contrary to the will decree and pleasure of the holy pure God whose will is that all men may know the Truth be saved as the holy Ghost saith by the Mouth of the holy Apostle Paul Again God saw the Wickedness of man was great in the Earth and the VERY IMAGINATIONS of the THOUGHTS of his Heart was ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY and it REPENTED the Lord that he had made man on the Earth and it GRIEVED him at his HEART Gen. 6. 5 6. Note this Reader here is a clear and undeniable proof that God never did NO nor never will Ordain Predestinate Fore-appoint or WILL that any Man or Woman should be Evil Sinful Wicked or that any Man or Woman should imploy their Hearts and Minds at ANY TIME in that which is EVIL muchless that the Imaginations of the THOUGHTS of men and womens Hearts should be ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY This Testimony of the holy Ghost or Spirit in Moses gives a FATAL stroke upon those who do imagin and speak so WRONG of God as to place it as the Decree Fore-ordination and Appointment of God that Some if not many men and women should yea must be Wicked upon MEER necessity they must have NO help from God to enable them to be Holy Godly c. Neither are they able of themselves to be Holy yet must as is Ungodlily imagined be damned cast into Hell for Sin Unholiness Ungodliness c. When they COULD by NO MEANS be Godly Holy c. God having NOT willed that they should be so and therefore would not give them Grace to enable them to be SO yet damneth them and casteth them into Hell because they are not SO. Oh this is gross Darkness that may be felt These Ungodly Opinions and Words RENDER God who hath given Life and a Being unto all Mankind MORE CRUEL and Unnatural unto Man and Woman the Workmanship of his own holy Hands than the most bruitish of his Creatures are unto their own young yea more cruel than they are one unto another yea the Lyon and the Bear in their kind do witness against these their ungodly Notions Imaginations and Words WELL may it be said of these vain and ungodly OPINIONISTS that they do not SPEAK RIGHT things of God c. Oh the evil Effect that this abominable Doctrine hath had and hath at this Day it is greatly to be lamented But glory to the Lord God the pure Light of the Morning of his glorious Day hath chased away the Smoke of the Pit of Darkness from the Eyes of a Remnant which hath thus greatly clouded and darkned the understandings of Mankind and the Lord is daily blowing away this cursed Smoke more and more out of this cursed Pit streams out the cursed dark Breath of the old Dragon the Devil who hath corrupted both Earth and Air with this his cursed Breath who hath made the Nations like the raging Sea which casts up Mire and Dirt yea like Beasts of Prey to Devour one another But God is risen in his great strength who will shut the Pits Mouth and will seal him down that he may deceive the Nations no more to God be all glory honour dominion and praise for evermore for he is worthy Moreover the great God Hath shewed thee O man what is GOOD and what doth the Lord REQUIRE OF THEE BUT TO DO JUSTLY AND TO LOVE MERCY AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH THY GOD Micah 6. 8. Again the great Lord God of Heaven and Earth said unto the Children of Israel that great People I have set before thee this day LIFE AND GOOD AND DEATH AND EVIL in that I command thee this Day to love the Lord thy God to WALK IN HIS WAYES and keep his Commandments c. I call Heaven and Earth to record this day against you saith the Lord that I have SET before you Life and Death Blessing and Cursing therefore CHVSE LIFE that both thou and thy Seed may live that thou mayest love the Lord thy God and that thou mayest obey his VOICE and that thou mayest CLEAVE unto him FOR HE IS THY LIFE AND THE LENGTH OF THY DAYES But if thine HEART TURN AWAY SO that thou wilt NOT HEAR c. I denounce unto you this day that ye shall SURELY PERISH c. Deut. 30. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20. Again They have CORRUPTED THEMSELVES A Perverse and Crooked Generation of the Rock that BEGAT THEE thou art UNMINDFULL and hast FORGOTTEN GOD THAT FORMED THEE Jesurun waxed fat kicked he forsook God who made him and lightly esteemed the ROCK of his Salvation the Lord saw it and he abhorred them and he said I will hide my face from them they have MOVED ME to jealousie with that which is NOT GOOD Fire is kindled in mine Anger and it shall burn unto the LOWEST HELL Chap. 32. 5 15 18 19 20 22. The Lord God said concerning the Rebellious Jews They have chosen their own wayes and their SOVL delighteth in THEIR Abomination I also will chuse their Delusions and will bring their Fears upon them BECAUSE when I called none did answer when I spake none did hear but they did evil before mine eyes and CHOSE that in which I delighted NOT Isa 66. 3 4. 2 Thes 2. 10 11. The holy Prophet said Justice and Judgment are the Habitations of thy Throne c. Psalm 89. 14. Reader by what is above written it doth clearly and abundantly appear that the duty of all mankind is to love God to hearken unto him to obey his Voice to do justly to be lovers of Mercy and all true Christians must obey the Command of Christ who saith be merciful c. and must walk Humbly with the living God who giveth Life and a Being unto all Mankind by whose pure power they have their being continu'd upon Earth who of his free bounty gives them Food and Rayment Health and all necessary things which they do enjoy and without love to God doing Justly loving Mercy and walking Humbly with God as aforesaid Man and Woman cannot be accepted of God The just equal Lord God who requires this of all mankind doth put all into a capacity so to do And mens doing contrary unto this proceeds not of or from God but of and from the wicked one the false Teacher who led Adam and Eve to Sin against God Therefore let none who do WICKEDLY say It is Gods Will that they should DO SO. For God who is Holy who made man holy just and good his WILL is that all should be holy who said Be ye holy I the Lord your God am holy He commands them to chuse the Good and refuse the Evil and they have Power tender'd unto them by him so to DO it becomes their Sin who do not SO such do not improve that which God hath afforded them to enable and lead them to chuse the good and such are the idle unjust Servants who hide their Lords Money in the Earth as Christ said in his Parables Such
ELECTION AND REPROBATION Scripturally and Experimentally Witnessed unto c. Wherein the Love of God in Christ is Freely and Clearly held forth to all Mankind Given forth in tender Love for a general Good but more particularly for the Comfort of all who in Sincerity seek after the pure God with Desires to walk in his Holy Undefiled Way Also Divers other weighty things needful to be duely considered and rightly understood witnessed unto as aforesaid By one who travails in Spirit for the gathering of the scattered Nations who are like troubled Waters out of their Sins home unto God by Christ Jesus the good Shepherd William Gibson Look unto me and be ye saved all the Ends of the Earth for I am God and there is none else a mighty God a Saviour c. Isa 45. 22. God's Will is that all men might be saved Christ gave himself a Ransom for all 1 Tim. 2. 4 6. Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance but after the hardness and Impenitency of thy Heart treasurest up unto thy self wrath against the Day of wrath and Revelation of the righteous Judgments of God who will render to every man according to his Deeds Rom. 2. 4 5 6. Printed in the Year 1678. An Epistle to the Reader Reader REmember the Command and Example of Christ Jesus and obey and follow the same who said Learn of me I am Meek and Lowly and ye shall find Rest to your Souls if thou takest his counsel and followst his example then thou wilt read in meekness and lowliness of Mind and if thou so read I question not but what I have writ in this following Testimony will meet with an answer in thy Conscience and some benefit may come to thee thereby and if so it come to pass it will be matter of true rejoycing to me for I do take great pleasure in the Well-being of the Sons and Daughters of men every way both in Soul and Body It is certain that the Holy Glorious Lord God of Heaven Earth doth give Life and a Being upon Earth unto all mankind for one and the same purpose even that all should serve him with their Souls and with their Bodies which are his it is equitable in God to require this service therefore saith the holy Apostle This is your reasonable service at this the Law of God directly pointed given by Moses unto the Family of Abraham after through sin man-kind was fallen from God saying Hear O Israel Thou shalt have no other Gods but me thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind this is the first and greatest Commandment and the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self Christ Jesus in the days of his Flesh did not only ratifie and confirm this and commend the same to his Disciples and to the Multitude but also opened or expounded the latter yea enlarged the same unto his Disciples saying Love your Enemies do good to those who do despightfully use you and persecute you Christ said to the Jews Think ye I came to destroy the Law I tell ye nay I came not to destroy but to fulfill those who did believe in him and receive him he did endue with power to love God with all their Heart Soul and Mind and their Neighbours as themselves yea to love and pray for their Enemies and it s written as many as receiv'd him to them he gave power to become the Sons of God and those Believers in him who received him into their hearts by Faith were not born of flesh nor of blood nor of the will of man but of God these were born of the Spirit and led by it and they are the Children of God who are led by the Spirit of God as the Apostle saith Christ Jesus through the Grace Favour and tender Mercy of God the Father tasted death for Every man as saith the holy Apostle and Christ saith I am the Light of the World mark that he is not only the Life and Light of his Disciples whom he hath gathered out of the World who are not of the world as he saith and therefore the world doth hate them but he is also the Light of the World which lieth in wickedness and by his light shining in their dark hearts he lets them see their sins and reproves them thereby and calls of them thereby to Repent Christ saith Every one that doth Evil hateth the Light and will not bring their deeds unto it but every one that doth Truth bringeth his deeds unto the Light that they may be made man fest that they are wrought in God who is LIHGT as saith the holy Apostle John and he saith Christ is the propitiation for our sins and not for our sins only but also for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD mark that he is the common and universal Saviour who died for all lighteth all and is the propitiation or Intercessor provided for all but none can have the benefit of his Death or Life or his Light or of his Mediatorship unto their Eternal Salvation without Faith in him Abraham saw his day and believed in him and was glad and the Fathers under the Law and before the Law believed God and his Promises which are all yea and amen in him the Gentiles who had not the Law in the outward Letter did the things contained in the Law shewing the deeds of the Law written in their hearts as saith the Apostle by vertue of his enlightning enlivening presence they were naturalliz'd or made naturally to do the things contained in the Law and so were made partakers of that nature which is Divine of which nature the true Believers were and are made partakers as the holy Apostle saith here take notice that nature or the nature of man considered as he is in the fall from God man in and by this nature fallen corrupted and degenerated into a plant of a strange Vine unto God in this estate in this nature he cannot do the things contained in the Law of God but contrariwise as the Apostle saith the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him therefore those who without the Law in the outward Letter do the things contained in it these deeds are done by the verture of the heavenly and divine nature or spirit of the Lamb of God who as John Baptist saith cometh to take away the sins of the World Mark the sins of the World So it is certainly true which Christ Jesus saith without me ye can do nothing and this of old was and now is as true in and among the Gentiles as among the Jews there is not Salvation in any other there is no name given under Heaven by which any can be saved but by him whom the Father hath given to be
concerning Christs putting an End to the Work of the Law we do NOT believe that Christ has put an end to the Command of God who said Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and thy Neighbour as thy self Thou shalt do no Murther Thou shalt not Steal nor Covet any thing that is thy Neighbours Thou shalt not bear False Witness nor remove the Antient Land-mark c. But we believe that Christ fulfills these Commands in all them that through Faith and Obedience grow up in him who is the true Vine by leading them to do those before-mentioned things which God Commands so the true Christians cease from the Shadows and in Christ by his Vertue and Power do Love God with all their Hearts and their Neighbour as themselves on which Commands as Christ saith hang all the Law and the Prophets Mat. 22. 40. Concerning Perfection IN page 24. J. B. saith speaking to the People called Quakers You hold that Perfection in degree is attainable in this Life Answ We do own the command of God who said unto Abraham I am God all-sufficient walk thou before me and be thou Perfect We say God was sufficient to enable him to keep his command and we believe he did so And we do believe the Command of Christ who said Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect And we do believe it is possible to keep this command of Christ by and through the Virtuous spiritual Presence of Christ in and with the believing DILIGENT SOUL And we do believe that the Gifts which were and are given for the PERFECTING of the Saints did and do accomplish that for which they were and are GIVEN The Apostle said We Labour that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus And we do believe that many were perfected in Christ Jesus though some Crucified Christ unto themselves afresh and put him to open shame as the Apostle saith We do believe the holy Apostle who said Whosoever is born of God doth not commit Sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot Sin because he is Born of God Now as to J. B's Charge That we hold forth and own that Perfection in degree is attainable in this Life I Answer The Word Degree concerning Perfection is neither our Word nor did I ever read it in the Scriptures of Truth as used by him concerning Perfection But this word Degree he hath thrust into his Charge against us thinking no doubt thereby to make it the more strong but all his labour is in vain He doth not declare what he meaneth by the word DEGREE but if by Degree he mean a freedom from acting or committing Sin such a Perfection we do believe is attainable in this Life by and through the mighty working of God and Christ in men and women and this is according to the command of God Christ the Doctrine and Experience of the holy Apostles But if by the word Degree J. B. mean a Perfection of Glory in the HIGHEST attainment of Glory that can EVER be enjoyed then we DEEM that such a Perfection is attainable in this Life or while we dwell here upon Earth For WE are of the same Faith the holy Apostle was of who when he was near to depart out of this World said I have fought a good fight I have kept the Faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which God the Righteous Judge shall give unto me at that day and not to me only but to all those that love his appearance J. B. hath taken upon him to interpret the Apostle John's words who saith Whosoever is Born of God doth not commit Sin he cannot Sin c. J. B. saith The meaning of these Words can be but this Whosoever is Born of God doth not make it his practice to Sin Answ What Confusion Falsness and Nonsence is this to say that he who commits Sin doth not practise Sin this is horrible abuse and wresting the holy Scriptures which God will bring him to Judgment for and if he do not Repent and cease from such Ungodly silly work as this he will bring Destruction upon himself As I do understand this J. B. is one of that sort of men who do in their Confessions tell the Lord God that they do Sin in their most holy Duties Now if their most holy Duties have Sin in them then there is Sin in all those other things which they call Duties and consequently in their Actions which they do not account Holy Duties and so they make it their Practice to Sin and so according to his own Argument Such who make it their Practice to Sin are not born of God But to speak his mind more fully I do apprehend his meaning is that the Children of God do not commit so much Sin as the Children of the Devil do Answ When the Apostle saith He that is Born of God doth not commit Sin he also saith He that commits Sin is of the Devil In the next verse he saith In this is the Children of God manifest and the Children of the Devil c. 1 John 3. 10. J. B. I ask thee dost not thou believe that God is GREATER then the Devil why then must Sin needs be in those who are Born of God as thou wouldst have it Oh that thou saw thy Blasphemy herein it would surely make thee ashamed and bring Sorrow upon thee But if in thy judgment those whom God BEGETS who are BORN of him must commit Sin and live in it all their dayes and Sin in their most Holy Duties I ask what DIFFERENCE dost thou put between God's Children and the Devil's Children whom he begets and who are Born of him for the Devil hath a Generation of whom he is the Father as Christ said see John 8. 44. For we believe that he that is Born of God is REGENERATED that is washed and cleansed through the virtue of the holy Spirit of Christ which is shed abroad abundantly in the Hearts Souls of the true Believers by virtue of this growing up in it as the Branches in the living Vine are they redeemed out of the ACT of Sin and have dominion given them in and by Christ over IT and the Devil who is the Author of it and such can say as the Apostle said Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the World to wit the Wicked BY WHOM we overcome them and such can say as the Apostle said Of my self I can do nothing but I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me and such can say as the Apostle said We are CONQUERORS and more than Conquerors through him that hath loved us and such do know Satan BRUISED under their Feet BY CHRIST the blessed Seed whom God promised should bruise his HEAD and the Apostle told the Believers in Christ That God whom they waited for should suddainly come and