your Ministry and Worship and in the constitutions thereof and in all your Conversations And that which you see with the Light to be contrary to the mind and will of God in any of these things before-mention you must deny and give it up to be consumed by the Spirit of Judgement and burning and you must give your full consent that the Lamb of God the Light of the World the second Adam the Lord from Heaven the quickning Spirit who is one with the Eternal Father may have the preheminence in all things And that he may Rule in you all over you all and lead and guide you all in all things before you can witness that God's Controversie with you is fully come to an end And all them of the Nations that are saved must walk in the Light of the Lamb Therefore let every particular in their several stations come to a true honest search speedily and cast off and deny that which the Light will let you see that God is against that so haply God may stay the mighty Judgement which otherwise must come which is nigh at the door which will sweep away the ungodly These are faithful and true sayings and things which must shortly be fulfilled therefore blessed will every one be that will hear and obey the Counsel of the most High for the day of the Lord draweth nigh And now ye Rulers if ye resolve to build up that which God hath thrown down by an out-stretched Arm and if you strive to establish your selves in that which God's Controversie hath been and yet is against you will undo your selves for ever for you will engage the Lord against you who assuredly will be too strong for you and break and confound you as opposers of his mighty work therefore take heed what you do the Lords decree shall stand George Fox the younger THE DREAD Of Gods Power UTTERING ITS VOICE Thorow MAN unto the HEADS of the NATION OH ye Mighty men who sit upon the THRONE that are Exalted into Power and brought into great Authority Do you indeed know the Hand that brought you up thither And do you rightly understand the End of your coming into Power again And do you certainly know the Work which God requires at your hands And do you indeed see the true Leader which is to lead in the Way and Work of the Lord And do you Feel and Witness that your Hearts are truly Enclined and Prepared towards the Work of the Lord Or are you not ignorant of these Things And do you not rather feel your Hearts enclined towards REVENGE and to make your selves Great and to get your selves a Name and to follow that which is pleasing to your own Eyes and to Condemn that which God hath Justified and to Justifie that which God hath Condemned and doth Condemn Let there be an honest search made with the Witness of God in your own hearts which will shew you the thoughts and the intents thereof and think not to flatter your selves as others have done before you by conceiving that you are safe enough because the Arm of Flesh is with you and at your Command For verily verily Thus saith the Lord God I will yet make the Powers of the Earth to know that I am God and there is no other and that I can do whatsoever I please and my Purpose and Decree shall stand unalterable And I will bring to pass the thing that is in my Heart and none shall let it for in its season it shall be accomplished Oh! Hear ye Rebellious and live be not so stiff-necked and wilful like those that went before you who would not hear Reproof lest I make you a hissing and scatter you with more dishonour that any that went before you for my Anger is kindled and my Jealousie is waxed hot against the Man of Sin My Decree is to Dis-throne him and to take the Kingdom my self and to slay his Subjects that will not turn at my Reproof and be subject to my Government Therefore seek not your selves neither follow the Devices and Iniquity of your own hearts any longer for I the LORD am coming to plead with all flesh and I will make mine Enemies know that I have Power to accomplish my own Work though I should find all the Armed men and the men in Authority against me Now this is my Decree I will set up Righteousness in the Earth and I will establish Equity and Mercy amongst the People I will remove Oppression from off the Earth and I will Search out and overthrow the Ground and Foundation thereof in whomsoever or in whatsoever it stands even as I overthrew Sodom in the dayes of old and they that will not haste out of it shall certainly be destroyed saith the Holy One who will break the Potsherds of the Earth that withstand him and consume the Stubble the Thorns and the Bryars that set themselves in Baâ—tel against him who is a consuming Fire Therefore Oh ye Heads of the People Consider your Wayes and weigh your Actions in that equal ballance the Word of God which will shew you the thoughts and the intents of your hearts for verily the Lord God is highly displeased and your hearts are seen not to be right before him Therefore consider your Foundation upon which you build lest your building fall with great dishonour and loss when the Storm comes which shall come to try it Mark Were You or your Fathers and Friends able to keep your selves in Power when the Lord formerly appeared against you to cast you out before your Enemies because of your Rebellion against him Or were your Enemies able to keep you out of Power and themselves in when the Lord appeared against them to Split and Confound them and to turn their day into darkness and to bring you in as a Flood over them because of their treacherous dealing with the Lord and because they perverted the Cause and Power that was put into their hands serving themselves and their Lusts and not the Lord Verily as they were not able to stand no more will you be able to stand and keep your Places except you repent and own that your Enemies had a a just Cause put into their hands against you And so put a difference betwixt the Cause and That which perverted it and not judge and condemn both together for if you do verily I say unto you when you have filled up your measures you will assuredly fall without recovery though you were ten thousand times stronger than you are and although not one man appeared against you with a Carnal Weapon Consider Was it a Carnal Weapon that brought you in Were you not brought in without a stroke outward And is not the Lord the same Is his hand shortned Hath not he the hearts of all Flesh in his Power And can he not turn them as he pleaseth Can he not root out and overthrow whomsoever he will And if he will do it without outward
come to witness a particular satisfaction and that you may come to feel the pure Image of the Holy God restored in you even his everlasting Righteousness his Power his Wisdom his Life and Glory raised up in you to have Dominion and to rule over all the earth and to subdue it that so the pure God of Life and Virtue might be glorified in your mortal Bodies and that you might all come to feel and witness an everlasting habitation of Rest and Peace in him who is worthy of all Honour and Praise and Thanksgiving and Dominion for evermore Amen Now some of you who have been antient Professors will say to us If we should joyn to you we must lay down all then that ever we have professed and what have we been Professors so many years and yet have to begin all a-again Have we known nothing of God all this time this is hard To this I answer Friends if you come to joyn to the Truth you must then lay down and leave and forsake all that which you have held up and practised in your own wills which you were never led or required to hold up or practice by the Spirit of Truth but I do know and own that there was a pure living Principle of God oft stirring in you in your Professions by which Principle of God you oft saw that you were wrong and that you did that which was not well-pleasing the sight of God in your Profession for that Principle of God in you the Light judged and condemned you for many of your actions which you acted and sometimes the Lord's Witness brought you into a tender low condition and then opened things unto the Seed in you but you not taking heed to the Light to be the guide and stay of your minds you continued not long in that condition but you consulted with the Subtilty which drew you from God's Witness what you should do and so waited not in that which brought you into tenderness to receive God's Counsel in that but you took Counsel of the Serpent and your own Hearts and so ran into things which God never required at your hands and therefore God had no regard unto your Worship because it was not in the Spirit and in the Truth you not being guided therein by the Spirit of Truth So unto that which was in the Beginning you must all come which is Christ the true Light who hath enlightned you and you must learn of Him who is the Light of Life the VVord and the Power by which all things were made and are upheld and you must be subject unto the measure of Him in you and this his Measure if you submit to it that will bring you to cease from your own wills and works and to wait in silence and patience to see and feel Christ the Power of God to work all your works in you and for you and if you own the Light that will plainly shew unto you how God formerly appeared unto you and how you went from his appearance so the Light will own that which God opened unto you at any time but it will deny and condemn your own imaginations which you mixed with that which God opened unto you and so unto this Witness of the Lord you must all come and believe and wait in that which will separate the precious from the vile before that can be satisfied in you which breaths after God So my tender love and compassion is unto that in you which is not yet satisfied but doth truly hunger and thirst after the Life and Power of Truth and my Soul doth travel for freedom and satisfaction of that Seed and I suffer with it and bear many things for its sake for I have true Unity and Fellowship with that in you and I know it and am known of it but I cannot have Unity with many of your Practices which ye have been in because they have caused the Seed in you with which I have Unity exceedingly to suffer you not being guided and led into them by the Spirit of Truth and so against all such Practices I do bear witness in the Spirit of Meekness and I labour in the Spirit of Love to turn Peoples minds unto the manifestation of the Spirit of Truth which is given to every man wherewith to profit So all People feel that and mind that and hearken unto that which oft riseth in your hearts against Lust against Covetousness against Pride against vain and needless words and thoughts and against all evil in its appearance and as you all mind this Principle which moves and stirs in you against all evil you will feel it divide your good words from your bad words and good thoughts from bad thoughts and good deeds from bad deeds and that which divides betwixt these and shews you the difference of them this is the Word which Moses and Paul wrote of which is nigh in the mouth and in the heart Yea this is the Word of Reconciliation which reconciles to God this is the ingrafted Word which is able to save the Soul Now you being turned to this Word even to that which discerns the thoughts and intents of your hearts as ye wait in this let the Subtilty appear never so subtilly to draw your hearts after any thing or into any Practice which the Lord requireth not of you then this Word which is the Power it will make it manifest unto you and it will stop you from entring into any such Practices if you wilfully resist it not and believing and waiting in this Word it will not suffer you to speak any hasty unsavoury words or word and then ye will come to be truly sensible of a bridle to the tongue without which all Religion is vain and this Word ye taking it to be your guide it will bring you into savoury sound words seasoned with the Grace of God and so as your words and actions and lives come to be ordered by this Word Christ the Power of God they will reach unto the Witness of God in every one where ye come and if ye will hear this Word and regard it and not resist it it will work true Faith in you by which you will feel your hearts purified from sin and ye will feel it giving you Victory over the World within and without and if ye keep in this Faith ye will not make haste for ye will feel the Eternal Light which is the Life of the Word calling and drawing you out of the hasty nature into soberness stilness and quietness and meekness of Spirit and so ye will feel your strength renewed in the Lord as ye all wait upon him in his Light and all believing in the Light ye will not come into condemnation and as ye all wait in that which discerns and reveals the thoughts and the intents of your hearts which is the Word of Power this also will divide between your good thoughts and your bad thoughts and the good
of God the Light by the Gift we are brought to bring forth these fruits which are contrary to those which the Spirit of Error leads the Children of disobedience to bring forth Gal. 5.22 23. For although we the Children of Light are accounted to be in Delusion and Errour Gal. 5.22.23 yet it is but by you who bring forth the Cursed fruits which the Spirit of Errour leads you to bring forth so in the Light Life and Power of God we stand over all false Accusations and Reproaches and Persecutions and in the patience of Gods Lamb we bear them all and our love goes forth to your Souls who wilfully oppose your selves and we declare unto you that the long-sufferings of the Lord towards you is to draw you to Repentance Rom. 2.4 and I have directed you to that which will shew you what you ought to repent of Therefore consider your wayes speedily all you that forget God lest he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver you Psal 50.22 for verily this I declare unto you in the presence of the Lord that if you go on and continue in stubbornness and Rebellion against the Pure God and despise his love and reject his counsel and still refuse to hearken to the Light of his Son in your Consciences which reproves you for Sin and is freely given to you to lead you out of Sin unto God if you wilfully do not resist it Mark when the measure of your iniquity is filled up then will he arise upon you at unawares in his fury Wrath Indignation Mat. 24.50.51 and his eye shall not at all pitty you but he will bring his Plagues and Righteous Judgements upon you which shall consume you both root and branch if you will not be gathered in the day of his long patience and forbearance which is the day of your Visitation wherein you may come to know the things belonging to your peace if you do not wilfully resist the Power that is offered and committed unto you But if you resist the Power then the Lords righteous Judgements will assuredly come upon you and you will receive to your selves Condemnation and if you continue in your wickedness until the day of your visitation be past then shall the Light in all your Consciences which hath oftentimes shewed unto you your evil deeds arise and witness to the Judgements of God that they are just Zek. 2.7 so whether you will hear or forbear Remember you are warned in your Life time By a Friend to your Souls and a Lover of the Creation of God GEORGE FOX the Younger A few Queries to such Professors as stumble at the Light the Word the Kingdom and Spirit of God within and tell People that none can be free from Sin in this Life and yet say that they own the Scriptures 1. Qu. ARE not all by Nature Darkness and doth not the Light shine in Darkness yea or nay 2. Qu. Can any come to see themselves to be Darkness but with the Light which shineth in the Darkness yea or nay 3. Qu. Is there any way to come out of Darkness and Death and to receive Life and to be made Children of the Light but by believing in and following of Jesus Christ the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World yea or nay 4. Qu. Must not all be turned from Darkness to Light and from Satan's Power to the Power of God before they can receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified yea or nay 5. Qu. Can any come into the true Faith which purifies the heart and gives victory over the world without which none can please God but by hearing the Word of God yea or nay 6. Qu. And is not Christ the Light the Word of God and is not Christ the Light the Author and Finisher of the true Faith which saves and justifies yea or nay 7. Qu. And is not the Word nigh in the Mouth and in the Heart that men may obey it and do it and is not Christ the Light the Word that Prophet which all that hear him not are to be cut off yea or nay 8. Qu. And is it not Christ the Word which discerns and reveals the thoughts and intents of the heart and is not he the ingrafted Word which is able to save the Soul and is not he the Grace of God which bringeth Salvation and is sufficient which hath appeared unto all men and is not he the Word of God's Grace which is able to build up and keep from falling which People are to be commended unto yea or nay 9. Qu. And is not God Light and is not the shining of him in the hearts of People which gives them the knowledge of himself in the face of Jesus Christ yea or nay 10. Qu. And is not Christ the Light the hope which purifies as God is pure which Anchors and stayes the Soul to be known within are not People tossed like a Ship in a tempest without an Anchor till Christ the Hope be felt within to stay and Anchor them and is not Christ within the Hope a Mystery which hath been hid from Ages and Generations and are not all they in the reprobate state who know not Christ within them yea or nay 11. Qu. And is not God's Kingdom Light and is it not like a little leaven that is hid in Meal and as a grain of Mustard-seed that is sown in the Earth and like a Pearl hid in the Field or like good Seed sown in the Field both on stony thorny high-way and good ground and is not the world the Field where the Seed of the Kingdom is sown and is not the world in mans heart so is not Gods Kingdom within men yea or nay 12. Qu. And is not the manifestation of the Spirit given to every man to profit withal and do any worship the Father of Truth aright but those that worship him in the Spirit and in the Truth and is not the Light the Truth yea or nay 13. Qu. And is not Christ the Light that Word which reconciles to God and is it not he that must open the understandings of men before they can understand the Scriptures and are not People in Errour and in jangling and strife about the Scriptures till Christ the Light the Spirit of Truth the Power of God from whence Scriptures were spoken be known and owned to guide and lead them yea or nay 14. Qu. And is not this the Cause of so many Sects and Opinions and Divisions as are and of such strivings as are about Scriptures and Religions because People know not or own not the Spirit of Truth from whence Scriputures were spoken forth to lead and guide them and is it not like that People should run into Sects and Opinions and Divisions and Strife if they know not or own not the Spirit of Truth to guide and lead them and if the Spirit of Truth were known and owned to
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
Gods appearance within you by drawing your minds into the visible changeable things and yet the Lord in love to his own Seed hath spared you so mind the Lords long patience and forbearance which hath been great towards you for his Seeds sake in you which breathes and thirsts after his Righteousness and cannot be satisfied without his life and presence And truly friends my love is exceeding tender and large towards you in whom there is such a pure tender Seed stirring and my desire is who have seen the emptiness of all Profession without the life that you might come to witness the Seed satisfied in you with the Pure Power and Life and Virtue of the Living God which hath suffered long in you and hath not been satisfied by reason of your disobedience unto the Light Therefore in Tender Bowels of Love and Compassion unto you I do freely declare unto you all The New and Living way which hath been from the beginning which is CHRIST JESUS the true Light which lighteth every one which cometh into the World whereby every one of you believing in the Light may come to receive a particular satisfaction from Christ from whence the Light doth come Friends The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withall but you have transgressed and gone from the manifestation of Gods Spirit in your own particulars and so it is impossible for you ever to profit in the things of God or come to receive a particular satisfaction until you come to own that and believe in that which you have transgressed and gone from which was given you to profit withall and to lead you into the substance which giveth satisfaction Now the manifestation of the Spirit doth shew unto you your runings and willings and actings and strivings that ye have been in whereby ye could never obtain satisfaction unto that in you which breathes to do the Will of God now you must mind that which makes manifest these things unto you and as you take notice of that which is the Light and wait in it you will come to feel it drawing you into stilness and coolness and quietness of spirit and then with the Light you will come to discern the subtilty and the motions thereof which have oft beguiled you by drawing you from quietness and stilness into the Airy imaginations whereby he hath tossed and unsetled your minds and as you waite in that which doth make manifest which is the Light and believe in it you will come to feel something arising in you in Power to Judge and condemn the subtilty as that stirs in you to draw you from waiting upon God and then you will come to know and feel the spirit of Judgement and burning placed in you to purge you and as you wait in the Judgement in patience and stilness you will come to hear the still voice that is spoken of in the Scriptures saying This is the way and shewing it unto you and when you see the way as you wait in that which shewes it unto you then you will come to hear the Command in Power saying unto you walk in it and then you will come to know your Teacher which cannot be removed into a corner and so here the path of the just ye will all come to know and witness in your selves which is the shining Light which shineth more and more until the perfect day for as you all wait in that which calls for stilness and silence to the flesh and the motions thereof ye will come then to see more Light and so ye will come to witness what David spoke to be true who said to God In thy Light shall we see Light and then the just which hath been long oppressed and burthened in you will begin to spring and as you believe and wait in the Light your minds being staid in it you will come to feel God's Living Power working and opperating in you condemning and removing that in you which hath oppressed and burthened the just and so by God's pure Power as you wait and continue in it you will come to feel and witness the just holy Seed raised up in you from under that which did oppress and burthen it and here you will feel the captive come out of captivity by the Gospel which is the Power of God and the Prison door set open and the Prisoners set at Liberty And then as you wait in the Light you will come to feel God's pure Powerful Presence and Life and Virtue runing through you which will refresh the Seed which is tender and give satisfaction unto it and so as you all wait low in the fear of God watching in the Light that nothing may get up in you to boast and glory which is not of God you will then feel your love exceedingly encreased towards the Pure Living Truth of God and your whole delight will be to walk in the Truth in Righteousness and Holiness without which no man shall see the Living God and as you all walk in the Light obeying it you will come into the Pure Fellowship and Communion and Unity of the Saints and then you will feel the Life which is the Blood of Jesus Christ cleansing you purging and purifying you from all Sin and so as every one of you abide in the Faith feeling it and standing in the Power of God that will purifie your hearts and give you victory over the World and then you will come to receive a particular satisfaction from Christ the Power which is the Author and ground of the Saints Faith and you will feel God's Spirit and Power and Life as you dwell in it drawing and leading you into whatsoever he requireth you to do and as you all wait and are still in that which doth discern the thoughts and the intents of your hearts and makes them manifest unto you you will clearly come to discern the Subtilty and the motions thereof which would draw you to act such things as the Lord doth not require you to act So all take heed to that which discerns the thoughts and intents of your hearts for this is a measure of the Word of Life which is quick and powerful and as you all wait in it you will feel it to be so for you will feel it dividing the precious in you from the vile and this is the Ingrafted Word which is able to save your Souls So this is not written to feed the carnal mind in any but it is written for your sakes who are truely breathing and thirsting after God's Righteousness and cannot be satisfied without it that so you may all come into the true Light wherewith you are enlightned and that you with it may come to see how you have been tossed and tumbled up and down by the Subtilty of the Serpent in those things which could never give you true peace nor satisfaction and that now through believing in the Truth and Obedience of the Spirit you may all
motions and the bad motions which you will see stirring in your minds and if you hold fast the Word of Truth it will preserve and keep you out of the bad thoughts and motions and it will joyn you unto the good and ye will come to feel the operation of the Spirit and Life and Power of God in you to shake and overturn and work out that ground which hath been in you from whence the bad words and bad thoughts and bad motions have arose which have burdened the oppressed and tender Seed in you which you never could witness satisfied with all that ever you have performed but as ye all believe and wait in this unchangable measure of God you will come to feel the burden taken off the Seed and ye will come to feel and witness more true durable peace and satisfaction in one hours waiting upon God than ever you felt and witnessed in all the words that ever you have heard from any man or woman in all your lives or in all your Practices that ever you have practised before you were brought to wait upon God in his Gifts which he hath given you to profit withal although in those things which we have practised I know ye have had a great joy appearing in you for a time but it was not durable nor lasting for when God's true and faithful Witness the Light appeared and shewed you how that God never required those things at your hands which you had practised then your joy and peace withered and came to an end which you appeared sometime to have in those Practices and if at any time ye came to feel some little peace and joy and refreshment through what God opened to the Seed in you when by his Power ye were brought into some tenderness ye soon lost this also by going from that which brought you into the tenderness But as you all come into the Obedience of the Spirit and abide in it this will bring you into the seasoned Life and then ye will come to feel and witness pure peace and joy and refreshment and satisfaction which will last and abide for ever with you if ye abide in the Spirit and then ye will be made willing to lay down and deny all that which ye have been acting which ye never were led and guided to act by God's Pure Holy Spirit and to deny all such also as would draw you to act that which God requireth not at your hands So take heed of such as daub with untempered morter and heal deceitfully who will speak peace when there is no true peace but the pure Witness of God condemns for such with good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple keeping them ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth and these through covetousness and feigned words make merchandize of poor People for they have a Form of Godliness but they deny and resist the Power and therefore from such turn away And all mind that and feel that and be subject unto that which for sin condemns sin in the flesh and then you will feel the Spirit of Judgement and Burning and Righteousness through which the Seed is redeemed which Seed is Heir of the Kingdom of God So all wait in the meek lowly quiet Spirit that ye may come to witness this Holy Seed which delights to do the Will of God by the power and Life of God raised up in you satisfied and brought forth out of captivity And look not out nor strive after great and high things beyond your measures for that puffs up and leads into confusion and dark imaginations but all wait and be still in the measure of God's Light manifested in you that so you may come to feel him revealing his secrets and mysteries unto the Babes which cannot live or be satisfied without him God is making known that and stirring that in the hearts of People throughout the World which doth and shall confound and overturn all the Wisdom of this World and the subtilty of the Serpent from whence all the Worlds Wisdom arose and therefore the hand of the Lord will be terrible and heavy upon the disobedient who disobey and transgress that which he hath put into their Hearts whereby he is opening a mighty understanding in the People But the everlasting Blessing and Peace and Joy and Glory of the Lord over all shall arise and rest upon all those that joyn to and believe in and obey that Word which is nigh in the mouth and in the heart By a Labourer in the Power of Truth which doth make free for the Deliverance and Freedom of the Righteous Seed George Fox the younger An Exhortation to Families who have desires to serve the Lord God in their several places that they may all learn in the Light of Christ Jesus the Wisdom and Power of God who is the true Teacher O Ye Fathers and Mothers stand in the pure fear of the Lord and wait in his Light that ye may receive his living Wisdom and live in it that so ye may be ordered by it and with it order all things to God's glory and bring up your Children in the fear of the Lord watching over them in the seasoned savoury Life of God not suffering them to live in wildness nor idleness nor vain talking unreproved but in the sober meek Spirit and in the Authority of God's Lamb reprove them and that will reach the Witness of God in them and correct them in the Fear and Wisdom and Freedom of God in the Patience and follow not their foolish wills neither correct them in your own wills nor in hastiness rashness or passion for if ye do then that will use the Rod which is to be beaten with the Rod of God and that will make your Children more stubborn and wicked and this will offend God but stand ye in God's Counsel and discourage nothing in your Children but evil and let them have that which is meet just and reasonable and no more that none of God's Creatures be wasted and be ye patterns and good examples in all holiness gravity and uprightness unto them and let them have sufficient liberty to go to godly Meetings and rather stir them up and encourage them to go to such than hinder or discourage them and keep your minds out of them unto the Lord and let your love to them be in the Lord that so ye may feel his Blessing coming upon you and them And all ye Children who have Parents honour and be obedient unto them in the Lord and mind the Light of Christ in you and that will not suffer ye to be wild nor wilful stubborn nor vain but it will check and reprove ye for all evil and if ye will own its reproof and believe and wait in it it will lead ye out of all evil and it will bring ye into soberness and meekness tenderness and innocency and preserve ye in it and it will
it not been just with the Lord to have suffered your Enemies to have destroyed you because of your grievous back-slidings and wickedness O consider it consider it while ye have time and prize the Lord's loving kindness that he should yet spare you and yet give you time to repent And seeing the Lord hath shewed you your back-slidings with his eternal Witness in you and hath begun to frustrate the designs of those that would have cut you off in your back-slidings and ye confess some of you that you are willing to take shame also to your selves wherein you have back-slidden therefore seeing it is thus all mind that of God in you which sheweth you your back-slidings and believe and wait in that to feel that nature judged and destroyed in you wherein all this Wickedness and Deceit hath lodged and keep in the fear and dread of the Lord God that so ye may receive his pure Wisdom whereby ye may be ordered in the particular and that ye in God's Wisdom and Fear may come to Rule in your places for God to be a terror to evil-doers and an encouragement to them that do well And take heed of a selfish earthly spirit in the particular and of the Honour and Glory and Gain of the World for that the Lord is against Oh! there is a strong deep root of it in many of you which the Spirit of Judgement and burning and the Ax of God is to destroy therefore wait to feel its Work in you O Army in thee was I several years together in which time I saw the mighty appearance of God with thee even in the time of the outward War and when the War was ended I left thee in obedience to the appearance of the living God unto me who called me out of thee by his Powerful Word in my heart through which he hath sanctified me and hath brought me into the life of that Truth which I and many of you in the Army professed in Words And I can truly say in the Fear of the Lord That my love hath been and yet is tender towards you for the good of your souls and I have seen your conditions and have considered them in the Spirit of the Lord and I cannot flatter any of you but must deal plainly and truly with you and all People Truly in many of you there is an exceeding lofty proud covetous deceitful nature and in others of you there is a lofty proud lustful devouring wanton vain nature though many of you I know have felt a measure of the Power of God yet verily ye have so back-slidden that iniquity hath gotten a strong hold and root in most of you therefore ye must keep down to the Witness of God in you which searcheth your hearts and will let you see what is there that so the Lord 's righteous Judgement ye may all feel and own it upon that nature in you which is contrary to the living God for if ye keep not to the Spirit of Judgement I know whatever you have declared in words that a selfish Spirit will get up more and more to act in you And verily Friends if you keep not your minds to the measure of the pure God in you a secret boasting will be ready to get up in you of what you have done and then you will soon forget where you are and your minds will run further and further into your Commissions and into your great Houses and Lands which many of you have got and others minds will run into your Souldiers places and ease and idleness and these things will beguile you if take not heed and you will soon forget the Oppressions then that others suffer under and if ye should do thus verily the Lord God would soon overturn you and break you to pieces Therefore all wait in the Light which shews you sin and evil that so by it ye may be brought to deny your selves and to come out of the loftiness that ye have been in into the true humility which goes before the true honour and come into moderation both in your Diet and Apparel and in all things and this would answer the Witness of God in all People and that being answered it would beget again a love in them towards you which you lost when you went into the excess Therefore be sober and watch in the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ which he hath enlightned you withal and believe in it that so ye may be preserved by it out of the deceitfulness of this World and that ye may be kept faithful in your places for the preserving of the outward Peace and Liberty of the Nation while ye feel a Freedom in that which convinceth you of evil for the bearing a carnal Weapon and know the manifestation of God's Spirit in you and wait to feel the motions of it and be obedient thereto and this will bring you to do violence to no man nor to accuse any falsly but it will bring you out of all such things if you keep to it and it will make you to be content with such wages as may find you Food and Raiment and things necessary and convenient for your Places and this you would then be worthy of So know the Lord hath a mighty Work to do therefore wait in his Light that ye may be kept truly sensible of your Places and go not beyond them but keep in the Fear of the Lord and wait to know what God requireth of you in your places lest the Lord cast you out So remember you are warned and it is in tender love to your Souls This following more particularly concerneth the Officers of the Army and Rulers of this Nation than the Army in general Take heed of raising or continuing War with other Nations in your own wills for to get your selves a Name and to get their earthly Treasures as some of you have been instruments to do for the Lord's hand hath been and yet is against that and he will not prosper you therein therefore be you warned and know that this is a warning unto you from the Lord God and seek peace and eschew evil and learn to do well that the Blessing of the Lord ye may come to feel and that this destroying of Creatures about Religion and the Honour and Gain of this World may cease And take heed how ye meddle with Religion for that hath split and broken many Rulers before you therefore set not up one Sâ—ct and throw not down another by an outward Law and force for that is wrong and the Lord is against that but wait in his Light to receive his Counsel that so ye may be kept in God's Wisdom and that therein ye may be instruments in the hand of the Lord for the keeping of the outward Peace of these Nations which are under your Command And take heed of hearkning unto such who in the King's time cryed him up and ran to him to give them a Law to settle them
in chusing of Parliaments according to England's Custom and how unlike it is that a Parliament so chosen should make England a free Nation seeing the great Oppressors of the Land viz. Priests and Lawyers and the great wicked covetous persecuting men are so much concerned in the chusing them so that if Parliaments so chosen should continue the People of the Lord are not like to be set free from their Oppression though Parliaments and Rulers have been made to do many good things by a Power which many of them scarce knew but the Lord hath a further thing yet to do in the Nations than either Protectors or Parliaments would submit unto therefore the Lord hath thrown them by but they had first a day of tryal given them and now is the Lord trying others and if they will not do his Work in breaking every yoke and letting the oppressed go free God will assuredly break them with a greater destruction than came upon those before them Therefore let your moderation be known unto all men for the Lord is at hand and thirst not after blood lest the Lord give ye blood to drink and we know that Kings and Protectors and Parliaments have made fair pretences and have given themselves fine Titles and have pleaded that they had a just right to and a necessity for their Authority and sought to get into the affections of the People by smooth words and large promises to carry on their own design but their hearts were not right before the Lord and therefore he broke them and their Titles and know that the People that fear God they matter not Titles and high Names but they look for righteous actions to be brought forth and many see that a Parliament that was chose by the most voices of the outwardly rich People were not like to act righteously and therefore they are willing to wait to see what the Lord will do by others and we see that People have been in great Blindness in contending for Parliaments so chosen so let this Wisdom be learned and lived in which is better than the strength of fools who oft perish in their passion and folly And now Friends in the Army and Committee that have turned out the Parliament Dread ye the Lord God and mind the equal just noble Principle of God in you which hath stirred against Tyranny and Oppression and make it not your business to declare only for Freedom as some before you did and did not the thing they declared for but in the Fear and Wisdom of the Lord go ye on to act for the good of all his Creatures and seek not your own Honours but singly do the same both for your Friends and Enemies that you would have them do for you if they were in Authority as ye are and until ye come to this ye are not like to prosper the Lord abhorreth the lying flattering double deceitful tongue and heart and the People also have been wearied with fair words because the actions have been wanting that should have accompanied the said words Remember how you have cryed out against the Oppression of a forced Maintenance for Teachers and now ye are tryed and have Power given you to break that Oppression down which some of you I say have desired others to do therefore abuse not your Power but leave the People free to maintain their own Teachers mark The Ministers that Christ sends forth they have no need of you in this particular as to provide Food and Raiment for them for their Heavenly Father knows that they have need of those things and provides it for them without an outward Law to compel it that so they lack not any thing and that Teacher that will not consent to this he serveth not the Lord Jesus but his own Belly and that is his God and such a one can never profit the People and mark if ye should take away Tythes and Command by a Law any other Maintenance from us for Teachers that would be the same Tyranny and Oppression in the nature and ground of it that Tythes were and we must bear our Testimony against it also and our Lives or Estates or both must yet suffer therefore if ye do thus you leave Us in the same Bondage as before And let Laws be provided that are righteous just and equal according to that of God in the Conscience and let such be impowered to execute them that will hear and determine Causes freely according to righteousness and let causes of difference between man and man be heard in every County and when by plain proof of two or three witnesses without transgressing Christ's doctrine it come to be manifested who have done the wrong then let the Executioners of the Law be impowered to cause the party or parties to restore for the wrong that is done according to Equity that so this abominable Oppression about the Law and Lawyers may be broken down and thunder down all ungodly gaming 's and shews whereby the foolish wild People are cheated of their moneys and spend away their precious time to the dishonour of the pure God And let the People of the Lord have their Liberty to speak his Word freely where and when his Spirit leads them and gives them utterance and let the Law take hold on such as would wrong any man's Person or Estate And let the dread of the Lord be upon your Spirits and wait in his Light to receive his Wisdom that therein you may be ordered in the particular and in it order all things to his Glory that ye may remove all that which is standing which is contrary to the Will of God And meddle not to establish Religion and Teachers by an outward Law for verily if ye do ye will be broken let that alone to Christ whose work it is Consider all that went before you of late years that would be medling with such things the Lord broke them to pieces and they were warned in their day as ye are now And let not your many Victories which ye have obtained nor your being preserved in so many overturnings wherein ye have been made instrumental nor your strength courage nor wisdom puff ye up for thus saith the Lord God even as earthen vessels are in the hands of a Potter who hath power to dash them one against another until they be broken or to break them in pieces with another thing that appears more weak than they even so are you in my hand saith the Lord and I can confound your Wisdom and take away your Courage and smite you with faintness and dauntedness of Spirit in the twinkling of an eye therefore seek not your selves for if you do your day shall be but short Remember you of the Army had Power once before to have acted for the good of your Nation but the subtilty in some who sought themselves whom God hath since blasted beguiled you and mark some of you sold your power for Commissions and others
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
ye can plant a Vineyard as the Apostle did then eat of the fruit thereof Eph. 6.12 and if ye can thus gather a Flock and keep them then Eat of the Milk thereof and if ye can sow Spirituals then reap of their Carnals that receive you and your Testimony and if you be sent forth by Christ then you will not lack any thing Luk. 22.35 but if you dare not come to this tryal then it will plainly appear that you are such as serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but your own bellies and that you are not sent of God but run and he hath not sent you and speak but he hath not spoken unto you and therefore you cannot profit the People Jer. 23.32 mark And if the outward Peace be kept by the Kings Law that so none may do violence to any man's Person or Estate then you need not fear if you be in the Spirit of Truth 1 Joh. 4.4 but that ye shall overcome them that are in the Spirit of Error and make them manifest when they do oppose you Acts 6.9.10 but if you dare not come to this Tryal then it will plainly appear that you are in the Spirit of Error and such as cannot stand except they be upheld by the Powers of the Earth Again and if God should suffer this that either of you could prevail thus far with the King as that he should set up either of your Forms and give you a Law to compel or Persecute outwardly mark thereby you might make many hypocrites who might pretend to joyn unto you to save â—heir 〈◊〉 or Estates until they could find an opportunity to destroy you but by all your outward force you can never convert any unto God for it is Christ the Immortal ingrafted Word which is onely able to convert unto God and it is the work of the true Ministers to turn People from Darkness to Light and from Satan's Power unto the Power of God Acts 26.18 and to direct them to the Word which is nigh in the mouth and in the heart Rom. 10.8 and to commend and keep them to that and to exhort them in meekness to receive the ingrafted Word which is able to save their Souls Acts. 20.23 Jam. 1.21 2 Cor. 10.4 and they must not use any Carnal Weapons to do their work withal but Spiritual Therefore if you would be counted Christ's Ministers lay by your Carnal Weapons and use them no longer about Religion neither press the King to set up or uphold either of your Forms of Worship by outward force as before mentioned lest thereby you become Instruments to destroy the King your selves or the Nation So though King CHARLES be accounted and suffered to be Head in things between man and man yet let CHRIST JESUS the everlasting King be accounted and suffered to be Head of his Church that so He may have that which is due unto him Eph. 5.23 4.13 Col. 1.18 and this were the way for the true Church and the King and these Nations to prosper and the way for the false Church the false Prophets and all Plotting Usurping self-interested men to be confounded And this is the desire of me who am a sufferer for Righteousness sake contrary to any Law of God or known Law of the Nation GEORGE FOX the Younger From my Chamber the place of my confinement in Lambeth-House the 14th of the 4th Moneth 1660 where I have perfect Peace with God through Jesus Christ in whom I have true Liberty as a Son according to the appointment of the Father I cannot flatter any but must speak the naked truth unto all and I seek the Peace of my Nation and the good of all men and I cannot fight with any Creature but I can fight with the Spiritual Wickedness though it be in the High Places A Few Queries to the Teachers of the Episcopal Society so Called Qu. 1. WHo was the first Institutor of a man to be Supream Head of the Church next and Immediate under Christ and of Arth-Bishops and Lord Bishops and from whence had they their Original Did not these things arise since the Apostacy and have they not been Practised by the Apostatised Christians since the Antichrists went out from the true Apostles Or were these things Practised by the true Apostles Or did they confesse any more than one Head of the Church Or that to them there was any more than one Lord And was not that Head and Lord Jesus Christ Col. 1.18 And whether they that make or confesse other Lords or another Head of the Church than Christ do not walk according to the course of the Gentiles which know not God and contrary to the Command of Christ and the Practise of the true Apostles 1 Cor. 8 5 6. seeing Christ said to his Disciples the Gentiles exercise Lordship one over another but it shall not be so with you mark that for he that will be greatest amongst you let him be servant unto all Mat. 20 25 26 27. And where was any of the true Apostles or Ministers of Christ called Lord-Bishops or Arch-Bishops Or where was there any King in their time called the Supream Head of the Church next unto Christ Or where did they prophesie that it should afterwards be so among the Saints Or is not this rather a part of the Cup of Fornication which the Whore of Babylon hath caused the Kings of the Earth to drink in the night of Apostacy yea or nay Qu. 2. And who was the first Inventer of Surplices and Tippits as they are called did the true Apostles and Ministers of Christ use any of them in their Worship Or had they Organs and Singing Boys dressed in White going and Singing in their Worship From whom had all things their Original And are any of these things required of the true Worshippers which the Father seeks who Worship him in the Spirit and in the Truth John 4.23.24 if they be prove it by Scripture Or are they not come up since the Apostacy and are they not Practised amongst the Will-Worshippers yea or nay Qu. 3. And who first invented this for a Baptisme viz. that a Teacher should Sprinkle a little water on a Childs face and make a Cross on its forehead with his finger and that there should be God-Fathers and God-Mothers as they are called to name the Child from whom had all these things their Original Did the true Apostles Practise these things Or are they not come up in the night of Apostacy And why do you call those that name the Children God-Fathers and God-Mothers Hath God any Fathers or Mothers Answer to every particular in plain English according to the Scriptures that poor People may see your Ground and Foundation and Rule for all these things And do you believe that any can be free from sin in this life and keep Gods's holy Will and Commandments If not then how dare you enjoyn those that you call God-Fathers and God-Mothers to Promise and Vow these
a prey to this Generation Isa 59.14 15. And though several overturnings have been yet is iniquity still at a great height and increaseth exceedingly And what will it advantage a Child to flee from a Bear and joyn to a Lyon Verily the day is come wherein there is no hiding place of safety for the Righteous but purely in the Name of the Lord and blessed are they that alone trust therein For the help of the meek standeth in the Name of the Lord Psal 124.8 Hos 13.9 And happy are they that abide in it for the day will be terrible and dreadful unto all that have not a habitation in the Name of the Lord the King of Saints For Violence and Oppression shall come to the full and then shall the Lord Roar out of his Habitation and he shall strike the Inhabitants of the Earth with Astonishment and Faintness and Deadness of Spirit shall seize upon the mighty men and weakness and fear upon thâ— strong and bold of the Earth for the Lord will appear in his mighty Power to take the Kingdom and to relieve the oppressed and to help the needy and they shall be strong in him Be wise therefore O ye Kings and learn Wisdom ye Iudges and Rulers of the Earth Return unto the Lord and serve him with fear Tremble before the Glory of his Presence and Kisse the Son lest he be angry and you perish by the way For his wroth shall suddenly burn then blessed are all they that trust in Him Read Psal 2. Therefore strive not with the Lord any longer by withholding his Right from Him but give unto him his due and resign up to him and his anointed the things that he doth require for the Lamb must get the victory and he must have the Preheminence in all things yea he must be the Supream Head in all Spiritual things and the only Law-giver to his People yea he with the Higher Power must ordain and send forth Ministers and Labourers into his Church Vineyard and Harvest for he only can fit them for the work and not man and he will take care that they shall not lack any thing Luke 22.35 For the Earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof Psal 24.1 And he will constrain People with his love which is better than outward force to give his Ministers Food and Raiment when they have need thereof and they will be contented there-withal 1 Tim. 6.8 Therefore meddle not with these things any more I warn and exhort you in the Love of God For it belongs not unto you but unto God and Christ who are one and let Christ only be acknowledged to be the defender of the Faith who is able to perform that Office to the full which man is not And let the one Law-giver be minded and owned in man to give forth Laws to punish Transgressors that so the Judgement may be the Lord's and not man's for so it ought to be and he that Ruleth over men must be Just ruling in the Fear of God 2 Sam. 23.3 And they that Fear the Lord and hate Covetousness ought to be Judges and Rulers Exod. 18.21 to see and take care that the Law of God be put in due execution judging righteously without respect to persons Prov. 24.23 doing to all men as they would they should do unto them keeping out of Bribes and Gifts that the eye may not be blinded Exod. 23.6 7 8. And such Rulers as these will the Lord set up and Honour unto whom he will plainly shew his Righteous just Law which he wil have executed upon Transgressors and men shall be subject unto them for Conscience sake and they only shall be a terror to evil doers and encouragers of them that do well and they shall be guarded with Righteousness and the Lord shall bless them with the dew of Heaven and they shall send forth a good savour into the Earth and then shall the Inhabitants of the Earth learn Righteousness For Judgement shall run down as Water and Righteousness as a mighty stream for the Judgments of the Lord shall be rightly executed and self-ends shall be denyed and then shall Praises Dominion Honour and Obedience and all that is the Lord's be yielded unto him the King of Saints And until this come to pass God's Controversie shall not cease But there will be Breaking and Overturning Oppressing and Spoyling and Insnaring one of another and they that come uppermost and will not give unto the Lord his due but set themselves in his Seat whatsoever words they profess or let them appear never so strong in the arm of flesh yet they shall be broken down with dishonour and Plagues and Torments shall be the Portion of the Hypocrite that bows to deceit and Babylon must fall and perish for strong is the Lord which judgeth her Rev. 18.8 And in vain do men seek to establish themselves in that which the Lord is against and wo will be unto them that are found in the State of Capernaum and Edom Read Obediah 3.4 Mat. 11.23 And now ye Rulers Teachers and People remember you are warned and it is in true love to your Souls and Bodies therefore Repent whilst you have time left you that you may be saved though it be so as by fire and speedily resign up to the Lord that which properly belongeth unto Him for verily the day dawneth apace which shall reveal that man of sin more and more who hath set himself in the Seat and stead of God whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his Mouth and abolish and destroy with the Brightness of his coming 2 Thes 2.3 4 5 6 7 8. And the day of the Lord shall even so come as a Thief in the night And when the wicked shall say Peace and safety then shall come upon them sudden destruction even as the travel of a woman with Child which by no means can be escaped 1 Thes 5.2 3. Be still O ye Saints of the most High God keep clear of Babylon take heed of being ensnared dy her cleave not to her flatteries in any wise but follow the Lamb whithersoever he leadeth you and hold fast the Word of his Patience in the true Integrity of your hearts that so ye may stand and endure the Tryal to the end and whatsoever you suffer for the Testimony of God you shall have a full reward for it if you faint not This in the Word of the Lord is unto you Lambeth-House the 28th of the 4th Month 1660. POSTSCRIPT ANd if I could write no more yet this is the Testimony of Truth to the Rulers Teachers and People of this present Age in what Nation soever this may come Mark you must all come to the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who hath enlightned you that with the Light you may come to see what is contrary to the mind and will of God both in your Laws and Governments and in the constitutions thereof and in
sorrow doubtings and fears filled your hearts Now as there are several conditions among you so also here are several things spoken unto each condition therefore you must mind the VVitness of God in your selves which makes manifest unto you your several conditions and that will let you see what of these things that are here written properly belongeth to each of you which is my desire that you may receive for my tender love in the Lord Jesus Christ is unto all your souls who truly breath after the Lord desiring your eternal good and that you may be brought into the enjoyment of that Life and Power and Presence which only can give satisfaction unto your immortal Souls Therefore as you tender the good of your own souls eternal Peace Cease hunting abroad in your imaginations and leave off wandring from Mountain to Hill and from Hill to Mountain where several of you have even wearied your selves for very vanity have not found a resting place and return Home Retire your minds inward unto that which oft springeth in you giving you the sensible knowledge and feeling of your particular conditions and putting you in remembrance of the dealings of God with you in times past for that which thus springeth in you is the Gift of God which is given you to profit withal Oh Friends turn not from this Gift in your selves as you have done for by your turning from this pure Life when it hath visited you by its oft putting you in remembrance wherein you went wrong you have come to loose the sensibleness of your condition and the enemy of your Souls thereby hath gotten great advantage against you and then you have been drawn and led by him into that which could not profit you Therefore all mind that Gift of God in your selves which maketh you sensible of your present conditions and which oft begetteth true desires in you to do the Will of God and which hath brought some of you into lowliness of mind and to walk humbly with the Lord in his pure Fear for some time For if ever you come to witness the true desires of your souls satisfied and you established in true Peace you must receive the living Principle of God in your own particular Vessels which Principle I call the Light it being a proper name for it because it maketh manifest all things that are justly reproved and whatsoever doth make manifest the same is Light But I shall not desire to tye up any of you to give this Principle of Truth only the name of Light for if you come to believe in it and receive it in the love of it and walk in obedience to its drawings leadings and requirings I shall not matter if you call it the Truth or the Gift of God or the manifestation of the Spirit of God or the Grace of God or the ingrafted Word or the manifestation of God or Christ or a measure of the Eternal Being or Fulness or Divine Nature or any other name which may truly be given unto it But this is that which I desire That you all may receive the thing it self which hath so oft made manifest your conditions unto you and sometimes brought you into brokenness of Spirit Object But some may say When we have had our conditions made manifest unto us and when we have been brought into brokenness of spirit and have had tender desires begotten in us towards God to do his VVill it hath oft been either when we have been reading the Scriptures or hearing them Preached or read by others and therefore we believe the Scriptures have done these things to us rather than any thing within us Answ Friends I shall not deny but that your conditions have been made manifest unto you and that you have been brought into brokenness of Spirit and have had true desires begotten in you to do the Will of God sometimes when you have read or heard the Scriptures read or Preached unto you But this I say unto you It was not the Scriptures that did these things but it was the Gift of God in your own hearts at that time as I shall plainly declare unto you Mark Thus it was when you have read or heard others read or speak such words of the Scriptures of Truth as were suitable to that condition you were then in or which did declare against such things as you were guilty of mark then hath the Witness of God arose in you sometimes and plainly spoke to your understanding part and convinced you that you were guilty of such things as were spoken against in such a Scripture as you read or heard yea it was the measure of God's Truth in your own Vessels that hath so made manifest your particular conditions unto you and hath perswaded and overpowered you and made you believe and sometimes confess particularly that thou wert the man or woman or child that was guilty of that or hadst need of that which thou then didst read or hear that the Scripture declared against or of And when the Power of God hath thus wrought in you at that time when you have heard or read the Scriptures you have sometimes indeed been brought into brokenness of Spirit and render desires have been begotten in you towards the Lord And the Lord hath also appeared unto some of you sometimes in the Night season or as you have been about your labour or otherwise and some of you have felt his pure Power working in you whereby your understandings in some measure have been opened and your conditions plainly made manifest unto you and much tenderness hath been begotten in you even when you have neither heard nor read any thing outwardly but the pure operation of the Spirit and Power of Truth in some of you hath done these things and wrought your minds into lowliness meekness and quietness And then hath the pure love of God been felt in some measure whereby your souls have been refreshed So Friends the Holy One is neither by you to be limited to the Scriptures nor yet from the Scriptures in any wise as to his appearance to his Creatures but you are to learn to wait in the measure of his Grace which hath appeared unto you and you are to watch in the Light for his further appearance unto you And as you come to wait upon the Lord in his pure Fear and Dread you will feel your minds wrought into stilness and so you will come to hear the pure Voice of God and Christ who are one and become acquainted therewithal and his love you will feel arising in you whereby you will be constrained to obey it when or where-ever you come to hear it and then you will see the Lord is not to be limited either to time or place or means outward but you will see that he manifesteth himself to his Creatures even when and where and howsoever he pleaseth And truly Friends As concerning these things which the Lord hath suffered to come
emptiness of the water outward and let them see that it is the Baptism inward with the holy Spirit and with Fire which saves and brings to the answer of a good Conscience And that no Form is to be minded any further then the Power is felt to lead into it or then the presence of the Lord is witnessed in it And thus the Lord by his pure Life hath gathered Thousands out of the Forms before mentioned and I do believe that he will yet dayly gather more and more into the Power which is endless Therefore all you who are yet left in any of those forms before mentioned or any other or out of Forms who have retained any thing of the former Tenderness and Smiplicity which was begotten in you by the appearance of the Lord And all you who are brought to see your backslidings and are now brought to feel any true desires and thirsting after God renewed in you my tender love reacheth forth unto you all in the Life Power and love of God wherewith I am loved and in which I am preserved Oh! that I could feel you bound up and established with me in the unchangable Truth of God where satisfaction and Peace is received and where nothing can make afraid Oh! that ye would freely yield your selves obedient servants unto the Righteousness of God which is revealed from Heaven against all unrighteousness of men Mark that is the thing which you must become obedient unto God's Righteousness which appeareth in you against all unrighteousness And all wait in that which moves against Sin for that is the Power of God which you must be turned unto and receive before you can receive the remission of Sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by the Faith which Christ Jesus the Righteousness of God is the Author and finisher of And Friends you must all mind the present manifestation of the Power of God and what it now draweth and leadeth unto For if you should now run into those things wherein you have formerly enjoyed something of the presence and Life of God yet if you feel not the pure Power of the Lord God now drawing you into them deadness will come upon you more and more and the tender desires that are renewed in you towards the Lord will be destroyed Oh! consider this the day of the Lord is far broke forth in Light and Knowledge and he is yet making it brighter and brighter unto them that truly wait upon him yea he is leading them by the hand of his love from one degree of Grace and Faith and Knowledge unto another and changing them from glory to glory And he is powring from vessel to vessel that the dregs may be left by themselves Yea he is sifting and winowing that the Chaff and the dross may be taken away and so the Seed which standeth approved may be made manifest And he is bringing thorow the fire and thorow the fire because the day hasteneth and draweth nigh in which he will make up his Jewels and consume the chaff and the dross Therefore look not back neither be afraid of the rage of man seek not to save your selves by bowing to his Will but look to the Lord who declareth unto you what your thoughts are and gird up the loins oF your minds and watch and be sober and hope to the end all you who through patience and experience are come to know any thing of the true hope which maketh not ashamed And Friends concerning Faith and the Promises of God there hath been much Profession and talk of those things amongst you But now the day is appearing which will try all Professions and every one's work must come to Tryal Therefore consider your Faith and the Ground Author and effects of it For there is a dead Faith and a living Faith and a ground for both Now the living Faith hath Jesus for its Author and the power of God for its Ground and its effects declare it to be the living Faith for it works in them that have it by love unto the purifying of their hearts and it is their victory over the world These were the effects of the living Faith in the Saints of old and it hath the same now as they can witness who have received it Now there is a Faith which stands but in Words not in the Power and this is a dead Faith it cannot work it purifies not the heart it gives not victory over the world nor access to God as the living Faith doth Oh Friends Labour not to content your selves with a dead Faith but wait that you may hear the leaving Word by which the living Faith comes Now a man may declare of the Word of Life as the Scriptures do and many may believe the words to be true and profess the same and yet if they receive not the living Word or VVitness in their own hearts their Faith will prove but a dead Faith and they will have but words for its ground but they that hear the VVords of Truth declared or read them and then feel the living VVord arising in themselves witnessing to the words that they have read or heard that they are true over-powering them to believe the same or if the VVord of Life speaketh to any ones understanding when words outwardly are not spoken and they be over-powered by the Word to believe the same such come indeed to feel and know how the living Faith cometh and is wrought And they come also to see that this Faith stands in the Power of God and not in words and that Jesus who saveth from sin is the Author of it And all that come into this state if they wilfully turn not from the Power they will feel their Faith increased in and by the Power and the effects of it will daily come to be manifest which will be an evidence unto them to prove that it is the living Faith for they will feel it giving them access to God Oh ye Professors I speak what I know and witness and without this Faith you cannot please God And concerning the Promises of God this know The Promises are unto the Seed Not unto Seeds as of many but unto the Seed which is One which is Christ So all that come to have right unto the Promises of God they must come to be of the Seed unto which the Promises are Now it is the Word of Life which begetteth unto God and brings to be of the Seed which is the Heir of the Promises of God Therefore wait in the appearance of the Word of Life that by it you may be begotten into the nature of the incorruptible Seed and become born of it that so you may be made meet to be partakers of the precious Promises Oh that ye would hearken diligently and obey and your Souls should live The Lord's hand of tender love and pitty is stretched forth towards you Oh! be not rebellious any longer lest he cease striving with you
for Friends that dwell in it for they that stand approved shall be made manifest and the upright shall not lose but gain through all these things and certainly when our God hath tryed us to the full he will appear for us and though our Enemies were as the sand of the Sea and as strong as Gyants yet shall they fall as untimely fruit and our GOD shall consume and weaken them by the Majesty of his Power and an exceeding desolation shall come upon the Earth and a Besom of destruction shall sweep away many Therefore dear Hearts be stedfast in the Lord and keep the Word of his Patience and know that not one hair of your Heads shall perish nor any thing shall be done unto any of you but what the Lord will be glorified by and you shall receive a full and a sufficient reward for it if ye continue faithful So live in the Power and Seed of God that ye may possess the Kingdom the eternal Peace Joy and Righteousness which stands in the Power And love fervently Oh Friends let that abound more and more one towards another and by this shall men also know that ye are taught of Christ if ye love one another and wait that ye may feel the springs of Life in your selves and feed upon that which proceeds from God that ye may grow up in the Power and Life and Wisdom of God and therein be established So the Almighty Power Life and Wisdom of God keep and preserve your for ever Amen The Lord God Almighty keep you fresh and lively meek tender and innocent and fill you with every good word and work which accompanieth Peace and Godliness if any Decree unrighteous Decrees heed them not for the Decree of God shall stand which is to establish Righteousness in the Earth and in the Power of the Lord we shall break the bonds of the ungodly and cast their cords from us So the Spiritual Weapon war withal and stand in the Faith and hold fast the Word of Truth that through it you may feel and witness your sanctification and the Birth Immortal raised up over all which is the Heir of the Kingdom without end and assuredly God will do mighty things for his Poples therefore be ye comforted and strengthened in the Lord and dwell in and keep his Covenant and answer his requirings in the Light of Life and live in the retiredness and in the Wisdom of God that your Enemies may have no just occasion against you and that ye may be preserved out of their snares and if they Imprison you and falsely accuse you or spoyle your Goods or Persecute you any manner of wayes keep in Patience and freely forgive them and suffer as Lambs in the true Innocency that so your Peace with the Lord may be preserved in all conditions And Friends let the Dread and Majesty of God fill you And as concerning the changing of Times and Governments let not that trouble any of you for God hath a mighty work and hand therein and he will yet change again until that come up which must Reign and in vain shall Powers and Armies withstand the Lord for his determined work shall come to pass but what is now come up it 's just with the Lord that it should be so and he will be served by it Therefore let none murmur nor distrust God for God will provoke many to zeal against unrighteousness and for Righteousness through things which are suffered now to work for a season yea many whose zeal was even dead shall revive again and they shall see their back-slidings and bewail them bitterly and God shall thunder down from Heaven and break forth in a mighty noise and his Enemies shall be astonished and the workers of Iniquity confounded and all that have not on the Garment of Righteousness shall be amazed at the mighty and strange work of the Lord which shall be certainly brought to pass but my Babes look ye not out but be still in the Light of the Lamb and he shall fight for you So the Almighty hand which must Break and Split and Divide your Enemies and take away Peace from them preserve and keep you whole and in Unity and in Peace with it self and one with another Lambeth-House the 3 d. day of the 4 th Month 1660. I am your Dear Friend and Brother in the Kingdom and Patience of Christ who am a Prisoner for his Testimony and keep his Word and am made as willing to suffer bonds or to dye for his Name as to declare and publish it amongst men Eternal living Praises and Hallelujahs over all be unto him for evermore Amen George Fox the Younger AN EPISTLE UNTO All who love the Lord Jesus Christ in Sincerity who are made partakers of the riches of his Grace and meet together to wait upon him therein to be read in their Meetings in the Fear of the Lord. DEAR Friends whom the eternal God hath visited with his own Life and Power and thereby hath called you out of the Darkness of the World into his Marvellous Light and hath begotten and quickned a Seed in you unto which pertaineth the Promises of Life and Peace and also hath opened a good understanding in you by the measure of his Eternal Spirit and hath brought you into a feeling and a sensibleness and a savour of that which ministers and reacheth to and refresheth his own Seed Oh Friends great is the Love of the Lord God unto you and large is his Eternal Riches let not his everlasting Love be forgotten by any of you neither slight nor neglect his rich Mercy but dear Friends dwell in the living measure of his Grace and hearken diligently unto the Voice of the Lamb so shall you be refreshed with the living Presence of the Father and the Fountain of Life shall be enlarged unto you whereby the Babe of God shall be strengthned and grow up in stature And when you are met together to wait upon the Lord Oh! feel his living Gift in your selves and be obedient to the motions and operations thereof that so the Presence and Power of the Eternal God may be felt and enjoyed in your Meetings and at other times for the bringing down and working out of all that which is contrary to himself in you and for the working you into the express Image of his own Glory and for the bringing you into the perfect Obedience of his own Life and Power that the Nature of the Lamb which takes away the sins ye may all grow into that so the Patience of Christ may be felt and witnessed in you all and that it may have its perfect Work in you that therein you may possess your Souls then shall the Lord enlarge your understandings and ye shall grow into the meek quiet Spirit wherein your savour and discerning shall be encreased and ye shall feel the gentle leadings of the invisible Life whereby satisfaction and refreshment shall be received unto the Seed