Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the VVorld Joh. 1.9 Drunkard thou hast a Light given thee which comes from Christ and that is the Light which lets thee see that thou shouldst not be drunk so here thou hast learned thy Condemnation which is the Light Swearer and Lyar and Fighter and Quarreler thou hast a Light given thee which comes from Christ who saith Swear not at all and with this Light thou seest thou shouldst not swear nor lye nor fight nor quarrel for the Light in thee witnesseth against these things so here thou hast learned thy Condemnation the Light Scoffer Scorner Mocker Railer cursed Speaker foolish Iester vain Talker Couzener and Cheater the Light that shines in thy Conscience though thou canst not comprehend it Joh. 1.5 because thou art darkness it is pure and eternal and never consented unto evil but stood and stands a VVitness for God against all evil Mark this Light this pure VVitness oftentimes hath appeared and doth appear unto thee and in thee and lets thee plainly see that thou shouldst not act any of these evils before mentioned and it often checks and reproves in secret when thou dost so act so here thou hast learned what Condemns thee which is the the Light Eph. 5.5 13. Proud one Wanton one Lustful one Covetous one who art an Idolater Backbiter Whoremonger Gamster Sporter and Prophane one who walkest on in laciviousness and excess of the Creatures in Revellings Banquetings and abominable Idolatries and whoever thou art that acts any manner of unrighteousness whatsoever it is sin and it is of the Devil but the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the VVorld that is the Son of God who is made manifest for this very end that he might destroy the works of the Devil 1 Joh. 3.8 and He mark the Son of God hath given thee a measure of his Light and that is the measure of his Light in thee which lets thee see that thou should not act any of these abominations before-mentioned but it oft appears in thee to convince thee of thy evil deeds and reproves thee and judgeth thee for thy wickedness so here thou hast learned thy Condemnation which is the Light which makes manifest unto thee thy abominations And thou who makest a Profession of the Saints words but art found to be out of their Life and in thy dark carnal mind and imaginations run'st into their words the Scriptures and calls them the VVord of God and thy Rule and the way to know God and yet thou livest contrary to the Scriptures and art out of the knowledge of God whom to know is life eternal Mark the Light wherewith thou art enlightned withal it comes from Christ who lighteth every man that cometh into the VVorld and his Name is called the VVord of God Rev. 19.13 and he is the way to God and no man knoweth the Father save the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him Mat. 11.27 and this Light which comes from the Son of God oftentimes appears in thee and shews thee that thou art out of the Saints Life though thou profess their VVords and the Light lets thee see that thou art a Thief and a Robber and art climbing up another way in thy imaginations than by the Door Joh. 10.1 which is Christ from whence the Light doth come and this Light in thee which makes manifest to thee thy condition it oftentimes confounds thee and thy imaginations which thou hast raised out of thy dark mind concerning the Scriptures which were given forth in the true Light and the Light oftentimes convinceth reproveth and judgeth thee of and for thy hypocrisie and dissimulation and feigned love and humility and will-worship and lets thee see that thy worship is not that Worship which the Lord requireth for that is in the Spirit and in the Truth which God requireth Joh. 4.22 23 24. and thou being out of the Light not being guided by it art out of the Spirit for the Spirit is Light and the Light is the Truth and so out of the true Worship in the false worshipping thou knowst not what so here with the true Light thou art condemned and so hast learned but thy Condemnation Therefore all People both young and old high and low rich and poor bond and free who yet live in any of these evil deeds before-mentioned mind that which makes manifest your evil deeds unto you which is the measure of the pure God which he hath given you to profit withal and this measure in you convinceth you of sin and reproves you for it now mind to stand in that which doth convince for that is the Power and as you stand and believe in that which doth convince you it will lead you into true Repentance never to be repented of for it will bring you to repent of and to forsake all your evil deeds and hard speeches Jud. 15. which you will see in the Light which never consented unto sin that you have acted and spoken against the living God so believe in the Light which shews you sin and evil and wait in the Light as it ariseth and appears in you to shew you your estates and conditions now if you believe in the Light and wait in it you will come to receive Power from Christ from whence the Light doth come to overcome evil and to withstand the Tempter when he appears to tempt you to evil and the Light believing in it will preserve you out of the evil and lead you out of the death and loss that ye are in unto Christ the life and Saviour of the Soul But if you hate the Light which shews you sin and evil you hate Christ for I am the Light saith Christ John 8.12 and if you hate the Light you hate the way to the Father for I am the way to the Father saith Christ who is the Light Joh. 14.6 and if you hate the Light you hate the Truth and you hate the Life for I am the Truth and the Life saith Christ the true Light who lighteth every man that cometh into the World Joh. 1.9 and 12.46 and if you hate the Light you hate the Covenant of God for I will give him for a Covenant to the People and for a Light to the Gentiles saith God Isa 42.6 and 49.6 and if you hate the Light you hate the Power for all Power is given unto me both in Heaven and in Earth saith Christ the Light Mat. 28.18 and if you hate the Light you hate the Word of God and so you hate God and Christ who are One John 10.30 Mark for in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God all things were made by it and without it nothing was made that was made in it was Life Mark in the Word was Life and the life of the Word was the Light of men and John a man sent of God bare witness of the Light that all men
not for Conscience sake satisfie his covetous and unrighteous desire but chose rather to suffer than to come forth by yielding to such a horrid oppression yet were we willing to have given him to the full value of all the things we made use of in the Chamber and it being the highest room in a lofty Tower and all the Windowes open it was not fit for men to Lodge in by reason of the Wind and Rain beating in until we had gotten them Glassed without any charge to the Sergeant and we had so little of his in our Chamber that we offered this to wit that if two reasonable men would prise the things we would pay him for them and give him the Things also or if he would not stand to that then we would give him two shillings and six pence a week for the time we had been there We also told our Keepers that if we denyed to give them any thing that they could recover by Law the Law was open but they ought not according to their own Law to keep us upon that account but to tutn us out and then take their course at Law And so we demanded our Liberty several times but notwithstanding all this the Sergeant detained us still And the day before the PARLIAMENT Adjourned our Names in a List with other Prisoners in his Custody was given in to the Parliament who notwithstanding their Act of Indempnity and Oblivion and their former Order for our being forthwith Released and set at Liberty they made another Order That it should be Referred to the Kings Privy Counsel to consider of us and to give such Order touching us as to our Liberty or to continue under constraint as they should find Consistent with the Publick Peace and the mean time we are to remain in the Sergeants Custody so by this Order we are still detained and nothing is yet done by the Privy Council touching us Now let the Reader consider how unreasonably and contrary to Law we have been used who have been kept seventeen Weeks in this Prison and never brought to any examination Besides the time that I was kept in Harwich Now if the PARLIAMENT had rightly weighed and considered the matter when they Ordered the thanks of the House to be given to the Mayor and Magistrate of Harwich for their care in that business touching us truly they might have found more cause to have reproved them for their folly than to have given them thanks For if it had been true that we had made some Disturbance at Harwich as it is said in the Order for our Release yet if the Magistrates of Harwich had rightly understood their duty and if they had not been blinded with the mad zeal of Persecution they might have seen that it belonged to their place to have ended the matter of a disturbance and not to have troubled a Parliament with such a frivilous thing But it is certain that Persecutors in all Ages were blind And what a thing is this cannot three Justices of the Peace so called nor a Parliament determine in the matter of a Disturbance if it had been so that we had made one which we did not but that such a thing â—s that must be turned over to the Kings Privy Council to be considered of or is it because they would keep the innocent in Prison and are ashamed to bring them to an examination having nothing justly to charge them withal I leave this to be answered by that of God in all who shall read this And seeing there have been many false Reports touching the cause of our imprisonment and also that some of our enemies have reported that we may come out of Prison if we will it was upon me to publish the manner of our Imprisonment and of our being kept and by whom that the truth of the matter may plainly be seen which being truly considered People may see that it is even now as it was in the Prophets dayes of old For Judgement is now turned backward and Justice standeth afar off Truth is fallen into the Streets and Equity cannot enter yea Truth faileth and he that departeth from Evil maketh himself a prey and the Lord hath seen it and it displeaseth him because there is no true Judgement Isaiah 59.14 15. and as they did in the dayes of Amos even so do this Generation yea They now turn Judgement into Wormwood and leave off Righteousness in the Earth they hate him that rebuketh in the Gate and abhor him that speaketh uprightly Therefore will the Lord break forth like fire Amos 5. Lambeth-house the 21st of the 7th Month 1660. G. F. HIS FAITH Touching Four Particulars DEMONSTRATED I. Concerning Jesus Christ the Saviour of the World II. Concerning Justification III. Concerning the Resurrection IV. Concerning Everlasting Glory and Eternal Misery Written for the satisfaction of some tender consciencious Persons who had heard false Reports of Him and others of his Judgement touching the things above Written First AS concerning Iesus Christ that was supposed to be Joseph the Carpenter's Son who as concerning the Flesh was Crucified and put to Death at Jerusalem between two Thieves upon the Cross at Mount Calvary I do believe he was the Son of God and that that very Body that the Souldier pierced was the very Body that was prepared by the Father for Christ the true Saviour to come in to do the Will of the Father that sent Him And I do believe that by the Grace of God he tasted Death for every man that as many as believe in and obey him whose Soul was made an Offering for sin might have Eternal Life through him who gave his precious Life a Ransom for many Secondly I do believe that no man can be Iustified by the Works of the Law nor by any VVork of his own but He or She that is Iustified in the sight of God it is freely by his Grace through Faith in Christ Iesus who creates such unto Good VVorks which God hath ordained that they that are justified should walk in Now God through his Free Love hath made Me a Witness of true Iustification And I testifie in the Lord That it is not my Works that Iustifie me but it is the LORD alone who worketh my Works in me and for me according to his own good pleasure who loved me before I loved him and manifested his Love to me in the Covenant of Light whereby he drew me after himself and gave me strength to obey and follow him in the manifestation and drawings of his Love which whilst I did reject I was justly condemned of the Lord and could not witness Iustification in that State although I sought it and talked much of it as many Professors now do but GOD who is rich in Mercy and Love shewed me how he had given me Power and Ability to receive his Truth in the Love of it through which I am now Saved and Iustified Thirdly Touching the Resurrection It is a
of Christ may be known and submitted unto by you and that through the Cross Righteousness may be learned and obedience brought forth unto the living God For as you wait in the Light ye will see what that is that hath oppressed your Souls and as you come to own that which appears in you to cross your own wills and wait in it you will come to see Death pass upon that which hath kept your Souls in Death and your Souls will be refreshed and your desires which are real and simple after God will be strengthened but you must wait in the Light which makes all things manifest Eph. 5.13 and it will let you see that your way to Peace is through the War and through the Judgment and Christ's words you will witness to be true who said I come not to send send Peace on the Earth for as you come to wait in the Light ye will see the Earth disturbed and the Thunders of the Lord ye will come to know and the Earthquakes and the Famine and the War and the Pestilence and these are the beginnings of sorrow Mat. 24.7 8. but all these things must come to pass and blessed are they that are not offended in him Mat. 11.6 for the Fire and the Sword you must all know and come through before you come to know the Peace which is in the Lamb of God for by Fire and Sword will the Lord plead with all Flesh and what cannot stand there must be consumed But at these things be not troubled but wait in the Light which makes them manifest and in it believe and the Power of the Lord you shall find present with you as in patience you wait upon him to carry you through whatsoever he calls you unto And this I declare unto you all The way is strait that leadeth to Life and few there be that find it Mat. 7.14 For except you stand in that Power which God hath given you and in it deny your selves and take up the Cross ye cannot be Christs Disciples Now your Power is in the Light which comes from Christ who hath enlightned you waiting in the Light with it you will come to see the emptiness of all the Profession that is in the world And you that have followed the Priests as you come to own the Light and wait in it with it you will see them to be the Deceivers and to be in the steps of those that the true Prophets Christ Jesus and the Apostles cryed against and you will see them to be such as commit the horrible and filthy thing in the Land and so in the steps of those which the Lord sent Jeremiah to cry against Jer. 5.30 31. and they are such as Preach for hire and Devine for money Mic. 3.11 and feed with the fat and Cloath with the Wool and make a prey upon the People Ezek. 34.3 8. and they seek for their gain from their quarters Isa 56.11 and while you put into their mouths they cry Peace unto you but put not into their mouths they will prepare War against you Mic. 3.5 for if you give them not Tythes they will sue you at the Law such as were in these Practices Micah Ezekiel and Isaiah cryed against such stand praying in the Synagogues have the chiefest Places in the Assembles and Greetings in the Markets and are called of men Master and such Christ cryed wo against Mat. 23. 6 7. And they are such as go in Cain's way in envy and run greedily after the way of Balaam and such Peter and Jude cryed wo against 2 Pet. 2. 14 15. Jude 11. they having hearts exercised with covetous practices being proud boasters heady high-minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God having eyes full of adultery which cannot cease to sin and for Doctrin they teach that their Hearers cannot be free from sin in this Life and so plead to uphold the Devil's Kingdom and through their subtilty beguile unstable souls leading silly women captive laden with sins and carried away with divers lusts ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth 2 Tim. 3.2 4 5 6 7. and through covetousness and feigned words they make merchandize of the People having a form of Godliness but denying the Power thereof 2 Pet. 2.3 and of such the Apostle bad beware and from them turn away And you that have left the Priests and are got in your own wills and carnal imaginations somewhat nearer the Saints practice imitating what they did who were in the Life of what they professed as you come to own the Light and wait in it with it you will see that which you have acted that it was but the self-separation and that you took it from the Letter and never received a Command from God for it but what ye did it was as ye imagined to imitate those who had a Command once from God for what they practised But they knew when those things which stood in the figure were to have an end and to pass away and they knew the end of all things to be at hand and they grew into him who is the fulness of all things Eph. 4.13 but these things you never knew who have been acting in your own wills and imaginations for you never yet came to know the Life of Truth and so that Joy and Delight which you had at any time in the hight of your Profession it withered and your practises in your Profession which stood in the beggarly Elements and carnal Washings and Observations wherein some of you have been exercised they have waxen-old and wearisom unto you These things as you come to Believe and wait in the Light you will see to be true and that yet you are ignorant of him who hath established the Law of Commandements contained in Ordinances and you will see that you have been the Theeves and Robbers who have been climbing up another way than by the Door CHRIST JESUS and you will see in his Light as you wait in it that you must come to loose what you have gathered in your own Wisdom and Imaginations and that your Building must fall because it was not builded upon the Rock and you will see how you have been daubed with untempered Morter and that your Labour hath been in vain because ye were not builded by the Lord and that your Wisdom must be turned into Foolishness and so to the Beginning you must all come to the Light of Christ in all your Consciences and to learn to wait in it that a true and a sure entrance into the way of God you may find thaye henceforth be no more tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrin by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lye in wait to deceive you but that you may now come to know the Teachings of God and to be subject to his Teachings and to obey his Voice and to know
Consciences and where your Power is to obey is here shewed unto you So here is Life and Death set before you Deut. 30.19 now if you yet refuse to hear you shall not be able to plead ignorance in the day when God calls you to an account for I have cleared my Conscience unto you in the sight of God and am clear of your Blood Ezek. 33.9 and am witnessed by the Light of Christ in all your Consciences which Light is your Teacher if you love it but your condemnation eternally if you hate and reject it Therefore whilst you have time prize it and despise not the day of your visitation but to day if you will hear the Voice of the Son of God come down to the Light in all your Consciences which reproves you for sin and shews you the loss that ye are yet in and wait in it and harden not your hearts nor despise the long sufferings of God neither linger through sloathfulness any longer lest he give you up wholly to your own wills and vile affections and lusts Psal 81.11 12. which lead you into wickedness and perverseness and so God overtake you there and bring his Judgements upon you and you perish with the wicked in your stubbornness and Rebellion So hear fear and do no more presumptuously From me who am a sufferer for the innocent Seeds sake who labours and waits in the power of the living God for its deliverance out of Bondage and Captivity G. F. Unto you the Officers and Soldiers of the Armies in England Scotland and Ireland REmember how at the beginning of the late Wars in these Nations that many of you were of the lowest of the People according to the account of men and you were poor and contemptible in the eyes of your Enemies who disdained and scorned you and thought soon to have made a prey upon you But I bear you Record that then many of you had a zeal for God and against his Enemies and according to your knowledge some of you acted faithfully for a time and then some of you had a desire to grow in the knowledge of God and to act for him and some of you were come so far as to see the Priests to be Enemies to the Truth and such as deceived the People and your Zeal waxed hot against them and their Idolatry so that you robbed them of their abominable Attire which they had caused the deceived People to provide them to wear in the time of their Idolatrous Worship and some of you did help to break down their Images and Altars which were in the high places where they worshipped And thus far â—ou did that which was right in the sight of God and you saw that the Priests laid heavy burdens upon the People Mat. 2.3 4. and oppressed them greatly in forcing them by an unjust Law to give them the tenth of their Labours and you saw several Laws which were made and upheld by the wills of Tyrants in these Nations to be contrary to the Law of God And then you Promised and Vowed unto God if he would deliver your Enemies which then were many and great into your hands that then you would take off that great Oppression which by unjust Laws were laid and continued upon the People and that those Laws concerning Oppression and constraining men to Worship contrary to their Consciences should be regulated or disannulled and made of none effect and that all men should have their Liberty to Worship according to what they knew and that none should Tyrannize over the Consciences of their Brethren to compel them otherwise but that all should have their Freedom and Liberty therein These things you Promised and Engaged to do and you caused many People to Engage to be True unto you and to stand firm with you that so you might recover their Liberties and outward Rights and bring them out of Bondage in which they were then held Captives by their Enemies and upon this Account the People furnished you with Money and VVeapons to War against their Oppressors and you cryed then unto the Lord in your Distresses and he was pleased to hear you and he smote your Enemies with Terror and Fear and overthrew all their wicked devices and frustrated all their designs and brought to naught all their mischievous plottings against you neither suffered he them to stand in the day of Battel before you because they trusted in their own strength but he gave them into your hands for a Prey and whom ye would ye slew and whom ye would ye preserved alive and you spoiled them and they became Servants and Bond-men unto you and you ruled over them as it is at this day Thus God by his own Power delivered them into your hands and preserved you in the day of Battel and was seen mightily amongst you and wonderfully delivered you out of their hands and gave you outward rest and ease from your outward Enemies and your Name became a Terror and an Astonishment unto the Nations about when they heard of those Acts which God had wrought by you But now the love of the Lord unto you and the day of your Distress by you is forgotten and your Vows and Promises which you then made unto God and Man are neglected and slighted by you for as great or greater Oppression and Burdens yet remain upon the People as were then and now many of you are possessed of your Enemies Houses and Lands and Goods and some of you are waxen rich through the spoil of your Enemies and the greatness of your Pay and some by doing Violence and so through your Riches and abundance many of you are grown high-minded and proud and many of you through idleness and fulness of the Creature are grown exceeding wanton and lustful and now run on in the common pollutions of the world and some of you are grown exceeding covetous and are become grinders of the faces of the Poor Isa 3.15 and defrauders one of another and many of you now are seeking and contriving in your own Wisdom how to grow greater and to excel others in earthly Riches and Honour and to establish your selves there by the strength of the arm of flesh and some of you are boasting of you strength and valour and stoutness Jer. 9.23 24. and are oftentimes telling how you killed and wounded and took and destroyed your Enemies and this is oft done by you when you are devouring the Creation upon your ungodly lusts and when you are gaming and spending away your precious time in vanity and here you remember not how God by his own Power delivered them into your hands neither give you him the Glory but ascribe it to your own strength and wisdom and boast in the Creature and so forget the Creator and so that simplicity and tenderness that was once in some of you is destroyed and murdered by the lusts of the flesh which are highly exalted in you and that Zeal that was
in their Worship and then again in the Parliaments time ran to them and cryed them up begging a Law to settle Church-government as they call'd it and then in the late Protector 's time cryed them up and Petitioned unto them with many feigned flattering words and begged a Law of them to settle them in their Worship now these are the deceitful workers who teach for filthy Lucre and are time Observers who through covetousness and feigned words makes merchandize of the People and these quench the Spirit and despise Prophecying and change with the Times and Governments let them be never so contrary and these are neither true to God nor man but are men-pleasers and such serve not the Lord Jesus but their own bellies and these wanting the Power of God run to the Rulers for an outward Power to uphold them these are whored from the Life of God in their own particulars and these seek to stop the Life of God where ever it appears therefore take heed of upholding or setting them up by an outward Law lest you become the Beast mark that which carrieth the Whore which is to be taken with the false Prophet and the old Dragon the Father of all unrighteousness and cast alive into the Lake Now the true Worship and Religion which stands in the Spirit and in the Truth must be set up and established and upheld by the Power immortal and not by an outward Law But let your Law stop that in all whereever it appears which wrestles with flesh and blood and fights with the creature about Religion for this Spirit could never make manifest the true Worship and Religion neither would it suffer others to do it who had the Spirit of God if it could stop them by an outward Law or force so that which fights wrestles and strives with the Creatures about Religion is not for Christ but is ante against Christ and the Apostles who wrestled not with flesh and blood but with the Power of Darkness and with the Spiritual Wickedness in high places that so Wickedness and Deceit might be destroyed in the Creatures and that the Creatures might be preserved and their Weapons were not Carnal but Spiritual But they that cry out to the Rulers for an outward Law to uphold their Worship and Religion they War not with the Spiritual Weapons but with the Carnal and these destroy the Creatures but cannot destroy the Wickedness and these have quenched the Spirit in their own particulars and these would quench it in others and will not suffer him that hath something revealed unto him to speak but cry to the Magistrates or to the rude multitude for help and so flee to their Carnal Weapons and those being stirred up by their Teacher some of them oft-times beat those that have the Truth to declare in their Synagogues and hale them out and rail on them and spit upon them and sometimes Buffet Stock Whip Imprison and mangle the Creatures and so mar and deface the Workmanship of God and this hath been the work of Antichrist in all Ages when Truth hath appeared against Deceit and such cannot truly say Truth hath prevailed on their parts when they have thus Beaten and Haled and Stocked and Whipped and Imprisoned the Creatures but Violence there at that time hath prevailed by which they that have had the Truth to declare oft-times have been stopped from speaking it So let none do Violence to one anothers Persons or Estates but let your law take hold on them that would do so but let thâ—m alone in their Profession and then it will soon appear who is in the Truth and who are Ministers of Christ and of the Spirit for those that are in tht Spirit of Truth will assuredly prevail over them that be in the Spirit of Deceit and this will be manifested soon if there be no Violence done to them who be in the Spirit of Truth thereby to stop them from speaking the Truth and then the Truth will reach unto the Witness of God in Peoples Consciences and then many who could nor discern the Truth while there were such strivings and fightings with the Creatures will come to see and feel it and then Truth shall prevail and deceit shall fall whereever it be and what covering soever it hath got it shall be ript off and he that is in the Spirit of Truth and abides in it shall overcome all false spirits Now I know ye are not altogether ignorant how that the lives and goods of several in this Nation have been made a prey upon by the Priests who have robbed and spoiled both the Fatherless Widows and others and have â—mprisoned several unto Death by a Law made by the Popish Kings and since strengthened by those that are called Protestants concerning Tythes and these before mentioned have suffered thus for not paying Tythes Now Tythes in the Law given by the Command of God unto Levi the changeable Priesthood who was to have no inheritance among his Brethren was for the maintenance of that Tribe and also for rhe Fatherless the Widows and the Strangers but Christ being come after the order of Melchisedech he is the everlasting unchangeable High-Priest not made by a carnal Commandment but by the power of an endless life he offering himself up once for all put an end to the changeable Priest-hood which was made by a Law which gave them Tythes so this Priesthood and this Law was changeable this Priesthood could not continue by reason of Death so this Priesthood being changed and ended by Christ the unchangeable Priest made by the power of an endless life there was a necessity also of a change and end of that Law by which the changeable Priests who could not continue by reason of Death were made which gave them Tythes then Christ the everlasting High-Priest made by the power of an endless Life by the same Power he made Ministers and freely gave them gifts for the work of the Ministry which was for the perfecting of the Saints and in the power of an endless life sent he them forth saying Freely ye have received freely give and into what house soever ye enter and they receive you ye may eat such things as are set before you for the work-man is worthy of his meat These were Work-men and they first planted a Vineyard and then ate of the Fruit thereof first gathered a Flock and then did Eat of the Milk thereof sowed Spirituall things and reaped of their carnal things unto whom they had sown Spirituals Preached the Gospel and lived of the Gospel these were not made Ministers by the will of man nor by an outward Law neither received they their maintenance by an outward Law nor compelled or forced any to pay them neither robbed or spoiled or imprisoned they any that would not give them Maintenance but they had a necessity laid on them to Preach the Gospel and they did so and coveted no mans gold or silver or apparel and these
for nothing but flattering words so betrayed your own integrity and the Cause of your Country now you have power again do not abuse it serve not the lusts nor the self-interest of any man or men whatsoever but serve the Lord and your Generation faithfully Mark if you consent to deceit and make an agreement with death through fear or any self-end whatsoever God will break that agreement and bring shame upon you for it And Friends there is a lofty proud self-seeking Spirit yet amongst many of you which if you cease not from it will be the cause of your destruction and truly if you provoke the Lord to break you it will be more heavy and terrible than the breaking of those that were before you therefore let the Lord be minded and linger not about things but be valiant and act faithfully for the just Liberty of all without respect of persons and let revenge be forgotten and this will overcome your Enemies and make you truly honourable in the hearts of all People This is your day prize it and let your deeds make it manifest to the People that you have not sought your selves in this which you have done but the general good of all and then you will need the fewer words to prove your Enemies lyars who have accused you to be self-seekers And now wo is coming both upon Teachers Rulers and People that are in the good words but out of the good deeds and Life and the Eternal God who is the Light will break shatter confound and overturn untill the good Life come up and be set on the top of all and now the name of Truth only will be too narrow a covering for it is the nature of Truth it self that will be able to cover and to be a sure hiding-place in this the day of the Wrath of the Lamb. From a lover of the Truth of God and all his Creatures GEORGE FOX the Younger For the PARLIAMENT of England and their ARMY so Called YOur day into darkness is turned the Sun is gone down over you you have had a large day and Power given unto you to have done the Will of God but you have abused the Power and slighted your day and you have refused to do the Lord's work and have sought to serve your selves and not the Lord Therefore in Justice and Righteousness is the day wherein you might have wrought for God taken from you and the thick dark night of confusion is come upon you wherein you are groping and stumbling and cannot work the Decree is gone out and sealed against you and it cannot be recalled you are not the men as ye stand in whom God will appear to work Deliverance for his People and Creatures and yet deliverance shall come but nor according to mans expectation But as for you ye have rejected the Counsel of the Lord and grieved his Spirit and he hath long born you yea you are departed from the Lord and his presence is departed from you indeed he hath hewed with you and if you had been faithful to the End he would have honoured and prospered you and would have been your sufficient reward ye were his Ax but you have boasted your selves against him therefore as you have Beaten and Hewed and Broken others Even so must you be Beaten Hewed and Broken for you have grievously provoked the Lord And if he should now suffer that Tree which ye have cut to fall upon you and to break part of you it were just O ye Treacherous Wilful Proud Self-seeking People who have despised the Counsel of the Lord and would not take warning though he hath sent his Prophets and Servants early and late among you some of whom you have imprisoned and despitefully used what will ye do now whom will ye now flee unto for help seeing ye are departed from the Lord are now rending and tearing biting and devouring one another for proud ambitious self ends Mark if ye would now build again the thing that you once destroyed That shall not be able to hide or shelter you from the wrath of the Lamb that way whereby you think to strengthen your selves thereby shall you make your selves much weaker and help forward your own destruction you are now but a rod remember your end which hastens greatly now breach upon breach insurrection upon insurrection overturning upon overturning heaps upon heaps division upon division shall there be until he come to Reign whose right it is and all Nations must bow before him else he will break them with his Iron Rod. They that trust in or lean upon you for help it is as if they leaned upon a broken Reed which is not able to help it self nor others indeed you have been made to do many good things but you would not go through with the work which God will have accomplished and therefore are these things come upon you Therefore tremble and dread before the Lord ye who have been as strong Oakes and tall Cedars for now shall your strength fail you and you shall be weak even as the weakest of men but if you would yet believe in the Light and truely submit to God's Righteous Judgements many of you might come to witness your Souls saved in the day of the Lord though many of your bodies are to be thrown by because of your grievous backslidings as not counted worthy to be the Lord's workmen There is a small remnant yet among you for whom my Soul breaths who may be winnowed out and if they will own the Judgements of the Lord and truly and throughly deny themselves and follow his leadings he will heal their back-slidings and purge them that so they may be instruments in his hand But they that will continue with you in your sins shall partake with you of your Judgements The Rod of the wicked shall not alwayes rest upon the back of the Righteous yet even as gold is tryed so shall they be that they may be White and without Spot before the Lamb but God will avenge their cause and wo then will be to their Oppressors and then shall the Majesty and Glory of the Lord fill his People who have long been troden under and they shall be the dread of all Nations the zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall perform this A Copy of this in Print was given to each Parliament Man before General Monck came into London with his Army from Scotland And it is now reprinted that People may see that the Lord hath fulfilled already many of the words which he gave unto his Servant and Prophet to declare unto them and that they may see that there hath been a true Prophet's Message among them and that People may take heed that they slight not the Lord's Prophets as they did whom he hath now broken 11th Month 59 From one who am made willing both to suffer and to Reign with Christ even to follow him whithersoever he goeth George Fox the
Life and Power and Vertue of it you might be saved and cleansed from your sins Oh Friends if you ever come truly to be made free it must be by the Truth if ever you come to be sanctified it must be with the Truth Now the Word is the Truth and the Word is very nigh you even in your mouths to shew you your evil words and also in your hearts to shew you the deceit and thoughts thereof yea its Vertue goeth through all things and its Power upholdeth all things in it is Life and that Life is the Light of men Oh that you would believe in it that you might be made the children of it This Word is Immortal and it is able to destroy the Devil and his Works and to save your Immortal Souls Oh Friends though its appearance in you be in judgement yet resist it not neither turn from it in any wise but when it convinceth you of any evil and begetteth any love in you towards its judgement Oh then abide in that love and then you will see how Christ comes for judgement into the World to judge the Prince of the World and to cast him out and to make blind that eye which hath been open and hath seen in the worldly carnal Spirit and to open that eye which hath been kept blind by the God or Prince of the World Yea as you wait in the righteous Judgements of Christ you will feel him opening the eye of the understanding part with his Invisible Light whereby you will come to see into the Invisible things of God Oh Friends you must own Christ the Word of God in the way and ministration of his Judgements yea you must own him in the Spirit of Judgement and Burning before you can truly witness that you are reconciled unto God Oh! wait to hear the Voice of Christ in your inward man and be content to bear his yoak and wait in stilness that patience in you may have its perfect work and if any of you see with the Life of the Word that your hearts are hard and rocky keep but in patience and wait in that Life which maketh you sensible of your condition and you will feel the pure operation of the Word smiting as a hammer which will break your hard hearts into tenderness Yea you will feel them dissolved melted and changed by the Power of the Word as ye believe and wait in the same and then you will know experimentally that the Word of the Lord is as a Hammer and as a Sword and as a fire and as Fuller's sope for you will feel it breaking and cutting down burning up and washing out all the hard fruitless defiling nature and then you will come to know Christ's Fan in his hand for you will feel him Purging the Floor by separating the Chaffy dirty nature from the tender Seed which delighteth to do the will of God Now as you come to feel this within you come to witness his Baptism with the Holy Spirit and with Fire yea here the washing in the Regeneration and the renewing in the Holy Spirit comes to be witnessed And here Christ's work comes truly to be felt and known which is to destroy the Devil and his Works to blot out Transgression to take away Sin to cause the old things to pass away and to make all things new Oh Friends wait to feel and witness this work and think not that your saying Christ hath done all for you will profit you while you live in the old fleshly Birth for verily verily I say unto you That except you be born again you can in no wise enter into the Kingdom of God Therefore wait to feel this inward work that so you may know Christ formed in you his Mind his Spirit his Disposition his Nature and then you will come to the new Creature and to witness the Election which avails and obtains And here the Circumcision without hands you will come to know which is the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh by the Circumcision of Christ And this brings to be the Jew inward whose praise is not of man but of God and here 's the true Israel of God upon which the mercy comes and here 's the true Elect Seed unto which the Promise is and they that come to this are born from above and are Members of Christ's Body of his Flesh and of his Bones and they are come to the Riches of the Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations which is Christ in them the hope of Glory Oh Friends These things are not written unto you that you should feed upon the words and seek to get a Rest there but these things are written in tender bowels of Love unto such of you as truly hunger and thirst after the new Life That so as the Lord's witness ariseth in any of you to witness unto the Truth of them and to give you any understanding in the same you may joyn to his witness and believe and wait in the same to feel these things fulfilled in you So as you wait in the Invisible measure of God you will come to be sensible how far you are changed in which Birth you live in which Birth your minds are centered and so of which Birth you are for as it is written even so will you see it to be that That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit And they that are after or of the flesh do mind the things of the flesh But they that are after the spirit do mind the things of the Spirit And that they that live in the flesh cannot please God And as you mind that Life which oft-times ariseth in you and makes you sensible of your Conditions you will plainly come to know it in your selves that to be carnally minded it is death but to be Spiritually minded it is Life and Peace For you will see if the enemy of your Souls can get your minds into Carnal things at any time that then deadness and death cometh over you and you become dead as unto God until his witness ariseth in you to quicken you again But as your minds are kept in obedience to the Spirit of God you minding the things of it which it openeth unto you ye will feel Life and Peace springing in your Souls and that from the presence of the Lord. Therefore be diligent in this the day of your Visitation which yet in mercy is continued unto you as the Lord maketh manifest unto you that any of the Forms that you have been or are yet in are empty and dead and then appear in spirit to draw and lead you out of them O be not like stubborn Rebellious wilful Children that will not follow their father any further then may please their own wills but hang back murmure I say take heed of giving way to such a spirit least the Lord leave striving
in your Forms without Power neither Flee the Cross any longer but wait in the True Simplicity to feel God's hand of Tender Love which he reacheth sorth to and manifesteth in you to lead and guide your minds into his Pure Worship which is in the Spirit and in the Truth Oh People This is the Worship that he will set up He will be LORD and LAW-GIVER in the Consciences of his People and those that will not be content that EMANUEL should Reign over them he will Slay them with the Sword of the Spirit The words of his Mouth Oh! Hearken hearken a little and stand still that you may hear the voice of the True Shepherd in your own hearts who calleth for Truth in the Inward Parts he will discover what lodgeth Within and He will shew you the Way wherein you should walk and he will let you see what the Cross is unto and He will teach you when you are alone in your Beds or where-ever you are if you will receive Him who giveth you Life and Breath whose gentle Reproofs and Instructions are the Way of Life Therefore you in whom the Breathings and Desires after the Lord are Consult not with Flesh and Blood neither reason against the Cross but submit to every Appearance of God's Power in you which appeareth to Crucifie the Fleshly Birth and Nature which hath stood and doth stand in Rebellion and Emnity against the Pure and Precious Life and Requirings of the Lamb of God that so that Mind which is at enmity against God and that Nature in you which is Disobedient to his Commands in Spirit may come to be Crucified that so there may be a Change Inwardly felt and witnessed by the working of the might Power of Christ in your Inward Parts and then the Desires and Breathings which are Begotten in you after Righteousness they will be strengthned and the Teachings of the Almighty will be truly known and you believing in the Power you will receive Power to obey and Practice whatsoever the Lord shall make known unto you by his Spirit to be his Will and Requirings Oh People Let the Dread of the Lord Seize upon your Spirits in this the Day of his Power wherein he is Trying Sifting and Winnowing the Nations and wait to feel that Life arise within you which beareth Testimony against all evil within and without that so ye may become more and more acquainted with the Teachings Drawings and Leadings thereof that thereby you may be drawn and led out of those things which have kept your Souls in the Death hindred you from enjoying the Pure Peace of God And this know and consider that all that come to witness their Souls raised out of Death and brought to enjoy the Peace of God they must Believe in the Life of the Quickning Spirit which is the Second Adam the Lord from Heaven who for Sin Condemneth Sin in the Flesh and appeareth in the Inward Parts of man to work out Sin and Transgression which hath Separated from God and so to make clean the heart and inside of Male and Female Oh People This is the Work of Christ the Son of God even to make manifest and destroy the Works of the Devil and so to reconcile man unto God by the Virtue of his own Life which he gave a Ransom for many and blessed are all those that believe in the Life of the Son of God and feel and know it manifested in their mortal flesh for they shall witness the Power of it to make all things new and so their Souls will come up in the hand of God and his Peace will be Received and Enjoyed Oh People Wait to know and feel this Work of Christ within you that so you may be made able to Stand in the Judgement and to Endure the Tryal and that you may be Hid from the Wrath of the Lamb which is nigh to come upon the Rebellious Oh! Consider this Those that are his Followers they come thorow many Tribulations and their overcoming their Enemies is by His Blood not by a talk of it but by the Virtue and Power of it sprinkled in their Hearts which washeth and maketh them White Clean and without Fault before God Oh People my Bowels yearn my Bowels yearn towards you whose Desires in any measure are after the Lord O that you would now Return with all your hearts unto Him and obey the Voice of his Power in you then should you be made able to stand and endure the fiery Tryal which is come and coming Oh! the Day hastens wherein all Profession that is not grounded in the Life and Power of the Lord Jesus Christ whatever the shew of it be it will be so shaken that an utter Blasting and withering shall come upon it and for that cause the Lord doth and will yet suffer great Tryals to come both upon the Professors and Possessors of his Name that so his Children the Possessors may be manifested unto all and discerned from all that are but Professors though never so fair and seemingly Covered For all Coverings but what is of the Power and Spirit it self shall be too Narrow and all that are not Covered with the Spirit and Power of Emanuel their Shame and Nakedness shall appear more and more This is the Testimony which the Spirit and Word of Truth giveth therefore He that hath an ear to hear let him hear before the day of his Visitation be wholly past and the things belonging to his Peace he hid from his Eyes For yet a little while and the Voice shall be He that is filthy let him be filthy still For the Spirit of the Lord shall not alwayes strive with Flesh but his Plagues and Indignation shall be poured out upon such as will be gathered in the Day of his Patience long Forbearance and Free-Love and He or She that Loveth Father Mother Husband Wife Children House or Land Liberty Honour or any Thing more than the Life of the Lamb shall be counted not worthy of him and plainly manifested so to be Read this who can and he that can receive it let him For the Time draweth nigh that these Sayings must be fulfilled Printed the 13th of the Second Month 1661. GEORGE FOX the Younger SEVERAL EPISTLES To FRIENDS Who are GATHERED into the Light of Life A General EPISTLE and a tender Greeting sent unto the Flock of Christ who meet together to Worship the Father and the Son in the Spirit of Truth to be read in the Fear and Wisdom of God amongst them DEAR and tenderly beloved Friends and â—hildren of the most High God who have felt and tasted of his eternal Word of Life and have been acquainted with the workings and operations thereof whereby you are begotten again unto a lively Hope and are brought to know that Life which you were alienated from and that Covenant of Promise which ye were strangers unto Oh Friends unto you is my Love in the Lord Jesus Christ exceeding great
is and hath been very much wrong among people upon that account for many thereby are begotten into strange lying wonders and some into questionings and fears in their minds and some into false joys and foolish expectations and some into prejudice one against another because false reports have been received and reported again Therefore that you may be clear of these things be you very mindful watchful and careful that you report not any thing but as you have a certain ground for the Truth of it and as you may see a service in speaking thereof or else you had better be silent to those things and let them dye that so Truth Unity and Peace may be lived in and abound amongst you in all things London the 8th of the 8th Month. 1660. I am your endeared Friend and Brother in the Bowels of Christ whose Life is freely given up to answer the Will and requirings of the Father travelling for Unity and Peace and Righteousness amongst men where its wanting and greatly rejoycing with all those in whom it abounds and is felt and witnessed George Fox the Younger Behold how good and how pleasant a thing it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity TO THE TRIBULATED Flock of Crhist In BONDS or elsewhere SALUTATION AH my indeared Tribulated Brethren Sisters and Friends both in Prison and out of Prison Sufferers in Body Estates or otherwise for the holy powerful Eternal Truth as it is in Jesus O blessed are you ye Lambs of my Father's Fold who are faithful to him in the Testimony he hath given you to bear your Reward is great which in no wise shall fail Dear Babes drink in the Life abundantly which Emanuel hath placed in you and feed at the Table that my Father hath Richly spread for you with food sutable for you in your several growths Oh! the Word the Word of Eternal Life is appointed for your food feel it in your selves and go no more out Oh! how strong are the drawings thereof and how pleasant is the Virtue of it How are they overcome with the love of it that abide therein Oh! my Brethren and Friends our strength our safety our Peace and Satisfaction is this therefore let it for ever be the Habitation of your delight O this day is Glorious to all that stand given up in the Fathers will whose heatts and minds are drawn and Redeemed out of all those things that perish with the using Oh! ye Babes how strongly do I feel you in the Power of love who are Retired out of all fading changeable ending things into the Eternal Invisible unchangeable endless Life of Righteousness verily when I think upon you and behold you in your Habitation I am even Raised with Joy and Love Oh you that keep your Garments pure and clean in the Life of the unspotted undefiled Lamb how are my tender Bowels refreshed in you verily I cannot Express the Love that is in me to you ye Lambs of my Maker hold fast hold fast the word of his Patience it shall Crown you it shall Crown you in the End by it shall you overcome through Faith yea by it your Enemies shall be brought under you and in it shall you be Exalted over your Oppressors Oh! who can declare the Glory of the Lord as it shall be manifested in this Age for verily he will work wonders in the Earth and in the Heavens till he hath brought to pass the thing that is in his heart in vain do all the Potsheards of the Earth strive against the Former and Upholder of all things for he will Exalt his Son and his Righteous Kingdom and establish it in Righteousness over all the Kingdoms of the World and they must bow thereunto Therefore my Indeared ones be still in the Light and Life of the Lamb that you may behold the going forth of the Lord in his Glorious Power in this Day wherein he is Sifting Winowing Purging and trying that nothing but the Wheat and the Gold may be left Oh Babes dwell in love and Peace together in the powerful anointing which the Father hath poured forth upon you as a full gift and placed in you as a true Teacher and a Leader and let all keep to the holy drawings thereof and Answer the Requiring of the same O! blessed are you that bear the Testimony therein and quench not the Springs and arising of it neither go without it but simply and innocently obey its pure leadings and as you are kept in this if any are not able to bear you you will be able to bear them for you will have nothing in your Precious Eye and Mind but nakedly and simply the Honour and Glory of your Tender Father who will cause Bowels of Love to open in you one towards another in the merciful forgiving forbearing healing Spirit which will fill your Precious immortal Souls whereby you will be able to gather and allure others into the same Oh! my Friends dwell out of all mortals in the Immortal Power and Love of the Father and know the Birth that inherits the blessing and abides in Covenant with God which breaks and disanuls death's Covenant and brings over death and its Power into the Tryal and Dominion of the Lamb. O ye Innocent Babes and Plants who in Prisons holes and Dungeons are cast because you dare not grieve the Spirit of the Lord your God in obeying man's unrighteous Decrees my Father's love is exceeding great to you your Righteous Iust Cause he will fully Plead therefore leave it wholly to him and in the overcomings of his Power and Tender Love solace your selves and quietly lie down in his will till he bring you forth in his own Dominion Oh! you are Precious unto me who cannot defile your Testimony for any outward enjoyment my Bowels my Bowels are filled with the streams of Love and Life and Compassion which flow forth to you O my Prayers groanings Breathings Reach unto the God of Life both day and night for you Oh my beloved ones watch watch one over another in tender Bowels and bear the weak and feeble in your Arms and Bosom of love and let Mercy and Peace fill your Habitations and God shall work your Deliverance for you in his appointed time O Friends you are witnesses of that Truth which must spread over all the world and never be extinguished more but to the brightness of its rising many shall come And all of what degree soever that set themselves against it shall fall before it yea they shall not prosper the Lord hath spoken it onely Remember he will thorowly try his gold that it may be manifested unto all So the Precious Life Power Peace and Virtue of my Fathers ' be multiplyed in and among you till you all come to the Stature of the fulness of Christ in God Eternal Amen From Westminster Palace Yard Gate-house the 2d of the 1st Month 1661. Your dear tender and loving Brother in the humble melted broken contrite Spirit of