with the Lord for ever Susanna Smith The Testimony that lives in my heart concerning the Life and Death of that holy and worthy Servant of the Lord Stephen Smith O The remembrance of that holy and worthy Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ by whose Heavenly power he was made a holy Temple for the Lord to walk in whose Earthen Vessel was filled with Gods Heavenly Treasure by which the Life of Jesus was made manifest in his mortal Flesh so that the excellency was of God and not of man so that by Gods holy power he was made a perfect and upright man one that feared God and hated all manner of Evil wheresoever it did appear And indeed I can never forget him whose blameless and innocent Life and holy Conversation when he was amongst us it was a good pattern unto us for he was a man of a meek and gentle and of a tender Spirit in which he was very careful and tender to all in whom the least appearance of Truth did manifest it self for which his Travels and his Labours were very great for the Truth and Christs sake in whom he was made very instrumental as in the hand of the Lord that he thereby might beget a People unto the Lord being not satisfied to eat his Bread alone as many yet living can truly testifie to the truth hereof knowing that he was a true and faithful Labourer in the glorious Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus for whose sake he was made willing to suffer for he accounted it all joy that he was counted of the Lord worthy to suffer for his Name sake who truly trampled upon Aegypts Glory and chose rather to suffer afflictions with the People of God then to enjoy the pleasures of Sin for a season who often said he accounted nothing the Lord had blessed him withall too dear to part withall for Christs and his Gospels sake concluding that it was but a reasonable Sacrifice to part with Life and all that a man hath for Christs sake and he that could not part with all for Christs sake was not worthy of him And he was a man of a tender and of a broken Spirit and always constant in his Love to all his Brethren in the Truth and having a great esteem of them therein and whose care was very great over all the Flock of God who was filled with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding in which he truly laboured to prevent all manner of differences or discord that might happen among Brethren and if any did happen he was always willing to compose and reconcile all manner of differences which would have been to the great dishonour of the Lord and his Truth which was prevented by him so that he was a true Peace-maker and he was as a Father to the Fatherless and as a Husband to the Widow and as a Child I have been often a partaker of his Fatherly kindness and living still in the remembrance of the same I hope I shall never forget but to return the honour and glory to God who is the Fountain of all our blessings and mercies from whence floweth all our fresh Springs in and through Christ Jesus the Son of Gods Love in whom was the Spring of Life flowing in and through him even to the great satisfaction of my Soul as one that did but partake of the overflowings of that Life in which his Soul was deeply consolated and wrapt up in the Heavenly Joy of the Lord God so that in the greatest extremity of his weakness he would be very often declaring of the great and mighty loving kindness of the Lord God by which he was lifted up above the fear of death Nor was he afraid of the terrors thereof so that a little before his departure I being present with him he being filled with Gods heavenly Spirit by which he was enabled to pray and supplicate the Lord God of his Life in which he was praising and magnifying that holy and innocent Life of Jesus saying Lord and dearest God O assist in this Heavenly passage from death to life who being subject to the will of his Heavenly Father said further to me Now I am going into my sweet sleep so that he immediately and innocently laid down his head in perfect peace with the Lord and lives for evermore O the heavenly and the blessed Testimony of the Lord God that sprung in and through him by a heavenly Exhortation to them that came to visit him saying That it was a blessed and a heavenly thing to have the mind clear and holy free from all troubles and cumbers of this evil World as he truly said his was having all given up to the will of the Lord that it might truly be done in Earth as it is in Heaven O what a blessed and a heavenly Habitation is this for the Soul of man to rest in which I have a full assurance of And a little after there came in one to see him and he exhorted him to dread and fear the Lord God and to repent of all his wickedness whatsoever that holy and pure witness in his conscience makes manifest to be evil So if happily he may find mercy with the Lord which will be better to thee said he then all the World besides And a little after came in another to see him so that the mighty power of the Lord God was seen and felt whereby he was refreshed again and desired her to fear the Lord that thereby she might be preserved out of all evil and desired her to love the Truth above all for the Truth is a very precious thing and to be sure to keep low and humble to it and not to be high-minded nor exalted above the pure of God in her conscience for that would he very hurtful to her About two or three days after the blessed heavenly power of the Lord did arise in him from which did spring a living and a heavenly Testimony in a holy remembrance of the tender dealings of the Lord with him from his Childhood to this very day who said to his Sons That his days were very near drawing to an end and declared how that his Father and Mother cast him off when he was but a little Lad But the Lord had always preserved him and his Blessings did always attend him in raising him up by multiplying his Blessings upon him having been often in many great dangers and perils by Sea and Land So said he having my mind chast and sober to God and having the fear of the Lord placed in my heart by which I was preserved out of evil and doing the thing that was right in the sight of the Lord so that I found favour of the Lord and gained the love and savour of all people in dealing justly and truly with all people not wronging any man So this in charge he gave to his Sons That they might always be kept chast and fober in their minds having always their minds
make it manifest by the light of his Spirit within so man being convinced of and reproved for evil if he heeds not reproofs but perishes in his evil then his destruction is of himself but if through this love of God shed abroad in the hearts of people they be awaken'd thereby and so cleave to the good and follow and obey it then will that which was a Reprover for Evil be an Instructer in a Blessed Life where sin nor evil can't enter nor be neither is there any agreement with darkness in that life in which there 's no evil but the soul being in this liberty then Come I will tell you what the Lord hath done for my soul and my soul and all that 's in me praises the Lord. So here 's the Blessed Fountain opened where the streams of God's love are felt to run which drive back the streams of malice uncleanness and abominations which have corrupt mankind So Blessed are they whose Eyes are to the Living Fountain and wait for the rising of the springs thereof in their hearts from whence the truly thirsting soul comes to be satisfied refreshed and strengthened through a true sense of the springing up of this Well of Water which he gives who hath all power in Heaven and Earth the which Well of Water springing unto everlasting life all being dipped or plunged under this the soul comes to be washed from corruption and so made white as Snow the which is an everlasting ordinance ordain'd of God for a perpetual Covenant the which all that would know Salvation through the remission of sins they must wait to be confirmed in this Blessed Covenant where the Blessed Unity stands out of sin for there 's no evil in this Covenant So all that come to be concerned here must first agree in their hearts to cease from sin and evil and then to wait for the rising of the Pure and so to watch in the Pure against all appearances of that which is corrupt and so to grow up in the Pure to a Blessed Dominion over the corruptible and so in the pure measure of God's Spirit to receive and use the Creatures of God with Thanksgiving where every Creature is good when they are so received so to the Pure all things are Pure but to the Defiled and Unbelieving there is nothing Pure So the way of God that is Pure and Undefiled and Blessed are they who are Undefiled and keep and are kept in that Blessed way to finish their dayes where the Soul rests in Peace with God the which is the will of God according to which is this writ So to him be glory and honour from the rising of the Pure of himself forever and for ever Amen By a Servant of the Lord Stephen Smith THE BLESSED WORKS OF THE Light of God's Holy and BLESSED SPIRIT Exalted above the works of Darkness COme sit down together in a deep Silence out of all fleshly Wisdom forgiving all Trespasses that he that sits upon his Throne who said behold I make all things new that he may forgive all your Trespasses and then wait for acceptance into Gods pure holy Covenant his holy Law in the Mind that it may be writ in the Heart and they shall not teach every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother saying Know the Lord for all shall know me from the least to the greatest for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and inibuities will I remember no more A blessed day magnified be the Lord whose Works praise him for ever and not good works out of wicked workers mouths to these mighty works of the mighty God the which he is working and bringing to pass through his mighty power are appointed that mankind should live in the enjoyment of them to the praise and honour of his Maker for ever And that it may be distinguished between evil workers who have got the good words and the good works from whence all true and good and gracious words came observe In one of the Collects appointed in the Book of Common Prayer it is thus written Almighty and everlasting God which of thy tender love towards man hath sent our Saviour Christ Jesus to take upon him our Flesh and to suffer Death upon the Cross that all mankind should follow the example of his great Eumility mercifully grant that we both follow the example of his Patience and be made partakers of his Resurrection c. Now mind To pray for this that is common and used in the old World of Transgression where iniquity and sin is which separates from God and are out of his Blessed Work But to be in the Humility and Patience this is God's Work where his Will is done on Earth as it is in Heaven So that if people would but so far condescend to the Will of God as to sit down in coolness in a true Silence of all the works of the fleshly wisdom would they not agree with us who are in Scorn called Quakers in Judgment at least though it may be not in Practice viz. That Words without Effects are as Dreams and Chass to the Wheat the Substance So he that hath a Dream let him tell his Dream but he that hath Gods Word let him speak it What is the Chaff to the Wheat Is not my Word like a Fire saith the Lord and like a Hammer that breaketh the Rock in pieces Jer. 23. I am against the Prophet saith the Lord that steals my Word from his Neighbour who use their Tongues and say he saith and Prophesie false Dreams and tell them and cause people to err by their Lyes and Lightness And so now in Coolness when the works of the enemy are down viz. Prejudice and Passion c. Then by a little work of God in its least appearance by which mankind is made sensible they may see by this small distinction what it is that we who are in Scorn called Quakers stand for and against And when the Eye of your Understanding is opened to behold his glorious works whom you have pierced then will you love us whom so many have hated because of our Testimony of God's Works Do but see how you first hated the Light of God in your selves before that great Darkness came over you to hate us who are called Quakers because we are bowed unto Christ's Spirit the true Christians Spirit and therein have in some measure partaken of his Cup out of which some indeed have drunk very deep even to the following of his great Humility and Patience even to Death as in the New-England Sufferings may be seen by those cruel imaginary Christians whose wicked hands have been deep in the shedding of Innocent Blood And though through Ignorance the Sufferings of God's people hath been much in Old-England yet they have not been in that desperate kind as there where doubtless they are more drunk with the Whores Cup of Sorceries and Witchcraft then those of that kind are here in
What will it avail you to have read what blessed and holy Lives the Saints and Servants of the most High God led and possessed if you be found in an unsavoury Life and in an unholy Conversation in an unclean Possession If so will you not be found denyers of the scope and tendency of Scriptures where it is written to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace and all that possess this are in a clean and holy possession The Scriptures saith to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace So to the blessed motions of Gods holy Spirit you must turn your minds and eye its leadings and guidings this is the way the Saints and Servants of the most high God were directed to and guided in by the true Preachers of the everlasting Gospel And therefore unto that of God which he manifests and shews you must bring your hearts and minds before you can know the law of the Spirit of Life to set you free from the law of sin and death Oh consider will a talk of freedom avail one in Captivity whilst he sees no way but that he must remain so all his Life time Awake awake out of your Dream unto righteouâ—ness and sin not that you may â—now â—he Lord and his way the which is above mans ways as the Heaven is above the Earth The Lord of Heaven and Earth hath ordained a means and way to everlasting Peace and Happinâ—ss and the Scriptures testifie the same Even of Christs spiritual appearance who is the Way Truth and Life so to that of God which is holy must every one come that is made holy unto that which is righteous must every one come that is truly made righteous and meet for the Kingdom of God the which the unrighteous cannot inherit Oh hat people would consider their wayes wherein they walk and not go on in evil wayes and satisfie themselves with a â—alk what they have heard of the righteous way and live out of it for the great love of God in his Heavenly gift to the World was and is that people should be led by it to that repentance never to be repented of even to forsake that which is manifest to be wrong false and evil by the faithful and true witness the Spirit of Truth in every one As it is written Behold I have given him for a witness to the people Isaiah 55.4 a Leader and Commander to the people And it is also written 1 Joh. 5.10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself Blessed are they who are in the way of the knowledge of reconciliation unto this faithful and true witness and live up unto it This will be to their joy and comfort in that life and peace which is everlasting And to them that do not believe he is a witness of their unbelief and hard heartedness to their shame and confusion as you may read And I will come near to you to Judgment Malachi 3.5 and I will be a swift witness against Sorcerers and against the Adulterers and against false Swearers and against those that oppress the Hireling in his Wages the Widow and the Fatherless and that turn away the stranger from his right and fear not me saith the Lord of Hosts read Rom 8.16 Joh. 1.5 By this you may see how plentifully the Scriptures testifie of the Spirit of Truth witness And now try in your selves come to the examination if any be unclean in Thought or Action is there not that within that shews it and witnesseth against it If any be unmerciful this witness will witness against it if any back-bite or defraud or murmur or lye or steal or bear false witness or contemn the counsel of the Lord and proud and high minded in contemning his holy Law and Commandment this faithful and true witness will ever be a witness against all such and against all that is bad and hath a tendency of defiling and corrupting any And therefore all they that deny this are real denyers of the love and mercy of God testified unto through the Scriptures And further concerning this faithful and true wirness Christ the word of God observe what the Scripture saith Bom. 10.6 7. Say not in thy heart who shall ascend into Feaven that is to bring Christ down from above or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring up Christ again from the dead But what saith it the word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of faith which we preach Now mind are not you opposers of the love and mercy of God in the moving of his holy Spirit in those holy men which gave forth the Scripture whilst you remain gain-sayers of that more sure word so nigh the heart and mouth and in your exaltedness of Spirit in a fleshly worldly wisdom being puft up above what is written what a vain travail and labour they live in In imagining and creating to your selves a contrary way to what the Lord hath ordained to salvation Come to the witness in you and by that if you conrinue your subjection thereunto you will be sensible that it is the love of God unto you and in this love be admonisht to give private Interpretations of the Prophesies in the Scripture least thereby you provoke the Lord till swift destruction comes upon you And for your further Information observe what the Sripture saith 1 Joh. That was the true light which lighteth every man that comes into the World as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God The Scripture doth not say as many as profess him he gives power but it saith as many as receive him who lighteth every man that comes into the World to them he gives power c. Indeed he is to be received in his spiritual appearance and for that end he stâ—nds at the door and knocks in gentle reproofs and convincement whereby the hard heart must be broken and set open unto him and receive him before the remission from evil be witnessed and the great horrible clouds of darkness be expelled and the vail over the heart rent and power received to overcome the wicked one as it is written Behold I stand at the door and knock If any man hear my voice Revel 3.20 and open the door I will come into him and will Sup with him and he with me This is a great tender of love and mercy be they not very hard hearted that saith unto him depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy ways these are they that oppose the Scriptures Testimony and shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men Mat. 23.13 for ye neither go in your selves neither suffer ye them that are entring to go in This was the sad and deplorable condition of those high professors of the Law and the Prophets whom Christ pronounced dreadful wo against And all that are refisting the Spirits Testimony in themselves
with Profession and Confession of Christ Jesus that he was made Righteousness Wisdom and Sanctification and Redemption to them that believed in the Primitive time by the pouring out of his blessed Spirit then the Arm of the Lord was revealed and the power of the Lord did redeem people from under the enemies power and the Faith of Gods Elect was then very precious And the power of Christ Jesus who hath power over all flesh that then was the higher power and people did then bow under it and confessed him before men then indeed Christs Doctrine and Commands taught and received and his precious blood confessed unto by them that were witnesses thereunto who through the vertue and sufficiency were redeemed from under the man of sin's power and so cleansed from the filthy Garments of sin Then indeed the Lord had a people the which were his purchased possession being sanctified throughout in Soul Body and Spirit by the pouring out and renewings of Christs holy Spirit They were not their own being purchased and bought with a price they all confessed unto the Lord that had bought them and all the true Preachers of righteousness they preacht up then the sufficiency of the Blood of the Lamb and the uncorruptable word of life and laboured and travelled for the forming of Christ in the Believers that they might present them perfect in Christ Jesus All this saith the Seed of the bond-woman where Mistery Babylon hath her brood we cannot deny but that the state and condition of the Primitive Christians were as aforesaid But they may say if they will speak the Truth our Mother Mistery Babylon hath taught us another Lesson now adays Alas for you our fore-Fathers Demas and the Antichristian Spirit that led abundance from among the true Christians many in the Antichristian Spirit went out and imbraced this World and in the Wisdom thereof the God of the World blinded our our Fore-fathers Minds and then the Gospel was hid and in the Apostacy we grew being inwardly ravened from the Spirit of Christ we lost the sense of the sufficiency of the power thereof Then the Spirit of Antichrist that led and became head and the Beast and false Prophet with many Heads and Horns some like a Lamb having received power from the Dragon became in time such a great head and mountain that they made War with the true Woman and her Seed and cast out floods of ungodliness against that Birth and Seed that was conceived by the free Woman and in such a degree the Beast prevailed that he proclaimed open War saying who is able to make War with the Beast Thus the Seed of the bond Woman who are conceived and brought forth out of the Womb of Mistery Babylon may truly say the Arm of flesh is now accounted for the higher power and we teach for Doctrine the Commands of Men our Mother hath trained us up and taught us to deny the power of the Lord to be the higher power and to deny the infallible teachings of the Grace of Gods Spirit and to deny the Operation and Revelation and Inspiration of Gods holy Spirit now a dayes and to say that is ceased now adayes And now we can live bravely in the Lusts of our own eyes and in the Lust of our own flesh and in the Pride of Life under many Fair Coverings that our Mother hath made us having cast off Christs Yoak we are now at liberty in the flesh to use our Tongues in our own wills and pleasures the Beast and false Prophet hath purchased this liberty for us and our Mother sits as Queen and saith we shall see no sorrow It is service good enough now adayes to be high talkers of the holy mens words and works and to set them up for Teachers who have an Art and subtilty to please men best with their good Words and fair Speeches As for the universal Spirit and power of the Lord Jesus and his blessed Office to fit and prepare for the blessed Ministery Our Mother Mistery Babylon hath taught us to deny the sufficiency thereof and to set up Universities and Schools to make Ministers by and let them be as graceless as they will so they be Witty and Learned and can talk Learnedly of the good words and Testimonies that proceeded from the moving of Gods Spirit through Fisher-men Shepheards and Herds-men and the like If they can by their floods of Eloquence and high flown Doctrines and Speeches under fair shews of Confession and Profession of some things that have been done and of some things that should be done and yet leave all undone and stop the very motions of the Spirit of Truth by and in which alone every thing that is good is done and without it we can do nothing that 's good and acceptable and well pleasing to God We the Children of Mistery Babylon may say if our Preachers and Teachers do so well apply themselves to Learning and get such curious Arts and Eloquence as to stop the motions of the Spirit of Truth now adays they do our Mothers work well and deserves good Incouragement some long Coats some short Coats some Shop-keepers and Trades a vast Revenew by the year some more some less according as we and our Merchants can agree And for this Trade and Merchandize we are beholding to the Beast and false Prophet who hath purchased this liberty for us to deny the Revelation Operation and Divine Inspiration of the Spirit of Truth now adayes And so to give our private Interpretations of the holy Prophesies in Scripture and to make void the very end and tendency of the moving of Gods holy Spirit through holy men in giving forth the same Thus you may see the Fruit of your Doctrine you Seed of the bond Woman who are nourished and trained up by your Mother Mistery Babylon in whose Womb all the Treachery in Cruel Butchery hath been conceived and brought forth who have been so drunk with the Whores Cup of Sorceries that you have not spared to drink the Blood of the holy Prophets A postles and Saints and Martyrs of the living God and this is and hath been the fruits and effects of the motions of your own proud arrogant exalted spirits whereby you have disdained and mocked the very appearance of Gods holy Spirit of Truth and the Light thereof You have contemned and spoke slightly and evil of and all this have you done under a Mistery wherein in your drunken fits you have killed and spoiled the Servants of the living God and then wip't your Mouths like Sheep-biting Dogs and made the World believe that Worshipped the Beast that you had done some service for the Lord You are the Generation whom Christ spoke of Mat. 23.33 Ye Serpents ye generation of Vipers how can ye escape the damnation of Hell Fill up your measure that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the Earth For of a Truth the good Husbandman the Lord of Heaven and Earth
the true Spouse and so running and hunting after others blessed works and experiences have set up Trades in their Arts of telling and boasting of others Lives and Works where that adulterated Spirit hath covered them who are corrupted with her Sorceries and Witchcraft under various fashions of Confessions and Professions of God and his Christ But underneath these coverings are the same wicked hands by which the Just hath suffered and been rejected and set at nought in all Ages And through the blessed works of the Light of God's holy Spirit these corrupt workers and works of darkness being discovered and a Righteous Testimony in Thousands that stand against them what a sad work do these blind Leaders make to hide themselves from the wrath of the Lamb that is coming upon them looking back to the several Traditions Customs and Commands of men from whence they drive several establishments upon fleshly rotten Foundations as Covenant and Directory of man's none of God's Foundation Christ God's Foundation is a pure holy unspotted Foundation where God's Wisdom and Counsel directs in and through the works of his holy Spirit the which are perfect and good in every degree thereof by which people are built up a Spiritual house to the honour and praise in and through God's blessed works forever So to God's Covenant and Works must all mankind be brought under that are redeemed and made alive to God therefore we deny the Presbyterians Covenant and Directory as being but a meer Parcel of Conceivings and Imaginations which tends to hide the holy Covenant and Foundation of the Righteous people in Generations past and now present in being who were and are built upon the sure Foundation which God hath laid and thereon in Covenant with his righteous holy works And concerning your Foundation who are built upon a Church-Faith made up by an Assembly of Diviners out of their own Brain in the fleshly Comprehensions its man's work full of blemishes and spots and not God's God's Foundations and Works thereon are pure and holy without spot wrinkles or blemish And forasmuch as your made up Faith and Works tend to the making void the pretious Faith of God's Elect which is the gift of God the which purifies the heart and works by love and giveth victory over the old World of Transgression and sin without which there is no pleasing God And so to this one Faith one Baptism and one Lord Testimony is given and against all feigned Faiths the works of men's hands the which are in wickedness by which the Just was slain And concerning that head of the Beast which is branched out into several Horns in feigned Humility and Will-worship intruding into things which they are not led into by the Light of God's holy Spirit and therefore their Foundation being not from a certain knowledge of the immediate works of God's holy and blessed Spirit in them But are in their own willings and running into Imaginations and Conceivings about the Practices of the holy men of God but being out of their Spirit and Works therein what dark works of plungings and dippings in outward Water and imaginary fellowships in outward Elements but being out of a true sense of the works of God's Spirit and its inspiration to enlighten them and give them an understanding of the Times and Seasons of the Dispensations and Works of the mighty God what strangers are they to the New Birth and the one Baptism of Christ with Fire and the holy Spirit to burn and consume Lusts and so to bring down every high Thought and vain Imagination under his Feet who is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World And so by that one pure holy Spirit of God are many baptized into one Body where God's will is done on Earth by him that abides forever So not by the works of man is any saved but by the merciful works of God in his Son by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the holy Spirit So into this pure holy Name must all be baptized dipped plunged the which tends to the bringing out of all false Fellowships into that one and only Pure Fellowship to walk in the Light of the Lord where the Blood of Christ cleanses from all sin A pure Baptism indeed a pure Washing in a pure Fountain where filthiness that is within man comes to be washed away and thereby way is made for the comfortable fresh springs that rise from the Fountain of Love and Mercies the Substance of which many outward things are shadows but the good thing it self is come glory to God on high Heb. 9.9 10. So to this blessed work who must increase his Testimony is given and against all the works of men's hands the which tend to the making void thereof So the Fountain of God stands sure and must do forever and all false foundations whereon people have built must be swept away for evermore THe blessed and unspotted Foundation the mighty God of Heaven and Earth hath laid which is Christ or Vnction from the holy God by the Light and Teaching of which mankind comes to be inspired with an understanding concerning things that disser even that which is precious and wholsome so good for Food for every Soul and that which is vile and filthy which tends to the defiling and bringing Souls into bondage And so John in his 1 Epist 2.20 saith unto the then Believers who had received this Heavenly Gift But ye have an Vnction from the holy One and ye know all things Herein was and is God's Love in his Son manifested to the World to destroy his works who hath led mankind into Darkness and so through man's obedience in following and believing in these blessed and unspotted works of God in his Son the enmity comes to be slain that separates mankind from God and so the blessed works of God in his Son reconciling and bringing back them who have been lost by wandering and roving in their own willings and runnings in this cloudy and dark night they come to be seen felt and enjoyed by them who were and are partakers thereof even of God's works in his Son by which the eye of the understanding comes to be opened and so the offensive eye that is offended at God's works comes to be put out And thus the Light and Understanding of that pure Life comes to be known the which hath been as a Lamb slain from the Foundation of the world of wickedness by the subtilty of the Serpent in mans heart And now to the praise and honour of God Almighty who hath drawn thousands by the strivings of the grace of his holy Spirit to the knowledge of his way Christ the Truth Way and Life the which is without spot and blemish the same pure holy and unchangeable Way and Foundation on which the holy men of God were built in Ages and Generations past Ephes 2.20 and are built upon the Foundation of Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being
with precious Stones will these no longer hide our sins and iniquities Must all our works herein wherein we thought to have established our own righteousness must they now all be put off as dung and dross Alas alas though we have lived so far from the knowledge of the operation and works of God's Spirit as utterly to deny its Revelations now adayes and so have been dark and void of the knowledge of God's righteous chastisments and rebukes therein yet we have presumed that by custom of Confessions and Professions of God's good works done in and through holy men without us would have given us a right to his holiness thou the lust of the eye the lust of the flesh the pride of life and friendship of the World had never been wholly subdued in us but in such a part as might be consistent with our gain and profit in the World But alas alas our coverings be too narrow they will no longer hide us God's righteous works are abroad in the Earth who is inspiring his people with true Light of understanding and Mordicai sits in the Gate and will not bow to wickedness Haman Alas alas we have twined and twisted about through many Crafts and Inventions some of our best Arts-men having called the Light a Devil some others a Natural Light and others a Bewildering Light and likewise many false Accusations have we raised with Evil Reports Scornings and Reproachings of the people called Quakers for Confessing to the Works of the Light of God's holy Spirit yet all our shifts do not at all help us but those works prosper and they are generally a faithful people to their Testimony Alas alas who would have thought our Mother would have been such a Harlot What delicate Inchantments and Sorceries hath she used and trained us up in that we have been thus deceived and thereby have been Instruments of deceiving the whole Nations Alas alas we can fly into no Corner nor Hole but we are found out and pursued Alas alas can't all the Wisdom of the World and Arts therein help to hide our sins and Iniquities from the Light of the Lamb Is every Creature so manifest in his sight that made all things good in the beginning And is he now at work again And must all yield to his works or be accounted his enemies and be cast out of his presence who is Lord of all whose is the Earth and fulness thereof Alas alas words of repentance of sin will not serve now there must be a true repentance and forsaking sin and evil or else we perish forever Even so must it be done to you workers of iniquity who have been and are as props and pillars strengthening the Old World of Transgression in sin and iniquity the Devil's works and therein withstood the sufficiency of God's love manifested to the World in his Son to destroy the Devil's works which works of Transgression the old subtile Serpent the deceiver of the Nations in and through his Instrument is striving and labouring to maintain under several and very large and specious pretences of crying out Lord Lord But come workers of iniquity these good words will not give you admittance into the Kingdom of God it s not they that say Lord Lord shall enter therein but they that do the Will of God And was not his Will manifested to the World in his Son that they that believed and followed him in doing his Father's Will might not perish but have everlasting Life And do not many of you confess to this in words who say in your Prayers That we may follow the example of Christ's Humiliation and Patience that we may attain to his Resurrection c. What brave words have you workers of iniquity got in your Old Bottle that can hold none of the New Wine And so in your corrupt wills what will the using good words do you good but thereby add to your Condemnation who by good words and corrupt and bad actions are withstanding and have withstood the good will pleasure and love of God in his Son to the World So your works of Darkness and falshood are clearly manifested and you can't hide them from the Light But the Light of the effectual and powers works of God's holy Spirit wherein his Will is manifest is rising more and more to a more perfect day of his will being done upon Earth to the praise and honour of his blessed and holy Name whose works are Pure Holy Just and Perfect in every degree thereof and tend to the true Reformation Peace Prosperity and Establishment of all mankind in God's love and mercy therein forever So worshipped be God that made Heaven and Earth and the Fountains of Waters and all things therein who fills the hearts of the upright with joy and gladness through the shinings forth of the light of his Countenance who sits upon his Throne and saith Behold I make all things New Amen ANd now unto such who are in doubt Whether God's holy Spirit doth so effectually work now adayes as in the Primitive times Unto you I say what flesh could ever have indured such grievous and continued Punishments in Tryals of divers sorts by Imprisonments and Banishments and Hangings and Killings as in New-England and Imprisonments to Death and spoiling of Goods in Old-England and Cruel Mockings and Scoffings and bloodshed by unmerciful men Indeed some in a voluntary humility have somewhat appeared in Sufferings but being in their own willings and runnings and works therein how have they been overcome their strength being an Arm of Flesh as well as others and so fleshly works have been overcome by fleshly works But it is not so with them who are in scorn and derision called Quakers because they have bowed to God's way the which is quite different to man's wayes was that name given but in God's way hath his Arm been revealed and its strength made manifest in our weakness So that to the praise of him that lives forever the operation of his blessed Spirit is felt as in the primitive dayes and the glory and comfort of it hath ministred strength and refreshment in the time of tryals though this way of proceeding hath been hid from the vulterous evil Eye So to the praise and glory of God is Confession made through the operation of his holy Spirit through which thousands have been preserved and kept from bowing to the seed of Cain Haman and the Beast which hath made the World as a Wilderness where wild Fruits and wild Actions spring So we can truly say to the praise of God let not the wise men in the wisdom of this World glory in their wisdom nor the strong men in their strength nor the mighty men in their might but let all wait in that pure measure of the Light of God's Spirit in their Consciences that by it they may draw near unto God that they know his blessed works of mercy and love and judgment in the Earth wherein that true glory and
it with that loathsome conceited marriage Revel 19. Let us be glad and rejoyce and give honour to him for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his Wife hath made her self ready And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine Linnen clean and White for the Linnen is the Righteousness of Saints c. Alleluja for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth here is a Heavenly melody Had the Author of that Paper been so Ingenious to have come to that Marriage Supper he might have partaken of the Heavenly joy and comfort and not have been left to that great confusion manifested in that Paper For the Invitation unto it hath gone throughout the Nation that they that would come might come for the Fountain to wash and prepare for it hath been and is open glory to God for ever But further see the confusion of the Author of that Paper in these words And the Covenant which I have ratified on Earth let it be ratified in Heaven What after the Marriag is concluded to be made What work is this he hath ratified it on Earth and would have it done so in Heaven but whether he will or no it seems he doth not know so all is left in doubt and fear again What a sad bargain you have made all this while who spent your Money and time after such Idle Immaginary doings Now all you who have seen and read the Authors supposed Covenant be so Ingenious to read how God was pleased to give forth his Law and Covenants the which he ratified in Heaven and compare them with the Authors pretended Covenant which he ratified on Earth without any knowledge of the parties consent he pretends to be concerned let any prove the contrary if they can and let him shew if he can in all the Scriptures of Truth where God ever left it to vain man to make a Covenant to be binding to all others in that manner c. That many did vow obedience and were incouraged in the Covenant of the Lord that is true and manifest through the Testimonies of the Prophets but where did any presume to bind God in that manner Oh gross Idolatry But the blessed holy God at all times and seasons according to his blessed pleasure and good will to mankind did give forth his Law and Commands and so Covenanted to be the God of his people to keep them in Peace c. On condition of their living in obedience to his will and pleasure manifest in his time and season as you may read Deut. 5. and Exod. 19. The Lord our God made a Covenant with us in Horeb The Lord talked with them face to face in the Mount in the midst of the fire which caused a fear and trembling These words the Lord spake unto all your Assembly c. and he wrote them in two tables of stone Wherein the Lord shewed his glory and greatness and they said we have seen this day that God doth talk with man and he liveth So the Law was added because of transgressions till the Seed should come Gal. 3.19 So Christ is the end of the Law for Righteousness for every one that believeth Rom. 10.3 But concerning the first Covenant which God made with his people when he shewed favour and love In taking them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt Heb. 8. Because they continued not in my Covenant I regarded them not saith the Lord But now mark that second Covenant which is without fault After those dayes saith the Lord I will put my Laws into their mind and write them in their hearts and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People And they shall not teach every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother saying know the Lord for all shall know me from the least to the greatest For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more Oh for ever blessed is this Covenant there is no fault in it and that it is a bad nature indeed by which Imaginary Covenants are made which hath a tendency of drawing peoples minds out from waiting to know this blessed Covenant in the mind and heart So to the sober and wise in heart I write that they may weigh these weighty things in a true ballance and from thence give forth true judgment And mind further the Authors words This Covenant you are advised to make not only in heart but in word not only in word but in writing Sure he thinks all 's done but if that must be made or written in the heart then there will be no room for Gods Covenant for that doth not at all agree with that confused stuff and what pity it is that any should be deprived of Gods righteous Covenant since Gods love is universally tendered therein and inviteth all unto it that they may partake of its pure holy nature to convert sinners and make wise simple and Ignorant people who are ready to perish for want of knowledge the which is communicated to them that fear God and wait to feel his blessed promise to extend his mercy and goodness therein to overcome and give victory over that which is evil and corrupt But further he adviseth To spread the writing before the Lord as if you would present it to him as your act and deed So here is an act and no act sometimes presumed to be done and ratified then again in doubtful terms as if you would do so c. And saith the Author when you have done this set your hand to it Answer so you may stand to it beloved whilst he that exhorts you runs away Fox-like creeping into his hole c. why is not his hand to it Note further Keep it saith he as a memorial of the solemn transactions that have passed between God and you Answer Since God here is made party concerned you that concern your selves therein had need know when and how God appeared unto you sure else if you be not wilfully blind you will see all that stuff to be meer Imaginations if you cannot see them to be Devilish Inventions the which indeed they are Now take this last advice in these words That you may have recourse unto it in Doubts and Temptations what think you now either the Paper must be an Idol or Christ It is not Christ therefore it must be an Idol then the Author must be an Idolater let them that concern themselves with it deny it if they can Hath not this a tendency of making void the love God through Christ Jesus who is the way to God out of doubt and through his power and wisdom all doubts are resolved who also is the succourer of them that are tempted and the deliverer of them who are guided by him out of temptations into his holy Name all are to be Baptized Dipped Plunged that Sin and Iniquity may be brought under and consumed by Fire and his holy
hath all this while reserved a Seed as it is written And as Esaias said before Rom. 9.29 except the Lord of Sabbath had left us a Seed we had been as Sodoma and been made like unto Gomorrha And in this is the Lord replenishing the Earth and making of it fruitful in vertue in life in praises to his holy name even by the same spirit of Truth that moved in the holy men of God that gave forth those holy Prophesies and blessed Testimonies in the Scriptures of Truth And this is the time and season wherein the Lord is pouring out his spirit even the same spirit as he did pour out upon his Sons and Daughters in the Primitive time And it s by the Operation Revelation and Divine Inspiration of the same spirit of Christ Jesus in and by which the Holy Prophesies and Testimonies in the Scripture comes to be understood And in this spirit the Lord hath and is ordaining Ministers that they may go and bring forth fruit and that their fruit may remain And by the power and efficasie thereof are thousands of living witnesses raised now in these dayes unto whom the goodness mercy and loving kindness of the Lord is revealed even by the Operation Divine Inspiration and blessed effects of the same spirit of Christ Jesus which the holy men of God were witnesses of in the Primitive dayes And in and by this spirit of power and wisdom is the Lord made Righteousness Wisdom Sanctification and Redemption unto his people who are believers this day as he was in the Primitive days unto his people who did believe in him And by the power and effectual works of this spirit of Christ Jesus in these days time and season The Blind receive their Sight Mat. 11.5 6. and the Lame Walk the Lepers are Cleansed and the Deaf Hear the Dead are raised up and the Poor have the Gospel Preached to them And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me This spirit of Christ Jesus was the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles on which the true Believers which were the Church of Christ was built and it s on this Foundation that the true Believers which is the Body of Christ which is his Church is built this day time and season where Christ is Head Leader Law-giver and Commander and by his spirit is the blessed Worship set up now in the Church of Christ the which Christ set up in opposition to all false Worships in the Primitive time as you may read But the hour cometh when the true Worshipers shall Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth John 4.23 24. for the Father seeketh such to Worship him God is a Spirit and they that Worship him must Worship him in Spirit and in Truth Therefore yours is the false Worship now where the Revelation Operation and Divine Inspiration of this blessed spirit of Truth is denyed now adays Your Worship is false imaginary and conceited for none can truly call Jesus Lord but by the leading and guiding of the same holy spirit of Truth and all that makes mention of his holy Name let them depart from Iniquity And all you who do not but do continue in the Mistery thereof in subjection to the man of sin your Prayers are the Prayers of the wicked the which is abomination to the Lord And your patcht up Sermons the which you Study and Frame up in your Brain from the works of others They are all alike abomination and how costly these works of abomination are let the Wise in Heart judge And in all where this blessed spirit of Truth is rejected and stoped in its motions and so grieved and quenched and another spirit leads all their labour and travel is vain and your Consultations are vain and whatsoever you form up be it an Instrument never so cunningly and wisely wrought in the deepest of your Skill and Councel in the highest degree of the Worlds Wisdom to oppose the out-goings of this blessed Spirit of Christ Jesus it shall never prosper neither shall the Contrivers ever prosper in their works Look back 20 or 30 years past where great undertakings have been even if it had been possible to have ruined and spoiled all those who gave Testimony to this Spirit of Truth And see what sad effects those works of Opposition have produced what hath your turning of things upside down availed you Alas for you your worth is the product of ruine and misery that which you intend to your peaceable Neighbours will come upon your selves your own works in your singular exalted spirits is the purchaser thereof Oh you Ignorant Fools who are blinded by the God of this Wold and are so high flown that you go about to limit the holy God in the goings out of his holy Spirit you may as well undertake to alter the course of the Sun and stop up the course of the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea Your sins of Presumption would be much alike and your Folly will end in as great shame Indeed your presumption arises from an Arm of Flesh and long continuance in vain Customs Traditions and Inventions And because you can clap up in Prisons and make Havock and Ruine and Spoile of People and their Goods your spirit that leads you in these works being an envious Malicious Cruel Abominable Wicked spirit therefore proceeds this wrong Judgment from you even that Gods holy Spirit in Revelation Operation and Divine Inspiration as moving through holy Men in the Primitive time is now ceased But if it were so as you vainly Imagine then shew where the difference lyes between you who call your selves Christians and the Heathens if the Spirit of Christ Jesus the Spirit which people were brought under in the Primitive time and thereby to be Baptized into one Body the which was to be ruled and governed by that Spirit of Christ Now if the Revelation Operation and Divine Inspiration thereof be ceased then tell me by what spirit Christians so called are Baptized into so many Bodyes and Fellowships and what Spirit rules and governs And what difference there is between them called Heathen in their Fellowships and them called Christians in their Fellowships where the Authority Rule and Government of Christs Spirit is denyed Come to plain dealing and don't Shuffl you have been long enough in that work already and the more you persist therein the more you will be confounded and the deeper plunged into the horrible pit and your Feet will be faster stuck in the Mire Therefore be admonished to deal plainly least you be your own Executioners through your high presumptuous mindedness in bringing swift destruction upon you for of a Truth thousands have been bowed before the Lord under a sense of their own insufficiency to perform that which is good and acceptable of themselves and have truly waited upon the Lord in a deep silence of the flesh And indeed Christ hath appeared the second time in his blessed Spirit and