurers and Complainers that are filled with false Jealousies and are the wandering Stars who are wandered from the Witness of the Lord in their own Hearts such their Judgments do not linger nor their Damnation doth not slumber though they may be suffered for a time to try God's People And now Friends you know envious Cain was a Sacrificer as well as Abel but out of the Faith and Righteousness who Murdered his Brother Abel he may be said to have been a Type of Judas who was a partaker of the Ministry yet betrayed his Master And you read that Ishmael and Esau were circumcised as well as Isaac and Jacob but Esau hated Jacob and would have slain him and Ishmael scoffed at Isaac and so he that is born of the Flesh persecuteth him that is born of the Spirit and that Birth is not Heir with the Seed of the Promise though it may come into the outward Form and outward Profession And likewise you read of Corah Dathan and Abiram and their Company and their Rebelling against the Lord and his Servants Moses and Aaron and of their false Liberty but what became of them in Numb 16. you may see And likewise how that the Jews after the Lord brought them out of Egypt made themselves a Calf of their Jewels and Ear-rings as in Exod. 32. Psalm 106.19 The Jews made a Calf in Horeb and worshipped the Golden Image and forgot God their Saviour who had done great things in Egypt and wonderous things in the Land of Ham and murmured in their Tents and hearkened not to the Voice of the Lord And therefore God overthrew them in the Wilderness and they came not into the promised Land And you read how the Jews run into false Liberty in the Days of Baalam and joined with Baal-Peor Examples of Apostates of old Times and how the Anger of the Lord was kindled against them and what a destruction he brought upon them who had turned against the Lord and his faithful People as in Numb 25. And likewise how often the Jews murmurred against Moses and Aaron and what a destruction came upon them in the Wilderness that none of that old Stock the Lord brought out of Egypt that dishonoured him though they had seen his Glory none entred into the Land save Caleb and Joshua but they perished in the Wilderness for their Murmurring and Rebelling and therefore take heed of Murmurring and Rebelling against the Lord and his Spirit but in all things learn to be content And also you read in Judges how often the Jews forsook the Lord and what Judgments came upon them and also how the Jews turned against the Prophets and imprisoned and persecuted them And in the Days of the Kings as in the Chronicles how David and many of the Prophets and the Righteous suffered But what became of them that made them suffer And likewise in the Days of Christ and his Apostles how did they fuffer by the professing Jews And there were many Comers and Goers in the Days of Christ that could say Lord Lord But such do not enter into the Kingdom of God except they do the Will of God And you read how the Apostles and the true Church were troubled with false Christians and false Brethren whom Paul writeth against in many of his Epistles and Peter and John and Jude and John in his Revelations And therefore all Friends dwell in the Seed Christ Jesus in whom ye cannot be deceived who bruises the Head of the Serpent who is the Head of all Deceivers and the Head of all Enmity and false Ways Worships and Religions and the Head of all false Liberties But in Christ Jesus in whom all Nations are blessed is the true Liberty in him all stand fast so far as he hath made you free and in him all walk as ye have received him to the Praise and Glory of God In whom you have all Eternal Life Peace Rest and Salvation and in him the Lord God Almighty preserve you all in Love Vnity and Fellowship Who is able to support you and supply you with his Eternal Hand and Power with what you do need in all your Sufferings and Trials Amen G. F. To Friends at the Yearly Meeting in York DEar Friends Who are turned to the Light Epist 395. and are the Believers in the Light which is the Life in Christ my Desires are To be established upon Christ the Rock That you may all be established upon him your Eternal Rock and Foundation and grow up in Christ Jesus the Second Adam by his Light Grace and Truth that is come from him for you know Christ had many Enemies and his Disciples and Followers and Moses in the time of the Law such as turned their Backs on the Lord Christ and his Followers have many Enemies and erred from his good Spirit and rebelled against it they turned against the Lord and Moses and Aaron and they went from the Fellowship of the Law of God and his Spirit and then Destruction came upon them Such Jews were they that rebelled against Christ and his Apostles and yet were great Professors of the Old Testament And such that were called Christians that got the Form of Godliness and the fair Speeches and good Words but denied the Power thereof and so the Order thereof Such as these separated themselves and erred from the Spirit and the Faith and so from the Unity of the Faith and the Fellowship of the Spirit of God Such were and are to be turned away from by all them that are in the Faith and the Spirit of God and all the Spiritual Witnesses in the Tabernacles of God testifies against such though they may make a great Profession of Christ and the Apostles Words but deny the Power and err from the Spirit and the peaceable Truth Such cannot be the true Worshippers of God in the
World And that which keeps you from the Spots of the World will keep you from the Body of Death and Sins of the World which you are made free from by the Circumcision of Christ by his Spirit and by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus are made free from the Law of Sin and Death And now Friends you that do profess this pure and undefiled Religion before God the Father to keep unspotted from the World or from the Spots of the World take heed you that profess this pure and undefiled Regilion tha tye keep your selves from the World or that you do not get the World's Spots upon you And take heed of Grediness and Earthly-mindedness and Covetousness which the Apostle called Idolatry for it is a great Spot and Blot of the World that lieth in Wickedness And take heed of Unrighteousness in your Trades Commerces or Dealings For Unrighteousness is a Spot To be Just in Trade c. And take heed of Over-reaching or using any Deceitsulness or Defraud in your Trade or Commerce For Over-reaching and using Deceit of any Unjust thing will Blot you an Spot you and is contrary to the pure and undefiled Religion And take heed of Unrighteousness Ungodliness Unholiness Prophaness Loosness Filthiness Naughtiness and Evil Words which corrupt good Manners These things will Blot you and Spot you and are contrary to the pure undefiled Religion before God the Father And also take heed of Drunkenness Theft Murder Whordom Fornication Adultery and all manner of Uncleanness For they which act such things are void of the pure undefiled Religion before God the Father and they are blotted and spotted with the Actions of the World that lieth in Wickedness and their Religion is vain And take heed of Lying Swearing and Cursing which are Spots of the World and forbid by Christ and the Apostle And all such that follow the Lust of the Eye the Pride of Life and the Lust of the Flesh which is not of the Father but of the God of the World that abode not in the Truth such are spotted with the Spots of the World and are Proud Vain Lofty Scornful High Spots of the World and Spotted with the World's Spots and are void of the pure undefiled Religion before God the Father And take heed of Malice Hatred Envy Wrath Rage and Fury these are the Spots of the World who bear such Fruits contrary to the Spirit of Meekness Gentleness Kindness Tenderness Sobriety Love and Mercifulness which are the Fruits of the pure Spirit of God which leadeth to the pure undefiled Religion before God the Father which is To visit the Fatherless and Widows in their Affliction and to keep unspotted from the World this pure undefiled Religion keepeth in the Purity of Life and Conversation and this is above all and keeps from all the vain Religions in the World which pure and undefiled Religion it is the Duty of all true Christians to walk in by which they may be kept from the Spots of the World and this is the Religion that was set up above Sixteen Hundred Years ago in the Church of Christ and happy had all Christendom been if they had kept to this pure undefiled Religion to this day and then they would not have made so many Religions as they have done but to this pure undefiled Religion they must come again if ever they come to the true Religion The pure Religion and undefiled is the hest Religion for none can make a better than the pure undefiled Religion which was set up in the Church in the Apostles days above Sixteen Hundred Years ago unto which all that profess Christianity should be conformable even to this pure undefiled Religion which will keep them from the Spots of the World and then their Religion will not be of the World And this is the one pure undefiled Religion that all Christians should be of which is from one God the Creator of all So there is one God the Creator of all and one Lord Jesus christ by whom all things were made and created who is the one Mediator betwixt God and Man even the Man christ Jesus there in one Body and one Spirit even as you are called to one Hope of your Calling and one God and Father of all who is above you all and in you all and through you all and there is one Faith which Christ Jesus is the Author and Finisher of and there is one Baptism and by one Spirit we are all baptised into one Body whether we be Jews or Gentiles Bond or Free must all drink into this one Spirit of Christ and so to keep the Unity in the Spirit which is the Bond of Peace for the Apostle saith If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 for Christ saith in his Prayer to his Father That they may be all one meaning the true Christians as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that they may be one ever as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one to wit the Believers and Followers of Christ John 17.21 22 23. Here you may see God and Christ are one in them so he Prayeth that his People may be one in whom they have Rest Life Peace and Salvation with God through Jesus Christ Amen Let your Conversation or Practice be without Covetousness c. Hebr. 13.5 Only let your Conversation be as becometh the Gospel of Christ Philip. 1.17 The 4th of the 2d Month 1685. G. F. To Friends at York DEar Friends Epist 400. To you is my Love in the Seed of Life that bruises the Head of Enmity and in this Seed you all have Life and Peace that is Everlasting And my Desires are That you may all dwell in the Love that can bear all things To keep the Word of Wisdont and of Patience And keep the Word of Patience which will never be worn out for the Word liveth and abideth and endureth for ever and over all Trials keeps for the Word was in the Beginning and all things are upheld by the Word of his Power in it abide And so live and walk in the Wisdom that is from above that is heavenly pure peaceable gentle and easie to be intreated And keep in the Lamb-like Nature for the Suffering Lamb must have the Victory And so the Man of God must not strive but be gentle and yet valiant for God's Truth and not to fell it for they that do go into Bondage and Captivity for the Truth maketh all God's People free and the peaceale Truth is a peaceable Habitation And so in it God Almighty preserve you and all the Lord's People every where that they may Glorifie the Lord God of all their Comforts Lives and Mercies Amen Kingston the 13th of the 10th Month 1685. G. F. DEar Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus
Oil in their Lamps Such were not diligent in the Work of God nor in the Concerns of the Lord nor in their own Particulars And therefore my desires are That you may all be diligent serving the Lord and minding his Glory and the Prosperity of his Truth this little time you have to live and be not like Adam in the Earth but use this World as though you did not use it for they that covet after this World fall into divers Snares and hurtful Lusts And therefore consider that you are but Sojourners here that you may pass your time in the Fear of God and you being many and having many of the Friends of the Ministry going over into those Parts you may be a hinderance one unto another if you do not travel in the Life of the Vniversal Truth taht would have all Men to be saved and come to the Knowledge of the Truth And if you would have them come to the Knowledge of Truth let them know it and where it is to be found So I desire that you be valiant for it upon the Earth that you may give a good account unto God at the last with Joy So I desire that all Friends in the Ministry may see this in Pensilvania and New-Jersey And so with my Love to you all in the Holy Seed of Life that reigns over all Amen Enfield the 30th of the 5th Month 1685. G. F. To Friends in Wales DEar Friends and Brethren In the Lord Jesus Christ Epist 406. whom he hath gathered by his glorious Hand and Power to himself who is the Rock of Ages and the Foundation of many Generations that cannot be shaken in which you have all Life Peace Rest Salvation and Eternal Happiness Your Epistle dated the Second of the Second Month 1685 by Order of your Yearly Meeting signed in behalf of that Meeting was received and publickly read in our Yearly Meeting and well accepted of in Love and Unity with the Spirit that gave it forth And Friends are very glad to hear feel and see your Fellowship and Unity in the Lord's blessed Truth and your Communion in the Holy Ghost and your Care in the Concerns of the holy pure peaceable Truth And how that you are and have been preserved over those unruly Spirits that have been as Trees without Fruit and Wells without Water inwardly ravening Wolves that have got the Form of Godliness and the Sheeps Cloathing but are out of the Spirit and Power and Life of the Sheep of Christ And over such Spirits we praise God that he hath given you Dominion And our desire is That you may all live and walk in Christ and sit down in him in his Grace and Truth and that you may answer the Truth of God in all People with the Word of Life and also answer the Good in all with a Godly and an Holy Life and Conversation And likewise all the Magistrates and Officers that are in Power you may answer the just Principle in them all To answer the just Principle in all Men. and live in the Spirit of Supplication and pray for all that you may lead a righteous and a godly Life under them all So that God over all and through you all and by you all may have the Glory the Thanks and the Praise To whom all is due God blessed for ever Our Yearly Meeting was peaceable and the Lord 's glorious Presence was amongst us whose Glory shines over all God blessed and praised for ever Amen Nowe all Dear Friends You know your Teacher and Leader Christ Jesus and you know him your High-Priest that 's made highter than the Heavens by the Power of an Endless Life by whom you are made a Royal Priesthood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ And you know there is no other way to God but by Jesus Christ and you know that God hath raised him up a Prophet in the New Testament who is to be heard in all things who opens and no Man can shut and shuts and no Man can open And ye know that Christ is the Bishop of your Souls to Oversee you that you do not go astray from God And ye know that Christ is the true Shepherd and has laid down his Life for his Sheep and is to be heard and followed who gives unto his Sheep Life Eternal And so abide in him who is your Life Eternal and Everlasting in whom you have Peace with the Everlasting God Amen London the 10th day of the 7th Month 1685. G. F. To Friends in Dantzick DEar Friends Epist 407. I am glad to hear of your Welfare in the Lord And my desires are To be valiant for Truth That in the Eternal Power of God you may be valiant for his holy pure Truth upon the Earth and his holy Religion that keeps from the Spots of the World and the new and living Way Christ Jesus that will keep you out and over all dead Ways that are in the World and the Worship of God in his holy Spirit and pure Truth which Christ Jesus set up above all the Worships in thd World And all Men and Women must come to the Spirit of God in their Hearts if they serve and worship God that made them And my Desires are That you may live in Peace and Love one with another and in the pure gentle Wisdom of God that is easie to be intreated And let your Faith stand in the Power of God and feel that in your Hearts which will keep you until the Day of Salvation And let all your Conversations be according to the glorious Gospel of Life and Salvation so that you may come to answer the Truth in all People and in your Words and Actions you may preach Truth Righteousness Vertue Pureness Godliness and Holiness without which none shall see the Lord. And now Friends consider the Lord's great Mercy and Kindness towards you who hath brought you through great Sufferings To praeise Gode Mercies Tribulations and Persecutions and that you have your Meetings peaceable it is a great Mercy of the Lord to you for you to prize and be faithful So with my Love to you all in the Lord Jesus Christ that reigns over all in whom you have Eternal Rest and Peace Amen And as for the Affairs of Truth here we are under great Persecutions Imprisonments and spoiling of Goods but the Lord does support his People above them all And of late the chief Magistrates have shewed some Favour towards us Bednal-Green the 11th of the 9th Moutb 1685. G. F. To Friends in Pensilvania East and West-Jersey THE Lord God who created Man and Woman in his Image Epist 408. and after his Likeness in Righteousness and Holiness he blessed them and said unto them Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth and subdue it and have dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl of the Air and over all Cattle and over all the Earth and over
Six-Weeks Meeting is for to see Epist 418. that all their Meetings are preserved by the Wisdom of God in the Vnity of the Spirit The Care of the Six Weeks Meeting the Bond of Peace and in the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost being ordered by the pure gentle heavenly peaceable Wisdom easie to be intreated Holy and Vertuous Examples to all other Meetings both in City and Country And that all may be careful to speak short and pertinent to Matters in a Christian Spirit and dispatch Business quickly and keep out of long Debates and Heats and with the Spirit of God keep that down which is doting about Questions and Strife of Words that tend to Parties and Contention Which in the Church of God there is no such Custom to be allowed And likewise not to speak more than one at a time nor any in a fierce Way for that is not to be allowed in any Society neither Natural nor Spiritual but as the Apostle saith Be swift to hear and slow to speak and let it be in the Grace which seasons all Words And if there be any Differences that cannot be quickly ended in the Meeting let the Six-Weeks Meeting order some Friends to hear the Matter out of the Meeting without Respect of Persons and bring in the Report to the same Meeting the same Day if possible and the Meeting may give Judgment that no Business be delayed from time to time And so with my Love to you all in the Seed of Life Christ Jesus in whom ye have all Peace and Wisdom from him who is the Treasure of Knowledge and Wisdom Amen Kingston upon Thames the 5th of the 3d Month 1690. G. F. DEar Friends Epist 419. Something was upon me to write unto you that such among Friends who marry and provide great Dinners that instead thereof it will be of a good Savour on such Occasions that they may be put in mind at such times to give something to the Poor that be Widows and Fatherless To be Charitable and relieve the Poor and such like to make them a Feast or to Refresh them And this I look upon would be a very good Savour to feast the Poor that cannot feast you again and would be a good Practise and Example and would be a means to keep the Mind to the Lord and in remembrance of the Poor for they that give to the Poor lend to the Lord and the Lord will re-pay them And I do really believe what ever they give less or more according to their Ability cheerfully they will not have the less at the Years End for the Lord loves a cheerful Giver I know this Practice hath been used by some Twenty Years ago And so it is not only to give the Poor a little Victuals which you cannot eat your selves but give them a little Money that the Lord hath blessed you with and give it to some of the Womens Meetings for to distribute to the Poor So you will have the Blessings of the Lord and the Blessings of the Poor And so to be of a free noble Spirit above all the churlish Misers and Nigards and narrow Spirits These things I do recommend to you though it may look a little strange to weigh and consider the thing it will both be of a good Report and a good Savour and manifests a self-denial and openness of Heart and of the general Love of God London the 4th of the 4th Month 1690. G. F. To Friends Captives at Macqueness DEar Friends st 420. With my Love to you all in the Lord Jesus Christ in whom you have Life and Salvation and Rest and Peace with God and the Lord God Almighty with his Eternal Arm and Power uphold and preserve you in Christ in whom you have Rest and Peace though in the World Troubles and though you be in Captivity from your Wives and Children and Relations and Friends yet the Lord is present with you by his Spirit of Grace Light and Truth And so feel him at all times and stand in his Will do not Murmer nor Complain but stand still in the Faith and Power of God To stand in the Faith that you may see your Salvation for by Faith the Lord delivered his People out of Egypt by his Power and by Faith Enoch and Noah were preserved and Abraham Isaac and Jacob and by Faith the Prophets were delivered out of many Perils and Daniel out of the Lions Mouth And you may see how the Righteous were delivered by Faith in Heb. 11. And it would be very well if you that be Captives and Friends To meet to worship God could have Meetings as they had at Algier to the comforting and refreshing one another And you may speak to your Patroons of your meeting together to worship God that created Heaven and Earth and made all Mankind and gives you Breath Life and Spirit to serve and worship him And my Desires are to the Lord That you in his Truth and Power may answer the Truth in all both King and Prince and Turks and Moors that you may be a good Savour among them all and in them all manifesting that you are the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World and a City set on a Hill that cannot be hid So that they may see your good Works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven And what do you know but the Lord hath set you there to preach in Life and Word and good Conversation Therefore while you are there mind your Service for God who hath all things in his Hand And a Sparrow cannot fall to the Ground without his Providence And Christ is the Mountain that filleth the whole Earth and so you will feel him there And therefore keep in the Word of Power and in the Word of Patience and the Word of Wisdom that will give you Dominion over all Amen London the 25th of the 8th Month 1690. G. F. You may petition the Emperor or King and your Patroons Postscript whose Captives you are that you may have one Day in the Week to meet together to worship and serve the Great God that made you in Spirit and Truth For you worship no Representation Image or Likeness neither in Heaven nor in the Earth but the Great God who is Lord over all both in Heaven and Earth and is manifest by his Spirit in his People from you poor Captives who desire their Good here and their Eternal Happiness hereafter And you may draw up a Paper to this Effect and get it Translated into their Language and send it to the Emperor and his Council and your Patroons and set your Hands to it with all speed after the the receipt of this George Fox THE END THE FIRST TABLE CONTAINING The Names of Countries Cities Towns and Places mentioned in this Collection of Epistles being those from or to which they were sent and directed by the Author on Truth 's Account in England and
175. To Friends to serve one another in Love Page 136 176. Friends that Minister c. Ibid. 177. All Friends every where who are dead to all Carnal Weapons Page 137 178. To Friends in Barbadoes Virginia New-England and all the Islands about Page 138 180. My dear Friends in the Love and Life c. Page 139 181. Friends live in the unchangeable Power of God Ibid. 182. My dear Hearts do your Business faithfully Page 140 183. Friends dwell in Patience c. Ibid. 184. Oh my dear Friends and Brethren Page 141 185. All Friends be obedient to the Power of God Page 142 186. Friends which have known and tasted of the Power of the Mighty God Page 143 187. This to go among Friends Page 144 188. Friends live in the Seed of God Page 145 189. To Friends in New-England and Virginia Page 146 190. Oh Friends have an esteem of Truth and God's Glory Page 147 1660. 191. All Friends every where that are Convinced with Truth Page 148 192. Friends in the fear of the Lord God live Page 150 193. Dear William thou hast c. Page 151 194. Dear Friends who have found the better Part Ibid. 195. Friends all that are moved of the Lord c. Page 152 196. Dear Friends in Jamaica and elsewhere Page 153 197. Dear Friends in the Power of the Lord dwell Ibid. 198. Dear Friends keep over all that which tends to Strife Page 154 1661. 199. Friends the Matter concerning not putting off the Hat in Prayer Ibid. 200. The Line of Righteousness and Justice stretched forth over all Merchants c. Page 156 201. Dear Friends in the Stilness and Silence of the Power of the Almighty dwell Page 162 202. An Answer to a letter sent to G. F. Page 163 203. What Friends do ye Reign as Kings c. Ibid. 204. To all Friends Prisoners Page 164 205. All Friends live in God's Dominion Ibid. 206. In the Power of God that is Everlasting Page 165 207. Dear Friends look over all Sufferings Page 170 208. All ye Prisoners of the Lord for his Truth Ibid. 209. My Dear Friends in the Power of God c. Page 172 210. Friends trust not in Man c. Ibid. 211. Friends all ye that know the way of Truth Page 173 212. To a Friend under an exercise of Spirit Page 174 213. Dear Friends in the Life and Power of God dwell Ibid. 214. Friends the Power of the Lord God is over all Page 175 1662. 215. To Friends to Labour in the Ministry that their Lives may Preach Page 177 216. To Friends in New-England and the Islands beyond Sea Page 178 217. All my Dear Friends and Brethren c. Page 180 218. Dear Friends and Brethren let Patience possess your Souls Page 181 219. All my Dear Friends dwell in the Life Page 182 220. Friends Truth is that which is pure Ibid. 221. All my Dear Friends every where the Power of the Lord God c. Page 183 222. A General Epistle to be read in all the Christian Meetings c. Page 186 223. All Dear Friends and Brethren stand fast in the Power of the Lord God Page 196 224. Dear Friends whom Death Bonds nor the Outward Creature can separate Page 197 225. Friends keep in the Power of the Lord Ibid. 1663. 226. My Dear Friends in the Everlasting Seed c. Page 198 227. Sing and Rejoyce ye Children of the Day Page 199 228. Dear Friends who have tasted of that which is precious Ibid. 229. Friends let not your knowledge be after the Flesh Page 200 230. Friends stand still and see be still and hear Page 201 1664. 231. My Dear Friends be faithful to the Lord God Page 202 Two General Epistles to be read c. 232. 1. All Friends every where who are gathered in the name of Jesus Page 203 233. 2. Friends this is the day of the tryal of your Faith Page 209 234. All you Prisoners of the Lord c. Page 211 235. Friends you who now come to suffer by a Land-Flood keep on the Rock Page 212 236. All my Dear Friends in the Everlasting Power c. Page 213 237. My Dear Friends and Brethren the Lord is with you all c. Page 214 238. My dear Friends and Brethren all every where keep your Habitations Ibid. 239. A General Epistle to all Friends Ibid. 240. Friends all Outward Things Figures Types Shadows and Inventions c. Page 220 241. Dear Friends keep your Meetings in the Name of the Lord Jesus Page 225 1665. 242. The Saints Weapons are Spiritual Page 226 1666. 243. All my Dear Friends this is your day to stand Ibid. 244. To Friends in Barbadoes Virginia Maryland New-England c. Ibid. 245. An Epistle to be read in all the Assemblies of the Righteous Page 228 246. Oh Dear Friends mind every one your Habitation c. Page 234 247. Dear Friends dwell in the gentle Wisdom of the Lord God Page 235 248. Friends keep your Meetings in the Power of the Lord God Ibid. 1667. 249. A General Epistle to Friends and to all People c. Page 236 1st Concerning the Worship of God and the Jew Outward c. Page 242. 2d Concerning who drink the New Wine and who drink the Old Page 246 3d Concerning Gathering in the Name of Jesus Page 248 250. A Warning to all to keep out of the Vain Fashions of the World Page 249 251. My Dear Friends in the Truth and Seed of God c. Page 251 252. For Friends in the Ministry scattered abroad in Virginia c. Page 253 253. To Friends in Holland Page 255 1668. 254. Friends let your affections be set on things which are above Page 256 255. Dear Friends all who from the beginning have been Convinced Ibid. 256. My Dear Friends live in the Wisdom of God Ibid. 257. Dear Friends be faithful in the service of God Page 257 258. Dear Friends in the Truth of God Ibid. 259. Dear Friends be faithful in the Truth which the Devil is out of Page 258 260. Dear Friends if the Truth make you free then are you free indeed Page 259 261. Friends to call Men Masters or Gracious Lord c. Page 266 262. All Friends and People this is to be condemned c. Page 267 263. An Exhortation to keep in the Ancient Principles of Truth Page 274 1669. 264. An Additional Extract from other of G. F's Epistles Page 276 265. All you that are believers in the Light which manifesteth Darkness Page 293 266. And all you believers in the heavenly Light c. Page 299 267. To Ministring Friends Page 300 268. Not to be over-thoughtfull of the things of this World Page 301 269. Concerning the single Language Page 302 270. For all that be gathered in the Name of Jesus Ibid. 271. Concerning those who go out of Unity and deny Forms Page 303 272. To Friends in Ireland Page 304 273. Not to trust in uncertain Riches Ibid. 274. My Dear Friends in the pure
and undefiled Life all Live Page 305 275. All Friends every where in the living Spirit and living Power c. Ibid. 276. Dear Friends live in Peace and Love Page 308 277. My Dear Friends when you were formerly in a Profession Ibid. 278. And Friends see that all Apprentices that are bound amongst you c. Page 310 1670. 279. The Substance of a General Epistle Page 311 280. All Dear Friends every where who have no helper but the Lord Page 315 281. Dear Friends the Truth of God mind Ibid. 282. Friends in the Seed that bruises the Serpent's Head c. Page 316 283. To Friends at Bristol in time of Suffering Page 317 1671. 284. Dear Friends and Brethren see that all live in the peaceable Truth Ibid. 285. Dear Friends this is the Counsel of the Lord to you all Page 319 286. Friends when you are met together in the Name of Jesus Ibid. 287. Friends consider you that have known the Mercies of the Lord Page 320 1672. 288. To Friends in Carolina Page 321 289. Dear Friends every where be faithful to God Page 322 290. Dear Friends live in Love for that is of God Ibid. 291. To all the Womens Meetings that are Believers in the Truth Page 323 292. To Friends in New-England virginia and Barbadoes Page 324 293. To Friends in Barbadoes Page 326 1673. 294. Friends the Truth is above all c. Page 327 295. Friends at the first Convincement there is not so much danger Ibid. 296. Friends all keep your Meetings in the Power of the Lord God Page 328 297. Dear Friends keep in the Power of the Lord Ibid. 298. Dear Friends to whom is my Love in that which changes not Page 329 299. To Friends at Jamaica Ibid. 300. Dear Friends let your Faith stand in the Power of God Page 330 301. To all the Womens Meetings Page 333 302. To all Friends that live in the Truth Page 334 303. Dear Friends all be faithful c. Page 335 304. To Friends in Virginia Ibid. 305. My Dear Friends live in the Seed c. Page 336 1674. 306. To Friends in Holland Page 337 307. My dear Friends who feel the Precious Truth Page 338 308. My dear Friends in England and all parts of the World Page 340 309. Friends seek the Peace of all Men Page 342 310. Friends in every thing give thanks Page 343 311. For the Men and Womens Meetings in Barbadoes Ibid. 312. All Friends that are in the Power of God Page 344 313. Friends all that are sensible of the Power of God c. Page 346 1675. 314. To all my dear Friends Elect and Precious in America Page 352 315. To Friends in Barbadoes Page 353 316. Dear Friends all that feel the Life and Power and Spirit of the Living God Page 354 317. To all the Elect and Chosen of God in Christ Jesus before the Foundation of the World Page 357 318. All Dear Friends and Brethren keep up your Testimony c. Page 361 319. To Friends in Nevis and the Caribby Islands Page 363 1676. 320. An Incouragement to all the faithful Womens Meetings c. Page 368. 321. To all the Men and Women's Meetings that are gathered in the Name of Jesus Page 389 332. To Friends in Cumberland Page 394 333. To Friends in Barbadoes Page 395 334. To Friends in the Isle of Man Page 397 335. To Friends in Virginia and Maryland Page 398 336. To Friends at Dantzick Ibid. 337. To Friends in Holland Page 399 338. To Friends in Maryland and Virginia Page 400 339. All my dear Friends and Brethren c. Page 401 340. To Friends in New-Jersey in America Ibid. 341. My Friends all you that know God and Christ your Teacher Page 402 342. My dear Friends and Brethren that Faith which is the Gospel of God c. Page 403 343. Friends in the Power and Image and Truth c. Page 405 1677. 344. An Epistle to be read in the Men and Womens Meetings c. Page 409 345. My dear Friends to whom is my Love in the Everlasting Seed Page 411 346. To Friends at Sussex Page 412 347. Concerning the Subjection of the Spirits of the Apostles one to another c. Page 413 348. Dear Friends to whom is my Love in the heavenly Seed Page 414 1678. 349. To Friends in the County of Oxford Page 416 350. To the Yearly Meeting in Yorkshire Ibid. 351. Friends know what the Lord doth require of you c. Page 417 352. An Epistle to Friends to keep in the Power of God c. Page 418 353. My dear Friends whose Faces are set towards Zion Page 420 354. And dear Friends my Love to you all in the Seed of Life Page 423 1679. 355. To Friends in America concerning their Negroes and Indians Page 426 356. Dear Friends every where that have received the Truth as it is in Jesus Page 428 357. Dear Friends all live in the Life of the true Christians Page 430 358. Dear Friends with my Love to you all in the holy peaceable Truth Page 431 359. An Epistle to be read among Friends Ibid. 360. To all the Men and Womens Meetings every where Page 434 361. An Epistle to Friends for them to read Page 439 And now my dear Friends concerning true Liberty Page 443 1680. 362. And now Friends you who are called into the Glorious Liberty Page 450 363. Dear Friends and Brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ Ibid. 364. To Friends in America Page 453 365. To Friends in Yorkshire Page 454 366. A Letter to the Captives who meet together to worship God in Algier Page 455 1681. 367. To Friends in Burlington West-Jersey Page 456 368. To suffering Friends at Horsham in Sussex Page 458 369. To the Flock of Christ Jesus every where Page 459 370. To suffering Friends at Leicester Page 460 371. To Friends in Carolina Page 462 372. An Epistle concerning the Government of Christ Page 463 1682. 373. To Friends in Jamaica Page 470 374. To Friends in Holland Page 471 375. To Friends in Barbadoes Ibid. 376. To Friends in New-Jersey and Pensilvania Page 473 377. To Friends that are Prisoners in York Page 474 378. To all the Elect of God chosen and faithful c. Page 476 379. An Epistle to all Planters c. in foreign Plantations America Page 477 380. To all Christians to keep to Yea Yea and Nay Nay c. Page 478 381. A Way to prevent the Indignation and Judgments of God Page 480 382. An Epistle to the Houshold of Faith Page 482 1683. 380. To the Quarterly Meeting at York Page 486 384. To the Six Weeks Meeting in Barbadoes Page 488 385. To suffering Friends in Prison at Bristol Page 489 386. To Friends in Charles-Town in Carolina Page 490 387. To the Monthly and Quarterly Meeting in England c. Page 491 388. To Friends that are Captives at Algier Ibid. 389. To the Houshold of Faith which is the Church of Christ Page 493 390. An Epistle to all