and great travels and many temptations and tryals within and without but the greatest enemies was yet within me which would upon every hardship be tempring with unbelief to destroy this Faith and hope which was all that I had set before me to encourage me to endure such hardships and to follow the light in a way I had not known and to walk in the Cloudâ— to meet the Lord and to leave my former knowledge and wisdom and glory and riches to go in a way I had not wâ—llâ—ed and to abide such assaults on every hand every foot the world which I was called out of ready to overtake me and compasse me about and to turn me back again into what I had seen and enjoyed behind me ever seeking to perswade me that I should never attain to him that was set before me in the Faith and hope Then come I clearly to see that though I had received the Faith of Christ as a shield in this War by which I was saved that the wrath of God took me not away in these temptings and murmurings and reasonings and doubting which did arise in the fleshly part yet the purchased possession was not yet redeemed for me to enjoy at present though I had heard and believed the Gospel of salvation and was sealed with the holy Spirit of promise till I came to be boilded up with Christ for an habitation of God through the Spirit And I found by daily experience that my salvation was not compleat so long as my soul was subjected under any earthly lust or passion nor the War over but as by the mighty working of God in me by that Spirit this came to be subdued under the feet of Christ and the Soul set above it with him to reign in the heavenly place so was my Salvation nearer then when I believed for the Soul is not safe while sin lives or the flesh lusts for that wars against the Soul and every sin wounds it and this shall all know who are not past feeling what ever their Faith be touching Christ Jesus or what was wrought in another whilst sin defiles the Soul it is not safe nor the honest heart hath peace and rest for the rest and peace is placed in the Holy City where comes no unclean thing into which the Soul enters not till that all righteouâ—ness be fulfilled upon earth the Soul singled from all corruption and have put on immortality death swallowed up in victory when the sting is taken away which is sin the strength of sin which is the Law which is not taken away but where it is fulfilled there onely grace reigns through righteousness and this I found to be truth as the truth is found in Jesus as I came to learn him and put him on by Faith which I had believed and I see the folly of such as would make void the Law by talking of Faith and Grace wherein sin is yet standing and the Soul taken captive therewith which I had often sought peace therein to my self but could not inherit liberty to my Soul any other way but as it came to be purified in obedience through the Spirit And this work was not wrought in me by the knowledge of Christ after the flesh but as I came to learn him in Spirit for spiritual wickedness had taken my Soul captive and by the Spirit it must be sanctified and set free And I came to see that if I had been in his company here on earth as long as his Disciples were in the flesh and seen as much as they did and heard from his own mouth I should have been short of this work as they were in whom the Child was unborn when he went away in the flesh and they knew not what Spirits they were of untill he came again to them in Spirit and was revealed in them then could they preach the Resurrection of the dead and the Souls Redemption and desired to know him no more after the flesh when once they had received him in Spirit but Preached Christ within the Hope of Glory who till then looked for an outward kingdom and glory untill they had received his promise He that dwelleth with you shall be in you I will not leave you comfortless I will come unto you the world seeth mâ— no more but ye see me and because I live ye shall live also at that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and yâ—u in me and I in you And this was his promise whom they received whom the world seeth no more whose expectations are carnal neither can any see the Kingdom of Heaven but who are born of this Spirit and Heirs of this Life and he that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life but the wrath of God abides upon him whatever he may say he believes and none hath the Son but as they receive this Spirit and are led by this Spirit and born thereof And this I found also that this Son of God doth not appear in any within or without but as he conforms them to his own Image which he hath alwayes born in this world as saith the Scripture when he shall appear we shall be like him who shall change our vile bodies and make them like his glorious body from glory to glory by the same Spirit And herein we have boldness in the day of Judgment because as he is so are we in this present world and this is not obtained with thoughts of believing without but by a lively working Power which works out the earthly image and nature and conforms to the heavenly in that spiritual birth which is not of flesh and blood nor could flesh and blood ever discern it in whom it was but ever hared it in whom it hath appeared in all Ages Which is of a shining nature where it is begotten of the Father and cannot be hid where it is formed but by his fruits gives light to the world contrary to the worlds wayes showing of his coming to Judgment against the deeds of darkness And this heavenly begetting of the Father is to be holden forth in that clear â—mage of the Father according to every several measure as he grows therein without mixture that all may see that he is not of this world who also takes them out of this world as he grows in any or they in him forth of the world they must go bearing his reproach that the Scriptures may be fulfilled they are not of this world even as I am not of this world and this is the worlds light and condemnation even his coming And so I find that Faith which joyns to the world where it is and doth not overcome the world is not the faith of Christ nor layes hold on the power of Christ though Faith may believe the History of the Scriptures concerning Christ which faith sets not up the Kingdom of God in the heart and casts out the world there
faith on tho earth Who they be that are under the Law and who they be that have made void the Laâ— against themselves and who they be that are under Grace GRace reigns throvgh righteousness and the Law through Transgression and he that sayes he is from under the Law and the transgressor alive he makes void the Law against himself but is under it in the account of God For the Seed or Image of God being fallen the transgressor is above to whom there is no Grace nor-Life promised who hath no true obedience but for self-ends upon this is the Law added till the promised Seed arise And a School master the Law is till it bring to Christ who of the woman is made under the Law who takes upon him the Seed after the flesh the Soul to redeem from under the Transgressor that the natural Plant of God may grow so who can witness the Teachings and Chastizings of the Law to bring him so low till he come under the Seed so as the seed be set above the head of the Transgressor and have bruised it and have taken away the strength of sin there the strength of the Law is taken away also And as the Soul is raised up through the Law the Law being fulfilled by the seed through the Spirit so it arises above the Law into the Kingdom of Grace which reigns through Righteousness and not by making void the Law for the Grace is to the Seed and the Law to the Transgressour and as these reign in the Creature so is he under the law or under Grace for the Law hath power over the man of sin as long as he lives then is the Seed of the Promise in bondage but he being dead by which the seed is held captive the seed rises under Grace which as it rifes through the law fulfils it and being fulfilled it loses its strength as sin dies and so hath no more power the Law being the strength of sin till it be fulfilled by the seed through the Spirit so he that is dead to sin is free from sin and under Grace And he that casts off the Law while he is alive that sins makes void the Law against himself So he that 's under Grace is dead to sin and dead to the Law which is the strength of sin and sin hath no more dominion over the soul the power of it being subdued which was the Law unfulfilled but where the Law is made void the strength of sin yet remains and the Law will overtake them in the end And he that learns this in the Death and Resurrection and eternal life shall in this work learn what the Transgression is and how the law is added upon him and how it is the strength of sin in him but not in the seed and what it is that makes the entrance through the Law and how Grace comes to abound where sin hath abounded and to reign through Righteousness unto eternal life So where the Transgressor is slain there the Law is at an end and fulfilled and the natural Plant of God brings forth against which there is no law but the law is against the man of sin and the man of sin against the law as long as he lives and power it will have over him and one jot of it will not pass away till it be fulfilled And he that would cast off the Law and make it void is far from Grace but in him that fulfils the Law doth Grace and Truth abound Of the Way of Life from the Knowledge that devours the Life WOuldest thou know the way of Life from that Knowledge which devours the life then be no longer as the wild Asses Colt but take up the yoak of the Son in whom thou sayest thou believest that the life of Faith thou may feel and know for only in the obedience is the life made sure to thee of what thou believest and thereby is faith and knowledge made perfect But untill thou attain power for obedience of Faith thou art dead and knows but words in which thy Faith stands without life which accomplishes nothing but will arise to condemn thee when thy time is out Therefore in all thy seeking mind that which worketh in a lowly mind calling thee into the Obedience of what is there made manifest in the begettings of the Father and not in the conceivings of the Brain but in the Son For in the Brain-knowledge the Boaster Rules who glories in the wisdom of words but not in the words of life but in the Obedience of the Son is the Father known and glorified in such as walk in the Spirit and not in the mind whose praise is of God and their lives hid with him from all knowledge but what is Revealed in the Obedience of the Son So from man you may learn the knowledge of words but the knowledge of life is only begotten of God so he that hath the Son hath life not of the disobedient Nature for the only begotten of God is Conformable to him that begetteth him in all things through Obedience So feeling thy measure of the begettings of God in it be obedient and seek not to be above it in any thing lest the enemy thereby get power in thee to puffe up thy mind in thy Knowledge above thy life which devours the life Therefore as thou feels Faith Love Meeknesse Gentlenesse Patience or any Godlinesse move in the Spirit therein become obedient with all diligence and thereby shalt thou know the power thereof against all the contrary motions in thy flesh so shalt thou learn the salvation of Grace unto life eternal which thou canst never attain by talking or any other way but in the Obedience thereof so shalt thou not receive the grace of God in vain nor words without the working power of life whereby the living knowledge of the Mystery of godliness will daily increase For by Obedience of the Spirit is the soul purified from its darkness and pollution and made fit for the further manifestation of the hidden Mystery and the receiving the fulness thereof and walking therein And so by the holy Ghost thou shalt be able toconfess Jesus Lord over all powers in heaven and in earth the opener of all secrets and only revealer of the Father who begetteth by whom thou becomes wise in thy knowledge unto salvation not unto vain babling whose words shall rise and Condemn them who glory therein But thou if in Spirit thou hearken diligently and obey shalt know that he who sometimes spoke by the Prophets doth now speak by his Son the everlasting power of godliness only begotten of the Father and in all things like unto him in whom he is made manifest And the Prophets have Prophesied of glory to come but the Son declares the Father in the present life according to the measure of him formed and as he arises in fulness he opens the heavens and gives the inheritance thereinto An opening of Light to all sorts of Rulers
and given me hope to attain him yet I had not thâ—n learned him nor was he yet formed in me so was I led in the Light of Christ to see what I had of this treasure in the earthen vessel which I found to be in me very little and that Seed the least of all Seeds so I became little in that eye which told me the truth though I had been high in my own thoughts formerly And so to the Word of the beginning of Christ I was led or the first Principle of the Doctrine of Christ that with that which teacheth Christ I might learn Christ in every measure of him as I grew therein so was I brought to know him that was made under the Law and to the foundation of repentance from dead works and to doctrines of Baptisms and to Eternal Judgement then came I in Truth and Life to see what they were doing whom the Apostles exhorted to work out their own Salvation with fear and trembling after they had fully believed what Christ had done for them at Jerusalem in that Vessel and many other Scriptures did he open to me as I learned him which before to me was a Mystery while I learned them in meanings without the Life of Christ which then was opened by the Revelation of Jesus Christ as they came to be fulfilled in me being led by the same Spirit in that work of Faith then came I to see that I through the Law must be redeemed from the Law and that my redemption from it must not be by making it void but by fulfilling of it and till then it had power over me and sin took occasion by it to strengthen it self in me but as I came to grow in the Spirit and Power of Christ I was in him brought through it it in him fulfilled and I dead to it as it came to be fulfilled and the words of Christ I found true I came not to break the Law but to fulfil it and it is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away then one jot of the Law to pasâ— away till it be fulfilled and I needed not a meaning to that Scripture but a fulfilling thereof in Christ Jesus and the Schoolmaster that brings to Christ I learned and Christ formed the heir under tutors before I knew the liberty of the Son of God or perfect freedom and then I saw the Scriptures could not be broken nor wrested but it must be learned in the life of it to Salvation which the unlearned wrest to their own destruction by meanings without life and that it was of no private interpretation but this one Spirit must open it all in the fulfilling thereof and this Faith in Christ Jesus onely was able to make wise unto Salvation of Eternall Life And then came I clearly to see Christ Jesus set before me in all things that I was to go through in that faith which I had first received and that the attaining of him was the hope of glory and no hope without him and this hope was as an Anchor in all hardships and temptations which was not a few I was led through but all was counted little while I stood in this Faith for the hope that was in me to win Christ and I clearly saw that notwithstanding my first faith in what he had done at Jerusalem yet if I did not continue therein to follow the same spirit in obedience thereto believing therein in all its leadings hoping to attain to Christ Jesus the end of that Faith in daily growing towards his Stature and fulness but had turned aside or set down short of the leadings of that Spirit in the way I had made void my hope of Glory the work of my redemption and that which Christ did at Jeruâ—alem as to me and had denyed my first Faith and could not have been saved from wrath to come That being the end of that Faith committed to me that therein I might faithfully without doubting follow him in Spirit through all Tryals and Temptations of which way he was a perfect example in his walking in that Flesh at Jerusalem that through the Scriptures I might have hope seeing he went the same way before me there in which he now leads and thaâ— therein I might see him to be the same to all generations as he was there and in his Saints that followed him And as they exhorted one another to look unto him in their Travel who was the Authour and Finisher of their Faith and to consider him as an example who endured such contradictions of sinners against himself least they should be weary of suffering and faint in their mindes and â—o their Faith and Hope was strengthened So also I looking to the same in him and also in them after him my Faith and Patience might be doubled and my obedience made without doubting and my hope firme unto the end which end was the winning Christ in me the Hope of Glory the great Mystery of Faith which is hid from all till the Revelation of Christ Jesus and so when the Saints and Apostles had Christ revealed in them they were able Ministers of him and had the mystery opened and preached it without doubt that mystery of godlinesse which was great yet hid from the world but to them without all controversie God manifest in flesh not God flesh but manifest in flesh which mystery of Faith they held in a pure conscience and so I knew my Faith to be the same Faith once delivered to the Saints and the good fight of that faith I came to know and that Faith which overcomes the world which hath the promise and inheritance of Eternal Life which all that go back from denyes the Faith of Christ and sets up a Faith without Christ which is not the faith of Christ and so in the learning of Christ I came to see the faith of Christ from faith to faith and the faith of Devils the living working faith and the dead faith without works and I finde that Christ never believed that he could never be perfect nor overcome the Devil nor overcome sin it was never the Faith of Christ to make void the Law of his Father unfulfilled in him it was never his faith to revenge evil but to overcome it with good it was never his faith to respect persons or that he could commit sin and not be the servant of sin it was never his faith to sue contend or fight or persecute any to judge for rewards or Preach for hire or any way to serve the Mammon of this world it was not his Faith to observe his own will his own times or the worlds customes but to observe his Father in all things and onely what he received from him that he did and could do nothing of himself he never believed them to be children of God who said and did not And much such like things as these were never by him believed but is the worlds faith to uphold them in sin
them that would have slopt him Did not he speak words in Amos against the Wickednesse of their King Priests and Worships that the Land was not able to bear Did not he lead Jonaâ— through the streets of Nineveh And in which of the Propheâ—s did not he thus walk in and some received him in his way and turned from their own wayes and found Mercy and the rest that rejected him were destroyed in their own wayes in which they blessed themselves as at this day Now read these and read what you now oppose in your Streets and Steâ—ple-houses and Markets and let that of God in you be judge if you be not of such as now say Depart from us we will have none of thy wayes Also search your Gospel if you can receive his way therein which changes not Did not he come in Christ and in his Apostles as a wandereâ— to and fro without a certain dwelling place to Preach Repentance and amendment of life and the light of the world from City to Village from place to place which way you now call Vagabonds And did not he enter their Temples and Synagogues Schools and Markets and all their places of Worship and concourse where sin or false Worship was acted and there Disputed and testified against their whole way and called them to the way of God and this was his manner of walking in them even in times of their Worships and in the greatest Assembly of Meetings and Markets which to you is become as gall and wormwood and you call it Disturbance and Peace-breaking Was not this his way in such as knew their bodies to be his Temples and in whom he walked and spoke the words of Life and Judgment and Truth his way by which he overturned the World leaving all without excuse against the day of wrath which was to follow where he was rejected his way by which he called many thousands out of false Worships in which they were setled as you are and their Souls deceived but this was his way to Salvation which was not their way as he hath said my wayes are not your wayes yet was there no other way fâ—r them to be saved which is the same at this day to all that receive his coming and to all that resist the Holy Spirit in his Temples as did your fathers so do you saith Stephen to such as worshipped God in outward observations but denied his way and worship in Temples made without hands these resisted the Holy Ghost resisted the way of God as do you Read and consider Steven was full of God the Spirit spake in him they resisted him they called him a Blasphemer they stoned him by a Law here was Gods way and their way now try your wayes whose work is to resist the Spirit and Light within which hath filled the hearts and mouths of his servants to cry against sin Mind what you râ—sist Had not God come in this his own Way to seek and to save by his appearance in such vessels as he had prepared of old for that end whom in time he filled with himself as they stood in need in all conditions to pass with him through all hardships and crooked wayes of the wicked world from place to place seeking a seed to himself what had become of the Saints of old which was covered with darknesse till he came thus to appear to them holding forth his light and his life and glory in vessels prepared to shew forth his vertues and the riches of his grace not only in declaring in words but also in power to suffer for his Name long and hard Tryals with much patience and meeknesse in all which they became signs to the world and lively witnesses of God to his own in every Conscience whereby the Seed of God in many gathered strength to arise out of darknesse and come to judgement and by their sufferings waxed confident in the Faith that it was the eternal God that they had seen preached and that was in them who thus suffered and did not receive their words as the words of men but of God who was with them and in them in all And this his way was not only to receive such as came to him but with danger of life went in to their Assemblies and publick places to bring them out of the claws of the Devil who beat some in their Synagogues haled some before Rulers cast some into Prison who suffered great afflictions to bring souls from under the dark power and in all this God was afflicted with them and by his own Spirit brought them out and this was his way of ransoming and redeeming and of bringing to Zion as you may read of old And thus by his Spirit and by his working in them did he work wonders and signs and was a witnessâ— against the whole body of sin overturning false wayes and worships by a way they knew not nor did the world know it was he until he had brought to passe his work upon them having thus gathered out his Seed from amongst them who then sought to stop his way as you do at this day And what was their end And in this way was the Churches of Christ gathered even blood and sufferings and tumults and beatings and mockings and whippings and all manner of cruel usage fighting with beasts after the manner of men and by the patient sufferings of Christ in them were many recovered out of the snares of the Devil which had he not sought them in this way they had lived and died in blindnesse And this was the way in which God gathered the Churches which you who oppose this way would imitate and in this way was the mistery of Godlinesse and the mistery of iniquity revealed and the Kingdome of Christ known upon earth and in this way came the Scriptures of the Apostles and Prophets of which you talk and would turn to oppose this way like them who read his coming in the Prophets and would have stopt his coming in Christ and the Apostles so do you ever resist the way of the Holy One and yet in words you pray for his coming but having erred in your hearts from that light which should give the knowledg of him you know not his wayes but have in your imaginations set a new way for his appearance every one in his own form but all think you are doing him service to stop his old way by force Ah foolish people and â—ull of wit will you call on him to come to judgment and stop his way with cruelty Is not the day of the Lord darknesse to you who deny the light Gods wayes are not yours nor his thoughts yours who are vain therein will you hedg up his way against him will you set Bâ—iars and Thorns before him and shall not the light of Israel kindle a fire amongst you shall not he go through and tread you down and with your own tear you as a Lion from whom none shall deliver Was it
hath many of the Lords servants for thee whom thou hast cast in holes and prisons for their obedience to God and testimony of their conscience towards God in them whose patient sufferings and unparaleld cruelties are no more valued with thee then if they were dogs and this hath gone throughout thee from the least to the greatest till there be very few left which are not wholly hardned so that to hear of these evil dealings exercised upon the innocent doth no more enter your hearts then the rain enters a rock wherefore our souls are troubled for you and our hopes concerning your healing grows daily less and our sufferings in the Lord Jesus daily greater hasting to the full and what will you do in the end thereof Or whom shall we take to witness for you or may you be compared with any that ever hardned themselves in these wayes and escaped destruction that our hopes might revive and our prayers not cease did ever any thus deny the life of what you Preach in words your selves and which some of you have measure felt and suffered for and have been answered in by the Lord and your eyes have seen the vengeance of the Almighty and how dreadful it hath been both upon Kings Priests and Rulers for resisting Ah how much better had it been for you never to have known these things which you have seen read and Preached then now that they should be fulfilled upon you to the uttermost how well had it been for you had you been as those you call heathen rather then to Profess Christ and thus act against him at his coming even in the same way your selves Preach him Alas alas what hath the innocent done why he thus is used among you doth he cry against sin against pride against false worships against corrupt Rulers corrupt Teachers corrupt Lawyers c. And with much meekness bears his witness against these evils in you for a testimony of light to your words whom he hath lifted up in wrath and zeal and judgement against the same things in the persons of others and will not this arise against you of which you are witnesses all in one generation But sayst thou he breaks the peace and breaks our Law and is unmannerly c. But was he not ever so accounted and is he not now in the same way he ever walked what could that peace do for you could you keep it whole which is broken by reproving sin and deceit Is there any peace to the wicked from God and will he keep that Law which will not give him liberty to Reign in his Temples and to lead his people by his Spirit or will you plead that Law against him in judgement when he comes to deal with you who should know his Law written in your hearts to limit you and not your Laws to limit him not your manners must not bind the conscience where he is known to be King and this you know is truth and have pleaded it against others and now cannot own it will not the Laws of Christ and the manners of Christ of which you read in Scripture agree with your Government and peace who calls for his Kingdom to come amongst you and profess to rule according to Scriptures how will this stand at that day when you must not be your own Judges nor by your own Laws And why is he counted your enemy seeing his appearance now is in love to give you light out of this for your Eternal salvation against which he will certainly come in Judgement to condemnation Have you not heard of the love of the Father to the world who sends his Son to lay down his Life therein for a light to the world that whosoever believeth therein might not be condemned can you read and confess this life laid down in the Prophets in Câ—râ—st in the Apostles in the Martyrs and in all in whom this righteâ—uâ— blood hath been shed from Abel to your time and can you not say they were blind Priest and People who could not see this innocent suffer in his seveâ—al appearances And what will you say of your selves seeing the same testimony is before your eyes but not received was ever his sufferings so increased in so little a time and for such little foolish things as your selves calls them which though they seem little yet much innocent blood hath been shed and this life is laid down daily in many And why should you count that so little which your brethren count dearer then their precious life Is there any thing makes it so but the tenderness of the one and hardness of the other But say you they are guilty of their own blood to suffer for such foolish things but who is their executioners do not you suffer fools daily they shall witness against you that there is something in it more then folly have you not read that God chuseth the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and base despised things to bring to nought things that are and weak things to confound the mighty and can you read and Preach this and not see it fulfilled nor understand without a meaning then take heed how you call that foolish which God hath chosen to lay down his life in for a witness against the murtherer in the wise men of the world will you call that foolishness whereby the mysteries of God comes to be manifest that which he hath chosen to declare himself in openly in his Temples and his worship his service and his suffering long in meekness and the Devil in his Temples with his servants his pride his rashâ—ess and cruelty and to lay each open to the simplest heart by their fruits which have been long covered withwords but now every one that knows a Wolfe from a Lamb may see and cannot be deceived will you call this little which discovers so great a depth of deceit so closely hid and opens the painted Sepulchres and searches the heart of the deceitful laying it open to your selves and others which else you could not have known nor believed if you were told it could many of you have believed the Prince of pride had ruled in you till you see him act you in cruelty on your Brethren because they cannot worship you or could you have believed that the murtherer had been there till you proceed to cast into prisons your brethren and keep them there till death for these little things And these things some suffer under you for a witness and the rest are spared though that spirit would have none to live that the Scriptures may be fulfilled Satan shall cast some of you into prison c. And are not these things manifestly laid open to your selves and all that are not willingly blind and also the contrary Spirit of Christ Jesus where these things are patiently endured And will you call this foolishness which thus leaves all the world without excuse and prepares all for righteous Judgement many